What I thought

This show has become legendary in the Chinese community. During its broadcast, I often saw people discussing it online, especially this phrase: Why play 'Kasumi Kage'?(春日影) Pairing the first half of this line with other memes through edited videos or images has created some incredible chemistry. The community has produced a huge number of MyGO-related works using this method.

Band-themed anime wasn’t really my thing, so I intentionally overlooked it. It turns out I missed out on a shining gem. During a recent rewatch, a friend with a wealth of life experience reminded me of a human trait: We are never satisfied. Enjoy the present! Now I have another chance…

To both newcomers and returning viewers: Welcome! As for the rewatch schedule, I’ll do my best to strike a balance for both groups.

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What about this show

If you've ever been in a band or enjoy anime about bands, you'll find it easy to get into this one.

The heart of this anime lies in its storyline. If you can untangle the complex relationships and immerse yourself in them, you'll be eager to see what unpredictable events the next episode brings.

Other features: This anime reaches its peak when exploring the darker sides of these girls' personalities. I’m not sure if that’s a strength or a weakness, but don’t expect a typical idol anime where perfect girls achieve success through hard work.

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Streams

• Crunchyroll (SUBBED)
• Muse Asia (SUBBED)

Show information

• MyAnimeList
• AniList
• AniDB
• Kitsu
• Anime-Planet

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For the rainbow, let the rain fall harder

You know the ones—where the chemistry is so real, the characters pull you in, and for those couple of hours, you’re right there in the feels, swooning, crying, and smiling like a lovesick fool.

What movie/anime does that for you every time?

With the vast array of shows set in the virtual world, it was inevitable for Gundam to dip its toes into the digital world. The results speak for themselves, another kid show made to sell model kits, a show with a unique idea of the virtual world, and a show that's disliked by the majority of the Gundam fanbase for merely existing. I honestly don't really share the same amount of malice towards this show as it doesn't really have anything that bugs the hell out of me personally. I think I tolerate this show a lot more than everyone else due to the mere fact that it's actually trying to be different. There's stuff I like, minor flaws that don't bug me one bit, and just stuff I genuinely prefer over the other shows. While I doubt I'll convince anyone that this show is not as bad as they make it out to be, this is more for me as I look back at why I tolerate this more than the last 2 shows.

