The Official Gundam AGE Anime Thread Mk 1

[Sume Gai]

I think the UE will most definitely be the defining aspect of this series. The mystery behind them and how it is revealed Is I think what will determine how good or bad this series turns out to be.

[G-Slayer]

I can honestly say that this 1st ep played out the way I imagined, mostly because I've read the 1st chapter of the manga. It's nothing out of the ordinary as far as Gundam shows go, except the Gundam's first kill looked like something out of a 50 Cent movie, and not in a lame-ass way either. I also didn't expect EF pilot Largan to survive the UE attack (he apparently dies in the manga). And judging from the ED sequence, it's seems Emily won't get passed over for the other females vying for Frito-Lay's affection; at least not in the long haul.

I'm expecting TetraVaal to chime in any minute now. . .

[ShadowCell]

you'll be expecting for a long time, since he's been banned. C:

[Vent Noir]

Not a bad first episode, and I quite like Frite already. He seems serious without being overly obsessed, given what happened to him. I like Emily, too. Hopefully she gets to be something more than a cheerleader.

[latenlazy]

Some of the kiddy aspects bothered me a little, but mostly just the more simplistic dialogue, and the obligate cheer the hero scenes.

I thought they did a good job portraying a society at peace though. The denial and ignorance were a nice touch. Loved the UEs.

Also, did anyone else think Setsuna whenever Frite mentioned Gundam?

[Amadi Akintunde]

This was a pretty alright first episode. Most of it was pretty predictable, but that doesn't make it any less fun.

I'm also LOVING the OP. It gives off a hopeful vibe.

EDIT: Another thing - the beam gun sound effect. It eerily resembles that of an E-11 Blaster Rifle from Star Wars. Otherwise known as the Stormtrooper blaster rifle.

[Shinigam_Newtype]

I thought it was a very "meh" episode. I didn't like nor dislike the episode, although I do have a few comments.
Firstly, this show DEFINITELY skews towards a younger demograpic, this is evident based on the characters designs, as well as the fact that death in this show onlly seems to be implicit. Even in the first scene when you know what happens, we only see debris fall onto the victim and Flit's subsequent reaction.

Secondly, I thought the fight choreography was EXTREMELY lackluster, I find this difficult to explain in english but to me; it didn't look like much detail was placed into the action scenes, the movements seemed very simplistic and... generic, in contrast to Gundam 00 where it was apparent that a great emphasis was placed the swift side steps of the Exia etc. Sorry I have trouble explaining this point.

Thirdly, the BGM and sound-effects were very reminiscent of Pokemon, particularly the scene in which we see the UE's flying towards the colony and subsequently start walking on the outer surface. Tell me you haven't heard that a 1000x over in Pokemon.

In closing: I don't want to sound like a troll or a flamer or anything but I just found this episode to be too generic for my liking, after witnessing the way 00 innovated the franchise to an extent, I was hoping this show was also diverge from some of the well established cliches, sadly it didn't.

[HMRising]

I think the notion that the Unknown Enemies being either human-controlled or a human product and thus not genuine aliens might be deliberately apparent. I seem to remember some of the other characters scoffing at the assumption that the UE are truly aliens, coupled with the fact that the repeated "mysterious nature" defining the UE at this point might be a red herring for a later twist far more sinister, such as the UE being creations of Flit's ancestors or something, but that is only my wild speculation.

[reeoyuy]

Spoiler

*The fact they mentioned numerous times how people think their aliens, which practically guarantees they aren't. I didn't think they were, but leaving it mysterious would have been better.

Eh, it's normal reaction. After all, even in our era we have meme for that "We don't know, therefore aliens,".

after witnessing the way 00 innovated the franchise to an extent, I was hoping this show was also diverge from some of the well established cliches, sadly it didn't.

Considering that 00 S2 getting back to more traditional approach, the innovation brought by S1 isn't very well received by Japanese audience (the one that matters for Sunrise). And with intention to introduce Gundam to younger audience, obviously they use standard approach too or else the kids will have wrong impression with Gundam.

