Gundam Build Fighters - Overall Series Impressions & Total Series Rating

[RRW]

This thread is to be used for discussing the entire episodes of Gundam Build Fighters ... your thoughts about the show, overall impressions, expectations and hopes about Blu-Ray/DVD-exclusive footage etc.

A few subjects you might want to ramble on about:

• General impression of the series.
• Opinions on the overall story, writing & plot devices.
• Thoughts about the animation quality.
• Characters/Character Design
• Voice Acting
• Which kind of footage (Blu-Ray/DVD-exclusive) you feel you'd really like to see.
• What the show meant to you.
• What could the creators/animators/writers have done better.

And so on.

The poll represents your total series rating. In other words, how you would rate all the episodes combined (1-10)? If you'd rather rate the whole series by technical/artistic merits, you can do so. An example:

Animation Quality: 1-10
Voice Actors: 1-10
Script: 1-10
Soundtrack: 1-10
Editing: 1-10
Enjoyment: 1-10
Emotional Involvement: 1-10

Average = Total Series Rating

Or a combination of the two. Or your general gut feeling.

Feel free to discuss and more importantly, have fun

[G147]

Animation Quality: 9
Voice Actors: 9
Script: 8
Soundtrack: 10
Editing: 9
Enjoyment: 9
Emotional Involvement: 8

Average = 8.8/10

[Fireminer]

Animation: 8

Voice: 9

Script: 9

Sountrack: 9

Editing: 9

Enjoyment: 10

Emotional: 9

Average: 9

[Death Usagi]

Animation Quality: 10
Voice Actors: 10
Script: 9
Soundtrack: 10
Editing: 9
Enjoyment: 10
Emotional Involvement: 9

Average: 9.6/10

Animation Quality was seriously good. It was really nice to see Mobile Suits from very old series being animated with the current technology while also seeing mobile suits that were never animated actually make their animation debut.

Voice Actors, they chose them really well. For Tatsuya's seiyuu, it was first time I heard him, while the other protagonists, Sei and Reiji, I have heard them before in Yu-Gi-Oh ZEXAL, while we all know Aila's seiyuu being famous for many various series such as Ayase from Oreimo, Ikaros from Sora no Otoshimono, and Yurin from Gundam AGE. Same goes for China's seiyuu as she voiced Mikasa from Shingeki no Kyojin. Even other characters like Ricardo had a really famous seiyuu, Nakamura Yuichi, who is famous for voicing many male characters, including Graham Aker from Gundam 00, Hazama/Yuuki Terumi from BlazBlue, and Kousaka Kyousuke from OreImo. Also the fact even Sei's parents' seiyuu have had experience in voicing previous Gundam series (Gundam Seed and Gundam 00), especially Iori Rinko's seiyuu, who is an extremely famous female voice actor since old times.

Script was very well done. At first this show looked like a children's show, but that was a total lie. It was very enjoyable for all audiences. Only negative thing about this show was the "Build Knuckle = Instant WIN" concept, which made Sei's battles after entering the Top 16 kind of boring compared to other characters' battles which didn't have any instant win button and actually used traditional mobile suit weapons.

Soundtrack was just too god-tier. I still listen to them every day and I enjoy them a lot.

Editing, there were few minor errors seen in the show (Ex. GM Sniper K9 and Kampfer Amazing's beam saber colors being swapped suddenly), which was somewhat disappointing as the producers did not notice this or just left it as it is.

Enjoyment, as I have stated above, this show was just too epic. Even though the show is over, I still watch my favorite episodes of the series many times.

Emotional Involvement, as this show was mostly a competition anime, other than Aila's background, there weren't much Emotional Involvement in this show. Episode 15 with Sei/Reiji vs Ricardo was somewhat emotional.

[Wild Goose]

I'll have to come back in a few weeks to review this properly, because my gut feeling review is basically:

[flamenco intensifies]

THE FEELS

ALL THOSE CAMEOS, ALL MY FEELS! T_T FEELS TRAIN WITH NO BRAKES!

[ALLIED FORCE INTENSIFIES]

[FLAMENCO MAXIMUM]

SHIPPING COLONY DROP!!! THE COUPLES ARE JUST TOO CUTE!!!

