T5W#280-Top 10 Gundam Nods in Gundam AGE

While Gundam AGE is (thankfully) out of the way, I have to bring up one thing I only talked about every once in a while during its review: it borrows rather heavily from every single Gundam show that came before it.  Most of the times, it’s not even done in a respectful way but rather a, “hey this worked before let’s make it work again but with less effort and heart.”  Granted not all the nods and references were terrible.  Some were actually surprising to see and others…well any show that invokes Gundam Seed Destiny should be ashamed of itself.  While choosing 5 of these examples would be a mercy for me, I think there’s more than enough that a special Top 10 is in order, 2020’s almost done anyway.  So enjoy our official (hopefully) last look at the dreaded Advanced Generation Era with the Top 10 Gundam Nods in Gundam AGE.

#10-Destroy the Core (Mobile Suit Gundam Wing)

At the end of the Second Arc, best friends turned rivals Asemu Asuno and Zeheart Gallette engage in one supposedly final duel inside the Vagan Battle Fortress Downes.  When the outcome of the main battle outside seems in favor of the Federation, Asemu splits off to stop a fragment of Downes from slamming into Earth by destroying its power core.  Out of bullets and nearly out of energy, Asemu believes theres only one other option: the Heero Yuy one.  Yep, Asemu is seconds away from his own self destruct sacrifice.  But then Zeheart arrives to help his friend out one more time.  At least, unlike Zechs, Zeheart’s fate isn’t ambiguous as he is shown surviving and returning for a poor run as an actual villain in the second half of AGE. 

 

#9-Asemu the Pirate (Mobile Suit Gundam F91)

In between the 2^nd and 3^rd Arc of Gundam AGE, Asemu goes missing and is presumed dead for most of Kio’s life.  Later, we learn that not only is he alive but Asemu has joined a pirate crew and changed his image a little bit.  With his ship and Mobile Suit (it’s never really stated whether this is his AGE-2 with a black coat of paint), sporting a skull and crossbones, it feels like we’re making a light nudge callback to Gundam F91, or rather it’s manga Mobile Suit Crossbone Gundam.  In it, F91 heroes Seabook and Cecily resurrect the Crossbone Vanguard to face a new enemy and Seabook even gets to pilot a pirate looking Gundam of his own.  Probably thinking too much on this one but still food for thought.

 

#8-Kio’s Resolve-Kira Yamato Edition (Mobile Suit Gundam Seed)

Kio is easily the weakest of the three Asuno pilots.  Sure I hate Flit but his growth from optimistic savior to vengeful maniac is slightly interesting.  Kio refuses to fight at almost every given opportunity, to the point where he is a sitting duck in the most powerful weapon on the battlefield.  It doesn’t get any better for the kid when he decides to adopt the Kira Yamato approach to battle…disable all the enemy Mobile Suits without killing a single soldier in the process.  However, when Kira did this, he was steely eyed and unrelenting.  If he disabled your suit you knew it was an act of mercy.  With Kio, it’s just another excuse for him to whine and cry and cement himself as one of (if not the) worst characters in all of Gundam AGE.

 

#7-The White Archangel Base Albion Diva (Mobile Suit Gundam, Gundam 0083, Gundam Seed)

Most Gundam series or movies have a signature mothership, a main base of operations for the Gundams whether theyre part of the military (Earth Federation) or running a secret terrorist organization (Celestial Being).  The White Base from the original Gundam is iconic within the franchise, so much so it would become a new class of Federation ship which included the sleek looking Albion from Gundam 0083 and would be the base design for the Archangel in the Gundam Seed shows.  So imagine my genuine surprise when the Diva is given a transformation sequence that changes it from “eh” to a full on White Base clone.  I’m not even mad, I’m genuinely impressed and I dare say happy to see this ship design again.  No wonder the ultimate fate of the Diva is such a gut punch for me as opposed to the loss of any other character in Gundam AGE.

 

#6-The Tragic Life of Yurin Lalah Sune (Mobile Suit Gundam Franchise)

From the moment she first appeared in Gundam AGE, the fate of Yurin was as clear as day.  With her ethereal nature, kind heart, and X-Rounder abilities, Yurin was so meant to be the Lalah Sune to Flit Asuno’s Amuro Ray.  They did try to be a bit different with this relationship; with Flit and Yurin being shown spending more time together rather than Amuro and Lalah’s extremely few encoutners in Mobile Suit Gundam.  I’d argue that the extra time, even if it was in a slideshow, did give more weight to Yurin’s tragic demise.  She even sacrificed herself to save Flit rather than Flit accidentally killing her a la Amuro and Lalah.  However, while Lalah’s death would haunt Amuro for decades to come, Flit would use Yurin’s death as fuel for his revenge against the Vagans.  I’ll avoid ranting about that latter fact and just say that Yurin was one of AGE’s better characters and a lovely honoring of one of Gundam’s most tragic heroines.

