Just learned a new Japanese phrase over the past week.
Jitsubutsudai gandamu.
Or life-sized gundam in English. That’s one phrase I’ll definitely want to remember if I ever travel to Japan in the future.
At least it’s a start. Along with 59 other cool phrases to go, if you read this interesting post by a Japanese online publisher, who annually conducts a survey of best Japanese phrases used in Japan’s mass media. There will be some judging panel that will nominate the 10 best phrases used in 2009. Hopefully, they’re in turn will become as catchphrases for masses.
I’m pinning high hopes that jitsubutsudai gandamu will be amongst the nominations! It’s paramount for the people wanting to appreciate the true life of an otaku, should they ever learn a lot of things in Japan. Otherwise, how would they know such a real-life 18 metre Gundam actually exists (before Gundam Projects Team decided to remove them from premises) so they set foot in Japan to travel or live?
Now we’ve witnessed the closing (and disassembly) of the 1/1 scale Gundam in Odaiba since the beginning of this month, I began to wonder about the last 30 years of great success Gundam franchise has enjoyed and how special it oughta be expressing to tell everyone in anime industry business that they’re still in good shape for so long.
Personally, I never was a major Gundam fan during the last 29 and ½ years of my human life.  Only more recently,  I get more involved in making myself a Gundam model after buying it off from an anime exhibit.  And I must admit.  I really do like it. :) I could get used to this.
And because Tomino Yoshiyuki (the godfather of Gundam) convinced me Gundam has that everlasting appeal to kids and adults of all ages could like and having aplenty of fun with them, I decide to find a good video that truly celebrates its 30th anniversary in this line of business both Sunrise and Bandai certainly have enjoyed.
Some days later…
On last Tuesday, I finally did it. Â I found this.
This is probably the most comprehensive, most complete video that ever encapsulates every wonderful marvel of Gundam franchise’s achievements over the last three decades. Â I couldn’t find anything similar on Youtube channels. Even if I did, they weren’t as commemorative as this. Â It goes on explaining about how the show began in the late 70s, and how that was the starting point for all future Gundam shows it’s going to be modelled everytime new series is produced. Â It highlights all of its series in a chronological order that were made in the last 30 years and I’m sure many Gundam fans (old and new) out there would find it refreshing and nostalgic to revisit these. Â The characters, the plot, the stories, the myths, the Gundam technology… Old and new. Â Everything.
With its ever-lasting appeal of  its anime and growing toy market in Japan and the rest of the world, and its endearing iconic status as Japan’s “mascot”, as part of pop culture, the series would sure flourish well for another 30 years.
Looks like I have a lot of catching up to do during that timespan. Â This is going to be fun.
A very long time ago, there’s a cool mecha character I love when I watched it on TV 20 plus years ago.  It’s a motorcycle unit, plated with armor, that comes with futuristic weapons that the motorcyclist can use at its disposal to eliminate any enemy that gets in the way.  A unit that’s suitable for military combat. On land. What’s even more amazing behind this contraption is it actually transformed into a mecha! (see video below, apologies for the video quality)
This sure brings back a lot of memories. I was left in complete awe and felt totally excited about this so-called breakthrough transformation on vehicles with less than 4 wheels. And now I recently bumped into this link from Animenewsnetwork.com, saying there’s a toy model of this motorcycle unit (which is codenamed Cyclone, I just found out) that you can buy online these days, compared to what you thought you could only get from the 80’s time. If you were around long enough during that time, that is. Nevertheless, this guy shows his strut on what the toy is like after struggling to get the grips with its aesthetics a couple hours and summarise what he thought of the whole thing after configuring its transforming pieces of Cyclone. Check out the photo finish on the link after he’s successfully putting everything together at the end of the above-mentioned link!
Well… Not really…. It doesn’t do everything like what most Asian rhinoceros bettles do like eating, biting, fighting etc. And there’s no way you can find a 4-foot household cage to feed them either, which is insane thing to ask at a local Japanese pet store.
Whilst I was happily browsing the internet, I found this really cool comment link from Japanator.com, that tells us an actual story about an elderly scientist who put together this massive mecha bettle that runs on wheels and can take up the entire warehouse store, and provide rides for passengers up to 6 people in one go in its abdomen! The 60-year-old scientist took about 11 years to construct such a monstrosity out in his garage and he never broke a sweat while putting all the parts together. This guy’s just simply amazing! How on earth did he do that? And how the heck he could find the time to do that, considering his age? (no age discrimation is intended here).
Regardless, he’s accomplished where no mecha enthusiasts had ever thought possible, other than in their little dream world. Sources indicated he’s given this bettle a name. ”Kabutom RX-03” is the name. The dimensions of the mecha are
The 60-year-old scientist, Takahashi-san, demonstrated that the unit can be controlled using a remote control. Check the Youtube clip below and see the great action takes place!
