Anime Wrap Up

Greetings internet, it has been almost a month since my last post, for those who looked forward to the Mecha Analysis series, I apologize for the lack of updates in the latter end of each series, but instead of writing for each of the episodes I missed, I decided to wrap it all up in on article. This is Mecha Analysis: Anime Wrap Up.
In October of 2014, we saw Bandai pull off what has never happened in the Gundam franchise before: two television series airing similtaneously: Gundam Build Fighters Try, the continuation of the meta series Gundam Build Fighters, and Gundam G no Reconguista, Tomino's triumphant return to the franchise after 15 year hiatus (10 if you count Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam: A New Translation).

Week by week, we saw Sekai solve all his problems through martial arts and Bellri explore the Regild Century with the Rayhunton family machine. Both series were interesting in their own way, however I was left unsatisfied with each series.

 

Starting with Gundam Build Fighters Try, the story suffered from what I call the AGE syndrome: cheap story telling that leaves main cast shallow and a large cast of antagonists that are not memorable in four east steps,

1. Introduce an enemy in one episode
2. provide context in form of a flashback in the following episode
3. immediately kill the character off in the third episode
4. repeat steps 1 through 3 liberally

One of the problems with the latter half of Mobile Suit Gundam AGE (other than Kio being a terrible character), is that none of the important/close characters were developed because other characters would be introduced and immediately killed off. Gundam Build Fighters Try had a similar problem where all the characters introduced did not have enough time to develop before disappearing. We are lead to believe antagonists like Team SRSC and Lucas are supposed to be important, but they are introduced so late and disappear so quickly that they carry no weight in the tournament.
On top of this, the only truly significant antagonist (by significant I mean a character that shows up enough throughout the show) is Sakai who is treated as comic relief most of the time and ends up only as the "sub-boss" before the finals against the Gunpla Academy, a team that did not carry as much weight as they should have. With the lack of a true enemy in Gundam Build Fighters, the series is left punching the wind.
On a side note, I chose to leave out any comments about the final episode because it was barely part of the story arc and too many things angered me about it.

G no Reconguista seemed to build up to a emotionally taxing ending. However, the conclusion Tomino gives us is confusing. Did everyone just drop their political agendas and become friends? After what seemed like an endless chase, battle after battle, and the continuous fight of ownership of the G-Self, the Crescent Ship prepares for a tour of the earth, nations of Venus, Earth and the moon stop fighting, and Bellri climbs a mountain with a shank. Something is missing here. In another version of Tomino's story, dialogue between each of the nations exists, working out their differences before the mountain climbing, world touring, and camping with corn soup. The version we received from Tomino has no such thing.

Overall, I enjoyed the ride, but the end of the ride left me unsatisfied. At least Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin just started! I NEED MORE LUCIFER! Like Unicorn, it is going to be a painful wait for the next episode.

I wonder what Bandai will do next - Do we go back to the somewhat regular schedule of one series every three or so years? Will Bandai/Sunrise continue the Build Fighters series this October? I would not mind a few years in between - I'd like Bandai to produce Gunpla based on what already exists (MG AGE-3 Orbital and G-Self Reflector Pack specifically).

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Housekeeping
On top falling away from posting the weekly Mecha Analysis, I have not been posting much on my work on Gunpla. I apologize again. This past month has been a time of transition for my brother and me. There's been a lot of Monster Hunter in our lives since late February. Though I have been building, I have been procrastinating in writing and posting on the blog. Here is a preview of things to come!

Yes! Weiß Hund Zulu is near completion and the Jesta Cannon Kai is in the making! After quite a few delays, the project, Space Mercenary: Specter GM, is finally coming to a close with these two suits. I will definitely post more on these two suits, among other reviews, as I get them together! I hope you will stay tuned!

Until then, this is Gundariumsmith, thanking you for visiting the blog, whether it be for Gunpla, Mecha Analysis, or whatever you do on the internet. If you are participating in the Gunpla Lollapalooza, I look forward to seeing your work in June. See you in the near future!