The Official Gundam Build Fighters Try Anime Thread Mk I

[Deathzealot]

Huh. I didn't notice the other warships. Shall take another look to see what they are.

[FieryBlitz]

Spoiler

Holy jitt, Sei, you built a trump card after you moved on and DISGUISED IT AS A DOM!?

Also, that Build Burning Gundam introduction, man.

[Deathzealot]

I was amused at the Ball Formation at the start of the episode reminded me of the old shots of Battle of Solomon and Star One. Not to mention there where other types of Ball I spotted a K-Type in there along with a few other custom ones.

Other bits of interest from those scenes:
- A Guncannon with a Beam Axe
- A Green and White Core Booster plus seeing its Core Fighter eject before destruction
- What looked like a Maganac at the end bit when they entered the fortress
- An Asshimar is space! Holy Cow I think that is a first for me.
- And a bunch of other bits that are too fast or far away for positive ids but still looking good

As for the ships, a bit far for positive id but I believe there are a few White Base-Hero Ships in the group including Archangel, and maybe the Diva but I maybe wrong.

[Compass]

As soon as that frame started glowing, I believed. ;+; so beautiful. GBF delivers. Again!

[Strike Zero]

Ohmigosh, that was absolutely perfect. The battles were glorious, which was to be expected, but even I couldn't have expected them to be that glorious. The DOM OF DOMS was something to behold!

Sekai rocks, and Fumina is a qt to end all qts. Meanwhile, Yuuma is an ass, right along with mister Mantis Man, but I'm sure he'll get better.

Sekai's older sister... good lord, this truly is the Gundam Age of On ee-sans, isn't it?

And of course, there was the glorious return of Ral-san, and the DESSERT.

Truly, I could not have asked for a better start to the new season.

Now, the only problem is WHY DO I HAVE TO WAIT ANOTHER WEEK TO SEE MORE? GUNDAMN IT TO HELL!

[Xenosynth]

Oh man, I haven't been able to do a cameo list since BF, this is gonna be fun. Only sticking with MS and stuff, battleships aren't my forte. I'm also gonna avoid relisting the same cameos and the three mains (Build Burning, Lightning, and Powered GM Cardigan).

Cameos (In order of appearance, mostly):

Spoiler

Cgue
Jamru Fin
Asshimar (in Anksha colors) and Core Booster
Daughtress Neo and Byarlant
Gablethley
High Mobility Psycommu Test Type Zaku II
Geara Doga
Eyezack
Leo
Gelgoog Jager
Rick Dias
GM
Hyper-Javelin like weapon (The way the scene is shot, it looks like it's the Guncannon's.)
Guncannon
GM Squad
Ball
Gaza-C
Dra-C
Guncannon II
GM III
Ball (With Twin Cannons)
Ball K (Double arms)
Ball K (MS Igloo Shark Mouth)
Zaku III
Galbaldy Alpha
Javelin
Jesta, Denan Zon, Death Army, Maganac, Union Flag
Rezel, Barzam, Hizack
Virgo, Imperial Rig Shokew, Balient, Zoloat, Murasame
Serpent
Walter Gundam
Musha Gundam
Val Varo
Altron, Contio, Alex, Mercurius. I can't recognize far right one very well.
Dahgi Iris, Gattle, Gouf Flight Type, Minaret Gundam. Far left are a bit too deformed for me to fully recognize.
Kerberos Bucue(?), Pescatore, Dijeh, Another Barzam.
Zee Zulu, Zudah, Ball K, Acguy, Zogok
Strike Dagger, Heavygun, Virgo II, G-Bit DOME, Jenice
Moebius Zero, Loto, Type 61, Skygrasper, FF-4 Toriares Don't know the others. Non-MS aren't my strong suit, sorry.
Cappule, Zaku Cannon, Gelgoog Jager, Qubeley Mk II. Can't quite get the far-right one.
Zaku I, Zaku II Dozle Zabi use, Hildolfr, Psyco Gundam, Zakrello, Braw Bro, Turn X.
Gundam Mk II Hizack on the other side, just trying to avoid listing doubles unless necessary (like the Barzam.)
Vayeate, G3 Gundam
GP01 FB
RX-78-2
Mock. Seems they use them as simulation dummies now.
Wing Zero EW Poster. There was also a Turn A poster earlier, and a Type 61 Tank box (From the UC Hardgraph model line) but since I already had type 61 earlier, didn't wanna put it again. Just thought I'd mention it though.
Z'Gok E, Wing Zero EW HG boxes.
MG Sinanju Stein, MG Strike Noir Model Boxes (They were to the left of the Z'Gok E and Wing Zero ones).
GM Custom, GM Powered, Hazel II, and Hizack MG
Yuuma working on assorted weapons. RX-78-2 Rifle and shield, Ground Gundam shield, Gouf Heat Saber, Zaku Bazooka, a very large heat hawk.
AEU Enact
Dom. It appeared way earlier obviously, but I didn't wanna use a lame picture.

