A Chinese amusement park is facing allegations that a statue it erected for the Christmas season is a copy of the Gundam combat robot from the Japanese "anime" series.
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| Two of a kind: An 18-meter-tall "life-size" statue of the Gundam combat robot character (left) stands in the Odaiba district of Tokyo in July 2009. Floraland amusement park in China put up a giant statue this month that resembles the Japanese character, but claims it isn't a copy. KYODO PHOTO |
Sotsu Co., the Tokyo company managing the copyright of the sci-fi creation, which is also popular in China, said it has started looking into the origin of the golden statue at the Floraland park in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. The park's operator claims the design was original and it started building the statue six months ago.
The statue in question is about 15 meters tall and its face and equipment designs are similar to the original Gundam. In Japan, 18-meter-tall "life-size" statues of the character have been erected in Tokyo and Shizuoka, drawing many fans and tourists last year and this year.
The controversy arose after an amusement park near Beijing came under fire in 2007 for creating mascots and figures that resembled Disney characters and those of Japanese animated films.
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