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「AGEの力」 (AGE no Chikara)
“The Power of AGE”
The more I watch Gundam AGE, the more apparent the super robot influences become. We have Vargas as the old scientist/co-creator of the Gundam, Emily as his granddaughter and childhood friend of Flit, and now the AGE Builder that can create weapons on-the-fly from the data acquired by the Gundam’s evolutionary AGE System (a little too convenient, but still pretty cool to see). If anything, the super/real robot cross-up should be what largely attributes to the notion that the latest Gundam iteration is targeted toward younger audiences — more so than the character designs anyway. Yes, the story develops rather conveniently at times, but I still see it as a throwback to my childhood where boyish heroics can change the world. I really don’t see any reason why this can’t appeal to younger and older fans alike though, especially when I fall into the latter category. If you’re so adamant about how Gundam AGE isn’t what the franchise is all about, then you can simply not watch it. The last thing I want to read week in, week out are comments about how people think Gundam should that are just annoying to people who want to give AGE a fair chance. As far as I’m concerned, the only person who has any unconditional merit in making such a statement is Tomino Yoshiyuki — the creator of Gundam.
In many ways, Gundam AGE can be perceived as a homage to the series that Tomino created, so it’s kind of sad to see that a lot of younger generation fans have lost sight of that fact. Much like video games nowadays, impressive-looking and/or realistic visuals are all that matters to a lot of people, whereas story, gameplay, and overall entertainment are mere afterthoughts. This is really apparent for someone like me, having grown up in the NES and Universal Century Gundam era (i.e. the early 1980s). If you ask anyone else from my generation, they’ll probably be able to tell you about how there’s been a noticeable shift in priorities when it comes to both mediums, since younger generations are incredibly demanding of how things should look due to their much higher baseline to compare all works to. Personally, I never expected Gundam to look as impressive as it does in Gundam AGE, let alone Gundam Unicorn, but I’m in a situation that’s arguably more appreciative of the advances that have been made. As such, I haven’t forgotten that Gundam is intended to appeal to multiple age groups and that AGE provides a nice balance of themes to that end. Just to be clear: This isn’t an attempt to defend Gundam AGE’s stylistic choices, so much as an attempt to address the self-centered mentality that some viewers may have about how anime is created for them and them only.
So with that in mind, I’ll be quick to admit that I had some moments of disbelief with how the new battleship Diva is going to pull out the core of the Nora colony to evacuate everyone, and how “easily” Commander Hendrik Bruzar (Sawaki Ikuya) is going to be sacrificed to see that it happens. In both cases, it felt like a rather convenient way to further Flit’s resolve in his fight against the UE, but I didn’t see any point in dwelling on it when it’s pretty clear that’s what the story’s going for. I hardly find predictability in the early stages of a series a bad thing, especially in regards to something that’s been clearly foreshadowed for us to pick up on. In contrast, there were a fair amount of questions raised regarding Grodek and how he usurped command of Diva from right underneath the Earth Federation Forces (EFF). At the moment, it’s kind of hard to tell if he has some ulterior motive or if he decided to take matters into his own hands because he suspected that that Captain Dian Fonroid (Kiyama Shigeo) was going to abandon the colonists. I’m kind of suspicious of Grodek either way, simply because he pulled this off behind everyone’s back and in such a way that put his trembling in episode one in question. It sure feels like there’s a conspiracy going on somewhere — just like Millais suspected — making it even more likely that the UE are actually some radical human organization.
Last but definitely not least is the introduction of Yurin L’Ciel, who’s not only gracing us with Hayami Saori’s angelic voice, but also raising questions about whether she’s going to be Flit’s future wife. What’s more, she seems to possess a telepathic Newtype-like ability, which bodes well for Flit’s future son. If it’s not going to be her, then I’m kind of wary that she may be killed sometime during this war, seeing as the painful loss of a loved one is a recurring theme in the Gundam franchise. After the main Gundam pilot loses the one he loves, he almost always ends up confiding in another girl and falling for her, so Yurin and Emily have kind of been labeled for those roles in my eyes. Rest assured, I’ll be watching closely to see how Flit’s relationship with both girls develops from here on. For now, I do think that Flit and Yurin look cute together, especially with the way he picked her up. “Hey, want to take a ride in my Gundam? I built this baby myself.”
Preview
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Omake
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Epic last line Divine. I completely agree with your sentiments and yet… I’m starting it already with a “Gundam should always have: EFF vs Spacenoids (OF HUMANS {Hopefully these UEs are really just advanced advanced humans}) /dodges bullets. That was a very good read… I’m not sold bout following it still though.
Well humanity divided into two factions, Terrestrial and Orbiting with the neutrals caught in the middle, is one of the major staples of nearly every Gundam series. Even in ones where Earth is too weak to be a major force* it still works it’s way in. If you changed that it would feel very strange.
*Such as ZZ Gundam or G Gundam.
ZZ had the AEUG and Axis fighting against each other. All I’m trying to say is, the antagonists of AGE -should- (hopefully) be humans as well, since I’m not really a fan of “Humanity vs one-threat” scenarios. Also, I enjoyed this episode a bit more than the first. It’d also be a first if Flit wouldn’t be an evolved lead. As in, almost every other lead in every other Gundam series was a post-human-evolution of some sort; “newtype, innovator, coordinator,” – to name a few.
I think we’re agreeing with each other while possibly thinking the other is disagreeing. Also there have been some series to avert the ‘psychic’ lead. 08th MS Team, Gundam Wing, After War Gundam, Gundam 0083*, MS Igloo.
*Not sure if you really want to remember 0083.
I still don´t like the character desings but I feel a lot of nostalgia for the original universal century era, I think that´s a good sign.
I thought that the AGE Builder was a little bit much… but it does go nicely with the whole aging theme. Other than that, I thought this was actually a pretty decent episode. I’m just prayin’ that the AGE Builder doesn’t bail out Flit every time he gets in trouble.
I think the biggest “concern” I have with the AGE Builder is the speed at which it can create a weapon. If it took longer to put something together then it wouldn’t feel so convenient.
The last thing I’d want to see is for it to build a completely new Gundam in a matter of minutes (though I get the feeling it will create the upgrade add-ons pretty quickly).
