Man builds giant robot to realize his anime dream
Engineer always wanted to ride inside a giant robot, so he built his own!
Masaaki Nagumo has always dreamed of riding inside of a giant robot, just like the characters in his favorite anime series, “Gundam,” one of the most popular franchises in Japan.
The 44-year-old engineer built the “Landwalker Mononofu,” or “LW-Mononofu” for short, a humanoid robot that stands nearly 30 feet tall and weighs over 7 tons, according to Reuters.
Nagumo can control the robot’s arms and feet from inside of a cockpit, which is accessible only through a mechanical lift. The robot even comes equipped with an air gun that can shoot sponge balls at 86 mph.
Nagumo works for Sakakibara Kikai, a maker of farming machinery that also develops robots and other amusement machines. Renting the LW-Mononofu, or any of Nagumo’s other robots, costs about $930 an hour.
Nagumo hopes that other fans can live out their “Gundam” fantasy, just like he has.