Its four giant arms are all the better to hug you with.

One of my few complaints with the 2025 Osaka-Kansai World Expo was the lack of robots. There were a few of those cat-waiter models scooting around and some other sentry droids, but nothing I hadn’t seen elsewhere in Japan. I was kind of expecting more of a glimpse at the future of robots, like those ones online that run around and punch each other.

▼ “Hey… Didn’t you serve my quesadillas at Coco’s the other day?”

I guess I just went on the wrong day, because from 16 to 28 September, Tokyo-based robotics firm Asratec will be exhibiting five of their models. The centerpiece of these is HL-Zero, which will make its first public appearance at the Expo.

It’s impossible to tell from this photo, but HL-Zero is quite large, standing at 4 meters (13 feet) tall and weighing in at 200 kilograms (440 pounds). But what really sets it apart is that it’s rather squishy. Known as a Pneumatic Bot, its rigid robotic frame is covered with a balloon-like inflatable layer to give it a more organic appearance and make it more easily scalable to enormous sizes.

▼ I could have sworn that was a human butt.

HL-Zero was designed with the help of artist Hidetaka Tenjin, who worked on several Macross titles as well as other anime and games. The same technology behind it is planned to be used for character robots at amusement parks and events where a wide ranges of shapes and sizes can be used to create authentic looking monsters and creatures.

The involvement of Tenjin was an excellent choice because many people online were taken by HL-Zero’s design. Some even developed JRPG battle mechanics for it. Not everyone was impressed though.

“What is this god-like thing from the new world?”
“It looks like it knows how to use those arms, so avoid them while focusing attacks on the body.”
“Give it two spears.”
“Looks like a party-wipe boss. It’ll take a few hits before jumping and pulling a move that hits all members of the party. When its HP is low, its face appears on its chest and does a three-move battle set, which is cool. It doesn’t waste time with barriers or healing.”
“It looks like a DLC boss for Atomic Heart.”
“It’s really freaking cool, but maybe a little too cool…”
“General Grievous?”
“China’s got breakdancing robots. Is this the best we can do?”

Breakdancing robots are cool and all, but every time I see those kinds of robots, I can’t help but wonder how long it’ll be before we see them holding guns. Japanese society has always been of the mind that robots have a role in daily life, and should be designed in ways that make interaction with humans feel safe and natural.

This can be seen in Asratec’s other robots that will be on display at the Expo, such as the Nyusuke, the huggable cat robot that dances.

There’s also the whimsical-looking Halmonia Compass, a six-legged companion robot capable of carrying your belongings over uneven terrain.

The point is, there are many different ways to make robots, and they all don’t have to involve walking on two feet, which, despite looking cool, is highly overrated and inefficient. I mean, it even takes us about a year of our lives just to start figuring it out, while horses got the whole walking thing down cold by the end of the day they’re born.

Source: Asratec, Halmonium, PR Times, Hachima Kiko
Featured image: YouTube/AsratecCorp
Insert images: ©SoraNews24, PR Times
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