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  • Americans Hate Tingle: The third episode of Battlelouge was not received well by the American fans, mostly due to the more Lighter and Softer Magical Girl leaning. This is due to the fact that the entire episode is a parody/Shout-Out towards Pretty Cure and unless you're one of those who have seen it, either through fansubs, Futari wa Pretty Cure being on tubiTV or the Glitter Force dubs on Netflix, you're not going to have any understanding as to what's going on.
  • And You Thought It Would Fail: Not many fans were too keen about the series pre-release for feeling that it would just be a hollow Merchandise-Driven series that would equate to nothing more than a thirty-minute toy commercial. When the series came out, it became very well-received and spawned several spin-offs and sequels.
  • Anti-Climax Boss: A bit. Even though the battle between Reiji and Sei, and Mao was hyped up for a good chunk of the show. Their final battle was a bit of a Curb-Stomp Battle. Justified a little since Sei had made numerous additions to the Star Build Strike since their imagination battle, when it still was only the Build Strike Full Package, while Mao didn't really have any additional improvements to his Gunpla aside from the Maoh Sword.
  • Awesome Music: In one word, wow.
  • Bizarro Episode: The third episode of Battlogue, which is about a pair eventually trio of MS Girls going on an adventure through a Gunpla dimension.
  • Broken Base: Nenene's seduction in GM's Counterattack. Some of them think that this was a hilariously intentional homage to an episode of Victory Gundam, while deemed this as a unnecessary fanservice disguised as a Mythology Gag.
  • Base-Breaking Character:
  • Ensemble Dark Horse:
    • Sei's mother, Rinko, is massively popular with fan artists.note 
    • Mr. Ral is also pretty popular among the audiences, due to him being an Expy of another Ensemble Dark Horse, and essentially being Ramba Ral with a more extended role.
    • Sei's friend China is pretty popular as well due to the Ship Tease she gets with Sei.
    • Sazaki too, according to Master Kawaguchinote , even within Bandai.
    • Existing kits that featured heavily in the show become this in meta sense, as proved weirdly by the Gyan. M'quve would be dancing a jig on the latter.
    • Beargguy-III, despite being technically a mainline unit aimed for girls, is really popular amongst male modelers too.
    • Aila's popularity exploded after Episode 10 showed that she was Not So Stoic and had Hidden Depths. It also helps that she's the equivalent of the series' female Newtype lead, who have traditionally been very popular among fans.
    • And now Chairman Mashita's secretary joins the club due to her attractiveness and ability to deal with Mashita's childish behavior.
    • The little girl shown with Sazaki in the last episode (presumably his sister) became disproportionately popular on /a/, with many posters hoping she gets more screen time if a second season ever airs. Note that this character appeared for only several seconds and received no name or characterization.
      • Also, she had a tiny Gyan hat. How is that not utterly adorable?
      • That little girl is, in fact, Susumu's sister Kaoruko. She comes back in Gundam Build Fighters Try as one of the main rivals.
    • For a minor character whose significance only lasted one episode, Greco Logan also has quite a fanbase for himself. Enough at least to warrant cameo appearances in the last few episodes, in which he featured rather prominently.
  • Fan Nickname:
    • Sazaki is often called Gyandere, due to his obsession with Sei and his preference of Gunpla.
    • Rinko is called Mama-n, the suffix ~n is used in Japan as to point out cuteness aloud.
      • Also it sounds the same like the Japanese slang Maman, which is the equivalent of MILF there.
    • The moment Sengoku Astray appears fully as a model kit, it earned the title of Weeaboo Astray, being overtly Japanophile all around (even the name Gundam is written in Kanji).
    • The GBF universe is also sometimes called "Gundam Valhalla" due to the numerous cameos of previously deceased Gundam characters being shown living happy and carefree lives.
    • On certain Imageboards, the show is also called "Gunpla/Gundam Boy Friends" due to the abundance of shipping material, of both the Ho Yay and straight variety.
    • Rainer Cziommer, due to his Wile E. Coyote tactic, is now know as "butt-hurt NTR guy" in Japan.
      • The alliance of pilots who attack Fellini in episode 11 was quickly dubbed "Team NTR", since their entire motivation was to exact revenge against Fellini for stealing their girlfriends (though he insists that they came on to him).
