As a continuation of Build Divide: Code Black, this season’s Code White builds upon the experiences our characters faced while introducing new concepts with a strong emphasis on the individual personalities and changes each character goes through.
This season begins with a switch in the protagonist – as Teruto was captured by the system and made the King of Neo Kyoto, we begin this season three years after this event and are presented with a runaway Kikka, attempting to find her way around a world dealing with Build-Divide battles and opposing factions looking to take control of a post-Neo Kyoto world. One faction is called KUGE, representing the wishes of the King, and captures people it considers problematic to serve as fodder for the King, coming to discover Kikka and leading a chase to capture her. Ultimately, Kikka comes to realize her and the central message of this season: her sins from last season are catching up to her, and while she desires the comfort of others and, most importantly, forgiveness for her actions, can she really be forgiven by all those she wronged? Out of nowhere, Hiyori, who has been looking on for some while, drops down mid-Build-Divide battle, with the simple message that even if she may be mad at Kikka for what happened to Teruto and Sakura, Teruto ultimately wanted to save her, and if she were willing to join her in her journey to save Teruto, then she would be more than happy to take the lead, giving her another shot to correct her sins.
The rest of the plot revolves around destroying KUGE forces as Hiyori and company continue towards the central tower, home to Neo Kyoto and where Teruto is located, along with the companions they made along the way. For the most part, all the same characters from Code Black are present in Code White under new roles, mainly dealing in anti-KUGE fights. However, Naomitsu and Ishinome take on more prominent roles, both in assisting our crew in reaching Teruto and in explaining some of the past relating to Build-Divide and Neo Kyoto, namely in the discovery and research of Build-Divide cards having powers and previous attempts at discovering a power source for the King and Neo Kyoto as a whole. Higuma retains his role as a bad guy, initially attempting to gain more power to power the King before being revealed that Higuma had been instrumental in Build-Divide research centuries ago, initially trying to save the people of Neo Kyoto before becoming corrupted and wanting power for himself. Ultimately, with Hiyori rescuing Teruto from the chains of being the King, Teruto makes a correct gamble against Higuma and defeats him, bringing this conflict to an end and bringing Neo Kyoto back to normalcy, reverting it to the condition we saw in the first few episodes in Code Black.
In all honesty, the plot in Code White is not as polished as it was in Code Black. While this might be due to most of the exposition for this series being done in the first season, Code White is presented with certain plot points simply being presented without buildup, and some ideas, like KUGE and, later on, WILL, only being used at the moment with no real connection to plot development. Most importantly, Code White can be generalized as demonstrating character development, backstory that both answers some questions but creates some more, and the eventual rescue of Teruto. And while the Build Divide battles are just as, if not more, polished and well-animated compared to last season, they follow a more obvious cycle of our main characters worried about defeat, a pep talk about the power of friendship/power/unity, and ending with a “surprise” victory against the enemy. While there are moments where the plot goes a good job of progressing the story, it ultimately leaves more to desire after the events of Code Black.
However, while Code Black had a fantastic plot, Code White is saved with its excellent cast. This season, Kikka is confronted by the idea of sins and whether or not she deserves forgiveness for her actions – she is aware that while she was manipulated to harm others in her role as the King, she is nonetheless remorseful of her actions and struggles with the idea of being wanted, a central theme for many of the early episodes this season. Hiyori, on her quest to rescue Teruto, is well aware of what Kikka has done but takes her in not only because it is what Teruto would have liked but also because she believes in the remorseful Kikka and separates former King Kikka from a fragile and confused Kikka as introduced this season. Most importantly, we see a Kikka vastly contrasting that from last season, which I can only best describe as a sister wanting to be back with her brother, a view shared by Hiyori as well. As the episodes progress, our main duo learns to rely on each other and others as well, changing them from being distant in the beginning to a powerful duo by the end of the series while also justifying the idea that past actions do not necessarily make who you are in the future.
Ultimately, Code White continues the greatness of Code Black and provides a satisfying conclusion to this part of the story while also leaving room for an additional story down the line. And while I might not have thoroughly enjoyed the plot this season, this enjoyment is more than made up by amazing character development and the messages the characters bring to the anime. While “original trading card anime” is not something I would have usually shown an interest in or much less watch, these past two seasons have been a treat. Whatever else may come from the future of Build Divide is unknown, but at the very least, I was delighted to see our main characters grow and develop between these two seasons (massive shoutout to Hiyori, more Hiyori-like main characters please).
