Gundam AGE - Overall Series Impressions & Total Series Rating

[james0246]

This thread is to be used for discussing the entire episodes of Gundam AGE ... your thoughts about the show, overall impressions, expectations and hopes about Blu-Ray/DVD-exclusive footage etc.

A few subjects you might want to ramble on about:

• General impression of the series.
• Opinions on the overall story, writing & plot devices.
• Thoughts about the animation quality.
• Characters/Character Design
• Voice Acting
• Which kind of footage (Blu-Ray/DVD-exclusive) you feel you'd really like to see.
• What the show meant to you.
• What could the creators/animators/writers have done better.

And so on.

The poll represents your total series rating. In other words, how you would rate all the episodes combined (1-10)? If you'd rather rate the whole series by technical/artistic merits, you can do so. An example:

Animation Quality: 1-10
Voice Actors: 1-10
Script: 1-10
Soundtrack: 1-10
Editing: 1-10
Enjoyment: 1-10
Emotional Involvement: 1-10

Average = Total Series Rating

Or a combination of the two. Or your general gut feeling.

Feel free to discuss and more importantly, have fun

[Zeydra]

Personal thoughts on the series would be hard to sum up quickly. Some of it was excellent, while other parts were pretty bad.

It had some really great ideas, but at times it just didn't do them justice (this is, in my opinion, a major flaw in Destiny and 00 Season 2 as well), ultimately leaving me feeling more than a little conflicted.

I'll start with what I didn't like and get that out of the way. Firstly, the pacing was very incosistent past Flit's arc, at times the series would flow well, at others it seemed to spend ages wasting time, and others it felt very rushed. Then there's the amount of characters, in Flit's arc they were all reasonably well developed and interesting, they all had their motivations and distinct personalities. But once Asemu's arc began characters not related directly to an Asuno in some way (whether that be through blood, friendship, mentor, ect) faded to obscurity and almost ceased ton exist. That grew even worse in Kio's arc where pretty much everyone not named an Asuno was either canon fodder, or just not there (or both).

That brings up another complaint, they killed off characters left and right, but none of them were developed in Kio's arc, this led to me not really caring at first and by the end actually outright laughing at the deaths at times. They just held no emotional weight to them by that point.

And last of the bad things, Kio. His pacificism was downright suicidal, to the point I just found him unbelievable as a character. He was also extremely irritating, in the end only taking out a "final boss" that frankly shouldn't have even been in the series and using a form of Trans-Am Burst on Flit. This leads me to feel his entire arc could and really should be cut.

Now for the good stuff. Firstly, the fights were often well done and had nice production values to them. The music was also very catchy, and while not as good as the other modern Gundam OST's (SEED, Destiny, 00, Unicorn) it was still highly enjoyable. The Mobile Suit designs for the Gundams were often cliché, but very pleasing to the eye. And the Vagan suits were both very stylish and very unique (probably some of my favourite designs in the franchise).

Finally, as a story about Flit I think AGE was a well done series that has suffered some unfortunate flaws. We see Flit basically descend in to madness through the series, and ultimately I think his journey was a pretty emotional and well done one. Asemu was also another really cool character as well.

Overall my impressions for the series are mixed. Like I said earlier when it botched something it really botched it, but what it got right was really well done. All up I was entertained by AGE, and at the end of the day that's all I demand from my Gundam series, entertainment. Therefore I rate the series as a whole a 8 out of 10. It could have been better, but it was ultimately worth watching and I'll miss stalking Youtube every Sunday for the latest episode provided by GundamInfo.

[Skye629]

6/10

Enjoyable enough to keep watching, great ideas but very rushed and lots of wasted potential

Also had issues with bad writing and handling by the producers and writers

Thats my brief take on it

[Se7en Sabers]

Well, Zeydra said all I wanted to say

But since AGE is aiming to children, we can't expect the same levels of :

- Darkness
- Development (in order to not confuse/disturb the audience)
- Violence
- Atmosphere (Marida Cruz being abused as a pre-teen )

Taking this into account, I think it's an overall solid show as an introduction to the Gundam franchise.