• Plot:
  • With Gundam Battle Nexus (GBN) being the newest way to experience Gunpla battles, our protagonist Riku Mikami and his friend Yukio Hidaka check it out and see the many wonders of online Gunpla battles. However, a group of hackers called “mask divers" are causing a ruckus, ruining the game's systems. So it's up to Riku and the friends he made along the way to put a stop to them. However, they meet a mysterious girl who's more than she appears.
  • So this isn't your tournament style anime, it's a digital adventure where we see new parts of the world. I honestly prefer this as we learn more about GBN and we see what kind trouble our MCs get into. It makes each episode different from one another. There's episodes that focus on a certain character, episodes where see a new aspect of GBN, and some that focus on the overarching story.
  • However, one turnoff for a lot of people was towards the last half where the anime shifts goals. While I do have issues with that shift and will have my share of criticisms of it, it's honestly not as bad as people make it out to be. It's still fits the show pretty well and it just needed some rewrites here & there. Overall, I don't really have any problems with the show’s plot. It's simplistic, sure, but I didn't find any of the writing bad. The only poorly written part is the pacing, as some parts gets resolved way too quickly. Otherwise, pretty inoffensive.
• Characters:
  • Another dividing part of this show is the characters. While I can tolerate the main characters, I will admit they were sorta lacking in terms of personality. The side characters were amazing, but I'll get to those later.
  • The MC of Divers goes by the name of Riku Mikami. A lot of people named him “the worst character in Gundam”, and like, is he really worse than the psychopaths and killers in the franchise? Is he bland? Sure, and he's not the sharpest tool in the shed (especially when he got catfished in the 1st episode). But if you know me, it takes a lot more than being “bland” to be a bad character (unless you're Inaho Kaisaka). Besides, he still has some level of emotions, he's pretty easy-going, can work really hard and can get pretty fierce in battles (save your Kirito comparison for Hiroto in the next show, cuz he'll fit the bill).
  • Yukio Hidaka, or Yukki in game, is the stereotypical smart kid in the group. However, he serves more as an exposition dump kind of character. At least he's not loading us with a metric shit ton of references, so props for that. Plus, he has a really good solo episode.
  • And then there's Sarah, who's the sweetest little cupcake in the anime. She's pretty docile and harmless, and I just like scenes where's just vibing behind the scenes. However, I found the twist of her being an Artificial Intelligence was so obvious that I don't even know how the writers didn't think it through. So the story behind her is that she's an Electronic Lifeform (EL Diver for short) that was born through all of the data of the players. While I like the explanation, I just think the execution of the twist was poorly handled (how easily you were shown up by Yui of all people). And you're probably gonna say, “these shows are for children, it doesn't need to be well written. A 12-year old can get it”. Yeah, and a 12 year old can understand me shoving your ass into a cannon and shooting you across the ocean. SHUT THE HELL UP you fleshy cannonball, is this statement too juvenile for you? Well I wrote it to sell toys, so it's above all criticisms. DO YOU KNOW HOW YOU SOUND?!? Being made for kids doesn't excuse it for being lazy.
    • Let's talk about the elephant in the room, since it's the number 1 talking point when I criticize these shows, and it applies here too. Just because a show was made for kids to sell toys to doesn't mean it has to be nonsensical brain rot that treats the audience like their stupid. The best shows for kids are those that treat them with maturity and allow them to grasp serious themes if presented properly. Compelling storytelling with series long arcs, characters with satisfying development, morals that we can apply to our lives, social messages that are reflective of what's happening right out our door, or at the very least unique world building and creative artstyles. Shows that do this are ones that are easily beloved by fans, no matter how old we get, as it can show us something we've missed on a first watch. It's a satisfying feeling when you see your childhood show hold up really well as you get older. There's a reason why shows like Avatar, Clone Wars, Ben 10, even a lot of superhero shows, and some transforms shows hold up and are still beloved by fans no matter how old they get. “Not every show needs to be like that bro”, like what, good? Well no, but I at least expect them to try. And you know, Pokemon and Dragon Ball are technically for kids, and we talk about those shows with deadly levels of seriousness, since they're mainstream. Storytelling shouldn't get a free pass for being low effort depending on the target audience. I hold these shows to a higher regard because the present has been set that these shows can and should be better. If you can tell a deeper story, then why shouldn't you? You're settling for less. Kids aren't stupid and have no standards, so you can't wave off any legitimate criticism. Plus I was 15 yrs old when I saw Build Fighters, I was in that demographic. It's not like I was 40 years old complaining why Backyardigans is a poorly written adventure story. With that being said, I don't think the show is as bad as people make it out to be. It's not the antichrist or anything, but it doesn't get any of the fans of the previous show. It's so hated for merely existing (or maybe because of the SAO hate has brain rotted the anime community towards anything remotely involving gaming mechanics). At the very least this show is trying. It's not really doing anything ground breaking or succeeding at it, but I can at least sense a lot more sincerity in it. Real talk though, Side characters really steal the show.
  • After that GM style rant (not that one the other one), I can get back to the actual characters. While we got the MCs out of the way, we can talk about the side characters, along with the great voice acting. That's right, this anime has an OFFICIAL cast of English voice actors. Erik Scott Kimerer voices Riku, Erica Mendez for Yukki (not that one, the other one), and Kayli Mills voices Sarah (another AI born in the digital world). This isn't some random agency in Asia, these are real voice actors from other projects we've seen them in. There's more, but I'll get to those later. For now we got the rest of the Build Divers crew to talk about.
