The Official Gundam AGE Anime Thread AGE-7

[Chris]

Ok slimeballs, it's time for a new thread. As usual, don't be jerks, etc.

Last time on My Little Kio: Friendship is Magic:

My last post for this thread, I will assume, so I'll make it count.

This episode was okay. The action was nice, we got some good development, IMO, with Fram, and the Fawnfarsia was alright. Not big on it, but it didn't make me want to stab anyone, so...

However, the flashbacks hurt the episode. The only one that even has a place is the flashback to gen 2. It has not been long enough for us to forget about Lu.

This is where my bias comes in. I feel flashbacks are inherently broken. Why take the time to do a 10-15 second flashback, when you can have ONE LINE take it's place. For instance, Fram flashing back about her brother's death which she wasn't even there for, could have simply become:
"I remember how my brother died, protecting Master Zeheart during Re-entry."
Instead of a minute and a half flashback where Kio remembers getting the medicine from Exelcant for Lu, and then some stuff with Lu:
"All Vagan aren't evil! Ezelcant even gave me medicine for Lu! Lu..."
And people will remember. Maybe books have just ruined me on flashbacks, or it could be the amazing storytelling of the Tales of or Fire Emblem games. Which flashback to stuff you didn't already know.

[Compass]

Well, they are arguably doing a lot better at developing ZeheartxFram romance than they were developing any of the other romances in this series.

Even Fram gets more screen time than Wendy these days.

[MarshalBraginsky]

I would be surprised if Zeheart finds out that the guy (or kid in this case) inside the Gundam he wanted to defeat is the son of his old rival.

[DuelGundam2099]

So anyone want to bet Fram will become a Haman knockoff off?

My Little Kio: Friendship is Magic

THE BRONIES ASSIMILATED CHRIS, HEAD FOR THE HILLS!

[Arbiter GUNDAM]

So anyone want to bet Fram will become a Haman knockoff off?

I'm not seeing the connection.

[nacho-wan]

Well, they are arguably doing a lot better at developing ZeheartxFram romance than they were developing any of the other romances in this series.

Even Fram gets more screen time than Wendy these days.

I highly doubt about this. I mean, did one of the producers wake in the middle of the night worried that Zeaheart didn't have a love interest? It is just face turned heels in Frams character.

I'm amazed at her fighting power with such a girly mecha and the quickness in which she tucked her ponytails in a sensible bun inside the fishbowl -helmet. I bet she didn't do it with the mittens gloves on!

[2NA Fish]

This is where my bias comes in. I feel flashbacks are inherently broken. Why take the time to do a 10-15 second flashback, when you can have ONE LINE take it's place. For instance, Fram flashing back about her brother's death which she wasn't even there for, could have simply become:
"I remember how my brother died, protecting Master Zeheart during Re-entry."
Instead of a minute and a half flashback where Kio remembers getting the medicine from Exelcant for Lu, and then some stuff with Lu:
"All Vagan aren't evil! Ezelcant even gave me medicine for Lu! Lu..."
And people will remember. Maybe books have just ruined me on flashbacks, or it could be the amazing storytelling of the Tales of or Fire Emblem games. Which flashback to stuff you didn't already know.

I'm not a big fan of flashbacks myself, but sometimes it's needed in TV series. Most episodes are scripted in a way such that some random person who's never seen the series before can stumble upon a random episode and have some fun, increasing the chance of them tuning in again in future.

For us who watch stuff from the beginning, it's not even an issue, but pretend you've never seen an episode of Age before. If you tune in and see people talking about a whole bunch of stuff you have no idea of and don't care about, it's very easy for you to lose interest and switch the channel.

"All Vagan aren't evil! Ezelcant even gave me medicine for Lu! Lu..."

"Who the heck is Lu? Why'd she need medicine? Who the heck is Ezelwhatzawhut?"

Flashbacks - Necessary evil for TV series. Fairly fun episode otherwise.

I'll admit to actually liking FawnFarsia.

Also looking forward to what Gerard Spriggan will bring next episode, despite a bit of an abrupt introduction.

