Watching it now - I think my favorite part of the intro, in so far as seeing it for the first time, is catching a glimpse at that glorious IBO based gunpla. Calamity War Gundams are probably one of my favorite design bases and seeing one here makes me happy. Do wish its implied pilot wasn't some kinda elf thing, though. Unsure about the actual theme, though, doesn't feel quite right. I'll give it time. I'm also pleased that the main character seemingly already is into Gunpla (though the expected part where they're all starry eyed about throwing together a straight built 00 Gundam was absolutely cringe inducing. I know at the end of the day this is just hocking product much in the way of Build Fighters before it, but in real life people don't go "OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS SO MUCH" while cutting out plastic parts from a sprue plate.) Also major lol at the girl working at the store who doesn't know how to pronounce 00 Gundam (that said, 02 Gundam actually sounds like something that could happen, given we already have a V2) "I don't know much about Gunpla" - LIKE HOLY CRAP GIRL YOU WORK IN THE MECCA OF GUNPLA! You don't need to be an expert but I would expect you to at least have some idea of how crazy people can get with their Gunpla creations. Now he's diving into the system and it's a massive reference to 00 Raiser going Trans Am and everybody under its effects are shown as floating nude people. This is going to get SUPER awkward if that girl Momo is ever shown going through this... "Will you survive?" - THE GAME HAS CHANGED, PROGRAM! We TRON now, bitches. "Depending on your progress in the game, you get different outfits and appearances" - so standard cosmetic rewards for doing stuff, not unexpected, but I have to admit the two protags look EXTREMELY out of place with vague adventure/SAO type gear while everybody else is largely either in military gear from the various series or cameo outfits (that one girl holding a Haro is TOTALLY referencing Mihoshi from Build Fighters when she sabotages the Build Strike). And why does the guy wearing glasses need an additional pair of goggles that wouldn't fit over the glasses? Those blobby things vaguely like a Zaku II and a Gundam...is that Japan poking fun at its own weirdness? And that guy looks like he got lost trying to get to a Jojo casting shoot. Seeing how this is a giant Gunpla MMO makes me really miss SD Gundam Capsule Fighter online. While that game honestly wasn't the greatest (almost forcing you to pay real money out of the starting gate if you want to even try collecting enough suits to make the more powerful builds, funnels and remote weapons were OP as fuck, and the Engrish was painful), it still was the closest thing we ever got to a real online Gundam game that allowed for suit customizations. I'm liking how this takes the "scan Gunpla" idea from Builders Beginning G (as opposed to just having the plastic models themselves come to life, rip each other apart and force people to rebuild the damn things from scratch) and allows the "divers" to actually view their machines in full-size. What I DON'T like is how the cockpits inexplicably just have the joystick and the scan pad - without the gunpla - and just reuse the interface from Build Fighters. The 360 panoramic sphere thing makes enough sense, given at least the UC suits by the time of Unicorn are all equipped like that (excluding older suits I.E. Zaku I Sniper), but they don't even get a seat in GBN? I will take all of this back if in a later episode they show somebody with a full simulated cockpit and thus imply you could go that route in the supposed game options screen we will never see. Ignoring the obvious fat douchebag who is about to show up, I do like how this training battle both works as an introduction to the game...as well as showcasing just how much of a noob Riku is. He's just being ultra flashy and leaving himself WIDE open in the process. Though to be fair he reacted competently when the undead NPD came at them. Why hello there Aila 2.0. You're giving off some strong that-girl-from-Code-Lyoko themes mixed with Tiffa from Gundam X, aren't you? So this guy totally is showing up later with the Ogre GNX if I'm getting the Oni theme right (though he's noticeably not in the title sequence which is unusual given he does show up in the crowd in that prologue thing like every other character from the title sequence). Though I do question the logic of the game even having a system that rewards player killing in the way that is implied. I mean, Riku and Yukio technically haven't even finished the tutorial level yet and apparently they're worth "a lot of points" to a higher level player? Obviously I'm sure kicking his ass is