Awesome 60 Foot GIGANTOR Statue First Manga Giant Robot

The Japanese have done it again! They are creating a giant 60-foot life size robot statue of Manga's fist Giant Robot, Gigantor or Tetsujin 28-go as he was known in Japan. It is going a permanent tourist attraction, that will stand in Kobe's Wakamatsu Park. The Gigantor monument was organized under the NPO Kobe Tetsujin Project to honor the work of the late cartoonist Mitsuteru Yokoyama, a Kobe native and the genius behind such manga classics as Sally the Witch and Giant Robo.

Gigantor is also a symbol of the rebirth of Kobe after it was devastated by the 1995 earthquake that killed more than 6,000 people. January 2010 marks the 15th anniversary of the tragedy. Ironically, Gigantor was inspired by Yokoyama's experiences in World War II, specifically the awesome sight of U.S. B-29 Superfortresses flying over Kobe, which was bombed to ashes.

Gigantor was first serialized in 1956, a secret weapon developed by Japan in a desperate bid to avoid defeat. It later goes to work fighting crime along with boy wonder Shotaro Kaneda.

Here is a little video clip of the statue they are putting up in the city of Kobe. It weighs 50 tons and cost some 135 million yen ($1.5 million) to build. It took about six weeks to erect. An opening ceremony for the Gigantor statue is scheduled for October 4.



Here is the video of them building the statue.



Via: Scifiwire