[Destiny_Gundam]

Thirdly, the BGM and sound-effects were very reminiscent of Pokemon, particularly the scene in which we see the UE's flying towards the colony and subsequently start walking on the outer surface. Tell me you haven't heard that a 1000x over in Pokemon.

Really? You're going to hold that against it? They're stock sound effects that have been used in countless animes.

I think it's unfair to expect a first episode to be some sort of amazing thing. Yeah, I understand that it's important for the beginning to get people hooked, but they can't be going and playing all their best cards right at the start. Give it time. It has to build up before there's a pay off.

[hotlimit]

As everyone said, a pretty generic opening episode. A couple things I liked:

Spoiler

*Flit is mocked flike a conspiracy theorist for believing they'll be attacked.
*He actually tries to let a trained pilot handle the Gundam at first.
*The UE are obviously trying to hide their true intentions. Destroying their own suit was smart.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. "Come on man, you're a real pilot! You take my family heirloom and pilot a real Mobile Suit!"

"No, it's cool kid, I'm fine with the grunt suit that breaks down after one shot."

I'm with G-Slayer on the first Gundam kill, he shanked the heck out of that enemy, hahaha.

And as far as 'blatently kiddy' stuff goes, the version I was watching had constant messages about "press the d button on your controller to get points!", that recalled the whole, "be sure to write the secret code that pops up in the show!" thing from when I was a kid, hahahah.

[nacho-wan]

I kind of liked this episode. It surly could have gone worse.
The character designs surly don't help the "war is ugly" mottif of Gundam, but that's what you get when you cast Inazuma 11's director. He did try to balance it though. We had lots of scraps and property damage but not actual deaths.

What I disliked is the fact that EF weapons are useless against the UE. A damn tank could scratch it! Only the protagonist mecha is able to withstand*1 the mysterious enemy. Bu tthen, that is typical issue with most mecha shows.

Still, the characterization of Flint's is very solid. He surly looks younger that his 14 years but he acts more mature that say Kuo Uraki or Shinn from GSD.

As for the OP; I was really hopefully when Jam Project was announced for it. The actual song isn't bad, but it doesn't feel correct for an action show.

*1 is the gundam age made with a mysterious alloy or something? a la chogokin or gundanium or was that only character armor?

[Overlord Zaru]

Overall, not a bad episode. Some generic stuff but tolerable.

But oh god the people around Flit are friggin ignoramuses. They don't bother upgrading a Genoace and keep their guard down, even when the UE are jacking people and killing colonies? Once again, Hino Hack writing.

However, I did like Flit's proactiveness(someone else mentioned it). He wanting to get into the Gundam is a rather unique approach. In most Gundams, it's either an accidental fall into the cockpit of a random civie(in order to make the MC relatable) or the person is already a solider(00, G, Wing). Flit, an engineer who helped spearhead the Gundam project, WANTED to get in, and the people around him didn't want to.

And usually, we have the Brights demanding the civie protag to pilot it or the Mu's(Mus would have sounded wierd ) encouraging the protag. I liked this differention from the norm alot.

Of course, everyone is talking about the UE and how cool they were. The speculation for the next year or so will be great to behold. In addition them killing their weakest link in order to make sure they don't find out about anything is smart. For once, Hino is showing some competence(which is surprising, considering how Level 5 is a mediorce studio).

The purple haired girl will be like, the UE princess and the red haired dude(or girl...) will be some cocky asshat. Betting on it.

Now, for the projected fanbase:

Of course we will have kiddies pop up, and 2ch won't be happy with the influx of newbies clouting their boards of lolis and moe. However, as this is also a Level 5 studio, where the creators have something against mature and hot women(flat chested and jealous females in charge of Level 5?), they will emphasize men men men men little girl for the fat basement neckbeard dweller to draw Self-insert doujins with men men men men. And shotas.

