![[sage]_Mobile_Suit_Gundam_AGE_-_04_[480p][C3FF15A2].mkv_snapshot_00.30_[2011.10.31_07.36.07]](https://ghostlightning.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/sage_mobile_suit_gundam_age_-_04_480pc3ff15a2-mkv_snapshot_00-30_2011-10-31_07-36-07.jpg "[sage]_Mobile_Suit_Gundam_AGE_-_04_[480p][C3FF15A2].mkv_snapshot_00.30_[2011.10.31_07.36.07]")
For those who have seen Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory The White Wolf introduced in this episode would be quite familiar, as the 1991 OVA used a character like this to great effect. He would’ve been the most aggravating thing in the whole show, if the lead characters weren’t such aggravating dolts. Woolf in this case is quite different from Stardust Memory’s Bernard Monsha.
He is considered an ace, despite having no real combat experience (having built a reputation for piloting in sporting). Monsha was a veteran of the OYW. Both have extremely high opinions of themselves, and while Monsha mitigated his annoyance factor when he eventually accepted Uraki (leaving only his sexual harassment), Woolf did much to show his ‘good’ side in this episode, making him quite a likeable character:
![[sage]_Mobile_Suit_Gundam_AGE_-_04_[480p][C3FF15A2].mkv_snapshot_06.35_[2011.10.31_07.38.57]](https://ghostlightning.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/sage_mobile_suit_gundam_age_-_04_480pc3ff15a2-mkv_snapshot_06-35_2011-10-31_07-38-57.jpg "[sage]_Mobile_Suit_Gundam_AGE_-_04_[480p][C3FF15A2].mkv_snapshot_06.35_[2011.10.31_07.38.57]")
He’s just this guy who’s really vain and is obsessed with the admiration of others. I think he’s a great addition to the cast, serving as a foil to Flit’s earnest goody-goodyness, without being evil, or without being a total Jerid. I also liked how the three kids totally acted like kids when they first met Woolf Enneacle. The play of insecurity on Flit’s face was remarkable considering the simplistic character designs.
Captain Grodek is turning out to be the most emo kid in the show so far LOL. Yeah I know his idol Commander Bruiser just died, but at least during the combat situation he wasn’t all Kira Yamato about things.
![[sage]_Mobile_Suit_Gundam_AGE_-_04_[480p][C3FF15A2].mkv_snapshot_14.01_[2011.10.31_07.40.47]](https://ghostlightning.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/sage_mobile_suit_gundam_age_-_04_480pc3ff15a2-mkv_snapshot_14-01_2011-10-31_07-40-47.jpg "[sage]_Mobile_Suit_Gundam_AGE_-_04_[480p][C3FF15A2].mkv_snapshot_14.01_[2011.10.31_07.40.47]")
Grodek seems to have an idea what the UE are, but that’s for next episode. Maybe there’ll be a Yurin sighting on the enemy ship? I too am betting she’s one of them enemies in some form. But that’s for later too; as for this episode, I had more fun with the Wolf character than I thought I would (because I really dislike Monsha).
Oh, for those who haven’t seen Stardust Memory yet, you’ll really want to check it out since it has some of the best mecha battles in all of Gundam, from the dirt, to the desert, to the sea of space, this show is hard to beat and is number 24 in my top-30 anime of all time.
Seriously Char, the invitation was for the first episode only. I can have you back here, but get back in line. Anyway, kindly ignore this prick and holler at the other reviewers, and I thought I had enough problems with Gato.
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What’s the matter with Gato?! He’s a real Zeonic patriot!
He’s pulling a Kamille on me, ON US ALL.
Why the hell is Char even ogling Emma? She’s got the child bearing hips of a 21 year old. Waaay past his ideal cut off date. And Flit is totally the series equivalent of a Newtype, all that tracking the enemy’s movements shit was how Amuro got started. Props to the kid for charging an enemy suit with little more than beam knife and a paintball gun.
Woolf-y was a fun addition to the new cast, a sort of cross between Monsha and Sleggar, minus the drunken beating women. Loved the little call back details here, like the Gundam Fighto “LEADY! GOOO!”, or how Woolf’s custom suit is based on the original White Devil. Also wondering what Grodek did to the real crew, who should have woken up after their tasering. They go for a spacewalk sans normal suits? Suppose the next episode will deal with that, and Sayla/Fraw composite’s witnessing of that little mutiny.
