Gundam Build Fighters Try

Episodes 1-3

It's hard to believe the original Mobile Suit Gundam came out in 1979, a full 35 years ago. With as many devoted fans as the franchise has, it's long overdue for a reboot to draw in some fresh blood.

Enter Gundam Build Fighters, the 2013 kickstart to the franchise that everybody thought 2011's youthful (and poorly received) Gundam AGE would be. In season one, two adolescent boys teamed up to build Gunpla (a Japanese portmanteau of Gundam and plastic) and battle them in simulated arenas, Angelic Layer style. Lest you think the stakes in a show about piloting plastic toys are lower than those in a bloody war between Earth and space, an international cast of characters and an interstellar intrigue soon take care of that.

Gundam Build Fighters Try is ostensibly the second season of the show, although there's been a seven-year time jump and barely any of the characters are the same. In fact, even the fighting has changed—now competing teams must consist of three fighters. The curtain opens on Fumi, an athletic young woman who loves Gunpla, finding herself the only remaining member of the Gundam Build Fighting Club after the seniors have graduated. She needs to get a team of three together stat.

Episodes one and two are devoted to Fumi recruiting two new teammates: Sekai and Yuuma. These storylines are typical, (there's no doubt they'll join her in the end,) but made brilliant by relatable character personalities remembered fondly from season one. Kousaka Yuuma is obviously Kousaka China's younger brother—she of the infamous, adorable Bearguy mech. Sekai and his sister Mirai are a little more nebulous, but I have a nagging theory that they're related to hotheaded alien space prince Reiji from the first season. Then there's my absolute favorite character, Mr. Ral: a kindly old man and goofy homage to Mobile Suit Gundam's stoic enemy fighter Ramba Ral. He was the comic relief in season one, and is back for a resume his role in Try.

Originally, I hypothesized that easter eggs like Mr. Ral are what make Gundam Build Fighters such a fresh breath of life for the franchise. The show doesn't skimp on its references to earlier shows—heck, Build Burning Gundam is as obvious a G-Gundam reference as you can get. This is a show about people who love Gundam, made by creators who love Gundam, for viewers who love Gundam. However, based at least on my anecdotal experience, this seems to be the first Gundam show many viewers have ever seen.

So my new theory is that its passion is infectious. When the characters all live and breath for their hobby and their story is told in a way that empowers rather than satirizes that hobby, you can't help but get interested in it. It's the reason why a fresh storyline for the Gundam franchise that replaces drama and gloom with humor and heart works best for fans right now. A show designed to sell plastic toys has no business being this entertaining.

If the first season was a breakthrough for drawing in new viewers, the second is hoping to top that by targeting a group that has often been neglected in the Gundam universe: women. TRY stars a female protagonist, which is a Gundam franchise first. While there are many notable supporting female pilots, from Emma Sheen to Cagalli Yula Athha to Allenby Beardsley, the lead role always goes to a moody male protagonist who isn't even that eager to get in the freaking Gundam. That storyline just isn't relevant anymore. Gundams are cool. Everyone—both male and female fans—would jump at the chance to fight in a Gundam, and a modern Gundam story needs to reflect that. Episode three doubles down on this promise, as our newly united Gundam Build Fighting team visits a girls' school to do some serious Gunpla brawling. “Don't look down on them because they're girls, Sekai,” Fumi warns. Both skilled and cunning, these ladies are top notch.

With a host of new female characters, TRY provides in spades what the original Gundam Build Fighters lacked. Season one had women who were Gundam Build Fighting fans, women who could build but lacked fighting skills, and women who were mercenary, using their talent at fighting to further their fortune and careers. What it didn't have were women who build and fight simply because they love Gundam. At long last, the Gundam franchise is using its 35 years of source material to create a show as passionate and diverse as its fanbase.

Rating: A+

Gundam Build Fighters Try is currently streaming on Gundam.info.

Lauren writes about anime and journalism at Otaku Journalist.