|
Gundam Age Rant-views-what-ever
Initially ,considering that this the next gundam series after 00 i tend to compare this series with 00 as 00 is fresh in my memories. Though i tend to compare certain parts of the series with 00, i never really had high expectations for the show. I even thought that the 1st few episodes were pretty ok. And it is after watching AGE that i realized that i would have given 00 even higher ratings. Around 30+ episodes i pretty much got disappointed and stopped watching it on a weekly basis. Anyway back to my rants-views-what-ever.
Plot & Characters:
Many people have brought up issues with the characters so i'll keep it short. The concept of 3 generations was very interesting but in the end AGE has a really big problem in executing it. Many stories always have problems with dealing with previous series' protagonists appearing in a sequel. While the way AGE dealt with having 3 main characters wasn't perfect at least it didn't fall into the cliché of having the current main character keeps on saving the ex main characters. I'm surprised the director didn't keep on bringing previous generations' characters in later generations back. It's like they didn't care about using old characters to further improve on character developments. Not to mention it wouldn't hurt to know what previous generations characters were doing in the later generations. But then again some previous generations characters who were brought back didn't really contribute much ; initially i thought that having Unoa and Flit on the same ship would bring some really interesting family interactions but... Character wise, i can relate to Flit and Kio ( abit) in the final arc. Flit being full of rage was pretty easy to relate to and in some ways i can understand how Kio was feeling considering his age. But damn sometimes Kio naivety is very annoying , i guess he goes down as the most annoying gundam protagonist. Honestly i can't understand Asemu's decision to go missing and do all the stuff as a pirate. It feels like the writer didn't know what to do with Asemu's character . As for the plot, it feels like it doesn't make much sense. I used to write down a list of plot problems but after the 2nd arc i gave up and simply didn't really care that much. I see some people feel that AGE should be longer, however i think that it doesn't necessarily need more episodes ; there exists 12 episodes anime out there with good character development and plot .
Art & Animation:
I have no problems with the kiddy art . It is the inconsistency that's really hurting the art & animation. The animation & art was pretty bad at times, sometimes it did improve but overall inconsistent. Though there some pretty good art at the last few episodes.
Action:
Bad. Bad action choerography. Especially since AGE came out after 00, which i consider to have the best strategies in the gundam franchise. After watching AGE and thinking back i realized that over the years i must have set the bar too high for mecha action. Usually there is like at least 1 fight that i really like in every gundam show that i watch ; Freedom Vs Impulse in Destiny, Amuro's fight on earth in Zeta, Neil Vs Ali in 00 etc etc . But there's practically none in AGE for me. There were times when they tried to make certain scenes 'cool' like the conversation of Grodek and the Federation's commander in the fight in Ambat, but personally it feels very forced. Not to mention Diva's victory at Ambat was pretty hard to digest.
Mecha:
I didn't really like the earlier generations MS. Especially the Vagan MS , they don't look like Mobile Suits, more like obviously badly designed Tokusatsu monsters' suit. Though i suppose in the last arc it gets a lot better.
Overall: 5.5/10 ( rounded up to 6)
AGE has a serious execution problem coupled by bad action and inconsistence animation. Move over AGE, can't wait for the next Gundam series. On a side note did Akihiro Hino do any interview or say anything now that AGE is over?
|