As mentioned in the previous post, the new Gundam animated series to be aired this October will be called Gundam AGE, which is aimed primarily for children. But this is going to be more than just an anime series; in fact a lot of things have been planned and announced already in the official announcement on Bandai Channel Live and Gundam Info yesterday.
The rough story below may not be fully accurate:
It was A.G. 101 (Advanced Generation), where mankind has colonised the space for hundreds of years, and the moments of peace after many years in the Earth Sphere has come to realisation, only to be shattered again by the arrival of an unknown force, conveniently named "Unknown Enemy" (UE).
7 years later, mankind is still fighting against the UE, and the protagonist's mother was killed in the midst of warfare. Her mother passed on the "AGE Device" and the blueprinst of the ancient mobile suit "Gundam" to her son Frit (?) shortly before her death.
In A.G. 115, the Gundam has finally been materialised and completed after many years of hard work and research by Frit in the peaceful colony of Nora. The Gundam is revolutionary for able to self-evolve with the AGE system that is implemented inside it. But it is soon that the peaceful colony would be attacked by the UE, and Frit would have to pilot the Gundam to fight against them.
HG 1/144 and Mega Size 1/48 of Gundam AGE-1 Normal. Now that I get to see it more clearly, I have to say that the back of the Gundam looks a bit like a car's spoiler ^^;
MG 1/100 model has also been announced, but no pictures are available at the moment.
A new line of Gunpla is also announced called AG (Advanced Grade), which is also 1/144 scale. Judging on the prices I would assume that they are simpler than the HG 1/144 models. There also is an emphasis of having bigger parts for beginners to handle with as a contrast to many small parts for the RG (Real Grade) line of the same scale.
Next are the GB (GAGE-ING Builder, ゲイジングビルダー) 1/100 pre-assembled figure series.
Part swapping is emphasised as a feature so you can customise your own Gundam.
The GB action figure and the AG Gunpla line will have "GAGE-ING Chip" on the Gundams themselves so you can connect them to "GAGE-ING Battle Base" (ゲイジング バトルベース) machines in shops and arcade centres (presumably) or the "GAGE-ING HARO" (ゲイジング ハロ). AG lines will have 1 chip on each model, whereas BG line will have 4 on each figure.
The "GAGE-ING HARO" will allow one to play simulation battle on LCD after scanning the chips of one of the Gundams from the AG or GB line.
Next is the activation equipment "Age Device" (エイジデバイス), which is the item the protagonist uses to start up the Gundam in the anime trailer I think. Apparently one can get to play up to 7 different games with this as a personal ID item I think, so you can save your game(s) progress and get unlocks etc. The "Gaging Haro" is one of the games that you can connect the "Age Device" with.
The other game that one can use the "Age Device" as well as the chips on the AG Gunpla or the GB Gundam figures will be the Gaging Battle Base. You get your Gundam scanned on a special scanning area (as seen in the picture above), sign on the game with your "Age Device" on the yellow slot at the right of the scanner, and play as the Gundam that you have scanned in the virtual battle.
Another arcade game that will be announced will be the Gundam Triage (?). It is a card battle game, which will have Gundam AGE featured there as well.
Whoa, that sure is a big and ambitious Gundam project there. With so much stuff having announced before the anime gets aired, and a lot of merchandise have been materialised already (and it's a lot more than, say, Gundam 00 too).
If you ask me, I am getting a slight information overload already, not to talk about the radical change of Gundam recently that is getting harder to swallow. I will probably watch a couple of episodes to test the waters, but given that this is specifically aimed for children, it is likely that Gundam AGE will be a miss for me, but I won't bet on that.
But there's more! There will be another Gundam project to be announced on 25th June on Gundam Info. It doesn't say whether this project will be an anime or not, so we will have to wait and see. Maybe those who are disappointed with the annoucement of Gundam AGE can look forward to this one instead? Or maybe just stick with Gundam UC OVA for the time being.
Regarding on reactions from "fans", it's not surprising that many will be disappointed that the new Gundam anime series that is to be aired this October will eb a "kiddy" show, and that the enemy will be alien look-alikes just like the Gundam 00 Movie, which got a lot of extreme views from audience.
