When it comes to shows I saw as a kid/teen, there's some that either aged like wine or aged like milk. While I would still watch shows like Batman The Animated Series, Justice League, Spectacular Spider-Man, Avatar, or other shows from my childhood no matter how old I get, there's some I wouldn't be caught dead watching, Johnny Test, CW’s Flash, Garfield, etc. But when it comes to Gundam, there's one that sticks out like a sore thumb, one that kind of ruins the franchise for me just a little bit, one that that gets more praise than it really deserves, and one that gotten worse & worse the more I think about it, Gundam Build Fighters. Many, and I mean MANY, people are gonna get on my ass about it because to them it's “a love letter to the franchise”. And that's the issue, isn't it? People are so distracted by the fan service of the anime that they ignore the various issues in this anime; the story is predictable, the characters lack any depth or motivations, the world building makes no sense, the mobile suit designs are just eye candy, and…why else do I hate this anime? It's often been said that Build as a whole has been divisive among Gundam fans. While we've seen why one side would love Fighters, we've barely seen anyone criticize the real issues of the anime. Any attempt in doing so, will have people say “you're not supposed think about it too much” or “don't take it seriously at all”, which aren't really points in their favor as they can be applied to any other pieces of media that gets rightfully criticized. I have made multiple posts & memes on why I hate this anime in the past that's gotten a handful of downvotes by fans, but I never really got into full depth on my reasoning. But after marathoning all of these shows back to back, it's time to roll up my sleeves and get down & dirty on why Gundam Build Fighters is a bad anime to me.
* Plot:
* In a reality not too different from our world, Gunpla enthusiast Sei Iori wants to enter into gunpla battles. Unfortunately, due to his lack of experience, he can't pilot his gunpla properly. But a random foreigner named Reiji, came to Japan for reasons explained later and bumped into Sei after stealing a piece of bread. To repay him, Reiji helps Sei as his pilot and together they enter the Gunpla tournament.
* So it's just a basic toy tournament plot where they use Gundam model kits to fight other Gundam model kits. I'll say this, the idea of using gunpla in a more tournament setting instead of a war is a nice change of pace, it's nice to see it again after G Gundam. But as I'll discuss later in the review, Mobile Fighter had certain aspects that made it worth watching that BF sorely lacked. Where my issue begins is that they don't really do anything unique about this concept. It's just your run of the mill toy based shounen anime where the end is so predictable. It's also based on a rivalry that's so hollow & uninteresting.
* It also doesn't help that this anime decides to constantly throw references at your face. While some of them are pretty cute, like some quick cameos from previous Gundam characters in the background (honestly, out of all the references used in the show, I thought ep 23 used them well with Hamman babysitting Mineva and Chris & Bernie cheering for Al) and some interesting word play here & there. But the ones that don't really land for me are the ones that don't understand the context of the reference. For example, when one of the characters gave a woman a well built Gunpla, it turns out to be a Victory Gundam from well… Mobile Suit Victory Gundam. I thought giving a random woman a HG is weird enough, but from a series that's infamous for killing off women in the most gruesome way? Fellini is lucky that the woman didn't know where the show was from. And this problem persists throughout the anime, the references either come out of nowhere or are used in the most inappropriate way, like Sei dreamed of his dad in Tem Ray’s apartment where he saw his son as nothing more than the Gundam’s pilot or Sei referencing an episode Bright Slaps Amuro to get his shit together. References like that just leave a sour taste in my mouth as they’re not cleverly used and brushes over the context of the reference. And sure shows like Unicorn use references all the time, but those references are used further the plot and add exposition to the OVA. Here it's just, why?