    • Aila's Qubeley Papillon is slowly getting the nickname "Uberley" for being overpowered against other Gunpla that it faces.
    • Nils Nielsen is now known as NiNiNi - for Ninja Nils Nielsen, which is what he becomes when he's not doing Gunpla fights.
    • As soon as the Renato brothers started to snark at Luang Dallara's defeat during the episode 17 stinger, the western fandom quickly named them "the evil Lockon twins".
    • The strange friendship/Ship Tease between Reiji and Aila has been labelled as "The Meatbun Chronicles", due to that food playing a role in their first several meetings. As a result, both of them received the nicknames "Mr. and Ms./Mrs. Meatbun."
    • Dark Matter Exia is often jokingly called "Edgia" due to its "dark and edgy" colorscheme and all of the sharp edges incorporated into its design.
    • "Trans-Amazing" for Amazing Exia's Trans-Am.
    • "Build Hell and Heaven" for Star Build Strike's Double Build Knuckle, which was used against Exia Dark Matter.
    • Meanwhile, due to the events of Episode 25 and the end of the Island Wars OVA, Aila quietly received from the fans the title "Arian's Future Queen".
  • Fan-Preferred Couple: The three major Official Couples (Sei/China, Reiji/Aila, and Ricardo/Mihoshi) are all extremely popular, but a few non-canon pairings have acquired something of a following as well:
    • For the inevitable Gundam Yaoi Fangirl demographic, there's Sei/Reiji, helped along by their Ho Yay in-series.
    • Rinko Iori/Mr. Ral emerged from their status as the only two adults with a significant role in the early parts of the show, the latter's (unrequited) canon crush on the former, and the fact that they spend more screentime together than Rinko does with her actual husband.
    • Allan/Meijin seems to be the most popular ship involving Meijin Kawaguchi aka Tatsuya. It helps that unlike the other main characters, Meijin doesn't get a female love interest and Allan in some ways serves as The Not-Love Interest for him.
  • First Installment Wins: Looks to be the case for the Build Fighters label. After Try got one OVA released, Bandai and Sunrise have pooled their Plavsky particles behind this part of the series instead, with GM's Counterattack and Battlogue giving it added focus, and now Sei Iori has gotten several new post-season mechs released as Gunpla (Star Burning Gundam, Build Strike Galaxy Cosmos and the recently revealed Tall Strike Gundam Glitter.)
  • Harsher in Hindsight: Aila's love for food is revealed to be at least partially based on the fact that she was impoverished as a child.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight:
    • During the fight between the GM Sniper K9 and the Kampfer Amazing, Mr. Ral complains that the use of troops and planting bombs is shameful and inappropriate. This is hilarious considering the real Ramba Ral would have absolutely supported such pragmatic tactics.
    • Speaking of the GM Sniper K9, the K9 Dog Pack becomes this after the Spot Mini robot dog is now close to mass production.
    • A hoax about one of the China-based third-party not-actually-Gunpla manufacturers being hit by the authorities is being (jokingly) attributed to the release of GM's Counterattack, particularly the way it unwittingly drew attention to the third-party manufacturers after fans declared them "the real Gunpla Mafia".
    • China's scary-looking fake smile while serving at the Kousaka restaurant becomes this when someone with the same scary forced smile as she does ends up working at a cafe.
    • One of the series most notable moments was the jab at the Live-Action project G-Saviour, with the titular mech getting offed rather quickly. Then years later, the Build series would get its own Live-Action project, Gundam Build Real.
  • Ho Yay: Between Sei and Reiji, "partners" in Gunpla battling.
    • The first opening theme doesn't help much.
      Lyrics: "From the minute I felt you in my heart, I was sure my dreams would come true."
    • Sei exhibits Tsundere tendencies when dealing with or talking about Reiji.
    • On the other hand, Sazaki is getting a bit Yandere for poor Sei. The one who should pilot his Gunpla, indeed.
    • Honestly, does Allan really have to follow Meijin everywhere he goes?
      • Interestingly enough, in the last episode there's a montage of all couples (Nils/Caroline, Fellini/Kirara, Takeshi/Rinko, etc), living happily one year later. In-between all those, there's a shot of Yuuki and Allan working with kids.
  • Idiot Ball: Sei loses the Build Strike Cosmos to a pickpocket while checking out a new gunpla display in GM's Counterattack, which is particularly glaring since this is practically the same oversight that hit him way back in episode 4!