And last, but not least:

MOEAGARE GUNPLA!!!!

[MK-95-]

Initial Impression: I have to admit, I was one of those who were skeptical about this series when I first heard about it. My line of thought was something like, "what is this? This isn't a true Gundam series." I am very glad that I was proven wrong. This one does indeed deserve to be called a member of the Gundam family & I'll even go as far as saying that its the best series in the franchise to date.

Plot/Story: While I did find some parts of the story childish (Which is understood since the target audience was basically children), I have to say that I didn't really have any major problems with the plot. As a whole, the story is well written, though, there are some questionable parts such as, the evolution of Plavsky particles over the course of the series from animating gunpla, to telepathy, to mind control & then "wish" granting. It really seemed to me that they were being a bit too flexible with the Plavsky particle's usage throughout the series. The tournament arc made this series very interesting. It has produced some of the best fights I've ever seen in any Gundam series. Also, the drama was exceptional, it wasn't overdone & it wasn't dragged. It was introduced & wrapped up relatively quickly, I like that.

Animation: The animation was good. I wouldn't say its the best I've ever seen, but its certainly one of the better animated series of this season & last season. It was consistent with only a minor hiccup here & there.

Characters/design: The characters are likeable, I can say that with utmost confidence. The personalities & diverse character-types made it impossible to find a character to hate on. Even Mashita, as stupid as he is, as a character, he was consistent & likeable in his own way. I have no issues with the designs. All of the characters had attractive designs & were exceptionally unique compared to their co-stars. Especially the girls, they all had attractive designs. I mean EVERY girl, noy just one or two, ALL of them...lol

That said, my fave male character in the series is Yuuki & fave female being Aila, with Rinko as a notable mention for obvious reasons.

Voice acting: Tbh, I never really have gripes with voice acting in any anime. So when I see people complaining about it, I'm like, "what are you noticing that I'm not?"...lol Though, I can identify when a voice actor is charismatic/emotional & gets your blood pumping while listening to their speeches.

The show's meaning to me: Imho, this one is now my second fave Gundam after 00. It was that good. I rode this train since the beginning & enjoyed every minute of it. Way back in episode 6, when I saw the Yuuki vs Reiji/Sei match, I just knew that this series will be packed full of Gundam awesomeness.

I also love the nostalgic feeling that you can only get from this series. Seeing all the Gundams from over years just get to showcase their worth against other Gundams/others(non-Gundam suits...lol) made for some really memorable enjoyment. A lot of dream matchups were made possible because of this series. Only in GBF can you see the Strike face Exia or X or Wingm etc...

Suggestions: I'd have liked to see some of the fights get a little more attention in terms of content & choreography. For example, Nils' match against Reiji could've been so much more that what we got & likewise with Mao's match. Also, I'd have liked to see other Gundams get a little love. Apart from the main cast's suits, all other Gundams got downplayed or were completely absent altogether. In this series, Zeon's mechs are also in the majority, there weren't much suits from other universes being showcased & if they were, their screen time was minimal.

As a whole, I'd give GBF a well deserved 9-9.5/10.

[ZeroXSEED]

Animation Quality: 10
Off model happened rarely, animations are almost always top notch even on filler scenes. Best of all, it's fully 2-D!

Voice Actors: 10
Everyone has their voice fit perfectly executed to fit their respective character, except maybe Sazaki who sounded like a girl more than anything else.

Script: 10
With exception of bullshit RG knuckle, everything was acceptable. Not stellar, but perfect.

Soundtrack: 10
[AIYAYAYAYAYAYA IIII YAAAAAA]

Editing: ?
I dunno

Enjoyment: 10
Waiting each week was worth it, and the only things made me look forward to the next Monday.

Emotional Involvement: 10
Literally the only gundam where each and every cast are enjoyable, even the villains. You understood their motivation and can relate with them.

[Skye629]

Animation Quality: 9

Great! But we HAVE seen better in stuff like the OVA's/Movies

Voice Actors: 9

Most of us dont speak Japanese, so we obviously have some bias here, but as far as I can tell great stuff

Script: 8.5

Simple, but that's what makes the show effective. Only complaint is that they could have safely elaborated more on a few things, such as the Second, or the old timers backstories

Soundtrack: 10

Listen to the OST, nuff said

Editing: ?

