Gundam Build Fighters (2013) isn’t just one of the top-rated recent Gundam shows, but one of the top-rated shows of the past decade, period. A veritable love-letter to Gunpla, Build Fighters is a show for, by, and about Gundam fans. It offers humor and heart through references so arcane, it’s clear the creators dredged the depths of the Gundam canon.
Welcome back to Deep Dive, Tom Aznable’s reader-favorite column all about catching the more esoteric aspects of the Gundam multiverse that make it into the show. Nothing passes Tom’s eagle eye for spotting this stuff (we suspect Newtype abilities), but this column focuses specifically on rare sightings and deep cuts. Read on to see what you may have missed:
Bawoo (?) kanji, Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (anime)
When we last saw the Iori residence, Reiji had dropped in for dinner. He was using a red teacup with a generic sort of cross design that could’ve been several Neo-Zeon symbols, but now we flash back to another meal… and this cup’s design is pretty distinctive! Reiji’s tea cup now has the same obscure kanji present on the skirt armor of would-be Neo-Zeon leader Glemy Toto’s Bawoo, pronounced, well, “Bau,” just like the mobile suit’s name.
Dengeki Hobby Magazine
While these may say “Monthly Hobby” on them, the red and white spine of a typical issue of Dengeki Hobby is unmistakable. While you could still pick up new issues on store shelves when Build Fighters was airing, Dengeki Hobby has since stopped publication of its print edition as of May 2015 and moved to web-only coverage.
Shouta Soga, Gundam Build Fighters Honoo (novel)
Rinko is seen here writing an email to a customer named Shouta Soga – a character from the sidestory novel Gundam Build Fighters Honoo serialized in Hobby Japan magazine. Shouta is the ace of Jinpu Academy’s Gunpla Club and rival to the novel’s protagonist Yusei Kouen. He’s known for adding the title “SS Custom” to his Gunpla, though apparently that’s short for “Special Squadron” and not his name.
Shouta would return in the Build Fighters Try sidestory novel Honoo Try, now seven years older. He joins his old rival as an advisor for the Gunpla Club at Seien Academy, where he coaches the Gunpla Battle team Raging Wind.
Model Building Club Display Case
Seiho Academy’s Model Building Club has a pretty diverse selection of Gunpla in their display case! A couple of these don’t really count as deep cuts, but in the interest of being thorough, let’s just quickly go through them all:
Bottom Row (Right to Left)
Top Row (Right to Left)
MS-14A Anavel Gato’s Gelgoog, Mobile Suit Gundam 0083 (anime)
Anavel Gato’s personal Gelgoog was briefly seen at the beginning of Gundam 0083 during the defense of the space fortress A Baoa Qu. Originally the only thing distinct about Gato’s Gelgoog was that he seemed to use a single-bladed beam saber as opposed to the typical beam naginata, but his suit has since been frequently depicted with a prototype beam rifle as well. This build is faithful to the original anime, however, and just uses the standard Gelgoog rifle.
Gundam III: Encounters in Space Poster, Mobile Suit Gundam (anime)
The Model Building Club’s room has one of the movie posters for the third Mobile Suit Gundam compilation movie, Encounters in Space, up on the wall behind Yuuki. This lesser-known poster by art director Mitsuki Nakamura puts focus on the bridge of the White Base, with a visible interior showing off the cast of characters illustrated by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko.
“Rage on, Gundam!”, Mobile Suit Gundam (anime)
Yuuki cries out “Rage on, rage on, rage on, Gunpla!”, paraphrasing the spirited opening lines of Mobile Suit Gundam’s theme song “Fly, Gundam!” This translation is consistent with the current subtitled releases of the original show – though if you prefer your anime songs by way of Andrew WK, it’s also previously been translated as “Fire up your soul” on his album of official Gundam covers.
Deactive Mode, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED (anime)
Okay, to be fair, this one may be unintentional. The color drains out of Sei’s face in shock, but the gag extends to his Gunpla! Now, one of Gundam SEED’s signature gimmicks is Phase Shift armor: rather than a fictional material like Luna Titanium or Gundanium, it’s the active, powered Phase Shift system that gives the Cosmic Era Gundams their extreme durability compared to other mobile suits. When a Phase Shift system is inactive, however, a Gundam will not only lose its defensive ability but also all of its color. See what I’m getting at here?
Since the Build Strike is of course based on the Strike Gundam, this actually has an uncanny resemblance to the so-called “Deactive Mode” of Phase Shift armor! In fact, Deactive Mode Gunpla do exist as limited variants. Much like how the first episode showed us the Strike Gundam’s cockpit, this may be a quick nod to another of the Strike’s systems that we won’t be seeing in model kit form. Or maybe I’m just overthinking this.
“You will see the tears of time.” Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (anime)
This episode preview references the line used to close out the previews from Zeta Gundam. It looks like that promise is coming true for Sei.
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