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Gundam AGE Episode 22 Review

 Episode 22, "Big Ring Absolute Defense Line"

  *****SPOILERS*****   Synopsis: The battle for the Big Ring begins. The Diva launches and soon after, it’s mobile suit forces. The Veigan MS move forward too, and the battle begins. Flit commands maneuvers from the Big Ring. Asemu and Woolf engage X-Rouders in combat. Zeheart decides to go out to fight and Desil joins him. Asemu fights Zeheart while Woolf takes on Desil. They struggle until Flit appears in the AGE-1. Flit battles Desil, who wants revenge for his humiliation years earlier. Asemu continues to fight Zeheart. Back up arrives to support the father and son. Zeheart is frustrated that the Veigan troops are being pushed back and retreats with an uncooperative Desil. The Federation wins the day, but Asemu is upset at his father’s attitude.     Comments:   I see that Federation normal suits have not evolved in the passing years. They still look like weird pajamas. I guess if they work as-is, there’s no reason to change the design, but it just bothers me to look at them.    It’s interesting the dual roles that Flit plays in this episode. As a commander, he uses strategies to get the most out of troop deployment. You don’t see a lot of this in Gundam. Most of the time it’s some random combat with little order to it. I’m glad that, at least for a few moments, they’re going a little Legend of the Galactic Heroes. Of course, after those few moments, Flit takes off in the AGE-1 to be part of the fight. It’s neat to see Flit still pilots well, not having rusted at all over time, but it’s kind of stupid in some ways. Why did Flit become a commander if he’s just going to pilot a MS? Trying to do both is just ridiculous. Who does he think he is, Beecha Oleg?    All the jokes about Yurin being Flit’s true love and his marriage to Emily being a loveless marriage of convenience seem to have some stripe of validity. Here years later, he’s still thinking about her. I mean, okay, it’s natural to remember a tragedy in the past, but it feels like he gets a special jolt of rage, as if the wound was still fresh. It seems like Flit himself believes he was meant to be with Yurin and he’s never gotten over it. It’s an interesting element and look forward to seeing where (if anywhere) it goes.      Overall Score:

4 out of 5

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Gundam AGE Episode 21 Review

 Episode 21, "Phantoms in the Way"

      *****SPOILERS*****   Synopsis: Asemu tries to distract himself from thoughts of Zeheart. The Diva docks at the EFF command center, the Big Ring. Flit tells the crew that they’re to help defend Big Ring from a Veigan attack. Asemu decides to take advanced piloting training. His grade for X-Rounder potential is a "D" so Woolf decides to cheer him up by taking him to see Madorna’s Workshop. Asemu meets Madorna’s son Rody who created a battle simulation machine. Asemu gets in and holds out for a few minutes against simulations of his father and Zeheart. He requests to try again. Both the Veigans and Federation prepare for the upcoming battle.      Comments:   So Flit really outranks Milias. Really? I mean, he certainly had a lot to do with the initial victory over the UE/Veigans, but you don’t make him a commander just because he was a great pilot. What kind of leadership skills does Flit have? Milias makes sense because she probably worked her way through the ranks the normal way. At what point did Flit bypass her? If I were Milias, I would be absolutely humiliated. I can see Flit outranking Woolf, and even that’s a little stretch, but fuck, Milias was second-in-command on the Diva, not Flit. Maybe she didn’t get promoted that much because she was loyal to Grodek.    Speaking of Flit, he’s a bit of an asshole. When Asemu is down, Flit says, "As long as you have my blood you’ll be fine." Yeah, thanks a lot, Dad. "As long as you have my blood" is such an arrogant thing to say.    Wouldn’t it be cool if Asemu really isn’t a X-Rounder? I mean, we see his "D" grade in X-Rounder perception, but I’m sure the story is going to go to him being one after all, just in a way that makes it difficult to measure out of combat. But it would be neat if he just became a really badass normal like Woolf and yet still takes down Zeheart.    Speaking of Zeheart, what is with Romary being so jealous that Flit got to see him again? He’s the enemy and instead of being concerned for Asemu, Romary wishes she can see Zeheart again. I guess she wanted Zeheart more than Asemu. But nah, they probably won’t go in that direction. That would be too interesting.     

