Let's take a look back at the fall anime of 2013! Gundam Build Fighters," "Weak Pedal," and "Kill la Kill," popular series that continue to this day, were born! Anime 10 Years in the Past

This time, I would like to take a look at what kind of works were being broadcast in the world of TV anime 10 years ago - in the autumn cool of 2013.

Gundam Build Fighters

The "Gundam Build~" series, which continues to develop as of 2023, started in the fall season of 2013.

The "Mobile Suit Gundam" series, which started in 1979, has developed in a wide variety of ways, but this work takes the unlikely approach of using Gundam plastic models of mobile suits (humanoid mobile weapons) that have appeared in the series as pedestals. In the near future, where the story takes place, Gunpla models are sold just like in our world, and the simulation "Gunpla Battle" using these models has become a big boom. Sei, who is good at making Gunpla but not at controlling them, meets Rage, who is good at fighting, and the two of them challenge the "Gunpla Battle" competition in a three-way team.

While the "Mobile Suit Gundam" series depicts wars and human deeds, "Gundam Build Fighters" is more of a hobby anime, featuring Gunpla battles and sports-like excitement. One of the appealing aspects of the game is that it is full of dream cards in which machines from different series, which normally have no connection with each other, fight each other. This is an area in which games have excelled in the past, and fans have been left to imagine the details of battles that go beyond the game system themselves. In contrast, in this work, you can enjoy brain battles and unexpected reversals that cannot be realized in games, as well as battles that can only be enjoyed in anime, which is filled with the feeling of a hobby anime.

Fighting with homemade Gunpla has always been a dream for boys, and since the 1982 manga "Plamo Kyoshiro," in which Gunpla models played an active role in a "plastic model simulation" similar to the "Gunpla Battle" in this work, it has remained an enduring dream for Gunpla boys all over Japan. It can be said that this work is an anime that has fulfilled this longing head-on. The appearance of the "Perfect Gundam" in "Gundam Build Fighters," which left a strong impression when it first appeared in "Plastic Model Kyoshiro," is nothing less than a distant love call 30 years later.

The dream of making Gunpla models fight each other is getting closer to realization, and the "Road to Gunpla Battle Project" is currently underway, with the goal of making 3D scans of Gunpla models into computer graphics models and having them fight each other. Many of you may have experienced it at related events and been excited by the experience. Gunpla is freedom, which is the fundamental idea of this work, but with the development of technology, it may really gain freedom, and in this sense, it is a fun anime with a link to reality.

WIMUSUME PEDAL

The popular comic series by Wataru Watanabe has finally been adapted into an anime in its fifth year of serialization. Currently, the original comic has been serialized for over 15 years, and the anime version has also become a major work, with five series in nine years as of November 2023.

The highlights of this work are its treatment of cycling, a subject matter that is relatively rare in manga, and the human drama of its unique characters.

The main character, Sakamichi Onoda, is an otaku with hidden talent as a climber, but he is unaware of it. The unique personalities of the players on each team, such as Imaizumi, who is cool but hates to lose and has a hidden passion, Todo, who is narcissistic and intelligent but also has a serious side, Midosuji, who will stop at nothing to win, and Izumida, who loves to name his own muscles, make for a truly ensemble drama. One of the charms of this work is the depth of the story, which will keep you watching and moving from one place to another, with Sakamichi as your guide to the world of the work.

They all have a passion for cycling, but their circumstances are very different. In the extreme conditions of the race, where it is either overtake or be overtaken, their own willpower, their feelings for their teammates, and the passion with which they challenge their limits stand out. The unexpected aspects that they show in their daily lives and the gap between them and the race are also very appealing, making this film twice and thrice as good as any other.

