Gundam Build Fighters Episode 22
What They Say:
As the second match of the tournament quarterfinals approaches, Meijin Kawaguchi’s opponent is changed. The new fighter’s name is Julian Mackenzie, and Kawaguchi and Allan are terrified to hear this name. At the Gunpla school that Allan and Tatsuya Yuuki once attended, Julian was the top student, whose Gunpla building techniques and control abilities were said to be closest to those of a Meijin.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With a good focus on Aila and the issues surrounding her in the last couple of episodes, they’ve worked her in a decent way to make her a character that you can connect with more and root for as the situation is likely to change in the future. We had some good intensity from Reiji as well, which was welcome to see, since he lives with his emotions on his sleeve usually and something like this definitely warranted a big reaction. And one to show her, force her in a way, onto the right path or out of the arena completely. Sei was kind of sidelined to it, but it was more that he was caught up in Reiji’s wake and pulled along, which worked well enough since the two are definitely a very solid team at this point of the quarterfinals.
The show kicks off with some fun in the hotel room since Aila is staying with the boys at the moment and that obviously doesn’t go over well. Where it gets interesting is that the talk of Reiji and his true home, being a prince of a place called Airan, is openly talked about – and roundly laughed about, which frustrates him. Sei is more curious about it since Reiji hasn’t lied at all to him so far, but there’s just the implausible aspect to it all as well. This provides a light and fun aspect to the show before things turn more serious as the next match is being set up and we get a changeout in players due to an illness. That brings Julian Mackenzie into play, who has himself a really striking Gunpla kit to bring into it through a bit of fun deception. With his grandfather not wanting to go up against Kawaguchi, he sets the stage for a good battle ahead.
Mackenzie gets a touch of back story here, which is alright in the framing of this kind of series, that’s used to show why some who are aware of him aren’t exactly pleased to see him being fielded in the tournament at this stage. But it all leads to the fight itself between Mackenzie and Kawaguchi which goes for the classic non-fight standoff early on as each side tests each other mentally before going for the full on fight. I love that they brought the F91 into play here, which isn’t current in the game, and that makes Kawaguchi kind of cocky. The fight plays out well overall with some good action, again noting that fans of the original shows and hardcore understanding of the machines themselves will get more out of it, but it all wraps up well and ties together a few small things with how the characters have progressed. No surprises to be had here, but I didn’t expect any.
In Summary:
Gundam Build Fighters is getting a little more overt about who Reiji is, though I loved that they treated him like he’s making a grand joke more than anything else when it came up in the company of friends. I keep hoping that we’ll finish out this current season of episodes with the World Tournament and then everything will turn on its head, but that kind of change is difficult to get away with. This episode does play out like the majority of episodes with character material in the first half, action in the second, with its focus more on Mackenzie than anything else. It works, but it’s not particularly engaging overall, but at least it nudges the tournament ahead a bit more.
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.