And if it can motivate enough the new incomers to watch more of this saga, the objective is complete

Conclusion : 7/10

[casval cehack]

Despite on the onset being aimed at younglings (and future gunpla spending fans), there's no excuse for terribad writing and pacing. The great mobile suit designs and soundtrack (ED2 and ED4 plus the battle themes) can only help as much in the untried generational storyline.

With such subdued starting episodes, compared to its contempories, and the botched finale, which wasted episodes 46-48, Asem's chapter is probably the only episodes arc I'll enjoy rewatching in the near future.

[Roloko vi Britannia]

I really liked it I would have given it a 9/10 if it wasn't for the Fairdain arc cause I found it boring.

Also like all Gundams especially 0079 and Victory the animation quality was poor at points I guess it was because of budget reasons, but most of the time its was pretty good.

I loved the character designs very nice to look at and different from the norm. Also little to no fanservice which is a plus.

Most of the characters I enjoyed another beef I had with the series since it crammed 3 generations into 49 episodes we barely got to know the supporting cast except for the ones who had close ties to the protags like Woolf and Grodek.

Loved the music to the series especially the final opening the animation sequence was superb too.

Voice acting was great I could feel the emotion in Flit's voice when Yurin was defeated.

Overall I give it an 8/10 I love it just as much as all the other Gundams I watched thus far...well except for 0079 and SEED Destiny didn't like those lol. xD

[suiton629]

It was. Good series but too much stuff was introduced at once only to have a bunch of characters die off literally in 1 episode.

[galdr]

1 word to describe the series from me: lukewarm.

Most part of the series is just medicore especially compared to other Gundam series.

OSTs are good but nothing amazing.

Animation/Fight is step down from 00. Most grunts just stand there and blasting beams all day. Some scenes are just horrible, such as AGE-FX tanking everything without any scratch.

For the Mobile Suit design, its all over the place. I like the draconic looks that Vagan MS have. On the other hand, the Gundams and most Federation MS is just plain boring(Genoace, Adele). There are exception such as G-Bouncer which looks really nice and Vagan Gear which is the worst design of the show.

Characters are mostly average with some exceptions.
Flit is great protagonist but his development needs better execution. Asemu is amazing on few episodes but just plain meh for the rest. Kio starts out okay but degraded to be one of the worst protagonist of the franchise. Woolf, Serric and Grodek are pretty good supporting character but some such as Grodek just end up wasted like the rest of side characters.
On the villain side, they are just plain horrible. Most Vagans are either boring lunatics (Ezelcant, Decil) or pathetic tools(Zeheart, Fram)

Story wise, it is nothing new. Just old Earth vs Space conflict with some variation. The 3 generation is just worthless gimmick that ends up gimping the show.
1st Generation is below average till the climax which become better. This continue until Generation 3 move to space where the story pretty much turn downward till the end.

Overall, its not offensively bad like Destiny but there is nothing noteworthy with AGE. There are tons of better Gundam series out there if you want to watch Gundam

5/10

[GN0010 Nosferatu]

In the grand scheme of things, I give Gundam AGE a 6/10, I didn't find the series to be god awful terrible like some have said, but it wasn't spectacular either. It landed right in the middle, IMO. Not too bad, but not too good, if that makes sense.

I feel that the one thing AGE suffered from was the element that seperated it from other Gundam shows, which was the 3 generations. It was a bold idea, but executed badly. A story like this, taking place over 100 years, needs more than just 49 episodes. I think, even though Sunrise wouldn't have gone with it, the generations needed 50 episodes each. Now I know that would make AGE super long, at a whopping 150 episodes, but it could have really benifed from it. With that, each generation gets properly developed, and there's time to do things right, and not rush it. The Fardain arc might not have been so wasteful if there were 50 episodes to Flit's chapter, that's just what I think. Because AGE only had 50 episodes, a few things were rushed, such as the ending, or Kio's transition to the sympathetic route towards the Vagans. Had those elements had more time to settle in, perhaps people wouldn't have been so negative towards them. So, that's my thoughts on the story, it just needed more episodes.

Aside from the story, I thought AGE was pretty good, in terms of some characters, the universe it takes place in, and of course the mecha. I myself didn't mind the fact the AGE-1 was a new rendition of the RX-78, I liked it. The whole G-Wear System and the AGE System was also pretty cool. I wasn't too big of a fan of Titus and Spallow, but the other G-Wears such as Gundead and Razor hit the spot for me. I wish they were used in the series instead. Nearly every mecha, both on the Vagan and Federation side looked great, I loved seeing how the tech evolved during the years.

