The Official Gundam Build Fighters Try Anime Thread Mk II

[YokozunaBulldozer]

Sorry folks, my vision is blurry. Anyone got a tissue?
I have not been this misty-eyed in a while.

[Akashi Takumi]

Sorry, my vision is blurry. Anyone got a tissue?

Here you go

Forgot to mention;

Who will repair the build burning gundam? Will Sei finally make an appearance?

[YokozunaBulldozer]

Spoiler

Episode 7 was a real tear jerker and the Destiny Gundam was so gorgeous.
Also am I the only one that thought of the two lackeys from Medarot(Medabots) when seeing Gorou and Kouji? You know, the two lackeys from the Screws.
And who thinks there may be Free! fans on the staff?

[Akashi Takumi]

Spoiler

Episode 7 was a real tear jerker and the Destiny Gundam was so gorgeous.
Also am I the only one that thought of the two lackeys from Medarot(Medabots) when seeing Gorou and Kouji? You know, the two lackeys from the Screws.
And who thinks there may be Free! fans on the staff?

Spoiler

Episode 7 is a test to see if you are a human being with feelings.

And yeah I think some staff members are either fans of Free! or may have worked on it. Their battle was hilarious though.

[Kuruni]

The best episode so far, IMO.

Serious, I though the Angelfish at least has some plan to fight in non-aquatic field...and so this episode start with me laughing.

Destiny is awesome...and Destiny Impulse R look quite awesome despite never move at all.

Shimon's teammates has so old-school design, which fit the theme of this episode nicely.

The battle is even more epic than the last episode...although I did make mental comparing to Felini match from GBF automatically, which dull it a bit, but it's still fun.

I feel like the aftermatch is poking fun at over-dramatic situation of similar tourney show, as both Mamoru and Shimon can accept that they lose like ones should be (and Mamoru now aim to be better builder as well), this make you feel like other characters just think too much.

Note that I'm not a devil without feeling, the situation is real drama, but it also feel like the staff make it more dramatic than it should be (on purpose) with Gorou and Kouji (notice that they're source of over drama in this episode? like how their face faded as if the Windam goes self-detonate?), while Shimon and Mamoru are actually pretty normal about this situation. And Sekai, once see that without extra sentimental, can gather his thought and fight with all strength.

[PowerdGNFlag]

Also am I the only one that thought of the two lackeys from Medarot(Medabots) when seeing Gorou and Kouji? You know, the two lackeys from the Screws.
And who thinks there may be Free! fans on the staff?

The fat guy-small guy henchman duo trope is quite common, but Gundam has its own Laurel-and-Hardy duo: Bruno and Jacop from Turn A Gundam.

[Raikoh]

It was good. Definitely the best fight out of the series so far. Shimon's story is kind of "seen it" but not bad I guess. But then there are some nitpicks.

Spoiler

-I don't see why people are surprised at how lame Angelfish was. They've been calling them free since day one. As a fan of aquatic mobile suits, I'm disappointed. Wouldn't have been as weird if they didn't spend time building them up as a rival team.
-Yuuma's blandness kept him off-screen again. I wonder if this is going to become a trend?
-I must question the logic of a straight build's thrusters being able to apparently outclass both the Lightning and Winning Gundam's.
-For all they built up Shimon as a boxer, he really doesn't know how to box... Footwork? Jabs? Dodging? Combinations? Eh, don't need those I guess.

[YokozunaBulldozer]

Something to commemorate episode 7

Now I gotta watch all 6 ROCKY movies thanks to this episode

[Dark Duel]

Destiny is awesome...and Destiny Impulse R look quite awesome despite never move at all.

Haven't seen the ep itself yet, but I have seen some screenshots. And looking at those screenshots and comparing to photos and lineart, I am 95-100% certain that the Destiny Impulse in the ep is not the Destiny Impulse R, but the original Destiny Impulse - it's especially obvious if you look at the back-mounted cannons.