* So we have a basic story with no depth & references that are just there to jiggle keys in front of the fans’ faces. So if I take away the Gundam references, it's just a barebones tournament style anime like Pokemon or Yu GI Oh and if you take that out, this anime essentially becomes “Ready Player One” but for Gunpla. So there's nothing else to invest in, it doesn't get better for the characters. Oh boy, do I have something to say about them
* Characters:
* Whenever there's a new “Build” project, people often complain that there's no “Sei or Reiji”. Whenever I say I prefer the later shows, people say “well it doesn't have Rambal Ral or Rinko, so it's immediately inferior”. And to all of those points, I'm genuinely curious as to why would you use that as a counter argument? Because these are the weakest characters I've seen in any Gundam show. None of the sparks any form of interest out of me as they don't really have any form of character arcs, or at least any GOOD character arcs. Everything they do is based on “Gunpla is freedom” and nothing else. I'm gonna be here all day explaining why I don't like these characters, so buckle up.
* To start things off, I might as well start with the main 2 characters; Sei Iori & Reiji. Sei really just serves as the Gundam fan who we can relate to. All he really does is build gunpla & exposit Gundam lore. I wouldn't mind if he had anything else to offer, but he doesn't. They tried making him want to be a fighter, but we don't see him actually be serious about it and basically forget about it till the end till he suddenly gets good. I also find the idea of him needing someone to pilot is kinda dumb, is there really no other way to solve your problems? Like, you could just train to be better and improve your skills in combat. And if need help, he has Ral to train with. Sure, you can argue & say “the point is him fitting more into building instead of fighting”, which doesn't do much since he doesn't seem to mind fighting. Monster University handles a similar theme with it's main character since it's him learning to pursue a new goal that's similar to his dream. If Sei had something similar, then he probably would've been a better character for it instead of a Gundam lore Dispensing machine.
* Next we have Reiji, who's on my list of least favorite Gundam protagonists. I can't express how much I couldn't stand this guy throughout the 1st half, for how obtuse he is as a character. For one the idiot doesn't suffer any consequences for his actions; he steals a bag of bread (which someone should've been looking after) and Sei pays for it, he breaks into a school & beats up a teacher doing his fucking job & Yuki clears things out, and when breaks into the Chairman’s office after beating up a group of TRAINED GUARDS and he just leaves. This idiot never learns that his actions have consequences. Many argue “he's from a privileged background”, that's all the more reason why someone should've knocked him off his hide horse to make him take some responsibility (how easily were you beaten out by Pixar's Cars of all things). It gets worse when none of skill set is ever explained. Like, when we first saw him, he didn't know a damn thing about gunpla, but when he teleports to Iori’s models he's suddenly a really good pilot. And he also confirms that where he's from there's no school, yet knows how to tackle a grown ass man and group of fucking security guards (where's Kiryu Chan to put this hot head in his place).
* I also don't buy his & Sei’s relationship, since they don't have any chemistry with one another. If anything, if this was realistic, those 2 would've despised each other. Sei always plays shit safe and Reiji is reckless in his actions, which means they share nothing in common. A GOOD show would've had them on bad terms in the beginning and not get along with one another, but as time goes on, they realize that they're more alike than they think and begin to bond a little more. Either way I think their friendship is BS.
* As for the other characters on Iori's side; Rinko, Ral, China, and Takeshi, they're as much personality as a plank of wood. Starting with the milf that's made for the gentleman with mommy issues, Rinko Iori. The only positive thing I can say is that she has a nice figure and knows how to dress. Everything else about her is so unnecessary to the plot. I'm honestly more surprised how popular she is compared to other milf characters who have real revilvance to the plot and have active roles in the story. There was one episode where she could've been an active character, where Sei is couped up in his room working on the build strike without eating or sleeping. So what do you think she does, be a concerned mother and get her son to touch grass? NOPE, she asks his lady friend to have a shoehorned in episode about her liking gunpla. I think that speaks for itself, these writers are incapable of writing a mother character who serves a purpose in the narrative outside of being R34 content. Speaking of underwritten women, China Kousaka exists to be Sei's love interest and nothing else. There's also one chest joke that was added for some reason (for anyone who thinks this is funny, I want you to look deep into a mirror and ask yourself what the hell is going on with your life). All she does throughout the anime is comment on the fights with Ramble Ral.