Overall Score:

3.5 out of 5

 
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Gundam AGE Episode 20 Review

 Episode 20, "The Red Mobile Suit"

*****SPOILERS*****   Synopsis: Zeheart tests the Veigan MS, Zedas-R, but is disappointed. He visits a grown up Desil. The Diva enters a shoal zone to avoid combat. The Veigans ambush the ship. Zeheart sorties in the X-Rounder MS, Zeydra. Asemu engages Zeheart is combat and has difficulty thinking of him as an enemy. Zeheart defeats Asemu and threatens to kill him should he see him again on the battlefield.    Comments:   So, Desil has made his return to the show. He barely looks like he did as a child, but I guess that’s growing up. Not only is he grown up, but he is seriously ripped, too. I bet he could take Flit on with his bare hands. Maybe he’s ripped for that very reason. Being defeated so utterly as a child has made him driven to defeat the Gundam pilot. He’s also got a serious entitlement thing going on and is not happy for Zeheart’s promotion. There’ll probably be some friction between the two.     I’ve got to say, for all the different reasons they could have given Zeheart to wear a mask in this show, they actually came up with a pretty decent one, with the mask enabling the pilot to better channel their X-Rounder abilities into the MS. He’s not hiding from his past or trying to fool anybody, he needs it for work. It’s probably one of the show’s better ideas, though I’m pretty sure it wasn’t necessary at all. It’s just a fun little thing. But the mask is upstaged by the absolutely ridiculous helmet he wears. That thing is way too bulky.    Is it just me, or is Woolf the best character in this show? What was a kind of arrogant swagger in the first part of the series has become learned confidence. He’s just that good. The only thing that could top this is Grodek showing up again.      Overall Score:   3.5 out of 5    
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Gundam AGE Episode 19 Review

 Episode 19, "Asemu’s Departure"

  *****SPOILERS*****   Synopsis: While Asemu joins the military, Zeheart is put in charge of the Veigan’s occupation forces. Romary has also joined the Federation. Asemu and Romary are assigned to the Diva, along with Dique’s daughter, Arisa. Millias Alloy is now the captain of the ship. On the ship, Asemu discovers the Gundam AGE-2. Woolf Enneacle is put in charge of mobile suit forces. The Diva encounters Veigan mobile suits and mobilizes its MS force, except Asemu who has to wait on the configuration of the AGE-2. When it’s done, Asemu launches and supports the others. The Veigans go after the Diva, but he shoots them down. However, having disobeyed orders, Asemu is punished.    Comments:   So here we have another time skip to Asemu already being ordered to a ship. Time sure seems to move fast in the world of this show. They couldn’t at least have given us a montage of Asemu in military academy?    So Romary decided to join the military as a bridge bunny on the Diva. Interesting. I guess with her having an actual position on the ship makes her more useful than Emily was. Something I wonder about is if Flit outranks Milias? I mean, he was just a kid and a rookie pilot on the Diva but now he’s a commander and she’s just the ship’s captain? I don’t think it’s fair to put Flit in a commanding role just because he was the Gundam pilot. Amuro Ray only made lieutenant by the time CCA came around.    Another thing I wonder is why should Asemu be given the Gundam? In the first generation you can rationalize that he knew the Gundam better than anyone else, having developed it. I guess Asemu probably knows more about it than, say, Woolf, but he’s a brand new pilot, and it’s not like he’s been out in the Gundam a whole lot. Plus, that was the old Gundam. The new Gundam is the most powerful MS, shouldn’t it go to the most talented pilot? The guy who pilots it now disobeyed orders TWICE, first ignoring an order and then going down to the hanger when he was supposed to be confined to his quarters. And where are the soldiers to make sure he follows that? Milias sure sucks at her job. Grodek would have slapped his shit and thrown him in the brig. I think. Come to think of it, Grodek was pretty wonky, too.    Speaking of the new Gundam, is it just me or is it a thinly disguised Gundam 00?     

