Needless to say, the Gundam did not disappoint. We admired it for awhile, took photos and struck cheesy poses in front of it before eventually moving on. Behind the Gundam was the Diver City Mall; on its first floor was the Gundam Cafe, which sold over-priced knickknacks and treats. Outside the cafe, a rookie J-pop group was doing a street show for a small group of what I assume to be devoted fans. We watched for a bit before going inside the mall, where we were greeted by an impressive assortment of shops and restaurants. We would save exploring for later, as our main concern was on the 7th floor, the Gundam Front itself.
The Gundam Front was divided into two main sections: a store and a museum. While the merchandise in the store was limited to just a handful of limited edition kits that are only sold on location, it was the museum's variety of attractions that made the Gundam Front truly impressive. First was the Gunpla gallery room, which hosted all of the winners and finalists from the 2014 Gunpla Builders World Cup, as well as display cases featuring stock versions of practically every Gunpla ever released. It was wonderful being able to see with my own two eyes the 2014 champions, and equally delightful to see finalists I recognized from the World Cup exhibitions I went to in Seoul and Hong Kong.
After the gallery room, we watched a short Gundam film in the 360-degree dome theater, wherein the movie was projected on the dome above our heads. It was pretty novel, even if I left the theater with a crick in my neck. Exiting the theater took us to a large room with a life-size bust of Freedom Gundam, a life-size core fighter, a scale diorama of the climactic final battle from the third Gundam movie, and several other nifty little photo-ops. We continued onward to another gallery, this one featuring artwork and original promotional materials from classic Gundam animations, and at the end we found ourselves right back in the Gundam Front shop. All in all, a fun afternoon.
We spent the rest of the day checking out Diver City Mall, doing some shopping, eating delicious Japanese food and generally goofing around. We left after dark, and timed it so we could catch the Gundam statue's light show. From there we walked to Pallet Town shopping center, because we saw from afar it had a Ferris wheel and thought it would be fun to sneak some hamburgers on board, take a spin and snap a few "couple photographs" to make our girlfriends jealous.
Our last stop was nearby Oedo Onsen, a traditional style Japanese bathhouse. The interior was decked out to resemble an old-timey Japanese market, and when we weren't bathing we were strutting around in our yukatas. The bath itself was magnificent, and around 2AM we took a taxi back to our capsules.
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