When it comes to characters, I really liked Flit, though futile, I hope to see an OVA or sidestory dedicated to his time in between gens 1 through 2, and 2 through 3. His total genoicde of the Vagan people was a bit much at times, but when he fought the Vagan military, then he truly shined as a kickass character. Other characters I enjoyed were Woolf, Desil, and Seric.

The Universe AGe takes place in, The Advanced Generation is also rich with untapped poential. Not only do we have the 25 or so years in between Flit and Asem's story, but we have the history that takes place BEFORE the Advanced Generation started. AGE is ripe with sidestory potential, and that's what I like best with a Gundam series, the potential for more stories.


So overall, I did enjoy AGe when it comes to the mecha and action. Story wise, I'm pretty much neutral. I generally don't watch a Gundam series to be hooked on the story. It's just a guide to me, a guide that leads to more mecha and action.

[Roloko vi Britannia]

Originally Posted by GN0010 Nosferatu

I feel that the one thing AGE suffered from was the element that seperated it from other Gundam shows, which was the 3 generations. It was a bold idea, but executed badly. A story like this, taking place over 100 years, needs more than just 49 episodes. I think, even though Sunrise wouldn't have gone with it, the generations needed 50 episodes each. Now I know that would make AGE super long, at a whopping 150 episodes, but it could have really benifed from it. With that, each generation gets properly developed, and there's time to do things right, and not rush it. The Fardain arc might not have been so wasteful if there were 50 episodes to Flit's chapter, that's just what I think.

That would have been nice if we had that many episodes for each generation to further plot and character development, but with the TV ratings, failure to reach target audience, and home video/merchandise sales it would have been axed after Flit's arc or before it would have ended and we would have been left with an incomplete story. I'd rather have a rushed story with lackluster ending than an incomplete one.

[james0246]

I don't really feel like getting too technical, but I voted 6 out of 10. The show was thoroughly average (bordering on below average), but untapped potential should definitely be the shows subtitle...

Breakdown -
Animation Quality: 7 (Decent animation with little real style. Still, some good battle scenes and I liked how the characters looked as they aged.)
Voice Actors: 6 (They were mostly there and they did a proficient job. Nothing really stood out, but it was also not grating.)
Script: 6 (Not a 100% sure what script means, but the dialogue was often okay with only the occasional annoyance.)
Soundtrack: 7 (Decent score. Can't say I really liked any of the songs, but the bgm was generally good or at least fitted to the scene.)
Editing: 5 (Pacing problems abound and weird transitions made some scenes confusing.)
Enjoyment: 6 (Interesting concepts and ideas helped to enhance this otherwise dry and simplistic story.)
Emotional Involvement: 5 (Completely neutral about almost everyone, with the few likes balancing the few dislikes.)

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by Roloko vi Britannia

I'd rather have a rushed story with lackluster ending than an incomplete one.

Hmm... now that’s a different philosophy from what I usually heard.

As for me, If I really have to choose, I prefer a good story which isn’t finished or have a hanging ending (like Hyouka, Full Metal Panic!, Highschool of the Dead, etc) because the experience will have more lasting impression and make us keep wanting more. On the other hand, a finished story which is underdeveloped and rushed (like AGE here) will basically ruin the overall experience and even make people who are looking for a good story to drop it midway.

[Raysoul]

8.85 in my calculator. Lowest is the Animation quality (Some Gen 1 animation), with enjoyment being the highest. More details on a later date after reviewing some highs and lows of AGE.

But then, I will say this is one of the best Gundam series since UC and AW.

