Ep. 110 - Kio at the End of an AGE

[Soul Bro Ryu]

Can't contribute much to this thread, not been watching AGE.

As much as we know this, ironically, you could have watched it legitimately since you live in an area that allow you to stream it. Even though the show turned out terrible, I am still highly envious of that.

To each his own, I suppose.

[Arbiter GUNDAM]

Yes Neo, MacrossWorld does pay me for advertising them but only if they get read on air. So... help a brother out?

[Mu La Flaga]

Can't contribute much to this thread, not been watching AGE.

As much as we know this, ironically, you could have watched it legitimately since you live in an area that allow you to stream it. Even though the show turned out terrible, I am still highly envious of that.

To each his own, I suppose.

Well SBR that is part of the fun of download caps, believe me I'm not a fan of them myself.
And anyway I decided to sit back and see how AGE would turn out rather then diving in to see the whole result before deciding to watch it or not

[wielder]

After only experiencing the series in a vicarious manner at most I was planning to marathon Gundam AGE myself sooner or later, which might still happen later on, but it is disappointing to hear they ended up dropping the ball and never picked it back up. I won't deny this still made for good podcasting though, so thanks for the combination of laughs and commentary while it lasted.

You know, that also brings up the issue of what series actually did a pretty decent job with some sort of generational gimmick, even if they weren't necessarily making it the central focus. I'd say an interesting example would be Keiko Takemiya's Toward the Terra, which is only 3 volumes of manga and 24 episodes of anime (there's a film too, but...it's too compressed).

To Terra benefited from telling a simple yet effective story where the passage of time probably covers about two (or two and a half) generations with a little more breathing room, despite the relatively generous use of time skips. Now, the truth is you don't get tons of development for the secondary cast, but the relationships between the main characters and the rest do change over time and you get to see a society that's evolving in both large and small ways. It's more than a little predictable, in hindsight, but still a classic sci-fi work.

To finally answer Neo's question...I'm definitely not from Australia. This post is actually coming to you from somewhere deep in the dark corners of Colombia, South America. Perhaps that might not be the case in six months or so, I'd estimate, but there you have it!

[hawk of endymion]

And Chris you think Neo's ill-informed reputation shines through from his degree from the Larry King school of journalism?
(At least we Aussies know what culture is, heck even Dennis knows the meaning of culture )

I'd put the Larry King School of Journalism against the entire Aussie education system any day!

Yes Neo, MacrossWorld does pay me for advertising them but only if they get read on air. So... help a brother out?

Well, I also went to the Steve Jobs Business School of Strong Arm Tactics and Intimidation, so where's my 30% for those reads.

And I'm serious.

To finally answer Neo's question...I'm definitely not from Australia. This post is actually coming to you from somewhere deep in the dark corners of Colombia, South America. Perhaps that might not be the case in six months or so, I'd estimate, but there you have it!

Sure those dark corners of Colombia are still brighter than the dark cells of Australia.

[Mu La Flaga]

There is plenty of scorching hot sunlight in the Simpson desert, so not all them jail cells are dark or dingy places of isolation.

[Dollow]

Just heard the ep, I was very curious about AGE when it first was shown, but unlike everyone else; by the end of the first generation I felt that the show might not end well. And when Desil died & we got that info dump, the show went to trash. Its a real shame, we went from 00 to the AGE, maybe the next show will be good. The ep was great none the less, but I do feel bad for you guys on having to review AGE, but you did it, good job.

[tHeWasTeDYouTh]

when you guys talk about the star wars anime the original video had no music and was taken down a day after it was posted(was in 4chan when the guy first posted it and was talking about it, people where telling things he got wrong like the interior of the tie fighter and he would change it) the sound was added by some other guy on youtube

pretty cool that I was late night talking with the guy and in two days everyone was talking about this

also, I knew Gundam Age would suck but I waited until now to say anything

[Kei Katsuragi]

I knew Gundam Age would suck but I waited until now to say anything

How did you "know" Gundam AGE would suck? What sort of divine clairvoyance did you have?

