Gundam AGE

[Terumi]

Gundam AGE​

Hundreds of years of human colonization of space have finally resulted in a period of long lasting peace. However, fourteen years ago, a mysterious foe, the UE (Unknown Enemy), suddenly appeared. Since then, this cruel yet mysterious enemy has destroyed space colonies, and routinely attacked other targets. A victim of their attack of the space colony Orvan, Flit Asuno was given a family heirloom by his dying mother, the AGE device memory unit, which contained plans for a mobile suit. With thoughts of protecting others from the tragedy that he had experienced, Flit began to develop this suit, which he calls "Gundam" after the legendary suit developed by his family, in the space colony Nora's Earth Federation base. It is now the year A.G. (Advanced Generation) 115. When the UE suddenly attacks Nora, he must pilot the Gundam to fight against the UE, to protect humanity, as well as to avenge his mother.

Opening Theme: Asu e - Galileo Galilei
Ending Theme: Kimi no Naka no Eiyu - Minami Kuribayashi

Animation: Sunrise
Story: Akihiro Hino (LEVEL-5)
Director: Yamaguchi Susumu

Credits to ANN for information.

 

[Terumi]

Seal of approval for success from me. Sunrise never disappoints, this premier episode crushed all wrong theories about it being not fit for a gundam series.

Very impressed with the first episode, it gave me the retro feel kinda like the older american cartoons, give with a good touch and taste. The episode touched on the current situation and gave the characters a good introduction, with current generations' protaganist Flit, and his osananajimi/future wife Emily (because Flit's son Asemu has the same hair color and eyes with Emily), and the various supporting casts who pitch in his normal days helping the military to build GUNDAM. The episode crushed all doubts that this aint cut out for another gundam series, I simply hope the story from Hino-san will be better than what I have witness before. :)

 

[Kou]

Spoiler: episode 1

Watch for the Saji x Louise cameo in the classroom segment. Also there's a cameo by an AEU and Union soldier from also from 00 outside the base just before Flit walks up to the Commander.

Despite featuring kiddy char designs, it feels very retro to old Gundam series. It's not like gundam doesn't have its weird and odd moments/series, /me looks at LOLTOMINO MOMENTS and gundam hugging rocket to space xD.

Thought it was an okay episode, not great but not bad either. I think Flit looks much better in animation than in the lineart and his voice is nice as well, especially when he's shouting. The Gafran's beam sound is annoying. I cannot exactly put my finger as to why I personally find it annoying, but it does evoke that effect on me. Its just one of those small nitpicky things, but nevertheless its going to get hard to get used to. I liked seeing all the mobile suits in action though, from the Gafran to the Genoace and even to Age. The battles in the episode are simple type battles but nevertheless they are a pleasure to watch.

In terms of design, the Age is nice to watch in this episode's animation, as is the Genoace and the Gafran. I've heard about the Gafran's ability to use the beam vulcan as a beam saber but seeing it sure nails down its awesomeness. Seems very practical to have a beam sword that extends directly from your arm.

I also wonder where they might take the UE thing. The general idea is definitely that they are aliens but Flit think its otherwise. Definitely interesting to see where they take their direction as the series progresses, especially since we know we'll have two more generations to come. I do wish they turn out to be aliens though, even if Flit speculating their not (while the other people think they are) does dampen theory or idea a bit. Also nice to see that they showed us that the UE were willing to destroy one of their own, gives a bit of insight into their nature. Not unlike Celestial Being (or at least Tieria) from 00 back in S1.

Speaking of which, its easy to forget about the generational aspect of Age at this point in time, since the other generations have not made a peaked yet, even in the opening and ending. I guess that and the UE would plan an important element in AGE as a series. Also wasted no time pairing Flit and Emily in the ending, which they should since they already revealed Asem.

As for the opening and the ending, I dislike the opening while I thought the ending was just okay.

 

[alexsdu]

*Based on the pic posted above*
Is it me or does the characters in Gundam are getting younger and younger?
They look like some main character from Digimon.

 

[orisa]

Lol @ return of pink explosions

Spoiler: episode 1

I also wonder where they might take the UE thing. The general idea is definitely that they are aliens but Flit think its otherwise. Definitely interesting to see where they take their direction as the series progresses, especially since we know we'll have two more generations to come. I do wish they turn out to be aliens though, even if Flit speculating their not (while the other people think they are) does dampen theory or idea a bit. Also nice to see that they showed us that the UE were willing to destroy one of their own, gives a bit of insight into their nature. Not unlike Celestial Being (or at least Tieria) from 00 back in S1.

