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Gundam AGE Episode 07 Review

Episode 07, "Evolving Gundam"

  *****SPOILERS*****   Synopsis: Captured by Zalam mobile suits, Flit is brought before Don Boyage. He questions the actions of the Zalam and Euba, since the UE could attack at any time. Don Boyage expresses his desire to use the Gundam to fight Euba. Grodek explains that the Federation isn’t strong enough to fight the UE, thus his request for warships. When Euba mobile suits show up, Grodek and Flit escape among the chaos. Don goes out in his own mobile suit.  Flit in the Gundam gets in the middle of the fighting factions and tries to reason with them. Suddenly, the UE attacks. Largan arrives in a mobile suit to hold the UE off while Flit takes the Gundam to the AGE system. The Gundam is fitted with new parts and arrives to help.  Comments:    I can’t imagine me giving less of a shit about this show.    The introduction of the two warring factions is fine. It wouldn’t surprise me if people kept fighting with each other even with a common enemy. Zeta Gundam had that. The Zalam and Euba factions have neat insignia and I’m digging their mobile suits, too. However, there’s nothing about what these two groups are fighting over, and the Zalam side especially seem more like comedy relief rather than a serious threat. I’m waiting around for them to all just go away so we can get back to the real story, because this shit is about as good and integrating as the silly crap in Double Zeta.    Even Grodek was boring in this episode. We did get a nice scene with him and Flit where he puts out his hand, but past that, it feels like he’s just going through the motions. Flit seemed pretty mechanical, too. In fact, all of the characters were robotic, except for the aforementioned comedy relief. At least the guy with the fro, Largan, finally took part in a battle. Though after all that waiting he easily gets his ass handed to them. I guess they’re going to need Woolf again.    The Gundam AGE gets a new add-on armor that makes it look like Gundam Maxter. I hope it tackles like a football player, so at least it’s over-the-top enough to come back around to entertaining.    I’ve gone from not caring much about this show, to liking it slightly, and now I can barely stand it. I almost hate it. The art is inconsistent, the animation is awful at times, the story is boring, and the characters are uncharismatic. Right now the show is just a waste of time. If it doesn’t pick up soon, I’m dropping it. As flawed as it was, Gundam 00 was better than this.     

Overall Score:

2.5 out of 5

   
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Gundam AGE Episode 06 Review

 Episode 06 , "The Light and Shadow of Fardain"

*****SPOILERS*****   Synopsis:  Flit tells Emily he’s not going to resettle in Tordia. Woolf visits a friend who he orders a custom mobile suit from. Flit and Emily find themselves in the middle of a mobile suit battle in the city. They’re saved by a man named Iwark Bria, who takes them to the slums. Iwark tells them that the conflict sprang from the old colonial war from years past. Grodek visits a man named Don Boyage and requests four warships which he’s willing to sell for military secrets. When Iwark’s daughter goes missing, he climbs into his own mobile suit with Flit and Emily. After they find the girl, Iwark goes off on his own to fight the other mobile suits. Flit requests that Vargas bring him the Gundam. Once in the Gundam, Flit confronts the other mobile suits. A UE mobile suit arrives and Flit engages it, but it suddenly disappears. Flit becomes surrounded by other mobile suits.     Comments:    Emily’s really starting to annoy me. It’s one thing if they’re planning to have her spiral down until she’s crazy, but as she is now, she’s just nerve-wracking. We get it, you don’t want Flit to join the military. But if you’re so worried about him dying, why don’t you join up as well and chip in somehow, making it less likely that he’ll die? I understand her frustration, but she comes across as overprivledged. You can’t isolate yourself from the conflict occuring.    I wonder what the colonial wars were all about. Maybe it was just like the Federation-Zeon conflict in Mobile Suit Gundam. But actually, it doesn’t appear that there’s any real big difference between the two sides. We don’t really find out whether or not it was a war for colony independence or what. It’s just two different colored MS firing at each other in the middle of a frickin’ city. Shouldn’t the colony have Federation protection against this kind of thing?    Both Woolf and Grodek are ordering something. Woolf wants a custom mobile suit, which I’m looking forward to seeing (though his current white one is pretty neat). Grodek wants ships, and he’s willing to exchange them for classified information. He’s not a very good Federation officer. He’s totally doing things for his own ideals and with his own plan. I wonder how many of the crew of the Diva, if any, know what he’s up to. Surely he can’t keep it up for much longer, though I doubt he plans to. I don’t see things ending well for Grodek, which is a shame, because so far he’s my favorite character.    Is that guy with the orange ‘fro going to finally pilot a MS?   

