Gundam Build Fighters surprised me on multiple levels, for what should have been a shameless cash grab tricking kids into buying more gunpla, turned out to be a well written show with some awesome fights to boot.
The main gist of the show involves people building and customising their robot model kits, gunpla, to then scan into a virtual simulation that they can pit their models against each other in combat. The lead protagonist, Iori, is big on building his models and dreams on entering the gunpla battle world tournament, like his dad before him. However, he lacks the skills to control his models in the virtual simulation, until he finds a mysterious boy, Reiji, who despite having zero clue on how the world even functions, let alone know what gunpla is, he is gifted at battling with them, and from there the two characters work their way up in the ranks to enter the world tournament, making many allies and foes along the way. It's a pretty simple plot, but it works out pretty well and leads to lots of drama and interaction between the various characters. However, because of the simple plot, it leads to the show being very predictable, which doesn't completely undermine tension, but the predictability is still present.
Each character in this show feels so well layered, not simply having one basic character trait and treating everyone they greet the same. Characters like Reiji may be lax around his friend Iori, or act hot headed on characters like Aila for say. Or he can be curious when wandering the streets alone at night. Even side characters like the perseverance Fellini or the mysterious Tatsuya have their own little motives that are very well fleshes out. The one character that stands out to me the most is Aila, and while I'm not able to say too much about her without spoilers, all I can say is that this is one serious arc for a a character, and the show tackles the topic of her perfectly. The character that isn't nearly as fleshed out as the other characters is Iori. He's a fine enough character on his own, being a bit of a nerd with a happy go lucky attitude, which I totally dig, he simply isn't as complex as the other characters. Earlier in the show, they mention how his dad isn't here with them, which could have potentially made one of the more serious arcs on perhaps tackling loss. However, the show makes a fat cop out, and shows that he's fine. This was a big missed opportunity, and could have helped make Iori's character stand head to toe with the rest of the cast.
For the fight scenes themselves they are all very well choreographed, with great animation to boot, and despite them constantly happening in each episode, the writers always find new ways to spice up battles to stop them from feeling repetitive, and these fights too carry emotion and great character moments, though again can feel predictable on what will happen in these moments. Speaking of animation, this show looks great and I never noticed any reused animation or cheep moments. Though sometimes the shading on some mechs can go a little crazier than compared to other scenes, but I'm just nitpicking. As for the inevitable objectivisation of woman, it ain't too bad, though it does do some light booty and honka donka shots of Iori's mum, and a bit on Mihoshi in one episode, and some rare instances here and there. Soundtrack was pretty forgettable, neither being bad or really standing out, aside from the intro and outro themes.
Overall, this show is way better than what it really needs to be, of course delivering on the action, while also featuring a fleshed out cast of characters inside a nice and simple plot, though predictable at times. I'd recommend this show to both fans of the Gundam franchise, or even people who've never even heard of a gunpla like Reiji.
