GUNDAM NEXT FUTURE PAVILION Debuts with 17-Meter Statue at Expo 2025 Osaka

Bandai Namco Holdings Inc. has officially opened its GUNDAM NEXT FUTURE PAVILION at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, featuring an impressive 17-meter-tall life-sized GUNDAM statue with one hand reaching toward space, symbolizing humanity’s future. The pavilion aims to connect people globally through the GUNDAM universe while exploring themes of life in space and technologies not yet realized.

The pavilion offers visitors an immersive 50-minute journey through eight phases, simulating travel from Yumeshima Terminal in Osaka to the fictional Star Jaburo station via an orbital elevator, set in a new interpretation of the franchise’s Universal Century timeline. The experience features original footage titled GUNDAM: Next Universal Century and showcases various mobile suits, including a GUNDAM equipped with a glass feather on its back.

Mobile Suit Gundam’s Chief Director Yoshiyuki Tomino shared a message for the pavilion’s guidebook, noting that while the exhibits represent pure fantasy, they serve an important purpose by showing “such possibilities exist, so please do not lose hope for the future.”

To complement the physical exhibition, a virtual version of the pavilion will be available in the Expo’s Virtual Expo – Yumeshima Islands in the Sky digital space from April 21 to May 20, 2025. Additionally, a Pavilion Day event featuring the Osaka Symphony Orchestra and performances by artists including Takanori Nishikawa will be held on July 20 at the Expo Hall Shining Hat.

The GUNDAM NEXT FUTURE PAVILION will be open to visitors from April 13 to October 13, 2025, with the outdoor GUNDAM statue viewable from 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM without reservation. The pavilion experience itself requires advance or same-day reservations and operates from 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM daily.

An official guidebook detailing the pavilion, including Tomino’s full message, design sketches, and interviews with production staff, will be available for purchase starting April 13, 2025, for 3,850 yen.

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