Overall Score:

3.5 out of 5

 
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Gundam AGE Episode 05 Review

 Episode 05, "The Demon Boy"

*****SPOILERS*****   Synopsis:  Emily is concerned when she overhears Flit commit to continue piloting the Gundam.  As the Diva nears the colony Fardain, Captain Grodek is contacted by Federation authorities who plan to strip him of his command (which he usurped). Grodeck blackmails the official who comes to arrest him. Emily confronts him about his behavior and he reveals his attack plan to her. Flit encounters a boy named Desil who gives him a strange feeling.  The UE attack Fardain and Desil gets in the Gundam, taking off in it. Flit and Woolf launch in Geoaces to retrieve it, but Desil easily takes out enemy MS. Desil later meets with cloaked people.    Comments:   It looked like Grodek’s actions were coming back to haunt him. However, with a little blackmail, he managed to avoid arrest. I doubt this is the last we’ll hear/see of this matter, though. Grodek commandeered a Federation battleship and its mobile suits. The top brass won’t stay silent on this. But I thought it was extremely smooth how he handled it for the time being. He really is my favorite character.    Emily is really starting to freak out. She’s determined to stop Grodek and prevent Flit from becoming a soldier for the Federation. Her heart is in the right place- she’s concerned for Flit’s safety and doesn’t like Grodek’s dishonesty- but something tells me she’s on a downward spiral of sanity. I hope they don’t make her lose her mind completely. Then again, it might be more interesting that way.    Flit meets mysterious youngster Desil in this episode. Desil gives Flit the same feeling he had when he was with Yurin a few episodes back. And somehow he’s not all he seems to be. I wonder if the masked man in the cloak who came to him at the end of the episode will be the Char of this series. It seems like Yurina and Desil are Newtypes, but they might not call them that in this series.     Overall Score:   3.5 out of 5  
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Gundam AGE Episode 04 Review

Episode 04, "The White Wolf"       *****SPOILERS*****   Synopsis:  Mobile suit ace Woolf Enneacle awakens on the Diva and is assigned as the head of mobile suit forces on the crew. He desires to pilot Flit’s Gundam, but Flit objects. The two decide to have a duel contest to see who’s a more fit pilot. The two are attacked by the UE and team up to escape. The UE’s cloaking technology leads Grodek Aiona to the knowledge of who they really are. 

  Comments:    The episode introduces mobile suit racer (?) star, Woolf Enneacle, who ends up being a rival of Flit’s. He’s arrogant and likes to hit on women. He challenges Flit to a contest whose winner will decide who pilots the Gundam. Who does this remind you of? If Woolf were also a heavy drinker, he’d be Bernard Monsha from Gundam 0083. In fact, this episode reminds me of episode 3 of that less than stellar OVA. Only Monsha isn’t a kitten eared pretty boy, so I guess he’s a totally different character? Well, actually, Woolf doesn’t come across quite as bad as Monsha, but at the same time, isn’t as fun a character.    I wonder what the "grand prix" spoken of is indeed a speed race between mobile suits, maybe something like IGPX. I’m already more interested in Woolf’s past than his present. As head of the mobile suit forces, you’d think the most powerful suit would go right to him, contest or not. You’d want to get the most out of your best weapon, so giving him to the best soldier is a smart move. But I guess Flit knows Gundam better than anyone. Really, though, it’s because he’s the main character that he’ll get to keep using the Gundam. It might have been different to see Woolf get it for a little while and end up not using it as well, or something along those lines. The "rivals working together dissolving their differences" route is a little played out.    The Unknown Enemy’s big ship (more ugly CG) uses cloaking technology. You don’t see a lot of this in Gundam. For some reason the captain gets an idea about who they really are, so maybe we’ll know by the end of the next episode. I haven’t really thought about it. I just figured they were a secretive group, but are human. I’m still hoping the spoilers I read about this show are wrong.    I’m still not impressed.   