  • Momoka Yashiro started off a little annoying, as she wanted to drag both Riku & Yukki into the Soccer team, but she honestly becomes a team player when she starts playing GBN. She does anything she can to keep morale up. Plus, her rapport with Sarah is really funny.
  • Koichi Nanase, or KO-1 in game, is honestly one of the best characters. He started off as someone who's slaving away at making kits while lacking passion to make them anymore. All of this stemming from him losing his friends to GPD duels (something I'll talk about later). Him getting his passion back from GBN is really heartfelt and shows that he can have a new outlet for his passion.
  • But by far, the best character in this anime is without a doubt Aya Fujisawa (Ayame in game). She's a ninja Waifu voiced by Asuna, end of story. But in all seriousness, she's really interesting as she started off as an anti-hero. Interfering with one of Riku's missions and then trying to stop him from beating the mask divers. And yet you don't hate her for doing that, as in one episode, you see what led her to this point. She lost her friends after her previous team had a bad losing streak. And the fact that she was manipulated by the villian essentially made her into a sympathetic character. Luckily, she redeems herself and helps Team Build Divers. Say what you want about the MC's, but I just love their dynamic with one another.
  • I would also be a fool if I didn't mention Koichi’s sister, Nanami. She's honestly one of the most cheerful characters in the anime. She has this Older sister vibe to her for the crew and her lack of knowledge on Gundam is both hilarious and realistic as I can see an IRL Gundam Base or model kit store employee not knowing much about the franchise, that's pretty believable. And I do like that she eventually plays GBN too to grow closer to the gang. If only she had R34 artworks, since she deserves it more.
  • As for the other side characters outside of Team Build Divers, we have Magee who's one of the many standouts of the franchise. While I found it a little off that he would be willing to help these kids he barely knows, he eventually grows on you and you see how much of a chill guy he is. He's really good at making connections and he's pretty sociable in general.
  • But one of my favorite characters is without a doubt, Tigerwolf (finally, a wolf who isn't a space fascist). This man just screams manly with his martial artist persona (all of which is added by Kaiji Tang’s vocal performance). I just love that he takes close combat to heart and incorporates it into training Riku & Yukki. On the opposite side of the coin, we got Shahryar, who's more chill & focuses more on the creative & artist side of gunpla. He may toss the word “love” a lot, but you can tell he really means it (also helps that Todd Haberkorn sells it in his vocal delivery). The best part is seeing both Tigerwolf & Shahryar bicker. Both of them have this rivalry that honestly makes a lot of sense. Tigerwolf embraces the combative side of gunpla, while Shahryar is more focused on the creative side. This difference in ideals gives their rivalry more depth.
  • And then there's Romel who represents the tactical side of gunpla, and I like that he's more of a strategist. He's essentially the straight man who thinks before he does anything. Plus, how can you hate a ferret with the voice of Handler Walter?
  • Then there's Team Avalon, and they're pretty cool too. I think I like Kyoya a lot more than Mejin, just for the fact that he actually has real conversations with the main character. They interact way more and the 1st chat they have is a pretty meaningful one. When Riku loses a battle and is frustrated about it, Kyoya gives him a pep talk and tells him that it's natural for him to get mad about something he's passionate about, and to not give up. I can see why Riku would look up to this guy, and it's cool to see them have more interactions through the course of the show. And while Emilia and Karuna didn't didn't appear often, they still have enough quirks to make them interesting. Emilia is the most skilled of the team and is caring of others, but she can come off as cold towards others. Karuna is easy going & cheerful, but he doesn't take his work seriously. This makes their interactions with both each other and Team Build Divers a lot more interesting.
  • And what's a build series without a rival group, and that honor goes to Hyakki. Led by Orge, who's honestly one of the more interesting rivals of the franchise, just for how much he loves to fight. He always views his fights as meals, and that just adds a lot to his character. The harder he fights, the more intense the fight is, the more it'll “satisfy his hunger”. This honestly makes him a fun character to watch, as he makes every fight he's in more intense. As for his brother Do-Ji, while he started off as a little shit, he honestly has a pretty decent character arc of him learning to embrace his strengths without needing a break decal. He even apologizes to Team Build Divers for the trouble he caused in the beginning after his & Yukki’s solo episode. Yes, THIS KID ACTUALLY TAKES RESPONSIBILITY (not even that piece of shit Minato did that). As for the female member of the team, Rose is another likeable character (I can't express how great the female characters are in this show, compared to the last 2 shows). Not only is she very competitive & feisty, she's also really caring and sweet, as she comforts Do-Ji after messing up the missions by using a break decal. Plus, how can you hate a woman who can build a MG Ver.Ka Sazabi in mere minutes. Oboro and Nuts didn't real do much, so there's not much to say about them.
  • Finally, we got our antagonists of the series, and it's nice to see them with REAL goals they want to achieve. Tsukasa Shiba is one of the best Build antagonists for how he goes about his goals (I mean, the competition is really steep). Tsukasa was a GPD fighter who, like Koichi, lost his friends when it got phased out. But unlike Koichi, who learned to find joy in GBN, Tsukasa fully blames it for GPD getting phased out. Leading him to a dark path onto destroying this fad. And the lengths he's willing to go is immense. He sells illegal codes to desperate fighters, sabotage missions, and even manipulates Ayame with a precious gunpla of her friends. All of this, just because he can't move on. I think what made Tsukasa such a stand out of villians in Build, is that he reflects any fandom at their worst, as they could let their obsessions get the best of them and become the worst kind of gatekeeper. It's such a shame that he didn't remain the villain throughout the show, as she stops hating GBN halfway through the series.
