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Gundam Breaker Battlogue Ep. 1: First Contact

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Summary

During the 13th Gunpla Battle US Championship, Kentaro Mahara’s Gundam Barbaric charges toward Takuma Nagitsuji’s Gundam 00 Command Qan[T]. Takuma fires multiple weapons, but Kentaro dodges and gets in close to attack at melee range. Kentaro attacks with his mace, but Takuma draws a sword at the last second and blocks. As they continue to attack each other, Kentaro boasts that he’ll be the champion on his first entry and become a legend. Takuma tells him to save that cocky face for when he wins, and he activates Trans-Am to launch a new attack. Takuma dodges gunfire and uses Kentaro as a springboard to jump into the air and unleash a full barrage of all his weapons, which inflicts heavy damage on the Gundam Barbaric. Kentaro tries to attack again, but Takuma uses a combat knife to finish off his opponent and win the championship. The host asks Takuma how he won, and he explains that it was due to a different mindset. The host also asks if there’s anyone Takuma wants to mention, and he answers that he wants to share his victory with the Ayato Shopping Street Gunpla Team. Misa Satsukino watches while assembling her new Blazing Gundam and complains that Takuma abandoned her. An older woman named Irato tells Misa to stop complaining about something that happened months ago. Misa then scans the Blazing Gundam into Gunpla Battle to use it in a match. The desert level has Misa facing off against pro fighter Rindo Kuzunoha’s Enzian. Rindo says that she never goes easy on an opponent and immediately attacks. Misa attempts a frontal charge that Rindo easily dodges. She then gets placed on the defensive, but she doesn’t want to lose on the Blazing Gundam’s first battle. Misa builds up energy by spinning multiple times and directs that energy into her foot to attack with the Blazing Kick, which knocks the Enzian into a large rock outcropping. Rindo is impressed and says that Misa deserves her reputation as a world championship contender. Rindo admits defeat, but Misa thinks she would’ve lost if it hadn’t been a ground battle. After the Enzian explodes, an alert sounds as several box-shapes plastic runners break into the game and latch onto the Blazing Gundam’s limbs, disabling it. Misa then receives a mysterious message from someone claiming that the Blazing Gundam belongs to them now, and if Misa wants it back she has to bring Takuma to GB Fest. She wonders what the message could mean.

Commentary

This first episode fits the general template of what the Battlogue ONAs have come to represent – shorts that highlight a particular Gunpla and its gimmicks. This series features characters and mobile suits from the Gundam Breaker Mobile game, but knowledge of that isn’t really necessary for what little story is presented in this episode’s seven minutes. Takuma wins a US championship, and Misa is mad at him about something. She then wins against a pro fighter, but is taken out by a mysterious force that disables her Gunpla. The appearance of these objects breaking into the game is definitely reminiscent of the hacking seen in Gundam Build Divers, although the series are unconnected. I can’t imagine the story across the remaining episodes will be particularly deep, but I’m always up for mecha battles supervised by Masami Obari.

No Rating
0/5

Gundam Breaker Battlogue Info

Director:
Masami Obari

Writer(s):
So Mayumi
Yuichiro Kitaoka

Mechanical Designer(s):
Kanetake Ebikawa
Kyoshi Takigawa
Kunio Okawara
Naohiro Washio
Kotaro Ando
Kyoryu Kuramochi

Character Designer(s):
Kenichi Ohnuki
Shuri Toda
Yuriko Chiba
Taiki

Musical Composer:
N/A

Format:
6 shorts

Internet Release:
Japan 10.19.2021 – 11.23.2021
Global 10.19.2021 – 11.23.2021

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