* Speaking of which, the Blue Giant is in this and he serves a different kind of fan service. It's one thing to make a character from another show appear as a cameo, it's another if said becomes a main character. I honestly wouldn't mind it if he was like those Stan Lee cameos, but making him a supporting character feels out of nowhere. He doesn't even act like Rambal Ral, so he can be replaced with any character. Which leads to my next point, it makes Takeshi Iori look like a deadbeat in comparison as he doesn't interact with the characters till the literal last few episodes. Everyone makes him out to be some Gunpla master guru, yet not only we rarely see the bastard, we don't see use a custom gunpla. So one is in the show for longer than he has any right to be, and the other is barely in it, that it feels like the anime is telling us he's a master without showing us. If you ask me, these roles should've been reversed; have Takeshi be the owner of his shop and support both his son & Reiji to be better, and have Ral show up at the end to reveal who Takeshi's real master is. That way, Takeshi can feel like a real father as he cares for his son and treats Reiji as his own, while having Ral be a fun cameo towards the end. I mean, anything is better than Ral hitting on Rinko & Takeshi assaulting men in the restroom (OH DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT, That literally what happens).
* With this being a tournament anime, there's of course going to more characters to face off against, both friend and foe. But it's not interesting since they're also so boring. Both Mao & Nils are so forgettable as characters, that it's really incomprehensible how they're friends with Sei & Reiji, let alone why their rivals. Mao was trained by this perverted old man in the “art of gunpla” and we never know how they even know each other. And I guess he has a crush with this Inn worker who's obviously older than him. And then there's Nils who wants to research plasvsky particles for applications outside of gunpla, which is honestly a really interesting idea. The problem is a.) We don't understand why he's pursuing such a goal and b.) He doesn't have much personality outside being smart and being the Head Ninja in Charge (wait, why isn't he a ninja kid instead of a samurai). It gets worse when Sei gets mad at him for “not fully caring about Gundam”? Like, who would really get mad at something like that?
* The only character who's actually interesting is Ricardo Fellini. He's swab, down to earth, and a massive casanova. And it helps that we actually see why he loves gunpla battles, as it makes him more creative with his builds. It's such a shame that the other characters don't have an interesting goal like that. And then there's Kirara, who saying I have mixed feelings towards is a massive understatement. It's not even her character, as…. she's a fucking idol, what you want me to say? (I don't like idol culture). My issue is her actions, as it's creepy on her part or Fellini's part. In her 1st introduction, she flirts with Sei, spikes his tea to make him go to the restroom, and sabotage the Build Strike. That last part was already bad enough, but her flirting with and lack for a better word “drugging” a minor is a massive step too far and would end her career right then and there. And then there's her relationship with Fellini, which made me ask, HOW OLD IS THIS BITCH? The wiki doesn't say, it makes her actions in the anime questionable at best and creepy at worst. Did NO ONE on the writers room second guess this (*of course not, they were too busy pull references outta their asses*). I'm not going to bother with that Thai baseball player or those brothers, as their personality is as thin as paper. So these side characters suck shit and I haven't gotten to the villains….oh boy, here comes the big one.
