Interest

Amuro & Char Voice Actors Attend Statue Unveiling at Gundam Designer's Hometown

The official unveiling ceremony for the RX-78-2 Gundam and MS-06S Char's Zaku II monuments was held in the city of Inagi on Saturday. The 1/5 scale, 3.6-meter-tall (about 11.8-foot-tall) statues honor Inagi-born mechanical designer Kunio Okawara, who designed both mecha as well as the Inagi mascot. Okawara also helped supervise the construction of the monuments, to ensure their accuracy.

Okawara himself attended the event, and he was joined by voice actors Tohru Furuya and Shuuichi Ikeda, the voices of Amuro Ray and Char Aznable, respectively.

Furuya expressed his surprise at seeing the finished monuments up close. "They're very well done, and the pose with the beam rifle in the right hand and the the shield resting on the ground in the left hand is very rare," he commented. "The Gundam in Odaiba isn't carrying any weapons. For that matter you never see large versions of Char's Zaku, and I think it's surprisingly macho."

The Gundam in Odaiba Furuya references is a massive 18 meters (59 feet) tall. Ikeda also referenced this Gundam to say it is closer to actual size, and so he was more interested in Char's Zaku.

"This is the first time I've seen Char's Zaku as a monument," Ikeda said. "When I'd ask before I used to hear the argument that it's 'difficult to recreate the Zaku's curves in its actual size." He also mentioned that, of all the mecha Char pilots, the Zaku left the biggest impression on him.

On the Zaku, Okawara added, "If it were actual size, I've heard it would be really bad if wind pressure hit the shield." He also joked that the Zaku has a "high school girl's thighs."

The monument is part of the "Mechanical Designer Kunio Okawara Project," which aims to promote Inagi as a tourist destination for mechanical design fans. The city has been holding the annual "Mechanical Designers Summit" event in March. The statues stand just outside Inagi's new "Pear Terrace" market space and gallery outside the train station.

Inagi's mascot character Inagi Nashinosuke and Gundam's mascot character Haro are also there to greet visitors

Sources: Anime! Anime! (高橋克則), Gundam.info, Inagi City