Seems like most of us are confused on what the hell this is

Enjoyment: 10

Monday's just got so much more boring

Emotional Involvement: 10

I build gunpla, nuff said, the characters were great



Overall: 9.5/10



One minor thing which has been nagging at me, this show actually would have been (or maybe will be?) a perfect opportunity for Bandai to give us a proper female protagonist in the lead role, IMO Sei could have just as easily been a girl and nothing much would have changed, aside from the relation with Reiji, and you guys absurd amount of shipping for this show

[monster]

Enjoyment? Hmm, I think this could be among my favorites, below SEED and War in the Pocket, but definitely next to G and SEED Destiny.

Emotional involvement? Definitely there, as with most gundam shows.

This franchise has been really good to me in both departments.

[Infinite Zenith]

Gundam Build Fighters excels at being able to balance competitive spirit and friendship. Coupled with the exciting battle sequences, character dynamics, and exceptional soundtrack, this series ends up being something that captured my interests quickly. It's quite refreshing and welcoming to see Gundam combat in situations where no lives are at stake, and participants are nonetheless putting forth their full efforts to produce battles that match (or, if I may be so bold, surpass) the life-or-death ones seen in other Gundam universes

[helois]

Animation Quality:9.5
not the perfection,but i really like it

Voice Actors: 9?10?

i don't know japanese even less the background of voice..
if there is some actor that could fit better that character i don't know..

Script: 9
some breaks between the training part and championship part


Soundtrack: 9
almost perfect,but with few tracks there is some sort of "i MUST re-use that music for this scene".. that i don't like too much


Editing: ?

i noticed not particular error, but i see the plot,the characters,not if a mecha as a LED in blue in one scene and after is red.. XD

Enjoyment: 10+
Emotional Involvement:10+

as a (noob) gunpla modeler the three-episode Beginning left something in my heart.. "what if there is a regular serie abut gunpla.."
SBAM!
XD
i love it so much, and i understand a lot of reference about other gundam series..


...and as italian proud of a character like Fellini!

[RES-01 Perses Gundam]

Animation Quality: 9

No qualms with regards to animation quality. GBF scores 9 but not a perfect 10 because firstly, I compare it to big-budget OVAs like Unicorn. Secondly, I'm an ass.

Voice Actors: 10

Special mention goes out to Yuuki's voice actor, Takuya Satou. His voice lends credence to 3rd Meijin's awesomeness and him inheriting the spirit of Char for GBF.

Script: 9

This has very much to do with Build Knuckle. IMO it is a gimmick overused too many a time, often being the difference between victory and defeat for Sei and Reiji. On the other hand, GBF has set the golden standard in Gundam for its handling of romance. Often, the romances portrayed in many Gundam series suffer from poor writing and development, so they are usually nothing more than distractions for the protagonists who already have too much on their hands. I attribute GBF's achievements in this department to its concise writing.

Soundtrack: 8.5

Yuuki's and Fellini's tracks are bad-ass.

Enjoyment & Emotional Involvement: 10

GBF's light-hearted nature meant that it was easy to enjoy the show and not get bogged down by all the fine details and plot holes. Having an ongoing tournament in the series also raised the stakes in a series where the protagonists lack a strong overriding mission, much like Hitman Reborn. The countless cameos also stirred up much nostalgia in me, making it easier to digest the farce of Build Knuckle and overlook its imperfections.

Overall: 9.5

Thanks to AGE, I presumed the writers were running out of ideas and had little to expect from GBF when it was first announced. GBF's quirky success restored my faith in the franchise and in its ability to adapt and cater to the petty demands of the audience.

[AquaHaro]

Animation Quality: 10
Voice Actors: 10
Script: 9.5
Soundtrack: 10
Editing: 10
Enjoyment: 10
Emotional Involvement: 10
______________________
Average: 9.9

Having watched several Gundam series, from the original MS Gundam 0079, then 0080, Gundam Seed Destiny, Gundam 00 and Gundam AGE, I'd say this is one of the best series.

Finally the mold was broken. It's no longer a story about conflicts or wars.

I'm tired of watching one group of people fought against another group of people because of their hatred of each other.

