Model robots is an area of modeling with its origin in the
Japanese anime genre of
mecha. The majority of model
robots are produced by
Bandai and are based on the
Mobile Suit Gundam anime
metaseries. This has given rise to the hobby's common name in Japan,
Gunpla (or
gan-pura, a Japanese portmanteau of "Gundam" and "plastic model"). Though there are exceptions, the model robot genre is dominated by anime tie-ins, with anime series and movies frequently serving as merchandising platform.