By The Meijin’s Gundam Amazing Red Warrior enters the battle, which immediately gets everybody’s attention. Kijima notes that the Meijin has won the world championship three times in a row, and Allan calls him the King of Gunpla. Saga comments that he’s bored of his recent opponents and wants to reach the world tournament to fight opponents like the Meijin, Ricardo Fellini, Greco Logan and Luang Dallara. The Meijin dismisses Saga’s desire to fight on a world level with his current ability level. Saga fires Gundam The End‘s revolvers, but the Meijin destroys every bullet. He then deploys multiple fangs, but the Meijin also destroys them. The Meijin prepares to use his ultimate technique, but the battle is aborted by Allan, who doesn’t want Saga to keep fighting at damage level B. Allan asks the Meijin not to be so rough on his kids, and the Meijin advises him to rein them in because he doesn’t like people who disrespect their opponents. Fumina and Ral run over to Sekai, who has passed out again from fatigue. Yuuma is catatonic from his defeat and runs away crying. The Meijin sees that Sekai was assimilated and calls him a burning boy. Yuuma runs through the woods and thinks about his two defeats with Saga. He tells himself that he’s accomplished nothing. Saga angrily punches a window and thinks he would’ve beaten the Meijin if Allan hadn’t intervened, but Kijima isn’t sure. Saga vows that he can surpass the King of Gunpla, and Kijima says he’s lucky to have Saga as a teammate. Sekai sleeps in the infirmary, and Fumina asks Ral to watch over him while she finds Yuuma. The Meijin pulls up next to Yuuma in a motorcycle and criticizes him for abandoning the Lightning Gundam. He then gives Yuuma a helmet and tells him to come along with no questions asked. Fumina sees them ride off and wonders where they went, but Lady Kawaguchi appears and tells Fumina to leave things to the Meijin.
Fumina sees Lady and recognizes her as the battler who used a Stargazer Gundam six years ago, but Lady doesn’t remember. Fumina asks about the Meijin, and Lady explains that he can’t ignore it when someone has lost interest in Gunpla. Lady tells Fumina that she should worry about herself because she’s lacking something as a builder and fighter. Fumina asks what that is, but Lady answers that she can best explain through a Gunpla Battle. Kids in a hobby shop are amazed when they see the Meijin walk in with Yuuma and ask to use the battle system. Yuuma thinks there’s no point in a battle because of their different skill levels, but the Meijin thinks he’s giving up before even trying. He offers Yuuma a handicap and says they should fight with each other’s Gunpla and damage level C. Yuuma thinks that the Meijin is playing with him, and the Meijin explains that’s exactly what he wants to do. The battle begins in a space level, and the Meijin is impressed by the Lightning Gundam’s construction despite its damage. He also admires his own work on the Red Warrior, and Yuuma is amazed by the Gunpla’s quality. Yuuma fires several bazooka rounds, but the Meijin destroys them with vulcans. The Meijin dodges every single attack and asks Yuuma how he lost with such a great machine. The Meijin sneaks up on Yuuma and grabs him by the arms. The Meijin comments that the Meijin is sensible and selects tactics based on the enemy’s abilities, which is fighting to not lose as opposed to fighting to win. Yuuma counters that he’s doing his best and trying hard, but the Meijin thinks he’s limiting himself. The Meijin says that “try hard” and “I did my best” are just words to console himself. The Meijin then slices into the Red Warrior and wins the match. Yuuma realizes that the problem is his heart being weak, not his talent as a fighter or builder. He starts crying and realizes he can improve if he surpasses his self-imposed limits. He asks the Meijin for another battle, and the Meijin offers to fight as long as Yuuma wants until the store closes. At the Nielsen Labs, Fumina uses the Winning Gundam in a space battle against Lady’s Maryu Kenshi Zero Gundam. Fumina scrambles to use the Winning Gundam’s parts to fight, but she’s no match for Lady. Lady comments that Fumina can’t even control the weapons she’s built and has a disgraceful Gunpla. She then uses her sword for a final attack to win the battle. Lady asks Fumina if she now understands what she lacks and tells Fumina she should leave the national tournament if she doesn’t. Fumina thinks about Sekai and Yuuma and finally understands what she lacks. Sekai wakes up and runs down to the workshop to fix the Build Burning against Ral’s advise. Sekai is excited at the prospect of fighting strong opponents like Saga. At the workshop, Sekai runs into a girl who tells him that his Gunpla is beautiful. In Osaka, Sakai begs a Gunpla job to let him join their team because he has to fight someone in battle.
When this episode started, I didn’t expect that it would end with battles against two Kawaguchis. The battle between Saga and the Meijin is interrupted, but it’s clear that Saga would’ve lost, despite his boasting otherwise. He talks a really big game and thinks he’s hot stuff, so it’ll be good to see him eventually lose and be humbled. Yuuma finally realizes that the only thing holding him back was himself, which should help him grow as a fighter. Fumina finally meets her Gunpla idol Lady Kawaguchi, but it doesn’t go as she planned. She suffers a humiliating defeat at Lady’s hands, and though what she’s lacking isn’t vocalized, it’s pretty clearly her focus on supporting others rather than building up her own skills. With the entire team now having suffered defeats, it’s probably time for some practicing and upgrades before the nationals. On a side note, we learn that the Meijin won the world tournament three times in a row, which goes to demonstrate his skills. It’s also good to know that Fellini, Greco and Luang are still considered world level fighters seven years later. I hope the end result of these defeats is that the Try Fighters vary up their repertoire and rely more on skills than gimmicks like the Winning Knuckle.
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