Everybody knows that there’s been a massive, world-view-bending feud bubbling up between national superpowers since roughly the end of 2015. And that feud is, of course, the one between two MEGA MECHS from the U.S. and Japan, who are set to absolutely destroy each other with chainsaws and “serious firepower” in what can only be called the robo-apocalyptic event of every giant-robot lover’s dreams. And now it’s official: The dream will come true in August of this year.
If you’re unfamiliar with the feud between America’s MegaBots, Inc. and Japan’s Suidoboshi Heavy Industries (SHI), it’s a tale of the former challenging the latter to a giant robot “duel” for pride, title, and the posterity of giant mechs that will surely battle to the death for years to come, sawing and burning each other down in front of an audience like Ancient Roman Gladiators made of steel and flamethrowers.
A look at SHI’s KURATAS.
The robots facing off in August—which will now happen at an undisclosed location because the “original Duel venue fell through” and caused considerable delays—is between Megabots’ Mk. III and SHI’s KURATAS. Considerable battle upgrades have been made to both the original Mk. III and KURATAS over the last year-plus, the Mk. III’s coming after the team behind the 12,000-pound bot raised over $500,000 on kickstarter.
Although no full images or videos are available of either giant robot, the Mk. III will be on display in the San Francisco Bay Area in May before it goes off to battle. Plus, MegaBots has released progress videos of Mk. III, one of which features it absolutely shredding cars with its hydraulic hands.
The team at SHI, on the other hand, has been completely mum about what upgrades it’s made to KURATAS since it accepted MegaBots’ challenge. Although some very serious mods should be expected for the 9,000-pound KURATAS, as the challenge response video from SHI notes that “giant robots are Japanese culture” and that they intend to “punch [the Mk. III] to scrap.”
What do you think about this international giant-robot duel? Who do you have your money on? Let us know below!
Images: YouTube / MegaBots Inc
