The “Episode 1 Advance Screening & Gunpla Demo Event” for Gundam Build Divers, which will finally begin airing tomorrow, was held at Differ Ariake in Tokyo on March 30^th (Fri).

Comedy duo Ochanomizu Danshi headed the event as MCs with Mr. Yusuke Kobayashi, voice of Riku Mikami, as the guest of the afternoon show and Mr. Jun Kasama, voice of Kyoya Kujo, as the guest of the evening show. The event was bustling with excitement. Without further ado, let’s go into the report on the event.

The beginning of the event following the guest self-introductions was the holding of a Gunpla demo event. All attendees built a “HaroPla Haro”, scheduled to release in April, while listening to a lecture by the Gundam Meister Mr. Moja.

“HaroPla Haro” is a model that can be detached from its runners even without tools like wire cutters. It is a Gunpla that can even be enjoyed by small children as the number of parts in the kit has also been relatively minimized.

Mr. Kobayashi, a beginner at Gunpla, began anxiously when he asked, “Is this something even I can make?”, but he gradually came to experience the fun in building Gunpla as he commented, “The popping sound it makes when you detach the runners is really pleasant to hear.” After putting together his Gunpla, he took a try at painting colors and adding shadows using Gundam Markers. He had a happy expression as he said, “I finished it really nicely!” as he held up his finished HaroPla in the air.

Mr. Kobayashi stated his thoughts on the Gunpla demo event, “It was really fun. When I opened the box, when I detached the runners, the sound that it makes when you begin assembling, and the building leading up the complete product; all of it was really fun!”

Next was the advance screening of Build Divers’ first episode. Mr. Kobayashi stated after watching the first episode, “Watching the episode made my heart pound.”

The event then rushed into a talk corner. When asked about his thoughts when it was decided that he would voice Riku, Mr. Kobayashi revealed his change in mental state, “At first, I felt happy while thinking, ‘I did it!’, but I then felt the pressure and importance of the role.” He also commented on his impression of Riku, “He’s a positive and energetic character. A boy that is pure and straightforward.” He then talked about the points he studied for his role, “Riku is 14 years old, so I thought that he should be innocent and energetic. However, he also demands a “passion” for Gundam and is always tackling things seriously.”

He was also asked about Riku’s Gunpla “00 Diver”. “I really love the color blue, so I’m really happy that his suit is also blue. There are plenty of Gunpla that will appear in the series, so there should be a Gunpla that will stick to each person’s heart… is what I think, but the Gunpla that stuck to me was ’00 Diver’.” It was as if Riku’s thoughts overlapped with Mr. Kobayashi’s own thoughts.

Lastly, the afternoon show ended with a comment from Mr. Kobayashi.

Yusuke Kobayashi (Riku Mikami)

“Thank you very much for coming today. There may be some who built Gunpla for the first time today among the audience, but you came here today with great courage. I believe that the fun and charm of building Gunpla has been conveyed to others like them. I had a lot of fun! This is a passionate and fantastic series, so I hope everyone continues to support both Gunpla and the anime.”

For the evening show, Mr. Jun Kasama, voice of Kyoya Kujo, appeared as a guest.

Mr. Kasama said, “I built Gunpla often,” and was familiar with what to do at the demo event. He carefully completed his HaroPla while including stories about Fio, his pet cat, and tidbits such as, “For the Gundam series, I watched G Gundam while it was airing.”

As Mr. Kasama was earnestly building his Gunpla, Gundam Meister Mr. Moja went down into the audience seats to give support on how to build and use the tools provided. Even those that were handling Gunpla for the first time were able to build their Gunpla while reassured.

Mr. Kasama completed his Haro colored in the image of Kyoya while Mr. Just A Way Shiihashi of Ochanomizu Danshi made his in the image of Mr. Kasama’s cat Fio, thus ending the demo event. The advance screening of episode 1 was then held.

During the talk corner after the screening, both Mr. Kasama and Ochanomizu Danshi made their appearance once again. Mr. Kasama revealed an anecdote, stating that he had tried auditioning for both the role of Kyoya and Rommel. When he did his test for Rommel, he was told by the staff, “You’re like Mr. Sho Hayami.” Mr. Kasama had done Rommel’s voice in his own interpretation from what he understood from his character design, but stated his surprise, “To think that it would really be Mr. Hayami (voicing Rommel).”

When asked about what he paid attention to when voicing Kyoya, he answered, “I think Kyoya approaches his battle opponents with respect as a rival, even if they are a child.” He showed his enthusiasm, stating, “I don’t want him to just be someone that’s good-looking.”

A commemorative photo was also taken at the end of the event. The event then came to an end filled with excitement and laughter.

New Gunpla scheduled to release in June, such as “HGBD GEARA GHIRARGA” and “HGBD LEO NPD”, as well as “HGBD GUNDAM AGE II MAGNUM [CLEAR COLOR]”, a limited Gunpla that comes with the premium edition of the PS4 and PS Vita game New GUNDAM BREAKER scheduled to release on June 21^st (Thurs), were on display at the venue. Gundam Try Age, scheduled to begin operating in spring 2018, also appeared at the event.

Please look forward to future developments of Gundam Build Divers now that it is finally starting!

(Gundam.info Editorial Department)