Original Gundam Designer Kunio Okawara Designs ‘Usagi’ Gundam for Chinese New Year

Celebrated mechanical designer Kunio Okawara has released the “Usagi Gundam” design for the upcoming Chinese New Year, which marks the year of the Rabbit. Usagi(兎) translates to “Rabbit” in Japanese. This will mark the fifth “Zodiac Gundam” the 75 year old designer has made for the yearly cultural festival since 2019. His previous designs included the Tora(Tiger) Gundam, Ushi(Ox) Gundam, Nezumi(Rat) Gundam, and Inoshishi(Boar) Gundam. These designs are primarily marketed towards mainland China with exclusive merchandise and artwork.

Beginning his career with the 1972 Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, Okawara was the first credited “mechanical designer”. He would go on to design the iconic RX-78-2 Gundam for the original 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam series, and continue to contribute his talents to the Gundam franchise and many other mecha anime works for over forty years.