* So I kinda have mixed feelings on Tatsuya Yuuki being the big rival in this anime, on paper, it makes sense to have a char clone type rival character who appears unbeatable to our MCs. In exaction, he's just a generic rival character with a mask on. I don't think he's cool, I think he's boring and uninteresting. The most depth he's given is that he's close to Sei and his family because Takeshi got him into gunpla. That honestly would be interesting if it felt relevant, but it's only brought up in the end of the anime. I also found his rivalry with Reiji to be meaningless. Like Reiji wants to beat him because he lost in a game that he barely knows how to play? Like WHAT DID HE EXPECT, of course that dumbass was going to lose. And it gets better, when they were about to fight in the qualifying rounds, he bails out because he has to fill the role of “Mejin Kawaguchi III”. That's a lazy reason for him not to face Reiji and Sei in the 2nd round. What's worse is that the Mejin plotline never goes anywhere as a.) We never know why Mejin would've known Yuuki, let's choose him specially to fill a role that anyone more close to him could fill and b.) We never see the OG Mejin since he's in the hospital the whole ass time. Ultimately, the most positive thing I can say about Yuuki is that he does his job as a rival passably. He's not interesting or terrible, he's just passable. Until the 3rd fight…WHY DOES ANYONE THINK THIS FIGHT IS SATISFYING WHEN YUUKI IS BEING MIND CONTROLLED?!?!? It's baffling that people think this is a “great battle” when it feels hollow as Reiji isn't fully fighting Yuuki, just his possessed body who's under the control of Mashita (who I'll get to later). So ya, here's the precursor to one of the fights in IBO S2… I think you all know how I feel about IBO S2. But I'll gladly take 100 rewatches between Maggie & Gali Gali over this sorry excuse of a rival battle. Like seriously, this is the ultimate battle between 2 rivals. I hate to compare, but: EZ8 vs Gouf, Strike vs Aegis, and the god tier fight between Exia vs 0 Gundam. Like, are people going to compare 3 of the most iconic fights in the franchise that have more weight behind it, with….a fight with a mind controlled zombie. I think I've said my part.
* Now let's move onto Mashita, who in my humble opinion, is the worst Gundam antagonist in the franchise. Look, I think the idea of a greedy businessman rigging the tournament could've worked. My problem, he's a coward who's only after Reiji just because he thinks he knows who he is. No joke, this man is from the same place Reiji’s from and he's afraid that Reiji might find out. So he's using all of power and resources to sabotage some because doesn't even know who he really is. This makes him a really pathetic villain. Wong from G Gundam was also pathetic, but he was clever and had a political position that made him untouchable as a villain. He had fingers in some pies and was in a high position to be untouchable by the heroes. Reiji is able to break into any time to beat up Mashita, because he has literally nothing to lose. That makes him a less effective villain.
* If I were going to rewrite both Yuuki & Mashita, I would switch their personalities. Have Yuuki be a petty rival who's skill gets the best of him, making him seem unbearable towards Sei & Reiji. And instead of bailing out of the qualifying rounds, he fights them and loses after heavily damaging the Build Strike. And then Mashita manipulates him into siding with and he uses his connections to get him into the finals, leading him to gain that mask. And towards the end, he becomes the worst version of himself and becomes beyond desperate to beat Sei & Reiji, leading to his defeat. As for Mashita, instead of having this stupid rivalry Reiji, make more of a Kingpin like character with a large & tight net of connections and makes his goals more sinister. And towards the end, he rigs the final fight for him to finish off Sei & Reiji. But Yuuki intervenes and helps them as a way to atone for his misdeeds. That's what we intellectuals call an arc. This would've made them characters you want to root against, and if they went further, they could've gone in depth in Yuuki's feeling on how much he regrets his decision, and even portray him as a dark version of Reiji. This is the best of both worlds, having someone who wants to see you lose, and who you want to change for the better. But as it is, the anime didn't even bother going any deeper. There's only one character who I would consider well written, but I'll talk about her towards the end.
* So I do not like these characters, at all. They're underdeveloped, poorly written, forgettable, or were straight up wasted potential. This is the complete opposite of what made the characters from G Gundam so memorable (goals & backstories we can understand, arcs dives deep into their personalities, and satisfying developments that made them memorable). All made worse by the English VA, which is one of, if not, the worst dub I've ever heard. Even the Japanese dub ain't so hot with only one good Seiyuu (good figure that the voice of Kiryu Kazuma would outshine all of them). Like, why does Reiji sound older than he really is? Another thing to add to the list of things Girls Und Panzer does better than this show. Ok, that's enough on characters, let's talk world building.
