T5W#150-Top 5 Reasons Gundam Build Divers Defeats Gundam Build Fighters Try

Wow.  Can anyone, much less me, believe it?  Top 5 Wednesday # 150!!!!  Man.  Achievement Unlocked…or whatever lol, yay me.  150 of these random lists and let me tell ya, it aint easy coming up with topics from week to week.  Sometimes, I haven’t been able to think of topics until the actual morning I work on these lists.  Well ive been getting better about that and when I was trying to think of a good topic for this momentous occasion, I decided that id waited on one thing long enough.  As you might know, Gundam Build Fighters Try is one of my least favorite Gundam shows of all time, so much so the very thought can send me into a rage.  So behold my surprise when a new “Build” series comes along and manages to recapture the spirit and fun of the original Gundam Build Fighters.  Gundam Build Divers has been a win from Episode 1 and with the finale (series or season im not sure) around the corner, I’d say it’s a safe bet ill do a full series review right afterwards.  Right now, though, I want to talk about 5 reasons why Build Divers kicks Build Fighters Try’s ass big time.  Welcome to T5W#150-Top 5 Reasons Gundam Build Divers Defeats Gundam Build Fighters Try.

 

#5-A True Next Level Setting

Not that more couldn’t be done with the way Gunpla Battle was handled in Gundam Build Fighters, but Build Divers presents us with a grander stage befitting any kind of sequel.  In Gundam Battle Nexus, anything feels possible from the mecha combinations to the character skins that can be accessed to the location you can visit.  Sword Art Online and .hack//sign pioneered such a digital playground setting.  Build Divers isn’t what I’d say perfect (compared to those two cause that would be presumptuous), but it fits right in with those two titans of the MMO Anime Genre…and yeah it’s more fun than either of them, come at me world.

 

#4-Better Leads

Sei Iori and Reiji were the perfect pair in Gundam Build Fighters.  Sei loved Gundam his whole life and was a great builder but not a great fighter.  Reiji had never heard of the hobby (he’s also from another dimension but we’re not getting into that atm), but proved he was a natural pilot.  Together these two could do the impossible in any battle.  Riku and Yuki are very much their spiritual successors.  Both have their strengths in building and battle and compliment each other by wanting to learn more about both.  It is a far cry from Build Fighters Try where Sekai was an obnoxious battle hungry Naruto-esque hothead and Yuuma was a depressing **** who refused to have fun.  Hoshino tried to be the better balance of both but sadly the show refused to give the Try Fighters captain her proper due.  And while Riku and Yuki could carry Build Divers on their own, there have their own team with their own talents to bring to the table that just make things more enjoyable and I’ll be getting into a couple of those characters later on in this list.

 

#3-Bigger Battles

This kind of ties into my #5 selection but the five on five battles of Gundam Build Divers blow Build Fighters Try out of the water.  There’s a grander sense of scale that comes with it and some added difficulty too.  Riku, Yuki, Momo, Koichi and Akame each have their own skill sets that need to be coordinated properly to defeat teams with far more experience.  On top of that, even the one on one battles are more entertaining.  No longer are we seeing Sekai scream his would be Naruto lungs out in a battle cry or Yuuma whining about his own insecurities.  Nope, now we have characters like Riku, Kyoya and Rommel belting out how much they love Gunpla for the hell of it, whether its in one on one duels like Kyoya vs Rommel in Episode 0, or Riku vs Team Seed Destiny (theyre cute so ill forgive them), when Riku tries to remind a distressed player that she’s valued by her team…a lesson she learns far faster and more satisfyingly than Yuuma ever did…speaking of whom.

 

#2-Koichi’s Story vs. Yuuma’s BS

It’s no mystery of my hatred for Yuuma Kousaka from Gundam Build Fighters Try.  He was once praised as the true successor to Sei Iori…until his Gunpla was violently defeated and he decided to exit the hobby altogether.  Ok, that was a traumatic event and it would shake anyone up, I get that.  But Yuuma is the most difficult fraking character of the whole show and I still don’t believe that by series end he had recaptured the heart of a true Gunpla enthusiast.  He was stagnant, irritating and a waste of screentime when it was clear he’d never get his act together.  NOW, his better counterpart from Gundam Build Divers is Koichi.  Koichi once led a small Gunpla team when Gunpla Battle was still the way to play.  When Gundam Battle Nexus arrived, his team one by one left to sign up, leaving Koichi behind.  Koichi continued to build models for the Gunpla Museum but couldn’t bring himself to battle…because he missed his friends.  Enter Riku, Yuki and Momo, who discovers Koichi’s work and tirelessy (and hilariously) try to get him on their team.  The final stroke to do so…show Koichi that they want to spiff up his models and learn how he made them so good.  It’s enough to make Koichi cry, me too for that matter, and he’s on board with Riku and his team.

Tell me…which is the more inspiring story and why?

 

#1-Makes Gunpla Fun Again

Gundam Build Fighters made Gunpla building and battling one of the most epicly fun sports known to man and I wanted to be in this world that made such an event out of it.  Build Fighters Try…made Gunpla the most depressing thing ever and battles came to feel more like matters of life and death and pride rather than fun.  Build Divers yanks Build Fighters Try up by the collar and smacks the frak out of it, asking WTF MAN!!!???  The energy that Riku, Yuki, Momo and their allies bring to the table makes you want to form your own team, build some models and test them out on a digital setting.  There isn’t anything depressing about it like with Build Fighters Try (helped by the absence of a funless asshat like Yuuma).  This is the true sequel Gundam Build Fighters deserved from the get go.