China and Rinko watch the tournament on TV, and China instantly recognizes “Kawaguchi” as Yuuki. Allan tells the Meijin that he’s hoping for results befitting the “meijin” title from his first battle. The Meijin’s Kampfer Amazing enters a snowy battlefield and easily defeats a Gundam F91, Gundam Ground Type and GN-X. Other players react to the Meijin’s first victory, but the Renato brothers dismiss him. Fellini comments that the Meijin fights like he wants to be the champion, and Sei and Reiji run off. They catch up to the Meijin and ask him who he is, but he insists that he’s Kawaguchi. He turns around and offers to show them his face, which simply confirms that he’s Yuuki. Back at the hotel, Reiji wonders how Yuuki could be in the tournament, so Sei explains that he’s the special entry of the PPSE team. Reiji asks about “Meijin Kawaguchi,” which refers to a master Gunpla builder from the first Gunpla revolution a half century earlier; the “meijin” is a title meaning “master.” Allan informs the Meijin that based on leaked info, the next fight tomorrow will be a Battle Royal with all fighters, so he might be up against Nemesis. Allan wants the Meijin to give his best effort since PPSE Chairman Mashita will be watching. After Allan leaves, Yuuki says to himself that acting as the meijin is tiring. Sei calls China and tells her that he ran into the Meijin. She says he sounds happy, and he’s excited about potentially fighting the Meijin on a world stage and testing the strength of his Gunpla. Reiji wanders around outside and runs into Aila, who is hiding in the bushes from Barthes and his men. Reiji notices that Aila has more snacks and starts eating one of her meat buns. He tosses her a coin as payment, but it’s too much money for a single bun. The next morning, all fighters gather for the Battle Royal on a massive game field that includes Earth and space. The battle ends when only a third of all fighters remain, and they’ll each gain four points. The Star Build Strike launches and is joined by Mao’s Gundam X Maoh, who suggests they team up for their own survival. They’re immediately attacked by beams fired from Luang’s Abigorbine.
Reiji rushes forward to attack Luang and uses the absorb shield to take in the beam energy. However, Luang also fires missiles that damage the shield. The Star Build Strike is hit by more missiles, and Luang decides to fall back. The two Gundams then begin atmospheric re-entry. In a ruined city, an M1 Astray Shrike is destroyed by an Aries, which is in turn blasted by a Gundam Dynames. The Meijin is attacked by a trio of DOM Troopers and singlehandedly destroys them. In space, an Octape, Contio, Hyperion Gundam and Gundam Heavyarms Kai attack Aila’s Qubeley Papillon. All except the last are instantly destroyed, and the Gundam Heavyarms retreats when its weapons prove ineffective. In a forest, Nils decides to sit out most of the fighting until an N Dagger N attacks his Sengoku Astray. Fellini’s Wing Gundam Fenice rides on its Meteor Hopper motorcycle and destroys a Zaku Tank, Serpent, Tieren Taozi and Dwadge. Fellini is suddenly bombarded from above by a Gaw piloted by Rainer Cziommer. Rainer wants revenge against Fellini for stealing his girlfriend last year and unleashes more bombs. The Star Build Strike enters the battlefield above the Gaw, and Sei reports to Reiji that the absorb shield’s ability can’t be used. Fellini insists that the girl came to him due to his open door policy. A Gengaozo keeps Fellini away from his buster rifle, and the Gaw opens to unload a Gundam Virsago Chest Break, Gundam Epyon, Gundam Ashtaron, Bandit and Vigna-Ghina all piloted by men who want revenge on Fellini. The Gundam Virsago prepares to fire, but both it and the Gundam Ashtaron are destroyed from above by Reiji. Fellini blasts the Vigna-Ghina, and Reiji takes down the Gengaozo. Fellini tells Reiji that it would benefit them if he was knocked out now, but Reiji wants to fight him in the future. In the air, the Gundam Epyon attacks Reiji while the Bandit uses its wires to capture Fellini. Mashita arrives to watch the battle and is informed by Allan that no one is attacking the Meijin out of fear. Mashita watches the Gaw battle and spills his wine on his pants when he sees Reiji’s face. He wonders what Reiji’s doing in this world. The Gundam Epyon uses several hit-and-run attacks, and Rainer prepares to crash into Fellini. However, Fellini uses vulcans to break free and blasts the Bandit with his rifle, but it’s ineffective against the Gaw. As the Gaw closes in, it’s blasted from above by Mao and explodes. Mao also blasts the Gundam Epyon and is thanked by Fellini. The ground suddenly shakes when an enormous Zaku enters the battlefield.
The tournament continues with a large-scale Battle Royal, giving us the largest battle in the series to date. We’ve seen various stages before in Gunpla Battle, but never one so large as to allow atmospheric entry from space down to large parts of Earth. After its surprising debut last episode, the Star Build Strike is definitely attracting attention thanks to its absorb shield. Yuuki is becoming quite the Char type with this ridiculous persona of the Meijin, which is rather amusing. What’s also amusing is Reiji’s continued run-ins with Aila over snacks. I guess she can’t stay away from tasty meat buns regardless of what Barthes says. I think the highlight of this episode was the idea that Fellini’s womanizing has led to the creation of a team of revenge-obsessed ex-boyfriends, giving a whole new meaning to international relations. There’s some good teamwork at the end, followed by the surprise appearance of the huge Zaku, which promises to be an interesting fight.
Build Fighters Info
Director:
Kenji Nagasaki
Writer:
Yousuke Kuroda
Mechanical Designer(s):
Kunio Okawara
Kanetake Ebikawa
Junya Ishigaki
Junichi Akutsu
Kenji Teraoka
Character Designer(s):
Kenichi Ohnuki
Suzuhito Yasuda
Musical Composer:
Yuuki Hayashi
Airdates:
Japan 10.07.2013 – 03.31.2014
Streaming 10.07.2013 – 03.31.2014
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