The Official Gundam Build Fighters Anime Thread Mk IV

[Arbiter GUNDAM]

All I have to say about this one is

HHHHHHHHOOOOOOOWWWWWWWAAAAAAARRRRRRDDDDDDD
MMMMMMMAAAAAAAASSSSSSSOOOOOONNNNNNN!!!

Actually this was the first episode of BF that I've actually been somewhat disappointed in. It just felt too... over-the-top I guess? I would say a large part of it has to do with this whole "manipulating the particles" bit. I mean, really, what's to stop someone from just saying something like, "my Gunpla is coated with a substance that makes it invincible, mwhahahahaha?"

And the one time Team Seiji happens to be fighting the Samurai Boy and the field just happens to be a giant Japanese castle? Really? Although I suppose it could be a reference to SD Gundam Sangokuden?

Still there were some good things. Mihoshi and Fellini seem to be an item now. What IS the secret of the particles that must remain so secret? Caro-chan showing up again was amusing. So many 00 cameos, including the big, black guy from the erroneous Celestial Being movie, blonde Sumergai, glasses-less Kati and Howard, Graham and Daryl in the bar were a hoot.

Oh and SHORYUKEN!!

[HellCat]

There's an episode of the Sengokuden animations where the Gundams and baddies fight over a castle, trying to get to the roof first. Like you I can only assume this is what the stage is referencing.

[Raikoh]

I'm going to be spewing some Nils hate here so if you don't want that then I'd recommend not looking into my thoughts on this episode.

Spoiler

Yeah, this was easily the least enjoyable Build Fighters yet. By which I mean the only unenjoyable one.

Basically twenty minutes of Nils going up to eleven on his Gary Stu-ness, acting pretentious, having everyone and his brother showering him with praise, and pissing me off followed by five minutes of Star Build Strike and Sengoku Astray ramming headfirst into one another. Was the logic to follow up the most tactical and intelligent battle, with an actual theme of "Gunpla battle is different from war" with the complete opposite type of fight (i.e. both fighters just standing in front of one another, trading blows until one of them is destroyed, and screaming "ME STRONGER!") Not even Carorain could offer me entertainment.

At the very least I was hoping that we'd learn something about Nils that would show he's more than just "omfg I so cool" like his hoping Sei and Reiji give up is because he's afraid of them or something. Instead we just got his absurd Gunpla tricks that even as a fan of the martial arts genre I find ridiculous and him being a smug prick. Not to mention jumping to absurd conclusions ("This twelve-year-old kid who works at a random hobby store MUST know the secret of Plavsky particles!") that he assumes are factitious because... The only thing I can think of is that is it because he's the one who came to those conclusions, and super samurai Nils "Gary Stu" Nielsen, Private Eye and Ninja and triple doctor can't POSSIBLY be wrong even when he's making a judgment based on zero evidence?

And Nils, completely tainting the Red Frame's design with tons of shiny bits and dumb looking oni modifications that would probably make your fingers bleed does anything but make it "perfect." I got one potential addition that might help make it "perfect"... How about a ranged weapon? Heck, you could even keep your silly samurai theme, just add something like a yumi...

I was hoping Sei or Reiji would "correct" him before the fight.

[Kuruni]

I spot Moomin...what the heck it doing in Gundam?

[Wingnut]

I missed those 00 bar cameos on first watch, but that and the Celestial Being Tieria piloting Physical colored Virtue is really filling the 00 content quotient. Now we just need the dark matter Exia to show up and it will be all 4 S1 Gundams.

I do see the point about complaints regarding the RG system, and I agree to a point. But were things like Domon's shining finger any different? Not in my opinion and I don't hear anyone complaining about that much at all.

I have to wonder why Baker called the pause in the match in this episode. It might have been a simple overload, or something else she saw that would have put Nils at a disadvantage that I personally missed. Given her reaction and attitude when the call was made, I'm inclined to believe the latter. Speaking of her reactions...