[Akashi Takumi]

It was good. Definitely the best fight out of the series so far. Shimon's story is kind of "seen it" but not bad I guess. But then there are some nitpicks.

Spoiler

-I don't see why people are surprised at how lame Angelfish was. They've been calling them free since day one. As a fan of aquatic mobile suits, I'm disappointed. Wouldn't have been as weird if they didn't spend time building them up as a rival team.
-Yuuma's blandness kept him off-screen again. I wonder if this is going to become a trend?
-I must question the logic of a straight build's thrusters being able to apparently outclass both the Lightning and Winning Gundam's.
-For all they built up Shimon as a boxer, he really doesn't know how to box... Footwork? Jabs? Dodging? Combinations? Eh, don't need those I guess.

Spoiler

-I agree with Team Free! being a bigger flop than a fish out of water (yes I am the god of puns).

-I will never like Yuuma, they wasted the early episodes hyping him up but his personality is blander than even his sister and that was a low bar to surpass.

-I think the whole point of the battle is Team Try questioning their true motivations for battling. They were faced with a real personal obstacle and only Sekai found the true answer. Fumina and Yuuma were both hesitating and by the time they snapped back they were already field-outed. Yuuma was about to stab the other gunpla but hesitated and Fumina just stood there. Also it just goes to show once again that if it needs to fit the plot then they will find a way to throw all logic away just to make it so.

-Yeah, I feel Shimon could have done better, the counter punch was a good start but it went down the "jigen haoh school of wupass" path way too quickly.

Overall, this is only episode 7 and we already have a pretty good fight, the last fights need to be far more epic.

The thing that bothers me though is that the 3v3 format may be dragging the fights down a lot. The only reason why this battle was so good was because the other two fighters were fielded out and was left to the two aces to duke it out 1v1. It may be a great weakness that may greatly hamper the epicness of future matches but if anything, Sekai can save any episode with his positive attitude.

[AmuroNT1]

Quite enjoyed this episode, but then that's par for the course on Try so far.

Overall I would say that this episode was aimed at placating if not winning over the people who've been unfavorably comparing Try to the original Build Fighters. Shimon is a rival very much in line with people like Fellini and Mao, a good-hearted and noble fighter who has his reasons for not backing down. He may not have a fancy custom Gunpla like the Fenice, but that adds to his character thanks to his backstory. And of course, his teammates turning the battle into a 1-on-1 showdown by ringing out Fumina and Yuuma, and that battle was one based more upon battle skill than any kind of flashy gimmicks. I do hope that this doesn't happen too frequently, because I do appreciate that Try is trying to do its own thing instead of just being a carbon copy of the original show.

While it did its best to feel like an episode of the original show, there was also some important character development with the team having their resolve tested by an opponent who also has legitimate reasons for fighting. I've thought a lot about how in this kind of show, every victory for the heroes means another team's dreams get crushed and how that tends to get glossed over because, well, they aren't the heroes. If you think about it too hard, you end up second-guessing yourself as Fumina and Yuuma did. But naturally, as a martial artist, Sekai understands that throwing a fight out of sympathy would be insulting to his opponent and gives it his all regardless. On top of that, he helps encourage Shimon's brother by showing him the Build Burning, which inspired him to branch out from straight-builds. It shows that Sekai is developing a real passion for Gunpla Battle himself, rather than just seeing it as "not a martial arts club, but it'll have to do".

Specific thoughts:

-The bit with Team Free! Fighters was...well, it got a nice heavy lampshade when we first saw them, with Yuuma snarking "I wonder what they'd do in a battlefield with no water..." Obviously, we now have our answer.

-Glad that the Windam got something to do in Build Fighters. I've always been fond of the design, and even if it didn't exactly move mountains, at least we got to see it being used by a named character rather than just being background cannon fodder.

-As someone who started building Gunpla with fingernail clippers (and forceps, but I'd rather not remember that...), seeing a pair on Mamoru's desk made me smile.

