It was my one of favourite anime series period. However, ever since then, I wanted to re-watch it especially now in 2019 I own the DVDs for this show and its squeal. Not to mention I now watched most of the Gundam shows like Wing, Seed, Iron-Blooded Orphans, and most of the U.C century stuff.
Does it still hold up or my opinion of the series has changed? Well, it’s time to find out.
Story.
The story follows a young boy named Sei Iori who has a big passion for Gunpla. He dreams to However, despite his amazing building skills his piloting skill are awful. When all hope is almost lost for the young boy, he meets up with a mysterious boy with incredible piloting skills named Reiji. Together the duo goes off to take part in the world championships where they try to become the best player like no one ever was.
I really liked the story of Gundam Build Fighters.
The show does a fantastic job at building its own world where it perfectly showcases the life of gunpla purists from different backgrounds.
Outside, the tournaments stuff there were a lot of things that are going on behind the scenes of the world of Gundam Build Fighters engaging conspiracies and villainy to its well written slice of life section which where all the characters interact very well with each other to well-crafted romance scenes which I got so much out of because It wasn’t enough of a key focus for relationships nore being wrapped up to negatively affect the series. Instead, it was a case of making hinted pairings known letting you assume that these people will end up together when they grow up.
The one thing that I really loved about Gundam Build Fighters is that at heart a kid show where it doesn’t try to compleated series let go off rails with its kid-friendly roots. One of my main problems with the kids genre that is tried to be more than they actually are where it tried to be more dark and serious and as a result, we end getting pretentious kids shows like Cardfight Vanguard G Beyblade 4D and Yugioh Vrains
Inazuma Eleven and Little Battlers Experience (especially Wars) are expectations as they were the only shows from the genre that actually how it’s darker elements correctly without going betraying itself.
Gundam Build Fighters thankfully avoided this pitfall as it ultimately decided to stay true to its light-hearted roots of being a fun and engaging tournament anime. Speaking of the tournament The Gunpla Battle Championship World Tournament arc of Gundam Build Fighters is easily my favourite tournament arc in a kids show. Not only the tournament itself has an atmosphere is it feels like you are part of the crowd watching this gunpla purist compete each other to be the best like no one ever was but the tournament structure itself is refreshing.
On top of The Gunpla Battle Championship World Tournament being atmospheric and engaging due to originally the direction and writing also really shines as the dialogue and character actions were realistic.
Finally, we have the Gundam references and let me say they are an absolute joy especially if you’re a Gundam fan.
While the story was great and for the most part nicely written there were two things in this show that bugged me and that was the as pulling in the second half. While the ass-pulling wasn’t annoying compared to squeal and spinoff series it still rubbed me in the wrong way. I won’t tell you what episodes but you will start to see them later on in the series.
The second and final thing that bugged me was that the show didn’t explore Reiji’s origins enough. His origin was interesting but the didn’t have enough time to really explore his origins. Other than those two flaws I thought the story of Gundam Build Fighters to be charming, nicely written and enjoyable.
Characters.
The characters were easily the strongest part of Gundam Build Fighters. They may not be well written, but they were all likeable and charming to the eye for the most part.
First, up we have Sei Iori who is a passionate fan wants to follow in his father footsteps.
I really adore Sei sure may not be the best-written character in the Gundam franchise by any means but he was one of the most enjoyable characters from this franchise. He’s not your typical kid main protagonist were hot-headed and stubborn all the game. He’s simply a normal young who simply wanted to achieve his dream of being the best but can’t due to his subpar piloting skills even though he is an amazing builder.
As the series progress, he grows a person where the end of the series he is able to pilot his own Gunpla without any help.
Great character and definitely a refreshing site compare to other kid protagonists that we have seen over the years.
Next, we have Reiji or Aria von Reiji Asuna. Like with Sei I really adored him. He was an entertaining and charming character from start to finish who not only made laugh every time he does something funny on screen. He also gets character development where he not only learns how the game works but he also starts having relationships and bounds towards other characters.