[Znozzy]

Splitting it up in four sections, Gen 1, Gen 2, Gen 3 and Gen 3.½

Gen 1 - The beginning

Animation: 7/10 - Overall, the animation was fine with some QUALITY like Vargas length and hovering in some scenes.
Battle Animation: 5/10 - Battle choreography was horrible, some animation was wonky and things like the Fardain Ninjarun looked out of place, not to mention the gangs of fardain animation.
Story: 5/10 - Interesting start, but then the story was overall dull until the Ambat arc towards the end, From what i've read the game pulled it off better, but thats not the anime.
Pacing: 4/10 - Horrible, some episodes felt like 300+ episode show fillers.
Characters: 6/10 - Some interesting, like Woolf, a racer being a pilot? nice for a change! Flit being a naive kid, sure, but Grodek was a tad bit " Hurr durr im a badass because i am " was a tad bit annoying. The story lost most of my interest after episode 3.
Execution: 4/10 - for Gen 1, too many flaws for me to see it as a good starting arc.

The starting of a show is supposed to catch your interest, but after episode 4 the drop in pacing and quality wasnt enough to keep my interest at top-notch, the revelation about the UE wasnt that impressive either

Gen 2 - The buildup

Animation:7/10 - Overall increase of regular animation, with some quality
Battle animation 9/10 - real overhaul i'd say, the battles are quick and well done. If you look away you will miss a detail, superb battles and nice designs.
Story: 7/10 - Asemu was a insecure brat until he got Woolf'd, overall story progresses nice.
Pacing: 7/10 - Better than Gen 1, but it started to feel like " Vagan of the week "
Characters: 7/10 - Woolf,Dique and Millias returns for Gen 2, which is lovely, Some new characters are introduced but not really developed which i sad, Flit being a revenge driven middleaged man is a nice development from his naive self from Gen 1, overall these characters seem more alive than the ones in Gen 1, Asemu not being a X-Rounder was nice for a change.
Execution: 7/10 - Overall, a clear improvement over Gen-1 in both animation, pacing. The story seems to move forward a bit with the Vagan's pushing into Federation territory, we get to see Ezelcant talk aswell.

Gen 3 - Return of the letdowns

Animation: 7/10 - no change from Gen 2. overall nice with some QUALITY here and there.
Battle animation: 7/10 - a small drop from Gen 2, one battle that comes to mind is when the Dark Hound shows up for the first time, it seems like most of the budget went to Gen 2. Overall nice
Story: 6/10 - a 13 year old trained by his grandpa to kill people via a video game? *cough* Kio had a great start but was way too inconsistent for my taste (in both piloting skills and development) the supporting characters wasnt really worth mentioning except the females that where introduced and killed off.
Pacing:6/10 - a tad drop from Gen 2.
Characters 3/10 - Here is where Gen 3 started to be a letdown. Females introduced and killed off in the next episode (Lu, Girard, Shanlua to some extent), Character development being horrible, Kio's character being so inconsistent it's hard to ignore it, like him being too slow to keep up with the Dark hound, then suddenly he outgrew his AGE-3. Fram introduced so Zeheart looks more human, Overall characters in Gen 3 are pretty bland and uninteresting.
Execution 3/10 - Horrible characters introduced for stupid reasons that leads to nothing.


Gen 3.½ - The ending

Animation: 7/10 - same as above
Battle animation 9/10 - Battles with Sid and the final battle had superb animation
Story: 1/10
Pacing: 4/10 - what is going on?
Characters 5/10 - Some characters made sense, like Flit and Asemu, Seric, Zeheart going crazy on power for example, other characters didn't, like Ezelcant, Kio.
Execution 3/10 - Overall i have to say this was the worst part of AGE (Minus late Gen 3) with characters going to hell and a horrible finale that left a sour taste in my mouth.

Overall: i'm going to give this show 1/10 mainly because of it's inconsistent character motivation, horrible reason for having a 100 year long war (even if it was just around 70), a horrible ending and terrible execution when it came to the 3 generation setup.

While i did enjoy parts of the show it's not something i'm ever going to recommend to someone because the only reason i can see people finish this show with a smile on their face is either loyalty to the gundam franchise or the capability to ignore all its downsides. out of all the animated gundam shows i'd rate this one below Gundam Seed Destiny.

It did have a great OST.

[SvenCalBayan]

Originally Posted by Se7en Sabers

Well, Zeydra said all I wanted to say

But since AGE is aiming to children, we can't expect the same levels of :

- Darkness
- Development (in order to not confuse/disturb the audience)
- Violence
- Atmosphere (Marida Cruz being abused as a pre-teen )

I agree on that part. The show was aimed at children, not teens. I guess this why it turned out the way it was.