* World building:
* Gundam as a franchise composed of 3 integral parts: Gripping drama, compelling world building, and creative mechanical designs. We already went over this show lacking drama of any kind, so let's draw our attention to world building. It's bad….it’s pretty bad. For starters, the anime doesn't even try to be creative with its world, so it's just our world with some new tech here & there. And you may go like, “well, 00 was set in our world, why can't build Fighters”? Yeah, but 00 went through the trouble to make it more futuristic than our world with solar-punk like architecture and high tech vehicle designs.
* Here….outside of the GPD system and some of the phones, nothing really stands out, It's just modern day. As for the GPD system, while the whole idea of fighting with custom gunpla is interesting, the finer details makes it more novel. For starters, I think it's a missed opportunity for the announcer to call out the stages as in Smash Bros. It's just generic names like “Forest” or “Desert”. So you can make multiple Gundam references in the outer world, and NOT in the game were it's appropriate. Imagine calling out names like “Side-7” or “Torrington Base”. Seriously, you can have a field day the references in the game (I already mentioned my issues with the references in the anime, so I'll leave it at that).
* Another issue is the Gunpla themselves. How are the fighters ok with having their custom gunpla fully destroyed in a fight. Let give you an idea on how hard building gunpla is; an SD kit is $10 a pop while an HG is either $15-$30 a pop, and their the easiest kits to build. That's not including tools as a nipper cost $30-$60 a pair, with other stuff like sanding sticks, hobby knifes, pla plates, cement, & paint add some extra costs. And that's just money, as building is also time consuming. You have to snip it, sand it, add stickers (or paint it), then put the damn thing together. ALL of that takes up to 2-3 hours with a simple kit. Now consider all of that, and then see your kit that you spent all that time and money building get destroyed in left than half that time. The show rarely acknowledges it, and never really goes into detail on how the builders feel about it. Like, how am I going to take these fights seriously when the anime won't bother making it serious. I also don't think we get enough tips & tricks on building outside of using super glue to straighten parts (that must've been a nightmare to remove after the battle). It would've been cool if we actually used gunpla hacks like using a paperclip to fix a broken joint or using bread clips as pla plates. Wouldn't that make things interesting? But the most we got is the basics on building with Reiji & his girlfriend. Can we all pretend that this wasn't released 9 years before My Dress up Darling and call it an inferior My Dress up Darling clone? Too bad, I'm doing it. There's not a whole lot more I can say without going deeper in the gunpla, but I'll save that for the mechanics.
* Now moving on to 2 things that break both the world building & anime for me; Team Nemesis & Arian. How Team Nemesis was handled in this show was boring at best, and creepy at worst. Essentially, they're a scientific group that tests out one their subject's abilities to predict movement of gunpla. The worst part is that a.) Their subject is a child that they literally pick up from the streets, b.) They treat her like a product and c.) The way they make her comply is just straight up brutal. All of this, for a game for children. And before you go, “well it's a reference to Allenby & the Berserk system”. In that show, it made sense since there were high stakes to rule the world for 4-years, and that would make any corrupt politician take thr seedy route to making winning easier. Here, there's literally no gain outside of a fucking trophy. It gets worse when the subject leaves, and never reports them for all the unethical things did. Leading them to mind control Yuuki. All of this for a fucking game that we're told not to take seriously.
* And then there's one piece of lore that was added for no reason, aliens. That's right both Reiji & Mashita are from a place called Arian, with Reiji being a prince and Mashita a thief. They got teleported to Earth through finding treasure (this is the most unnecessary form of Origin story for a toy tournament anime). Do we ever get an explanation on what kind of world Arian is? Nope, all we get is a drawing, Mashita teleporting, a castle with flowers, and a small town. Why do we need to develop a whole world when they have nothing to do with the plot? The most they offer is a crystal the game runs on. Which…. could've been something scientifically made on earth. Even towards the end, Nils finds a way to make the fucking crystal artificially, so it's origin makes it more meaningless. Honestly, Arian could've easily been a foreign country in our world and still be the same, dare I say better as it makes the world more tightly connected.
