Gundam Build Fighters Episode 9
What They Say:
Sei is working on a new Gunpla for use in the World Tournament. But, anxious about whether it’s safe to keep it “as is,” he has fallen into a kind of slump. When China unexpectedly ends up in a Gunpla Battle tournament limited to female players, she distracts Sei from his worries by asking him for Gunpla Battle advice. Thanks to intensive training by Sei and Reiji, China and her Gunpla, (Mr.) Beargguy III, begin piling up victories in the women-only tournament. Only one person stands in her way: Caroline Yajima, an art-contest veteran who considers herself China’s rival. China finds herself in peril when she faces the Gunpla that Caroline has built.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Gundam Build Fighters had a bit of a mixed episode the last time around in what it did as while I appreciated the action and the way it was animated, it was the convoluted and confusing story taking place elsewhere that really captured my attention. The potential for showing us the whole Gunpla competition may be revolving around testing and acquiring candidates to pilot real mobile suits is obviously a huge amount of childhood wish fulfillment but something that most people can identify with. The story certainly wasn’t strong in revealing things or doing it in a way that made it compelling, but for a show that has focused largely on plastic model battles in a virtual world, revealing that there may be something a lot more to it is definitely engaging and leaves me hopeful that it can really strike out into something bigger.
As the series moves closer to the World Tournament event, we get an episode here where some different things are going on. For Sei, he’s hard at work on his Gunpla that he wants to have for it, to the point of worrying his mother a whole lot. What helps to draw him out is that his mother gets China to come and talk to him and she shows him the kit she’s put together, which of course is done as just something cute. She’s pretty proud of it, but not obnoxious, and even Sei is pretty positive about the whole thing even while seeing there are a few issues with it. Where it all goes wonky though is when Caroline shows up in the park, having stalked them obviously, and insists on challenging China to a match again after the previous encounter she had with China. And that has China asking Sei for help on how to play a match and what’s involved. With a helpful nod from Reiji as well who is conveniently hanging around in time for an upbeat montage sequence. Go!
The match that comes from this is pretty straightforward when you get down to it as it’s only a small portion of the second half of the episode, but it’s fun to see the Bear Gunpla used here, complete with a bow, going up against some more impressive looking mobile suits. Now, it’s not G-Gundam kinds of awesome or anything so don’t get me wrong, but it’s fun to watch as she makes her way through things while the boys are doing their best to just get to the location. That she has some natural talent isn’t a surprise either since she has to stand next to such talented players and this at least gives her a little room to work with and not be dismissed entirely. Though it does go only so far in the end, it’s just fun to watch it unfold and to see the bonds between these three build up a bit more, which is definitely needed when it comes to China. Sei’s mother needs to start doing more parenting on her own though when it comes to her son.
In Summary:
Bringing China a bit more into the fold here, or at least allowing her to have the connection with the others to know what they’re experiencing and some of why it means so much to them, is a pretty decently done thing. It’s not going to be a standout episode or something referenced later on simply because it’s about two things; trying to get China on the same page as Sei in that she can appreciate his passions and trying to tell girls it’s cool to be a part of Gunpla, since they want everyone to be buying the kits. Whether it succeeds on the second count I’ll likely never know, but it does on the first if only by going through the most standard and obvious material, age appropriate I guess for the target audience, while not alienating the boys that can’t handle girls involve in their favorite things. I would have liked to have seen things handled different with China for more than just this episode, but it’s where they went and they hit all the expected notes.
Grade: B-
Streamed By: Official Gundam YouTube Channel
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.