  • The last half’s role of antagonist goes to the Game Master, who…does his job I guess. Calling him a villain is like calling Terry from Soul a villain. As, they may be antagonists, but they're ultimately just doing their jobs. But what makes the GM a little annoying, is how dedicated he is to KILL SARAH to keep the servers running. Like, isn't there another way that doesn't involve deleting this clearly sentinel but docile AI? Oh wait, THEIR IS. One of the developers, Mrs. Tori suggests moving Sarah to a new server that would cause little to no harm to GBN. But no, the Game Master hates AI too much (I dunno, that was admittedly the most frustrating part of the anime). At least the GM gets better towards the last episode, where he helps Riku & the gang to get Sarah out. There's more characters, like Ayame’s friends from that SD task force, but they don't appear in many episodes, so I don't have too much to say about them.
  • Also, we have Patrick Colasour everywhere, and he brings me more enjoyment than that plastic facist Ral. Lastly, people thought the character designs were a downgrade, but if you ask me, these designs are way more pleasing to look at. They're more emotive, sharp, and shiny, how can anyone hate these designs? The animation wasn't really their best, but it didn't drag them down either.
  • People often say that “the characters were the worst part about it”, and I'm not sure if we watched the same show, as I thought they were fine. Even the worst character in this show didn't frustrate me in the last show. They were pretty quirky, funny, and sometimes even relatable. Especially the female characters, they got a massive improvement from those last 2 shows. Also, props for not having any forced romances, since outside of 2 of them, Build always had a bad time writing couples. But what I think elevates these characters, are the English Voice Cast. They really brought out these characters' emotions. It also helps that Steve Stanley is the Voice Director, so they definitely knew what they were doing. So overall, I thought these characters were fine. Not, perfect by any means, but enjoyable nonetheless.
• World Building:
  • Another massive improvement is without a doubt the world building. The way it expands on Gunpla Battle Nexus Online is incredible. There's so much you can do in this world and not get bored. Outside of the obvious 1v1 battles, there's team battles, raid battles, PvE battles, capture the flag, and many more. There is also stuff you can do outside of battles. You can start a Task Force (this game’s answer to a Guild), form alliances with other Task Forces, do special quests out of the cockpit, and simply buy stuff like uniforms from Gundam shows, in-game houses & some E-Pets. There's even some special events with very specific themes. There's one involving some Bearguys (having a lot of my favorite moments) and one specifically made for girls.
  • The latter happens in one of my favorite episodes, as it shows off the female cast in their glory. And it's not a “feminist woke-aganda-like” episode, it's a pretty good highlight of the female cast and getting Nanami involved is a great introduction to her in GBN and I love the interactions she has with Sarah. Seriously, why do people hate this show again?
  • One thing I do appreciate is how they restrain themselves from making too many references. There's still references, like locations, combat moves, and whatnot, but that's mostly it. Outside of “Where's Patrick”, there's barely any Gundam characters that come out of nowhere. For me, this is a massive plus as I can just focus on the story, instead being reminded of the “SUPERIOR” shows I can watch (with some exceptions). I have nothing against references, but the last two shows drove me fucking nuts with too many of them. At least here, while still a lot, they don't distract me from the story. I also like that it's all limited to GBN, as in the real world, it's just that. At most, you'll see an Anaheim Electronics sign. Everything else is completely normal, no Gundam characters popping out of nowhere, no restaurants or shops with referenced names, anything Gundam related is restricted to the Gundam Base in Odaiba and more Gundam based shenanigans is only a Deep-Dive away with a AmuSphere.
  • But one tiny bit of BF/Try remains, the GPD system exists in this world. But instead of being the magic crystal blue, it's lake green. This begs the question of whether or not this takes place in the same timeline. And that's a can of worms I'm not willing to open. And while we had one of the best fights, the GPD system doesn't really offer any fights. But what it does do is basically give the aforementioned EL Divers a plastic body (at least it's designed better than the one from STUPID FUCKING MINATO). I can only imagine how creepy it would be if we saw this in real life. Eh, they would probably be used it.
  • I honestly think Divers has a massive improvement in terms of world building. There's more to do with your gunpla, the world of GBN is interesting, and it has a good division between GBN & the real world. Some of you may go, “it's unrealistic, it's full of bullshit”....The 1st had a magic crystal that destroyed a stadium and was stopped by a bunch of kids with their gunpla. How can you believe that and not the logic of a literal video game? Either way, I just like this world, flaws and all. 
• Gunpla:
  • Even if you dislike the story, even if you don't like the characters, even if you hate the change to the video game battles, there's one thing you can't deny, the Gunpla are the best designed model kits in the franchise. They're the most uniquely designed, no lazy recolors or half-assed armaments, they're fully overhauled designs with new weapons. Even the ones that are similar to the original designs don't feel as lazy as the Sengoku Astray or Gundam X Maoh.
  • So starting off with Team Build Divers, we have a pretty good line up.
    • The 00 Diver is honestly pretty decent looking. Even the minor details don't look half bad. It has the same weapons as the OG 00 Gundam, but those were more than enough anyways. However, it would've been cool if 0 Raiser had been included and be a fusion of the Striker packs, but oh well.