[Raptor]

Though I agree, and am quite sure that is the main reason behind them, in all fairness, if the first episode you see of something is episode 41, you should expect to see some stuff you don't understand. You don't pick up a book, start five chapters from the end, and expect to know what's happening. Nor do you play a game and start 20 hours in, and have any idea of what has happened. You don't catch the last ten minutes of House and expect to know what the guy's symptoms are, nor how they came to the conclusion of what's happened, because that's what the entire rest of the episode is for.

Picking up a book and skimming towards the end to get an idea of what it is like is fine. Sitting down to an almost finished game or playing a late-game demo to see what it's like is fine. And watching a near-end of the series episode of something is fine. But you can't expect to have everything explained to you. So less time needs be spent on flashbacks, because even someone who'd never seen AGE before would be able to understand that Kio didn't seem to want to kill.

-Raptor, out.

[Chris]

I'm not a big fan of flashbacks myself, but sometimes it's needed in TV series. Most episodes are scripted in a way such that some random person who's never seen the series before can stumble upon a random episode and have some fun, increasing the chance of them tuning in again in future.

That's true for Western TV, but not at all for anime where most series have a continuing story. Extensive flashbacks are just a cheap way to kill time, especially if they're flashbacks of things we just saw 2-3 episodes ago. Raptor has it - if you start watching a series at episode 41, you can't expect that it's going to be laid out for you such that you can understand everything that's happened.

[Compass]

Well, they are arguably doing a lot better at developing ZeheartxFram romance than they were developing any of the other romances in this series.

Even Fram gets more screen time than Wendy these days.

I highly doubt about this. I mean, did one of the producers wake in the middle of the night worried that Zeaheart didn't have a love interest? It is just face turned heels in Frams character.

I'm amazed at her fighting power with such a girly mecha and the quickness in which she tucked her ponytails in a sensible bun inside the fishbowl -helmet. I bet she didn't do it with the mittens gloves on!

Look at how she was portrayed in the original AGE 3 OP and in this episode especially. I would be 100% surprised if they just left it at that. Don't tell me that the romance is going to be developed in drama cd :/

[Kei Katsuragi]

I want to be excited Girard Spriggan so much, but I have a feeling Age is going to let me down. Her Tielvar is even more reminiscent of the Hyaku Shiki than the G-Bouncer and G-Exes, which is always a plus for me. However, I think the writers will have her dual Flit or something, or be used a plot tool to teach Flit something about the Federation. I don't really know, but I doubt we will have a super sweet villain character out of here.

[HellCat]

To be honest, the whole plot line makes me wonder why they ever did the purge. The point made in Flit's arc was that the Federation was already beyond saving and this is why the Diva had to go rogue to strike at the UE. It's fair enough if Flit has tried to save it but he leads a poorly done 'And then this happened' purge at the end of Asemu's arc. What do we find in Kio's arc? That the Federation is still corrupt, there are still traitors and even a whole conspiracy over EXA-DB which Flit knew nothing about. Really the whole idea of that purge seems completely pointless since nothing has changed. Maybe it's supposed to be making a point on Flit's black and white worldview but as a whole it comes off as pointless and would have been better placed at the end of the story.

[Amion]

So anyone want to bet Fram will become a Haman knockoff off?

My Little Kio: Friendship is Magic

THE BRONIES ASSIMILATED CHRIS, HEAD FOR THE HILLS!

^ I think you're on to something, Duel. First the thread about Sailor Moon, now Chris has a pink Noah as his avatar. And now even Compass is in on it!

And AGE just had a Magic girl Mecha. I guess the only thing left for me to do is find a rose colored bird of pray as my new avatar...(Join us Duel...It's your only salvation) lol, jkd.

Right, on to business. I am really looking forward to Gerard's story. She will hopefully be used more thoroughly than the other females of AGE so far, but her introduction at such a late period is a bad sign, I would imagine. Still, AGE has surprised me before. So let's not count our rotten eggs until they're laid.

[Compass]

I had Noah before Chris. My old one was Noah trapped by the evil clutches of Fleur.

