Following my recent trip to Japan, I have posted galleries from my visit to two life-sized Gundam statues, the RX-93ff Nu Gundam in Fukuoka and the RX-78F00 Gundam in Yokohama. I skipped the Unicorn Gundam in Odaiba as I already went there in 2019, but I didn’t post any photos of the statue outside of the header image used on this site. I thought the photos I took weren’t great, that’s why they remained in storage. But I think it would be a shame if I just kept them in some disconnected hard drive.
So, I decided to finally post them here, but with a couple of disclaimers. First, I used a much older DSLR for these photos, but it’s really more of me unable to shoot well in low-light conditions. Second, what you’ll see here is my attempt at making the most of what I took thanks to much needed Photoshop work. While these aren’t the greatest photos of the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam (Ver.TWC) statue, I’m hoping these would allow me to convey my thoughts during my visit several years back.
Model Number / RX-0
Model Name / Unicorn Gundam (Ver.TWC)
Scale & Class / 1/1 Scale Life-Sized Statue
Site Location / Tokyo Waterfront City, Odaiba, Japan
Opening Date / 2017
Let’s start this flashback with this other guy. At the time of our visit, the Bumblebee movie is about to premiere in Japan so they conveniently placed a life-sized Bumblebee statue overlooking the life-sized Unicorn Gundam statue. Obviously, the former is much, much smaller than the latter but seeing both robots at the same place feels like the two franchises connecting in some manner.
To those unfamiliar, the life-sized Unicorn Gundam statue was opened for public viewing in 2017 and it’s the second life-sized Gundam statue to be built following the RX-78-2 Gundam which stood on the same spot previously. The Unicorn Gundam is also much taller, at 21.7 meters when in “Destroy Mode” compared to the 18.0-meter height of the original Gundam. Also, “TWC” stands for “Tokyo Waterfront City,” where most of the attractions in Odaiba, including this Unicorn Gundam statue, are located.
The Unicorn Gundam statue has the unique feature of being able to transform back and forth between Unicorn Mode and Destroy Mode. In Unicorn Mode, most of the armor panels are closed, the face is covered with a plate that hides the Gundam facial features, and the blade antenna folds into a single unicorn-like horn.
A main attraction during its periodic performances is the transformation to Destroy Mode where some of the armors shift and open up to reveal illuminated internal mechanisms called the Psycho-Frame. They are also able to control the color at which it glows depending on the particular theme of the illumination. I wasn’t able to take photos of the Unicorn Gundam in Unicorn Mode so it’s all Destroy Mode in this gallery.
Fun fact, the life-sized statue switch from the RX-78-2 Gundam to the Unicorn Gundam was also made around the time they decided to close down GUNDAM FRONT TOKYO inside DiverCity Tokyo Plaza and replace it with THE GUNDAM BASE Tokyo as a way to standardize official Gundam stores globally. In fact, THE GUNDAM BASE first opened in Korea in 2003, followed by a branch in Taiwan in 2005. THE GUNDAM BASE Tokyo opened in 2017, and around the same time, the life-sized Unicorn Gundam statue was officially opened to the public soon after.
If you’re a Gundam fan and you have both the time and energy to visit all three active life-sized statues, then I recommend indulging your fandom and go through each. These three may look the same to most folks but each provides a different experience when seen up close. Once I get the chance to visit Tokyo once again, and if time permits, then I’ll definitely revisit this statue and take better photos.
And that covers all three active statues. But as mentioned, the Unicorn Gundam replaced the original RX-78-2 Gundam first erected in 2009 as part of the franchise’s 30th anniversary…