I can see it now...some retarded yapi doujin or fanfic with somehow all 3 protags traveling in time, meeting each other, and committing incest and acts so vile Boku no Pico maybe tame.

Tiger and Bunny cashed alot on the homolust, and Sacred Seven survived barely due to little girls, maids, and toku(Kamen Rider is huge over yonder the pacific). Will we see homolust to the nth degree in AGE? Possibly as it's the only way to get fujoshi's money, as 2ch has made it pretty clear that they will only touch Unicorn and Origin. Maybe the SEED remake(due to their god awful taste).

So yeah, I'll follow this series through. For all we know, it could be entertaining as hell. One thing's for sure: mechatalk, /m/, 2ch, and any other imageboard or forum are in for an interesting ride.

[Zeino]

Initial Impressions:

While it didn't really get my blood pumping like Gundam 00's or Gundam Seed's first episode airings did, the episode is at least in the spirit of Gundam. And it certainly didn't feel like "kiddy crap" or "dumbed down".
It is the traditional Gundam archetype first episode, but with some differences:

- Flit is more proactive than Amuro or Kamille in keeping up with current news events, and even trying to predict the UE's plan of attack (though failing to convince anyone). And of course, he's actually the only Gundam TV protagonist to not only pilot the Gundam, but be the one responsible for building it, giving him a solid pass as far as the "accidental pilot" goes.
- I do like how they try to speculate on the nature of the UE as 'aliens' being the first choice, which looks to be a red herring if you know your tropes.
- It's amusing how the Gundam AGE gets a taste of the 'impenetrable armor' syndrome by having the beam gun it picks up be ineffective against the Gafran.
- I've heard it said before... but yup, the Gafran does steal the show, mecha-wise. Also, the Gafrans personally destroying their disabled companion was a nice touch, shows they're willing to do anything to protect their secrets.
- Also, it looks like they're cementing the Flit x Emily relationship early instead of dawdling around, which should be a breath of fresh air.

It's not a bad start, though IMHO it still pales in comparison to its three predecessor series as far as first episodes though.

[Raiden]

Pretty much everything has been said already, but overall i enjoyed it

Flit deserves alot of props, hopefully he doesn't start whining in the future unless he happens to get a Paptimus attack thrown at him. Can't say the same for his future descendants but hopefully they will be interesting as Flit too.

And i like that Largan survived, it should be interesting seeing someone using a regular Genoace kick some ass.

AGE-1 definitely grew on me seeing it in action, now i want that MG!

And the music was awesome, can't wait for the OST. And i can't wait to hear the full version of Asu e. I don't know if Jam Project coulda done better but hey maybe they will be used in the future XD.

[Wingnut]

EDIT: Another thing - the beam gun sound effect. It eerily resembles that of an E-11 Blaster Rifle from Star Wars. Otherwise known as the Stormtrooper blaster rifle.

Not the first time for that. The original Strike Dagger rifle from SEED had the same sound effect and sounded just like a stormtrooper rifle.

As for the rest, it's too early to call anything really right now except that the UE have the best grunts in Gundam since the original GN-X.

[Arbiter GUNDAM]

At last the new Gundam series, Mobile Suit Gundam AGE has debuted! There’s just one problem. The video stream with English subtitles is only available to south Asia! Why do I get the feeling that Sunrise was watching all the [CENSORED] comments from the [CENSORED] fanboys on YouTube and decided that Americans don’t get to watch it? Fortunately if one pokes around the internetz enough these days you can [CENSORED].

Anyway, I thought this was a very good first episode. It definitely is aimed at a younger audience I think, but it holds up and is definitely Gundam to the core. I liked the main character Flit, he definitely gets a pass on the accidental civilian pilot trope. Can’t say I’m fond of his character design though.
Emily might have a little bit of Fraw Bow syndrome; we’ll have to see. Most of the other characters seem interesting, especially the pilot for the Genoace mobile suit. Largan I think it was? We’ll have to see the next few episodes for me to really get a handle on the rest of the cast.

