Brought together seemingly at random, Hiroto, May, Kazami
and Parviz continue to make their way through GBN’s new Story Mode
Missions. Their objective: Defend the
people of Eldora from an evil group of Mobile Suits dubbed “The One Eyes.” Against these powerful adversaries, however,
the real enemy for this next generation of untested Build Divers might be
themselves. As the Story Mode becomes
more mysterious and cryptic, each team member must challenge their own
weaknesses if theyre to become a team worthy of the name “Build Divers” and
defeat a seemingly invincible enemy that will not stop until Eldora is wiped
out.
I was really hoping those first four episodes were just a
bad dream, or at the very least things would improve and what didn’t work would
just be reworked and made better.
No
such luck here and now I know that I’m settling in for a very long and arduous
time with Gundam Build Divers Re: Rise.
Actually is it even right to call this Build Divers, much less a Gundam
series?
With the first series, yes it
was a 25 episode, kid centric toy commercial but at least it felt like the love
for Gunpla was always at the heart of it.
Here, this isn’t even really about Gundam or its legacy amongst an
enormous fan base.
Instead we have four
characters of varying degrees of annoying defending a village of
anthropomorphic inhabitants from Giant Enemy Mecha…this isn’t Gundam, it’s a
Vision of Escaflowne spin off reworked into a Gundam series almost at the last
minute.
Point is, the first four
episodes were a struggle…and it’s only getting worse.
The more time we spend in Eldora, the more I wonder if
this is the same game being played as before.
Anytime we’re outside of the Furry village, there’s glimpses of so many
other teams we could be following or activities that could be fun to
watch.
Instead, the new Build Divers are
engaging in activities so dull that it makes GBN feel boring and lifeless
outside of the Story Mode.
Probably the
most unique mission the team partakes in is the underwater practice mission
created by another team.
It harkens back
to the strong sense of creativity a lot of the activities outside of Gunpla Battle
had in the original Build Divers.
Most
of this set still finds the Build Divers fighting the same over powered
enemies, protecting the same bunch of Furry Civilians in need of saving and
having the same team building issues over and over again.
Sure theyre showing some growth but it
doesn’t mean much when I don’t care about any member of this cast.
Hiroto, Kazami and Parviz all have their own arcs to work
through, so that’s something.
Parviz had
to conquer his fear of flying after an incident prevented him from doing so,
good for him.
Kazami had to get over his
self centered “IM THE GREATEST HERO EVER” state of mind and learn to accept
failure and work to do better…and honestly I’m not even sure he actually
learned anything cause he’s still the most annoying person on the team.
And Hiroto continues searching for that
illusive El Diver who may or may not be his love interest and…yeah apparently
getting spurned or ghosted by that girl changed him from a fun loving Gunpla
Builder into an emotionless block of wood.
But at least he and those other guys have an arc.
I cant say the same about May, who’s kind of
just there.
She barely has any
screentime or interaction with anyone outside of an occasional line in battle
and personality wise she’s just as bland and super serious as Hiroto.
We do know that May’s working on finding
something out for Magee but what could probably save her character is the
possibility she’s the girl Hiroto’s been looking for based on something she
said to him at the end of the episode set.
And yet nothing has endeared any of this bunch to me.
I just don’t like any of them.
I don’t often say this about a Gundam series (Gunpla
focused or otherwise) but the story is making me nod off to sleep.
The Story Mode is probably the worst aspect
of the series for me next to Kazami (who needs to just be muted for fraks
sake).
As I said before, this should be
a dimension or timeline hoping adventure where the team is revisiting all of
the amazing battles, locales and characters from across the entire franchise
til this point, anything that has to do with Gundam or Gunpla.
But no, this is why I came to watch a show
about Gunpla, watching characters I don’t care about get thrashed about while
Furries scream their way through an operation.
And, of course, the Furry Resistance fighting against the One Eyes doesn’t
trust the Build Divers because they pilot the same mecha they’re “fighting”
(using quotes because they haven’t done squat).
Like I said in the intro, this feels like an entirely different Mecha
Anime.
If this were The Vision of
Escaflowne, which had Humans living along side anthropomorphic creatures in
near harmony, this would make sense.
This is Gundam though.
So why not
make the Eldorans SD Gundams instead?
Imagine Chibi Mobile Suits interacting with the Build Divers.
It would be more cute and keeping with
familiar Gundam imagery.
What’s done is
done though and whoevers bright idea this was really screwed up.
Not even the arrival of a Char Clone in a
demonic Mobile Suit can spark my interest.
Quick side note: Just like with the original series, one
of my favorite characters in all of Gundam, Gundam 00’s Patrick Colasour, has
been popping up in at least one scene in every episode.
He’s almost become a Where’s Waldo easter egg
as you can either spot him easily or it’s a blink and you’ll miss instant.
Like I said, Patrick is an awesome character
and I like that he’s getting some love in GBN.
Anytime I see him, it puts a small smile on my face…which made Build
Divers even more enjoyable and is more than I can say for anything else in
Re:Rise save for the Captain Zeon shorts which again, why aren’t we watching
this show instead?
I have more questions than words of praise for Build
Divers Re:Rise and while I’m sure they’ll be answered, I doubt I’ll like any of
them.
Why is this Story Mode a SAO/Final
Fantasy XIV Hybrid with Mobile Suits?
Why are the One Eyes so powerful?
Who is that Char Clone and is he somehow behind the reasons why the
Story Mode is so…wonky?
Can Kazami ever
shut up?
Will May do more than just look
hot?
Will Parviz…actually he’s ok for
right now, no actually complaints.
And
will Hiroto learn to smile again after finding out why he got ditched by his
online girlfriend (by the way, his real life friend Hinata is doing her best to
encourage and inspire Hiroto and he isn’t giving her the time of day…it’s
almost like early G Gundam Domon and Rain, only Domon was a lot more fun).
And finally, do I care?
Whether I do or not, I’m committed to
finishing this one, good or bad.
Maybe
things will improve after the end of the first half like with Gundam ZZ.
Or there’s the dreaded G Reco fate.
Hope you’re enjoying the ranting cause
there’s probably more to come on Friday when we return to Gundam Build Divers
Re:Rise right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.
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