Mobile Suit Gundam AGE Part 2 Episodes 6-10

Flit Asuno has long prepared for the day he would face the UE in the Gundam he built with his own hands.  But that fight has cost him another home colony and now it has spread to Fardain, a colony with problems of its own.  With the UE wrecking havoc within the colony, Flit must somehow find a way to unite Fardain’s two warring factions to counterattack.  Meanwhile, the crew of the Diva discovers a startling secret within Fardain’s walls and Captain Grodeck reveals his plan to potentially strike a fatal blow to the UE forces…if they can escape Fardain that is.

After Monday’s kind of disappointing premiere, im surprised Gundam AGE managed to steady itself a bit this time around.  Between some epic battles and some decent world building, the show seems to be making strides to be more than just another basic Gundam imitator.  Not all the rough edges we’re smoothed out.  But this second set of episodes was a definite improvement over the first for sure.

The saga of Fardain opened up the floodgates and explored a little history of the Advanced Generation Era (Ah…AGE…I GET IT!!!!).  It’s kind of funny, the Zalam/Euba conflict lasting pretty much forever and yet still continuing despite the threat of the UE does remind me of that one line from Gundam 0083, when Adel voices his feeling that the Ghost of Zeon will always haunt the Federation.  Seeing as how that seemingly neverending Universal Century conflict has yet to reach a definitive conclusion, part of me wonders if Zeon is still starting stuff during Gundam F91…but I’m getting off topic, sorry.  It was interesting to see that the Zalam/Euba battles were so frequent that special blast shields to cover sidewalks and buildings within Fardain were in place so people could be safe.  And just what is the Earth Federation doing about this?  Absolutely nothing, that’s what.  Yeah the Federation seems to keep getting made more and more incompetent throughout the series: basically allowing Nora’s citizens to die without trying to save them and now letting a centuries old war continue within a colony.  It’s no wonder Grodek is keen on doing his own thing.  The UE might be merciless monsters to many, but the Earth Federation doesn’t seem to be much better really.

Gundam AGE kind of cooled it a bit with Flit’s savior of space complex in favor of allowing the young boy to tap into his inner Pacifist.  Flit reminded me a lot of Turn A Gundam’s Loran Cehak in this set of episodes.  The kid will throw down, no question about it.  But Flit also worked his ass off to get the Zalam and Euba leaders to see reason and end their petty little war in order to unite against the UE.  Were we not in a bit of a time crunch because we have two other main characters to get to, I suspect this story arc might’ve gone on longer rather than being resolved in 2-3 episodes.  But still, progress was made and it did feel earned.  It’s just a shame that Zalam’s leader had to make a heroic sacrifice in order to cement the new alliance between Zalam and Euba.  Here’s hoping it can last. 

We also got a look at another Mobile Suit Smith by the name of Madorna, along with his incredibly hot wife, Lalaparly.  The couple run a Mobile Suit shop in space and it’s here Woolf got to get his own custom Mobile Suit made that’s pretty much on par with the Gundam, the G-Exes.  I think this is the best looking Mobile Suit in the show so far, giving off a very Unicorn Gundam vibe.  Shoutout to the Zalam Mobile Suits though for looking like a fun cross between a Zaku and a Maguanac Corps Mobile Suit from Gundam Wing.  The Gundam AGE itself…well it’s basic look isn’t anything too special but it got two new forms in these episodes: one amazing and the other…God it just doesn’t belong.  I know this show is supposed to be geared towards a younger audience than usual (even with all the violence).  But the comically bulky Titus Gundam looks like something we should see in Gundam Build Fighters or G Gundam.  The Spallow on the other hand…why the heck didn’t they run with that for the AGE’s initial design?  Instead of a bulky super boxer, the Spallow is a Gundam Ninja with increased speed and a sword that can cut through anything.  Flit put it to good use kicking the crap out of a UE Mobile Suit confirmed to be piloted by that little Damien Newtype Desil…even made the brat trash his room and cry afterwards…Flit has had a good set this week.

I’m surprised Grodek finally decided to come clean about the shady stuff he’d been pulling since the first episode.  Like Flit, he’s lost family to the UE.  But Grodek is well aware of just how incompetent and cold hearted the Federation can be and is willing to risk his career to stop the UE before they become an even more dangerous threat.  Grodek might not be the next Bright Noa but he’s a decent guy, working behind the scenes to secure forces from Zalam and Euba to aid in taking on the UE’s main fortress Ambat.  Dude’s also got a knack for tactics as we saw in the impressive Battle of Fardain.  Using Mobile Suit incapable of blowing up UE Mobile Suits to distract them so Flit and Woolf could blow them up with their own advanced weapons wasn’t a bad idea at all and it gave the new alliance an initial fighting chance.  Right now, Grodek is level headed but I hope he doesn’t go all Ahab on the UE at Ambat and doom the crew (same goes for Flit really). 

Believe it or not, when we return, we’re going to close out the saga of Flit Asuno.  Feels quick but then again I am reviewing sizeable chunks of episodes at a time.  Can Gundam AGE wrap up its first major story arc in a strong way…or will it set a really low bar for everything that comes after.  We’ll find out tomorrow in the next review of Mobile Suit Gundam AGE.