There were a couple of stand out scenes in this episode that I liked. The first was the scene where Flit’s mother dies in the first attack by AGE’s Unknown Enemy. Very Batman-esque. She gives him the AGE Device, which is certainly not the cell phone those damn fanboys were complaining about.
I also like the scene in the classroom where Flit tries to explain about how it’s just so logical that the space colony they’re on, Nora, will be attacked by the UE next and how the teacher doesn’t want to hear it. Seems little Flit may be a child-genius but he doesn’t understand how a lot of people’s heads work. Seems like he might be a bit of an outcast at school too, as Emily and this kid named Dique seem to be his only friends.
I also like how Flit isn’t obsessed with the Gundam to the point of being stupid. There’s a flashback scene to his home on the space colony Orvan where Flit is being shown a painting of a Gundam (one that looks a lot like the classic RX-78-2) and is told that the Asuno family have been involved with the legendary Gundams for years. But when the time comes that the UE invades the colony, Flit initially wants the trained military pilot Largan to fly the Gundam before he tries piloting it himself.
Lastly, while the Gundam AGE-1’s debut fight is kinda similar to stuff we’ve seen in First Gundam and SEED, what makes the fight stand out is the way that Flit quite literally shanks one of the UE Gafran MS. It’s actually kinda hilarious. The other two Gafrans blow up their injured comrade and then retreat. I guess this is why the UE are still unknown if they won’t let their tech fall into enemy hands.

What else? I can’t say that I cared much for the opening song of this series. It’s not that it’s a bad song, I just don’t think it fits a Gundam series, even one that’s aimed at a younger audience. But since this is a Gundam series, we’ll have at least two to three opening and closing themes in total, so we’ll see.
I also think that this series might be pulling a Gundam X. What I mean is, Gundam X was depicted as sort of an alternate history of the Universal Century. I think they might be going with that here with all the talk of the Earth Federation, O’Neill Space Colony cylinders and stories about legendary Gundams from the past. We’ll have to see.

I’m still not cool on the design of the Gundam AGE-1.I think I could safely say that this is the first Gundam series I’ve seen where I like the grunt and enemy suits more than the Gundam. Hopefully the AGE-2 and -3 will look cooler.

All in all, I’m liking what I’m seeing so far. I give this episode *** out of five stars.

[Destiny_Gundam]

In Chris's review of the episode he says Flit is the opposite of Shinn... I don't think that's true.

Flit is very understandably angry at the UE, just like how Shinn was understandably angry at Orb. Shinn is a friendly person otherwise, as we can see with Stella and his ZAFT friends. Sadly most of Shinn's screentime was with people tied to Orb and thus we see him mad most of the time.

[Arbiter GUNDAM]

Well, we'll just have to see if Flit ends up making some of the same stupid decisions as Shinn did. Like with Stella.

[Chris]

In Chris's review of the episode he says Flit is the opposite of Shinn... I don't think that's true.

Flit is very understandably angry at the UE, just like how Shinn was understandably angry at Orb. Shinn is a friendly person otherwise, as we can see with Stella and his ZAFT friends. Sadly most of Shinn's screentime was with people tied to Orb and thus we see him mad most of the time.

Naturally I disagree. Shinn seemed like a nice guy, but he always had anger boiling just beneath the surface that could make him explode at any time. He was very poorly adjusted for the kind of life he was supposed to live - a soldier who constantly disobeyed orders and ignored his superiors. He was fixated on his dead sister and could never move beyond that, not at least until after the series with FINAL PLUS. On the other hand, Flit seems pretty well-adjusted and has friends, even though some kids tease him. From what little we've seen so far, he doesn't seem to obsess about his mother the way Shinn did about Mayu. Shinn took his anger... and never did anything with it. Flit so far is taking his anger and channeling it into something positive because he wants to protect people.