To Gundam Town to build a gunpla.
What They Say:
“G-MUSE”
Having achieved their first victory in the practice match with Gyanko, the Try Fighters are training hard for the regional qualifiers which will be held in one month. Fumina is thinking of building a new mobile suit for use in the tournament, and when she confers with Mr. Ral, he suggests that she and Sekai take a trip to G-Muse. Here, Fumina virtually goes into a trance as she tries to choose a Gunpla, and Sekai is soon bored of watching her. A clerk encourages Sekai to build his first Gunpla, the Musha Godmaru, which he uses to battle some little kids. As Fumina rejoins him, they encounter Minato Sakai, a middle-school builder from Osaka. In the twinkling of an eye, Minato builds his own Kouki Gundam and begins a battle with Sekai. Thanks to his knowledge of SD Gundams’ unique traits, Minato gives Sekai a hard fight and ultimately defeats him. But this battle has given Sekai and Fumina some valuable ideas for the tournament.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Sekai is a character unlike Reiji. Reiji displayed interest in gunpla and gunpla battle, but seemingly never initiated this interest. It was by Sei or Aila, maybe. Reiji never had a moment where he looks up to the 1:1 scale Gundam in awe, unable to say anything beyond “wow.” Reiji was always interested in the battle, but never the model. Even when he built his own, it’s about him using his gunpla in battle.
So when Sekai’s gunpla, which he builds in this episode, is destroyed by a cocky guy from Osaka, I revel in it. Not because I wanted Sekai to feel this kind of low, but it’s a kind of character moment that Reiji never got. Sei and Reiji had a few moments of the gunpla being destroyed, but it was Sei’s gunpla that Reiji piloted. Sekai had his own destroyed by someone clearly superior because he was ill prepared. It was a stroke of luck that he stumbled upon the Build Burning Gundam.
When I say I love Gundam Build Fighters—both seasons—it’s not an exaggeration. Its love for Gundam is apparent and bleeds through the series. There’s a shot with Ral and his Gouf that you can’t help but love (because Ral’s a goof—ha!) because it’s so transparent that the folks making this love Gundam. It’s characters love it to and their almost blind enthusiasm for it makes them easy to root for.
When Yuma stands up, love of his short life in front of him, to admire a gunpla, it’s for no other reason than he wants to admire it. At an age when kids only think about girls, he’s thinking about gunpla.
I would be remiss not to mention the Osaka guy THROWING A GUNPLA INTO THE AIR AND THEN BUILDING IT!! That was one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever seen in anime, and I’ve seen a lot of anime.
In Summary:
I think this season of Gundam Build Fighters knows character more than the last. Not only is Hoshino the main character (a girl—diversity!), but the guys are getting their dues as well. Sekai’s conflict in these episodes have been almost nothing until now, but this episode made him potentially great. It’s how they play this loss in the next episode that’ll prove that.
Grade: A-
Streamed By: YouTube
Equipment: PS3, LG 47LB5800 47” 1080p LED TV, LG NB3530A Sound Bar
