The original Mobile Suit Gundam TV series premiered on Japanese TV in 1979, and for the better part of the next two decades the franchise was more or less exclusive to its home country.
First announced last summer, it’s a recreation of the ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam, the hero mecha of the Mobile Suit Gundam Seed series, likely reflecting Chinese otaku’s fondness for that particular branch of the franchise (though this will no doubt irk fans of the separate but similarly named GF7-023NA Gundam Freedom from Mobile Fighter G Gundam 7th Fight).
Like the Unicorn, the Freedom Gundam stands guard outside a shopping center, the newly built Mitsui Shopping Park Lalaport Jinqiao.
It’s easy to forget how long it took Gundam to get out of Japan.