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「友情と恋とモビルスーツ」 (Yuujou to Koi to Mobiru Suutsu)
“Friendship, Love, and Mobile Suits”
I thought this show was about Gundams and stopping the Vagans, not stealing future wives away from the Asuno family. Flit had it pretty bad when Yurin was cruelly snatched from him, but Asem doesn’t even get a chance to realize his feelings before Zeheart starts going for ze heart of ze Romary. To that I say, what ze fu–.
It’s like the writers are purposely messing with us since we know Gundam AGE will span three generations and the promo art already revealed Kio’s character design. The objective side of me sees the Asem, Zeheart, Romary love triangle as an interesting way to keep viewers guessing, but the jaded side of me who’s still a bit upset about Yurin’s death chooses to see it as some intentional trolling. The same goes for the insert song by AiRI, which as pleasant as it may sound, only served as a “terrific” reminder of what KOKIA’s song in episode eleven got us. It was more or less an elegy. This time around, the song isn’t nearly as ominous, but still comes off as, “Mwahaha, I’m going to take your girl from you!” –Zeheart
Quite honestly, I’d be completely okay with Romary falling for Zeheart after he saved her from a flying wrench (damn you Shawee… *shakes fist*), but I don’t know about Zeheart’s sudden realization that he might have feelings for her in return. That felt pretty tacked on at the end there — as if the writers were trying to make a love triangle out of nothing — so I don’t really buy Zeheart’s blossoming feelings. I just don’t see how he went from, “I’m going to steal your Gundam”, to “I’m going to steal your woman”, _while_ he was busy doing the first one. There was absolutely nothing in the way to show that he even cared who Romary was, unlike that silly Unao who was all like, “Kyaa, ikemen da!” ([RC-Subs]: “Ah, a hot guy!”)
However, regardless of the believability, it’s probably safe to say that a Gundam pilot has it pretty rough. Shawee thinks that youth is all about “friendship, love, and mobile suits”, so what is Asem left with if Zeheart takes all three away, plus his younger sister? He’ll probably just be hollow shell of his former self and have to settle for the alternative, just like this guy. Twenty five or so years later, Asem will probably cut his ponytail, grow a goatee, have a kid to live his lifelong goal through, and wave the “Kill All The Martians!” banner proudly. Luckily, things are looking up for him at least, as he protected his Gundam — and his girl — and will be sticking it to Zeheart at their graduation ceremony. “She’s mine you Char wannabe!“
* Warning: Divine’s attempt to be funny is never really that funny.
* Full-length images: 06, 12, 13, 14, 15, 23.
INS2: 「君と僕はそこにいた」 (Kimi to Boku wa Soki ni Ita) by AiRI
Watch the 2nd INS!: Streaming ▼
Preview
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Omake
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Divine’s “attempts” to be funny, is always funny! I love the attempts! XD
Divine’s “attempts” to be funny reminds me of Kii-kun,
I don’t about ze other readers, but I had a huge smile while reading this summary. Ze Zeheart la … he is quite ze char clone, wouldn’t you agree?
So despite an awesome first episodes last week, this episode starts up with the Age plot holes. When did the Vagans become bumbling idiots? I know Asem had to get back to pilot the Gundam but really? Two men in a jeep with a bazooka can hold off a Vagan MS long enough for Asem to ride back from the city to his home? The bazooka wasn’t even causing any damage, even with a direct hit to the head where the pilot is located. Why would the Vagan even care about them? So Asem destroys the Vagan MS and they decide to move the Gundam to a secure facility. But the Vagans can’t track a white MS on an open bed truck? WTF?
The explanation of the ZedasR was interesting since it’s a Zedas specifically modified for use by X-Rounders. Which means Zeheart is an X-Rounder.
…When did the Vagans become bumbling idiots? From the very begining. They’ve been at war with the Federation for FORTY YEARS and have managed to accomplish exactly nothing.
They’re the single most ineffectual villains the franchise has ever seen, and the second-most ineffectual antagonists any anime has ever seen (Zenigata, of course, beat ’em out).
You don’t know that. The Vagans may have a human face, but there objectives are still not clear. I’d leave judgement with the Vagans until we actually know what Project Eden is.
That’s not true. In the last episode they clearly state that the Vagans have expanded their area of control. Earth Federation is trying to prepare for a counterattack to push back the Vagans. Furthermore, Zeheart was activated for phase 2 of Project Eden. So the Vagans think they are making progress.
