Gundam Build Fighters episode 1

 The story is set in the near future when GunPla Battles, competitions that pit Gundam plastic models against each other, have become popular worldwide in the "Second GunPla Boom." Sei Iori, a first-year middle-school student and the only son of a model shop owner, is talented at building GunPla, but inexperienced in the GunPla Battles. He encounters a mysterious boy named Reiji who happens to be an accomplished Gundam Fighter. Together, they strive for the GunPla Battle world championships. Sei's customized GunPla is the Build Strike Gundam.

So a new series in the Gundam franchise has kicked off, and truth to be told, after watching the first episode this morning, I`m a bit in doubt about the whole thing.

It basically is a story about people making the BanDai plastic model kits of their various Gundam ranges (GunPla stands for GUNdam PLAstic models, a sort of segment of it's own within scale modelling and popular in the Far East) and then go to battle with the models they build.

These battles involve a super computer that generates a 3D field, called a Portal, and then they fight it out just as if they where controlling the Mobile Suits themselves like in all the other series was the case.

The concept is like a wet boys dream, we all want to control our own giant robots and smash the opponents to bits, but it feels like one big commercial for the plastic kits though.  Including a 4 minute edvertising by BanDai at the end of the episode.

I just don`t know if this series will work decently (after the AGE debacle, this could really hurt the franchise) as it is of course aimed to a young demographic.  Luckily for us `old timers`, there is still the Unicorn OVA series in production.

Was it all bad then?  No, the animation is good, and it is quite nice to see cross series battles.  The first battle we see fought with the Portal system is between Sei`s Wing Gundam and Sakari`s Gyan, respectively the main suit from Gundam Wing and a side-role suit from the very first Mobile Suit Gundam series.  The Gyan won btw.

One might think of this series as one big version of videogames like Gundam Extreme VS and the likes, where you could cross series at will as well, and I`ll keep watching the series, but it ain`t on my `WOW` list after this pilot episode.

One cool thing though, even though all the younger fans won`t notice it, is that the modelstore has a `regular customer` and experienced GunPla fighter from the past.  Ral.  Yes, this is none other then Ramba Ral himself (looks the same, reacts the same to women, etc...) returned for this series.  It was a nice touch, probably to let the fanbase feel `involved` a little more.

I`m curious about what the future will bring...

Synopsis
The story is set in the near future when GunPla Battles, competitions that pit Gundam plastic models against each other, have become popular worldwide in the “Second GunPla Boom.” Sei Iori, a first-year middle-school student and the only son of a model shop owner, is talented at building GunPla, but inexperienced in the GunPla Battles. He encounters a mysterious boy named Reiji, who happens to be an accomplished Gundam Fighter. Together, they strive for the GunPla Battle world championships. - See more at: http://www.animefansftw.com/gundam-build-fighters-episode-1/#sthash.zsU43V1f.dpuf

The story is set in the near future when GunPla Battles, competitions that pit Gundam plastic models against each other, have become popular worldwide in the “Second GunPla Boom.” Sei Iori, a first-year middle-school student and the only son of a model shop owner, is talented at building GunPla, but inexperienced in the GunPla Battles. He encounters a mysterious boy named Reiji, who happens to be an accomplished Gundam Fighter. Together, they strive for the GunPla Battle world championships. - See more at: http://www.animefansftw.com/gundam-build-fighters-episode-1/#sthash.zsU43V1f.dpuf

The story is set in the near future when GunPla Battles, competitions that pit Gundam plastic models against each other, have become popular worldwide in the “Second GunPla Boom.” Sei Iori, a first-year middle-school student and the only son of a model shop owner, is talented at building GunPla, but inexperienced in the GunPla Battles. He encounters a mysterious boy named Reiji, who happens to be an accomplished Gundam Fighter. Together, they strive for the GunPla Battle world championships. - See more at: http://www.animefansftw.com/gundam-build-fighters-episode-1/#sthash.zsU43V1f.dpuf