Anime Original by Sunrise
Streaming on Youtube

Premise

Seven years after Sei and Reiji’s victory at the Gunpla Battle World Championship, Fumina Hoshino is the last member of the Seiho Academy Gunpla Battle club. Enthusiastic about gunpla battle, she refuses to join the plastic modeling club which has absorbed all prospective members. However, when she meets Sekai Kamiki, a boy who’s been traveling and practicing martial arts, she might have just found the best possible teammate.

Gee’s verdict: 2nd Round Knockout

One of my biggest regrets of 2013/2014 was not watching Gundam Build Fighters. In retrospect, upon watching Try, I may start to regret watching it on a weekly basis. Gundam Build Fighters Try is off to such a great start that I’m not sure I can handle waiting a week between episodes. Between some well-animated battles, a handful of great references, and a general sense of excitement, Try has all the elements that made its predecessor such a joy to watch. Fumina, Sekai, and Yuuma aren’t going to be the best written characters of the year, but they’re likable enough as a trio that I’ll be looking forward to the TEAMWORK and FRIENDSHIP based adventures.

As a Gundam fan, Try hits a lot of good points. While it was a shame to watch the Powered GM get its ass kicked for the umpteenth time in Gundam canon, I love that it’s around in the first place. Watching a Dom go full-Obari was also a delight. And of course, Build Burning is already off to a much better start than Sei’s Build Strike in winning my heart. As a fan of the mecha genre, Try is a fun show, period. Even if you didn’t get all the Gundam references, it’s still a beautifully crafted love letter to the mecha genre. You can tell that the people who worked on it truly love giant robots. There’s no drama or angst here, just a bunch of people who really love giant robots and fighting with them. I assure you, if you’re looking for some fun robot-on-robot action, you can jump into Try without any prior knowledge. It would make some of the references more satisfying, but the core of it is so good that it’s not mandatory.

Between G-Reco and Gundam Build Fighters Try, the Gundam franchise is in a better place than it’s been in a long time. The mecha fan in me cannot wait to see how this season turns out.

Iro’s verdict: Please Set Your GP Base

Gee badgered me into watching the first season of Bundam Guild Fighters a few months ago, and it was the most fun I’ve had watching a robot show since I sat down with my GaoGaiGar DVDs last year. Despite being the most transparent children’s toy commercial since the likes of Yu-Gi-Oh! and Cardguard Vanfight!!, or perhaps because it’s clearly aimed towards children, Try is able to convey a sense of fun more clearly than any other show this season. There’s no actual crazy interplanetary war going on, it’s just a bunch of people enjoying their hobby of making plastic models of sweet robots fight. I can just sit back and have fun seeing a not-so-giant robot punch another not-so-giant robot in the face, and that’s something we have sorely needed.