Pacific Rim director pays tribute to Tokyo’s iconic Gundam statue

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I haven’t yet had a chance to see Guillermo del Toro’s latest film, Pacific Rim, but from the clips I’ve seen so far of the epic robot and monster battles, it looks like it’s going to be great. Of course a film like this obviously owes much to early Godzilla monster movies, but also to the country’s tradition of giant mechanized robots and suits.

Recently del Toro visited Odaiba here in Tokyo to check out the iconic Gundam statue erected there, according to Japanese media (via ANN). The director explains that one of his characters, Cherno Alpha, was actually inspired by Gundam’s Zaku [1]. del Toro is clearly in awe, almost as if he has made a pilgrimage to see it. Here’s the entire clip below:

But of course Japan has lots more to offer in the giant robot department, for anyone who wants to see. Suidobashi Heavy Industries’ Kuratas mecha is perhaps the most awesome example, standing 3.8 meters high, able to be piloted by a human passenger (pictured bottom left).

If you’d like something a little on the lighter side, Sakajibara Machinery Works has a mecha suit that can be piloted by kids, appropriately called Kid’s Walker. That suit is much smaller but is still a pretty great real-life example (bottom right).

And of course, we can’t forget the (in)famous Robot Restaurant, a must-see for any robo-tourist coming to Japan.

kuratas kids-walker

Photos: Design you trust, Isstek.


  1. del Toro has also cited Tetsujin 28 as an inspiration as well.  ↩