I like the scaled back conflicts we’ve seen so far. Mobile Suit numbers are limited, and ammunition frequently misses, it adds more tension to battles rather than the main Gundam lasering down hoardes of Zaku stand ins. Enjoying AGE far more than I expected to so far.
GO BACK TO 0087 WHEN THE AEUG COLONY LASERED YOUR ASS MONSHA, YOU FUCKING WASTE OF OXYGEN. And what ABOUT the name your parents gave you, huh Gato? I distinctly remembering it being ANABEL in HEBREW SCHOOL, you godamn race traitor Space Nazi Weeaboo!!! You like being a remnant member of anime’s most famous stand in for the Third Reich? You think your Grandparents like hearing you talk about “The Protocols of the Elders of Zeon”?! And swapping out the B in your name for a V didn’t fool anyone. Kamille phoned and he said your name made his look positively masculine by comparison.
lol take it easy, Matty old chum. One of the guys I took Spanish courses with when we were at univeristy had the name Anavel…and nobody thought it was a girl’s name, though that could be because that Argentine was one beast of a. Maybe Gato is a Sephardic Jew? If so, that would add a whole new wrinkle to his characterization: a Jew who is a zealous follower of an extremely nationalistic/”racist” military hegemony with many shades of “putting on the Reich.” He’s still one of my favorite Gundam characters ^.^
That said…
whooops. Should say “that Argentine was one beast of a man.” He is seriously an imposing figure.
Nah, I just read the TV tropes entry on Stardust Memory and got the impression that Anavel was a exclusively Jewish name. Gundam names in general are such a Frankenstein like combination of naming traditions and languages that the irony was unintentional, but it does add a nice layer of depth to his character, like you say. The man is badass regardless, the strange Gundam rival who’s arguably more of a main character than the series’ actual protagonist.
Char did not have a lot of options in the Argama. It wasn’t until he met Mineva again that he truly came alive…
Yeah, the G Gundam shoutout was great. Grodek should’ve done them in as you say, that would be very cool. But it could happen that yellow captain will rise again with a rival ship a la GSD.
LOLOLOLOLOLOL Gato.
I say the ‘enemy’ is either from the asteroid belt, jupiter or from any other attempted colonixed planet in the solar system.
Other wise i’m surprised the white wolf knows when to take things seriously considering his personality when not fighting actual battles.
Ooooh, kind of like the Crossbone Vanguard? Interesting!
its the most logical explanation, other wise we go back to them being from the future which to me sounds kinda like Negima(but not as cute), and if the UE were from the future why not pull a God Sigma on us? At this point i doubt anyone remembers the plot point for God Sigma so a mordern take on it should be good/interesting.
Crossbone Gundam played around with that convention. Towards the end the main antagonists, born on Jupiter, explicitly label themsleves as an alien empire, wiping out the inferior planet and native race of Earth. I’m guessing that the UE plays that trope even straighter.
Things I liked about Gundam Age episode 4:
Likes
1. Really should be LOVES LOVES LOVES, because it thrills me to no end to know that Woolf (Wulf?) is first and foremost a GP race driver and then a combat pilot. I’ve often wanted to see/read/hear about Mobile Suits’ uses outside of the usual combat-and-construction roles we so often (exclusively) get shown in most Gundam media. As a big-time motorsports enthusiast, I’d be keen to see somebody take this idea and run with it. Maybe a manga about junior mobile suit racing having to struggle during wartime (like how the real Grand Prix did during the years leading up to and following World War II).
2. The Genoace Custom is intensity in ten cities. I really like how, as Matt said, it seems to be a call-back to the original concept of Tomino’s Gundam: stark white. Besides, the model kits, being all white, will be easy to customize…bring on the Char colors!
3. Flit’s response to Woolf’s challenge. “THE GUNDAM IS NOT A TOY!” Kinda reminds me of a certain other famous Gundam pilot’s admonition of “THE NU GUNDAM IS NOT JUST FOR SHOW!”, while simultaneously (and ironically) hanging a lampshade on the fact that, well, actually, yes this Gundam is the most toy-like in many many a year.