  • Memetic Badass: Patrick Mannequin becomes this despite the fact that he has no screen time other than his name.
  • Memetic Mutation: A lot of fans sure like customizing Sazaki's Gyan on Pixiv. Complete with fake box-arts containing crossovers from other mecha anime, with the Gyan's head.
    • In the western fandom: UC STRONK, because of the tendencies of UC-era Mobile Suits to win random battles they're portrayed in, especially against model kits representing the Alternate Universes.
      • Case in point: A Kämpfer EASILY beats a Legend Gundam, which is considered Final Boss material in most Gundam games.
      • Another case is the Turn-X, regarded by many fans as the most powerful in the entire Gundam franchise, was beaten by Sazaki's Gyan Vulcan, despite deploying the Moonlight Butterfly.
      • The first episode has a Galbaldy chopping the Freedom Gundam in half. Really.
    • A lot of Aila fanart depicts her eating something, due to Episode 10 revealing that she's a food fanatic. Bonus if the food in question are meat buns.
    • Attack on Zaku after the appearance of a Colossal Zaku in Episode 11. The size difference is like this.
    • Star Build Strike's pitching pose from Episode 13 has become sort of a meme on image boards. Behold.
    • Similarly, people starting copying Star Build Strike's victory pose at the end of Episode 24.
    • Also catching up is the word "AMEIJIN"note 
    • The real Gunpla Mafia.note 
  • Moe: As with Mobile Suit Gundam AGE, the art style has this effect. Sei and China are particularly adorable, as well as Aila upon encountering a meat bun.
  • Moral Event Horizon: Josef Kankaansyrjä wastes little time crossing this in Episode 20. While it's one thing to take your grandchild out to see Gunpla fights, it's another to have Aila's handler raise the power of the Embody System to max output. For the sake of entertaining his spoiled grandson, Josef mind rapes Aila to the point of hitting a mental meltdown and utterly destroying the Gundam Fenice after Ricardo concedes the fight. Worse still, he nonchalantly states that he has replacements should Aila fail from the device...
    • Nine Barthes crossed this before the tournament began by designing and producing the above-mentioned Embody System. This moment proves beyond all doubt that Nine views Aila not as a person so much as a tool for his company to win tournaments.
      • And then he's hired by PPSE to develop a version of the Embody System for the Meijin.
  • Most Wonderful Sound: GX Maoh's Plavsky Particle compressing and releasing ability. May be a Shout-Out to Accelerator.
    • Build Strike and Star Build Strike's beam rifles make the classic beam rifle firing sound from the original series. Many other audio cues from other shows appear, like Exia's boot-up noise.
    • "Beginning Plavsky Particle dispersal."
    • "Everything's gonna be alright." The line of the first opening theme song that plays when Sei and Reiji free Yuuki from the Embody System and win at the same time in Episode 24.
  • Narm: The Meijin's over the top wardrobe change at the end of Episode 23 had many fans finding it difficult to take him seriously.
  • Narm Charm: Yuuki-as-Meijin has the habit of making very Narmy remarks in all seriousness.
  • Pandering to the Base: Build Fighters is, for all intents and purposes, "Fanservice the Gundam show", featuring tons of cameos and references from past series. And it works wonderfully.
  • Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: This series seems to have a good track record of making every recurring character that was originally detestable likable. Examples include Kirara and Nils.
    • In Nils' case, he has steadily come out of his shell since his debut. Getting involved with some great gags and antics with the colorful cast, as well as developing to show his valor and fandom of Gundam and Gunpla Battling, even so much as losing his composure after his beloved Astray took heavy damage. Not to mention his consistently awesome gunpla kills.
    • For all his character flaws, Fellini's fight with Reiji and Sei in Episode 15 showed that he is one helluva Gundam pilot and Determinator (even more so than his other rival Greco Logan). Especially given this sequence. Plus, it also helps that Fellini has transitioned more into a Mentor as the series progressed, such that he's one of the few people who has a degree of influence on Reiji. This came to a head in Episode 21 when Fellini baited Reiji (who was still anguished over Aila's "betrayal") into a fist fight so that Reiji could vent his rage.