“Project Eden” is mostly likely a lot of BS. How many plans could possibly involve taking 40 years? All they’ve really done is (maybe) siezed a few colonies in the Earth sphere.
Keep in mind we’ve yet to see the Vagan win a single battle.
They’re cheap “comic book” villains.
Well I think there are two things to consider
1)Type of warfare: In generation 1 the UE/Vagan mostly used small scale guerrilla attacks rather than large scale fleet battles. Using these kinds of small scale attacks can take decades to achieve results, if any, and in history there are examples of rebel factions fighting for decades against established government.
2)Frequency of attacks: While the war with Vagans has been going on for 40 years that does not mean that the Vagans have been attacking relentlessly for the past 40 years. In generation 1 the public barely noticed the Vagans probably because the number of attacks was so small that people hardly noticed. Also since the Vagan’s numbers are mostly likely vastly inferior to the Federations they probably don’t have the man power to wage long drawn out conflicts and have to retreat to build up their strength which could take years. For all we know, the Vagan probably weren’t seen for years after their set back in generation 1 and it takes time to move their forces from Mars to the Earth Sphere (Like 2 years I think).
There is also the fact that we still don’t know the Vagan’s ultimate goal. Are the Vagans looking to just simply overthrow the Federation and conquer Earth? Do they even have the numbers to achieve such a goal? And what is project Eden? There are many questions that need to be answered before we write the Vagans off as ineffective enemies.
In response to your second comment
We know that the Vagans have recently expanded their sphere of control so that most likely means that they have been been winning some battles. The battles with the Gundam aren’t the only battles going on. Just because we haven’t seen the Vagan win any battles doesn’t mean they aren’t winning any.
In the original Mobile Suit Gundam, the Zeon forces attacking the White Base were almost always wiped out or forced to retreat and yet we know that they won several conflicts during the beginning of the One Year War.
@Zetatrain
And also, as evidenced by things like the 08th MS Team and 0080, and other (still unofficial) side stories like Rise from the Ashes (White Dingo Team in Australia), Blue Destiny (Yu Kajima), and so on, even throughout Mobile Suit Gundam (while focused on the White Base), we know that there have been MANY other battles involving many other groups throughout all of Earth AND some in space. Others are merely mentioned like the retaking of California Base, battles in Africa, and whatnot.
@HojoJoe
Plenty of plans take long years. I’m pretty sure there is a Sci-Fi disclaimer for that. Gundam 00 for example, took nearly hundreds of years for Celestial Being to realize its plan for dialogue with the ELS.
The Vagan objective isn’t know. Its that simple. Wait for the end of the series before you can make the conclusion on Vagan goals.
If you want actual comic-book villains watch Destiny. Comparing Blue Cosmos/LOGOS to the Vagan is a tall order though, since the former takes the crown jewel for villain incompetence. The Vagans have the benefit of still being mysterious.
The real question is why Zehart just hung out in the woods while his idiot partner messed around with the jeep. If he’d just flown in and hit the barn while the other guy was distracted, they could have taken/destroyed the Gundam and been long gone before the Federation response team arrived.
Well, they would have had to destroy it given the AGE requires the AGE Device to work (not that they’d know that right now), so they couldn’t simply hop in and walk off with it, lol.
It’s called the Stormtrooper effect. 😀
Looks pretty good so far. Strangely I feel I’m watching a different anime all together here.
– Secret identity?
– The having a secret with a girl thing?
– Love rival?
– Miraculous save = Fallen in love with a certain shirou?
hmmm quite a episode, i see that one coming from the title of this episode.
but i think asemu never found his love interest in romary judging from his dense look , but it will be more interesting if he does,
but why kio must be asemu son? it can be he is asemu sister son because he just describe to be flit grandson doesnt it? not asemu son…. btw great ep love the ED song
Kio was specifically stated to be Asem’s son.
More like stealing husbands. That look he gave Asem as he carried Hanakana away … ”You never carry me away when my leg gets hurt, Asem …” Oh, the pain to be in love in Gundam while being voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya. You either die after just finding your soulmate, or that love is never returned …
Honestly, the entire montage was more about Zeheart and Asem bonding with each other while Romary developing something of a crush on the two of them (yes, the two. Zeheart might be a Char, which is something like a magnet for women of all kinds (even Asem’s sister and mother) but Asem still did save her life on more than one occasion, and they share a secret with each other.)