The director is Osamu Nabeshima, who worked on "D.Gray-man" and "Tottoko Hamtaro," and the series is composed by the same director who worked with Nabeshima on "D.Gray-man," and also wrote "K-ON! Bakuman. The character design is by Takahiko Yoshida, who also worked on "The Big Swing" and "Welcome to N.H.K.". and "Welcome to N.H.K.! The original hot-blooded boys' manga, which is also very popular among women, has been sublimated into an anime, and the foundation for a long-term series has been solidified. Of course, the powerful racing scenes in the original manga have been beautifully recreated, much to the delight of the fans.

In addition to the anime adaptation, "Weak Pedal" has also been adapted into a live-action TV drama and a stage version, and it is still fresh in our memories that there was a time when you could watch "Weak Pedal" in either of them. The stage version, in particular, has been the talk of the town, with Shatner Nishida, who became a legend with his pantomime troupe "Planet Pistachio," expressing a bicycle race, which is difficult to stage, by "having the actors only hold the handlebars. Weak Pedal" can be said to be a work blessed with a variety of media mixes, including an anime adaptation that is full of love for the original work.

Kill la Kill

TRIGGER, a production company widely known in Japan and abroad for powerful works such as "Cyberpunk Edge Runners" and "SSSS.

The main character, Ryuko, pursues her father's revenge and ends up at Honnoji Academy, where the student council controls the students with the "Kyoku-Seifuku," a uniform that unites the wearer with the uniform and gives them special abilities. By chance, Ryuko obtains a talking sailor uniform, "Senbetsu," and in order to find a clue to her avenger, she must fight the countless clubs that exist at the school, while enlisting the help of her best friend, Mako, to reach the student council president, Satsuki.

TRIGGER, founded by the staff of the hot-blooded robot anime "Gurren Lagann," has created this work with a lot of passion. It is unique in that it combines the fun and heat of nostalgic shonen manga such as "Otoko ichiban Gaki Taisho," "Ring ni Kakero," "Flame Transfer Student," "Jikketsu no Susume," and "Harenchi Gakuen" with the recent popular format of high school girls, school, and ability battles.

The drawings are reminiscent of the heyday of OVAs in the 1980s, and the deformed characters move around even during action scenes, which is also hot. This style, which attracted the attention of animation fans even back then, has appeared in 2013 during the heyday of computer graphics, so the screen is both surprising and fresh.

The characters are all strong and dedicated to their own goals and aesthetics. The combination of the school format and the "extreme uniforms" creates heated battles in which the athletic clubs, such as the boxing and tennis clubs, as well as the cultural clubs, such as the gardening and rakugo clubs, become rivals. Surprises and laughter are provided by the strange worldview in which the Honnoji Academy is steadily advancing its domination of Japan, and where the ordinary students with bad grades are forced to live in poor housing, and crazy events such as "No Tardiness Day," in which the students have to go through a school route full of traps, and "Naikyoso Sentakitai," in which students fight all over the school, are held. Bright and sexy. A screen with a strong hand-drawn taste. The dynamic movements of the characters, who are deformed in the sense of daring to break them down, make "Kill la Kill" a work that questions the origins of shonen manga and anime.

The work respects many works, and there are many stories dating back to the 1970s scattered here and there on the screen, but the good thing about this work is that it can be enjoyed even if you have no such knowledge. The thrill of the rivalry between Ryuko and Satsuki, the fun of the buddy story in which Ryuko and Satsuki come to understand each other, and the friendship between Ryuko and Mako are the essence of the universal fun of this film.

Directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi of "Gurren Lagann" and "Panty & Stocking with Garter Belt", based on the original story by Kazuki Nakajima of "Gurren Lagann" and "Nodame Cantabile Finale", character design by Kazuki Nakajima of "Kissdam -ENGAGE planet-" and "ONE PIECE THE MOVIE Baron Omatsuri and the Island of Secrets" by Sushio. After this film, TRIGGER would go on to produce "Little Witch Academia," "Iroengi Battle wa Nichijo ni Nakaeru" and "Darling in the Frankis" and garner a large following.