going to net the dynamic duo a metric boatload of points in turn (though what good points are for remains to be explained), but I can't imagine players taking advantage of noobs would be healthy for the longevity of the system - especially a free to play system given it doesn't appear to have required the heroes to actually pay anything to join. EDIT: Or maybe he shows up in that blue AGE bad guy suit that is also getting a GBD kit release, to keep with the theme of him using AGE bad guys? Could go either way if he is coming back. Overall, for the first instance of a series going into it, it did hit above expectations. The main character's Gunpla wasn't literally a gift from the Gunpla Gods this time (like Beginning and Beginning 30, as well as Build Burning) or he had unequaled building skill (Sei, Yuuki), it was just a kid with gunpla experience who threw together a ton of parts onto an 00 and made it himself. While the "build" segment for the stock 00 was cringeworthy as hell ("I get so nervous opening the box!" - dude, it's a ten year old kit made of a bunch of plastic bags filled with injection molded parts and stickers, calm down), it mercifully was much shorter than expected compared to how long the previous series would spend on gunpla building at times. I do have to question what on Earth he needed to use from a Guntank on the 00 Diver though. The issues with the main characters looking like they're in the wrong game and the entire player killer issue aside, the fact it is set up like a good MMO should be with volunteer player guides to help the newbies get a grasp on how the game works is something most "video game" series tend to completely skip over. I do also like how Riku isn't the starry eyed little shit I feared he would be from what I saw in the prologue and that opening bit where he sees the champ win for the first time. His victory over the Zedan wasn't a complete shut-out despite 00 Gundam being able to normally wipe the floor with a first generation grunt suit of any series going off stats alone, which is quite refreshing after how easily Build Strike and Build Burning obliterated early contenders (that were not also god-tier skilled pilots) in the right hands (of total Gunpla battle noobs). Hopefully this series does keep the bullshit powers vs bullshit powers to a minimum and concentrates on some raw MS combat, since Try got bogged down with the superpowered nonsense at the end. EDIT: Correction, upon watching the titles again, it looks like the fat bully IS in the title sequence where he pops up over the blue Vagan suit - leading me to infer that will be his later suit, while the Ogre GNX will be piloted by his partner in crime.
From my first impressions... feh. Not seeing anything here that I've yet to see or will likely become extensively predictable. Probably the weakest opening yet for these build series for my perspective... granted these jade glasses have been superglued to my face for a long time.
the funny part about Build Divers role casting, so anyone noticed the fat douche bag bully, Douji has the same voice actor for Kirito of the Sword Art Online fame, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka?, plus the VRMMORPG theme of both series makes it more fitting in a hilarious way.
Yay! Just watched Divers Ep. 2. This show is really fun! I am glad is has a bit of everything for everyone. Also: Nanami is awesome. xD
Not a fan of the fanservice shows are you? It's cool, I think this is just more fun for the franchise to take a break from the bleakness it's been through in the past. Besides with the current geopolitical tensions and the fact we've got the WORST parody of the Zabi family in Washington doesn't make it easier. (don't mind me getting political please, but just an observation. Not one of them is decent enough to be Dozle). anyway... it's like I said, the "Build" series is just a break from the heavy drama. We'll see a proper Gundam anime again soon I hope, next year is the big 4 0 anyway...
MSG AGE and 00 coming to Bluray later this year: https://www.rightstufanime.com/category/Blu~ray?order=custitem_rs_release_date:desc&keywords=gundam Awaiting 0080 War in the Pocket Blu ray...
I've been enjoying Build Divers so far. I definitely can't wait to get the Ogre GN-X now. But in other news...
It's not even the fanservice so much as the incredibly bland way it's presented. It's just such a generic toy commercial.
Isn't that what Build Fighters is, a toy commercial? Why would Divers be any different when it is a sequel to that series? Anyway, did no one see the news here about the Gundam 00 Blu-Ray box set in Sept?
Except it isn't, because the Transformers aren't toys in their own show. It's so cynical and creatively vacant.