* Also it's kinda convenient that Iori Models is still running in spite of having a very low number of customers according to Sei (maybe Rinko is keeping it afloat with her Onlyfans account). So it's safe to say that this world is Cars levels of chaotic (I'm sorry that was an insult….TO CARS). Even if you like the dumb story and stupid references, you have to admit that the world is weak compared to…. basically any other world in any piece of fiction I can think of, in and out off Gundam. Otherwise, I have as much to say about this world as I do about the Gunpla.
* Gunpla:
* Speaking of Gunpla, this show sure has em, and they suck. For a show that heavily promotes that “Gunpla is freedom”, these are probably the laziest designs I've seen. There's only 3 designs that were genuinely good, but everything else barely goes beyond their original designs. I guess I can be nice and say that using the Strike as the base for the MC Gundam was pretty fitting. The Build Strike (inspite being a blank slate), does represent the idea of the creativity of Gunpla. The Strike is already a modular machine, so it's pretty fitting. Plus, one of its shields, the Chobham shield with the ability to absorb & use its enemies beam blasts against them, along with its modular beam gun, makes sense for this show. It's such a thematically appropriate kit, that I think that the writers left it in by accident. It is such a shame that the shield, rifle, those 2x beam cannons & that pretty cool looking backpack that can turn into a jet are the only good weapons on the damn thing. All the other weapons from the Full Package, Star, and Cosmos either have weapons that literally every Gundam has or makes the damn thing OP with beam effects galore.
* As for Build MK-II, just the MK-II with a different V-fin and 2x shield rifles with beam sabers. That's a running theme in this show, none of these designs expand on their original designs outside of making it slightly different, adding a small amount of new weapons, and call it a day. It's just plain lazy.
* The Gundam X Maoh is another culprit of this, as it's just the Gundam X with just the large beam sword being affected by the microwave beam too. At least it upgrades to the Crossbone Gundam, with weapons from both the X & Crossbone and these 2x bone shaped Gunswords. This along with the other custom builds from the later shows are what I expect in a series where it literally promotes being creative with gunpla (and people still have the gull to call this “the only good one”).
* Moving on to other designs, I don't think the Sengoku Astray is a good design either, as it's just an Astray Red Frame with 2x big arms on its shoulders wielding katanas. And later, it's regular arms get bigger to wield a hammer. This designs bugs me for three reasons:
* 1.) It doesn't wield any form of range weapons, so it could've been sniped easily. And before you go “Samurai don't wield guns”, pick up a history book weebs, they did.
* 2.) Nils never struck me as a “samurai type”, since he's constantly infiltrating areas as a Ninja. So why go with a Samurai motif if it doesn't fit his style.
* And 3.) The 1st Gunpla he used, the Hyaku Shiki, is honestly more fitting, since it's an all-round mobile machine. And if they wanted too, they could've done a kitbash of both the Hyaku Shiki & the Astray. Again, the Build series’ designs are at their best when they're a combination of 2 machines.
* The Wing Gundam Fenice is just a Wing Gundam, but it can't transform and a beam cape? Its motorcycle is cool I guess. The Rinascita can transform, and that's all I can say. The Bearguy is creative, I guess. It's a bear version of the Acguy, with a beam flute & Japanese backpack. I can't say too much, since it only appears in 2 episodes. The Quebeley Papillon is just the Quebeley, but with a lance & invisible funnels? (Don't ask me how that works). The Abigorbine is just the original Abigorbine, but purple and piloted by Gigguk.
