Other anime and tokusatsu heroes can be seen on the sidewalk below.

With so many of Japan’s anime series taking place in Tokyo, fans might half-expect to suddenly find themselves walking past their favorite characters on the streets of the capital. But come on now, this is real life we’re talking about here, and-

Oh, wait, it turns out there is a street in Tokyo where heroes such as Dragon Ball’s Son Goku and Anpanman are just hanging around on the sidewalk. There’s a reason for this, and it’s that this is the sidewalk right in front of the head office of Bandai, Japan’s biggest toymaker and otaku-oriented merchandiser, in Tokyo’s Asakusa neighborhood.

▼ Good to see Doraemon has returned from his near-death experience at the bottom of the sea.

You’ll even find tokusatsu icons Ultraman and Kamen Rider standing guard, ever vigilant as they keep an eye out for a crisis that needs their attention.

As cool as the statues are, though, we have to admit it’s a little anti-climactic seeing Ultraman in human size. After all, he fights full-size kaiju with his bare hands on a weekly basis, so really he should be a lot bigger. He should be….

…this big.

Ah, that’s more like it. Though he’s not a permanent part of the exterior, right now the Bandai building is sporting 1:1-scale artwork of the hero, as part of the runup to the release of Shin Ultraman, the franchise’s newest theatrical installment.

▼ There’s a Shin Ultraman display at ground level too.

Shin Ultraman is being produced by Hideaki Anno, who also directed Evangelion and Shin Godzilla. Out of those three titular stars, though, Ultraman’s unalloyed heroism makes him the most reassuring to see rendered in full-scale.

We can probably expect the ultra-sized art to be up at least until Shin Ultraman premiers in theaters on May 13, so we might pick up an Ultraman chicken burger and go back to have lunch with the big guy before then.

Location information
Bandai Headquarters Building / バンダイ本社ビル
Address: Tokyo-to, Taito-ku, Komagata 1-4-8
東京都台東区駒形1-4-8

Photos ©SoraNews24
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