The story still involved fights, but this time the fights were about fighting for what the characters were passionate about, fighting for their friendships, fighting for doing what was right to their conscience.

The best of all, no one died and everybody had a happy ending

Seeing all these characters team up together in the last episode was epic.

Seeing Ral, Master Chinan and Takeshi join the "last shooting" fight was beyond awesome... If they were still so good, why didn't they compete again?

I think the writer was trying to tell us that competing was only part of our lives... we could use what we're good at to accomplish things in other areas.

...Plus there were plenty of scenes showing how the fighters lived in regular daily lives when they weren't fighting. Quite a number of those were hilarious!



Each of the characters was well developed and had grown throughout the episodes. All the main and supporting characters are adorable. Why? It's because they all seemed to be so realistic and down to earth that they have the same traits we all shared. I would want to become their friends in a heart beat.

Would I want Amuro to be my friend? Nah, he still couldn't let go of Char and Lalah.

How about Kira? He's just too perfect and seemed to belong to the fairy tale world only.

Setsuna? He's too boring! I can't have a friend who keeps thinking he's a Gundam!

Seeing the cameos of many of the characters from the past Gundam series was very cool indeed.

All the plots were well thought out and planned, making me unable to stop waiting for the next episodes to come.

Repeatedly using build knuckle to win in the last several episodes seems to be a bit boring... When I saw Sei wear Kira Yamato's uniform in the very first episode I thought eventually he was going to upgrade Star Build Strike Gundam to become Strike Freedom Gundam so he could use funnels. Perhaps the upgrade wasn't possible because of a licensing issue? (similar to why they couldn't use the mobile suits from Gundam 00 Season 2 as Gunplas?)

It's sad to see Reiji go and I wish there's an alternate ending... just right before Reiji decided to play against Yuuki, Nils told Reiji to stop because he knew he's going to use up the Arista on his wrist and that means he'll be forced to go back to Arian just like the Chairman. Nils then asked Reiji to wait for a while as he had come up with the formula to recreate the Arista and, ultimately, the Plavsky particles...

If all these did happen, Sei would never grow out of Reiji's shadow. It's better for Reiji to go, although it'll be fun to see him stick around to enjoy plenty and plenty of great food with Aila

Speaking of Aila, anyone noticed that her Arista was still glowing when she was in Arian?

Was Reiji really so insensitive about Aila's feeling towards him? I doubt it.

Reiji was actually sensitive and thoughtful.

Take a look at Episode 3 3:45... See how many Arian girls fall for Reiji?

Episode 11 9:15... Knowing that Sei and Kousaka were on the phone, he went out to take a walk (and shortly met Aila when she was trying to hide).

Episode 13 5:07... When Aila stopped by to see how Reiji was doing after the street fight, Reiji turned around and avoided eye contact with her.

IMO, Reiji seemed to have sensed Aila's feeling about him, but he wasn't sure if he should "proceed"� because at first he knew he's going to Arian some day... plus not to mention that, having been chased by numerous girls liking him in Arian, he was probably tired of getting involved emotionally again.

Episode 21 7:30... Why Reiji was so upset and he kicked a tree so hard several times? He wouldn't be so upset if he didn't have developed feelings for Aila.

Reiji was capable of seeing through things.

In Episode 3, while Sei was still wondering why Reiji could disappear in thin air, Reiji told him to refocus to finish his build for SBS.

Later in another episode... Sensing that there's some fishy about the appearance of the giant Zaku, he stormed right into PPSE Chairman's private room and questioned the Chairman about his intent.

Episode 19 12:30... Reiji stopped Sei from arguing with Nils when Nils asked them to give away the secrets of creating Plavsky particles, because he realized that there's no use to continue the debate.

In the last episode... Reiji cleared Sei's mind about his ability of controlling the Gunpla... Once Sei could stop being afraid of getting his Gunpla damaged he wasn't bad at all to control his Gunpla.

I'm quite sure Reiji saw through Aila's heart as well. He just occasionally "turned off" his sensors as he didn't want to be portrayed as a very sensitive person.

Perhaps another alternate ending...
As Reiji was "glowing" and about to disappear, Takeshi asked Reiji to take Aila with him.
Reiji hesitated. Aila was about to cry.
Takeshi told Reiji, "A promise is a promise. You've got to say: 'Sir, Yes Sir!'"

