Gundam Build Fighters Episode 13
What They Say:
The World Tournament enters its third period, which consists of one-on-one battles using only the original weapons prepared by the tournament organizers. Nobody will know what the weapons are until the battle begins. Although confused by the unfamiliar weapons, the top fighters win their battles, one after another. Sei and Reiji’s opponent is the Thai representative Luang Dallara, a top champion of the tournament.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With some good matches behind us so far, Gundam Build Fighters returns from its holiday break as it shifts into the winter season with more character bits coming into play. The World Tournament has offered up some really interesting things so far but it’s also thrown a lot of characters at us and the mysterious adult segment that seems to be looking for something greater. And, of course, the way some have recognized Reiji and are wondering how he’s in this world. It’s all little bits that I find very intriguing and wishing for more serious attention to be paid to. But I also just like the youthful nature of so much of what we get here in the real world and the kind of interactions that comes from it.
The opening half of the episode gives us some nice down time with the various core characters as they enjoy the beautiful day before going into the third period aspect of the World Tournament. There’s some cute little bits that come here and a sense of quiet and calm that you know will be broken soon enough. Which happens as we get the next match getting underway as it’s a series of one on one matches where the various participants get to use weapons they haven’t used before. This proves to be quite the challenge for them since most are used to a particular type and really stick to it. Which makes sense since you want to master a weapon and become the best that you can with it. By being forced into this, we get to see the struggles a bit but also some really fun variety in the style of attacks in the different locales, which offers up some nice visuals even if they aren’t truly striking.
They do have some comical fun with parts of this though as there’s a segment that involves the mobile suits playing a game of baseball against each other in a weaponized form. That’s done for humor but it also has a good bit of style to it as we see Sei and Reiji playing the pitcher role and going up against Luang in a really fun way. It’s over the top and obviously comical with its portrayal – right down to the way that Sei’s Gundam looks like it has a baseball cap on, but it actually manages to work. I mean, it’s not inspiring and it doesn’t make me want to field a baseball team of mobile suits, but there’s some really fun visuals to the whole thing as it plays out that you should be able to enjoy in its absurdity.
In Summary:
At this stage, the fun is mostly involving the actual matches in the World Tournament itself rather than giving us much more about the larger storyline that has been percolating for a bit. That’s not a bad thing since I’m enjoying the varied aspects of the matches, though I’ll admit that I’m not giving much thought to the people that the opponents are because they’re largely just stand-in caricatures and archetypes at this point. They get the job done well and help to push and grow Sei and Reiji into being the best they can be and that’s all I want out of it. The action is fun here and the motivations are nicely done, especially since we get the silliness of a baseball game here for a bit. It’s still not something exceptional, but it has the potential for that 180 degree turn that could make it something far more interesting than it is.
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.