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World's Largest Evangelion Statue Earns Guinness Record in Shanghai

The ChinaJoy gaming expo unveiled a gigantic Evangelion Unit-01 statue in Shanghai last summer. The statue was recently rebuilt in a new location in Shanghai, and it made its official debut on Tuesday.

The game developer heitao, maker of one of China's Evangelion smartphone games, planned the giant statue. When it appeared at ChinaJoy, the Spear of Longinus sat on the ground next to Unit-01. However, the Eva is holding the 24.8-meter (about 81-foot) weapon for the reconstruction.

The standing spear may have helped make the Unit-01 into a world record holder. The statue received the Guinness World Record on Tuesday for being the world's largest Evangelion. The award certificate lists Neon Genesis Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno's Studio Khara (Evangelion remake films) as the statue's owner. China Shanghai Character License Administrative Corporation (SCLA) cooperated on the project. The company has held the Eva Expo event in China since 2013.

While it was still under construction, the statue looked like it may have already faced off against some Angels. The construction photos reveal that the statue now sits in an area surrounded by large roads. Hopefully, plenty of Evangelion fans can access the real-world Unit-01 at its new site.

Hakone, the anime's setting, received a 1:1-scale replica of Shinji's Eva Unit-01 in July 2015. The six-meter (about 20 feet) tall statue was then labeled as the biggest Evangelion in the world.

The Fuji-Q Highland theme park in Yamanashi Prefecture is also home to a life-size bust of Eva Unit-01. The attraction got a new projection mapping show last year.

[Via Hachima Kikō, Minna no Eva Fan]