China suits up for an 18-metre, life-sized Freedom Gundam in 2021

The RX-78-2 is the soon-to-be star of the Gundam Factory Yokohama in Japan with its walking, life-sized build, so it’s only fair that other mecha models are getting some love, too.

In light of franchise company Sunrise Inc.’s latest expansion project, a life-sized Freedom Gundam will be heading to China in 2021, marking the world premiere of a 1:1 scale Gundam outside of Japan.

Titled the Gundam China Project, the figure is set to be erected at Mitsui Shopping Park LaLaport in Shanghai. At a staggering 18.03 metres, it stands as tall as its Japanese counterpart, but unlike the latter, there’s the offer of something different: one well-supported, massive pair of wings on its back.

Or more, even, to fit into the whole eight-wings design of Freedom in the Gundam Seed series.

It’s very likely that progress is still in the early conceptualisation and building stages, so a late 2021 completion date would be a fair completion date guess – especially with the work restrictions brought on by Covid-19.

Apart from this big-scale project, Sunrise also announced that a new anime endeavour, Mobile Suit Gundam Seed MSV, is in the making, and confirmed the official start of co-production for an upcoming Gundam live-action movie.

Oh, and keep an eye out for a new host of Gunpla builds in the near future if you’re into that – there’s certainly plenty of excitement for the Gundam community to look forward to. In the meantime, check out the latest progress on the RX-78-2 in Japan right here.

This article was first published in Geek Culture.