Agreed. If they start churning out Funnels with I=field capabilities or Mega particle cannons, then that would be ludicrous. Hopefully, they’ll stick with cartridge beam rifles and beam sabres for now.
I laughed when I saw the Age builder, and how it created cut-out parts from sheets of metal and assembled them- reminded me of putting together a model Gundam from all those plastic “plates.” Product placement from Bandai? XP
Buy the toys today kids!
I think the AGE Builder will create a problem of weapon escalation. The first episode shows that the UE are capable of scanning their enemies. So I’m guessing that the UE continues to adapt making stronger weapons, just as the AGE will get stronger.
To me the AGE Builder screams Deus Ex Machina. I’d like to think though it’s got a drawback in that Flit needs to scan combat data on a new opponent, which suggests if an opponent figures out how to counter the scans, it won’t work at full capacity.
The other thing that makes me wonder is if the Earth Federation will want to get their hands on the technology. 14 years of barely scratching these things, they suddenly have a gun that can do them a great deal of harm. You bet the military are going to want a whole bunch of those things.
DEUS EX MACHINA…its not just for lazy writers anymore! get it while you can kiddies!
Flit definitely seems to have a thing for Yurin, that he doesn’t have for Emily (the curse of the Osananajimi), but its far too early to say one way or another. Emily was quite impressive this episode though, getting onto the Diva like that, even with Dique’s useless butt in tow.
The AGE Builder system is, of course, completely ridiculous, but I was grinning like an idiot during the explanation and then seeing it in action. It was just so gloriously over the top toyetic.
As for whether this is “real” Gundam or whatever, fuck the haters. I had a great time this episode, and as you said, this really does harken back to the original Mobile Suit Gundam in many ways. And I’ll bet many people would be shocked to learn that yes, it was aimed at kids as well.
I saw Yurin as like the Tiffa of AGE which I don’t mind. That AGE system machine was pretty cool. Maybe too convenient but very useful.
Also I wouldn’t worry too much about those who constantly bitch about this show and I’m guessing attacking you for “giving AGE a chance” when its clear to them that this show is heresy to the Gundam franchise. It’s like what Chris from MAHQ said about new things for future Gundam shows: You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
Eh. Wrong way bro. Emily (the blond) is the childhood friend and as such is Tifa Lockheart. Yurin is the Hinata Hyuuga look-a-like who will sacrifice herself to save humanity (Maybe…) and as such is Aerith.
Seriously. I saw Yurin and thought… Hinata?
Anyone else think that the UE are being controlled by Newtypes? And that Yurin is part of a faction rebelling against them?
Ignore the first part of my comment above. Wrong fandom. Don’t know what I was thinking there… Well, I never saw Gundam X. I started with Wing, then Seed, then 00…. then got copies of the UC timeline when Unicorn came out. (screwed… I know)
I’m glad Flit didn’t realize Yurin was telepathic, because if she knew what he was thinking when she was sitting on his lap, he’s better off in the dark about it.
I’m impressed by how quickly Flit adapted to the true test of any teenage mecha pilot.
Can you fight while balancing a girl on your lap?
Probably not without “poking her” by surprise…?
And I thought I would be the only one who thought that was a great pickup line, haha.
And that’s just cute of him to do. XD With Yurin coming with him, I guess I could say that Flit might be having a harem anytime soon *is shot* XDDD
Kidding aside, YUUUUUUUUUUUUURIIIIIIN. /o/
I love Yurin. I hope she is the wife of Flit in the future, but data out there tells me otherwise. At least I hope she does not touch the tragic in this story. It does not cause harm to be optimistic, I am prepared for any event.
I completely agree with you Divine, even when I have some complaints with AGE, I still like the series. It has a different than the other gundam series I´ve seen, but I´m not really old enough to enjoy universal century first hand, so I´ve watched a limited amout of the stoy and I think that´s part of the reason I like the show, makes me realize how gundam was at the begining. When a series has such a long history it evolves and changes but at the same time has to remember its origins, if not it will loose the very reason of its creation. What do you think, Divine?
AGE definitely feels like a throwback to the beginnings of Gundam. What would be cool is if they used the century-long story to showcase how the franchise evolved, befitting of the “AGE” premise. They could even go so far as making the characters look more serious as they grow older.
You have a point there, Gundamm 00 lasted for almost 8 years of story line and the tecnology as well as society evolved tremendously, I can´t even begin to imagine how the story will progress with a 100 years time line!.
Inb4 the final generation of this show uses the mobile trace system.
oooh Divine you make me want to stop pouting and start watching this….
My only concern is that it keeps to the basic themes of Gundam, i.e. humans vs humans, pain, people can die and relatively real robots*. The art (specifically the main characters weird hair) is a turn off but if the story’s good the art can be forgiven. I do have to admit that I wish they’d subvert the ‘psychic girlfriend will die’ thing, but that’s not isn’t a required theme of Gundam and just my dislike of already knowing exactly what will happen to a character.
* That’s why I consider G Gundam to be a good anime but not really something that belongs in Gundam.
I WAS right about the first 2 episodes should’ve been a 2-parter…(or even a 3-parter as of now), though I’m sure I’m not the only one predicting the Commander Sacrificing himself as soon as he said something about another escape route.
Regarding the AGE Builder: it just might be possible (even now we have 3D printers printing METAL parts for the A380 – don’t believe me? Google it.), all we need is that portable high-speed computing that the world is still out of reach of after 20 odd years…
BTW Divine: I would say AGE took more MS styling from MSG than what we have recently seen in 00 and Unicorn…though not those nice screens – pure information overload within 10 seconds…
FYI: I’m more from the Super NES generation xD (and I only watched MSG about a year ago – and it’s good…)
Coming from a long time Gundam fan who has pretty much watched every episode from the beginnings of UC to the current AGE series, there is a noticeable difference in terms of story telling and art style. A sign of the times I guess, but the underlying plot and characters are still very Gundam at the end of it.
I came into this series having low expectations because of the art style; it seriously looked like Inazuma 11 but with Gundams!