[The Fowl Sorcerous]

I knew Gundam Age would suck but I waited until now to say anything

How did you "know" Gundam AGE would suck? What sort of divine clairvoyance did you have?

Also, can you conjure up some stolen datatapes or locate the rebel base? i'm kinda in a bind at work.

[tHeWasTeDYouTh]

I knew Gundam Age would suck but I waited until now to say anything

How did you "know" Gundam AGE would suck? What sort of divine clairvoyance did you have?

LOL well I knew that the way it was animated, no matter how good it was(which the show still sucked) a lot of long time Gundam fans would just hate it

idk I just had this feeling, it is actually the first Gundam series I have not watched, I was addicted but this pretty much killed it

still gonna watch Unicorn but maybe I grew out of it, who knows

[Red Comet90]

I just got around to catching up and finishing this episode. I agree on most points that the Gundamn crew made, except for the first generation. The first generation felt really bland to me. The characters were ok and there were a few standouts like Grodek and Flit, but most of the cast throughout all of the generations seemed to be props and nothing more.

The battles in the second gen really made it seem like the show was on the rise, but the characters kept getting shafted and the plot evaporated in a lot of ways. The show has lots of problems and I'm honestly glad for you guys that you don't have to talk about it for a while...hopefully. Best of luck to Soul Bro who had to talk about it again.

Here's hoping that the next series is as good as 00 was. Its pretty hard to top 00.

[Kei Katsuragi]

I just got around to catching up and finishing this episode. I agree on most points that the Gundamn crew made, except for the first generation. The first generation felt really bland to me. The characters were ok and there were a few standouts like Grodek and Flit, but most of the cast throughout all of the generations seemed to be props and nothing more.

The battles in the second gen really made it seem like the show was on the rise, but the characters kept getting shafted and the plot evaporated in a lot of ways. The show has lots of problems and I'm honestly glad for you guys that you don't have to talk about it for a while...hopefully. Best of luck to Soul Bro who had to talk about it again.

Here's hoping that the next series is as good as 00 was. Its pretty hard to top 00.

My thing with Gen 1 was that the writers knew their limitations, and made a great story around it. They couldn't have a large cast to tell a 15 episode story, so the enemy were a complete mystery. The plot was unique and on a small scale that would've been horribly simplistic if it had a longer episode count. The conclusion was great set up for what was ultimately a let down. And I liked the creative inspired shots the animation staff had. Like Largan launching in episode 1 and getting punked by the Gafran, or the shot of the Gafran getting shanked. I wasn't totally all about Gen 1 when I watched it, but it's more like I appreciate what the writing staff did with it.

[Arbiter GUNDAM]

Well, I also went to the Steve Jobs Business School of Strong Arm Tactics and Intimidation, so where's my 30% for those reads.

Oh is that right? Well I was told 10%.

[Soul Bro Ryu]

The battles in the second gen really made it seem like the show was on the rise, but the characters kept getting shafted and the plot evaporated in a lot of ways. The show has lots of problems and I'm honestly glad for you guys that you don't have to talk about it for a while...hopefully. Best of luck to Soul Bro who had to talk about it again.

Funny you should mention that! I'll be doing just that live on Anime Addicts Anonymous this Sunday night @ 8PM EST!
http://www.AAAPodcast.com

[Red Comet90]

My thing with Gen 1 was that the writers knew their limitations, and made a great story around it. They couldn't have a large cast to tell a 15 episode story, so the enemy were a complete mystery. The plot was unique and on a small scale that would've been horribly simplistic if it had a longer episode count. The conclusion was great set up for what was ultimately a let down. And I liked the creative inspired shots the animation staff had. Like Largan launching in episode 1 and getting punked by the Gafran, or the shot of the Gafran getting shanked. I wasn't totally all about Gen 1 when I watched it, but it's more like I appreciate what the writing staff did with it.

