Summary
Gundam Build Metaverse doesn’t live up to its potential as a 10th anniversary celebration, delivering forgettable characters, scenarios, and battles. The focus on fan service and familiar faces sacrifices originality and any meaningful exploration of the Gundunda universe. Instead of capturing the magic of the original Gundbuild Fighters, the series became a promotional tool for plastic models, leaving fans disappointed and yearning for a “real” mecha show. .
October 2023 marks the online launch of Build the Metaverse, which, despite its position as a celebration, does not bring much joy. The three episodes, available on the Gunginfo YouTube channel, bring various characters from the Build sub-franchise together on one screen, but little else. Ultimately, it was an exciting toy display of upcoming plastic models that Bandai-Namco hopes will have “true, loyal fans” racing to the stores.
The Build series has always attracted fans because parts of GTA exist outside of the story. As we celebrate our 10th anniversary, it’s a good opportunity to show off that self-awareness once again. Sadly, it was wasted and what viewers will be left with are forgettable characters, forgettable scenarios and forgettable battles: a trio of disappointments.
Building the Metaverse (2023)
Sunrise spends an hour running through as many familiar faces as possible, while sacrificing any initial ideas as mere means to return to the past. Such sacrifice is encapsulated in Rio Hojo, the ostensible protagonist who mainly exists to compulsively talk about Gunpla and scream in surprise that he’s meeting more famous, more interesting people. Even his – and thus, the anime’s – signature mech, Lah Gundunda, is devoid of any personality or interesting features, as if on duty not to overshadow cameos. Meanwhile, the villain almost offers an interesting emotional conflict but lacks the time to create it.
“Fanservice” is the name of the game for the three episodes. The idea of all the previous Gun Build sequels merging into one canonical timeline has promise, but it mainly exists to sweep anachronisms under the rug in the name of shout-outs. Continuity is absent, just an opportunity for Sunrise to introduce recognizable characters, purely for fanservice. Even Reiji, who appeared in the last episode, only said that he was able to “somehow” appear exactly the same as before. Any interaction between the guests was mostly just a few hellos and goodbyes.
Sunrise has for years been trying to recreate the magic of the original Gundam Build Fighters, which were self-aware enough not to take themselves too seriously and affectionate enough towards themselves to win hearts. . However, to celebrate its milestone, the characters were asked to deliver the goods, shouting out their model names, so buyers would know what to buy, before jumping into animated battle scenes weak. While advertising plastic models with short animations is normal practice for Sunrise, that doesn’t change the reality. Build the Metaverse was a missed opportunity, leaving fans waiting for the next “real” mechanical show.