-Sekai's new technique this week, the Senkou Majutsu-Geki (Flash Magic Kick?) reminds me of a supermove used by Kairi from Street Fighter EX. Also, I wonder if wrestling moves like armbars are a regular part of Jigen Haoh or if Sekai was improvising.

-Like others have mentioned, Yuuma just kind of fades into the background on this one. I really wish they'd be more consistent with him; we've got proof that he's a good guy (otherwise Fumina probably wouldn't have been friends with him), but he's still kind of distant even when it doesn't come to his standoffish-ness towards Sekai. I'm not saying I want him to just wake up one day and magically become a team player, but seeing a little more humanity out of him (like say offering to teach Mamoru some things about customizing Gunpla) would go a long way towards softening his character.

-They're really setting Akira Sugu (the Sleggar clone) up to be something sinister. By all indications he's just using a customized G-Armor, and yet he was able to defeat a customized Neo Zeong with it? I don't know if he's going to turn out to be the "Hell Hydra"'s pilot like some have suggested, but there's definitely a lot more to him than meets the eye. I have the feeling he's going to play a large part in Gyanko's defeat next week.

-Episode's biggest flaw: Not enough Mirai. But then, there's never enough Mirai.

[Strike Zero]

S(h)imon actually said "Who the hell do you think I am?" Probably wasn't an intentional reference, but what the hell, I'll take it.

Of course, the fight was glorious. It sort of makes me wish that they'd kept the 1v1 format instead of going with a team format, since the former is clearly what the studio does best. Oh, well, whaddaya gonna do?

Next episode is SUPER-HYPE. There is absolutely no way she is going to win, but Gyanko having an episode to herself is more than I could have ever asked for. IS THIS A SIGN THAT THE BENTO-SHIP IS REAL? ONE CAN ONLY HOPE!

[HellCat]

Spoiler

The opening gag was great. For a second I was expecting the obvious joke of them getting a desert or similar but the arctic tundra works out funnier, with them diving dramatically only to find all the water is frozen solid. Them being offed without a word before even the titles was fun too.

The actual episode had a good idea but it was also a tired one that didn't go deep enough. We saw a few episodes back that Shimon's Destiny was so snap build it had nubs and such, so why couldn't they explore that a bit more? The little brother excuse works well to explain it, but his own skill basically made its identity as a non customised snap build basically non-existant. I think it would have been interesting to hint at some snobbery, with Shimon tired of custom fielding teams looking down on his brother's Gunpla and having a chip on his shoulder about it. There was some meat with the idea of the team conflicted over if they should throw the game for a sick boy but overall it was about as '...Eh' as the show has been thus far. I didn't even feel much now that Sekai has obviously found his personal rival.

This could have been a good episode to salute the fans who buy Gunpla just to snap together but it seemed to lose that focus quickly and used the sick kid plot as a shield.

[Soma Taozi]

Them being offed without a word before even the titles was fun too.

Unless I am badly mistaken, someone said they self-detonated. Which makes that even funnier in my opinion. I thought it was a fitting ending for them, Team Free has been ridiculous since the off-set and such a ending befits them.

Try has been fun so far, they are doing enough things different that I am interested in what happens next. That and this ending, ended the Build Burning Gundam's invincibility that people were complaining about. I predict a training montage where Sekai learns to build!

[HellCat]

My own bet is either Yuuma contacts Sei OR we find out Sei has gone into the same job as his dad, with Sekai encountering him in hobo disguise.

[AmuroNT1]

Unless I am badly mistaken, someone said they self-detonated. Which makes that even funnier in my opinion.

Fumina says this in the first scene after the opening credits. Though if you want to be more precise, she used the phrase "jimetsu" (自滅), which means self-destruction in the more personal sense, like "he has a self-destructive personality". Most of the time Gundam uses "jibaku" (自爆), which means self-destruct in the mechanical sense, like what the Wing Boys are infamous for doing.

