Guys, America is in an economic crisis. Job growth has been stagnant for years, no one can agree on a tax rate, and the debt ceiling is fast approaching. We have serious problems. But at least we're no worse off than the rest of the world, right? Every nation's hurting right along with America. Certainly no other nations are just straight-up dicking around with frivolous, pop-culture inspired projects, right?
Goddamn it Japan I should have know.
(source)
Yes, the Liberal Democratic Party, Japan's dominant political force, is seriously considering creating a fully-functional Gundam. This discussion of course comes after their plan to craft an actual Blastoise fell apart in committe.
No one would blame you if you just totally stopped paying taxes, Japan.
(source)
The Gundam would be man-sized and function as a mech to bolster Japan's peace-keeping force. The Japan Science and Technology Agency estimates it will cost around $725,000,000 US dollars, or roughly, um, infinity yen. The problem, of course, is that by not making it as big as a skyscraper, they're removing the best part about Gundam! It's like taking the "Kitty" out of Hello Kitty.
Then all you have is a polite wave.
(source)
So this doesn't make a lick of sense. Japan's economy is not in great shape. I don't want to be a sour sally (that's probably a thing people are called sometimes), but building awesome robots is not the way to get out of a fiscal crisis. The only thing I can think of is that the Liberal Democrats are hoping to capture the nerd vote. But that is not a hard group to win over—you talk to them about Neon Genesis Evangelion for twenty minutes and you have their vote.
And according to Amazon, it's 724,999,942.10 dollars cheaper.
(source)
What would you do with an actual Gundam? Let me know on twitter @mikeyfromsu or in the comments below!
Check out Japan's real life Pokecenters!