Overall I loved the episode. Action was fun, comedic moments were funny, and overall it was a treat to watch. And of course, me being me, looking in the background for all the cameos was really fun.

[Compass]

I assumed the Laohu was just that much closer to the camera than the rest of the assault fleet.

Anyone with a better eye for spaceship classes want to play Name That Warship? I think the one in the bottom-left of the formation (as we see it) is an Archangel class, maybe in Dominion colours? I can't positively identify the other three though I'd be shocked - shocked! - if one of them wasn't a Pegasus class.

It may be an actual Dominion-subclass, rather than an Archangel in Dominion colors.

http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/seed/dominion.htm The Dominion has those fins on the back that replace the old radomes, and they're somewhat prominent above the two catapults.

The one on the top right appears to be the Minerva with its single-lined Tannhauser and wings.

[Gundam420]

- An Asshimar is space! Holy Cow I think that is a first for me.

Pretty sure they showed an Asshimar in space in the last season when Sei flashbacked to his Dad competing in the World Tournament.

[PrissAsagiri UK]

Going to offer my best guesses on some of the ones you couldn't identify...

Cameos (In order of appearance, mostly):

Spoiler

Altron, Contio, Alex, Mercurius. I can't recognize far right one very well. Bawoo in standard colours?
Dahgi Iris, Gattle, Gouf Flight Type. Far left and right are a bit too deformed for me to fully recognize. Don't know about the far left, but the far right looks like the Minaret Gundam.
Moebius Zero, Loto, Type 61 Don't know the others. Non-MS aren't my strong suit, sorry. Skygrasper (behind the Type 61) and FF-4 Toriares.
Cappule, Zaku Cannon, Gelgoog Jager, Qubeley Mk II. Can't quite get the far-right one. Victory Gundam, I think?

[Shinji103]

As enjoyable as this episode was, just like any episode of Build Fighters, there was a bit of a glaring problem.

Fumina, backed up by Reiji, errr, Sekai, gets turned into a Damsel in Distress for Sekai to save against a guy who is vocally against Gunpla battling, as he calls it a "contradiction," but is somehow really good at it? After the beginning of the episode made Fumina out to be supposedly skilled? Build Fighters seems to have inherited the Gundam universe's habit of not taking its female pilots seriously. I just hope this doesn't become the norm, but the fact that Fumina gets relegated to an SD Gundam, instead of her much more awesome-looking Powered GM Cardigan or some other Gundam-type Gunpla, doesn't give much hope. It seems Gundam has largely given up on its female pilots that don't have Haman Kahn in their name. Even Aila ended up getting one-hit TKO-ed by the Star Build Strike.

On another note, on first impression Yuuma comes off as a jerk. It was one thing to have decided to abandon her and leave for model building, but then he shows up out of nowhere and essentially backstabs her? I'd expect this to not be the norm for him though, since he's supposed to join the team.

Still, awesome episode, and aside from the above bits I was grinning like a crazy fanboy for the whole episode. I especially liked how Fumina was the first one in Build Fighters to use dummy balloons. (we need to see more of this) And I have no doubt we'll be seeing cameos from the first series. The staff made it clear that they looooove cameos.

[Mythgarr]

As enjoyable as this episode was, just like any episode of Build Fighters, there was a bit of a glaring problem.