    • After calling Fellini out of his self-detonation attempt in Episode 20, Kirara got flak from some fans, mostly for having denied a supposed send-off for Fenice (and probably a homage to Wing, too). But thanks to her, Fenice comes back a few episodes later with a cool redesign, just in time to take part in the final battle... so it probably evens out.
  • Straw Vulcan Has a Point: Sei treats Nils' offer to forfeit in exchange for help in learning more about Plavsky Particles as an absolutely underhanded, disgusting action... even though Nils himself raises the accurate point that it could revolutionize any number of sciences and improve living conditions on Earth. And sure enough, it's purely because of him later on that the Gunpla Battles can continue, because Reiji let him study his pendant.
  • Tainted by the Preview: Exia Dark Matter and Miss Sazabi were not well received when previews of the high grade model kits were shown. Subverted later on when the fandom warmed up to both mobile suits when the animation version of both suits were shown to have much more detail than their model kits.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Greco Logan has an established rivalry with Felinni and shows off some pretty nice fighting skills and determination. As a result, many fans expressed disappointment that he was a non-lethal Sacrificial Lamb to show how strong Nils is and only make minor appearances afterward.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
    • From all of the hype of the HG GM/GM kit from GM's Counterattack, The Gunpla itself only appears in 5 seconds as a last resort before it was destroyed by China's Beargguy III.
    • The first episode of Battlelogue teases an Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny with special AI programmed as famous Gundam characters. The dialogue over the credits even has the characters muse about which characters they'll use next. None of the remaining episodes follow up on this premise in the slightest, all either being stand-alone battles between GBF characters or, well, Episode 3.
  • Tough Act to Follow: Gundam Build Fighters was a huge hit with longtime Gundam fans for its lighthearted and fun storytelling, excellent animation, memorable soundtrack, and truckloads of Mythology Gags (to the point where it's called "a toy commercial with heart and/or soul" when praising it). Its successors, Gundam Build Fighters Try and Gundam Build Divers though, had lower budgets and tighter schedules in an attempt to cash in on Fighters' popularity. While they do have their fans and are well-liked in their own right, most reviews of both series can be summed up as: "It's good, but it's not quite as good as Gundam Build Fighters."
  • Vindicated by History: Look at the comments on the episodes on the GundamInfo channel, particularly episodes heavily featuring suits from Wing and other AUs. Wingers, SEED fans, and other fans of the AUs are coming out of the woodwork, thrilled that Sunrise-Bandai are acknowledging the AUs. While UC STRONK annihilates the unnamed cannon-fodder AU suits, many of the named characters use AU suits which evens it out. Plus the protagonist uses a modified suit from SEED, and several of his significant rivals use suits from SEED Astray, Wing, X, and 00. Plus, Sei and Reiji's final opponent in the tournament? Exia.
    • Some of the AUs and non-animated UC side stories that have shown up: SEED, 00, G , Wing, X, Sentinel, Blue Destiny, Turn A, G Saviour, Crossbone... with special guest appearances from Detonator Orgun and Aura Battler Dunbine.
  • Win Back the Crowd: Many Gundam fans weren't eager for another show in the vein of Gunpla Builders, but the fact that the Alternate Universe series were getting representation (including Ensemble Dark Horse Gundam X) changed many minds. More were changed when the first episode aired and the show proved to have an interesting and fun, if somewhat silly and Merchandise-Driven, plotline.
    • Not to mention it means viewers get to see their favorite mobile suits battle again.
    • On the specific character: Nils Nielsen, after his overtly embellished debut in Episode 8 causing controversy, Episode 9 proves that even the resident Marty Stu is not immune to zany situations they're not accustomed for, made him fairly more likable. And later into the series his weaboo tendencies are toned down in favor of him being the eternally-exasperated straight man.
    • Wing Gundam and its model, specifically the original 1/144 version. Seeing how Fellini basically got a base 1/144 Wing Gundam which is not even completely HG, and keep using Fenice and repairing it through out at least several decades even though, better models, have came up brought many Manly Tears, and also caused many fans to dig out their old/forgotten first Gunpla.
    • The series also did a good job in restoring the franchise's reputation following what happened with Mobile Suit Gundam AGE.
    • The Battlelogue and GM's Counterattack OVA's can be seen as this towards fans who were less than pleased that Gundam Build Fighters Try focused on a completely new cast of characters and put a majority of the original characters on the bus. These OVA's are set to put the focus back on Sei and the gang.


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