The Official Gundam AGE Anime Thread AGE-9

[domino]

I honestly don't think it made any sense at all for there to be X-Rounders (or any other Newtype-ish) characters in this series. Except for Kio's ability to change Flit's mind, the presence of X-Rounders did nothing to improve, advance or alter the storyline

[HellCat]

I honestly don't think it made any sense at all for there to be X-Rounders (or any other Newtype-ish) characters in this series. Except for Kio's ability to change Flit's mind, the presence of X-Rounders did nothing to improve, advance or alter the storyline

The most interesting idea the show had for X-Rounders is that they were a regression of humanity, survival instinct awakening in modern man. That was a nice change from the Gundam standard of 'you need these psychic powers to achieve your full potential'. I also liked the idea X-Rounders together proved dangerous. Too bad in all X-Regions just seemed an excuse for Flit to quickly become an ace.

[DuelGundam2099]

^Flit, Kio, and Zeheart.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Model Graphic 2012 explains the issues with Gundam Age.
http://1-media-cdn.foolz.us/ffuuka/boar ... 056641.jpg

Translations courtesy of /m/ (take with salt):

-Hino is a new type of person that has never been involved with Gundam before
-Usually when enemies show up all of a sudden inside a space colony, people try to explain why; Hino however thinks this is unimportant.
-What he thinks is important is the timing of the enemies showing up: He has a tendency to think of a story as a sequence of in-game events.
-The staff working on the show had to take Hino's ideas and add the missing logic to them.
-They purposely left holes in the setting so that the fans would bite, and use those for getting ideas, but unfortunately this did not work out at all.
-At first they did not find the bad response to Age especially surprising, as this had happened with other Gundam series countless times before.
-However, about three months in (around December) they started to feel that something was wrong
-With other series, this is the point that the viewers start to say positive things, but this was not the case with Age. Even though there were positive things said, the negative things overwhelmed them drastically.
-Even so the staff tried their best to make the show interesting.
-They started to get confidence around the time HG AGE-2 went on sale. Sales also stabilized around this point.
-They found it interesting how many users played around modifying Age kits (more than usual).
-One of Age's unique qualities was being able to see a lot of modded kits while the show was airing.

Stuff from Ishigaki (Vegan MS designer)
-He has participated in other Gundam series and knew from the beginning that the Vegan designs would be unpopular with Gun-ota
-The Vegan designs were order-made
-He remembered how unpopular Zanscar's designs were and himself wondered if it would be a good idea to go with these

The thread then dissolved into how Destiny did not get this treatment and a flame war as to whether or not Aquarion and Evol were good. Still though, if this is true, then all I can say is "here is to Unicorn ep 6!"

Well if that's true that the staff was overwhelmed by the sheer negativity towards AGE it doesn't really surprise me. I seem to recall some twitter messages saying as much and I bet at least some of the incongruities in the plot between halves owed to them trying to fix it mistakenly thinking they had any prayer of winning over the support of the Gundam fanbase at any point in the production.

As it stands I doubt ANYBODY would want to be put in the task of coming in and being the creative director for the next Gundam series after what happened with AGE. You'd have to be nuts at this point as you might as well just be signing up to be put in front of a firing squad and have your career put to a prolonged and very public death. Still not exactly sure where the franchise is going from here or where it really can go from here after Unicorn wraps up (which I'm sure will gets it's share of condemnation over something before all is said and done)...a new series in the next 3 or years would kill it outright at this point though, of that much I am fairly certain. It'd be like trying to do another Mass Effect story in the next generation after the rage explosion that the third game caused and how focused in they are on hating the franchise every time there's any news about it. At best maybe the franchise can find a way to survive by settling for the bitch and buy model of support from it's fans, but that to me looks like the best case scenario at the moment.

[Shinigam_Newtype]

I caught up with episodes 41-49 throughout the day.
It was in my honest opinion the worst ending for the franchise by far. Say what you will about Destiny, but at least the last few episodes had what I felt was a consistent flow in pacing, despite the writing.
AGE however, continually shifted priorities, to the point that it seems like they completely forgot to develop Ezelcant's test tube baby; the ultimate pilot that is destroyed 10 minutes within launching in the most powerful Vagan unit.


