Gundam Build Real Ep. 6: Gunpla is Freedom

Hiro’s RX-78 defeats PSYCHO SHADOW’s Neo Zeong in round two of the regional tournament. Outside the arena, a reporter wants to interview Takumi and ambushes him with questions about Sota and how it’s rumored he left BRIGHT because Takumi’s building skills weren’t good enough. The team starts walking away, and she asks if they’re ready to face their former teammate in battle. In the semi-final match, Hiro faces off against KOKADAN’s Gundam Barbatos. The battle begins with a melee focus as Hiro uses the Tactical Hammer against the Gundam Barbatos’ ultra-large mace. Across town, people watch the livestream, and Takumi has a hallucination of imagining Sota sitting at their table. During the pit stop, his hands shake uncontrollably as he attempts to repair the RX-78. He imagines younger Imaizumi filming him with a camcorder and spaces out. The rest of the team try to shake him to his senses, with Kentaro taking over on repair duties. Takumi struggles to get up and falls to the floor, and he then imagines himself on a bus with Sota. Takumi thinks the tournament was a dream, but Sota tells him this is the dream. Takumi and Sota walk to the clubhouse, where Takumi sees his younger self putting away the RX-78 in bubble wrap. Then, Imaizumi comes in to take the RX-78 and is about to put it back when older Takumi tells him not to. Takumi realizes that Imaizumi was trying to paint the emblem on the RX-78, but then everyone panicked and he was scared to speak up. Takumi thinks it all turned out OK in the end and tells Imaizumi to go. He exits the clubhouse and imagines seeing a full-size RX-78 standing outside. Takumi then finds himself on the bus again with Sota, and he wants to ask a question. The dream Sota points out that any answer he gives will come from within Takumi, not the real Sota. The dream Sota says that Takumi believes in his friends, and now it’s time to believe in himself. Takumi wakes up and finds Mana and Momoka standing over him. They explain they were worried about him because they saw him collapse on the livestream, and to his relief they tell him that BRIGHT won the battle. Elsewhere, Satsuki walks with her luggage and waits at a remote bus stop. The members of BRIGHT hype each other up for their final battle with MONSTRE. While sitting at the bus stop, Satsuki pulls out her phone to watch the livestream. Hiro puts on his full tracking VR headset while Jin sits in his custom rig. The battle begins in a local level between the RX-78 and the Zaku II R-1A. Kentaro notices that the Zaku’s head seems smaller than before. Hiro rushes in and attacks with the Tactical Hammer, but Jin blasts him with the double bazooka shield. During pit stop time, Taichi tells Hiro he has to aim for the monoeye, but Hiro objects because the target is too small. Kentaro realizes that’s why they narrowed the width of the eye slit.

Round two begins with Jin firing his machine gun, and Hiro uses the Tactical Hammer as a shield. He tries to attack up close, and Jin blasts him with the shield, destroying the right arm. During pit time, Hiro says he wants to use two bazookas, but Kentaro notes that the recoil of both firing at the same time will disable him. Jin attacks from above while Takumi comes up with an idea – joining two bazookas to the shield to reduce the recoil. Takumi scans the weapon to send it to Hiro, who is currently in freefall. Hiro manages to land and fires upward, and his blast cancels out a bazooka shot from Jin. Hiro fires again and destroys Jin’s shield. Jin pulls up the Tallgeese shield as a replacement and uses it to block Hiro’s double bazooka. Takumi sends the double beam javelin into the battle, which is heavier on one side. Hiro recalls his training and uses its improved output on the Tallgeese shield. Both break at the same time, and Hiro goes on the offensive with both beam sabers. Hiro then jumps and stabs the Zaku through the head, scoring a K.O. Team BRIGHT is declared the winner of the Tokai Regional Tournament and will advance to the National Championship in Tokyo. The team members all run over to Hiro to cheer for their win. MONSTRE member Kanbayashi complains to the tournament officials about Hiro using weapons created during the match, but Jin says there’s nothing in the rules about that, so Hiro didn’t violate anything. He then says that Gunpla is freedom. Takumi approaches Sota and says that if they can’t talk now, they can figure it out later. Sota congratulates Takumi and shakes hands before walking away. Takumi asks Sota if he regrets leaving BRIGHT, and Sota answers that he does. Hiro returns to the clubhouse and finds the room where the girls record is empty. The rest of the team comes to the clubhouse and Taichi offers to heat up some ramen. Satsuki texts Hiro congratulations and says she’s on a bus for Tokyo. Takumi tells Hiro that Tokyo is their next destination.