The GUNDAM NEXT FUTURE PAVILION, a pavilion for the popular anime series Gundam, will be appearing at the Expo 2025 in Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan. Even before the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan opened, it was already a hot topic on social media, with people calling it the "Expo Gundam." We will explain the highlights of the Gundam Pavilion.
◇A future where living in space is commonplace
The Gundam Pavilion will present the Gundam series' depictions of "life in space" and "science and technology that has yet to be realized" as new possibilities for the future, with completely new images and other content. The facility will allow people to easily travel to the space station using an orbital elevator, and experience a "future where living in space has become commonplace," where mobile suits (MS) and humans coexist.
The Earth once experienced a great war, leaving behind a scarred land and a desolate space, and GOIC (Gundam Open Innovation Consortium) is aiming to peacefully use the mobile suits born from the war. Unmanned mobile suits equipped with AI are contributing to the future of people. The mobile suits are engaged in space debris collection, etc. After the war, the "RX-78F00 Gundam" discovered in Yokohama was reborn as the "RX-78F00/E Gundam", and research is being conducted on it as a symbol of social contribution.
"RX-78F00 Gundam" refers to a moving life-sized Gundam installed at GUNDAM FACTORY YOKOHAMA (Naka-ku, Yokohama). The life-sized Gundam statue "RX-78F00/E Gundam" installed in the Gundam Pavilion reused materials from the moving life-sized Gundam "RX-78F00 Gundam."
This is the first time that a life-sized Gundam statue has been installed in the Kansai region. Although reality and fiction intersect, the "RX-78F00/E Gundam" is a real thing and is a major attraction of the Gundam Pavilion. The statue stands at approximately 17 meters tall and weighs 49.1 tons, with its knees raised and arms raised, and is not movable. With its hands raised high into space, it is said to represent the opening up of a new space age together with humanity, gazing into the future beyond.
◇It’s just a dream…
At the Gundam Pavilion, visitors will board the orbital elevator at Yumeshima Terminal and head to the space station Star Jaburo. There is no actual orbital elevator, so visitors will experience a journey into space while watching the new film "GUNDAM: Next Universal Century."
Upon arriving at Star Jaburo, the footage shows MS collecting space debris. An issue occurs during the work, and the MSN-X17 Zeong Type MA appears and goes on a rampage. The RX-78F00/E Gundam equipped with Glass Feathers also appears and begins fighting the Zeong. Highlights of the new footage include the view from inside the orbital elevator and the powerful MS battles.
Director Yoshiyuki Tomino, known as the creator of the "Gundam" series, commented in preparation for the opening of the Gundam Pavilion, "In truth, everything you have seen at 'GUNDAM NEXT FUTURE PAVILION' is still just a dream. Although it is a dream, it is important that we can say, 'This is a possibility, so please do not despair about the future.' I would be happy if many people see it and raise awareness about the future and possibilities of humanity."
Although it is fiction, it should give a sense of the possibilities of the future. The Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan will be held in Yumeshima, Osaka until October 13th.