Overall Score:

3.5 out of 5

 
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Gundam AGE Episode 18 Review

 Episode 18, "Graduation Ceremony Battle"

  *****SPOILERS*****   Synopsis: Time passes and Asemu is to graduate. On the day of graduation, he reveals his plan to join the military after the break. Military police interrupt the ceremony and arrest Zeheart. Zeheart’s contact decoys the soldiers. He attacks the soldiers until Zeheart can get to his mobile suit. In his cockpit he reflects on the times he’s had with Asemu and his friends. Back at the school, Asemu gets a call from Vargas, who has sent the trailer with the Gundam. The Gundam comes in and fights Zeheart’s MS. Asemu is again pinned down by Zeheart, who reveals that he’d been fighting him. Romary sees this. Zeheart retreats.    Comments:   Watching this episode, it feels like I missed five or six episodes. Asemu and Zeheart are dear friends with photos of moments of their friendship, Romary seems closer to them, and everyone is graduating.    There are two trains of thought on this, to me. One is, wait a minute, they just skipped ahead of character development? Shouldn’t we see some of those moments? They shorcut the way there with those photos, so that’s actually somewhat clever, but it doesn’t feel like Zeheart’s betrayal of Asemu’s trust is any big deal, because they’ve been friends for two episodes.    The other thought is, well, who wants to wait around? Obviously we’re trying to move forward to Asemu joining the military and fighting the Veigans more directly. If we’re just sitting around watching Asemu and Zeheart hanging out, it’s liable to get very boring. So in this way, the time skip is no big offender. There’s a lot of story to get to, after all, we can’t be sitting on our hands waiting for them to become good friends.    However, what about a compromise, Sunrise? You could have given it at least another episode for the relationship between Asemu and Zeheart to cement. Instead, this sudden skip ahead has decided character development in a very tricky way that removes any gravity a betrayal will have. We don’t really feel for Asemu because we already knew Zeheart was going to betray him and it didn’t have time to really build up.    It was a decent episode, I guess, but I don’t know, I don’t really like some of the choices they made.      Overall Score:   3.5 out of 5      
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Space Battleship Yamato 2199 PV

A few notes:

– Captain Okita’s character design seems to be the least redesigned.

– Doctor Sado looks like a compromise between his original design and the new style.

– Awesome, some of Hiroshi Miyagawa’s music is making it in, probably because his son is doing the music.

– Gamilian spaceships! If only they would show Gamilius and/or Lord Desslar.

– Starsha confirmed!

I’m so psyched about this. As I’ve established, SBY is one of my favorite anime, and this PV makes the remake look pretty damn good! read more

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Gundam AGE Episode 17 Review

 Episode 17, "Friendship, Love, and Mobile Suits"