On a side note- Flit should've died in that final battle, his character DID NOT deserve redemption for his actions throughout the series. Similarly Zeheart should've survived the series. His character would've been better served to realise that he was being manipulated by Ezelcant and then act accordingly, the show almost definitely seemed as though it was headed in that direction before it took a literal turn for the worse.

I've been looking for a least favourite of the franchise for a while, I'm glad I've found it.

[Chris]

Flit should've died in that final battle, his character DID NOT deserve redemption for his actions throughout the series. Similarly Zeheart should've survived the series.

Uhh what? This doesn't make any sense. What did Flit ever do that made him beyond redemption, and why did Zeheart deserve to live? I don't think him recognizing he was being manipulated would matter much given how pathetic he was at the end.

[Soma Taozi]

^^ I have to agree with chris here, Flit might have been filled with hatred, but that doesn't mean he had to die for it. His job was supposed to be protecting the earth from the Vagans, and even if he lost his way, he still did his job. Besides, Flit never committed genocide against the Vagan (something Zeheart did against the Earth civilians)...sure he WANTED to and yes, clearly he needed to realize that killing every Vagan WASN'T the answer....but he still didn't wipe out the entire group of people.

And if Zeheart should have rejected Ezelcant plan at ANY point, it should have been when Ezelcant told him the whole plan at the start...which might have resorted to Ezelcant killing him. Then that clone should have stepped up to take control of the plan, Zanald should have been killed out of protest, then we would have actually had a final enemy that was threatening and made some sense...but all that is just conjecture.

Even then, Zeheart wouldn't have been the GREATEST character. Point is, I am happy that Flit lived, and that Zeheart died.

[domino]

I think Zeheart should've died at the end of ACT 2 after helping Asemu break apart the Vagan vessel

[zerogradius]

On a side note- Flit should've died in that final battle, his character DID NOT deserve redemption for his actions throughout the series. Similarly Zeheart should've survived the series. His character would've been better served to realise that he was being manipulated by Ezelcant and then act accordingly, the show almost definitely seemed as though it was headed in that direction before it took a literal turn for the worse.

I've been looking for a least favourite of the franchise for a while, I'm glad I've found it.

1. Zeheart chose to kill his own people in an attempt to destroy 3 mobile suits. Flit, despite his rantings, never actually does anything close to that level, so why should he die and Zeheart live.

2. Ezelcant's manipulation ended when he revealed his plan to Zeheart, after which the supposedly caring commander chose to folow that old man's craziness to commit genocide against the people of Earth as well as his own to create this 'superior humanity' that he babbled about.

[Arbiter GUNDAM]

And further, we now know that all Flit's rantings were really bluster to cover up the shame he felt for his childhood weaknesses. It's so great to get into the character's heads........... in the very last episode...

[HellCat]

I think the real problem with Zeheart following the plan is that really there's no plan there. Ezelcant has this complicated social experiment, testing people and such to ultimately whittle humanity down to the cream of the crop. Zeheart just commits a mass friendly fire and babbles that doing so will create Eden now. How? There's still Second Moon filled with Vagan and Earth and colonies filled with 'Earth race'. What exactly was to be his next step?

[zerogradius]

I also wondered how exactly he would reduce the huiman race to the select few that Ezelcant spoke of. If he had a Rau le Creuset type strategy, I could see the possibility, but all there was at the end was a huge final battle, the results of which would not have concluded in the completion of his plan due to the still existing populations of Second Moon, the colonies and the Earth.

[Silver_August]

Oh the potential of AGE...the amount of potential this series had hurts, and yet it feels like it so could've easly been avoided.

[YazanGable]

The most interesting idea the show had for X-Rounders is that they were a regression of humanity, survival instinct awakening in modern man.

The problem is, this never actually seemed like an idea that paid much mind to. It was a single throwaway line from an antagonist who the show would then go on to reveal was a delusional madman who manipulated his own people into a campaign to wipe out 'undesirables' on both sides because his son believed in reincarnation and so he wanted them to be together on Earth and happy.
...all to then, on his deathbed, say he never actually wanted a war at all.

In short, the regression line is just another on the myriad of bizarre post-it notes that got slapped together to make Ezelcant's grand design. Something that could have been interesting, but largely just amounted to nothing more than another stray piece to show how completely off his rocker/badly written the man was.

Oh the potential of AGE...the amount of potential this series had hurts, and yet it feels like it so could've easly been avoided.

