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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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Three Episodes In – Bodacious Space Pirates

Bodacious Space Pirates is a new anime series for 2012 which tells the story of Mariko Kato, heir to the pirate ship Bentenmaru following the death of her father, the ship’s captain. Bodacious Space Pirates is written by Yūichi Sasamoto (co-writer of Venus Wars), directed by Tatsuo Satō (Stellvia, Martian Successor Nadesico), and animated by Satelight Inc. (Macross Frontier, Hellsing Ultimate). It’s already been licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks.

Note – Most folks, including the subbing groups, are referring to the series as Mouretsu Space Pirates, the name of the light novel series this anime is based off of. Mouretsu, as it turns out, means miniskirt. Every other source, from ANN to Wikipedia and even the series logo, show the series is actually called Bodacious Space Pirates. read more

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Gundam AGE Episode 14 Review

 Episode 14, "A Flash of Sorrow"

*****SPOILERS*****   Synopsis: The battle at Ambat continues. The Diva begins to take on damage. Flit is attacked by Desil in his black MS. Suddenly a pink MS interrupts them. Yurin has been physically forced to pilot it, with her unable to break free. Desil struggles to fight two mobile suits. As Desil closes in for the kill, Yurin’s MS gets between them and her MS is impaled. Her MS explodes. Enraged, Flit attacks Desil’s mobile suit with ferocity, disabling it. Flit changes the Gundam parts from Spallow to Titus and charges the enemy base, opening a hanger door. The Diva parks in the hanger and the crew arm themselves for close combat.    Comments:   Yurin dies? Huge shock! Never saw that coming.    Actually, aside from the predictability, Yurin’s death was handled pretty well. It was interesting that the MS she was in was basically just using her and she was little more than a battery for it as it worked via X-Rounder resonance. This way not only is she forced to work for the enemy, but she’s physically forced to. Though if this was the case, why couldn’t her MS simply be remote controlled via Desil’s own MS? Or does it work better with an additional X-Rounder? Anyway, the vision of Flit and Yurin interacting in the woods just before her MS explodes was a little touching, to be honest.    So I guess at the last moment she was able to take control of her MS? It’s not quite clear.    I’m trying to decide which 0079 battle this is more like, Solomon or A Bao Qu. On the one hand, by the end of the episode, a new secret weapon that looks like the Big Zam is being activated. On the other, this feels more final than Solomon and the Diva crew is about to engage in close combat with guns, much like A Bao Qu. It’s probably a little of both, because I’m guessing fighting the new MS/MA (?) will be a significant portion of the next episode. Is the pilot the guy in the mask, unmasked?   Who’s the blue-haired kid that looks a bit like Desil?   The action was pretty good in this episode, especially when Flit became enraged at Yurin’s death and totally dominated Desil’s black MS. If the next episode can continue that level of awesomeness, this show might just turn around after all.     Overall Score:

4.5 out of 5

 
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Gundam AGE Episode 13 Review

 Episode 13, "Space Fortress Ambat"

