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Gundam Build Fighters Try Ep. 4: G-Muse

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Summary

Gunpla Battlers from different schools react to the news that Gyanko was beaten by Seiho’s Try Fighters. At the club room, Sekai uses the Build Burning in a practice match against Ral’s Gouf R35 to prepare for the upcoming West Tokyo qualifiers. Sekai is able to dodge Ral’s machine gun fire and uses a Shippu-Zuki punch to push him back. Ral is impressed by Sekai’s fists and changes the battlefield from a desert to space. Sekai tries to use Jigen Haoh moves in zero gravity and is unable to, which costs him the match. Ral reminds him that he has to be able to use Jigen Haoh in different environments like space, the lunar surface or deep underwater. Yuuma sarcastically comments that it’s good the damage level was set to minimum or the Gunpla would’ve been destroyed. He then decides to head home and work on new weapons and parts for the Lightning Gundam. Fumina asks Ral for his advice because she wants to change her Gunpla for the championship. Sekai is bored while trying to read a Gundam book, and Fumina explains to Ral that she wants a medium-range support unit to compliment Sekai’s short-range and Yuuma’s long-range. Ral asks why the Powered GM Cardigan isn’t enough, and Fumina answers that she wants more firepower and mobility. Ral suggests the Blue Destiny or Gundam Ground Type, but she rejects those. Ral jokingly recommends the Gouf and tells Fumina she shouldn’t limit herself to what’s in the club room. Ral suggests going to the G-Muse store tomorrow and taking Sekai along as part of his training. Fumina asks Sekai to come and jokingly mentions that it’s a date. Later at home, Sekai asks Mirai for advice about what to wear on a date, and she’s surprised by how bold Fumina is. Mirai tells him to dress and act normally, and he asks her what a date is. The next day, Sekai shows up early, unaware that Mirai is following him from a distance with sunglasses for a disguise. As Sekai and Fumina ride the train, Mirai watches them while reading a magazine upside down.

When they walk through a park, Fumina asks Sekai to close his eyes and take her hand. Mirai misinterprets and thinks that Fumina is making moves on Sekai, but she just wanted to surprise him with the 1/1 scale RX-78-2 Gundam. Sekai is amazed by its size and popularity, but he mistakenly thinks it’s a Gunpla and not a statue. Fumina takes Sekai inside the G-Muse shopping complex and shows him the shop, which is full of Gunpla kits. Fumina becomes lost in her search for a kit, so Sekai wanders off on his own. A clerk offers to show Sekai how to build Gunpla and recommends starting with an SD kit. Yuuma spots Mirai and asks what she’s doing, so she fumbles for an explanation and suggests they have tea. Nearby, Osakan builder Minato Sakai of the Shingyo school delivers an MG 1/100 scale Queen Mansa. He asks why the order was placed in Osaka rather than Tokyo, and the shop owner explains he’s a replacement since Yuuma dropped out from the commission. Sakai is angry now at being a replacement for Yuuma and leaves. Using his newly built Musha Godmaru, Sekai wins a fight against a boy’s Guntank R-44. Fumina comes in as the battle ends and is surprised that Sekai built a Gunpla on his own. Sakai trash talks as he walks by and says that people from Tokyo are shameless. He challenges Sekai to a fight and in an instant builds the SD Kouki Gundam. Sakai vows to show Sekai how people in Osaka play Gunpla Battle, and the fight begins in a forest stage. Sekai tries to attack with a Seiken-Zuki punch, but he’s unable to connect due to the stubby arms of an SD kit. The two then pull out swords and fight each other, but Sakai is able to dodge all of Sekai’s attacks and tells him he’s ignoring the machine’s traits and using simple force. Sekai is repelled by his incredible force, and Sakai tells him he’s just forcing his feelings on the Gunpla. As he beats down Sekai, he states that the essence of Gunpla Battle is that the Gunpla and fighter work together. Sekai remembers what Ral told him and tries to think about how he would move if he were the Musha Godmaru. He’s then able to dodge Sakai’s attack and activates the Super mode. Sakai repels his attack and jumps to transform to flight mode. He then swoops in from above and rams into the Musha Godmaru, destroying it. Sakai tells Sekai that he’s a big fish in a small pond and walks away. Sekai tells Fumina that he knew nothing of Gunpla Battle and now realizes some of what he’s missing. Fumina realizes that she should build the Gunpla she wants. The kids watching joke that they’re going to kiss, but Fumina and Sekai insist they won’t. At the nearby cafe, Yuuma thanks Mirai for the tea and spots Sakai’s Queen Mansa.

Commentary

A few episodes in, the first Build Fighters featured a montage of new characters that Sei and Reiji would square off against for the rest of the series. This episode opens with a similar montage of kids from various schools, including a group that plays Gunpla Battle at the bottom of a pool (seriously). This is an important episode for Sekai’s development because it’s the point where his beginner’s luck runs out. His Jigen Haoh moves are impressive, but as he learns, they don’t adapt well outside of ground combat (yet). He’s starting to go deeper into the world of Gunpla by building his first kit, which of course is an SD variant of Domon Kasshu’s God Gundam. He then has a rude awakening in his fight with Sakai, who clearly lays out what Sekai’s deficiencies are. Sakai is an Osakan from the Gunpla Shingyo school, which means that he studied with or under Mao Yasaka. However, in contrast to kindly Mao, he’s a complete jerk. Outside of battle, Sekai is unbelievably dense if he doesn’t even know what a date is at his age. Mirai tags along as the worst stalker in the world, which proves to be a nice windfall for Yuuma. Even with her stalking and the kids joking at the end, it’s probably a bit too early to know what the romantic pairings will be for this installment of the Meatbun Chronicles.

Overall Rating
3.5/5

Build Fighters Try Info

Director:
Shinya Watada

Writer:
Yousuke Kuroda

Mechanical Designer(s):
Kunio Okawara
Kanetake Ebikawa
Junya Ishigaki
Junichi Akutsu
Kenji Teraoka
Shinya Terashima
Susumu Imaishi
NAOKI
Fumikane Shimada

Character Designer:
Kenichi Ohnuki

Musical Composer(s):
Yuuki Hayashi
Asami Tachibana

Format:
25 episodes

Airdates:
Japan 10.08.2014 – 04.01.2015
Streaming 10.08.2014 – 04.01.2015

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