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Gundam Build Divers Re:RISE Ep. 16: To the Heavenly Land

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Summary

Freddie and Parviz ride their balloon high above the clouds in their attempt to reach Milaag Mountain and the sacred beat Cuadorn. Freddie spots a range of clouds ahead with heavy lightning. Back on the ground, Kazami and Maiya search their designated ruins and find them completely destroyed and with no shining sand in sight. Kazami admits that he thought Eldora was all just part of a game and said whatever he wanted, which probably hurt all of the villagers. He also admits that Eldora was possibly attacked due to stupid things that he said to Alus, so he apologizes. Maiya responds that there’s no need to apologize because she heard from Freddie that Kazami did everything he could to protect them. Kazami thinks that Maiya is strong for being able to put on a smile at a time like this, but she answers that she’s not strong and feels sad and scared with Jed and Stola gone. Maiya falls to the ground crying, and Kazami awkwardly tries to comfort her until Hiroto and May land nearby. Two men suddenly accuse them of being One-Eyes treading on sacred ground, but Stola appears and explains that they’re the Build Divers. Maiya tackles Stola with a hug over her relief that he’s not dead. Parviz and Freddie travel deep into the clouds and face heavy rain, winds and lightning. An updraft destroys the basket they were riding in, and they barely manage to grab hold of one of the smaller balloon lanterns that was providing lift for the basket. Freddie and Parviz descend through the clouds and land on the solid ground of Milaag Mountain. Before it drifts away, Freddie realizes that the lantern that brought them to safety was Jed’s. Stola takes the rest of the Build Divers and Maiya to a nearby village where they’re reunited with Calico and Zabun. The villagers helped them after the Moon attack, so they stayed to help the village in repayment. A villager reports that the One-Eyes have come, and a Guard Eye attacks several villagers before Calico and Zabun drive it away with their blasters. Kazami asks what that thing was, and Hiroto and May explain that they control the One-Eyes mobile suits. Calico and Zabun explain that the Guard Eyes are what they used to refer to as the One-Eyes and that they used to attack villages before the larger versions appeared. Calico thinks the Guard Eye was a scout, and Stola says that means the large One-Eyes will appear in three days. Maiya thinks the village should be evacuated, but Stola notes that not only can they not get out, but the village has become a gathering point for other villages that have been destroyed by the One-Eyes. Also, most of the young people joined the Resistance, leaving behind defenseless elderly and children. Hiroto asks everyone to hold out for a while because they have incomplete Gunpla and are trying to find a new summoning space. The Build Divers then take off to find the final ruins site. May comments that even if they have their Gunpla they can’t fight endless local battles, but Kazami notes that they came back to Eldora to help people. Alus monitors the situation from the Moon, and a beam blast nearly hits the Core Flyer, sending Mobile Doll May and Kazami into freefall.

Muran hears a large noise in the distance and wonders what’s going on. Kazami falls toward the ground, but Hiroto transforms the Core Gundam II and rescues him. Hiroto and May are then forced to hide behind rocks when another beam blast almost hits them. Hiroto wonders if the One-Eyes have snipers and tries to calculate the attack position. May decides to expose herself as bait to help Hiroto find the firing location. May uses spare shields to protect herself from another sniper attack, and Hiroto figures out where the sniper is located. He gets close with the Core Flyer and unleashes several dummy mobile suits, which get caught in a ground trap. Hiroto pulls out his beam saber to respond to an attack from the Alus Core Gundam. Parviz and Freddie walk through a long underground corridor, and Freddie mentions that according to legend, Cuadorn burns cowards who come before it. He also mentions another legend where Cuadorn freezes people if it’s in a bad mood, and Parviz asks him to stop sharing stories. They reach a large door and enter a chamber with summoning platforms and shining sand. They also see the sleeping Cuadorn. Alus asks Hiroto why he’s interfering, and he says his top priority is preserving the land of Eldora. May opens fire to provide cover for Hiroto, and Kazami shouts that they’re protecting the people of Eldora and won’t let another attack happen. The Alus Core Gundam then performs a core change and docks with multiple parts to form the Alus Earthree Gundam. Alus states that Gunpla are a threat, so he’s created a machine to stop them. Freddie wonders if they should wake Cuadorn, and Parviz gets close when he realizes that it’s injured. Cuadorn then wakes up and refers to Freddie as one of the New People and Parviz as a person of the Gunpla. Hiroto tries to dodge Alus’ beam rifle blasts, and May’s attacks are ineffective. Alus fires a large blast that puts May on the defensive, and he then slices apart Hiroto’s core spray gun. Muran pulls up in his car and fires his blaster at Alus, and Hiroto takes a shot intended for Muran. Hiroto is knocked into the ground and targeted at point blank range by Alus. Cuadorn is surrounded by blue light and unleashes a lightning attack that forces Alus to retreat. Hiroto wonders what happened, and Milaag Mountain descends from the clouds, making it accessible to the Build Divers. Hinata runs into Mizuki at the hospital and sits down to catch up about archery club. Hinata asks Mizuki why she’s at the hospital, and Mizuki vaguely answers that she needed to do something. Muran and the rest of the Build Divers join Freddie and Parviz in the large chamber with Cuadorn. Cuadorn asks if Muran sent children on an errand, and Muran explains that he sent a person of the Gunpla and his summoner. Hiroto asks if Cuadorn sent the lightning attack, and it answers that it owes a debt to the people of the Gunpla. Freddie and Parviz explained the situation, but Cuadorn tells them to leave immediately.

Commentary

The quest for the right ruins continues, but the Build Divers are still at a disadvantage. Now that Alus sees them as a threat, he’s copied Hiroto’s Gunpla to create his own remote-controlled versions of the Core Gundam and the Earthree Gundam. Kazami finally gets his guilt off his chest, which is definitely something he needed to do. Freddie and Parviz’s wild balloon ride takes a disastrous turn, but it’s fitting that they’re saved by the lantern intended to represent Jed. Although Stola’s survival wasn’t in doubt for viewers, it does come as a relief to Maiya. We haven’t seen him in a while, but in that short time he seems to have matured a bit. It’s likely that the destruction of Seguri forced him to grow up regarding his heroic notions about fighting for the Resistance. There’s a high cost to being part of that fight, but he seems to understand it now since he wants to help protect the village he ended up in. It took a lot of trouble for the Build Divers to get to Cuadorn, but that issue is left unresolved at the episode’s end. What his role is and how he’s connected to Alus remains to be seen.

Overall Rating
3.5/5

Gundam Build Divers Re:RISE Info

Director:
Shinya Watada

Writer(s):
Yasuyuki Muto
Yasunori Yamada
Atsuo Ishino
Tatsuto Higuchi
Shogo Yasukawa

Mechanical Designer(s):
Kanetake Ebikawa
Kenji Teraoka
Ippei Gyoubu
Fumikane Shimada
Kunio Okawara
Junya Ishigaki
Takayuki Yanase
Shinya Terashima

Character Designer:
Shuri Toida

Musical Composer:
Hideakira Kimura

Format:
26 episodes

Airdates:
Japan 10.10.2019 – 08.27.2020
Streaming 10.10.2019 – 08.27.2020

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