* At least the GM Sniper K9 gave us an idea on how good a GM Sniper can be, and its hound-like mobile turret is cool with its soldier miniatures. And the fight between the brothers & Yuuki was really cool, as it's them using tactics to take him down. But it immediately ruins itself after it uses an EXAM system (a berserk system from a Dreamcast/PS3 game called Blue Destiny). HOW THE FUCK IS IT ABLE TO DO THAT?!?! Like, it doesn't have any parts from the original Blue Destiny units, so how in the hell is it able to that? And does that mean that gunpla can use any system from other Gundams? I wouldn't mind this if the anime explain this. BUT THEY DON'T. It's even worse when one of the GM bros were spitting facts about Gundam being a serious show, and Yuuki just shut them up. I think that should be self explanatory.
* I might as well talk about Yuuki's mobile suits now. So Yuuki started off his gunpla fighting career with the Zaku Amazing. It's just a red Zaku II with the same weapons, but with another shield pad with missile pods and 2x heat natas. Nothing too special, but I thought that would've led to another Zaku or mobile suit that Char used, but no, it led to the Amazing Kampfer. This has the same weapons as the OG, but now it's without it's shotgun and it has these weapons containers (pistols, machine guns, a mini gun, and rocket launcher). Okay, so he's using Zeonic mobile suits known for their mobility and adds some extra weapons for more firepower. BUT NO, his next mobile suit is the FUCKING AMAZING EXIA. Look…. I love the Exia, it was the 1st HG I've built with my bare hands. It was the 1st RG I used tools to build. But WHY IN FUCKING CHRIST’S NAME WOULD YOU GIVE IT TO A GUY WHO HAS BEEN USING ZEONIC MS. CONSISTENCY, WHAT'S THAT? I wouldn't even be this mad if it was a modified Exia. NOPE, it's the regular ass Exia with a new shield that serves the same function. But credit where credit is due, the Dark Matter variant is pretty cool. 2x Swords with being able to freeze & the other being able to burn, 2x blades in the back, and a backpack that can transform. It makes for a good final boss suit, but I can't help but feel like it doesn't fit Yuuki's fighting style or the kind of suits he uses.
* And I'm not gonna bother with F91 or any of the other straight builds since they mostly serve as background dressing for the other main suits, since there's next to nothing to add. So to put it lightly, I really don't like the suit designs here. Not only do they barely go beyond their original designs, but because 9/10, they just don't fit the characters at all. And sure you can go with the “rule of cool” argument, like G Gundam didn't have any problems with that. As weird it is to say, those designs had thematic purpose. Ok, not every single one, but still. Take the Shuffle Alliance for example; each of those suits were made with both the fighting styles of the pilots and the traditional aspects of their culture. The designer may have designed them to spite the Producer, but it still provided the same purpose. Gundam 00 is a master class at this, as each of their suits were made to fit the Meister's combat styles; Setsuna for close combat, Lockon for sniping, Hallelujah for speed, and Tierra for firepower. Kanetake & Takayuki made these designs to fit into the overall plot of the story and fit characters of the show. Kanetake, Junya, and the other designers didn't do that here, and just cranked the “Rule of Cool” to 11. The fights are ok, but I don't feel anything since there's no tension or drama. The fight between Fellini & Reiji was the only one I genuinely liked, because it had 2 friends duking it out, adding tension & drama cuz we know why each side wants to win. The last 3 fights in the show completely lacked those 2 aspects, leading it to be unsatisfying. Oh ya, let's talk about that.
* Ending:
* So there are 3 ending battles, one with mind controlled Yuuki, one in A Bao Qu with some crystal bullshit, and another one with Yuuki without the mind control BS. I already explained why I don't like the fight between the Build Strike and Dark Matter, so let's explain why I hate the last two fights. The one in A Bao Qu is such an obvious ERJB that it's not even enjoyable. It has Sei, Reiji, Yuuki, and everyone else that just happens to be around the area and have their gunpla with them (*how convenient*). And their goal is to destroy this giant ass crystal and it'll stop this nonsense. So the fate of the Stadium lays with literally children & 4 adults with gunpla? Like, seriously? Anyways who cares, here's 15 or some minutes of our Fighters using their 4.5 inch model kits to fight other model kits with forgettable design. This whole scene was too stupid for me to care. However, that's not even the worst part.