Spoiler: ~

I doubt they are aliens...My bet is that the reason they "killed" their own is to prevent information about them leaking out to the military since that unit had already been immobilized, which indicates that there is most likely a human mind at work behind the UE.

I do hope they do more with it though, than steer it into the typical "conspiracy theory" direction.

*Based on the pic posted above*
Is it me or does the characters in Gundam are getting younger and younger?
They look like some main character from Digimon.

Well it's nothing new. V Gundam also featured mostly kids, as did the original Gundam. In fact Flit gives me the young Amuro vibe, only less whiny and was actually willing to pilot the Gundam *gasp*

Edit: Oh, I wonder though, would AGE's timeline (A.G.) be placed in U.C. since they do mention the original Gundam, possibly of the One Year War...

 

[Terumi]

*Based on the pic posted above*
Is it me or does the characters in Gundam are getting younger and younger?
They look like some main character from Digimon.

Those 3 are actually related. The one in the middle is the current protaganist, Flit, accompanied by his future son(blonde) and grandson(orange brown hair). Story will be split into 3 generations.
How they are gonna do it, I really dont know.

@kou, i kinda liked the OP. RETRO~ ED was normal high standards from Minami~

 

[Jgamefan]

Any of you guys watched the 2nd episode ?

Spoiler: SPOILER!

So Yurin finally appears; it seems that Emily got a love rival... :D

I also didn't expect that guy in blue military suit to take control of the spaceship.

Since AGE system is some kind of huge and high-powered instant 3D factory, it makes one wonder why don't Vargas start mass-producing gundam ?

There has been much criticism, especially on 2ch when many said that AGE system ruins the show due to how easy it was to overpower the enemy...

The story so far is interesting but I'm also worry with the AGE system; won't it break the show ? It's simply too powerful, you can even say that it's cheating... :(

THIS LINE BELOW IS TAKEN FROM 2ch :
エミリー「おじいちゃん、AGEシステムってなに？」
バルガス「一瞬でガンダムの武器が作れちゃうんだ」
エミリー「すごーい、じゃあガンダムもこれで大量生産しちゃえばいいじゃない」
バルガス「え？・・・・・え？・・・」
エミリー「できるでしょ、おじいいちゃん、できるんでしょ？」
バルガス「そ・・それは・・・・・BANDAIが許してくれないんだｗ」

Emily : Granddad, what's AGE system ?
Vargas : It can instantly create gundam's weapons
Emily : That's great ! Why don't you mass-produce gundam then ?
Vargas : Eh? ..... Eh?......
Emily : You can do it granddad, Can't you ?
Vargas : But... but... Bandai won't allow that :D

Looking forward to see episode 3

 

[Terumi]

Spoiler: episode 2

The AGE system was godly. I mean, analyse the crap outta your opponent before designing a specialised weapon to combat them. How the heck did Bandai even allow that? What will prove to be more interesting now in the subsequent episodes, since it is such a over-powered system. I mean, its too convenient to build a nuke-level weapon in mere seconds. LOL.

Yurin's introduction this week, with Saori Hayami voicing her. :D Well I am 100% sure that Emily is Flit's future waifu because his son looks like her with her hair color and eyes, as well as the ED 'spoilers', this episode causes some unrest in me. After all, with Flit blushing and all after picking her up in the Gundam he built, her 'newtype' ability proves to be vital. Like some others pointed, I hope she does survive the war, because main character deaths in Gundam is a way too common theme.

Nothing out of the ordinary this week, with the evacuation of the collapsing colony. Some jacks in the authority line, with the captain of the ship becoming the captain like we see in the OP. This show is definitely reaching to the younger audiences, but I am bought.

 

[orisa]

Spoiler:

I imagine it'd take a lot more data to create weapons that are more devastating than Dots Rifle...otherwise AGE Builder is way too hax xP But I admit I am a bit excited about what other kind of modified le classiques they'll whip out.

I'm also interested to see what the deal is with Grodek and the UE, if not the typical "they killed my family QQ" trauma.