However, to my surprise the two episodes thus far have been wonderful. Sure it doesn’t have the dramatic flair and glowing art style that Gundam Unicorn has, but I think given the time, AGE will become a welcome member to the Gundam universe as long as the production doesn’t spiral into a train wreck.
Here’s hoping!@
The AGE Builder certainly falls into the “convenient” department as far as how it’ll factor into future battles but that certainly didn’t take away from how cool it looked while in action. I’m hoping that while it may prove more than useful for Flit in the future, it won’t always result in such a quick turn of the tide. Creating weapons that can measure up to the enemy is great and all but Flit is a genius so it’d be even better to see a bit of strategic input factoring into his battles from here on in. Hopefully anyways. (:
Points to Grudech for raising the suspicion level and taking command of the Diva behind everyone’s back. And Yurin. <3 All I can say is that things are definitely pretty interesting thus far.
Gundam Age feels alot like Eureka 7. Similar concept but slightly different styles. Eureka 7 had a more modern style while Age looks old school.
Maybe you could expand on that…
Yeah I picked up on that too, as soon as the OP started playing.
Yurin reminds me a lot of Tifa from Gundam X, and thats a good thing.
In fact, this show kinda feels pretty much like a modern Gundam X. Both relatively straightforward shows, but enjoyable nonetheless and with great, likeable characters.
Same feeling here too.
But why is she there?
Could she be another ‘Audrey Burn’?
That leads me to think of the roles the current set of characters will play in the Asem’s time period.
And the AGE Device is somewhat like the key starter thing Garrod plugs in to X.
I wouldn’t put it past Hino for Flit to marry BOTH Emily and Yurin after this. :/
… or even this: http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=22390847
Emily seems to have that yandere look on her. Good luck Flit!
Even better: Flit marries Emily and their son Asemu marries Yurin’s daughter. Thus Kio inherits her newtype-like abilities and makes use of them to end the one hundred-year war.
Tomino can suck it. In my eyes he’s a fallen creator, nothing more than a present-hating prick who hates women.
What are you basing your opinion on? Zeta? Victory? Because depression does things to people that you or I would never understand. Especially when one of the roots of that depression was the death of Tadao Nagahama.
Now, now lets be nice to Tomino. I don’t like most of his work either (I’m still baffled on why people say Zeta is great), but he has his good moments. For example, I thought Turn A was great.
Captain Grodek is now a favorite of mine. Tasing his douchey superiors then assuming command of Diva secretly was just badass. Yurin is fine too, though her resemblance to Tifa of Gundam X is kinda uncanny. She even has newtype like powers.
I like the AGE builder, its kinda of a convenient way to give new gear for the Gundam. Its not really implausible either, since we have 3D Printers today, so its it makes sense we can have better ones in the future. Also its inside operations kind of reminds me of the Aperture Science Enrichment Center. Was it secretly funded by Cave Johnson?
The stun gun in a form of a gun is really 80s… even the SFX seems like it’s from UC….
I think it’s true that the Original Gundam started out similarly from other Super Robot Series, but it soon pulled away from such cliches with angsty battles and drama. When the Gundam Science (ie. Minovsky particle theory) was fabricated, the whole Gundam universe embraced a more realistic portrayal of battles within an unrealistic premise. All the Gundam series had various degrees of super robot flavor. Gundam AGE’s problem is that its premise is too child-focused to begin with and its super robot flavor is out of control. The comical character designs and lack of militarism just enforces the notion that this series betrays its roots.
I guess I’ll stick with this for a little and at least follow Divine’s posts if he continues. However, the series still makes me feel like I’m watching Digimon.
That sure was a nice bit of meaningless word-salad, tossed together to try to prove your completely laughable point that Gundam Age somehow is “betraying” the roots of Gundam.
I was just trying to reason how others and myself can see Gundam AGE as something so different from past Gundams. Perhaps “betray” was too harsh a word, but you can’t deny that it is a divergence from the original Gundam much like SEED was. If you would like to refute my theory/opinion, then do so with something more than just an insult.
Wow, “Super Robot flavor out of control”. This one of the silliest things I’ve read so far. The only Super Robot-ish thing shown so far was the AGE Builder, and yet somehow that catapults this series as even more absurd that UC’s Newtype Magic Powers.
Did you also know there are only two episodes of AGE? Because I’d think that would be important when comparing it to other complete Gundam series
https://randomc.net/image/Gundam%20AGE/Gundam%20AGE%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2034.jpg
I’m sorry but this screenshot just reminds me of something out of Dr. Slump or something where the combining robot rises out of the school swimming pool. I don’t mean Super Robot in terms of Super Robot Wars which was badass.
Except character designs is not what dictates a Super Robot show. Its blatantly clear you don’t know what you’re talking about. Every single aspect shown so far has been leaning on the Real Robot side of things.
Funny you mentioned that Tomino bit, Divine. I remember how pissed off he was when Fukuda presented him with SEED.
Yeah, I really liked the first season of SEED too.
I didn’t mean to imply that I agree with everything Tomino says, but simply that if anyone’s going to make bold statements about how a Gundam series doesn’t “fit” the franchise, he would be one of the few people worth hearing out.
It’s a little better than the first episode, but not by much.
My biggest issues with this one:
1: 6 hours isn’t enough time to get everyone to the escape pods, but getting just as many people into the core is perfectly fine in the same amount of time.
2: The Diva is going to pull out the core? Either that thing’s engines pack way more power than it looks (i.e. enough delta-v to turn everyone to pink goo), or it’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Also, anchor points the towing line are just handwaved away, because there’s nothing out there with that much tensile strength, and I doubt that the Diva was designed the anchor points to tow a colony core (I’m an engineer… stuff like that matters to me). In this case, I’m with the Diva’s original captain. That whole plan is absolutely idiotic.
3: Commander old guy (whatever his name is)… dude, do you remember those escape pods you didn’t want to use earlier? Detach the core, then get your butt to one of them. If you die here, it’s a case of terminal stupidity, not a heroic sacrifice.