* Towards the end, they commit one of the biggest Mecha sins I can think of. And I'm not talking about mechanical design sins, since I already talked about those with Yuuki. No, the biggest Mecha sin this show committed was during the literal final fight when Sei finally takes a crack at finally beating Yuuki with Reiji finally leaving home. And then towards the end, when Sei is about to land the final blow on the guy he has been fighting since the start of the fucking show, the moment Reiji leaves, the fight ends WITH NO FUCKING VICTOR. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING WITH THIS STUPIDASS ENDING?!?!? After all the work, those times spent building, those loses they endured, ALL LEADING TO A FUCKING TIE. I can't imagine a worse way this could've went down outside of Yuuki beating them again for the 3rd fucking time. So yeah, I hate this ending battle, the epilogue feels forgettable, and I hated every aspect of this show in this show. Well, maybe not everything
* The one good thing about the show:
* so it's safe to say that I couldn't less about the characters; Sei is an inferior Yukari Akiyama from Girls Und Panzer, Ral, Rinko, & Takeshi can be removed entirely and barely anything would change, the side characters are forgettable, and the villains sucks. There's only 3 characters who are worth any kind of discussion in this show; Reiji, Yuuki, and Aila (I finally said her name, cuz I have something to say about her). Aila Jyrkiainen was a character who was someone I genuinely feel for. A girl who's obviously being exploited for her skills and is forced to put up with it in order to survive. Her backstory as a girl on the streets had me wanting her to get out of that situation. And that's when Reiji came along. It starts with some dumb food hijinks with some expected cringey banter. At first I was gonna write off this relationship as some cringey young love nonsense with a lot of arguing. But then, during the tournament when he's finally up against her, Reiji reaches out to Aila and offers her to come home with him. That's one of the best moments in the entire anime. Offering someone who desperately needs help the same way he was helped at the beginning of the show, was remarkable. Reiji finally learned to put others before himself and offers help to someone who's similar yet different situation as help feels close to the heart of Gundam, as it's 2 characters learning to understand one another. This one moment did what the rest of the 24 episodes failed to do. So, in a weird way, it kinda makes the entire anime worse. It had all the pieces to make a show that connects to the themes of understanding each other that Gundam has always been known for. But I guess this show wasn't interested in being more.
* Verdict:
* Gundam Build Fighters was the moment the franchise stopped being a cultural influence and started being mundane. If AGE began this franchise's place in the Dark Age of Mecha, then Fighters completely cemented it. Outside of promoting more gunpla that aged poorly, this show didn't really do anything special and heavily relies on references of other shows that actually added something to the franchise. G & Wing brought Gundam to the west and paved the way for other shows to come through. SEED became a household name and immediately became the most talked about Gundam show for better & worse. And 00, along with Code Geass & Gurren Lagann, spearheaded the best years of Mecha. All four of these shows became icons, as they explored new concepts & tell stories that people are talking about to this day. Build Fighters on the other hand, barely adds anything to the franchise.
* I think the title not having the term “mobile suit” tells us right away that this is nothing like the series that came before it. It lacked the message at the heart of the franchise, that if we sit down to understand each other and change ourselves, we can make the world a better place. This show could've easily integrated this message into this story, but it was to busy riding on the good will of those other shows. Anything it does has been done better outside of Gundam; Girls Und Panzer, Monster University, and Cars. All of them being bonkers as hell on paper, but the execution became much more deeper & had great storytelling.
* So the TL;DR, I hate Build Fighters with a passion. Not just because of basic shit like “it's just a commercial”, “it's made for kids”, or “it's nothing like Gundam show”. I hate it because it's a story is boring & predictable, because the characters underutilized, because the designs don't fit the characters, and because it's a soul-crushing experience that only a crayon muncher with cereal on a Saturday morning can experience . This & IBO S2 are my least favorite Gundam shows of all time. I don't care how many people like it, because I don't.