 

[Kou]

Yamada (working!!) in my gundam :O

 

[Jgamefan]

Spoiler: SPOILERS !

Emily might be Flit's future wife but who knows if Yurin becomes Flit's mistress...or at least as in real life, "accidents" due happened and Flit got kids not only with Emily but also with Yurin...

Imagine ten something years later when Flit got married with Emily and several years back thanks to Flit's obsession with gundam and AGE systems, they have a domestic fight and by that time Yurin is still single... The depressed Flit got "healed" by Yurin... You know what happens next... :D

If that happens (thanks to the power of AGE systems) then EU will have been eliminated by then and the next battle ground will be between Emily's descendants and Yurin's descendants...

Hey, it might even be even more interesting if Flit sows his seeds around and we have not only Emily's and Yurin's faction but also other factions in the future fighting for right to use gundam(s) ?...

That's one of the end-of-the-world scenarios I read somewhere out there :D

Some other interesting what-ifs (I only read about them somewhere) :
1. Flit's mother designs(?) AGE system but it is Flit's father who designs the EU so this whole affair is a battle between husband and wife :D

2. Yurin is an EU spy (?) who happened to be at Nora when it was attacked by EU :D

How the hell did Vargas got all the funds to buy ingots needed for AGE system, did he "misappropriate" the funds or do some "illegal" business deal ? :D

OK, that's all for the non-serious ones; now let's get back to the story so far :

1. It will be interesting to see how Gordek turns out to be; did he had some sinister hidden agendas ?

2. Thanks to overpowered AGE system; not only does it spoils Flit but it also rise the question of why should they keep Flit as pilot when they have more experienced pilots ? Heck, the mobile suits do not even need to be a gundam...

3. Spaceships, colonies. etc the lists keeps going on and on... Since AGE system seems to be capable to produce anything as long as it has data, won't Flit be targeted by not only EU but also the government/military as the creator of such a system ? If I were the government/military I will definitely make it the main priority :D

Let's keep the discussion (and also the imagination) alive, guys ! :)

 

[Animaksiat]

sigh...:1b38f9e2:
im still doesn't feel i watch gundam series
more like im watching Beyblade or a Yuusha series :th_015_orz-v2:

 

[Kou]

Spoiler: episode 2

I'm already really liking Emily as the gal pal of this show, she's just so unexpectedly brave and willing to go to any length to make sure no harm comes to Flit or her other friends, but she's a little reckless and I can see it getting her into a lot of trouble and Flit having to bail her out in the future. We're also introduced to Yamada Yurin this episode who really is like Tifa reborn. Soft spoken girl with mysterious origin and Newtype like abilities to lead Flit and the Gundam out of dangerous. Curious to see what her story ends up being.

Then of course we have the captain of the Diva in Fonroid who is clearly an asshole that's willing to shirk his duty to save his own skin. It's probably a good thing Grodek showed up when he did and usurped command from him. I wonder if he knows him and predicted that he would try to pull something like that, but what's with leaving him tied up there like that. I assume he'll be pulled out in the extraction or something and he couldn't deal with 3 men trying to escape at the same time, but it still seems pretty cold to just leave the guy there even if he is an asshole.

Miles seems pretty sharp even by the usual standards of capital ship operators. It's likely she's going to be the big thinker and strategist of the group and that Grodek will provide the leadership and experience, but I don't think she fully trusts what just went down this episode and I expect she'll have more questions to ask about what happened to Fonroid in the next episode.

That brings us to the AGE System. Unlimited Blade Works eat your heart out, cause it looks like there's a new competitor on the block. That thing seems like just the perfect idea to fight the UE and there strangely powerful mecha with, but it also seems pretty vulnerable and like something they might try to steal to use for themselves or to try and replicate somehow if they can get their sights on it. Needless to say that thing is arguably more valuable than the Gundam AGE itself. Also speaking of powerful, the standard equipment for the UE grunt suit Gafran seems to be a mega particle cannon in it's torso ala the Sazabi and a VSBR type weapon ala the F91. Also they can be equipped with anti-capital ship/anti-colony sized missiles. That's....pretty deadly and needless to say the Gundam is clearly the only thing close to a match for that kind of weaponry. With what looks like Mobile Armor on the way I think we'll be seeing some more new weapons next episode and a fierce fight to get the hell out of that area before the colony completely collapses.

