GundamReviews

Gunpla Builders Beginning G Part B: Forever Gundam

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Summary

Hal watches a replay of the battle he lost against Boris, and he recalls Boris criticizing him for putting together the Beginning Gundam so amateurishly. During the battle, Rina wondered who Boris was, and the store manager explained that Boris was an expert modeler who had attained the title Gunpla Meister. Boris knocked Hal around and told him he wasn’t worthy of possessing the machine of origination, the Beginning Gundam. Hal attacked with three beam sabers and managed to destroy the Forever Gundam‘s shield, but Boris maneuvered quickly and decapitated the Beginning Gundam, ending the battle. Hal was shocked by his loss, and Boris told him he’d have to work harder if he wanted to be a real Gunpla Builder. Hal thinks to himself how amazing the Forever Gundam is, noting that it has no stickers, is completely painted and even has dirt to make it look more realistic. That shows him that Boris really loves Gunpla, and he apologizes to the Beginning Gundam for not building it properly. Kenta and Rina then come over to show off the new Gunpla they’ve bought: a Hyaku-Shiki and Acguy. Kenta suggests that Hal buy a new kit, but Hal doesn’t want to. Rina asks if he’s going to quit building kits, but he tells her that instead he’s going to rebuild the Beginning Gundam and make it better. Kenta gives Hal tips on sanding down parts, using paint instead of stickers and using markers to fill in the panel lines. Rina notices that Kenta’s Hyaku-Shiki isn’t gold like on the box, and he tells her that it’s his custom color Byaku Shiki. Hal and Kenta take their completed kits to the Axis Hobby Shop, and the manager is impressed by their work. He tells them they need to learn more about Gunpla’s 30-year history and asks a Gunpla Builder named Tatsu Shimano to help. Tatsu challenges them to a 2-on-1 Gunpla Battle, and while Kenta thinks that Tatsu must be full of confidence, Hal suggests they be careful.

One the model kits are scanned, the game begins with Hal and Kenta launching from the Argama and flying into a partially constructed space colony in a mirror of the original Gundam’s first episode. Hal and Kenta immediately come under missile fire from Tatsu’s heavily customized Zaku. Hal says he’s never seen such a kit, and the now-mad Tatsu explains that the Super Custom Zaku F2000 is a kit he customized with putty and parts from other model kits. He fires more missiles, and both Hal and Kenta note his change in personality. Hal is able to dodge the missiles and notices that the Beginning Gundam is responding better now that he’s rebuilt it. Kenta shoots away one of Tatsu’s machine guns and uses his beam saber to slice off another one. He and Hal both move into melee range, which makes Tatsu laugh wildly. He pulls out a customized heat hawk polearm and slices off both of Kenta’s legs. The manager watches the battle from the outside and concludes that Hal and Kenta can’t beat Tatsu’s custom kit, but Boris steps in and disagrees. He comments that the kit is well made, but notes that Tatsu focused only on upgrading weaponry and thus sacrificed mobility. Hal notices that Tatsu’s armor is starting to crack, and Kenta tells him that it’s putty, so the adhesion between the parts and the base kit is weak. Kenta fires his bazooka at Tatsu, which causes the extra armor to start to fall off. Hal pulls out three beam sabers and stabs Tatsu’s cockpit, winning the battle. After the battle, Tatsu tells Hal and Kenta that he was supposed to teach them about Gunpla, but he ended up learning a lesson instead. He says it was stupid to use putty, and Kenta notes that his personality has gone back to normal. Hal asks if he can customize a kit like that, and Tatsu offers to show him how. The manager goes to compliment Boris on his analysis, but Boris rides away on his horse. Rina shows up and tells Hal it was mean for him to have a Gunpla Battle without telling her. She shows him her customized Beargguy, which has a bear face and ears. A Bandai employee shows Boris the upgrade parts for the Beginning Gundam, which he says will allow it to surpass the Forever Gundam. Boris says he’s looking forward to seeing that.

Commentary

The cliffhanger from the first part continues with “Gunpla Meister” Boris utterly beating down Hal. As an expert modeler, he’s on an entirely different level from a newbie like Hal. But instead of feeling discouraged, Hal decides to rebuild the Beginning Gundam from scratch and do it the right way. Kenta gets his own custom kit, the Byaku Shiki, and Rina turns her Acguy into the odd looking (and amusing) Beargguy. Hal and Kenta have an interesting battle with Tatsu, who goes from being a normal guy to a complete madman inside the game. He reminds me of the Gundam X Newtype candidate who was normally very docile but turned into a bloodthirsty maniac when piloting a mobile suit. Also, as if Boris wasn’t enough of a Char fanboy, now we see that he also rides around on a horse. This dude is weird. Despite the short length of this series, it is still Gundam after all, so naturally an upgrade for the main suit is to be expected. I’m sure that upgrade will play a part in the rematch between Hal and Boris.

Overall Rating
3.5/5

Beginning G Info

Director:
Kou Matsuo

Writer:
Yousuke Kuroda

Mechanical Designer(s):
Kunio Okawara
Atsushi Shigeta
Kanetake Ebikawa
Junichi Akutsu

Character Designer:
Kaichiro Terada

Musical Composer:
N/A

Airdates:
Japan 08.15.2010 – 12.19.2010

Video Release:
Japan 12.22.2010
U.S. 08.15.2023

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