  *****SPOILERS*****   Synopsis: With the Diva armed with a AGE System-created beam weapon, the crew prepares for battle. Grodek commands the fleet from the bridge. The mobile suit forces launch. The fleet approaches Ambat at fires, but at first there’s no response. Suddenly, a massive ship emerges from behind a forcefield. The Diva transforms into more of a battleship. Combat ensues, but the UE outnumber the rebels. Flit draws the enemy towards himself and takes out many of them. The Diva nears the base and fires it’s beam weapon at the ship, which is heavily damaged. Ract tries to sacrifice himself to stop the remaining part, but before he can, other friendly forces arrive to assist them.      Comments:   Wow, this was an excellent episode!   First of all, let me get this out of the way: what the hell is up with everyone’s normal suit? The Diva crew dress like they’re in their pajamas. The Zalam normal suits look like Zakus. The Euba MS normal suits are probably the best looking. It’s hard to take the Diva crew seriously with such ridiculous suits. Get some normal normal suits, guys! This isn’t a sleepover.    Speaking of the Diva (and we’re getting to the good parts now), it’s transformation is pretty cool. It’s transformed state looks like the Albion from Gundam 0083. Before, it looked a bit like the Ptolemaios from Gundam 00.    Considering how predictable this show has been, I was really pleasantly surprised by a the cliche-avoiding scene in this episode where Ract tries a suicide run but is stopped by Flit. Ract is unable to make himself a human missile like Don Boyage. The little talking-to he gets from Flit is a great moment. It feels like the kind of thing you’d see in FMA (though in FMA, it would be a big speech about not throwing your life away).   Emily’s really got her shit together now. She’s in full support of Flit’s decision to continue fighting in the Gundam. For a while, I thought she was going to go crazy or something.    There was some good action in this episode. I especially enjoyed when Flit drew a bunch of UE suits to himself, and then took them all out himself. That was pretty badass, especially the way he did it. It’s probably the best action scene in the show thus far.    This episode was a lot more compelling than the show has been overall. I only hope the episodes that follow can live up to it.   Overall Score:

4.5 out of 5

   
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Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – Episode 52 ENGLISH DUB Review

Episode 52, "Combined Powers"

*****SPOILERS*****   Synopsis: Using the Philosopher’s Stone, Alphonse battles Pride and Kimbley. Kimbley is impressed, but is curious as to why Alphonse hasn’t used the stone to retrieve his body. Alphonse claims that the possibility exists to save everyone and regain his body. Kimbley argues that it’s possible that neither will occur, and attacks using his own, refined stone. In Central, the Armstrong siblings take on Sloth, who proves to be the fastest of the homunculi. Pride seemingly gains the advantage against Alphonse, but it turns out to be a trap. Heinkel comes from behind Kimbley and bites his neck. Edward, Scar, and the other chimera continue to fight the homunculi army, who try disabling them by taking out their legs. As Pride taunts Alphonse and his group, a car comes out of nowhere and hits him. The car is driven by none other than Yoki, who helps the others escape. Alone with a dying Kimbley, Pride decides to devour him like he did with Gluttony. Back at Central HQ, the troops who corner Olivier are attacked by the homunculi army and she tells them to make a choice between dying or making a stand. Beneath Central, Envy chases Mei. In the room where Ed and the others are, they are beginning to get overwhelmed, but Roy and Riza arrive.   Comments:   I just don’t know what to make of Eric Vale’s Kimbley. It sounds rough and detached. I guess it works to some degree, given Kimbley’s attitude, but I’d have preferred a smoother, sharpened voice for the character.    I like the transition from Alphonse’s battle with Kimbley and the Armstrong siblings’ fight with Sloth. For a second it looks like Kimbley was creating the dagger-like rocks.    Speaking of the Armstrongs, Sabat and Young both do an excellent job as the siblings, as usual. Even with the smaller things, like grunting when hurt sounds convincing from them. You can’t beat Young’s yells when she attacks.    Jerry Russell’s Marcoh still sounds crappy, though. It’s too bad that Brice Armstrong retired, he brought a real sense of weight to the role. Armstrong had a certain authoritative air to it. This one sounds like he’s a million years old and is dying of throat cancer.   There’s mercifully little of Vic Mignogna in this episode, and when there is some, it’s not that bad.    I really like Barry Yandell’s Yoki in this episode. He hams it up, but that’s Yoki for you. I love how he’s crying as he saves everyone.    Monica Rial’s May has improved over time. At first I found it a little off, but fitting, since I found May kind of annoying. But it evolved a little over time.    Next episode has a lot of drama in it, but it’s mostly Travis Willingham’s Roy, so I have faith it will be well-performed. Well, it also has a lot of Wendy Powell. Shudder.      Overall ENGLISH DUB Score:    4 out of 5    
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Gundam AGE Episode 12 Review