4: The
Deus Ex Machina BuilderAGE Builder designs and builds a fully functional hi-beam rifle (that works by spinning an energy beam… what? Spiral Energy beam rifle or something?), power supply and all, out of chunks of raw metal, in under a minute? That thing needs to be mass-produced, then put into use mass-producing beam rifles. Or just make it spit them out as fast as it can already. An hour of what we saw would be enough to refit several units of Genoaces;And I’m surprised that you didn’t post this picture from the intro. It’s all heavily stylized, so it’s hard to be sure, but I think I see a Rick Dom (distinctive legs), Gundam X (Satellite Cannon), Strike (distinctive shield) and maybe an extra blurry GP02 Physalis (heavy unit with atomic bazooka and shield) in the center from left to right. I can’t place any of the others, though.
1.) I presume this is because there are much larger shafts/elevators connecting the colony surface to the core, allowing civilians to evacuate much quicker.
2.) As I said, that requires some serious suspension of disbelief. Given the mass of the core, the force required to accelerate it must be ridiculous. It kind of reminds of Amuro using Nu Gundam to push an asteroid away from the Earth’s gravitational pull.
3.) Suspension of disbelief #2, hence my comment about killing Bruzar off so easily.
4.) To be fair, the same could be said about replicators in Star Trek.
I did have that image originally but took it out of the set. I recognized quite a few of the mobile suits shown too. I’ll add it back.
I wasn’t a huge Trekkie back in the day, but I can’t remember the replicator ever being used as that kind of deus ex machina. IIRC, it was more of a high-tech vending machine, and limited to the patterns that had already been programmed into it.
There are definitely limitations on what can be replicated, but working phasers are possible, so that comment was more in reference to the rate at which weapons could be churned out.
As an astrophysics major in university, I can tell you that it’s not that impossible to pull that thing. Time is the only issue. I assume this isn’t the place to go into the fine calculations, but basically, in space, where virtually no forces are existent, any force can move any thing.
The things that needs to be assumed is not too unbelievable:
The massive central rod should be electronically neutral, and that it’s not scraping anything as it’s pulled out (no force of friction). The more massive it is, the slower it will accelerate, but it doesn’t mean it won’t move. It would be ridiculous if they pulled that thing out in a couple of minutes though.
Under those conditions, if someone in the massive rod throws his/her shoe out the window, it’ll be enough to make the mass move at constant velocity in the other direction. Even if it’s 0.0000000001 nm/s
@Nivlek:
In theory, yes, you’re right (though comments about the anchor points and tie materials not withstanding the load still stand), but I doubt that the core will be on a frictionless surface, even without the anchors that tie it to the rest of the colony. Second, according to their plan, they have less than an hour allotted to pulling it free and getting clear of the rest of the colony. Considering the necessarily slow acceleration from the mass difference, that kind of time frame seems beyond unrealistic. No matter how you look at it, this plan is ridiculous.
The whole issue about the evacuation thing:
If you think about it, it’s not hard to believe that there’s people monitoring the colony’s systems and structure and everything for any sign of a problem 24/7. Same thing for possibly outside threats like collisions. If any dire situation arose, there would be plenty of time to react.
In this case, however, the colony got thoroughly damaged in an extremely short time-frame to the point where it was about to rip apart. I don’t think it’s hard to believe that their evacuation systems wouldn’t be able to support evacuating an entire colony in a relatively short amount of time. The procedure probably wasn’t made for the kind of mass exodus needed to flee a colony suddenly being wrecked to the point that it is going to rip itself apart.
Extraordinary circumstances lead to extraordinary countermeasures, I guess. The “GET EVERYONE TO THE CORE” thing didn’t bother me too much, but, then again, I’m pretty much filling in all the holes with assumptions.
For the most part, I like Gundam Age. I think it’s the first glimmer of promise the franchise has seen since it was revived with Seed.
That said, it does have some issues–which hardly anyone ever seems to bring up. Such as…
1) Pacing. In the first episode, we had Flit justify himself twice… in the middle of a battle. Unicorn did the same thing–long dialog-heavy scenes one after another in the MIDDLE of a hectic fight. Completely kills tension.
2) Unknown Enemies are… enemies? Their portrayal thus far really hasn’t established them much as a credible threat. They are a little enigmatic, but mostly just lame.
3) The fights absolutely suck. Granted, this isn’t exactly a unique criticism to post Turn-A series, but gimme a break. The first battle was just a few short stabs. This second battle was just a single beam rifle shot and a spherical explosion. Very lame.
Personally, I think it’s the unrealistic character design coupled with the poor animation that makes so many people “hate” on the show for the art style. I think the character design could be tolerated a lot better if the fight scenes were better.
I actually anticipated the fights to be brief in the early episodes, so it hasn’t been the least bit disappointing in that regard. The focus shouldn’t be on showy battles after all, but on laying the foundation for the story. There’s plenty of time for big galactic battles later on.
The main reason why UE’s been a threat is because the EFF didn’t have any weapons that could harm them. Even if they’re small in numbers, an enemy that you can’t harm is pretty hard to fight against. They can just walk in and do whatever the hell they want.
Oh, I understand that their a threat. My problem is that they haven’t been depicted as a threat.
That flashback w/ Frit’s mother’s death was the perfect opportunity to briefly show how threatening the UE could be. Wasted opportunity–they didn’t show up at all. That shuttle that was attacked was another opportunity–but once again, they didn’t show up (on screen) at all. Wasted opportunity.
As for the battles, yes, content-wise they’re not much different, but the choreography is boring as hell. Seed and MSG both had more interesting things happening on screen.
To be fair about the battles, Amuro and Kira did basically the same on their first fights. In fact, AGE’s battles left me with a big sense of deja vu after watching them. Flint’s first fight against the UE was very similar to Kira’s first battle against the GINN, and the DOT Rifle ownage was pretty much the same as RX-78’s first kill with the Beam Rifle (granted Amuro practically sniped the Zaku instead of firing from a close range).
The real battles will probably begin after the Diva leaves the colony and the UE starts attacking with more knowledge about the Gundam’s abilities.
So far I’m really liking AGE, from the classic designs to the similarities to the Universal Century series. It’s a welcomed change of pace after the Wing-ish approach of 00.
I don’t hate the style.. but I think I got too used to the more serious character designs of other Gundam series. My brain knows I’m watching Gundam but my eyes sees something like Digimon. For me, it creates an off feeling when watching. I’ll give myself 3-5 more episodes to hopefully get use to it..
