By A teen named Nils Nielsen gives a report outlining the Plavsky particles created by Plavsky Particle System Engineering, or PPSE, which powers Gunpla Battle. In a mock battle, Nils uses a Hyaku-Shiki to fight against and destroy a computer-controlled G-Saviour Space Mode. A professor thinks that Nils, the so-called Early Genius, is wasting his time studying toys. Nils mentions that anti-particles allow the Gunpla to move, and he thinks the technology could be used in other fields, but PPSE limits it to Gunpla. Nils wants to discover the secret of the Plavsky particle. One month later, Fellini travels to America to visit Greco Logan, a fellow Gunpla fighter. Fellini has come to see the last match of the American qualifier and sees the lineart for Greco’s new model, the Tallgeese Valkyrie. Greco vows to repay Fellini for his previous losses and mentions that his opponent is a newcomer kid: Nils. Nils conducts research on Greco and recalls his decision to compete in Gunpla Battle so he could get close to PPSE and learn their secrets. Realizing that Greco is a higher level opponent, Nils decides not to use the Hyaku-Shiki. Elsewhere, the Meijin conducts an underwater test run of the Kampfer Amazing. Allan is concerned about rumors that the Nemesis team is aiming for the world tournament. Elsewhere, Josef Kankaansyrjä, a wealthy businessman who owns Nemesis, receives a visit from Nine Barthes of the Flana Institute. Barthes brings in Aila, but Josef is upset that she’s a woman. She offers to prove her skills, so Josef calls in Gawain Oakley for a fight. Barthes warns Aila that Gawain is the top fighter of Nemesis, but she’s never heard of him. In Tokyo, Sei holes up inside his workshop to work on the Build Strike for the World Tournament. After losing to the Meijin and seeing the abilities of Tatsuzo and Mao, Sei isn’t sure that they’re ready to complete on the world scale. Aila uses a Jegan in a battle against Gawain’s Devil Gundam and defeats him easily. Josef is impressed and makes Aila the team’s main fighter. He wonders if Aila can defeat Carlos Kaiser, the previous world champion.
In America, the final round of the qualifier begins at the La Vie en Rose Garden. Greco arrives after a flashy entry sequence, followed by Nils. An announcer explains that at 13, Nils has earned 3 Ph.Ds and is a martial arts master with a famous detective and martial artist as parents. Greco says he’s been waiting for a chance to fight the Early Genius, but he won’t reach the world tournament because Greco intends to fight Fellini. The battle begins in space between Greco’s Tallgeese Valkyrie and Nils’ Sengoku Astray Gundam. Fellini watches and notices that Nils is using a new unit to fight Greco. As the fight begins on the Moon, Greco fires his mega beam cannon to create distance, but Nils easily dodges every shot. Greco fires at the rock walls to force Nils to jump, but he dodges that too. Greco fires a shot at full burst, but Nils cuts it in half with his katanas. Nils then swings his katanas, and the force knocks Greco into a rock wall. Nils tells Greco that the battle is already over, but Greco refuses to give up. He charges forward and gets both arms cut off, so he slams into Nils to smash him against the rocks. Nils activates a special attack that freezes the Tallgeese Valkyrie and shatters it into pieces, ending the battle. The announcers are shocked by the upset victory and declare Nils the winner of the American qualifier. Fellini is shocked that the battle could be so one-sided. Due to Nils’ full use of Plavsky particles, Fellini thinks he represents a new generation. In Thailand, Luang Dallara’s Abigorbine defeats an Alvaaron to win the qualifier. In Argentina, the Renato brothers compete in their national tournament. At PPSE, the Meijin examines his Gunpla. In Osaka, Mao works on his Gundam X Maoh. Reiji bothers Sei, who tells him to go away because he’s still working. Ral travels to Finland to watch Kaiser’s battle and gets there just as the battle is supposed to begin. He walks in and is shocked to see that Kaiser’s Alpha Azieru has been beaten in seconds by Aila’s Qubeley Papillon.
As the World Championship approaches, the series switches to a global focus and moves away from Sei and Reiji. We do see them, but Sei is mainly worried by the question of if they can compete with world-level fighters. We get to see Aila from the Flana Institute (nudge nudge) fight twice and easily dispatch her opponents, including defending world champion Carlos Kaiser. We also see the final American fight between Greco and Nils, which wasn’t as exciting as I’d hoped. It’s entirely one-sided, and while I hate to throw around the oft-abused term “Gary Stu,” it totally applies here. So this kid is 13, has three Ph.Ds, is a martial artist and has famous parents? He couldn’t be anymore of a fanfic level character, but I am interested in his goal of deciphering the secrets of the Plavsky particle. There are the usual nods to past series here, including the surprising animated debut of the the G-Saviour of all things. Frankly, it looks better in animation than it did in its subpar live action movie. There’s also the not so subtle rivalry between Greco, who uses a Tallgeese, and Fellini, who uses a Wing Gundam. It was nice to see the Devil Gundam make an appearance, even though it did get beaten down. In the end, this episode serves the necessary purpose of setting up the game board for Sei and Reiji’s future opponents.
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