The Mass Diver Crisis has ended. As the Coalition celebrates its hard earned
victory and GBN begins to recover, Riku accepts an invite to confront the
Mastermind behind the Break Decals. With
his Gunpla in shambles, Riku reflects on where he started with GBN and how far
he has come since. It’s the dawn of a
new era for Force Build Divers as they relish in their newfound celebrity
status and take on brand new challenges even Veteran Players cannot complete. All the while, Riku is ready to unveil his
newly completed 00 Diver Sky and show the world he’s ready to take his skills
to the next level.
I guess I was off by an episode last time as I didn’t
realize we’d actually have to deal with the Mastermind of the Break Decals so
soon after his defeat. I’ll say this:
Riku was a freaking moron doing something as dangerous as accepting an online
invite to meet the Mastermind in person without his friends…or the
police…considering he had no idea how messed up this guy might’ve been in real
life. And much like his whiny Haro
Avatar, Tsukasa wasn’t much more of a credible threat in real life either. There was a solid contrast between Tsukasa
and his former teammate, Koichi. Whereas
the latter learned to embrace GBN through new friends, Tsukasa kept the hatred
of everyone abandoning GP Duel for GBN close to his heart and it turned him
into…well kind of a whiny little brat.
And Tsukasa took his tempertantrum out on everyone on GNB because he
didn’t think it was a real enough experience and wanted everyone to go back to
the way things used to be with the old GP Duel System. Ok, Pop Quiz Genius:
Who’s gonna wanna duel you or touch GBN or GP Duel if you pull this kind of BS?
Once I got passed Riku’s reckless solo meeting with
Tsukasa, the GP Duel between them was really good. It was nice to revisit how Duels were handled
in the Build Fighters era, which was basically Yu-Gi-Oh with Gunpla. Despite Tsukasa’s irritating persona, GP Duel
still looks like so much fun and Riku reached the same conclusion. Yes, he lost his Gunpla in the process but he
gained better insight to how to be more in tuned with his creation than before. That’s experience he takes back with him into
GBN as he creates his newly christened Gundam 00 Sky (which includes Wings of
Light from the Destiny Gundam, good choice).
Tsukasa’s just gonna go wallow somewhere and you know what, I really
could care less. He’s like Doji, you
cant expect me to sympathize with someone who’s caused so much hurt and havoc
just because they weren’t getting their way.
In a show geared towards kids, why are the villains the ones acting the
most childish and the kids are acting more mature?
After we got passed the sadly prerequisite Clip Show that
recounted Riku’s adventures and ended in the reveal of the 00 Sky, we got back
to Gunpla Battle Nexus properly with two new special outings. The first was a nearly impossible group
challenge that even Kyouya and his team couldn’t complete. The Lotus Challenge was fun, complete with a
massive asteroid base modeled in the shape of a Hermit Crab and several Aqua
themed Mobile Suits as the main enemies, including Mermaid Gundam from G Gundam
and Cancers from Gundam Wing. Also the
main fortress was called the La Vie en Crab, I knew some of the appendiges and
exteriors looked like they belonged to the beloved Anaheiem Electronics Support
Vessel from Gundam 0083 and Gundam ZZ. I
have to ask though: sure the mission was a bit overwhelming but how the heck
did long time Veterans do so poorly, especially Kyoya? I get it, having younger and fresher minds
with a bit more creativity helped pull of the win but still…the Vets are still
Pros, the Lotus Mission shouldntve been that much of a hassle.
Then we got to have a semi beach episode, with SD Gundams
instead of swimsuit sporting Gundam girls.
The Build Divers faced off with some of Ayame’s old teammates, who all
had their own SD Gundams (all UC related too) for who could claim an entire
island for their base. I’ll admit, it
was weird to see Ayame without her Ninja face mask but it’s a good show of
progress for her character, and she’s smiling and she has a great smile. However, the battle, which was a variant of
Capture the Flag, devolved into reused footage and still shots to make up most
of the action. We’ve seen how amazing and awesome Ayame’s SD Gundam is in
battle so why couldn’t they animated five more pulling the same moves? I guess the big battle with Tsukasa and the
Mass Diver army took a nice chunk of the animation budget. I’m just saying, this show can look and do
things better than this.
I think that just about covers this Mid Season
Premiere. Overall, it was ok but it
wasn’t the strongest set of episodes thus far.
Riku neglecting his own safety; Tsukasa’s constant whining; a freaking
Clip Show; and budget restraints limiting fully animated SD Gundam usage
definitely weighed things down. Still,
the show is still fun and I’m liking the new challenges like the Lotus Mission
and being able to play classic game types like Capture the Flag. I also like that both Riku and Kyoya don’t
want the game to punish every single Mass Diver. Even if they have to live with what they’ve
done, they deserve a chance to rejoin this fun and loving society, Ayame
smiling is clear evidence it can happen.
Not sure where the series goes from here, though it might have something
to do with that creepy bird creature that looks like a Pokemon ominously
watching the team. Guess we’ll find out
in the next part as we continue on with Gundam Build Divers on Wednesday right
here at the Gundam Anime Corner.
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