RAPPORTO/ Gundam Front Tokyo


After four travels to Japan, I finally managed to take a proper visit to the Gundam Front, an attraction dedicated to the "White Demon" of the Federation, located into the mall of Diver City Tokyo of Odaiba, in Tokyo Bay.
Here is the report where I share my experience :D

First of all, it must be clear that reaching Odaiba is A BOTHER.
It's not quite close to Tokyo, and all the travel methods to reach it are kinda expensive.
This time I picked the Yurikamome, the private line that connects Tokyo to its bay. To take it you have to get the JR Tokaido Line, the JR Yamanote Line or the JR Kehin-Tohuku Line to SHIMBASHI and get off there.
Once you reached Shimbashi, go out of the JR Station following the signs for the Yurikamome line and you're done: direction DAIBA, get off at the station with the same name.

An alternative is the Rinkai Line, and getting off at the TOKYO TELEPORT stop, but it's a bit too pricey compared to the other solutions, and the stop is a little further than DAIBA's.
--But still, it depends on your starting location, and if you own some discount pass for some specific company line ;)

The Yurikamome is kinda expensive, but it's worth a ride because it really feels like taking some kind of rollercoaster... I saw lots of students taking it to get home from school, and I was really envious D:

Anyway, once you get off at Daiba Station you should find some directions to the Gundam like this:
When they suddenly stop, don't worry! Follow the directions to Le Daiba hotel, and once you get to the entrance of the hotel, look for the directions to the Diver City Tokyo mall.
Turn left, and you should find the 1/1 scale RX-78-2 in front of the mall giving you a hint ;D







On the screen behind the RX are usually projected exclusive movies, and the RX is lightened up to match them up.
Here it was saying that the current featured movie is dedicated to the attack to Jaburo, and it shows the schedule of the projections.
Of course I couldn't stay for so long, as I had a Shinkansen to Nagoya waiting for me in the evening, but I was quite intrigued by the idea!

Let's get accustomed to the area.
Right behind the RX, you can spot the Gundam Cafe of Daiba.
I talk about it in this report, so check that out for further infos.

In front of the entrance of the mall, is this tiny shopping point:
It's nothing more than an "extra shop" affiliated to the one of the Gundam Front, offering the same items and updating on what is sold-out during the day:






I think that they placed it there so to ride the enthusiasm of the casual walkers for the RX. Or to spare your average otaku from entering a freaking mall filled with trendy people and shops XD

Anyway, the Gundam Front is located at the 7th floor of the Diver City Tokyo shopping mall.
You can get there by escalator, or you can take the elevator so to avoid the tones of trendy Japins around... Anyway, it's easy to reach:



Now, the place is divided into two separate zones: the "free zone", where you have free access, and the "pay zone", where you have to pay a ticket (1000 yen for adults, 800 yen for kids) to enter.

The "free zone" consists of a gunpla museum and two shops, one dedicated to clothes, the other to the merchandising, most of it exclusive of the Gundam Front.
Let's take a closer look to everything!

The first place that you will spot is the gunpla museum, the GUNPLA Tokyo, sponsored and supported by Bandai and Sunrise:
--I think that it's possible to buy gunpla from here too, but I'm not sure since I didn't ask.

The GUNPLA Tokyo acts as a museum and a showcase for the new gunpla and anime releases.






When I visited both the new series of Gundam Build Fighters Try and Gundam G no Reconguista were airing.
Special spots were dedicated to the gunpla of these series (yet to be released), too.

Out of all the exposed gunpla, the ones that caught my attention were the "prototypes" of the MS that we got to see in the series:









Then it was the turn of the "customs" of the Zeon pilots:













I also enjoyed some sections dedicated to figures, the UC Hardgraph series and some dioramas featured on magazines:







Another interesting spot of the place is the one dedicated to the exclusive collections of gunpla.
The most popular are the one dedicated to all the versions of the RX-78-2, and the one dedicated to all the Gundam featured in the various series:




Well, I can say for sure that the collections of OUR IGB are way bigger and cooler >3> !

The next shop on our way is the G-Style, a shop dedicated to clothes and accessories of the sort.
They featured some promotional videos dedicated to videogames and the like, and they sport also their very own customized RX-78-2:



I'm not really interested in those items, but I liked the idea of the t-shirts inspired by the episodes of the TV series--


I would have bought one, if the ENGRISH wasn't so bad ;_;

I rushed to the shopping section to see what it had to offer.
It was very fun, this wall with the organizations of the Gundam universe depicted as "sponsors" XD

I was greeted by some gashapon dedicated to the Gundam Front and its attractions--

--And then I got distracted:





Then it was the time to enter the "pay zone".
Here are some attractions worth some attention, like the scale diorama of Ao Baoa Qu's battle or the core-fighter, where you can get a good view of the cockpit of the Gundam. Unfortunately I couldn't take pictures of everything as it was forbidden (and the place was pretty much empty, so I had all the eyes of the staff on me T_T), but whenever I could, I did.
--Here is the 1/1 scale bust of the Strike Freedom Gundam.
It's possible to take a picture in its cockpit and cosplay, but the thing costs 2700 yen. I ignored it and passed by--

--Expecially because the other thingies were for free!
Here I am taking a picture with Gihren at the Photo Spot:

Here I'm fighting my ass off during a Gunpla Battle:

And here I'm in the cockpit of the Gundam Unicorn-- Or so say the magic of perspective:
--I'm sure that I gave to the staff of the Gundam Front the time of their life x'D

They sure grew affectionate, as they came after me twice to make me watch the movies of the Dome G XD
In case you didn't know, make sure to check the schedule of the movies at the end of this corridor, by the entrance to the dome: usually there are TWO different movies scheduled for the day, not just one:




The picture above is not an actual picture, but a scan from a guidebook to the Gundam Front that I bought, where you can get the idea of how the whole thing looks when in action.

The two movies that I watched were one about the Neo Zeong attacking Odaiba, with the Unicorn protecting it, and it left me speechless, the second was some recollection of various scenes of the various series dedicated to how love is the strenght of the universe blahblah, ending with the famous fight between the Rebawoo, the Unicorn Phenex and the Unicorn Banshee-- I don't know it if was the whole "One of Seventy-Two" movie or just the final part connected to the previous patchwork... Mah! Anyway it was impressing :/ !! Also if not as easily "watchable" as I imagined...

Then, the last part that I visited, and the one that I wanted to visit the most, was the museum space:
When I visited, the exhibition was dedicated to the celebrations of the 35th anniversary of Gundam-- I talk about it in this report in case you're curious ;D

It was late afternoon and it was time to go-- I really enjoyed my visit here, and if you're a fan of Gundam, it's a place where you MUST GO ;D

/PRACTICAL INFORMATIONS

Entrance fee: 1000 yen, Children: 800 yen
Reservation: Not required
Operating Hours: 1000-2100, Last Entry: 2000
Website: http://gundamfront-tokyo.com/en/

And that's all, I hope that you found this article exhaustive! If you have other questions about it, feel free to drop me a line here, I'll reply promptly ^_^

Daeva.