As for the girls, Sei and China added to their adorable factor again, though it was an amusing contrast when Caro-chan did the same and Nils was like "Please shut up, I'm trying to fix my gunpla in a hurry here.".

Also no post credits stinger this episode for the first time in the run. Curious. Next time though, a cat gets let out of the bag and I wonder just what Kirara is asking China about? Probably something to do with Sei I'd imagine.

[stagrider]

For the Shining Finger or God Finger, my memory is very foggy but I thought that Domon had to out think his opponents in the tournament. With the RG and Build Knuckle Sei and Reiji don't have to think around their opponent. They purged all their gear instead of trying to find a way turning Nil's abilities to their advantage or out think him.

[ZeonsSilverStar]

Well I'll say this. The episode went exactly as I thought it would and the fan response is as expected. That being said I enjoyed the episode for what was and I now look forward to the upcoming victory of Aila against Fellini.

[MarshalBraginsky]

Aila vs Fellini? Hopefully Fellini would add something new to the Wing Gundam Fenice.

[AmuroNT1]

Regarding the castle battle:
http://i.imgur.com/snrctzw.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/I44vOn9.jpg

My thoughts (spoilered due to length):

Spoiler

Honestly, I did enjoy this episode. It did what I expected it to do, namely showing the conflict between passion (Seiji's love of Gunpla and fair battle) versus reason (Nils' cool-headed logic) which they'd been building up to since we saw Nils wreck Greco. While they did make Nils look kind of like the bad guy at the start, in the end they did a good job of showing that he wasn't unreasonable, just fixated on what he thought was his true purpose and in denial of his real feelings about Gunpla and battling. I dunno if I'd out-and-out call him Tsundere like latenlazy did, tho.

In short, Nils was looking at the tournament simply as a means to learn the secret behind the Plavsky Particle; that was actually why his request to Seiji surprised me. I expected something like him explaining his reasoning and asking them to forfeit so he could advance without issue, possibly even telling them that the Chairman is targeting them and offering to help investigate. But offering to surrender himself makes a lot more sense when filtered through the idea that he didn't really care about the tournament to begin with.

But the fact that he considered the Sengoku Astray perfectly built, and got quite upset when it was getting damaged, marked the major turning point. If Nils simply viewed the Astray as a tool to achieve his goals he wouldn't have been bothered so much, but you can see his hand shaking in anger when he's looking at the damaged model during the 1-minute break. He realized that he honestly did care about the Astray's condition, which is something people DON'T do when a mere tool like a hammer or screwdriver breaks. Over time he'd grown fond of the Astray and just hadn't realized it because he was looking at things purely from a scientific standpoint.

Like I've said all along, Nils was built up as the "Vulcan", the person who looks at things purely from a logical and factual standpoint. The idea of getting so emotionally invested in what's basically a giant video game made no sense to him at first, but the fact that he did actually care about his Gunpla demonstrated that he was only lying to himself in that regard. I'm really glad that in the end, his character developed to the point where he could openly admit that he was wrong and actually did like Gunpla, rather than falling back into the old cliché of acting like it was a momentary fluke. I do hope this episode will inspire people to be a bit more fair towards Nils in the future, especially given how he got off on the wrong foot with the fight against Greco.

[ZeonsSilverStar]

Aila vs Fellini? Hopefully Fellini would add something new to the Wing Gundam Fenice.

I'm more than positive that Fellini will pull something off so the fight won't be one-sided.

And Amuro I wouldn't get my hopes up about that last bit, but if it makes any difference I've liked him since day one.

[FieryBlitz]

While I do like how they bring back Caroline, and make Nils finally realize he loves Gunpla (along with the shipping outright confirmed, much to Nils' dismay), I have to admit that I found this episode rather disappointing, if only because the battle felt like a typical shonen battle with it's repetitive use of Partical Fa Jin and Build Knuckle.