Still, that concept of three generations packed into a 49 episodes series... it seemed interesting at first. But now, seeing the results, it wasn't good at all. Most of you mentioned the series felt rushed at some point or another... and you're right.

Sometimes, I felt this show was more a "toy display" to help boost sales of Gunpla models. It felt like watching a saturday morning cartoon rather than an anime.

_______________________

I gave this series 2 out 10. A real dissapointement to me. Thank god for Gundam Unicorn to fix my "Gundam need". Can't wait till episode 6... but it's in 2013.

I wonder when the next series (the 25 or 50 episodes format) will come... 2014 or 2015 ? If it were up to me, I'd go for 2013... but then again, that might be too soon.

I mean Gundam 00 had it's first season in 2007-2008. Second season came in 2008-2009. Then I believe the 00 movie came in september 2010. Gundam AGE came a year after in 2011.

So, if there's no AGE movie, the new series should come next year in 2013.

PS.: I don't see why they would make a Gundam AGE movie, I believe the ratings for this series are the lowest of the low.

[Zeydra]

I'm going to be honest here and say I really don't get how the series was too short.

There are many anime series that have 12 to 26 episodes, in that amount of time the well done ones are fully capable of building a world, setting up and developing the cast, and creating a plot that has a conflict of some kind and a good resolution.

AGE's problems with pacing come from the fact the people who wrote it write video games and clearly haven't got a proper grasp of how to do a TV show. The world was built in Flit's arc, most characters also returned, there is absolutely no excuse for wonky pacing.

I mean look at Unicorn, after a single episode it has created a conflict and a plot and a cast so robust it puts the 21 hour show to shame. And that is a single hour.

Frankly more episodes would have only made the already present flaws in AGE worse, not better. They simply lacked the skills to tell the story they wanted to tell well, that's all there is to it.

[SvenCalBayan]

Originally Posted by Zeydra

I mean look at Unicorn, after a single episode it has created a conflict and a plot and a cast so robust it puts the 21 hour show to shame. And that is a single hour.

Frankly more episodes would have only made the already present flaws in AGE worse, not better. They simply lacked the skills to tell the story they wanted to tell well, that's all there is to it.

Bingo ! You said it. At some point in the series, even if I felt the story was rushed... I just didn't care anymore.

More episodes woudn't have helped at all.

________________________________________

As for Unicorn, of course it puts AGE to shame. Graphics, animation, story and it's in the Universal Century + it's not aimed at kids.

[Kaioshin Sama]

For the purpose of this thread I mostly just want to go over a post I made back in early August about what I would want to see wrapped up in order to call the conclusion to AGE satisfactory and to secure at least a good rating. Let's see how it did:

Originally Posted by Kaioshin Sama

This is more of a general post for myself to refer back to in a couple months than anything, but I'm going to list off the key plot points that ought to be wrapped up by the time the finale's over like I did way back during Gundam 00. For reference that show only had one major loose thread that wasn't wrapped up by the end and it was dealt with in the movie anyway:

1. Flit's whole revenge arc and trying to become a savior and/or exterminator of the Vagans ought to reach a conclusion

2. Asemu's whole arc of trying to resolve the conflict and his hunt for EXA-DB and attempts to reason with and save Zeheart from what is starting to look like a suicide mission

3. Kio's quest to try to bridge the gap between the Earthers and the Vagans relationship.

4. Ezelcant's plan and the resolution and/or failure of it

5. The whole deal with finding and locating EXA-DB and what it's true nature is. Sort of ties into Asem's plotline but I'm speaking more strictly about defining the history and mystery of it

6. Zeheart and Fram's fate. Do they switch sides, stay the course or die trying whatever it is

7. The war itself obviously as to reach some sort of conclusion

8. Zanald's plans to stab Ezcelcant in the back at some point and take over Vagan for himself

That's about it that I can think of off the top of my head

1. Satisfactory if simplisitic. In the final episode Flit finally managed to find some closure with Yurin thanks to the intervention of his grandson and his helping show him a vision of Yurin's newtype ghost. It was always Yurin trying to get Flit to calm down (though it would have been nice if that was the line she used, but lets not expect too much out of Hino when it comes to dramatic poise) so she would say that in this situation too for sure and the old Flit would have done what he did in this situation so I'll give this plot point a narrow pass.