This will make it all the more delicious when they all have to kill each other BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ~ Ze Arabesque
I think Zeheart was more surprised that she was there than actually planning to steal her.
But hey if this is the love triangle for this part of AGE maybe Zeheart will be the Yurin of the triangle while Asemu is Emily.
He was surprised there, but he was relieve at the end, suggesting that he was glad Romary didn’t get hurt.
I think he was more relieved that the mission to hunt the Gundam would continue and he’d get to keep playing school. That’s just me, though.
In my opinion Zeheart’s relief may or may not be about Romary as well, but I think it’s definitely about him getting to live a “normal” life some more. From what the Vagan people say (the ones that talk, mind you), people on Mars have it pretty rough. So having a chance to be just another normal kid must mean the world to him, at least partially, and even though it’s not supposed to because “the mission should come first”.
But unless anyone else has forgotten, Zeheart is young too, so he’s bound to have the usual conflict of emotions that comes with youth, regardless of how tough a nut he’s supposed to be.
I also got the feeling that Zeheart was relieved because he was enjoying being in school and having friends. He also seems to be a lot more interested in Asemu than Romary XD
Divine, I don’t know if it’s me, or bad subtitles, but from that last scene I got the impression the Zeheart was just relieved that he wouldn’t have to end up fighting Asemu or Romary any time soon. I don’t think Zeheart has any romantic feelings for Romary, at least not yet.
That could be the case, but I still feel that Romary had a big part in Zeheart’s realization at the end because he didn’t show any hesitation after finding out Asem’s the pilot of the Gundam. Pretty stark difference compared to his reaction as soon as Romary showed up.
That surprised me too, good point. Though I would still question it. When Zeheart asks “why is she here?”, the emphasis could be on the why instead of the she.
It could mean “why is Romary sticking to Asemu so much?” instead of “why is Romary, who I am interested in, here?”
Love the attempts to be funny, but stealing wives muhahahahahahaa
Hello Divine,
This is not related to this post but I’m just wondering if you are going to give your overall thought about FFXIII-2, since last time you did on FF13. It would be very interesting and cool from your part ;).
I would, but I haven’t played the game yet. I don’t even have a copy of it. My shipment got delayed. :\
Aw oh okay, I’m looking forward it ;).
i think in the end Zeheart after spending time with the ze earthlings, he’ll grow attached to them. The relationship between Zeheart & ze Asem will most likely be like ze Kira & ze Athrun.
Zeheart stealing Romary’s precious heart, ze.
“Youth is friends love and mobile suits” might be my favorite Gundam quote only because its just innocent and silly.
This episode feels rushed, although I can see why. They want to establish some sort of friendship with the high school scenes before going with the war later. A montage would have to do, since I’ll be interested on how their relationship works when the serious stuff happens. Heck they are pretty much jumping to the graduation next episode already. The action is still good at least.
I’m surprised that Divine didn’t even acknowledge that maybe Zehearts relief might actually have to do with Asem. He did invite him to his house after all!
the title/quote made me think of dynasty warrior gundam. there’s a mission called: Love…and Mobile Suits.
Youth is about Friendship (while building GunPla while discussing the latest episode of the current Gundam series/OVA with your fellow otaku friends), Love (trying to explain one’s Gundam and GunPla obsession to one’s girlfriend), and Mobile Suits (going with your nakama to the store to buy more GunPla). Guess that’s the most accurate stuff I’ve heard today. Did the show just break the fourth wall? XD
This episode was both a good build-up episode and a great reference to 0080, the single best piece of Gundam fiction around.
Can’t wait to see Asem and Romary’s reaction to their new friend’s true colours.
It looks like Asem/Zeheart/Romarie all have mutual feelings for each other. Best way to resolve it is a threesome!
And yeah, I thought Zeheart was relieved that he gets to spend more time with Asem/Asem didn’t get hurt? (I forgot what the scarred man said.) His being surprised at Romarie just felt like Hino’s lazy writing to me (like the whole episode). Or there’s more to her than meets the eye.
Does anyone have a clear reference of Marina Asuno? I think I remember her profile on the AGE site before its second generation renewal. Just to compare hair colors. Marina, Romarie, and Kio all have similar hairstyles…just saying.