The soundtracks were awesome.

I'm giving it 9.5 for the script because I still can't get a few things explained...

How could the Chairman carry that giant Arista to Earth?
How the heck Aila could get hold of Reiji's Beginning Gundam?
How did the Chairman and Baker get those new white Gundam bootleg Gunplas for sale in Arian?

Also...

It would be great if episode 25 was an hour long or there's a few more episodes. I'm sure we're curious about what's it's like to live in Arian... and who wouldn't want to see Reiji's parents?

I guess the writer wants us to use our imagination to explore all these...

[Skye629]

Originally Posted by AquaHaro

Animation Quality: 10
Voice Actors: 10
Script: 9.5
Soundtrack: 10
Editing: 10
Enjoyment: 10
Emotional Involvement: 10
______________________
Average: 9.9

Repeatedly using build knuckle to win in the last several episodes seems to be a bit boring... When I saw Sei wear Kira Yamato's uniform in the very first episode I thought eventually he was going to upgrade Star Build Strike Gundam to become Strike Freedom Gundam so he could use funnels. Perhaps the upgrade wasn't possible because of a licensing issue? (similar to why they couldn't use the mobile suits from Gundam 00 Season 2 as Gunplas?)

There are no licensing issues with SEED/DESTINY (but they did keep in mind that the DESTINY Remaster was also airing, which is why we saw no prominent suit features from that series)

The primary reason is to promote gunpla sales, in particular the 1st suits the protagonists used before upgrading mid season (hence Strike, Exia, Wing, X, etc.)

[Benigmatica]

Animation Quality: 8
Voice Actors: 10
Script: 9
Soundtrack: 9
Editing: 9
Enjoyment: 9
Emotional Involvement: 9

Average: 9

I'll have to say that Gundam Build Fighters is better than Gundam AGE, which sadly didn't appear as a cameo as well as Gundam Unicorn, and the second season of Gundam 00. On the other hand, it's a big step-up to the Gunpla Builders Beginning G and Plamo Kyo-Shiro.

While the animation has the same quality as Gundam AGE, its soundtrack is the main selling point (as in you're watching Air Gear) as well as several cameos and nods to the Gundam metaseries.

[Death Usagi]

Originally Posted by Benigmatica

Animation Quality: 8
Voice Actors: 10
Script: 9
Soundtrack: 9
Editing: 9
Enjoyment: 9
Emotional Involvement: 9

Average: 9

I'll have to say that Gundam Build Fighters is better than Gundam AGE, which sadly didn't appear as a cameo as well as Gundam Unicorn, and the second season of Gundam 00. On the other hand, it's a big step-up to the Gunpla Builders Beginning G and Plamo Kyo-Shiro.

While the animation has the same quality as Gundam AGE, its soundtrack is the main selling point (as in you're watching Air Gear) as well as several cameos and nods to the Gundam metaseries.

Gundam Unicorn Mobile Suits did appear...

[Rising Dragon]

If you're talking about the Jegan/Devil Gundam fight, that was a normal Jegan and not a Type-D, and I don't think it really counts as a Unicorn reference if the mobile suit appears outside of Unicorn first anyway.

[demino_hellsin]

The Loto appeared.

[Death Usagi]

Unicorn Gundam itself was shown in Iori Shop's display case, and Mao had built Kshatriya for that truck driver that had let Mao hitchhike. Also yes, Loto had appeared during the race trying to hinder Fellini except it got shot by Fenice's Buster Rifle.

[SvenCalBayan]

When I first heard of this series (Gundam Build Fighters)... I honestly didn't have a good feeling about it.

I was like, come on, we survived the disaster that was called "Gundam AGE" only to witness another disaster.

I was thinking, is this gonna be another "G Gundam" with Gunpla models in it... and you know what, it actually turned out to be like that... but far more interesting and way less boring.

This series (Gundam Build Fighters) has washed-off the a bit of the bad taste "Gundam AGE" left in my mouth.

____________________________

Now I am patiently awaiting "Gundam Reconguista in G" and "Mobile Suit Gundam: THE ORIGIN".