If the game and reports about the show's production are any indication, it may not have been. Well, not unless Bandai could successfully trap Hino into a contract loophole to keep his involvement in the story to a minimum. Cause from the sounds of the game and production, this is, for the most part, the story he wanted to make. I mean, at this point the only changes we know were made were one sound effect and upping a character's age/more school focus...one of those is purely minor, the other was done in a bid to bring in the target audiences that weren't interested at the time.

[Raptor]

Well, finally get internet at my new house, come back to the forums, and finish Age.

...Well. That was an ending. Not the worst ending I've ever seen, and I really liked the development Flit got, but... I dunno. Doesn't feel like anything was accomplished. Flit was an interesting character the whole way through, IMO, but Asemu and Kio lost me. The fight between Asemu and Zeheart was short, but I suppose that was to make up for their many other conflicts that were too long. Some characters went out like bosses and some were punked. The scene with the Diva was nice, but so many things just didn't add up, unless you simply count it as bad writing.

Zehearts Heel Face Turn. Zanald's apparently useless escape from Kio. Deen. Zera Gins. Sid. Fram's Dying Devotion. So many things that just felt... tacked on.

All in all, I'll buy AGE if it gets distributed, because I enjoyed it. It was a fun ride, and I liked quite a few of the characters. Had it's problems, but so does everything. Endings ruin shows for some people, but let us remember the good of AGE, for there was quite a bit of it.

AGE gave us so much. Hulk Gundam And Ninja Gundam. Super Vengeful-Drive my Beam Saber through a door-Flit. Super Pilot/Pirate Asemu. Woolf Eneacle. The Holmes of the Battlefield. My Elmeda. Don Boyage. Some awesome Vegan Designs. My penchant for calling something UE when I don't know what it is. Neo's awesome Dique Voice. Natora. Mullet Obright. The Double Bullet. Mars Rays. And so much more.

Yes, AGE was not perfect, but it was fun.

-Raptor, out.

[domino]

If I understood correctly, in "Memories of Sid", a girl was saved from an asteroid containing the EXA-DB. What was that all about?
What happened to the guy who saved her and who/what was she? What happened to her?

[HellCat]

If I understood correctly, in "Memories of Sid", a girl was saved from an asteroid containing the EXA-DB. What was that all about?
What happened to the guy who saved her and who/what was she? What happened to her?

I believe she was supposed to be the frozen daughter of Sid's creator. Wivik, a Bisidian pirate who wanted to become captain, discovers and falls in love with her. The two escape when it becomes clear the current captain wants to use her to get info from EXA-DB. It's kind of a parallel to the fact as Wivik abandons his plans to become captain, Asemu joins the crew and starts his journey to attaining the rank.

[domino]

So they fade into nothingness or they escape to Earth and are never seen again?

Didn't she have the ability to control Sid? How did she do that?

[Red Comet90]

Oh the potential of AGE...the amount of potential this series had hurts, and yet it feels like it so could've easly been avoided.

If the game and reports about the show's production are any indication, it may not have been. Well, not unless Bandai could successfully trap Hino into a contract loophole to keep his involvement in the story to a minimum. Cause from the sounds of the game and production, this is, for the most part, the story he wanted to make. I mean, at this point the only changes we know were made were one sound effect and upping a character's age/more school focus...one of those is purely minor, the other was done in a bid to bring in the target audiences that weren't interested at the time.

If that is really the case (I haven't kept track of news for the show. I've merely been watching it.) then the show was really on the way to failure from the first episode. In fact it probably would have worked out better as a game.

In fact being a fan of their Professor Layton series I can see why Hino thought of the show as a bunch of events (if that interview was true). Professor Layton essentially plays out that way with ridiculous things occurring at the end of the game that just pop up to make the game interesting, but this obviously does not work for a TV series.

[YazanGable]

If that is really the case (I haven't kept track of news for the show. I've merely been watching it.) then the show was really on the way to failure from the first episode. In fact it probably would have worked out better as a game.

The sad part here is, from the sounds of some of the advanced press, that was prettymuch how Bandai wanted it initially. Hino was the one who broached (well, either broached or made a stipulation for his promised success) the idea of making a TV series out of it as well.

Bandai rolled with it since he assured them this would get them a game that would sell a million copies.

Flashforward to now and... ...yeah.