This pose never gets to old. I mean we seent it so far back. Gundam woundnt be the same without this iconic pose wouldnt you agree?
https://randomc.net/image/Gundam%20AGE/Gundam%20AGE%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2031.jpg
I tried that pose with my friend’s old Devil Gundam.. I accidentally tore the right foot-limb off (half of the big head). I just placed the big head together again instead of using them as feet and never touched it again. I don’t think my friend knows I did it (unless he reads this). :p
So that’s what the AGE system is, a unified analysis plus automated factory. Fortunately its not all powerful as it still requires raw material to be already there. If they have the material, they should use it to make more Gundams. If they have concepts of Fangs or Dragoons or at worst, build haros into fang style missiles, those would be most cost effective.
The part that irks me this episode is the incredible nonchalance of the kids. Its a freaking emergency where DEATH is the consequence and they choose to move at their own pace to a spaceship that is not expecting them. Did it ever pass into their tiny brains that the freaking Diva COULD HAVE ALREADY LEFT?!? They are not personnel on the roster so why would anyone wait for them.
The girl seems to be one of the enemy while the captain looks like a revolutionary or some secret group (or possibly one of the enemy as well)
I would assume they thought that as long as Flit and the Gundam weren’t on board, the Diva wouldn’t have left
Well that would make sense except that they would not know Flit has not boarded. At the time of their meeting, Flit was already moving towards the Diva. No way the 2 kids knew that Flit would end up spending time trying to save psychic girl.
Additionally, the 2 foolish children left their car outside the hanger (and they don’t know how to activate the door). The captain was still in the car so his movement rate would outpace the 2 kids on foot by tons.
Seriously, if the captain had not spent time hiding the 3 Federation guys (who are dead once the colony collapses, so you know the captain isn’t some good guy), the Diva would have left the 2 foolish kids who by this time have 0 chance of reaching the core where the civilians are.
I’m not saying its illogical. These are kids after all, but the incredible denseness and lack of thinking or even a sense of danger really requires someone to slap them
@^
Considering the care being taken to load the AGE Builder onto the Diva, they would know if the Gundam were on board, and would not have left it behind. They might have launched and remained in the area, or since the original captain decided to ignore the “tow the colony” plan, they would have had much more time to wait before they needed to leave. The current crew needed to launch early to set up the anchor points and ties between the Diva and colony.
@Shiden, i am not referring to the Diva crew. I’m referring to the 2 kids Emily and Dique. They are supposed to be with the civilians in the core but instead unilaterally decided to go to the Diva (w/o informing anyone…). Hell, even Flit and the old mechanic had no idea.
How they expected to outpace Flit (in a Gundam no less) to the Diva in their mini car (which was not even present when they met Flit), i have no idea.
Then a slice of luck with the original captain arriving slightly after they reached the door. Since they had no idea how to open the door in the first place and their car was OUTSIDE and it was an elevator, they had to go on foot.
If it took the captain 10 mins to reach the Diva by mini car, i expect the kids to be at a minimum (very optimistic) of 3x that amount = 30 min. If Grudech had not been spending time hiding the 3 original crew and cracking the system, Emily and Dique would be waving a fatal and final goodbye to the Diva as it would already have left.
As a review, the 2 kids were lucky because
i) Flit was late due to psychic girl and the inital plan was to load the Gundam in or they would already be ready to cast off once Grudech was in.
ii) The original captain showed up to open the door that they had no idea how to open or they would be stuck at the door (and all the appropriate LOLs as the colony collapsed)
iii) Grudech was delayed due to having to hide the 3 soon to be corpses.
All of which was in an emergency with the exact collapse time being unknown. Yes it could be plot induced stupidity and they have absolute plot armor but their actions are so brainless and for 0 reason (other than Emily wanting to be with Flit and Dique being a brainless follower) they need to be have sense smacked into them
^ Zakufan
Point taken. Yes, that one is stupid too. 😛
GundamAGE ep2 is amazing but where are my boka wa tomodachi? Is it be dropped ? Please reconsider it,it’s great anime.
Ok, I like the Age system. It’s really cool. Why should it be convenient? They got data from that destroyed UE in episode !. It created a weapon in case it encountered that enemy again. It kind of reminds me of Megaman X in a way. Gundam Age grows, progresses, ages and gains experience. The Age system is an upgrading system. For me this anime is just going to be a fun giant robot with laughs and sad moments.
You will get your strategy Divine. This is Level 5 for crying out loud. Strategy games are their forte.
So basically you’re saying that nobody is allowed to complain about Gundam AGE, and if they do they’re being unreasonably selfish.
Wow. That’s the most stupidly arrogant thing I’ve read all week.
AGE is an incomprehensible pile of lazy storytelling, boring characters and ugly art design, and you know it. I know you’re a fanboy, Divine, but your weak attempts to gloss over this show’s major flaws are futile.
I think Divine’s point is that the mindless bitching, the rehashing of old, tired complaints that originated in the first five minutes after it was revealed aren’t going to cut it anymore.
Also making grand, sweeping declarations about a show that has aired 1/25 of its content is, quite frankly, idiotic.
Also a lot, and I mean A LOT of people need to go and fucking watch First Gundam again.
i’ve watched the first gundam and almost the entire UC and i found this series enjoyable. the problem is your being hard on yourselves. no matter how hard you bitch for a show you don’t like you won’t get any results cause they planned this from the very beginning and they intended to finish it, only show cancellation due to low ratings can stop what you don’t want to see. so if you’re gonna visit this site and complain every week about each of Gundam AGE’s episode, go ahead, your just making yourselves look stupid for bitching about something you don’t even want to see.
oh and talking about cancellation, the first gundam, Gundam 0079, during its airing should have been 52 episodes but was cut down to 39 by the show’s sponsors, which included the original toymakers for the series due to LOW RATINGS, though the staff was able to negotiate a one month extension to end the series with 43 episodes.
the first gundam only found success when Bandai received the licensing to the show’s mecha and w. their line up of Gundam models, the popularity of the show began to soar. The models sold very well, and the show began to do very well in reruns and even better in its theatrical compilation.
