By The 14th Gunpla Force Tournament Finals begin in the virtual world of the Gunpla Battle Nexus Online. The next team battle will include Rommel’s 7th Panzer Division and current champion Kyoya Kujo’s Avalon. The battle will be a 10-on-10 variant on Capture the Flag, with the objective being to destroy the enemy’s designated Flag mobile suit. Avalon member Karuna rushes into Luna II in his Clanche Custom and comes under fire from a Bawoo, which he easily destroys. His teammate Emilia tells him that he went in too fast, but he shrugs it off. Kyoya arrives in his Gundam AGEII Magnum and is joined by Chambre’s Daughtress Neo, while Tsubaki’s EWAC Jegan scans for enemies from outside. It sends the rest of the team a map of the enemy positions, and Kyoya decides that they should split up to avoid getting caught in a pincer attack. Karuna and Emilia head for the residential block, while Kyoya and Chambre go for the tunnel. Rommel tells his teammates that everything is going as planned and that they should move to phase two. A Zaku Minelayer drops mines all over the tunnel. Outside, a Fantong attacks Tsubaki and destroys his EWAC Jegan, cutting off the rest of Force Avalon from surveillance data. Chambre takes out the mines, but the smoke blinds him to several wire traps, which detonate and destroy his Daughtress Neo. Kyoya exits the tunnel and immediately destroys the Zaku. Karuna and Emilia are attacked by another Bawoo, which splits apart into its Attacker and Nutter pieces. Kyoya fights off Kurt’s Geara Doga and is attacked by Rommel’s Grimoire Red Beret. Karuna is surprised to see a cockpit on the Bawoo Nutter, and Emilia realizes that both units are manned. Kurt tells Rommel they don’t have much time and rushes forward, slamming Kyoya into a wall. Karuna and Emilia’s units are damaged by the Bawoo units, and Karuna realizes that the first Bawoo he fought was unmanned, meaning there’s an extra unit they didn’t know about. Elsewhere, Jack’s Zudah fires a Big Gun through the wall, hitting Kyoya and Kurt head on. Despite the attack, Kyoya survived because he used his funnels to defend himself. Using parts from both Clanches, Emilia attacks Jack, destroying the Big Gun. Rommel attacks Kyoya and reveals two blades hidden in his legs. Kyoya is fired up by Rommel’s spirit, and Rommel admires Kyoya’s skills. The two rush each other for their final attacks, but the battle suddenly ends because Emilia destroyed the Zudah, which was the Flag suit. Kyoya is surprised that Rommel wasn’t the Flag, and the two shake hands. Force Avalon is officially named the winner of the tournament, and young Riku Mikami tells his friend Yukio Hidaka that he someday wants to fight battles like that. They then take off their VR helmets, and Riku looks at his Gundam 00 Diver.
This special prologue introduces the world of Gundam Build Divers. Nothing is explicitly stated about the setting, but this definitely feels like it is farther in the future due to the existence of the 14th Gunpla Force Tournament. It’s certainly possible that this doesn’t even take place in the same universe as Build Fighters, but that’s not particularly relevant at this moment. In this series, Gunpla battles take place in an MMO-like VR world, which allows for custom avatars like Rommel’s ferret. I like the emphasis on teamwork, and so far it is executed better than Try ever could. It’s also nice to see inclusion of suits from some newer series, including AGE, Reconguista and Thunderbolt. Interestingly, main character Riku Mikami doesn’t show up until the end and is just watching the battle that takes up this entire episode. He has a dream to compete in Gunpla battles, and we’ll obviously see his scrappy journey once the series proper kicks off.
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