*****SPOILERS*****   Synopsis: Asemu keeps secret that he piloted the Gundam. Zeheart is told that the Gundam is likely hidden somewhere at the Asuno residence and joins the mobile suit club with Asemu and his friends. The four prepare for a MS tournament. Asemu invites the team to his house to get information on mobile suits. Zeheart uses this opportunity to look around for the Gundam, finally finding it in the stable. Later at the MS tournament, Asemu in his club MS battles other competitors, winning several bouts. However, Zeheart disappears. A Veigan MS is activated at the Asuno residence and Vargas alerts Asemu. Asemu speeds back home and gets in the Gundam. Zeheart moves in to support his superior, but Vargas activates a smog field which Asemu uses as cover to destroy one of the MS. However, Zeheart pins the Gundam down. The arrival of Romary allows Asemu to get free and Federation MS arrive. Zeheart retreats. The Gundam is moved to a Federation facility.      Comments:   I like the mobile suit competition in this episode and wish there was more of it (maybe making this a two-parter would have worked). Especially the part about Asemu wanting to impress his father by winning. I imagine that Flit could be a bit difficult to impress, since he already built the Gundam and was fighting the Veigans/UE well before he was Asemu’s age. Asemu is only barely able to build a small MS with his friends. He might not have even done as well as he did in the competition had it not been for Zeheart. I remember that in Zeta Gundam, Kamille Bidan was well-known for being a builder of petit MS.    The episode is somewhat a repeat of the previous, only this time Zeheart was in battle, too, and was able to pin down the Gundam. Actually, even before then Asemu was having slightly more difficulty with Zeheart’s contact. Luckily for him the Federation’s mobile suits arrived. But who knows? Maybe he would have been able to recover on his own. Based on what I saw in the previous episode, Asemu can really hold his own.    Is it just me or does Vargas seem a lot more helpful in this part of the show than in the previous one? That smog field was a good idea.     Overall Score:   3.5 out of 5    
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Gundam AGE Episode 16 Review

 Episode 16, "The Gundam in the Stable"

*****SPOILERS*****   Synopsis: Many years have passed, and Flit Asuno is an adult and a Federation commander, still vowing to fight and destroy the Veigans. His son, 17 year old Asemu Asuno, is in a mobile suit club at school with his friends Shawee and Macil. On his birthday, his family, including Emily (mother) and Unoa (sister), gather to celebrate. Flit passes the key to the Gundam AGE to his son. A new transfer student, Zeheart Galette, joins Asemu’s school. One day while working on a mobile suit, Asemu and his friends hear the evacuation alarm and see that the Veigan are attacking the colony. He discovers that his father had been hiding the Gundam for such an occasion, and decides to pilot it. Asemu is able to destroy the enemy mobile suits.    Comments:   This first episode of the new section of Gundam AGE gets off on the right foot.    Flit has become a bit of a hardened man, swearing unending vengeance against the Veigans, still not even considering them human beings. His adjunct makes a note of this when we first see him, now rocking a mustache and beard. He doesn’t seem particularly close to Emily, who is now his wife. I wonder if their marriage was just one of convenience. Their children appear to be well-loved, at least, but Flit has instilled in them his own outlook and wants Asemu to be a soldier so he can carry out his mission in life.    Asemu, for the most part, seems pretty on the ball. He has an interest in mobile suits, but he also has somewhat a social life, even if it’s mostly with his MS-loving friends. He seems perfectly capable of jumping into action when necessary, showing little or no hesitation. He even pulls off some cool moves in the Gundam in his first time piloting it. I’m guessing his love interest is Romary (guessing? It’s blatant!).    Zeheart shares the last name "Galette" with Desil and it’s not shocking when we see he’s working with the Veigans. My question is, will he be an enemy or ally of Asemu? I can envision them becoming friends, but not quite knowing what each other are up to. I can also see Asemu sympathizing with the plight of the Veigans through Zeheart while Flit is angered that his son is "siding with the enemy". These are just guesses I’m making based on years of anime watching, though.    Anyway, so far, so good! This show has been on a roll lately!   Overall Score:

4 out of 5

   
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Gundam AGE Episode 15 Review

 Episode 15, "Those Tears Fall In Space"

