Remember the Gundam-sized hole in Japan’s heart which was left by the dismantling of the country’s titular giant robot last March? Well, grieve no more!
The Unicorn Gundam, whose construction we covered previously, was finished last weekend and stands proudly where its little brother once stood. Though it may not be as colorful as its predecessor, this bad boy is bigger (it stands at 19.7 meters), has more moving parts, and is definitely hornier (heh) than the RX-78-2 Gundam.
Here are some clips of the Gundam’s transformation. This one comes courtesy of @karuhika on Twitter:
ユニコーン
夜の演出凄ぉー！
待った甲斐があった！ pic.twitter.com/bPlihhWimb— ヒカルカル (@karuhika) September 25, 2017
Too dark to see? Here’s a daytime transformation video from Twitter user @climaxrx (starts at :30):
ユニコーン変身 pic.twitter.com/41rem9fXLI
— りゅう (@climaxrx) September 25, 2017
If you thought the interchangeable parts of the RX-78-2 were cool, the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam has moving parts all around its body which transform it into DESTROY MODE. Note the shifting plates, the changing of the face plate, and the splitting of its iconic horn into a Gundam’s titular v-shaped fin. SO GOOD.
As if the sight of a giant robot wasn’t enough, the transformation is coupled with illuminated panels in its body while lines from the anime are used to hype the audience into a frenzy.
To usher in their new protector, the people of Japan even held a grand introductory ceremony. After an inspiring speech, the Unicorn Gundam made its first ever transformation into a bipedal weapon of mass awesomeness.
Here is the ceremony, courtesy of @EIZ_510 on Twitter:
内山さんとユニコーン変形 pic.twitter.com/krEH8KRLWy
— エイジ (@EIZ_510) September 23, 2017
Bystanders can catch the Gundam’s transformation every day at 11am and at 1pm, 3pm, and 5pm. The Gundam begins and ends the day in its unveiled Destroy Mode; so if you want to skip its ten-second transformation (why would you?), you can drop by the Diver City Tokyo Plaza then.