All in all a really strong follow up to what I found to be a good opener. Animation and art wasn't quite up there with the first episode, but that's okay. The music was great as always and this OST is fast becoming my favorite of the season right now. Now back to waiting till next week

 

[adeadfrog]

Nice, I can't wait for this series to be complete!

 

[orisa]

Spoiler: Ep. 4

Hmm. Interesting. Seems like UE paid respect to Flit's will to protect the colony citizens and gave up the attack (or perhaps calculated that further attempt would be useless with Flit standing in its way). This further indicates there is a human mind behind UE, and from the expressions, Yurin is possibly involved. As a faction with no clear direction I find UE is quite a freshener from the typical anti-Earth Federation factions like Zeon and ZAFT. I'm most interested to see where they will take this.

Also, Bruzer. Brave old man. Not as saddening to see him go since nobody expected him to survive. But the music that played in the background added a little bitterness to the scene, as well as not overly dramatic grievance within the cast. Quiet, but more convincing.

As for Flit, we see how naive of a pilot he still is in this episode. Couldn't even keep his cool when his rifles wouldn't hit, although his skills became a little more tolerable with Yurin's mental assist. That slow-mo scene makes me wonder if it was Flit's possible Newtype ability or just his superior observational (since he's trying to find patterns) skill at work, or if it was just Yurin's doing. Either way, looks like he's going to have to prove himself worthy of being Gundam's pilot since supposedly an ace pilot (mimikko!!!) had awaken from a long sleep (whatever that was supposed to be).

Lastly, AGE Builder can not only build weapons, but option parts as well. GOD MACHINE GO!

 

[Kou]

Spoiler: episode 3

Welp Bruzar was the man. Sail on oh fearless base commander, you're now another awesome old Gundam man for the ages.

Another decent episode for me. The music jumped to another level this episode and there were a lot of tense moments from Bruzar looking like he was going to bleed out in the elevator, to Flit just barely being able to hit the Zedas and the brown colored Mobile Armor with Yurin's help, to wondering if the extraction was going to work out, to Bruzar's last awesome hurrah to make sure the mission was a success. Still Nora is gone and the Diva and Federation are basically on their heels with the Gundam seemingly being the only possible hope of doing anything about the UE. Pretty dark episode for a kids show. That last little bit with the shots of the colony, school and Flit's home going up in flames sort of drove home the scope of the loss. A very bittersweet "victory" to start the show.

Anyway it looks like Yurin might be out of the picture now as she's gone to join the civilian refugees, but who is to say she won't pop up again pretty soon. If the Diva is going to be towing that core block around for a bit this could turn into a bit of a Macross Seven arc and I foresee the possibility of Flit visiting the core and bumping into her again. By that time I can see them revealing more of the mystery about her.

In any case that's now his mother and his foster father that Flit has had to watch die right in front of him. If that doesn't give him the resolve to fight the UE I don't know what will....not that he needed any more of a reason to play the hero, but that's going to give his resolve another kick I'm sure and with the Gundam he no longer has to fear the UE. Also curious is why that brown MA took off at the end. Was it because it's mission was solely to get as much data on the Earth Federation as possible, was it because it thought the mission to wipe out the colony and it's inhabitants was a success already, or was it for some other reason entirely, like say Yurin actually being a UE and psychically telling the MA to go the hell away. There were some interesting shots of her looking confused, hurt, and/or thinking really hard about something as she was doing her bonding with Flit. With Wolf waking up at the end of this episode it looks like the next arc is about to kick off and be inspired by episode 03 of Gundam 0083. Hopefully Wolf turns out to be less of a total asshole and more competent than Bernard Monsha though as we don't need another one of those characters.

Oh and if I had any misgiving it's that the use of speed lines is starting to ramp up a little bit. I'd rather see a little more pure movement, but at least it's still half and half and not a total slide show like some other lower budget mecha shows could be.

 

[weidou123]

...I just watched the first episode...then the only thing I can do is hammering in the ground with my fist...I don't know what to say with this gundam.....some disappointed

 

[Jgamefan]

Spoiler: EPISODE 3

Episode 4 is coming soon and in the mean time...

The mystery why EU only attacks the colony and installations and not directly attacks the civilians only deepens, especially after the event when Flit was not shot down despite running out of dots riffle's ammo...