The first gundam didn’t innovate the anime scene easily, they needed the help of their “GUNPLA”
@Zwei
Speaking of Gunpla, I can’t wait to buy this new Gundam lead once it is in MG form, an HG is already out, but I’m not into those, hopefully BANDAI used the inner frame of MG 2.0s for this kit 🙂
I don’t understand how people can say that this is not a “real” Gundam. They’re the same people who watched Gundam 00 and thought it was awesome. C’mon, Gundam 00 has a clone army, pilots with magical powers and freakin’ aliens.
And you are complaining about a system that can create weapons on the go? C’mon, Gundam AGE looks like a realistic documentary from National Geographic when compared to Gundam 00 and all this fantasy crazy random stuff. LOL.
Is this Gundam AGE is pretty much doing the “Gundam thing” in the right way. It’s much more Gundam than 00 and even Unicorn, that’s for sure.
The character designs are so strange, aren’t they? Chibi just doesn’t go with military.
The longer I look at the visuals and retro art style, the more I seem to be adjusting to it. Given a few more episodes I’ll probably have gotten used to it and treat the style as a minor issue.
…except Vargas the scientist. I’ll never get used to a fat, bearded old man wearing what looks a lot like a spandex superhero costume from the Marvel rejection bin. 😛
I like the blog and I have been coming to it for around 5 years. But I thought you got a bit too preachy and defensive in this post, Divine.
I kinda agree with you, till I realise that Divine has probably put up with loads and loads of crap. We are all human, and we do get tired of holding things in, especially when you see the same kinds of arguments being posted over again and again.
Take it from someone who has been through the same thing, eventually one tires of constant bitching, whining and criticism in comments. Personally if it were me I’d start deleting some of the more worthless whiny/bitchy comments that tell the author that they don’t know what they are talking about and/or how they should watch a show and appreciate a show for some asinine reason, but Divine seems to have the patience of a saint here.
Asking for human decency doesn’t equate to being a fanboy in my book like some people are insinuating here, but unsupported reasons for why someone should hate something sure do qualify as trolling.
Grudech confirmed for best character? Grudech confirmed for best character.
Grudech confirmed for best character.
How could he not be with all that damn swag?
Somehow he reminds me of Gai Murakumo.
Great pick up line, Flit. You are on the right path to become a harem leader! But Yurin is just soo cute anyway.
The AGE system is just way too awesome, it is nearly unbelievable even for anime! But this will be an interesting turn and I believe, a very important tool in the story as it progresses.
Sorry, this is out of topic, but I just happen to read in gundam wiki that there will be gundam seed remaster project. Is that really true? I wonder if that is a good or bad thing though.
We all knew that Age would be directed to a childish audience, but the blatant steal/use of Rockman/Megaman’s Weapon Copy System (WCS) in the form of the Age Builder is way too much deus-ex machina. This means that no matter what the UE sent against the Age, it will always have a weapon or means to counterstrike them. More so, stealing a page of Gundam X isn’t helping Age’s cause in any possible way.
Flit is becoming infuriatingly annoying with the “I built it, I’m the man!” attitude. And the fact that the Age itself is more plot-armorish than the idiot who control it, there goes the tradition of the character is more important than the mecha itself. Because that was the real core of Gundam: “not the machine, but the one that use it”.
The main problem Age has is that this beginning is even childish than ZZ, and when the series reaches the (supposed)part when it will please older audience, it way too posible that the older audience already moved away.
OK this is really getting on my nerves so I must say it. People really should look up the term Deus Ex Machina and know what it means. The AGE Builder is not a DEM. Its was mentioned at the beginning of the episode, and its thoroughly explained what it does, and how it does it’s creation of weapons. Can it be used as DEM? Possibly, but it hasn’t yet. Everything it has done is in the realm of plausibility so far.
Its really irritating how people throw around terms like DEM and Super Robot to bash this show while having no idea what the terms mean.
Um….So what was Flit supposed to say? Tell a lie? Grow up. He’s a kid, and I get the feeling he’s a pretty straightforward person ever since having the relentless drive to complete a Gundam after the death of his family and the destruction of his home. Moreover, it isn’t Setsuna-level obsession, so you need to get over it.
Not a big fan of Gundam like others (meaning I don’t know all of its iterations) but I’m quite liking what I’ve seen. This series reminds me a lot of the original story with Amuro and the gang.
The AGE system is really quite imba, though I’m no less impressed by the concept and the evolutionary process of weapon creation. Despite it being “Deus-ex machina”, a term used SO correctly, I believe there are limitations to the system which might be explored further. Does it have a long cooldown period? How many raw materials do you need exactly to make better and more powerful weapons? Will it take longer? From what I’ve seen of Gundam franchise, the beam rifle seems to be the standard issue weapon, so it would be interesting to see more complications arise.
I see the resemblance with Tiffa with Yurin, though despite this ongoing talk about possible romances, it’s likely that she might be considered for the role of a sacrificial lamb. It’s true that the ED sequences aren’t always what they seem, though.
Speaking of which, I’m beginning to like Emily’s character. Kudos to her for those guts she had to sneak into the hangar.
oh, for those having thoughts of how smart Flit is able to built all of that, yeah, he is a wiz kid, but he ain’t that uber smart like what you are referring to, he didn’t built all from scratch, don’t you remember the memory unit her mother gave him, that contain the blueprints for a mobile suit, and if the Gundam is not complete w/o the age builder, that means that what is inside that memory unit is the whole plan for the Age System w/c includes our Gundam & the Age Builder.
The question is, where did his mother got that memory unit? ^^
This… Well how should i put it.. Little Flashback in Eps 1. Where the Butler? Explain the “Gundam” Hero Painting
i assume
I think from the early info, the AGE Device is passed down the family.
I suppose it began in written format before the digital age.
I, for one, think the first 2 episodes are EPIC FAILs.