    • 00 Diver Ace was cool enough. It upgraded the GN Sword IIs into the Super GN Sword IIs and gives it 2x GN Diver swords and a sexy looking backpack. This is one of my favorite variants of the 00.
    • But its other variant, doesn't deserve to go unnoticed. The 00 Sky is one that gets some hate, but I honestly think it looks great. Being a mix of the 00 and Destiny, it makes for a great kit bash. Now it has head beam vulcans, a buster sword, a long rifle, 2x beam arm/leg bracers, and a beam rifle. It also has a skill that Riku learned in game to either use a giant sword or a giant bow and arrow. It also eventually gets a Full Armor Weapons pack with 4x arm/leg mounted missile pods, 2x large missile pods, and 2x lancer missile cannons. I really dig all these 00 variants (but there's one that's my all time favorite that's in Re:Rise).
    • Moving onto Yukki's gunpla, we have the support oriented GM III Beam Master. It's a little similar to the GM III with its missile pods, large rocket launchers & beam rifle, but it also has some weapons unique to it. 2x Buster binders and a Changeling rifle (with a sniping mode & Gatling mode). It's honestly a decent support machine. But one major complaint people have with it is the color scheme, earning it names such as “the cheese master” (I'm looking at you Mecha Gaikotsu). But the main issue I have is the brown in the cockpit area. It should've been either a more reddish orange or just orange with some white stripes (apparently, this was supposed to reference the Sleipnirs from Aldnoah, so some more orange with stripes would've been more affective).
    • As for Yukki’s other suit, the Jegan Blast Master, that's more of a looker. With a more reddish orange and some actual red, this thing looks a lot more appealing. And the weapons are top tier; it has the ZZ’s high mega cannon, the Strike Freedom’s Cadius beam cannon, 2x satellite cannons, side shoulder cannons, Sigmaxiss cannons, and GN Cannons, this thing packs quite a punch. The “Blast” in the name isn't there for no reason.
    • Next is the Momokapool, and this is a pretty cute variant of the Kapool. It has about the same weapons, but this one's a little more penguin shaped. It also a sub unit called the petitekapool, which can function on its own (that scene in the capture the flag episode had me laughing).
    • The Galbaldy Rebake it's kitbash between the Galbaldy Beta and the Gusion Rebake, and I think this kit bash makes sense. The beta was already a close combat oriented machine, and combine that with a Gundam that lives off of close combat, you got yourself a good combination. Its weapons include a hammer pillar, a large caliber cannon, knuckle guards, and a shield. My only complaint is that I wished it had the Galbaldy’s beam rifle or the Rebake’s assault rifle, but since it's a close combat machine, I can live with it.
    • The final machine in the Team’s roster is the RX-Zeromaru. An SD Unicorn with a ninja motif. This is honestly one of the best SD kits for how unique the concept is. It's weapons includes a shuriken shield, a Ninjato, and Tanegashima rifle (that's right weebs, ninjas used guns). It also has a bird it could combine with for it's real form, which gives it 2x Tekko kagi and a stronger Tanegashima with a magnum like kick and a big ass beam blade. It can also use the NT-D system in one of the best Unicorn references (this single reference beats out every other reference, just for how clever it is). Its later upgrade is the RX-Zeromaru Shinki Kessho, which is essentially just the Full Armor Unicorn, so I won't spend too much time on it. All you need to know that it now has SD shaped dummies that can act as mini guns.
  • And the team has one of the better team dynamics in the series, just for the fact they function as an actual team. Riku & KO-1 for close combat, Yukki for sniping, Momo for underwater combat, and Ayame for Stealth. And ACTUAL team dynamic that beats out everything from Try. That's saying soooo much.
  • Moving on to the other gunpla in the show, there’s Magee’s machine, the Gundam Love Phantom. It's a kitbash between the Strike Freedom and Strike Noir, but it resembles the Deathscythe Hell with that big ass beam scythe. Either way, it has the same weapons of 2 aforementioned Strike machines.
  • For Rommel, we got the Grimoire Red Beret. A Grimoire with a more classic military look. Its weapons include 3x plasma knives, 2x Scissor cutters in the legs, an Assault Rifle, and a shield. It can also use a helicopter pack called the “Tiltrotor pack”, which gives it 2x chainsaws, 2x cannons, and 2x missile pods. This honestly perfectly represents Rommel's tactical style of fighting perfectly, for its numerous equipment and green military look.
  • While on the opposite side of the spectrum, we got the Gundam Jiyan Altron. A close combat machine made with martial arts in mind. It has the same weapons as OG Altron Gundam, but this one has 2x shoulders that are shaped as a Tiger and Wolf. The Tiger-Ken & Wolf-Ken can either act as either Super Robot Brass knuckles or Fire/Lightning Hadoukens. Out of all the karate style machines, the Jiyan is one I actually fuck with. It's a cool looking machine, with some actual ranged weapons.
  • Another favorite of mine is the Seravee Gundam Scheherazade, a combination of the Seravee and the Ptolemaios. That's right, this is one of the few instances of a kit being a mix of a Gundam and a whole ass battleship (then again, there was that Rinko kit that was a mix of the Archangel, but we don't talk about it). It has a GN Physical Bazooka, 4x GN container that can act as either a beam gun or claws, GN Beam cannons, GN missiles, and the GN Ptolemaios cannon. This thing is loaded and then some.
  • Moving onto Team Avalon, we got mainly AGE kits.
    • We got the AGE-II Magnum, a quite popular kit among fan, and ya… it's a cool machine. Same weapons of the OG AGE-2, but now the shield is made out of Shiguru and the wings are now F Funnels. It can disguise itself as the Dark Hound (weapons and all). It also has a white variant called the AGE-II Magnum SV, and it just gives it 2x Sigmaxiss cannons.
    • The other 2 started off as regular Clanche units, but now upgraded 2 types of Impulses, the Impulse Gundam Arc and the Impulse Gundam Lancier. However, like the majority of the rebuilds, these don't have weapons of the OG Impulse (outside of separating to transform). Instead, the Arc has 2x beam cannons and an Arc Rifle, while the Lancier has 2x missile launchers, a shield, and the Lancier Javelin. While these are the most forgettable, at least it's not a 1-to-1 copy of the Impulse. 