 Episode 12, "The Rebels Set Sail"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: The Diva prepares to depart from Minsry. Federation forces intercept them as they leave. Reasoning with them fails and Grodek refuses to surrender. Zalam and Euba ships come to the Diva’s defense. The stalemate is broken when UE appear and attack everyone. Flit, Woolf, and Largan attack the UE in their mobile suits. The Diva is allowed to pass by the Federation ships to fire at the UE. The Federation ship then fires its own weapons at the UE, causing them to retreat. The Diva is allowed to continue on its way. Later, Grodek surmises that Flit could be a "X-Rounder", a person with extrasensory skills. Back at Minsry, Desil and the cloaked men threaten Yurin. read more

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Gundam AGE Episode 11 Review

 Episode 11, " Reunion at Minsry"

*****SPOILERS*****   Synopsis: The Diva ports at the colony of Minsry to prepare for the last battle with the UE. Flit, Grodek, Woolf, and the Euba leader head for the Birmings mansion. On the way there, Flit hears something and runs after. He discovers that it’s Yurin, the girl he met at Nora. Alzack Birmings, a wealthy friend of Don Boyage, tells him he will support Grodek’s plan. Alzack turns out to be Yurin’s adoptive father. As the team prepares for the mission, Flit spends time with Yurin. Flit promises to return after the fighting is over. On the way back to the Diva, a boat carrying Federation soldiers and several Federation mobile suits block their path and arrest Grodek. Flit uses the Gundam to disable the Federation MS. Grodek is rescued.      Comments:    A whole lot of nothing happens in this episode. It felt more like half an episode. You could easily cut half of what happened in this episode and not have lost anything important. Far from being relaxing, it was merely boring. If it weren’t for all the beautiful scenery, I’d say it was a total waste of my (oh so precious) time.    First, what’s with all these guys with ridiculous hairstyles? Birmings looks like he stepped out of Rose of Versailles. The Euba guy looks like he could be Chara Soon’s brother. I know anime hairstyles are weird on principal, but there are plenty of characters with more ordinary hair and then there are the anomolies. I hate to sound like my mother, but dem Chinese cartoon characters have stupid, stupid hair.    Second, wow, could Yurin be sending up any more death flags? Sudden relationship with a shy girl with a tragic past. Spending time enjoying each other’s company to a musical montage. Flit making a promise to her to return after the fighting.  Just have a piece of the colony fall on her already. I know me some Gundam, and my Gundam instinct is telling me this girl’s as good as dead. It’s almost stupid if she doesn’t die.    It is interesting, though, that the AGE system is being used to upgrade the Diva. I’d like to see what sort of mechanical monster that creates out of it.    Another interesting tidbit is Grodek saying that the Federation is covering up who the UE really are. The Federation knows but isn’t saying? What kind of retarded Federation is this? This is Gundam 0083-level Feddie retardation.    Do you realize I actually wrote a freaking paragraph on hair? On hair. That’s how little this episode had going for it. I had to write a paragraph on the hair.    Overall Score:

3.5 out of 5

 
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Gundam AGE Episode 10 Review

 Episode 10, "Day of Fierce Battle"

*****SPOILERS*****   Synopsis: The Zalam and Euba factions team up with the Diva to take on the UE. The Federation sends a message that they have no forces in the area to support them. Infighting begins between Zalam and Euba as a black UE mobile suit wreaks havoc. Don Boyage is seemingly killed in action and the UE take the advantage. With the Zalam and Euba beginning a retreat, the still alive Don Boyage and subordinates do a suicide charge on the UE ship, which does no damage. Vargas announces that new parts for the Gundam are ready. The new parts are launched and when attached the Gundam becomes Spallow. The Spallow engages the black MS and damages it. The UE ship begins to fall back. Fardain is saved. Elsewhere, Desil has a tantrum. The Diva leaves Fardain for the Minsry colony.      Well, finally a solid episode.    There’s really not a whole lot to speak about this episode, as it’s mostly action-oriented. The action itself seems a little scattered, but I guess you can’t expect a lot of one-on-one duels in a situation like this one. The black UE MS that Desil controls is pretty badass, totally dominating everyone until the Spallow is in action. The Spallow reduces mass and optimizes speed, as opposed to Titus which specializes in powerful strength. I would have liked to seen a longer encounter between it and the black UE MS, but this was good enough for now.    Don Boyage meets his end in this episode, sacrificing himself to damage the enemy ship. Unfortunately, it was all for naught. I have to say that while Don Boyage seemed like a silly character above anything else, and the Zalam and Euba aspect of the story just stupid, I did think that it was a decent moment. It helped Flit to see the horrors of the battlefield firsthand. I still feel, though, that Boyage and his Euba counterpart feel like Gundam ZZ characters that are introduced as silly at first but then given serious moments later on. It sort of dampens the impact when you remember how this character started out in the show.    The one thing that really caught my eye was the anti-beam dispersal shells, which are an awesome idea. It’s sort of like an I-Field, but with a wider range.    Overall Score:

4 out of 5

   
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Gundam AGE Episode 09 Review

 Episode 09, "The Secret Mobile Suit"

  *****SPOILERS*****   Synopsis: Woolf takes Flit, Emily, and Dique to a space station to meet the designer/engineer of the G-Exes, Madorna. They’re amazed at the mobile suit factory. Mardona shows the group a mobile suit that appears to be a UE one. Before he can tell them about the person who brought it to him, the mobile suit springs to life and starts firing. Flit and Woolf get in mobile suits to stop the UE suit. Flit ends up engaging it out in space. Woolf arrives to distract the UE MS while Flit retrieves the Gundam. Vargas launches the Titus and Flit transfers to it. The UE MS is extremely fast and neither Flit nor Woolf can get it. Suddenly the MS retreats, stunning everyone. Madorna tells the group that it was a man named Yark Dole (a masked man seen previously in ep 5), an arms dealer who brought him the UE MS. Later, back at the Diva, Grodek announces their next destination is Colony Minsry. He explains that his belief is that the UE are hiding out in a base there and that he’s not their captain. Emily speaks up in defense of Grodek. Flit pledges to fight alongside Grodek. Woolf agrees to stay, too, as well as others. Suddenly more UE suits are detected.    Comments:    Well, now, this was a decent episode.    I think the biggest thing that happened in this episode was Emily’s development. This is due in part to Madorna’s girlfriend, Laraparly giving her a little talking to. Emily was still fretting over Flit risking his life, but Laraparly tells her to risk her life with Flit. It’s clear that Flit is going to stay as a pilot, so her options are pretty much support him or leave him. With Emily choosing the former, I’m guessing she’s going to stay on the crew just to be around Flit. I’d like to see her get some kind of job on the ship, liking bringing food around or becoming a bridge bunny. Something other than piloting.   Also of note is Emily’s defense of Grodek’s actions. Grodek may be acting in part out of revenge (or even mostly), but what he’s doing is right. Emily, who had hated Grodek for keeping things to himself sticks up for him when he finally tells the truth to his crew. I think Laraparly’s words probably inspired her to do this as well, plus she was waiting for Grodek become more honest. Now the entire crew is as guilty as Grodek is of disobeying the Federation.   Another thing I noticed is that Madorna was astonished that Flit is a member of the Asuno family. Apparently the Asunos are a famous family, but other than his mother being dead, there’s nothing else we know about Flit’s family. I have a feeling we’ll find out more about it in the near future.    Why did Flit, Emily, and Dique freak out when Laraparly kissed Madorna? It wasn’t even on the lips and they were blushing.    We see a brief cameo of the little boy Desil from a few episodes back. Apparently he has control over the UE mobile suit that Madorna was souping up. The masked man Yark Dole is the same weapons dealer that gave the Zalam and Euba their mobile suits and if he’s connected to the UE, it seems like he’s manipulating everything for profit. But as a guy in a mask I think there is probably some ideological slant to his actions. I just wonder what Desil is in it for. Just to have fun, like Bud in Patlabor?    Next episode looks to be full of action.    Overall Score:

3.5 out of 5

   
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