Overall Score: 3.5 out of 5

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Gundam AGE Episode 03 Review

 Episode  03, "The Twisted Colony"

    *****SPOILERS*****   Synopsis:  The crew of the Diva begin to tow the colony core filled with evacuated citizens while Flit takes on more UE mobile suits. While taking on the enemy, Flit notices Yurin’s strange abilities. When the core is pinned down, with no options left, Command Bruzar sacrifices himself to save the colonists. The final UE MS retreats. While the ship tows the colony core, a mysterious figure wakes up on board from cold sleep.    Comments:    As expected, the Nora colony is a goner, much in the same way Side 7 and Heliopolis. Well, they were creative in the saving of colonists, using the colony core. I had thought they would be doomed before the end of the episode, but it looks like they’re out of danger for the time being. The colony still exploded, though.    I’m sure this has come up before, but Yurin seems very similar to Tiffa in Gundam X. Sort of shy and a little detached seeming, and has special intuition. Tiffa is a Newtype, so maybe Yurin is one, too. The way he seems unafraid to take on the UE mobile suit, Flit seems to be taking after Garrod or Judau Ashta. The captain already dresses like Jamil Neate. Im guessing Yurin will be Flit’s love interest, but it’s a little early to call it. I still think Emily will be in the Friend Zone, or else end up with the chubby kid.    Flit has a history of looking to the Gundam as being a savior, and he was determined to protect the colonists. I think a bit more of his personality is emerging, but he still hasn’t quite stepped out of the shadows of the truly iconic Gundam characters. It feels like we’re only getting development as flashbacks, so instead of forward development, we’re given his past to add dimension to him. It’s working right now, but they’ll have to follow it up in the present situation, or he’ll remain just "okay" as a lead.    I liked the core towing idea used here. It was certainly the first of its kind in a Gundam show. Just when I was thinking there wouldn’t be much new. However, based on some rumored spoilers, I may end up disliking developments that are a little too creative for their own good.        Overall Score:   3.5 out of 5
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Gundam AGE Episode 02 Review

Episode 02 , "The Power of AGE "

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: The Unknown Enemy continues to attack the colony of Nora. Federation soldiers disagree over what action to take involving evacuation and the ship Diva. Flit tries to help a girl, Yurin, who is at first afraid of the Gundam. Deputy Commander Grodek Aiona takes command of the Diva, which launches into space. Flit launches the Gundam into space but has difficulty fighting. The "AGE System"" is activated to provide Flit support. Flit uses the DOTS Rifle to engage an enemy MS, destroying the enemy easily. But then more mobile suits arrive. read more

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Voice Actor Comparison: Gundam – Char Aznable


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My pick: Shuichi Ikeda
Reasoning: Ikeda clearly does the most arresting, charismatic-sounding Char, a Char that fits every facet of his complex personality. Michael Kopsa is my favorite English dub Char, sounding noticably serious and determined, but with a touch of charm. Blum makes him sound a little too laid back and his delivery is way off in that particular dub and Edwards just sounds generic and has a wooden delivery. This isn’t just some guy, it’s Char Aznable! Well, at least Edwards is one of the more tolerable cast members of that terrible Zeta Gundam dub.
Breakdown: Ikeda > Kopsa > Blum > Edwards read more

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