  • Moving onto Hyakki, we got quite the roaster.
    • The Ogre GN-X is one of my favorite versions of the suit, mainly for how menacing it looks (seriously, this show is doing 00 more justice this show than in the other shows). It has 2x heat blades that can combine and the AGE-1 Titus’s beam spikes in its shoulders. It can also use Trans-am.
    • While the Shrek GN-X didn't get an upgrade, its predecessor, the Gundam GP-Raise-2, managed to get the job done. Outside of the Ogre GN-X’s weapons, it has 8x GN Beam eyes, 2x knee beam guns, 2x Ogre claws, some beam spikes, and an Ogre club that can turn into a bazooka. Now this is a good variant of the GP-02.
    • Next there's the Geara Ghirarga, of course we would get a Vagan machine at some point. This thing comes with the usually Vagan dual beam vulcans/sabers, a tail, 9x heat blades, a spear, and a chest beam buster. It's a Vagan close combat machine, that's all there is to say.
    • The Geara Doga Thorn, Rig Shokew Magatsu, and the Maganac Cinnabar don't really do much in the show, so I can't comment too much.
    • Same thing with Chat Noir Neo, as they just have SD versions of the RX-78-2, Char’s Zaku, Sazabi, and Nu Gundam. There's the SD Shock Gundam, but all it has is a sword. All of these can combine into the Super Shock Gundam which honestly looks pretty decent. At least its transformation is more emotionally investing than the Try-On.
    • There's the GBN Admission machines, the Leo NPD, GBN Guard Frames, the GBN-Base Gundam, all of which function as jack of all trades machines. They can essentially wield anything and equip any type of equipment imaginable. I honestly like these machines, since they offer a vast variety of kit bashes.
    • As for the Gunpla that aren't any group, There a custom Tequila Gundam with 2x beam pistols w/ beam sabers, a beam rifle shaped as a guitar, and the Kyrios’s Tail Unit. Very neat looking custom gunpla. And the last kit is the Astray No-Name, and this time doesn't waste its moment to shine. With its beam saber, gauntlet saber, Large Heat blade, and the No-Name unit that can function as a shield, beam rifle, a big meaty claw, and gives it the Nitro system (don't ask me how that works). This thing really gave Riku hell, and pushed him to fight like he never fought before. It's one of the best fights for a damn good reason.
    • So that's all of the Gunpla in the show. Honestly, these are the best designs in the show. It's kinda ironic that “Gunpla is Freedom” is never said in the show, but they took that term to heart when it comes to the designs. They're unique, they fit the characters using them, and they have roles to contribute to. So even if you hate the show, you can deny that these designs have the sauce.
• The Second half/ ending:
  • Now here's the reason why a lot of people don't like this show. Basically, after learning that Sarah is an EL Diver, the GBN Admission became hellbent on writing Sarah out of the game. The game masters, with their vast resources, couldn't do something a hacker with limited sources could do to save her. The biggest complaint I really have is Rommel also sees getting rid of Sarah as the only way. For a strategist, this is a little out of character for him. So does this ruin the anime for me? Honestly no, at least not by much. Yes, this last part of the anime does have some issues, but it doesn't feel out of left field. If anything, it's a natural follow up, with Sarah's reveal as an EL Diver. I think if they just kept Tsukasa as the villain for this 2nd half, it could've been great. Plus, the fear of Artificial Intelligence is more real now than ever before, so the GM & everyone fearing is pretty realistic if you asked me. I just think this part of the show should've been addressed.
  • At least the final fights were kino and actually made sense. Both Riku & Ogre teaming up to fight Kyoya, Tigerwolf & Shahryar brawling out, and just everyone fighting everyone. And then everyone puting their differences aside to fight the virus of GBN. Another reason why I prefer digital gunpla stories is because it's an excuse to see fight viruses (Breaker 3 did it, so this show could do it too). Plus, the 00 Sky using the EX-Caliber with Trans-am infinity is the rawest shit anyone can see. I also like that everyone meets each other IRL, making it really wholesome (Sword Art Online still did it a little bit better with Fairy Dance, but still). So ya, those are my thoughts of the 2nd half & the ending. Now my onto my thoughts on this show.
• Verdict:
  • When I saw BF, everyone said it was “the only good one”. But I ended up hating it (I'm sorry, I just don't like this show). Build Divers is the complete opposite. Everyone said it was the worst one, but I ended up enjoying it. There's just more I like about this show compared to the last 2; better English voice acting, good world building, an interesting villain, and amazing gunpla designs. While there's some flaws, like a predictable twist, the 2nd half, and an uninteresting MC, those are so minor that it's pointless to nitpick them. At the very least, this show pays respect towards 00 a whole lot more. Then again, maybe the fact that I'm a SAO fan does add quite a bit (I swear, I gotta do a retrospective post on SAO one of these days).
  • My real question is, does Build Divers really deserve the hate? Like, why exactly is Diver the black sheep of Build? Is it just because of the reasons I listed? Because the twist & 2nd half could still work if written differently. Is it because Riku is a “boring protagonist”? Because he's at least more invested in the plot of the story than Sekai or even Reiji. Is it because it reminds you of SAO? Because that's pointless at best, and straight up stupid at worst (plus, there's no SAO hate allowed in my house). Or is it just because it's “different” from Build Fighters? Because I don't see that as a bad thing. If anything, it's this show’s strength. Try was held back by being too much like the original Build Fighters (among other issues). Divers embrace being different and that allows it to stand out more. At least to me. If you have a very detailed reason why you hate Divers like how I hate Fighters, feel free to post it. No one's stopping you.
  • TL;DR, while not reaching my top 5 favorite Gundam shows, it sits comfortably with my guilty pleasure shows (AGE & Victory). The best part is that it opened the gateway to a show that would feel more true to the themes of Gundam. A show that would ”Rise” above everything else.

