The Official Gundam AGE Anime Thread AGE-9

[Silver_August]

I know this probably isn't worth much but I feel like its worth noting, if only for food for thought,

Gundam X came out before the internet really hit the point where you could honestly go online and find the episode already uploaded somewhere ...I believe, I mean I remember finding subs of Gundam X on Kazza when I was a young lad but I can't remember what year that was. So given Gundam Age coming out in the far future of 2012, is it possible the the internet can also be to blame for poor ratings, not saying sloppy writing and very fickle audiences aren't to blame either, just thinking, since lord knows everyone outside Japan can't really do anything to show our support for the show.

Though mentioning all this made me realize an interesting parallel

Gundam X came directly after Victory, then G then the smash hit Wing, on top of people being burned out they probably loved what they saw in Wing and X was just a turn off, then again I hear the main nail int he coffin was the time schedule switch...but also I saw alot of the X designs looked ALOT like some of the Wind designs so....I don't know.

Anyways, my point is, AGE came off the heals of 00 which despite tolls saying season 2 sucked, is considered one of the best Gundams we'd have in awhile...right? or at least it was popular, that and in the middle of Unicorn, another hit, right? I dunno, just thinking about the whole it's not what I had before so I'm not going to bother mentality, interesting both had a similar pattern though.

[Amion]

Well, I now wish we had gotten those 78 or so episodes. One AGE's biggest issues was pacing, which I firmly believe helped to bring about sloppy writing. Now again, "helped" is just that. Ultimately, there is no excuse for sloppy writing. *Munches on a chocolate bar for emphasis*

[DuelGundam2099]

Yeah and some of those episodes would be dedicated to Asemu's school days.

[bullethead]

Yeah and some of those episodes would be dedicated to Asemu's school days.

Yeah, that's an odd thing to devote more episodes to. I think some episodes filling in the gaps between generations would've been the way to go, although I guess Hino wanting more school episodes has to do with the efforts to get more kids watching the show.

[ShadowCell]

on the other hand, it would've also given them more time to get into Zeheart's head and set up the crazy places he goes later in the show

[Kuruni]

Yeah and some of those episodes would be dedicated to Asemu's school days.

You just give the solution that can make it a smash hit, Asemu's School Days . Featuring Romary and Asemu's sawed-off head.

[Chris]

Yeah and some of those episodes would be dedicated to Asemu's school days.

You just give the solution that can make it a smash hit, Asemu's School Days . Featuring Romary and Asemu's sawed-off head.

Would this end with Nice Gundam? If so, it would've been the best show ever.

[Cybaster]

Yeah and some of those episodes would be dedicated to Asemu's school days.

You just give the solution that can make it a smash hit, Asemu's School Days . Featuring Romary and Asemu's sawed-off head.

And Romary carving Arisa open with a knife to see...

So much for being a kiddie show, but at the very least that'd be the most awesome characterization of Romary we'd see in awhile, and that says a lot about how Romary was in AGE itself.

(No really, the chances of that actually happening are probably slim to none, because Sunrise/Bandai seem pretty resistant to giving anything they've deemed a "failure" a second chance.)

Hey, you never know. The first Mobile Suit Gundam TV show was itself a failure when it first came out in 1979, and relied on reruns and then the Movie Trilogy to have its popularity encased in gold. Gundam X never even got that chance or even had any side stories of its own during its run like AGE did, although that we got Under the Moonlight a few years later means that Gundam X hasn't been entirely forgotten, either.

(Although one could really argue that the real credit for reminding people of Gundam X actually goes to the Gundam Belphagor, which debutted in G Generation F as the supposed prototype of both the Virsago and the Ashtaron... <.<)

Back on topic, I wouldn't put it beyond Sunrise to come out with a Final Plus as they had for SEED and SEED Destiny before they're 'finally' done with AGE, although unlike Fukuda, Hino doesn't actually see a problem with his show...

[bullethead]

Back on topic, I wouldn't put it beyond Sunrise to come out with a Final Plus as they had for SEED and SEED Destiny before they're 'finally' done with AGE, although unlike Fukuda, Hino doesn't actually see a problem with his show...

I've heard that Fukuda hates some of the SRW games for rewriting Destiny's plot, so that comparison doesn't really work.

[Chris]

Back on topic, I wouldn't put it beyond Sunrise to come out with a Final Plus as they had for SEED and SEED Destiny before they're 'finally' done with AGE, although unlike Fukuda, Hino doesn't actually see a problem with his show...

There is no Final Plus for SEED.

[ShadowCell]

there was a five-minute Final Something-or-Other where, among other things, Yzak steals his mom's clothes and becomes a politician in PLANT, Murrue drinks with the ghost of Mwu, and some other things, and i think it ends with Kira and pals staring wistfully at the sky or whatever

to the extent that that counts as a "Final Plus"

outside of epilogues for the surviving cast of AGE, though, i'm not sure what such an addition would really offer. it'd be nice to see some of these characters actually enjoy the peace they fought so hard to achieve, but i don't know how necessary it really is.

[Chris]

That's After Phase, not Final Plus.

[DuelGundam2099]

I've heard that Fukuda hates some of the SRW games for rewriting Destiny's plot, so that comparison doesn't really work.