Though the syrupy montage felt a bit premature, I can respect what it was trying to do given the need to get the story away from Earth ASAP. I was a bit surprised it didn’t show more of the Romary, Zehart, and Asem trio that’s all over the ED sequence, but whatever. As someone who hasn’t looked at any promo material for this series, I’m wondering if maybe it’s the female element’s turn to have her heart broken before settling with the other point of the “triangle”. Since I haven’t seen promo material I don’t know if Zehart lives or dies, but that’s where I see things going from where they stand now. It’s only the second episode of the arc, but I still think there’s hope for Asem/Romary (I still can’t get over how much that sounds like a Japanicized Rosemary).
Not quite understanding the uniforms in the preview; were Asem and co. going to a military academy the whole time, or is Earth so militarized that the cap and gown have been replaced by officer uniforms?
It it’s only a week’s worth of montage focusing on the Mobile Suits Club, so I think the ED is the most we’ll see of the trio having fun because…
Show Spoiler ▼
Japanese graduation ceremonies require students to dress as formal as possible (lol Asem) in their uniforms. The male uniforms here are highly stylized gakuran, and a gakuran is traditionally paired with a student cap, so…yeah.
Hey It’s not Zehart’s fault he’s so handsome. It’s Romary who has the wandering eyes here. Come on man. Zehart’s a bishi king. Bishi kings get all the girls, Including Asemu’s girl.
I wonder if there’s some connection between Zeheart and Woolf. I mean, they look pretty similar.
At first glance they look pretty similar. The bishounen character with dark(er) skin, a long face, small eyes, and long, light hair. But their chins and eyes and even noses? are different. Plus Woolf has a prominent bottom lip. They’d probably look much different in Nagano’s original art (…you know, the artist for Professor Layton). If we ever see that.
I think I saw a crack theory floating around that had to do with cloning or something 😛
Maybe it’s a red herring?
Divine, I don’t get why Dique is “settling for the alternative”. I didn’t even know he had a choice o.O still though, it looks like he’s got himself a woman too, and a son that looks like what he would have if he laid off on the cheesecakes growing up.
Either way, the show looks to be heading into J-dorama territory, what with Romary blushing hard over Zeheart catching that wrench, when she’s already impressed with Asem and his Gundam (women..) but at least Asem looks like he’s gonna get some rabu points of his own in the next episode.
Um…I think that’s a daughter, not a son. XD
Either way, Dique ver.Skinny.0.
Please stop withe Ze’s ugh know I think of this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_uxyXekDjo
i took the insert song to mean ansem and zehart are going to fall in love and that we will have 13 more episodes until he bites it, and by “it” i don’t mean ansem.
meh.. still a kid’s show…
will wait for 2013: Gundam OBAMA
🙂
Asem Ohime dakko Romary is totally like a confession!!! WOHOOOOO! It’s like Asem tell Zeheart “In your Face Mother F*CKER!!!”
Episode 15 could have been episode 1… what a waste.
yea how many more of this yawn-age do keep watching?
wonder if PG-gundam series going to be improve or not yea give i’m still on guessing waiting for ai kayano to be it either if later 2nd or 3rd gen.
overall wake me up when GS movie or 3rd GS arrive yea later gundam marks.
https://randomc.net/image/Gundam%20AGE/Gundam%20AGE%20-%2017%20-%20Large%2029.jpg how ridiculous is that!?
It’s actually my highlight of the episode. That’s gotta be the first time in Gundam that I saw a pilot escape from his mobile suit before it blew up in a fight. Reminds me of the grunts in GI Joe…unless you count Athrun self-destructing his Aegis Gundam.
https://randomc.net/image/Gundam%20AGE/Gundam%20AGE%20-%2017%20-%20Large%2012.jpg
The dude above Asem’s sister. Does he look like Setsuna or is it just me?
I see it too! I think the kid next to AGE!Setsuna was one of his child soldier comrades.
Good God i see it to. What were they thinking?
It’s going to become Shoujo Gundam The Series. But at least there is a development between Asem and Romary, unlike Flit and Emily who doesn’t have love development simply because they are childhood friends.
It’s a Gundam for kids, of course main (good) guy MUST get the girl. Don’t expect good romance out of this one (remember how they did it in the Flit Arc), Romary is only here to have Asem’s children, thus having a Asuno character for the main Arc.
God dammit, are people still calling AGE for kids after everything that’s happened?
I just realized something. After watching the op it doned on me that Wolf might die by the end of this arc. That would be sad indeed.