Fumina, backed up by Reiji, errr, Sekai, gets turned into a Damsel in Distress for Sekai to save against a guy who is vocally against Gunpla battling, as he calls it a "contradiction," but is somehow really good at it?

Well, you need to give a reason for Sekai to help Fumina, right? He sees a boy bullying a girl and his chivalrous soul come to rescue. Simple as that. This is a boy's toys commercial, after all

Strangely, the most exciting cameo for me on this episode is that green Asshimar...I don't know why...too bad it is out of stock on HLJ last I see it..

[BrentD15]

- An Asshimar is space! Holy Cow I think that is a first for me.

Pretty sure they showed an Asshimar in space in the last season when Sei flashbacked to his Dad competing in the World Tournament.

Spoiler

It was also seen in ZZ painted in Glemy's Forces colors.

[Shinji103]

Well, you need to give a reason for Sekai to help Fumina, right? He sees a boy bullying a girl and his chivalrous soul come to rescue. Simple as that. This is a boy's toys commercial, after all

That actually makes it worse.
Why did we need Sekai to save Fumina? He was already in the match, and the model club president being a complete jerk wasn't enough reason to punch out his clock in the game? And even without that, Sekai doesn't seem like the type of guy who likes losing.

[Xenosynth]

^ This. It's frustrating that a character who was an experienced battler would just lose like that to someone with no interest, and in some ways, it feels like it's because she's a girl that they purposefully put her in a position to be 'rescued.' She shouldn't need rescuing. Yuuma also exhibits his skills just fine when he long quit battling.

I by no means hate the series for it, it's a problem common among a lot of anime, and media in general, but it's still a valid criticism.

[Strike Zero]

"OH NOES, THE THING THAT HAS HAPPENED IN HALF OF EVERY SHOUNEN ANIME EVER JUST HAPPENED, CALL THE COPS"

Even if Fumina's character had been male, the same exact thing would have happened. In fact, the same exact thing did happen last season, when Reiji stepped in to save Sei at the hands of Sazaki.

Yeah, Fumina's a better fighter than Sei was, but she's clearly not supposed the best, as the opening mass-battle was quick to establish. Remember also that when it comes to how well a Gunpla does in battle, it's long since been established that the quality of the build is an important factor, for which Mantis Man has plenty of talent, so it's not farfetched that he'd be able to go toe-to-toe with decently skilled battlers.

And if you wanted to break it down even further, the moment that Mantis Man managed to gain control of the battle was when Fumina was scrambling to protect Sekai's dumb ass from being skewered, forcing her on the defensive while engaging in close combat against a nimble Enact using a heavy-armor GM geared for long range combat. Taking that into account, is it really any wonder that she managed to get beaten back during this particular encounter?

[latenlazy]

Still, an occasion where the girl didn't get to be the hero(ine).

[Xenosynth]

I don't think we made a giant deal about it O_o Even look at my original post, I said I loved the episode. I just felt it was something that's all too common in shonen anime. Just because it happens all the time doesn't necessarily make it okay.

I know the Build factors into it, but the reflexes you'd need to battle don't seem like they'd just come to you in a battle. It's like... if you picked the top tier fighter in a fighting game, that doesn't mean you are going to win if you are new to it. True, we don't know if Mantis used to mess around with Gunpla Battle, but again, to me personally, it just felt a bit negative to me.

I don't see why I'm getting bashed on for having one nitpick on a show that I personally loved (And who's first episode I liked even better than the first Build Fighters.) And clearly I'm not the only one that was bothered by it. Am I not allowed to feel bothered by it?

[Shinji103]

^This.

And:

"OH NOES, THE THING THAT HAS HAPPENED IN HALF OF EVERY SHOUNEN ANIME EVER JUST HAPPENED, CALL THE COPS"

So because it's cliche, we should let it pass? ^^b You realize you just pointed out one of the reasons that many people already criticize a lot of animes, right? ^^b

Even if Fumina's character had been male, the same exact thing would have happened. In fact, the same exact thing did happen last season, when Reiji stepped in to save Sei at the hands of Sazaki.

