Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly awaaaaay!
Hey there fans! This week, we get to look at a newly unveiled project between the airline company All Nippon Airways (ANA) and the entertainment company Bandai that celebrates the 30th anniversary of the first Gundam plastic model kit: a Boeing 777-300 jet airplane with a life-sized painting of a Gundam’s head on its left side and a similarly proportioned decal of the same Gundam lying on its back on the right side, creating the illusion that the Gundam — a model RX-78-2 Mobile Suit Gundam to be precise — is being flown to battle with the jet.
Called the “ANA x Gundam Sky Project,” the two companies intend to fly the jet on the 16th of July from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport to Osaka’s Itami Airport, with much fanfare and ceremony to accompany its first flight. In addition to the ceremony, the passengers of the flight will receive an “Original Passenger Certificate” as a gift. The jet will continue to service ANA until next March, with flights going to and from other cities in Japan, and, according to ANN, will have some awesome goodies for sale for its passengers:
People who fly a domestic ANA flight from July 1 to August 31 can buy an ANA original color version of the High Grade 1/144 Gundam G30th plastic model kit (pictured at left). People who fly any ANA flight from July 1, 2010 to February 28, 2011 can buy an ANA original color version of the 1/48 Mega-Size Model Gundam.
And this is what the model, fully constructed, will look like:
The RX-78-2 Gundam with the special-edition ANA colors. Oh so pretty!
A fascination with robots and mecha has always been the norm within Japanese culture, as proven by the several other robots lying around the country, and this one just proves how this cultural craze is so marketable, even though I’ve never really had a chance to get into constructing these little things. Personally I think the idea’s great: imagine some impressionable youth looking towards the sky after a tiresome, boring day, scanning the heavens above for inspiration when — suddenly — a giant robot seems to be floating through the sky! Its very size seems to boggle the mind as it rakes through the clouds, leaving a stream of white behind it. Stunned by the sight, the youth runs back home in a state of excitement and wonder, a witness to the Boeing 777’s magnificent tattoo and a newly born otaku (cue inspirational music).
Okay, maybe I’m stretching that a little. And there’s nothing more awesome to see in the sky than a Gundam being carried by a jet. Except perhaps a real Gundam. But a boy can dream, can’t he?
About the Author
After finding out that the school's library was a welcome respite from the heat of the tropical island he inhabited, Paolo Jasa found out that books were a whole lot better than being a constant target during P.E. class; so much so that he developed a love for them that would last him a life time. His first forays in Science Fiction were in the novels of the esteemed I. Asimov, R. Bradbury, and D. Adams, while his adventures in Fantasy took him to the realms of Discworld, Hogwarts, and a Chicago that houses the only Wizard-For-Hire found in the local Yellow Pages, Harry Dresden.
Then he found out about Gaiman's Sandman comics, Miyazaki's animé, Pixar's movies, and (almost) every single web-comic on the Internet.
This changed things a little bit. A lot, in fact.
Regardless, Paolo's currently enrolled in the College of William and Mary to get a Bachelor's Degree in ... something. Hopefully in English or in Education in order to become a teacher, and to bend the minds of the next generation towards all things nerdy. While not studying or reading, he enjoys playing the alto saxophone and singing unabashedly around campus when no one’s looking.