GBT#17-Gundam AGE-2 Normal

Oh Gundam AGE.  There was so much potential in the story it was trying to tell, but the powers that be opted to tell it poorly.  Even the mech come off as a bit less impressive compared to other Gundam series.  That’s not to say every mech is “meh”.  The Gundams of the Asuno Clan aren’t gonna win any medals for “Best Gundam in the Franchise” but they are pretty cool in their own right.  Today’s Gunpla comes from the Asemu Era of Gundam AGE, specifically his sleek as heck AGE-2.  To me this is one of the best, if not the best suit in the entire series and while the AGE-FX is ultimately the Gunpla I need to get as the “main suit” of that show, the AGE-2 is still my fav from Gundam AGE and I jumped at the chance to try a build of a suit from the Advanced Generation

 
Suit History

Twenty Five Years after the Gundam AGE-1 was first launched, Asemu Asuno, son of legendary pilot, Flit Asuno, inherited a more advanced model of the Gundam, the AGE-2.  Similar to his fathers suit, Asemu’s Gundam was compatible with the AGE System, allowing the AGE-2 to receive numerous weapons set tailored to any kind of battle scenario.  The AGE-2 could also transform into the G-Strider Flight Mode.  Asemu was eventually drafted into the military and assigned to his fathers old ship, the Diva, where the AGE-2 would be stationed as well.  Despite not having his father’s X-Rounder abilities, Asemu was still able to go one on one with many of the Vagan’s own X-Rounders on his natural skill alone, earning praise for being one of the few normal humans capable of this feat.  Ten years after it was first deployed, the AGE-2 and it’s pilot, Asemu, would disappear and be presumed destroyed.  In reality, the AGE-2 was heavily damaged in combat with the Sid Mobile Armor.  Asemu and the AGE-2 would be rescued by the Bisidian pilots and Asemu would repair and refit the AGE-2, rebranding it as the  AGE-2DH Gundam AGE-2 Dark Hound.

 
Build Experience

The AGE-2’s color scheme really catches ones attention.  It’s so bright and harkens back to the original RX-78-2 with how its choice of color aesthetic was meant to market it towards children.  That’s fitting in this case since Sunrise sought to make Gundam AGE more kid friendly (it wasn’t).  AS far as the basic build construction goes, this one wasn’t bad.  The main body looks cool and I didn’t mess up any of the wings, which was one of my biggest concern.  Doesn’t mean some design choices didn’t bother me.  The wings ability to fold in and out depending on its current mode left me wondering why they couldn’t fold in completely.  They could fold back and out just fine but maybe I’m just being nitpicky about that.  The Beam Rifle also took me a few minutes to figure out that the bottom covering can fold down to reveal the handle and trigger, whereas it can also fold up for the transformation but I’ll talk about that in a second.  The shield is so tiny and inconsequential that I didn’t even notice it was missing until after I started taking photos of the AGE-2’s completed body.  As a Gunpla, this looks really cool and reminds me of why the AGE-2 was my favorite Gundam of Gundam AGE.

 

Buuuuut then my nightmare came true.  When it came time to attempt a transformation, I’ll admit I failed and decided to pass on it.  I get that Gunpla aren’t meant to be like Transformers.  You have to take appendiges off and readjust their posture and there are separate components you need to attach those to before piecing everything together like a puzzle.  Nothing seemed to fit.  Everything felt loose.  And several minutes in, I decided to return to my old Beast Wars action figure mantra, “If it’s too tough to transform, once it’s a Robot, it stays a Robot.”  I didn’t even get far enough to attempt any horendeous progress shots.  I’ll say this about the Gundam Delta Kai, it might be a ton of extra parts and overly complicated…but at least I was able to change it into Flight Mode at least once.  It really sucks because it’s a personal blemish on an otherwise sweet looking Gunpla.
 

Rating/Conclusion
One day I’ll be able to craft a transformable Gunpla that I can proudly change with no effort, but the AGE-2 isnt that Gunpla.  It’s a pretty big flaw with an awesomely designed suit that stands as one of most memorable from a subpar Gundam series.  I should have known better spotting it on the shelf without remembering the AGE-2 could transform.  Primary build is golden.  Morphing is a technique I still need to master.  Still, on the stand it came with, the AGE-2 looks so bad ass that it’s hard for me to kick myself for not being able to convert it into a fighter.
 
6.5/10 

Next up, we move away from Gundam shows I don’t care for to one near and dear to my heart and one of the Gunpla I’ve been waiting all my life to tackle.  Oh yeah, the Gundam of the God of Death is coming to the Gundam Anime Corner on an all new Gunpla Builder Thursday.  See ya Next Week.