2-5. Very simplistic and he succeeded at one but not the other. The EXA-DB arc is wrapped up almost immediately after I posted this thread the first time and is never mentioned again but for the random appearance of Sid in the final episode. To me it would have served better to have the final fight take place over it, kind of like the final fight with DOME, but again I guess that might have added too much dramatic weight to the scene and Hino seems to shy away from that sort of thing at every opportunity instead opting for the middling portrayal of events faith. Not really satisfactory to me.

3. Again VERY simplistically handled but he did finally do it in the last episode even if it wasn't exactly that big a challenge. I mean if he had spent half as much time trying to talk to his grandfather as he did trying to get enemies that wanted to kill him to listen than maybe he would have gotten more accomplished early. He could have disabled characters like Fram and saved the lives of Obright and Jonathan at the very least and really what was stopping him from chopping the head of the Fawn Farsia like he did so many other suits. Anyway this was semi-satisfactory to me and that's about it.

4. The absolute worst thing about this show. Ezelcant makes no sense to me as a character or villain and pretty much all issues with the narrative stem from this including the incongruities about what happened in the past. Zehearts decay into a tragic loser villain obsessed with his Eden, Fram's untimely and pointless exit, the whole war he apparently didn't want. Absolute worst villain in a Gundam series ever, period end of discussion. Yes even worse than the likes of Lord Djibril because at least his character was consistent in his pitch black evilness.

6. I was ready to call this a failure of a plot point up until episode 48 and then I kind of got the character Zeheart was supposed to be as I mentioned this in that thread. While it's not what I would have done, if I look at the character and how obsessed he was with Eden above all else and consistently so throughout the series the path he chooses is one that makes sense for his character. Fram though is another story. I'm going to call this one semi-satisfactory just the same.

7. The war reached it's conclusion and I guess they did about the best they could have done given the circumstances of Ezelcant being a terrible character. Remove his and Zera Grins part in the finale,which are easily ignored and the ending is pretty satisfactory overall simplistic as it is again.

8. He eventually did and basically paid for it in the end by getting caught up in Zeheart's own treacherous last ditch attack. I find this somehow a fitting death for such a black evil character, though honestly I wish he had usurped the plan altogether as at least he would have been more interesting to watch play the final villain than Ezelcant and his retarded clone. At least I was satisfied with the exit he got though he barely got to accomplish anything in the end other than force Zeheart's hand into killing his own subordinates.

So in the end I can't really call the ending satisfactory as it just misses the mark in so many areas, but the overall series was decent....thus I kind of find myself settling on something like a 6.5 (65/100 what have you)that I ended up rounding up to a 7, though it must be said that I wish the poll allowed me to give the actual rating I think it deserves. The sad part is the show could easily be a 7 or even 8 were it not for just the utterly simplistic writing that always seemed to choose the easiest path to the end of the tale rather than the one that would allow for the most dramatic weight that is typical of a Gundam show. Just a really an increasingly lazy effort all around from Akihiro Hino as the show entered it's second half, though I already said I think I know why he felt less enthusiastic about the project over time.

[Tak]

Well, I am not going to lie, I was actually entertained. AGE may not be perfect or comprehensible in certain areas, its still leagues away from godawful. I also don't agree with the notion that AGE is a children's show. Its not. While there may be a disconnect between the character artwork and the plot, the latter is serious enough and certainly violent enough to have overprotective parents covering the eyes & ears of their children.

I enjoyed the first gen, I really did. The Vagans were mysterious enemies, and despite being slightly disappointed after they were revealed to be human (ok ok, I have to remind myself, this is Gundam...), I still wanted to learn more about them. Then came Yurin. For some odd reason, she had a big deathflag ever since her first appearance. Unfortunately, I was right. I wish I wasn't, but I was. The singular most innocent character in the series died one of the most gruesome deaths. In retrospect, this was necessary to setup the plot. After all, she became the driving force of Flit and the Federation's military development. Lets not kid ourselves, the Federation under Flit's leadership fared much better against the Vagan.