The thing that really stands out about Sei and Reiji is that the chemistry with each other is wonderful. Despite them coming from different backgrounds, they really play off with each other very well and by the end of the series, you feel like these two were actually brothers due to the strong character development that they got in the series.
As for the rest of the characters, I thought there were all great and charming in their own ways not counting the villain because he was. Some of my favourite supporting characters included the naive but prided Mao, the ladies’ man Ricardo, the mysterious Aila and my favourite character in the series Tatsuya aka Meijin. I really loved his passion towards and really liked his character interactions towards the cast especially when gives out the Char vibe. Not to mention he is a good rival for Sei and Reiji.
9/10
Visuals.
Visually Gundam Build Fighters as I like to call it a beautiful firework of explosives and vibrant colours.
The characters while basic on design fits with the simple modern world of Gundam Build Fighters perfectly.
The background scenery is crisp and cleans that is filled with life thanks to the use of the smooth urban and sci-fi colour palette.
As for the mechas themselves, I thought was great. Yes, many of the Gundams in this show was the same from they respective Gundam series but I really liked how very fateful they were even though some of them may have a different code of paint.
The animation in Gundam Build Fighters is great. Character movement was smooth and crisp. The mecha battles were very well animated and fun to watch. Most importantly there was barely stock footage used.
Sound.
The soundtrack in Gundam Build Fighters is one of my favourite soundtracks in anime. Not only every single track in the shows fits with the overall tone and setting of the series but they are all an absolute joy to listen even without the watching the show itself. It was one of the few soundtracks that I downloaded every single track.
Some of my favourite tracks include the passionate fun Gunpla World the retro Reiji Prince Theme and masterful Gundam Build Fighters which is one of my favourites tracks in anime.
Fun fact the person who did the soundtrack Yuki Hayashi also did the soundtrack for Classroom Crisis, Haikyuu, it's squeal Build Fighters Try and the beloved shounen series My Hero Academia.
The first opening theme "Nibun no Ichi by BACK-ON'' is a great upbeat opening theme that perfectly captured the tone of the first half.
The second opening "wimp ft. Lil’Fang (from FAKY)" by BACK-ON is one of my favourite anime openings of all time. Not only it was a kickass opening that is filled with amazing vocalists but it masterfully fits with the nature of the second half.
The first ending theme "Imagination Reality" by AiRI is a pretty catchy upbeat ending theme that I really liked.
The second ending on the other hand Hanpan Spirit " by Hyadain is good but not all that memorable.
Now for sub vs dub.
The sub for Gundam Build Fighters is fantastic. Not only it's very well acted where the did a brilliant job with the roles that were given but voice direction and audio quality was spot on.
Now we get the controversial part of the review the English Dub. A lot of people especially the fans didn’t like the dub mainly with audio quality was bad, it has a lot of miscast and some of the actings was just plain bad. Well after re-watching the show it’s dub form I can safely say that the dub for Gundam Build Fighters Season 1 is not as bad as everyone says it is. Don’t get me wrong I don’t think the dub was great or anything but least was least competent for the show that Gundam Build Fighters is. I cannot say the same thing for the squeal, but we will get that show sometime soon.
Final Thoughts.
Overall I really love Gundam Build Fighters. Yes, the show did have few shortcomings but the fantastic characters chemistry, worldbuilding, visuals and well-composed soundtrack completely make it up.
After re-watching this show I can defiantly that show still holds amazingly well compared to its sequels as well as some of the other Gundam shows like Seed and Wing. Not only it's still one of my favourite Gundam series period. It may not be number 1 since Gundam The Origin and Turn A stole those spots but Gundam Build Fighters will always be my third favourite Gundam series.
If you're looking for a great Gundam show that is laid back and fun then I recommend Gundam Build Fighters. You won't regret it.
Final Score 9/10