 

#5-Gundam Legacy and History (Turn A Gundam)

Flit Asuno’s inspiration for wanting to build his own Gundam comes from a portrait hanging in his family home.  Depicting a Gundam like Mobile Suit standing victorious on the battlefield, Flit is told that the Gundam was basically histories greatest hero, ending wars and bringing peace in dark times.  The look of the Gundam in that painting reminds me of the Turn A Gundam but also the legend behind it feels very reminiscent of the “Dark History” that overshadowed the Correct Century.  Given that there’s a black box of old Earth war tech in the Advanced Generation, who’s to say that there aren’t other Gundam blueprints from bygone eras locked away.  No I don’t think AGE is trying to connect every single Gundam era a la Turn A Gundam.  Still, possibly seeing AGE as a follow up to Turn A isn’t without merit…but I’m glad it’s not cause Turn A Gundam is one of the best Gundam series in existence while Gundam AGE is one of the worst.

 

#4-Zeheart: The Red Comet (Mobile Suit Gundam Franchise)

Let’s face it, ever since Char made the look flawless, it’s become pretty much a requirement of every major Gundam series to have what I refer to as “A Char Clone”.  For Gundam Wing it was Zechs Merquise.  For Turn A Gundam it was Harry Ord.  For Gundam Seed it was Rau Le Cruset.  For Gundam AGE it’s Zeheart Gallette.  The kid has a Char vibe even before he gets the special mask he needs to better control his X-Rounder abilities in his Mobile Suit (which is just painted red because it’s the color of Char).  As we’ll see in another selection, even Zeheart’s storyline is meant to mirror Char’s across the decades.  Thank God Memory of Eden redeemed him a bit because Zeheart in the TV Series is a mess and a Char Clone worse than the two back to back ones we got in Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny.

 

#3-Haro (Mobile Suit Gundam Franchise)

Ever the literal loveable ball of energy, Haro has been the mascot of several Gundam series and movies.  He’s so closely associated with the Gundam that he’s even become the official mascot for Studio Sunrise itself.  In all honesty, there isn’t anything stand out or special about the Haro in Gundam AGE, just that it is the same one from Flit’s era to Kio’s era, which I guess is impressive.  But then again I think the Haro we see in Char’s Counterattack is also the same Haro we saw in the original series, though I think I’m wrong on that.  But yeah, it’s nice to see him though he might not leave the same impact as the multiple Haro hellions of Lacus Clyne in Gundam Seed or Lockon’s trusty partner from Gundam 00.

 

#2-Four Generations of Universal Century (Mobile Suit Gundam, Zeta Gundam, Gundam ZZ & Char’s Counterattack)

In a way, all four major arcs of Gundam AGE mirror that of the first four major entries in the Universal Century era, the beginning of Gundam.  Flit’s era is Mobile Suit Gundam; Asemu’s is Zeta Gundam; Kio’s would be Gundam ZZ; and the grand finale is Char’s Counterattack.  Each of the Asuno pilots seems to echo the thoughts and traits of Amuro Ray, Kamille Bidan and Judau Ashita in their own ways from Asemu’s Kamille like determination to the more insufferable qualities of Judau found in Kio.  Even their Gundam seem to evolve in the same style as the UC Gundam’s themselves with Flit’s clearly being the basic one closest to the original RX-78-2 Gundam while Kio eventually gets the AGE-FX, which is clearly the Nu Gundam for this Char’s Counterattack. 

 

#1-Project Eden finds its Destiny (Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny)

Jesus Christ I cant believe they did this.  This was the point where Gundam AGE truly lost me because of all the shows and plots to borrow from, they decided to go with one of the most stupidest, show killing twists in the entire franchise.  Ezelcant’s unnatural selection approach to repopulating his new Eden is a different coated but still copy and paste replica of Gilbert Durandal’s Destiny Plan.  Both want to weed out people who would cause hardship and conflict so further wars can be averted and a lasting peace can be attained.  I just…I cant…God Gundam AGE it really went there.  I wanted to give this show benefit of the doubt and hope it wasn’t as bad as other said.  And then this happened…and there was no way it was ever going to recover.