And I still wanted to learn more about the Vagan.

Then came gen 2. Asemu and Zehart's interaction obviously became the focal point of gen 2, and how Asemu wanted to surpass his best worst friend . With mixed results, of course. But gen 2 introduced a very different perspective of the Vagan, a mostly positive one, and naturally, I wanted to learn more about the Vagan and their reasons to fight.

Finally, came the third generation. The opening of the 3rd AGE was hilarious as heck. Mecha Godzillas stomping cities? Seriously? They went there man, they did.

Between then and now, many interesting females were harmed during this show's progression

Finally, Kio ended up in Vagan hands. He was obviously going to be the key to peace between Earth and Mars. Then we started to learn the tragedy of the Martian immigration program and the woes of the Vagan. All very interesting and very convincing, but that should have been the end of it.

But that wasn't enough, Lord E introduced his ultimate plan to Kio, while making Zehart his bitch. Aside from Zehart being the most spineless antagonist ever, Lord E's plan made zero sense. I kept on wondering to myself until the show's end, how exactly is he going to carry it out? What programs do you have in mind? If humanity is to be selected from this war, then when will you call it quits and complete your actual selection?

While all this is going on, we were introduced to a hidden-powerful technology of long past. There is not much to be said about the technology because the show didn't reveal much, except both sides thought it was the ultimate magic "I WIN" button. I predicted the last battle would be against this technology, but I wasn't happy being right, because the appearance of SID was absolutely and completely random. It added nothing to the story except more pointless agony.

And suddenly, in the few last moments of the epilogue, the said technology made life all better. NYUH!!??

So my beef with the show. Its not because they were doing too little, its because they were doing too much and had trouble deciding which foot to stand on. The characters are a series of homages of previous Gundams and not overly original. Except Flit, I somehow saw him as an older Kamille, except the latter never had the former's ambition. OTOH, the plot was too complicated for its own good, and its treatment of female characters was abhorrent. Ultimately the story was entertaining enough but unsatisfactory, and the ending left much to be desired. I also feel sorry for all the women who became or will eventually become the three protagonists' wives.

- Tak

[Raysoul]

Ok here's my verdict. I won't be comparing this show to SEED or 00, but I might give some references to Unicorn (even it is not a series) as it is almost perfect to me.

Animation Quality: 7

The character style (Inazuma-ish) is a plus for me as it defines AGE as its own. What I don't like here is the inconsistent quality of animation. They managed to pull of that Zeydra VS AGE-2 fight, which is very great. But I still see re-used scenes like AGE-FX slicing up the Vegans. There are also times that I see the character drawing as bad. Nevertheless, most climatic parts are well animated.

Voice Actors: 9

The cast is great. Except for Wendy, as she speaks like a robot.

Script: 8

If this is for the whole story, then I'll give it a 9. The plot is really unpredictable. I also believed that the Fardain arc is needed in the story.

If this is for character specific script, then I will rate it as 7. The Asuno wives could say something better to make their relationship more emotional. Kio can better defend his pacifism like Banahger (Like when Banahger is shouting at Daguza on the cockpit). They could also better use other side characters like Arisa and Jonathan, and make simple backstory for their characters.

Still there are several moments that would make me remember AGE, like the death scenes, in-battle dialogues, etc. I'll still give this an 8.

Soundtrack: 9

If Unicorn is 10, then this is just below it. And the AGE-2 theme is the most "badass" Gundam theme in Gundamverse. (Just in case, Unicorn's theme is Epic)

Editing: 8

If they better executed Kio's character, the final battle, then this could go up.

Enjoyment: 10

I really enjoyed AGE. I don't care about the flaws.

Emotional Involvement: 10

Yurin's scene still is very emotional for me. And the deaths are really good for me (Not that I want them dead T^T)

OVERALL: 8.7 - Lower than my first calculation. Still a good series for me, and I'm still not retracting my statement that this is the best timeline since UC and AW.

I can recommend this series to new and old Gundam audience, as long as they don't have the mindset that WING/SEED/00 is the best Gundam series ever.

It might be not possible, but I still wish for a 2nd series or a movie to wrap up the remaining years, as it is impossible for the Vagans to just have peace with the Federation in an instant.