No emotional attachment… Clichés everywhere! Damn they are KIDDIE! Even the adults are kiddie >_> No sexiness anywhere… NO SMEXY = FAIL! No feeling of distress or urgency during battle… Even the robots looks comical with those undersized torsos and oversized heads! Heebie-Jeeves… It’s like watching Astro Boy (AB) but with no Astro >_< At least AB had drama in it… this is like watching Pokemon without the cute Pokemons and without the comedy…
To be honest, this is the worst Gundam series I've ever watched (and I've watched a lot of them)! And probably will be the first I drop… I'm giving it 2 more episodes to improve (for the sake of my love for the series itself), then it's off to the chopping board… And having them looking so kiddie and the hints of "kiddie romance, come ride my Gundam" just irks me the wrong way…
Ughh… BIGGEST disappoint of the season yet.
The Undersized torsos are actually fine, but some of the scenes portray it comically as in unrealistically.
I find that a big turn off, look at Full metal panic http://furuanimepanikku.com/fmp-3d/frontbackok1.png that robot is similar to the gundam but the way they portray it in FMP scenes is so much damn realistic then how the gundam is portrayed in Gundam AGE.
I like how you judge the entirety of a show’s quality with this much behind it on its first two episodes. Like ANYONE can predict where a show like this will go based on that. It’s 50 episodes and already confirmed to timeskip twice. You’re gonna watch it anyway, so stop denying it.
Just for this comment, friend, you get my thumbs-up, since it’s really, REALLY logical for us to draw conclusions from a 50-episode series from the first 2 episodes. Yep, makes plenty of sense.
oh noez, what will sunrise do without a dedicated fan like you Ddadain!
It would turn out great by the time they reach the third generation. The offsprings will fight against each other.
After watching this episode, I’m finally getting the “feel” of this new Gundam series. As of now, I think I no longer have any worries to whatever direction this series wants to go.
The destruction of the colony is like a reminiscences to me of Gundam SEED, except that in Gundam AGE I think I’m getting really hooked to this show after just 2 episodes, in SEED it took me at least 20 episodes before I really started appreciating its story (thanks mainly to the appearance of Cagalli which I thought is a perfect match for Kira back then XD).
So far I like how the series seems to favor small skirmishes (at least in the first 2 episodes) between a few mobiles suits (a reminiscence of Gundam 00), which I believe is a lot more realistic than a single Gundam ass-kicking a battalion of enemy suits not counting the battleships deployed (like in Wing, and SEED).
So far the only downside with this new series is the fact that this is the first Gundam series I’ll be watching in a weekly basis as compare to the marathon I’ve done to its predecessors, yeah I can’t wait for next week.
Also, personally I don’t really like it when a Gundam makes signature action poses, I always laugh when they did, it’s like “why is this machine even make those poses?” 🙂
Got that Heliopolis feeling when I saw the next ep preview of ep1.
Looks that there will be an awful lot of ‘tributes’ in AGE 😛
Regarding the pose..
Maybe theres a ‘do pose’ button/command on the touch screen or something 😛
Kind of make me relate to taunts in fighting games.
Maybe someone can do a 4-koma on this idea?
Okay somebody please FOR THE LOVE OF GOD FIX THE ANIMATION!! This is gundam NOT some uber cutesy toon ala pokemon/digimon
The fact that it looks like the second generation Asuno is blonde (it could be the third?), and the ending, I will venture to say he’ll end up with Emily.
Perhaps i give this Show a Try. Just for the “Retro” Feeling Chars.. You know, me started with “Future Boy Conan”. Sorry, don’t know the Nippon name for it. Just the US name, and that was Miracle to find out…
Okay, time for my Rumors Deus Ex Machina 🙂
Grudge is not really the Person he gives.. Looks like he has a Big Secret. And these UE Mobile Suits. That attack the Colony, looks like Remote Controlled, more like Scout Units. Because on a Melee Combat they flew. And the “Reinforcement” are the real Deal. Looks like as they are really to Try out, what this Gundam can really do.
I’ll put it this way: I’m in the same boat as Divine above. We also share the same sentiments regarding video games nowadays. I’ve yet to play a video game that has given me the same kind of emotion I’ve had when I played something like Chrono Trigger, A Link to the Past, and Final Fantasy 6. Or, if on the Genesis, Streets of Rage, Sonic, and Phantasy Star.
The same applies to anime. When I watched Whisper of the Heart by Studio Ghibli, for example, I was astonished by the level of details in the city. It’s probably a surprise to those who are new to anime, but CG rendered cars didn’t exist then. Everything carefully drawn and painted. Beautiful looking movie.
Gundam AGE to me is reminiscent of the old anime shows, definitely the original Gundams. The art style reminds me a lot like the film Metropolis. Similar unique style. It also looks distantly reminiscent of Rockman.EXE if anyone remembers that. The story itself is like any classic Gundam.
My age showed when I was watching this, and I’m only 31. Lol. Boy have times passed by so fast.
I’m enjoying the show more than I expected since I choked at the character designs and mechs when they were revealed. That said, it’s no where near the level of excitement I got from watching GW, GS, GSD, and G00.
You got excitement from watching Gundam Seed Destiny?
Oh boy. Ooooh boy.
I honestly find it funny that people think the AGE builder is a Deus Ex Machina when that describes a lot of the other things throughout the gundam series which are not even close to being as realistic as the AGE Builder.
GN or Minovsky Particles being a couple examples. Especially GN Particles.
Yeah, at least the Gundam is getting new weapons in physical way and not pulling a mile-long beam saber from out of nowhere.
I was hopping that Milles would be in charge of Diva as another female captain lol. If Grudech ends up being shaddy it could still happen since the commander has faith in her and she looks comfortable giving the screw commands.
Or just my wishful thinking XD
The AGE Builder needs some sort of materials to start building with in the first place…dunno if it’s out of nowhere…
It also seems like what it constructs is only slightly better based off the combat data available. The DOTS Rifle, while it was able to destroy the UE, it wasn’t like some SUPER rifle or anything. Most likely data recorded showed how ineffective “normal” beams were against UEs and made the DOTS Rifle work in a more effective way. But it’s not like it “knew” what exactly would be stronger or if it’d work so well or not.
