Bigger than Big, Taller than Tall

Gigantor, the Space-Age Robot! He’s at YOUR COMMAND!

Remember Gigantor? You know, the ’60s-era Japanese cartoon about a little boy and his pet giant robot who run around fighting evil? Very goofy stories, as I remember them, but very influential, in both Japan and America.

The city of Kobe, Japan loves Gigantor. They love him so much, they’re building a life-sized statue of him.

The 18 meter high, 70 ton Ironman-28 will carry the price tag of 135 million yen. The project is expected to be completed in the spring of 2008.

(…)

The statue will serve as a double memorial, marking both the birthplace of creator Mitsuteru Yokoyama, who passed away in 2004 in an apartment fire, as well as celebrate the revitilization of the area, which was devastated in the 1995 Kobe earthquake.

I’m sorry to say it, but Japan is completely kicking our butts on the building-giant-statues-of-robots front. Statues of guys on horseback just can’t match giant robots for coolness…

(Link via Kevin Church)