I dunno if that means that they blew up their own Gunpla, especially considering Gunpla Battle DOES have an option to simply concede a match. Maybe she meant it metaphorically, as in "They dug their own graves".

[HellCat]

That was how I took it, possibly extended to a pun based on certain Gundam pilots habit to opt for a self destruct when they can't win. The fact the team is sat there right after in an obvious daze seems to confirm that reading as they clearly have no fall back for when a field doesn't have water.

[PrissAsagiri UK]

I must question the logic of a straight build's thrusters being able to apparently outclass both the Lightning and Winning Gundam's.

I'm only speculating here, but I think in both cases we're seeing a machine's basic type trumping build quality. The Winning Gundam is a fine machine, but it's a relatively dinky SD Gundam with thrusters appropriate to its own modest mass, and wasn't in its booster/flight form, whereas the Jet Windam is a bigger and more massive machine with a higher baseline level of thrust, designed for atmospheric flight without any need to transform. Similarly, the Murasame, as an atmospheric flight mobile suit, might be expected to enjoy an advantage against the Re-GZ derivative Lightning Gundam which build quality might not go all the way in compensating for (though this one's more questionable - I don't know what data we have on the Re-GZ's expected/intended performance in an atmosphere and gravity well, or how extensively Yuuma's customisations have taken the Lightning Gundam from the Re-GZ's baseline thruster performance).

I mean, I totally get where you're coming from here and I think it's a valid question to ask, but the choice of Gunpla suggests to me that the writers at least thought about the question and tried to give a nod towards plausibility.

-Like others have mentioned, Yuuma just kind of fades into the background on this one. I really wish they'd be more consistent with him; we've got proof that he's a good guy (otherwise Fumina probably wouldn't have been friends with him), but he's still kind of distant even when it doesn't come to his standoffish-ness towards Sekai. I'm not saying I want him to just wake up one day and magically become a team player, but seeing a little more humanity out of him (like say offering to teach Mamoru some things about customizing Gunpla) would go a long way towards softening his character.

I feel the show isn't really making the most of Yuuma, because his particular qualities, what he brings to the team, haven't been given a lot of focus so far. Sekai is never more than half a step out of the spotlight, and last episode was Fumina's chance to shine a little, but while Yuuma's Gunpla draws comment from various people and we've had a few shots of him working on it, the actual Gunpla building aspect of the show that Yuuma best embodies hasn't really been given attention in the way that the original series managed though Sei. I think the damage inflicted on the Build Burning Gundam is an opportunity to put the spotlight on Yuuma's skills (and on Yuuma himself) in a more active way, explaining why he's important to the team, why what he does is important, and maybe starting to explore the past relationships and events that so far the show has only scratched the surface of.

[HellCat]

Yuuma is off putting to me because of his attitude. He worked in the first 2 episodes because he didn't talk much and per his flashback seemed to be unhappy with his path, like he was merely surviving in the Model Building Club rather than living his dream.

Past that, all he does is take the same shot at Sekai week after week. It particularly amazes me because Kuroda was the guy who wrote Tieria, a similar but much more interesting character and we didn't get any hint of personal conflict for him until much later. Yuuma is just an ass who does the same thing week after week, a snob who lashes out at Sekai while fawning over his sister. Heck, other shows can actually make that work but there's nothing endearing about Yuuma. Especially not when so many people in Try are similar.

Are we at least past the long period where everyone has to mention he's a finalist in the Artistic Gunpla Grand Prix?

[monster]

I'm quite disappointed with this fight. I don't know if it's because of Shimon's boxing background, but he allowed Sekai to determine the battle and didn't use the Destiny as well as he could. He was more impressive in the first fight.

That said, I don't know why Shimon's partners were more concerned about Team Try Fighters. That just seems like a convenient plot device to make Sekai meet Mamoru.

I'm glad Yuuma wasn't openly critical of Sekai this episode. I really think he needs to just get over that and start showing his best.