  *****SPOILERS*****   Synopsis: Grodek’s team infiltrates Ambat. Yark Dole pilots a giant mobile armor called the Mucell. Flit, in the Gundam, encounters it on the way to the base’s core. With Woolf’s help, Flit is able to destroy the mobile armor, but Dole escapes. Flit gives chase, catching up with him in the control room where Grodek and the others are. Grodek reveals that Yark Dole led the UE into the colony his (Grodek’s) family were in, despite it being a peaceful colony without a Federation base. Grodek wants to kill Dole for revenge. Dole reveals that he and his comrades were part of the Federation’s Mars colony project, a failure that claimed the lives of many of its participants, due to a Mars-born disease. The remaining colonists were abandoned by the Federation. They formed their own nation, calling themselves Veigans. Flit threatens to shoot Yark Dole, but Grodek does it before he can. However, before he dies, Dole activates the base’s self-destruct mode. The Diva crew escape the explosion. Later, Grodek is arrested and imprisoned by the Federation.    Comments:   Though it was short, I thought the fight with the Mucell was one of the better combat scenes in the series thus far. I especially liked the part at the base’s core. It’s too bad Yark Dole did almost nothing aside from that in the whole episode. Even self-destructing the base was just doing what the Diva crew were trying to do to begin with.    Flit was pretty badass in this episode. He easily destroys all the UE MS in the core, destroys the Mucell, and nearly guns down Yark. His chase after him felt a lot like the end of the original Mobile Suit Gundam, when Amuro and Char were fighting it out without mobile suits. He probably really would have shot Dole, too, if Grodek hadn’t done so first. When Flit is angry he’s a pretty interesting character. I think we’ll see in the next "generation" of the show, though, that he’s still damaged from what happened to Yurin. Amuro Ray never fully got over what happened to Lalah, after all.    It makes me feel bad for Emily. Obviously the next generation main character is her and Flit’s son, so she ends up with him, but it seems like he overhwhelmingly loves Yurin and is completely devestated by her death, even after the UE’s defeat. So Emily’s doomed to forever being Flit’s silver medal. I feel bad for her.    Finally, it’s revealed who the UE are. I actually quite like where they went with it. The UE, the Veigans (vegans? Do they have vegan psychic powers like in Scott Pilgrim?) are the survivors of the Mars colonies disaster. It’s no wonder that the Federation was trying to cover it all up, pretending there were no survivors. However, don’t you think they took denying it a little too far by not even going after the UE, whose mobile suits were killing innocent civillians? The Federation must be awfully corrupt to ignore the UE problem just because they would look bad if it got out who they were. It looks even worse to let them go on killing people.    What was with Grodek telling the Blue Desil that his life will be tragic? Thanks for rubbing in the fact you killed his father, asshole.    Anyway, the first part of the series is over, and I have to admit the past few episodes have finally made this show worth watching. However, I get this sinking feeling that it will take just as long for the second part to get going. Let’s hope I’m wrong.      Overall Score:

4.5 out of 5

 
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Lupin III: Blood Seal ~ Eternal Mermaid Review

 "Blood Seal ~ Eternal Mermaid"

Synopsis:  When Lupin steals a jewel called the "Mermaid’s Scale", he discovers it’s a fake. The real jewel, another one, and a person with an immortal body turn out to be keys to the treasure of the Yaobikuni. Wanting to prevent a dangerous arms dealer from taking the prize, Lupin and the gang decide to get to it first. However, they’ll have to deal with a dangerous assassin, the police force, and a fickle Fujiko. In the end, who’ll obtain the ancient treasure? A thief or a merchant of death?    Comments:

With Discotek releasing the original Lupin III TV series later this year (expect reviews), I was chomping at the bit to do something Lupin-related for Otaku Revolution. Luckily, there was a recently aired television special to watch and review! Even more fortunate, it was a pretty damn good one!

This was the first really fun ride for Lupin in a long while. The past few specials have been pretty terrible, especially the last one, The Last Job, wherein the running joke was Lupin being bitten on the ass by a ninja dog. This time around there were all the classic trademarks of Lupin: A heist, some chases, a secret treasure, a henchmen for Goemon to battle. Only the execution was really quite good. There were elements of past Lupin features like Plot of the Fuma Clan and Stolen Lupin, but with its own unique twists and turns. read more

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