Disapprove would be a better word. While I can understand why he does not like tampering with his story, only Z and L actually do it, Scramble Commander 2nd does the story faithfully and all K did was make the ZAFT characters enemies for the first half of the game before they joined. Not to mention Destiny has it very well when you compare it to a lot of older super robot shows that appear more often yet get the much shorter end of the stick.

Edit: Unless I'm mistaken aren't the major rewrites in Z part of an optional choice?

[HellCat]

I think most of the people making Gundam games have issues with Destiny. Go and play DWG 2 and Kira and Lacus get alot of criticism and Shinn even gets some brand new heroic moments. Master Asia's path even has 'Kira is an idiot who hides behind super powered gimmicks' as the blatant opinion of its conclusion.

[DuelGundam2099]

I can hardly wait what rewrites/issues they'll complain about with Age when it starts getting proper appearances in crossovers.

[Silver_August]

I will conquer that more episodes is DEFINITELY what AGE needed to save itself from feeling rushed, opinions I'm sure would still be divided but... I just want more of what we had towards the end of the 1st Generation.

I tihnk all we really would've beenede between Flit and Asemu's arcs would be just a single episode to show just how flit climbed up in the military and of course show hes over Yurin from a love standpoint and yah, childhood friends become lovers on the battlefield... i guess

Asemu's arc is probably where a lot of the extra episodes would go towards to give breathing room for the exposition dumps at the end and MAYBE flesh out the Magician's Eight and not make them look like a bunch of chumps who only die each time they appear on screen? School days puzzles me too, because I fear if that happened, then we'd get a Monster of the Week scanario where Zeheart and Poor-Man Logan come on with another wacky plan to try and steal the AGE system, I think farm yolkels on a jeep was enough the first time.

Kio's arc and the last arc ...just need a total rewrite, not just another couple episodes to make things feel less rushed...so there's that

It is interesting how Victory Gundam they were forced to show that Gundam in the 1st episode against intentions and yet the AGE-2 took...4 episodes? in a 13 episode arc to make its debut? Meh, least Asemu had personality in a suit, regardless of which it was.

[DuelGundam2099]

Kio's arc and the last arc ...just need a total rewrite, not just another ocuple episodes to make things feel less rushed...so there's that

I wouldn't say the WHOLE arc, just after the point the Age-3 gets caught. Did people just forget everything that happened before he was on Second Moon? Those episodes were actually good and most of you guys liked them too outside of Shanura or whatshername getting killed so fast.

then we'd get a Monster of the Week scanario where Zeheart and Poor-Man Logan

Care to explain how this part is bad?

[Silver_August]

Kio's arc and the last arc ...just need a total rewrite, not just another ocuple episodes to make things feel less rushed...so there's that

I wouldn't say the WHOLE arc, just after the point the Age-3 gets caught. Did people just forget everything that happened before he was on Second Moon? Those episodes were actually good and most of you guys liked them too outside of Shanura or whatshername getting killed so fast.

then we'd get a Monster of the Week scanario where Zeheart and Poor-Man Logan

Care to explain how this part is bad?

My bad, I actually agree, up until Kio got captured, the 3rd arc was pretty good cuz it was going where I thought it might, given how Kio was semi-brain washed or rather, was naive to the reality of things, The Shanalua part...just needed less silly context for the set up, cuz the ultimate point of it being Kio's first exposure to death on the battlefield with someone he cared for..i dug that, the bag of gold thing was a little....yah...

I don't think people forget, because everyone who does complain generally brings up Second Moon not the stuff prior which only had flaws that were already common but forgivable with Age.

As for the Monster of the Week thing... Given how Gundam Age from the get go had to prove it wasn't just a digimon-pokemon-kiddie insult to the gundam brand, and even how Gen 1 ended, I think it'd be a severe disgrace for the show to get reduced to a Monster of the Week, besides.

I'm not the BIGGEST Gundam fan, in the sense that I've only fully watched Wing, Seed, Destiny and AGE, and seen bits and pieces of all the others, But outside of the original and maybe G, Gundam isn't known for being a Monster of the Week type of series, is it?

(and about the original I only mean the chunk of the series that actually had that slight problem going on)

[Kei Katsuragi]

Well, since the pacing of the story sort of halted during gen changes, I think the inherent problem with the monster-of-the-week formula wouldn't be present. If Gen 2 had more time during Asemu and Zeheart's time at school, then having a new Vagan suit, or Vagan plot every episode where Asemu has to the save the day wouldn't be so bad if they (the writers) did a good job crafting the characters. In the AGE game they spent a bit more time at the school, and there we got see new AGE-1 parts also. So I think more time spent at the school with a monster-of-the-week formula wouldn't have been so bad.

[Gelgoog Jager]

It seems that the Gundam Age manga has also been having a hard time. Check this article about it's diminishing popularity and how it affected it's palce in the cover:

Watch as This Crappy Comic Disappear from Your Very Eyes

I went a step further and found the images of the other covers in the magazine's official site for those interested trying to find Wall...I mean Gundam Age on them:

March 2012
April 2012
May 2012
June 2012
July 2012
August 2012
September 2012
October 2012

Hint: It seems that two of the covers totally lack Gundam Age images.

Finally, the same article has a link to another one about Hino:

Making Video Games Is A Harsh Mistress