Gunpla Expo and Gunpla Builders World Cup 2015, Seoul: Part III

All right, enough beating around the bush: in my third and final post regarding this year's Gunpla Expo, I'll share the results of the 2015 Gundam Builders World Cup competition in South Korea. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the announcements were made at the Expo on Sunday, August 23rd, and I and a crowd of people had gathered to see the winners firsthand. Meijin Kawaguchi, the official master of Gunpla, was present to do the judging and award trophies in four categories:

Junior Course A (ages 0 ~ 10)

Junior Course B (ages 11 ~ 14)

Open Course A (ages 15 ~ 20)

Open Course B (ages 21 and up)

A third, second and first place winner was chosen for each category, totaling 12 individual winners. Two overall champions were also named, one from the Junior Division and the other from the Open. Those two will go on to represent Korea in the international round of the GBWC later this year.

Truth be told, while some of the Meijin’s picks made sense to me many others I didn’t expect, in particular his choice of Open Division champion. Have a look at the winners and you can see for yourself if you agree or disagree!

Junior Course A, 3rd Place Winner
“Lightning Z Gundam Cosmos”
Builder: Kim Joo Un

Junior Course A, 2nd Place Winner

“Gundam is a friend of children around the world!”

Builder: Yoo Si Oo

Junior Course A, 1st Place Winner

“Fear of Death”

Builder: Yoo Joon Yeong

Junior Course B, 3rd Place Winner

“ASTRAY THE HAKAI”

Builder: Moon Seong Joon

Junior Course B, 2nd Place Winner

“PG Strike Freedom”

Builder: Park Si Hoon

Junior Course B, 1st Place Winner

“The Last Attack”

Builder: Choi Ji Hwan

Junior Division Champion

Open Course A, 3rd Place Winner

“Sazabi Ver.ka Twin Bazooka”

Builder: Lee Soo An

Open Course A, 2nd Place Winner

“Deja Vu”

Builder: Lee Jin Ho

Open Course A, 1st Place Winner

“RX-78 GP04G GERBERA”

Builder: Kim Min Ho

Open Course B, 3rd Place Winner

“RADIATION HAZARD”

Builder: Son Yeong Seok

Open Course B, 2nd Place Winner

“Requiem for Ramba Ral”

Builder: Go Gwon Cheol

Open Course B, 1st Place Winner

“finally”

Builder: Sin Yeong Kwan

Open Division Champion

Truthfully, I was caught off guard when "finally" was crowned champion. The number of flashy models with elaborate gimmicks and show-stealing dioramas were overwhelming this year, so this Hyaku Shiki with it’s understated beauty was easy for me to overlook. It was only after the Meijin announced his decision that I went back to more closely examine it; I haven’t built the 1/100 MG Hyaku Shiki Ver. 2.0, and in case you haven’t yet either, here it is for comparison. When you look at them both side by side, the level of craftsmanship that went into “finally” becomes quickly apparent.

I remember discussing the GBWC entries with my friends after the Expo had started. As amazing as they were, I felt as if the Gunpla were being overshadowed by their accompanying props and sets. Perhaps the Meijin thought so too, and he wished to signal a return to the basics of Gunpla by awarding first place to an entry like “finally”, a model that celebrates Gunpla in it’s purest form: gorgeous, well-made scale reproductions of giant robots.