There is this comment on 2ch about how Flit got crush with Yurin to the point that he completely forgot that the old commander have just died and his colony has just been destroyed; Yurin's ribbon >>>>>>>>>>>> commander's death + loss of home colony :D

Looking forward to see episode 4... I really love the beginning them song :)

:D

 

[orisa]

Spoiler: Ep.4

It's like One Year War all over again...Amazing how much more technologically advanced UE is. They've already got a massive flagship equipped with a cloaking system when the best thing humans have is AGE system (though that's pretty hax too).

Wolf doesn't seem like he's that much better than Flit in terms of piloting skill, but definitely the best Diva has right now (of three pilots...). Hopefully he gets a better suit to use in the future, since he's obviously not getting the Gundam although their fight was never settled. Speaking of which, couldn't the AGE Builder just spit out another Dots Rifle for the other two to use? It'd probably make things a lot easier...

 

[Kou]

Spoiler: episode 4

This episode was more about character development than anything else and I liked that.

Glad to see that Flit was having trouble with Woolf, though he did recover faster than I thought he would against an "ace".

Woolf himself... he needs to get a new nickname cause The White Wolf is taken and not by someone who likes to pridefully boast and stuff. I do hope we delve more into his character and he becomes more fleshed out. He did show a high degree of resourcefulness on the field and he knows to keep his cool and knows his limits. Flit needs to learn some pointers from him.

Emily shows that while she is caring she can be quite selfish. We saw that in the first episode but that more apparent here. A stubborn but average 14 year old girl that has a crush on her childhood friend. A cliche they never get tried of using. Well I like it so long as its subtle and not in your face obvious.

Its the ending that interest me. I've seen on the blog fourms that one of the makers of Age posted on his tweet what the UE was. Not sure if true though.

 

[SoniBee]

This Anime look to Happy

 

[Jgamefan]

Spoiler: EPISODE 4

Watched episode 4 and now waiting for episode 5...

Wolf's shower scene is a waste of time !!! :@

We want Mi-chan (Millais) shower scene !!! :D

Wolf's looks like some kinda Patrick from 00 to me...

Hmmm, I wonder if Dique will be in Vargas's position by the time he gone; several decades later...

I've read the rumors about EU too; who knows it might be true...

I wish they bring Yurin back in the future episodes; Emily is starting to become annoying...

while I do not hate Emily; I would personally rather have Yurin - that's for sure :D

The EU spaceship was cool; I wonder what Grodek means when he said that it was as he thought....

 

[orisa]

Spoiler: Ep.5

Wow, awful quality this week. Were the artists drunk or something?
So this week we are shown how much more competent Decil is at piloting Gundam and he looks like a 2-5 year old...

I'm starting to get this vibe that in this series younger pilots are better. I mean I'm not going to judge the staff for including so many children but come on, there's gotta be a limit...How was it even possible for Decil to pilot Gundam like that with his small stature? -.-
If this whole "Citizen of Eden" thing that they mention very briefly about Decil doesn't turn out to be some kind of major plot twist I'm going to be very disappointed.

Also, what the hell kind of military ship allows pre teenagers to step on board and act like nothing happened when the said pre teenager steals a mobile suit and comes back with it?

For the first time I'm getting less and less excited weekly about a Gundam series...This series just doesn't have that special Gundam "oomph" that gets me all jumpy and excited which even Seed Destiny had, and that one was so illogical it was hilarious. Come on Sunrise...you can do better than this. >.>

 

[Jgamefan]

Spoiler: Episode 5

Finished watching episode 5...

I'm impressed with how Grodek managed to turn the situation to his favor and how he finally found UE's hiding place.

I have never seen so far that a captain can skilfully used his opponent's weakness like that which makes it even more interesting...

Desil might be better a better pilot than Flit but I doubt that he can easily work together with the others or even become a commander; this reminds me of comparison between Amuro and Camille.

Technically, Camile's NT is greater than Amuro but due to his unstable mental condition and his personality Camille will not be able to become a commander/leader; a good pilot doesn't mean that he can a good commander/leader too...

Desil's MS is likely to be either Shaldoll or G-Exes...

Anyway, I'm looking forward for the new episode and new MS of course...

 

[jgames]

Yamada (working!!) in my gundam :O

Yamada is so kawayi~~~
But I don't like child drive gundam