[Soma Taozi]

^^I think that was kind of the point...they communicated their feelings through their "fists"...although I never watched all of it, wasn't G-Gundam kind of similar? Big robots punching each other while screaming their attack names?

[Raikoh]

^^I think that was kind of the point...they communicated their feelings through their "fists"...although I never watched all of it, wasn't G-Gundam kind of similar? Big robots punching each other while screaming their attack names?

The problem I had with the fight wasn't that they took it to fisticuffs. In fact, I think I'd appreciate more mecha series where unarmed combat is used since I like martial arts series.

The problem was that there was no choreography after the first minute or so. Hold on a minute, let me rewatch it and see if I can cover the play-by-play:
1. SBS shoots, Sengoku reflects it with swords.
2. SBS tries to set up Build Knuckle, evades an attack and deflects a thrown projectile with vulcans.
3. SBS uses Build Knuckle to break Sengoku's swords.
3. SBS and Sengoku punch each other head on.
4. SBS and Sengoku punch each other head on. Pit stop is called.
5. SBS and Sengoku punch each other head on.
6. SBS and Sengoku punch each other head on.
7. Sengoku knocks SBS away and dashes forward to punch SBS head on.
8. SBS DODGES (oh right they can do that...) and then punches Sengoku.

It's just a TAD monotonous.

[monster]

My thoughts (spoilered due to length):

Spoiler

Honestly, I did enjoy this episode. It did what I expected it to do, namely showing the conflict between passion (Seiji's love of Gunpla and fair battle) versus reason (Nils' cool-headed logic) which they'd been building up to since we saw Nils wreck Greco. While they did make Nils look kind of like the bad guy at the start, in the end they did a good job of showing that he wasn't unreasonable, just fixated on what he thought was his true purpose and in denial of his real feelings about Gunpla and battling. I dunno if I'd out-and-out call him Tsundere like latenlazy did, tho.

In short, Nils was looking at the tournament simply as a means to learn the secret behind the Plavsky Particle; that was actually why his request to Seiji surprised me. I expected something like him explaining his reasoning and asking them to forfeit so he could advance without issue, possibly even telling them that the Chairman is targeting them and offering to help investigate. But offering to surrender himself makes a lot more sense when filtered through the idea that he didn't really care about the tournament to begin with.

But the fact that he considered the Sengoku Astray perfectly built, and got quite upset when it was getting damaged, marked the major turning point. If Nils simply viewed the Astray as a tool to achieve his goals he wouldn't have been bothered so much, but you can see his hand shaking in anger when he's looking at the damaged model during the 1-minute break. He realized that he honestly did care about the Astray's condition, which is something people DON'T do when a mere tool like a hammer or screwdriver breaks. Over time he'd grown fond of the Astray and just hadn't realized it because he was looking at things purely from a scientific standpoint.

Like I've said all along, Nils was built up as the "Vulcan", the person who looks at things purely from a logical and factual standpoint. The idea of getting so emotionally invested in what's basically a giant video game made no sense to him at first, but the fact that he did actually care about his Gunpla demonstrated that he was only lying to himself in that regard. I'm really glad that in the end, his character developed to the point where he could openly admit that he was wrong and actually did like Gunpla, rather than falling back into the old cliché of acting like it was a momentary fluke. I do hope this episode will inspire people to be a bit more fair towards Nils in the future, especially given how he got off on the wrong foot with the fight against Greco.

Agreed, although the problem with Nils's credentials is as said below:

The problem I had with the fight wasn't that they took it to fisticuffs. In fact, I think I'd appreciate more mecha series where unarmed combat is used since I like martial arts series.