Actually it makes far less sense than last season because the model president has no interest in Gunpla battling and is vocally and strongly against it, thus has absolutely no reason to be better than Fumina, an experienced pilot.
And there are several different ways that scene could have been done without making Fumina a Damsel in Distress.

Yeah, Fumina's a better fighter than Sei was, but she's clearly not supposed the best, as the opening mass-battle was quick to establish. Remember also that when it comes to how well a Gunpla does in battle, it's long since been established that the quality of the build is an important factor, for which Mantis Man has plenty of talent, so it's not farfetched that he'd be able to go toe-to-toe with decently skilled battlers.

While I can agree with this to an extent, you seem to be overdoing it a bit. Fumina, in a not-hax machine (remember Star Build Strike with its Discharge system and Build Knuckle? ^^b and even Build Burning in this episode) did better than every other pilot on her team, and only lost after her mech was heavily damaged in 1 vs. 10 odds and she had to go up against four bosses at once, including a super-sized Musha Gundam, immediatley afterwards.
But not being the best pilot, and being dominated by a pilot who not only doesn't have any interest in the game but is strongly against it, are two different things.
The quality of the build is important, and just like every Gundam series, and every not-so-good pilot in Build Fighters has shown, you get a good fighter from pairing a good model and good pilot together. You have an inexperienced, bad pilot in a great model and you still get a bad fighter. It's absolutely far-fetched that a guy who doesn't battle can beat an experienced fighter so easily. The pilot still has to use the controls and fight. And add to that the fact that clearly Fumina is a very good modeler herself.

And if you wanted to break it down even further, the moment that Mantis Man managed to gain control of the battle was when Fumina was scrambling to protect Sekai's dumb ass from being skewered, forcing her on the defensive while engaging in close combat against a nimble Enact using a heavy-armor GM geared for long range combat. Taking that into account, is it really any wonder that she managed to get beaten back during this particular encounter?

And for that we have the staff of the series to thank for writing the battle this way so that she'd need to be saved, bringing us to my and Xenosynth's original point.

Here's a perfectly acceptable alternate scenario:

Model pres comes in acting like a jerk and threatens to close down the club.
Sekai, being the hotheaded guy he is, challenges him on the condition he leave them alone if he wins.
Model pres, having no interest or experience with Gunpla battling (thus not contradicting his anti-Gunpla battle stance), calls in Yuuma to fight Sekai.
Of course Fumina objects since Sekai is an amateur, bot hotheadedSekai insists, a la many other such scenarios.
Yuuma beats down on Sekai, Build Burning revealed.
Switch to the last parts of the episode where Sekai and Yuuma were facing down and big sis interrupts.

[Arbiter GUNDAM]

I will admit, I am still a teency bit annoyed that Fumina is going to be spending most of the time with a squashed, cutesy SD Gundam (apparently), it's a minor gripe.

I also posted a list of screenshots for people to enjoy, although I think Xenosynth has pretty much beaten me.

All in all a magnificent birthday present.

[Strike Zero]

Am I not allowed to feel bothered by it?

You can feel bothered by whatever you want. But complaining about anime doing certain things with its characters --especially something as inoffensive as "Fumina almost lost a fight and was subsequently bailed out" -- is like complaining that it gets hot in the summer. It's pointless and a waste of energy.

But don't worry, you're fine. Nah, I was mainly addressing Shinji's criticism-verging-on-rant, containing such drastic statements like "Gundam has given up on females not named Haman Karn," and deciding that Try is doomed to fall into this pattern based on the events of one episode, and the fact that Fumina will use an SD Gundam which has no bearing on anything whatsoever.

You keep hammering on this point, that Mantis Man is against Gunpla battling, which means that he must to be poor at it. Nowhere did the show hint at any such correlation, nor does there have to be one. As such, it's merely an assumption, and not conclusively relevant.

Your last point boils down to, "the episode should have been written differently." I suppose I can't argue with that. I would have liked to see Fumina put up a bit more of a fight as well. But I'm not so pessimistic to take this as a sign that she'll never do anything awesome for the rest of the show and that I won't enjoy her character.