June 26, 2024, was a milestone for Gundam fans as the Gundam Conference 2024 was held. There was a plethora of announcements catering to the most devoted fans, especially the model enthusiasts who have been building Gundam Plastic Models (Gunpla) for a long time.

Here’s a rundown of all the announcements and reveals. There’s a lot to go over, so buckle up!

Gundam Next Future Pavilion

The conference started with an introduction by Chief Gundam Officer (CGO) Hiroshi Sakakibara, also President and CEO of Bandai Spirits. He acknowledged the Yokohama Factory closure, which ended last March, and how it drew in 1.75 million visitors since it opened 3 years ago in December 2020. But with every ending is also a beginning, as he also announced the Gundam Next Future Pavilion, with the tagline “Life is spreading into the future.”

A diorama showing how the pavilion will look like was unveiled and is currently in construction. The highlight, of course, is the life-size statue that will be erected at the Gundam Next Future Pavilion at the Expo beginning in April 2025.

Despite being a stationary statue, it is also the first Gundam statue in the Kansai region. Worth noting is that the statue will be reusing parts from the previous installation in Yokohama. Sakakibara-san also elaborated that the majority of the parts will be reutilized with some modifications, and the statue will be classified as RX-78F00/E.

Initiatives to liven up the Pavilion were also announced, one of which is the Gundam Next Future Road to 2025, which will happen in various prefectures in the lead-up to the Pavilion’s completion and opening of the Expo in 2025.

Gundam Connect Action

Another Initiative is the Gundam Connect Action, which is currently ongoing. In it, messages from fans the world over are being collected, whether it be their fond memories or hopes for the future of the franchise. All these collected messages will somehow be connected to the Pavilion to be viewed by other fans, a way to connect everyone who loves the franchise.

Gunpla Academia 

Another initiative is the Gunpla Academia, which is taking place in Elementary Schools across Japan. Students are taught about plastic models and get to build their very own Gunpla after watching some footage. To date, over 600,000 students have experienced this initiative, and Sakakibara-san hopes this will instill an interest in various fields like architecture, manufacturing, robotics, or making stuff in general.

More announcements!

The next segment of the program had a trio of guests to talk more about the future plans for Gundam. This panel consisted of:

• Naohiro Ogata – Director of Bandai Namco Filmworks / General Manager Gundam Business in IP Division
• Kanata Hongo – Japanese Actor (Hiei from Yu Yu Hakusho Live Action) / Very big Gunpla and Gundam fan
• Hirotake Taguchi – Deputy General Manager of Hobby Division in BANDAI SPIRITS

Elaborating on what activities will be happening in the lead-up to the opening of the Gundam Next Future Pavilion, fans can look forward to:

• A new 45^th Anniversary Commemorative Illustration featuring Kira Yamato, Athrun Zala, and Cagalli Yula Athha depicts a popular scene from Phase-39 of the Mobile Suit Gundam Seed series.

• Gundam Next Future -Road to 2025- an initiative where events will be held throughout Japan leading up to the expo. The RG Gundam2.0 was also put on display, which featured more detailed articulation.

• At each venue of Gundam Next Future, a statue with the commemorative Earth Colors will be displayed. Pre-orders for the said Gunpla are now available in Premium Bandai’s Gundam Base Online.

• Gundam GWX 30^TH Anniversary Project – a series of projects celebrating 3 alternate universe Gundam shows, beginning with G Gundam Gaiden.

• Mobile Suit Gundam Silver Phantom – A VR animation project that brings you directly into the action using VR Headsets.

• Mobile Suit Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance – A Netflix exclusive series set in the Universal Century during the later stages of the One Year War and from the point of view of a division of the Principality of Zeon. Naturally, gunpla based on this series will also be released, with the mobile suits being revealed on the program.  

It’s a pretty long wait until the Pavilion’s opening in 2025, but the plethora of activities leading up to it will make sure fans have a lot of content to enjoy in the meantime.