I imagine Gerard will have the livelyhood and depth of Magician's Eight.

[Khandri]

So I'm finally all caught up with AGE after months of severe procrastination. Blew through all 40 episodes in less than a week, then watched 41 last night.

And yet the only contribution I can make to this thread right now is that when watching the Fawnfarsia in action, I spent the rest of that episode waiting for Fram to come out and say "I'm gonna beat you to death with my Goddamn Princess Wand™!" I just can't take a pink mobile suit with flower-shaped bits and what looks like a magical girl's wand seriously.

[2NA Fish]

That's true for Western TV, but not at all for anime where most series have a continuing story. Extensive flashbacks are just a cheap way to kill time, especially if they're flashbacks of things we just saw 2-3 episodes ago. Raptor has it - if you start watching a series at episode 41, you can't expect that it's going to be laid out for you such that you can understand everything that's happened.

I do agree that you can't expect to come in at episode 41 and have everything laid out for you, and I also agree that anime use flashbacks just to kill time more often than not, but I still think that some of the same episodic elements in Western cartoons are there in TV anime, and it's one of the reasons anime based on manga tend to have wierd pacing sometimes. Even with the continuing story, the episodes tend to be paced with their own mini buildup and climax each week. It was of course more obvious with the older series where we had the villain of the week, and each episode would build to the battle, but it's still there.

We usually start most episodes with some narration/recap about what the story is about or where we're up to don't we? Being fans for so long, we take it for granted that some people don't start watching from episode 1. When I was a kid, I didn't watch DBZ from episode 1, and I didn't really have to. It's only because I liked it that I went back and read up on the whole story later. There has to be some provision made for new viewers to jump in, because that's what TV networks want.

Hope that's not too off topic...

[kayone73]

I would be surprised if Zeheart finds out that the guy (or kid in this case) inside the Gundam he wanted to defeat is the son of his old rival.

As an X-Rounder...he probably already instinctively knows this. and even if he didn't then found out later, I doubt the writers will spin it into anything meaningful towards the plot. After all he knows Asemu's father was the pilot of the previous AGE, so he's mostly likely read the TV show script.

[Mythgarr]

How the hell Zeheart knows that it's Asemu? Do they have telepathic connection made during their bromance era?

*will that mean Asemu is bro-pedo now seeing that Zeheart is still mostly at his twenty?*

[Destiny_Gundam]

At first I actually thought Fram might be "low rent Wolverine's" sister.

I did really like the battle and I think I know why... When was the last time the main Gundam was fighting something and both of them used funnels? I know Nu vs Sazabi, but I think that's it. Maybe Kira vs Rey but I honestly don't remember that at all (except the BS way it ended, of course). Still it was cool seeing two suits duke it out with bits flying everywhere.

Also I don't have much of a problem with Kio's methods. Vagan cockpits being in the head make them the logical target. Whether they are destroyed outright or cut off, it disables the mobile suit completely, as opposed to just going for the limbs or the main camera. Also, he is just a kid so I won't hold any wide eye naive idealism against him.

Something that's been bothering me for awhile... Why do people still listen to Flit? I know Algreus is still his #1 fanboy but Flit is the former commander and shouldn't have any military power at all, right? Natora doesn't like his idea of using that plasma missile so doesn't she have every right to go "Hey wait a minute, I don't need to listen to you!" I hope that happens.

[DuelGundam2099]

Maybe Kira vs Rey but I honestly don't remember that at all

If you mean hero instead of main character, then you are correct.

except the BS way it ended, of course

Oh come now, Final Plus gave an epilogue and the last compilation movie......... Well aside from putting Luna in a regular ZAFT uniform I don't think they did anything worth mentioning.

Why do people still listen to Flit? I know Algreus is still his #1 fanboy but Flit is the former commander and shouldn't have any military power at all, right? Natora doesn't like his idea of using that plasma missile so doesn't she have every right to go "Hey wait a minute, I don't need to listen to you!" I hope that happens.

It is one of many logical fallacies Age fails at.