That's true and I never really thought of it that way before since I never really understood why they had to bring in those losers from the colony that were fighting against each other and why they wasted so many episodes on fardain. The Largan shank was one of the greatest moments of generation 1.

Funny you should mention that! I'll be doing just that live on Anime Addicts Anonymous this Sunday night @ 8PM EST!
http://www.AAAPodcast.com

I thought by now you would have gotten that over with! Good luck having to talk about it again! Hopefully it goes by quick.

[Destiny_Gundam]

Okay, so here I am. There are only a few points I feel like contending you on.

The AGE System wasn't on the Diva. The AGE Builder was. The AGE system itself is inside the FX.

I also think you're too hard on Kio. Yes, him being a kid does warrant him some leniency. He's not a soldier, and aside from Flit telling him so, he had no strong reason to hate the Vagans. He is incredibly naive, but again, he's just a kid. Even so it's not like he stopped fighting, or started attacking both sides. He was still mowing down Vagan grunts and helped win battles. He only interfered with his allies that one time but that's because the guy shot at an already disabled opponent. The pilots his spared never came back to cause further problems either so it's not like that had any negative consequences. Him sparing Zanald might have been bad, but he was killed by Zeheart before he could do anything.

It's erroneous to call him a coward. A coward wouldn't kill because he's afraid to, but Kio chose his path and he stuck to it. He didn't waver or give in to the pressure others were putting on him. Certainly a better choice than him being Grandpa's little genocide machine. And in the end he was right, so there ya go.

I don't agree with him 100% (I think some people like Zanald need to be killed) but he's hardly the worst Gundam protagonist. I'd certainly take him over Kamille's whining and saying "How can you kill others? I'll kill you!" Kou is still the worst Gundam protag in my book.

As for the Vagans themselves, try having a little empathy and put yourselves in their shoes. They were abandoned and left to die in space by the people of Earth and you expect them not to resent that? After God knows how many years of putting up with it, they decide they don't want to just wait around and die anymore. It wouldn't be hard for some one like Ezelcant to rally the people. Imagine yourself trapped in a hole for years, then some one appears and offers to get you out. You're not going to weigh your options. Yeah it took Ezelcant awhile to do stuff, but it's not like they had any other alternatives and I'm sure at that point a few decades aren't going to make much difference to them.

I'm sure they definitely would have turned on Ezelcant if they knew his true plan, but that never got exposed to them. It is true them as a faction needed some more focus put on them outside of one cute sickly girl.

I do agree with a lot of your other points but I'm still not so harsh on the series. It faltered a lot but I still enjoyed myself and would rank it higher than Zeta (not the movies), Victory, and Destiny on my favourites list.

[Silver_August]

You are a brave man, braver then me and I will salute this heroic leap into the crossfire of hate you will receive in the back of many people's minds, Destiny_Gundam.

For me its weird... but the only reason I don't hate Kio more is because of what could've been so to compromise for the crap I think about how I could've made it better and though that I see potential in the ideas, just disappointment in the execution.

[Chris]

It's erroneous to call him a coward. A coward wouldn't kill because he's afraid to, but Kio chose his path and he stuck to it. He didn't waver or give in to the pressure others were putting on him. Certainly a better choice than him being Grandpa's little genocide machine. And in the end he was right, so there ya go.

Kio is the epitome of a coward because he shrinks from making the hard decisions in war, mainly that it involves killing people to win, and that some people (ie Zanald) need to die for the things that they've done. He hides behind this nonsense about finding another way to end the fighting to avoid what really needs to be done. Also, he's not right because he makes good points that characters can agree with and be persuaded by, but only because the writers force him to be right. There's no natural growth to his methods, just a forced victory for him by virtue of instantly convincing Flit in the last episode.

[Kei Katsuragi]

I don't know about that Chris. Kio was pretty stalwart in his beliefs. When he was about to get killed by Fram and Zeheart, he could've renounced his no-kill policy and just use burst mode, but he didn't. That doesn't reek of cowardice, imho.