In planning any large-scale sporting event, organizers have to take security needs into consideration. Any time you combine thousands of people in a confined space with heightened emotions and flowing alcohol, there’s at least the chance that some individuals will be tempted to cross the line of polite behavior or even public safety, so it’s always a good idea to have a few security guards or uniformed police officers on hand.
Or, as shown in this awesome time-lapse video filmed outside a stadium in Chiba Prefecture, the giant robot from Patlabor.
One of the things that sets the Patlabor franchise apart from other giant robot shows is the way it examines how such machines would fit into society. For example, it wouldn’t do to have an eight-meter (26-foot, 3-inch) robot running about the city, tearing up the roads in the process. Instead, the anime’s designers hit upon the idea of transporting their heroes’ robots, called Ingrams, on the back of flat-bed trucks, a choice that’s been retained for the ongoing live-action adaptation.
Not only does this add a touch of realism, it makes transporting and displaying the full-size model created for the film a snap, as it’s no harder to move the Ingram from place to place than, say, a truckfull of potatoes.
The robot has previously shown up in Yokohama and Tokyo, and now Chiba has been graced by its presence. Located on the shoreline of Chiba City, QVC Marine Field is the home of the Chiba Lotte Marines professional baseball team, and before a recent home game against the Softbank Hawks, visitors to the stadium were greeted by the towering mecha, as shown in this amazing time-lapse video taken by YouTube user Darwinfish105.
The Ingram even played to local tastes by sporting a Chiba Lotte Marines towel draped around its shoulders, in the same manner of fans who had come to cheer on the home team. Apparently the site of their literally biggest fan was enough to fire up the struggling Marines, who went on to shut out the league-leading Hawks, 4-0.
With the victory secured, it was time to lay the robot back down and move out. The next stop on the Patlabor may be a mystery, but with anyplace connected to the Japanese highway network a candidate, we doubt we’ve seen the last of the Ingram.
Source, images: YouTube