As said, hopefully, we won’t start getting “perfect” counters made every other battle like that…
If you’re so adamant about how Gundam AGE isn’t what the franchise is all about, then you can simply not watch it. The last thing I want to read week in, week out are comments about how people think Gundam should that are just annoying to people who want to give AGE a fair chance. As far as I’m concerned, the only person who has any unconditional merit in making such a statement is Tomino Yoshiyuki — the creator of Gundam.
It’s funny how I told everyone the same thing regarding Blood C, to be honest. But whatever.
I really am enjoying Gundam AGE- it’s by no means perfect, but it’s still great, full of energy and the main thing- has a heart, so I’m definitely watching the rest. As for haters, well…like Divine said, you don’t have to watch it. But regarding that most people have hated shows but think it’s fun to whine about them, I don’t think that will quite change, alas.
The thing I’m worried about the most for this series is how attached viewers will be to the characters and what the studio’s view on it is.
One scenario would be that the characters are not particularly memorable because we’ll have to inevitably change characters after the generation jump. That would pose the problem that after the first section of the show, viewers will feel like they’re watching the same show with a rehashed cast.
The other scenario would be making the characters too memorable and then viewers start complaining about the character development of the overall series.
I don’t doubt that there is a way around it, but Sunrise has certainly gone to lengths to make their own job that much harder. Having a 4-cour schedule also certainly gives them a lot more to work with.
I’m quite interested to see how it all unfolds.
I don’t really know where I stand on this show at the moment but I like Flit (but let’s wait and see if his “let’s do this” attitude maintains after he finds out he has killed a human or whatever stereotypical Gundam Drama Bomb is dropped on his lap happens). Grudech is great, too. I don’t know what he’s up to but he is getting stuff done, man. Getting it done good.
I don’t think the AGE Builder is going to be as broken as people think, with the fact that it needs raw materials and battle data to do anything at all. When you think about it, it fills the same role as equally “overpowered” technologies did in other Gundam shows (learning computer, psychoframe, biocomputer, etc etc..).
AGE is falling victim to the same problems most Gundam shows have (awkwardly placed dialogue in the middle of fights, a sometimes-stilted script, overly-defined character roles), but it’s still somewhat enjoyable. I won’t feel bad wasting 20-or-so minutes on my Sunday afternoons watching it. It’s going to be a tale of wait-and-see, but I think it has potential.
I’ve been a Gundam fan since I was a child so I kinda can’t resist at least giving AGE a fair shot. The only Gundam shows I’ve ever completely jumped ship on were SEED and SEED Destiny, after all.
I’m enjoying this so far. Few odd things here and there, but the first two episodes have kept me entertained. Each new episode is much anticipated. I’m enjoying how Emily doesn’t seem weak-willed. She just flat out follows Flit, goes on the ship and such. I also can’t get enough of the ending song. One of my favorites of this season. I’m really interested in how the story is going to turn out.
Did anyone notice the DOTS Rifle had a different firing sound than other beam weapons normally have? Was kinda neat to hear.
Whenever I see the Diva I can’t help but think it looks like the Gundam’s waist somewhat. I know it probably wouldn’t fit the series at all, but part of me wants to see the AGE System evolve with the Diva and pull off some kind of Valzacard. Even if just the combination part.
It’s also probably because of the colors, but whenever I see that unknown enemy type at the end of the episode I can’t help but think of the Werkbau/Dis Astranagant from SRW Alpha 3. It kind of freaks me out…
I know it’s kinda odd, but I loved the sound of the DOTS Rifle. It just sounded like impending death.
I love odd sound effects for weapons. The DOTS Rifle just sounds like nothingness coming to make you nothing.
Emily is Flit’s future wife. Why? Asem Asuno inherits his mother’s hair and eye colour. ^_^ Also – something will happen to Yurin, most likely she’ll die, as the credits animation foreshadows this(imo) with the solemn look on his face and the reflection of Yurin on it.
Yurin will definitely be the primary love-interest until she does a Lalah Sune / Flay Allster / Anew Returner.
That is… if they stick to the typical gundam formula.
Could UE be like the AUEG, and Grudech is actually a Quattro/Char-clone? 😛
typo: *AEUG
Overall: Enjoying this Gundam so far!
If the AGE Builder can be expanded or something than they can retrench workers from whatever ‘Anaheim’ they have in their time.
Automated MS development, provided theres war, demand and data.
And Flit can patent it or something than earn big bucks 😛
Ya, and there coming of the G EXES and new characters.
A third faction? UE?
The coming of the masked character.
Could Yurin be related to them?
I think that both Gundam Unicorn and Gundam AGE are are good takes on the original Gundam series. Unicorn obviously goes for the more serious route, but I find myself really enjoying AGE’s more childish take on things as well. Though I wouldn’t exactly use childish as a term to describe this series. It is kind of kiddie like, but I think we should wait a few more episodes to see where this show is really headed.
Either way, I’m really enjoying it so far. Reminds me quite a bit of the earlier days of Gundam. Which is a good thing, since Unicorn did that for me too, and it’s turned out great so far.
It’s kind of evident that Emily will be Flit’s wife. The second protagonist of this series sort of looks like her. He will have blonde hair. The ending credits sort of give it away, too.
Each gen is supposed to represent a different decade/era of Gundam. Flit will be 70s-80s Gundam, son will pilot Gundam design inspired by those of 1990s, and the grandson will pilot a Gundam inspired by those of the 00s.
Is Gundam for five years old,
and that is a deal breaker for me.
I hope in the other generations this is reversed.
I’m not so sure it’s for five-year olds. I’m not sure who it’s for and that feels like the problem. Obviously it has more mature themes and elements such as the mother dying and the military being willing to abandon the colony*. However we also have things like the Age System, two kid characters who have no point being on the ship and ‘monster’ mobile suits** that do make it feel childish. What exactly is the intended audience?
*I’m not sure why it’s such a bad thing. Obviously from the view of the Nora colonists it’s bad but shouldn’t they have had a practical evacuation plan long ago that didn’t need a military ship coincidentally just happening to be there? From the military’s perspective it’s much more intelligent to preserve the advanced ship and gather data on the enemy instead of wasting it on a doomed effort to protect the civilians (which they can’t realistically do).
** All I’m saying is those suits had BETTER have human pilots. If they dare take away the human vs. human theme of Gundam I will show no mercy.
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