4. I liked it how Woolf and Flit worked together to beat back the UE at the end of the episode. Though Flit looked like he was going to get the “win” by showing up with the DODS rifle, it was Woolf who recorded the “save” by using it to blow up the asteroid, covering our heroes’ escape back to the Diva. Then, in the mess, their back-and-forth banter difinitely makes me think that Woolf’s already gone from a too-cocky blowhard (stereotype) to a more nuanced representation of the more experienced pilot. Sure, he’ll rag on Flit for the rest of the series, but they’re buds now for sure. After all, Woolf did say, as he fled from the attacking Gafrans and had his Tallgee…GENOACE’s lower leg get shot off, “Maybe I overdid the cool-guy act.”
My favorite dude in this show is still Largan though. Red-heads deserve more respect (and airtime).
Excellent. Your reasons have won me over.
South Burning: “I believe in you. Bring this back to the Albion. You have to warn them of the truth behind Operation Star–HRRRGGHGHHHHH”
I will cherish this compliment for a long, long time. It made my day!
Reid, (re your 1. point) have you seen IGPX? It’s about racing mecha, one of my favorite mecha shows. It’s good to see some mecha that does not try to shoot everything at first sight. 🙂
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immortal_Grand_Prix
LOL From the episode preview I came into this thinking “What a douche”, but yeah Wolf is a pretty cool guy. And actually has brains for thinking during combat, more than I can say for many pilots.
AND YURIN IS TOO CUTE TO BE EVIL!
P.S. I’m currently writing a long post on an analysis of technology and the UE, would really appreciate if you would check it out later =) though I guess I’m taking a kid’s show way too seriously
You can take anything way too seriously as long as you know what you’re doing. This is what we call faggotry and we love doing it.
I’ll check it out no problem.
Thanks for checking it out =D and yeah I’m DEFINITELY a Gundamfag
First screenshot seems to be straight out of Ang Lee’s The Hulk. LOL, the “Puny Human” bathroom shave scene.
LOL
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It’s been a while since we had a ‘sempai’ character that’s like a douche to the main character when in reality he really isn’t. Now I’m just waiting for the masked man of this series. 😀
Yurin in a mask.
Char Aznable: NUTBLADDER ASPLOSION
oh hell no!!! hahaha!
Yurin is totally the Big Bad. I am also rooting for her to return as a cougar and seduce Flit’s son in the second arc. I think we can assume Emily is pregnant ho to be, but I believe we’ve seen the third generation son, and his hair is brown, so with Flit’s son’s hair being blonde and Yurin the hottie’s hair being…er…purple…it’s totally possible.
Moving on.
How the fuck is a paintball gun able to shock a UE, but a Genoace laser rifle is completely ineffective. So, basically, the Federation is so incompetent that they use stronger weapons for mock battles than real ones.
The White Wolf is a surprisingly likable guy. It’s too bad he’s old (ie: not 14), because after the 15 episodes or so we have with this generation, we likely will never see him again.
Emily looks like she’s going to try to blackmail Grodek into keeping Flit out of the Gundam next episode. Why do girls have to always try to interfere with a guy’s love of shooting laser beams at shit?
Daique…I don’t even know what the fuck the purpose of Daique is. I could see if this was a normal Gundam show with 50 episodes, but since this one decided to split it up into three generations, I’m having a hard time seeing Daique turn into anything in just 15 odd episodes other than the goofy fat kid who’s pining over a girl way out of his league.
As if we didn’t have enough children, we’re being introduced to a seven year old next episode. This one is probably a master kung-fu expert if the previews are anything to go off of. At seven I was pinching girls’ butts ’cause my dad said that’d make them like me. This kid’s off saving (possibly) the universe.
Hehe I’m with you.
Bernard Monsha: It’s about time the Titans took over!
Anavel Gato: He’ll likely get killed. Dying in the way Sleggar did. White-haired badasses don’t get the long-life treatm—WAIT
Char Aznable: One must acknowledge the mistakes of one’s youth. Emily will grow up, and realize this. But THAT is the tragedy (not the realization part, the growing up part, like physically).
Chuck Keith: What’s wrong with being useless? I mean being fat is gross, but useless? C’mon!
Kids show, for teh kiddies.
