September 25, 2012
Posted by aaronsine
Today I'll be doing a review (my first! yay) on an anime that just ended yesterday, from my time zone's point of view. As the sharper-eyed of you might have realized from the silhouette above, this review is on Mobile Suit Gundam AGE, or 機動戦士ガンダムAGE, which is its Japanese title. (if you happen to be wondering, by the way, there weren't any Initial Impressions for Gundam AGE because nobody took it up, and when I joined this place it already aired...if my ever failing memory serves me correctly, that is)
However, if you're the type of nerd/geek like me who loves to see stuff blow up and the like, then congratulations, this is an anime for you!
The unfortunate bit about any Gundam series is that they tend to become slightly technical, often introducing new concepts and terms each time round. In Gundam SEED you have SEED (duh) mode, in Gundam AGE you have the X-Rounder ability. Essentially, anyone with the X-Rounder ability has heightened physical capabilities, improved reaction times, and the ability to more or less "foresee" any decisions by any other pilot on the battlefield who's an X-Rounder (think spider sense). It is also sometimes (very rarely) said to be an actual degradation of humanity, since the heightened capabilities and instincts seem almost feral, as if humans are becoming less "developed" in a sense. The X-Rounder ability can also malfunction sometimes, but I should really stop here because I don't wanna spoil y'all. ^__^
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| maybe the spider web-like artwork helps with the whole "spidey sense" bit |
However, I do have heaps of praises for this series. It actually shows a continuation between eras within the show, with a really smooth transition. In comparison, most shows, including animes, usually just put a "x years later" during the last episode to show progress. Of course, Gundam AGE is also guilty of that, but on the whole, 49 episodes to cover 100 years as compared to, what, 50 episodes and a movie for a grand total of 6++ years in Gundam 00, for example? Also, the potential of Gundams as superior machines in warfare is thoroughly demonstrated, since a single machine can still be used effectively in combat after over half a century later. THAT'S NOT ALL! The capabilities of a single machine can be further enhanced by this thingalamijg called the AGE system, which produces newer and more effective weapons and/or parts based on accumulated combat data. If I were to liken this to something applicable in real life, it's like saying that the AGE system is kinda like phones today - you can change to a better and newer phone, but as long as you keep your SIM card you retain your number and most of your essential data...as compared to clearing all data and changing your number when you change a phone. Also, your phone will change processors, screen size, device dimensions, etc to fit your preferred usage. (might have been an example that's a tad too far fetched, but best I could come up with)
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| ALL of the Gundams!!! |
I kind of liked the music in Gundam AGE. I can't say they'll become instant chart toppers, but in my opinion at least, these songs tend to grow on you. I can, however, safely say that this is one of the animes that I find that has better songs (overall). Something worthy of note would be that a singer previously introduced in our Beat of the Week, Faylan, sings one of the ending songs.
"I don't know why people are asking for a perfect Gundam series, which will be next to impossible as Gundam has one of the worst fanbases ever (Bashing on every other Gundam series, etc)."
I may be a fan of Gundam series in general, but the dude has a point - especially considering how huge the Gundam franchise has become, it's basically impossible to create a "perfect" series.
Mobile Suit Gundam AGE has a total of 49 episodes, and why bother about other fansubbers when GUNDAM.INFO gives you legitimate online streaming for free? (insert maniacal laughter)
PROTIP: GUNDAM.INFO GIVES LEGITIMATE ONLINE STREAM FOR OTHER GUNDAM SERIES AS WELL.
The video below is Faylan's (official) PV for WHITE JUSTICE, one of the ending songs for Gundam AGE. Because, well, y'know, support artistes' original works!
P.S. Sorry if y'all find this a text-heavy post, my first review ehehe ^__^v
P.P.S. MAJOR SPOILER/RANT WARNING I just had to get this off my mind, but seriously, Flit went on an extremely vengeance-fueled rampage-cum-revenge on the UE/Vagan JUST to get revenge for them killing off his first love, Yurin? The dude's love must reach further than the furthest star systems, man.
Hint: Oh, I'm supposed to do a hint for my next review? Most (un?)fortunately, your guess is really as good as mine!
aaronsine
Edited by aaronsine
Well, Flit's motive is not just for Yurin, but also for his mother's death, Grodek, Commander Henrik Bruzar (from episode 1), Woolf and countless dead civilians the Vagan has indiscriminately slaughtered.
ReplyDeleteLosing Yurin when he was 14 years old, which probably had a lasting effect on him.
And let's face it, the Vagans don't exactly spell redeemable when they have the likes of Desil Galette amongst their high ranks.
Not to mention the fact that he sees the Gundam as a saviour of humanity, he might have been deluded by the hero ideal and sees everything as black and white: The Vagans are threatening my loved ones, I must protect my loved ones, thus, the enemies must all die to protect them.
Just me two cents.
Hmm yes I understand your point of view. To me, I find that Flit's motivation (after Yurin) was more like the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak - his attitude towards the (then) UE wasn't as extreme as before. In fact, since you mentioned it, after Yurin, I suppose he's become as extreme as Desil Galette; of course, not as insane as him though.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, good point there about the "redeemability" of the Vagans - however, considering folks like Girard Spriggan, I must say that it's not as if the Earth Federation are total saints either. War is still war, I suppose.
Also, perhaps the least desirable character I see in Flit is his contradictability (yes, I just invented that word) - he hates, loathes, and even despises the Vagan for being heartless and all, then proceeds to systematically and heartlessly attempt to remove them from existence. On the bright side, at least Asemu and Kio convinced him to know better...
I agree that the Earth Federation is hardly clean: after all, they did abandon the entire Mars Colony to die, and that came back to bite them in the ass hard as the Vagans.
ReplyDeleteProblem is though, up till episode 37, the Vagans never got any chance to be viewed as anything more than a fanatic militarized society. This is especially true for us as viewers and for Flit as well.
Of course, as you said, Flit is unfortunately gone off the extreme end due to various factors, so it may not have made a difference to him, whether he is aware of the Vagan's plight or not.
Yes YES YES I thought I was the only one who noticed the whole "UE = Vagan = sadistic scumbags of the Earth until Kio finds out otherwise" part. Unfortunately, the plot does make it seem that the Vagan are hardly redeemable... even after Kio pays them a home visit and realizes that they're not that bad at all, the grand unveiling of Ezelcant's master plan kinda screws them all the way back to square one all over again.
ReplyDelete(also, might be good to note that the interior design of Second Moon is Middle-Eastern-ish, which might, just coincidentally, be similar to legit Middle Eastern designs...and exactly what race of people are currently typecast in today's society as terrorists, as compared to Vagan's terrost-like attacks?)
It could be a nod to that, I think they wanted to make the Vagans more sympathetic by drawing parallels to how the Middle East is generally misunderstood by the rest of the world.
ReplyDeleteBut the pacing of the story was generally quite bad, and it was simply too late to feel any sympathy for them.
It was sad to see Lu die off that way I admit, but it was far too late by that point.
True, it was a good effort by the writer though...not exactly everyday do you see a series (not just anime) trying to squeeze in and pace 100 years like that rather evenly throughout the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the whole Lu thing... if she didn't die she would (quite) clearly become Kio's wife sooner or later hur hur. Then again, maybe that's why it wasn't mentioned at the ending whether Kio was married or not.