Thousands of anime fans are streaming to Expo 2025 Osaka to watch a short film on a much-loved epic and pose in front of a gigantic statue of Gundam, an immensely popular Japanese sci-fi robot.
The Japanese anime series about giant robots piloted by humans has gripped fans worldwide. High school pupils, university students and fathers with young children said they made reservations months in advance to watch the film screened in the Gundam Next Future Pavilion, at the Osaka Expo that opened a few days ago.
Thousands across age groups mirrored the pose of the towering 17-metre statue, positioned in front of the pavilion, with one knee bent and an arm raised to the sky.
Ian Lee, originally from Hong Kong but now resident in Australia, visited the Expo for the Gundam experience with his wife and two children. He told The National he had booked his slots to enter the pavilion from January.
“We are in Japan for five days and this is our first day at the Expo,” he said. “I’ve always been a Gundam fan. The show was very immersive, you really get the feeling as if you were up there in space. Even if you don’t understand everything, it’s fine because Gundam saves the world.”
One of the biggest anime series, The Mobile Suit Gundam first aired in 1979 in Japan and has created an entire universe around human-controlled robots set against a backdrop of war in space colonies. The animated stories depict battles between human beings who venture into space and those who remain on Earth fighting alongside the Gundam robots called mobile suits.
Space colonies in 2150
The National obtained access to the 50-minute pavilion tour and movie, Gundam: Next Universal Century, set in the year 2150 when life in space is commonplace. Visitors are taken into a series of expansive rooms with exceptional visual effects to create orbital elevators and space portals that connect Earth to the stars.
Immersive experiences with high-definition images and sounds are projected onto enormous ceiling screens and displays that wrap around large rooms. Visitors are told they are being transported to a space station located on a star as they watch Gundam collect space debris to keep travel safe.
They pass through different chambers to watch space colonies grow disease-resistant crops, become self-sufficient in food, build fish farms and yes, even whip up sushi. But when the space portal is attacked with fireballs of explosions, the Gundam robot powered with solar-panelled wings swoops in to save the day and avert a crisis, winning rounds of applause from an appreciative audience.
Build a future in space
Many fans wore T-shirts with their favourite anime characters and said they enjoyed the series as it took a stand against war and advocated peace. Japanese citizens from across the country lined up for entry to the pavilion, saying they wanted to share the experience with their kids.
Kei Watanabe, an Osaka resident, said he still enjoyed the series. “I think it’s very cool. I watched it when I was a child and it is still very good.”
Masafi Okuhira, a Tokyo resident, said his nine-year-old son was also a fan. “Gundam is the best ever because it’s so real.”
The pavilion also attracted non-anime fans drawn to space exploration to address food security challenges.
“It makes us think of 50 years from now when our resources run out, we need to think of space as a possibility,” said Li Yaosen, a Chinese student from a university in Kyoto, who travelled with a friend to Osaka for the show. “It reminds us that we need to focus on the future, think about space debris, the environment, so that the next generations can have a better future. Also the effects were amazing. It really made you feel you were being attacked.”
To tap into the considerable anime fan base, an Anime Manga Tourism Festival is scheduled at the Expo Osaka from April 30 to May 2 as part of the government's Cool Japan tourism initiative and targets both local and overseas visitors.
Inside Gundam pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka - in pictures
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