FIF#50-Gundam Build Divers

In the near future, Gunpla Battle continues to be one of the most celebrated pasttimes in history.  And now the game has entered a bold new phase.  Welcome to Gundam Battle Nexus (GBN) Online, a Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Game.  Here, players can upload themselves into special avatars and actually pilot their assembled Gunpla into battle.  Life long friends Riku, Yukio and Momoka are Gundam entuhsiasts ready to enter the game and play themselves.  But when Riku encounters Sara, a mysterious girl with special powers, the world of Gunpla Battle gets a whole lot bigger than he could have ever imagined.

Oh…ive missed this.

For those maybe unaware, Gundam Build Fighters is my all time favorite entry in the Gundam franchise, more than Gundam Wing, 00 or 08^th MS Team.  That series was a celebration of a franchise near and dear to my heart and injected equal amounts lighthearted fun with excellent nostalgia callbacks.  Gundam Build Fighters Try took all of that and exchanged it for edginess that made me sick to my stomach with anger and continues to be one of my most hated Anime of all time.  Thankfully, by the end of the short prequel Episode 0, Gundam Build Divers restored my faith in the idea of a series centered on kids playing with Gunpla and basically acting out the fantasies ive had since I first saw Gundam Wing.

Immedietly, Build Divers jettisons the do or die attitude of Try.  Once again, we start out with characters who have long loved Gundam and love the idea of stepping into a VR world to pilot themselves.  I should note that the series begins proper with Riku and Yukio entering the Gundam museum in Japan (with the RX0 Gundam Unicorn outside as well AHHHHH!!!).  Seeing Riku’s face light up, surrounded by almost 40 years of Gundam mobile suits made me weep a little.  Equally so, seeing Yukio seek out a Gunpla suitable to get Riku started along with him in GBN was great.  I think I could lose myself too in a shop strictly dedicated to selling Gundam Model Kits.  These kids might be looking to challenge the greatest of the greatest pilots one day but right now, theyre all about having fun…which is exactly what a show like Gundam Build Divers should be about.

When I looked at Build Fighters a while back, I likened it to Gunpla meets Yu-Gi-Oh, with players putting their models on display sensors and allowing them to enter a digital battlefield.  Build Divers is basically Gunpla meets Sword Art Online (aptly fitting since there is a new SAO show on same as this…and this is actually better).  You can customize your own Avatar (one of the main characters is a cute Weasel…roll with it) and even better your stats as a pilot and for your Gunpla as well.  There’s dozens of places to explore and items to find.  This kind of setup is exactly what a psudeo-sequel to Gundam Build Fighters should have been.  And in truth I don’t really know how connected, if at all, Build Drivers will be to that series.  And even if there isn’t a connection, that’s ok with me.  I loved this new world and the possibilities it could hold.  And its always awesome to see Gundams kicking ass.  Cudos to Riku for choosing one of my own personal favorite Gundams as his starter: the 00 from Gundam 00.  Same goes for Kyoya Kujo, GBN champion, who pilots the sweet looking Gundam AGEII Magnum, man is that a beautiful piece of work.

A couple of downsides though.  Much like Build Fighters and Build Fighters Try, there is a mystical element added in that I think the show could do without.  Like Build Fighters, I might just let that nitpick go because that show was so fun but I wonder why its even necessary.  Plus it’s only going to make me wonder if this series is tied to Build Fighters and if we’ll ever see Reiji or Illa every again.  The animation did go back and forth for me for some reason but where the Gunpla battles are concerned, they were top notch.  The opening battle between Kyoya and Kommel is the stuff legends are made of and the reason why this hobby looks like so much fun in the first place…Team Try Fighters could learn a thing or two (God I hate that show).

I’m probably going to wait until the series is done before doing maybe a weekend long binge.  But Gundam Build Divers got off to the best start possibly following the travesty of Gundam Build Fighters Try.  It was a return to the fun, the heart, the special warm feelings that Build Fighters gave me when I first watched it and I hope it can maintain all of that going forward.  There were no dark clouds over my head like that other show.  I was smiling, I was excited…it was like falling in love with Gundam all over again.  Bring it on Gundam Build Divers…bring it on.