Two years have passed since the El Diver Incident that
almost destroyed the world of Gundam Battle Nexus. In that time, a brand new version has been
rolled out with tighter security and a much more realistic feel for players to
enjoy. Hiroto is a wandering loner
within the new GBN. He isn’t interested
in battle, only in discovering new realms and possibly finding a girl he met on
GBN a long time ago. Through a twist of
fate, Hiroto and three other players find themselves entering a new region of
the game: an untested new Story Mode that has yet to be tested or announced to
the public. A new Build Divers Team is
formed and together, they’ll see just what this brand new section of GBN has to
offer.
Welcome to GundamCember 3. It’s the special time of year where take a
look at the Gundam shows I haven’t covered yet here at the Gundam Anime Corner
and give them the First Impression Friday.
Originally, this third venture wasn’t going to happen because…well im
running out of Gundam premieres to cover.
But I found four more to squeeze in for the end of 2019 and I’m kicking
off the potentially final GundamCember event with a first look at the most
recent series to grace screens-Gundam Build Divers Re:Rise.
Obviously im a big Gundam fan but the original Gundam
Build Fighters series holds a special place in my heart. It was like one giant love letter to the 13
year old version of me that first discovered Gundam back on Toonami in
2000. It had heart, imagination, big
emotional high points and it was just fun.
Gundam Build Fighters Try was the exact opposite, a depressing and
seemed set on making Gunpla Battle the scariest and most unfun hobby in the
world. The first half of Gundam Build
Divers seemed to remedy that stain, returning to the fun filled roots of Build
Fighters…and then the second half went all Build Fighters Try with forced
conflicts and an unshakable feeling that something had gone very wrong with a
show that had a lot of promise. Well now
we get to the Build Divers sequel-Re:Rise and…I am very uneasy given the roller
coaster of emotions ive related talking about the Build Fighters and Build
Divers series.
The idea of making Gunpla Battle into an MMORPG in the
style of Sword Art Online seemed like an idea that should be taken with
caution. But it worked, offering way
more customization options for the cast and their Gunpla and there was a
boundless sandbox of possibilities to play with. Re:Rise picks up two years after the events
of the previous series, this time focusing on a new team rather than the wide
eyed youth of the OG Build Divers team.
Now we have a loner who’s looking for a girl (who may or may not be
related to Sarah from Build Divers); a newbie who is scared of pretty much
everything in GBN; a cute girl who’s…kind of just there; and a big mouth who is
all talk and no results. Part of what
makes any Gundam series work is seeing different characters from different
walks of life come together to achieve great things against insurmountable
odds. This quartet…might need some work
though. Kazami’s boasting got annoying,
as is Parviz crouching in a corner whenever something goes bad. May’s the biggest enigma. She’s hot but she besides that she doesn’t
have anything personality wise that makes her any different from Hiroto: the
quiet loner who’d rather explore and look for a girl (who may or may not be
real) and isn’t content to be a team player.
This is a far cry from Rikku, Yuki and Momo and their boundless energy
for GBN.
The other thing of note for the Re: Rise premiere is that
GBN is introducing a story mode where the newly assembled Build Divers team
must protect a village of Furries from certain destruction. Ok.
I’ll admit, im not sure if im on board with this part. Build Fighters and Build Divers has adorable
factor enough with its super deformed Mobile Suits but idk if a village of antorpomorphic
dogs is either too cute or destined to become one of the big Achillies Heels of
Re: Rise. It does feel like Gundam is
trying to cater to the still incredibly powerful Issekai genre and stand out
from the crowd when what it had going for it previously wasn’t bad. What about a campaign that takes the cast
through some of the greatest hits of the Gundam mythos (this is the 40th
Anniversary of the franchise after all and this is the most original thing
happening during that milestone). Not to
mention, much like some of the main cast, the NPCs are annoying and grating.
I’m nervous to continue with this one because of the back
and forth ride of emotions its been with Build Divers and Build Fighters. Could this show get me too excited and just
break my heart again. I may not be sold
on the new campaign in GBN or more than half of the new quartet or leads…but
there was a fun nod to the infamous “Lack of Salt” plotline from the original
series that made me laugh…so maybe there’s hope yet.
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