Seriously though, Wolf is a lot of fun too. The guy’s got some serious skills to back up his swag. I think of it as Wolf being the Kamina to Flit’s Simon, in the sense that he’s gonna make Flit a better man, minus the GAR levels (definitely not going there… yet) and I don’t remember Kamina being a douche.
Again, it was smart (though somewhat predictable) that the UE had to interfere with the mock battle. To be honest though, I was expecting Flit to lose that battle, though Flit is going to show Wolf that also has skills to cover his own swag, and what transpired in the episode was the better deal.
Funny thing to take note is that Flit does not want anyone to be piloting the Gundam, and during the first episode, he was offering it to that orange-haired dude. Then again, after what he did in the first three episodes, he could have felt that he can pilot it.
On the other hand, I felt worried when I saw that launch sequence. I mean, it’s cool and all, but I just wish they don’t SEED-ify it, i.e., use exact launch sequence to waste time. We already have some reused animation here during the DOTS rifle launch (not to mention the posing), but I guess I’m been so sick of SEED that seeing something similar sickens me (what an alliteration!).
Yep, he’s tasted blood and won’t let go of the knife now. Not anymore.
Uraki Kou: The launch sequence is full of sex. The SEED launch sequence was filler. I don’t mind this being repeated, in a kids’ show. Besides, it evoked Stardust Memory more than it did SEED.
He’ll probably change his mind if he eventually finds out that he’s killing people.
Hehehehe, and I brace myself for the angst.
Oh shit we’re not gonna have Jesus Kira Pacifist Flit Yamato Asuno phase are we?
Oh, I hope not.
He’s out for blood against the UE from the get-go. Heck, he didn’t hesitate on his first kill.
Posing Gundams holding rifles has been a staple of the franchise since 1979. Stardust Memory’s opening even redrew it shot for shot. The only thing SEED did was amp up the sparkles and flamboyancy of the poses. This show is doing it in a bearable fashion.
When the Gundam got out of The Diva, it did the same thing the Strike Freedom would do when it got out of whatever ship its in, do a 360 spin and go full speed.
Yeah, pretty much what you said. As long as it doesn’t get reused to death like SEED did, I’m fine with it.
Wolf was surprisingly bro and will play out as a significant mentor for Flit. Yeah, I did lol about him calling himself an ACE even though no one has shot down and UE other than Flit.
The new Captain seems like he’s in quite a pickle, just WHO is he working for? He’s obviously got some black ops back ground, he took out the real captain of the Diva and was able to wipe/rewrite all of the command protocols/roster pretty damn quick for not being named “Kira Yamato”.
Still loving AGE though, haven’t been this hopeful for a mecha series in a while :3
Yeah, it does fill you with hope!
Grodek is in a tough spot now that Bruiser is dead. There’s no guarantee that the other captain is also dead. Like I said to someone earlier, we might get rival ships a la SEED at some point.
If I remember correctly, there was a scene showing the other captain and his assistants tied up and unconscious somewhere. I think Grodek just shoved them on the core with the rest of the civilians. And rival ships sound like a good idea.
Wolf’s mah boi. He could’ve easily been another Monsha, but instead comes off more like Patrick from 00… this time with actual combat skills and strategy. He’s charming in his own way.
This episode could have ended up pretty bland if it didn’t bring in the UE element . It’s a basic breather episode that inroduces a new character. But the interaction between Flit and Wolf is entertaining. Neither gets too annoying and the rivalry doesn’t take away from the main story. We get a money shot of the massive UE ship and the groundwork is laid down for next weeks events.
Yeah Patrick! Only actually cooler than Patrick because he’s self-aware.
Patrick is cool because Katie Mannequin exists and what a delight were they to watch!
Yes I agree with your take on the structure of the episode and the next arc.
I was pretty impressed with the White Wolf. I think I can get used to having somebody to troll the kid genius main pilot occasionally. I especially like how he switches so seamlessly between “competent battlefield commander” and “jerk big brother.”
During battle:
Woolf: Nice fighting out there.
Flit: Thanks!
Post-battle:
Woolf: And then I said to Flit “This is how a man needs to fight!”
Flit: THAT NEVER HAPPENED!
Woolf: TROLOLOLOLOLOL
LOLOLOL Yes, exactly!
Hahahahaha yeah!!!! TROLL
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