The problem was that there was no choreography after the first minute or so. Hold on a minute, let me rewatch it and see if I can cover the play-by-play:
1. SBS shoots, Sengoku reflects it with swords.
2. SBS tries to set up Build Knuckle, evades an attack and deflects a thrown projectile with vulcans.
3. SBS uses Build Knuckle to break Sengoku's swords.
3. SBS and Sengoku punch each other head on.
4. SBS and Sengoku punch each other head on. Pit stop is called.
5. SBS and Sengoku punch each other head on.
6. SBS and Sengoku punch each other head on.
7. Sengoku knocks SBS away and dashes forward to punch SBS head on.
8. SBS DODGES (oh right they can do that...) and then punches Sengoku.

It's just a TAD monotonous.

I myself don't mind Nils's character. I never hated him, or even disliked him, and I'm not annoyed at his character. But if they're going to say that he is a martial artist, among all his other achievements, having a battle like this can be disappointing. If they're going to build him up like that, at least let him perform better.

[AmuroNT1]

I do agree that it was kind of monotonous, but it also underscores Nils' arrogance by having him rely solely on his Ryuushi Haken.

[mobiusdiablo]

I do agree that it was kind of monotonous, but it also underscores Nils' arrogance by having him rely solely on his Ryuushi Haken.

Also makes me wonder why our dynamic duo didn't try whipping out the beam sabers, either before or during the slug fest. It's not like we haven't seem them activate the things at point blank when they're on their racks/whatever they are. They've used them strategically at least twice that I can recall. You can even have the pit stop to glue one of the forearms, parry a punch and slash away with the free one, or hell, even just glue the beam sabers into the hands/forearms and use them that way?

Also, as wrong as I probably am, I wanna say PLAVSKY PARTICLES ARE PEOPLEEEEE!!! In all seriousness though, I'm expecting that at this point PPSE hasn't released the information not just due to being shady all around, but that they can only be produced by methods that involve Arian to some kind of degree. Our CEO is childish when he's watching battles, but I'd think anybody that helped him get PPSE off the ground would think he's completely nuts if he revealed the entire 'other-world' sthick. Could be wrong though, as Baker didn't seem to know when he was running off at the mouth one ep, but the negotiation/Kira vs L scene when they're deducing intentions puts a lot of emphasis on the forbidden aspect.

[Mythgarr]

I think the writers are confused on how to choreograph this fight. On one side you have tricked up Astray with good pilot that is also martial arts master. On the other side you have hot-headed brawler and his geeky gunpla builder friend that needs to win because they are main characters. So let's just put them into a fistfight and let's forget that with the new hip to thighs joint both of them can do some roundhouse kicks just fine.

Heck, they even get to keep their heads....

[Xenosynth]

Well, remember, early on they even said they actually had a lot of trouble trying to animate the Sengoku Astray, and finding out what to do with it.

Anyway, Amuro sums up my thoughts nicely. On it's own I feel the episode stands up rather well. I thought the fight was still pretty entertaining in its own right, and I actually appreciate and like NIls a lot more after this episode. Honestly I don't get why everyone had a hate-boner for him before, I mean, at most I just didn't care for him. But seeing his reaction to his Astray? That one scene made me like him a lot more, along with him wanting to battle Sei and Reiji again. That made him so much more awesome to me because he was actually having fun with the game and felt competitive spirit, and I feel it brought him a long way. And... I dunno. Just my feelings on the matter.

[MarshalBraginsky]

I kinda had the feeling that the next episode would be really shocking at the least: Meat Bun Lover against Suave Fellini. Though the opening sequence did hint at a big close call between Aila vs Reiji.

[Laevatein]

My thoughts (spoilered due to length):

Spoiler

Over time he'd grown fond of the Astray and just hadn't realized it because he was looking at things purely from a scientific standpoint.

Don't know about "over time". People kinda forget that when we first saw the Sengoku Astray in the show, it was posed in a miniature shrine. People don't make dioramas for stuff they consider "tools", so it seemed to be that Nils really did like the Astray since the beginning. Also, his boasts about the Astray being perfect can be seen in two ways: either him assessing his Gunpla fairly, or a simple builder's pride over his Astray whom he poured all his efforts on.