##Starship Operators Rewatch Announcement

Based on the response to the interest thread I will be hosting a two-week rewatch of the military adventure Starship Operators in mid-January. Posting time will, as usual, be at 3 pm PST (UTC-8). There will be a 1-week and 1-day reminder post.

MAL | ANN | Anilist

Availability:

Starship Operators (dub) is streaming with ads at Roku

Amagami-san Chi no Enmusubi, episode 12

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I'm not big into anime. Someone named it as an honorable mention in a "Best movies of 2023" video. I liked the poster and the general vibe it gave.

I don't care what anyone says, to me it was perfect. The writing, animation, length, characters. Yes, it was cheesy at times but it was good cheese.

Anything similar? Both in theme and content but also length. Ideally movie length. Or series with a total length in the single digit of hours.

Thanks for any suggestions.

For danganronpa I have seen the anime for the first game. I tried to watch danganronpa 3 despair arc but it did not make sense to me.

I have played danganronpa 2 and ultra despair girls. I then tried to watch despair arc again + future arc but gave up after the first 2 eps because it still wasn’t making sense to me.

I have played danganronpa v3.

I haven’t touched the anime again because I don’t understand it. Do I need to watch the anime? Am I missing out on something?

I thought nothing would be better than Dandadan this fall season but Orb mannn😭😭😭, I'm only on ep 9 but i was bawling my eyes out in the end. But I've yet to see another like ep 3 ( a genuine masterpiece of an ep in character driven story telling ) The way every new character is introduced with different life experiences, ages, ideals, goals and beliefs and then converse with each other making an impact on their ideologies is a treat to watch every ep.

yo, i've already watched almost all the trashy op isekai masterpieces. i'm looking for a new one, one where the mc is so overconfident it's enough to make the show's plot ignorable in a way. preferably magic-based aswell.

side note since i know some of you are gonna suggest this; I've already watched Misfit Of The Demon King Academy & Demon King Daimao

Youkai Gakkou no Sensei Hajimemashita!, episode 11

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So I still haven’t finished full metal alchemist.

And I was planning on seeing 86 next since people said it was peak.

But then Pluto and freien came out and that was said to be peak as well.

Now it’s DanDan.

There’s also a couple 2024 romance anime that people said the manga is the best romance anime of all time.

Like I find it very hard to keep track of all these shows and add it to my watch list.

How are people finding all of these show? Cus I really don’t want to miss out on some Peak show that would go overshadowed by next years Peak shows.

Is using myanimelist and filtering by year and season a good way to keep track of all the good anime in the year?

It seems like complete adaptations like Monster don’t happen anymore.

We just get 12-24 episode seasons.

Why did they make this change? And when did this transition occur from complete manga adaptions like monster to 12 episode seasons?

I have seen a lot of anime... a lot... and personally I am fed of the seeing the same stuff over and over again such as loner mc, high schools, the goddamn cicadas, so I was curious to know what tropes and stuff other people are fed up of.

Hey, fellow anime fans! Anime is known for its mind-blowing plot twists, and I'm curious to hear from you all, what anime plot twist completely took you by surprise? Whether it was a shocking character reveal, an unexpected turn of events, or something that completely changed your perspective on the story, let's talk about those moments that left you in awe. Feel free to share which anime it was from and what such jaw-dropping moments for you!

Intro

86 has been a wild ride from start to finish, and A-1 Pictures did an excellent job adapting the source material (I won’t read the LN). It seems that the problems are from the source material itself rather than the anime, so there’s not much that could’ve been done about it. I’ve seen people say Part 2 is better than Part 1, which I found weird when I checked some old Reddit posts from 3 years ago. Maybe it’s because the show was still airing back then. Part 2 of this show is ranked #59 with a score of 8.71 on MAL, which is higher than Part 1. That led me to think Part 2 would get intense (something like Fate Zero S2), but that wasn’t the case at all. I was fooled by my own expectations because of the inflated MAL score.

Plot of Part 2

Part 2 focuses heavily on Shin, which I think was a good move and worked well for the story, narratively speaking. The cliffhangers at the end of each episode were super effective that I binged 4-5 episodes in one sitting.

