Fans bid goodbye on Sunday to a "life-size," moving Gundam model based on the robot featured in the Japanese science fiction anime series, as the exhibition in Yokohama near Tokyo ended its run after an extended display.
The 18-meter-tall giant robot with moving limbs has fascinated fans from around the world by stepping out of its dock and making various poses since the exhibition at the Gundam Factory Yokohama started in December 2020.
The spectacle began as part of a project to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first showing of the television series, which started in 1979.
The exhibition featuring the model, which has 36 movable parts, was extended twice beyond the initial closing date of March 2022 due to fans' requests.
A married couple in their 40s from Tokyo said they found it a pity that they would no longer be able to see the model and that they hope the giant robot will be preserved somehow somewhere.
Yoshiyuki Tomino, chief director of the anime series "Mobile Suit Gundam," thanked fans at the closing event held in the evening.
Over 1.75 million people visited the site on Yamashita Pier during the exhibition, according to the organizer of the event.
The anime, which revolves around giant robots fighting wars in space and on Earth, has spawned a successful franchise including video games and plastic models.
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