Holy Land of Perisia is the fifth episode of Gundam Build Divers.
Synopsis[]
The next destination for Riku and his friends is the Perisia Area, a neutral zone where builders from all over the world gather, and it is forbidden to bring in Gunpla without permission. As the three of them walk across an endless desert in Diver form, they are eventually confounded by the mirage-filled landscape, which never changes no matter how far they go. Then a jeep appears, driven by a female Diver called Ayame.[1].
Plot[]
In the desert, Riku and his friends slowly plod their way, the unrelenting heat taking a toll on them. Riku asks Yukio why they couldn't travel in their Gunpla, and Yukio reminds them the place they're going to, Perisia Area, is a neutral zone - no battles, and depending on one's rank, no Gunpla. Momoka can't understand why it's taking so long and looks at the map. Sarah then points out that the map has different distance numbers, and to Riku and Momoka's horror, Perisia Area is 100 km away, too far for them to walk! Yukio admits he has no idea what to do. Suddenly, Sarah hears something approaching - a jeep. Riku and Momoka flag it down, and the ninja-like female driver asks what they're doing out there, but when Momoka sheepishly mentions that they were stranded, she gives a nonchalant "Oh." and drives off, leaving the others to chase her down, begging for her help.
The driver eventually picked up the four, admonishing them for their foolish idea to walk to Perisia. An embarrassed Riku admits they didn't look at the map carefully. She mentions that even crossing the desert in Gunpla was tough - if they didn't sandproof it, it would be rendered inoperable by the sand. She finally introduces herself as Ayame and as she's thanked, she brushes it off because they're paying for the ride. She chuckles at their panicking and reveals she's joking. Upon reaching Perisia, Momoka is in awe at all the Gunpla on display. Yukio explains that the desert town is a Mecca for Gunpla builders to show off their latest builds and exchange building techniques. Momoka asks why they don't just meet each other in real life, and Yukio replies that GBN has Gunpla builders from overseas too and it is easier to meet them in the game. Yukio tells Riku that he wanted to show him this place because of how much he's been improving, but admits that he also wanted to see the place himself. Sarah suddenly notices Ayame has disappeared. On a rooftop nearby, Ayame ponders why the cloaked man had ordered her to monitor Riku.
Various builders show off their work - one shows off a AMX-103 Hamma Hamma that has been modified to carry a FA-010S Full Armor ZZ Gundam's Hyper Mega Cannon, another shows off a RX-0 Unicorn Gundam whose Psycho-Frame sports a multi-color LED system. One that catches Momoka's eye is a 1/100 RX-78-2 Gundam that was sold in the early days and has no waist or ankle joints. When Momoka comments there's no way a Gunpla like that could fight and is surprised an old man built it, they are admonished by a man with a fox's ears and tail, who sees the love poured into a Gunpla that wasn't build for battle. The kids are confused over the idea of love, leading the man to clarify that it's a philosophy and passion to build old kits as beautifully as possible with minimal mods, which Yukio realizes is the rekindling of the charm of an old kit. The man nods in affirmation and tells them that Gunpla isn't just for battling, realizing one's ideas using a Gunpla is another of its appeal. With this, Riku understands what's going on. Yukio asks the man if he can look over his and Riku's Gunpla, which he does.
He noted their philosophy, ideals and love, but points outs they are still lacking the building skills to realize those ideals, perhaps even setting their goals too high. Momoka snaps at him, thinking he's just some know-it-all and demands he reveal his own. He agrees and shows off an amazing diorama of Petit'gguys. Momoka is awed by their cuteness, but doesn't see why they are impressive. However, both Yukio and Riku noticed the amount of effort spent in building them, with Yukio describing them as being life-like. However, they're cut off as news spread of Shahryar arriving with his latest Gunpla! Yukio tells Riku that Shahryar is the number one-or-two Gunpla builder in GBN, and shows him an image of an amazing diorama where the Knight Gundam rides on the Fuunsaiki and fights a ZMT-A31A Doggorla. However, the fox man cuts off all their gushing, telling them they're giving him way too much credit.
At the Toraburyu's temple, Tigerwolf talks to Magee, who is having dessert elsewhere. Tigerwolf has taken a liking to Riku and friends, but when Magee tells him they went to Perisia to improve their building skills, he freaks out at the thought of them trying to find Shahryar and quickly cuts off communication. Magee lets out a sigh, wishing that Tigerwolf wouldn't hate Shahryar so much and there's the worry that Mass-Divers have been spotted in Perisia...
At the courtyard, Riku notices many people have gathered and Yukio states that Shahryar's pretty popular, yet he's rarely seen. They then see a dark-skinned portly man who seems to be Shahryar. A fellow crier calls for everyone's attention and reveals what he claimed is Shahryar's newest Gunpla, a customized Xvm-zbc Xamdrag that is entitled "Going Beyond Good and Evil Through Diversity of Armament". A viewer blows it off as just a hodgepodge of weapons thrown together, but he's told to shut up by another who considers it as "advant-garde" art. While everyone praises it, Ayame is confused as to what's going on while the fox man grumbles that he can feel no love from it. The crier tries to get Divers to gather outside the city to trade build information, but he's stopped by Riku, who publicly says that he doesn't see any affection or respect for the customized Xamdrag, and that it lacks love. This causes Ayame to recall a little girl labelling something as lame, while a man proclaims that it has everyone's love in it.