That said, the rest of the squad felt pretty pointless in this half. They were underdeveloped, just repeating the same stuff. Like Anju’s discrimination or Kurena about her crush. Raiden was probably the only well-written one. Compared to something like Frieren, where you actually learn something new in every episode, 86 struggles with introducing something fresh. The author seems to struggle with side characters, so they just stick to their usual traits and don’t really grow.

The “defeat Kiriya” plotline was weak. I get that it was meant to reflect Shin’s lack of motivation, but it didn’t do much to push the story forward. Instead, Part 2 felt like it was stretching and prolonging the emotional beats of Part 1 rather than advancing the narrative. The "Big Bad" Legion in Part 2 needs a rider so Frederica’s knight Kiriya was chosen for this role, but in the grand scheme, it felt like a plot device rather than a meaningful development. I understand that they're probably setting up Frederica for the future, especially given how much of her background was introduced in this part.

What’s more frustrating is that the main crew no longer felt like the focus. Their motivation boiled down to “we’ll follow Shin to the end,” which isn’t very compelling. I did like the idea that they kept fighting because that’s all they’ve ever known, but it lacked the "oomph" motivation you’d see in something like Attack on Titan. Take Armin’s dream of seeing the sea, for example. That kind of personal, selfish, childlike goal hits differently.

The things that stand out for me in Part 1

Part 1 absolutely nailed the atmosphere. It was executed beautifully, with emotional highlights like characters dying one by one and their final send-offs, which reminded me of Angel Beats. These scenes hit hard. In contrast, Part 2 had its share of devastation (like Eugene’s death) but it lacked the same “flavor” that made Part 1 so impactful. The new characters, despite getting more screen time, felt less relevant than the fodder NPCs from Part 1. The narrative decision is very understandable though, as the focus is heavily on Shin's deteriorating mental state.

If I had to compare, the first half of 86 is on par with the narrative brilliance of Fate/Zero. While Fate/Zero builds slowly in its first season before ramping up in its second, 86 does the opposite. Part 1 is full throttle, delivering emotional highs and nonstop intensity, while Part 2 slows down and feels more like setup for what’s to come.

Other than that, Part 1 had so many highlights, like Lena confronting Annette, the flashback video recordings from Fido, and the farewell atmosphere in Episode 8, with the empty base camp (last day of school vibes) and the team marching to their deaths. Honestly, it could have ended there with everyone dying, which makes it easier to see Part 1 and Part 2 as two separate thing.

Review:

• The first half is an elite 10/10 for me.
• The second half is a solid 8/10. It’s well done overall and keeps your attention, but it just doesn’t have the same oomph. It’s nicely paced and addictive, but that’s about it. It could have used a bit more drama, funny enough. Something like what you see in Madoka Magica (like when Madoka breaks down and says she can't take it anymore in episode 10). But that’s just my opinion, and it probably wouldn’t have worked because of the completely different direction. The main five are more suicidal than anything else, which contrasts with the emotional breakdown of someone not wanting to continue as a Magical Girl.. Episode 22 does have a scene of Shin breaking down, so that's plus point for Part 2.

Today I just finished watching 86 and it was an absolute masterpiece that has left me feeling empty. I want to find something else to watch that is absolute peak, I've watched some peak anime like FMAB, AOT, death note, Vineland, code geass, monster and am looking for something with a deep plot and amazing ending, I want to find something that has already been completed, does anyone have any suggestions?

I found an AMV around 2 or 3 years ago from random FB Page, but i didn't bother to find it back then. But this time i'm kinda curious about this one.

The anime like, a girl "prisoned" in some kind of box. One guy saw her and save her, they make their way out (iirc, the guy using SMG). After that, they live together peacefully.

I don't remember exactly the scene from that video, at least that what i remember.

Overlord intrigued me, I've never been into anime, actually I have an innate hatred for it. Which is why I was impressed that an anime as infuriatingly befitting of every reason why I'd hate an anime was actually able to draw me in. So I want another. After watching all of it's contents I'm addicted. Though to be honest it's because of the whole 2B2T-like history it teased in the beginning. Long ago a league of no-life players created an empire through years of tomfoolery and grinding but then they all eventually stopped playing. One day, one of them comes back one last time to reminisce about this empire's glory days and all of the things he's done in the game with his friends before the serves for the game close. Only to be trapped inside the game. At least, it's not so bad being the Overlord.

It's just interesting I keep feeling like I wanna know what else have they done I this game? What other things does Ains have inside of that giant dungeon castle thing he's got. Despite it being an Isekai.. it feels like it's done right and Ains has been proven to be not even that good. Hell I fear for him dying the entire time I watched it because of how weirdly weak he can be. And it also may have to do with how they give an awful lot of attention to the other characters too.

So, point is.. I need another shot of that sh**!

Anime maybe from the 90s. What I saw was a movie or maybe the first episode of a anime, on vhs in the early 2000's.

I remember that humans lived on another planet and during the episode / movie they were attacked by another race. In the end the MC (a child / teenager) fell into a crack on the ground and found a mecha / robot in a cave.