It is a time of new challenges and personal growth for
the Build Divers. Feeling he’s getting
left behind, Yuki accepts a special challenge mission to improve his skills,
alongside an unexpected ally. Riku’s
meteoric rise through the ranks finds him in the crosshairs of his Mentor,
Tigerwolf, who seeks to show his student how much farther he has to go. And the Build Divers welcome a new teammate
in Nanamie. But the celebrations come to
a crashing halt when a new slew of game breaking bugs appear…and theyre all
tied to the mysterious origins of Sarah.
Up until now, Gundam Build Divers has been a very fun
series to watch.
It’s got its flaws for
sure but its still got a lot of heart and it still paints a great picture of
what it means to be a fan of both Gundam and Gunpla and Gunpla Battle Nexus
looks like an amazing experience for longtime and casual fans alike.
And while there’s still a lot to love about
both the game and the cast of characters, if the end of this episode set is any
indication, the good times are about to come to a halt on account of the less
than picture perfect Administration threatening to take the mood from Gundam
Build Fighters into Gundam Build Fighters Try.
What do I mean by this and do I think the series is in danger of ending
on a sour note?
Well let’s run through
the events of this second to last set of Build Divers episodes and find out.
While the final conflict of the series was glimpsed at
several times before the big reveal, most of the first three episodes in this
set were decent stand alone stories.
I
do feel for Yuki believing he’s been left behind while everyone else has gotten
stronger.
Its hard to believe that given
all the Riku centric storylines that this show began with Riku and Yuki sharing
co-lead status.
Not that Riku’s been a
jerk to his best friend, it’s more the writers have been jerks to him and
pushing Yuki further away from the spotlight to focus on Riku’s journey.
So giving him an episode to work on his
skills was welcome.
Not only that but
the episode also gave the problematic Doji a chance to confront how much of a
jerk he’s been since Episode 1 and actually apologize for his actions.
Unlike the writers trying to get me to
sympathize with him earlier when he used a Break Decal to prove his worth to
his Brother and his Force, this felt much more earned and honest.
Doji is a good kid, he just needed to take
responsibility for his actions and learn to accept the help of others.
I also like how the Mirror Mission used
seemingly mundane tasks to help improve the duos Gunpla skills like Baseball
catching or an obstacle course, very Karate Kid style.
The Riku vs Tigerwolf fight might be one of the best
duels in the entire series.
It has such
a chaotic and fun energy to it that you cant help but get G Gundam chills
watching.
Seeing the two go all out and
Riku come so close to actually defeating Tigerwolf was great.
But of course, you can only give Riku so much
good luck in battle.
So of course he was
going to ultimately lose and Tigerwolf couldn’t help but rub it in by beating
the mess out of Riku’s 00 Sky when it was at its weakest (the Master still has
to be the Master after all.).
And on the
opposite end of Tigerwolf’s psudeo Kumite tournament we had the all girls
Nadeshiko-athalon.
As good as it was to
see Nanamie get in on the fun and officially join the Build Divers, the real
stars of the episode were the severely underused supporting female cast members
Emilia and Rose, who belong to Kyoya and Ogre’s teams respectively.
Their rivalry was as fun to watch as they are
themselves (insanely attractive I mean).
Plus the race presented new and unique ways to have fun with Gunpla in
GBN beyond simple displays and fights.
There’s tons of creativity brimming in this shows core video game
concept.
But, the fun had to end eventually and at last we got to
the truth behind the new slew of bugs popping up in GBN.
It seems kind of obvious in retrospect but
when it all becomes clear, it makes a lot of sense: why the hell hasn’t anyone
asked about Sarah’s history until now?
Her very existence has been a not so well kept secret since Episode
1.
With her being able to “feel” a
Gunplas emotional state, I said it reminded me of a Universal Century
Newtype.
And yet no one has questioned
Sarah’s sixth sense nor why she hardly shares anything about herself outside of
the game even to those closest to her.
Well, if she wasn’t a Newtype, the only other possibility was she was
born of GBN herself.
It’s hardly a shock
at all and everyone being totally stunned by this reveal feels…it’s like NO
ONES THOUGHT TO ASK SOME SIMPLE QUESTIONS ABOUT SARAH UNTIL NOW!!!???
Even if there was a possibility she lived far
away and couldn’t meet with the Build Divers outside of GBN like everyone else
can, someone should have gotten something about her personal life out of her by
now.
And yet the series treats this
event like a major bombshell when the only real impact comes from the reveal
that Sarah’s existence could threaten the very fabric of GBN itself.
Yeah since Sarah is a sentient lifeform born of GBN (just
roll with it for now), the game is starting to suffer from being unable to
compensate for her emotional development.
Point is, if Sarah can’t be safelt extracted onto some kind of external
storage device, GBN could be destroyed in a matter of months.
Ok, so if a select group of people team up
with GBN’s creator, who’s Avatar is that weird Pokemon bird who’s been
shadowing the Build Divers ominously for a while, and put their heads together,
this problem can be solved with just a little bit of time, right?
Nope, leave it to the Game Master and the
Administration to go right to Defcon 2 and put out an APB on poor Sarah,
revealing her identity and classifying her as an “El-Diver” (Electronic Life
Form Diver).
For a game that’s all about
making a safe and welcoming space for Gunpla and Gundam fans to have fun and
form long lasting friendships, the people running it clearly adhere more to the
Gundam Build Fighters Try way of doing things instead of Gundam Build
Fighters.
By that I mean, if this were
Sei and Reiji from Build Fighters, they would have immediately jumped on finding
a solution that benefits everyones happiness.
But no, instead the Game Master is going right for the “welp, she’s a
virus and we need to purge her for the sake of the game, sorry”.
This sounds like a rant and it is.
If it weren’t for the fun the Build Divers
were having on a regular basis, I’d quit GBN for this because who would want to
play a game run by heartless A-Holes like this.
Also, the Game Master refuses to do anything about the Break Decals
because of a “lack of (obvious) evidence” but when Sarah’s true nature is
revealed, bring in the troops.
I already
didn’t like him when he was first introduced by now I flat out hate him.
Ugh, I don’t mind some conflict in my more light hearted
Gundam series, I really don’t.
Again,
Build Fighters had some amazing and personal drama going on but none of the
main or supporting cast ever lost hope that everything would be ok in the
end.
But then you had Build Fighters Try
which took the coolest game ever made and turned it into the most super serious
and dour experience that would kill my interest in every trying GP Duel.
Gundam Build Divers is inching towards the
latter and even if Riku and the Build Divers aren’t at the front of my
frustrations, the rest of GBN’s response to the Sarah reveal is gonna be a major
factor in how I score the series based on the finale.
Cause right now, the show just went in the
wrong direction for me after a predominantly fun run.
Come on Build Divers…be like the Build
Fighters, not Build Fighters Try.
I
guess we’ll see how everything comes together when we get to the Series Finale
of Gundam Build Divers This Friday at the Gundam Anime Corner.
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