The crier is annoyed by Riku's comment and tries to drag him off, declaring that he wants to teach him about Gunpla building. However, Ayame drops down to stop the crier, exposing the Shahryar as a fraud, and daring him to move the Gunpla so that the seasoned builders around them can assess if it is genuinely Shahryar's work. Riku and the others try to thank Ayame and invite her to join them, but she declines and walks off. As she disappears into an alleyway, she's contacted by the cloaked man - the people she exposed were his latest clients and they weren't part of her orders. As Riku and the others leave Perisia, they see the customized Xamdrag flying off with an unconscious Ayame in its hands. Riku and Yukio want to save her, but they can't without their Gunpla. The fox man approaches and on a whim, decided to help by lending them a Gunpla. In the desert, the fake Shahryar and the crier, who are actually brothers, lament the ruination of their plan and wonder if the kids would come to save Ayame. She thinks they won't as it won't do them any good. However, they're shocked when Riku and Yukio arrives in a Gunpla that resembles the CBS-70 Ptolemaios; Ayame realizes its size makes it a backpack booster of some sort. Inside, Riku and Yukio tell Momoka and Sarah to rescue Ayame while they distract the brothers. Yukio tells Riku he will handle the controls so that the latter can focus on firing.
The brothers launch in their customized Xamdrag and fire missiles from its ring-mounted missile launchers. Yukio easily dodges them, and Riku counterattacks with GN Missiles, which easily strike the enemy. Yukio congratulates Riku on his shooting, but Riku credits the Gunpla instead. Yukio notes that it has extraordinary precision, and explains that even a minor defect in a 1/144 Gunpla can turn into a major problem during a 1/1 scale Gunpla Battle; thus there is a saying that the build determines a Gunpla's performance. The enemy fires missiles again and misses. Furious, the fake Shahryar ejects the customzied Xamdrag's missile launchers, and tells the crier to use their ace in the hole, but it won't work - there's sand in the joints and the armor won't open up. Riku fires the beam cannon and strikes down the hapless duo, sending them crashing into the sand. Meanwhile, Momoka and Sarah rescue Ayame, who is confused why they saved her. Momoka says it's for saving them in the desert, but Sarah clarifies that Riku would have saved her no matter who she was. Yukio then notices the enemy is standing up, and the brothers revealed themselves as Mass-Divers as they activate the Break Decal, their greater ace in the hole, transforming their customized Xamdrag into a slimmer Gunpla. The Ptolemaios-like Gunpla is repeatedly hit by the highly mobile enemy, but Riku insisted they hang on so that the girls can get to safety.
As the fake Shahryar gloats over how precision is meaningless in the face of brute strength, the fox man arrives. He reveals himself as the real Shahryar, and angry over his impostor being a Mass-Diver too, summons his Seravee Gundam Scheherazade. The enemy attacks the Seravee Gundam Scheherazade, but is easily blocked and knocked back by a GN Field. The Ptolemaios-like Gunpla is then revealed to be the Ptolemaios Arms, and combines with the Seravee Gundam Scheherazade, resulting in the latter's true form. The fake Shahryar scoffs at it, claiming additional attachments on the Gunpla won't help. The real Shahryar is glad that the enemy understands that and decries the enemy's Gunpla as lacking love. He then fires all four of the Seravee Gundam Scheherazade's GN Beam Containers, and a massive multi-color beam destroys the enemy's Gunpla.
As the sun sets, Riku and Yukio are in awe over finally meeting the real Shahryra and how amazing his Gunpla is. He asks them to just call him Shahry and invites all of them to join his force, Love of Gunpla. He was then interrupted by the arrival of Tigerwolf, who despite his exhaustion, demands that Shahryra stays away from the kids, and even tries to recruit the kids into the Toraburyu. Shahryra comments that if they join Toraburyu, their brains would turn into muscle, irritating Tigerwolf. Ultimately, Riku turns both of them down and decides to form his own force as he wants to find his own style and strength. Yukio, Sarah and Momoka support Riku's decision. And in the desert, Ayame drives off, seemingly troubled...
Elsewhere, a Diver is given a brand new Break Decal that is stronger than the old ones, by the cloaked man. As the Diver return to his MS-08TX[EXAM]Efreet Custom, the cloaked man proclaims that a world like GBN deserves to be broken apart...
Stats[]
Characters[]
Mecha[]
- GN-0000DVR Gundam 00 Diver (Gunpla status data only)
- RGM-86RBM GM III Beam Master (Gunpla status data only)
- GN-1001N Seravee Gundam Scheherazade
Quotes[]
Music[]
- Opening: Diver's High by Sky-Hi
- Ending: Ashita e by Iris
Notes & Trivia[]
- Patrick Colasour appears again, this time as a hapless member of Toraburyu.
- The system stats for a Gunpla is comprised of six different stats: General, Unique, Nimbleness, Power, Luxury, and Armor, which together spells G.U.N.P.L.A..
References[]
Welcome to GBN | Chaotic Ogre | The Protector | Tigerwolf of the Sacred Mountain | Holy Land of Perisia | Past and Future | Force Battle | Festival! | Return of the Ogre | Coalition of Volunteers | Ayame's Tears | Shining Wings | Duel | A New Power | Lotus Challenge | Friends Reunited | Joint Front | A Man's Will | Nadeshiko-athlon | The Truth | Your Feelings | Devoted Heart | The Fateful Two | Decisive Battle | A New World |