While the difference from the Gundam series that we are used to is vast, I think it's too early to jump into conclusion and judge the book by the cover even before the anime series has even aired. Looking back at G Gundam, which had a strong super robot style to it while lacking the theme of war in it, was it a disaster though? Sure it was different, but at the end many people accepted and even liked it means that Gundam can still be different and be good I think, but those who are very used to, say, the Universal Century era and its well established lore may find the new substance too different from the rooted settings that they were used to, and resist it. Money-milking talk aside (I personally would like to avoid this as it is one thing that tends to draw a lot of tensions), I think that the Gundam fandom has turned to a low end with a lot of conflicts and unecessary hatred out of entertainment and hobby nowadays.
There I have said it, and I will like to move on.
Sources and info from Gigazine
http://gigazine.net/news/20110613_gundam_age_pv01/
http://gigazine.net/news/20110613_gundam_age_mecha_chara_staff//
http://gigazine.net/news/20110613_gundam_age_toy_game//
Well I'll be reserving my thoughts after I see a couple of episodes. The more popular any show gets, there will bound to be different camps and disputes. Just like transformers, some people absolutely hate the movie version haha..
ReplyDeleteI think Bandai is pulling all the stops to get those young ones. ^^; You bring up a very good point about G Gundam. While I am still going to see if this series is good or not, I have a feeling that this is going to be a love it or hate it Gundam series.
ReplyDeleteWow...a LOT of stuff in the works. I'm glad about that, I'm just hoping the MG line doesn't fall to the wayside with all this new merchandise. I am glad to hear a MG AGE Gundam is in the works, but I'd like to see more in the pipeline (Like Gundam Unit 7 from 0081).
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting all this Q! I am glad to see what's all on the horizon!
Wow...a LOT of stuff in the works. I'm glad about that, I'm just hoping the MG line doesn't fall to the wayside with all this new merchandise. I am glad to hear a MG AGE Gundam is in the works, but I'd like to see more in the pipeline (Like Gundam Unit 7 from 0081).
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting all this Q! I am glad to see what's all on the horizon!
I'm one of the people disappointed with where Gundam is going. I hope the announcement on June 25 is for a different Gundam series for older audiences.
ReplyDeleteI still haven't forgiven Gundam 00 for introducing aliens into the series. "No Aliens" was kind of an unwritten rule for gundam shows! It meant that we were focused on the human conflict.
ReplyDeleteSo hearing that aliens will be the main antagonists in Gundam Age leaves it was a black spot for me before the show even starts!
I'll probably still watch it though, because it has mecha. I've sat through diabolically bad shows before for that exact reason!
I reckon I'll wait for the general opinion on the first few eps before I decide on whether to watch it or not. Doesn't look that good to me IMHO. :/
ReplyDeleteThe box art for AGE-1 would probably sold me if I didn't see the product photo... That thing on the chest is way too big in the product compared to the box art. I think that's what disturbed me the most about this AGE series... That huge big thing in the middle... So far only the Genoace interest me.
ReplyDelete@ chubbybots:
ReplyDeleteThat's very true on what you've said there - there bounds to be opposing camps on anything, especially if it's big. I think I too will give it a shot and watch a couple of episodes before putting down any thoughts on this.
@ Tom:
It's quite an ambitious move to attract and focus on a very specific age group of audience. It's far too early to say whether this will work or not, or whether it will change direction (something like V Gundam where it was originally a series for younger audience before it changed course and the plot went for a darker end). As you said, Gundam AGE is likely going to have extreme views, perhaps like G Gundam where it's very different to other Gundam series out there, as well as Gundam 00 movie.
@ korewagundam:
It's a little surprising how so much stuff has been announced already in one go - even more than that for Gundam 00. I did hear that MG is now taking a slower pace as there were too many new releases per month recently, but hopefully this line won't lose its touch with all the new stuff announced for Gundam AGE.
Hopefully more Gunpla from Universal Century or even other alternate universes will show up in the near future. I think more 0083 MS will come for the HGUC line though, and Dra-C is quite likely to be one too as it appeared briefly in Gundam UC.
@ Nopy:
It's not surprising that many Gundam fans will be disappointed with Gundam AGE (and it's very understandable too). However given that we now know the new Gundam project announced on 25th is the animation of Gundam THE ORIGIN, we should have some new light on the future of Gundam hopefully ^^
@ gundamjehutykai:
I think the Gundam franchise has become so well established, especially with the various series that are set in Universal Century, that we have written our own rules for what a Gundam series should have been in our minds. The "no aliens" one one I have heard in several places too. I won't say it's right or wrong, but it's true that most Gundam series are on human conflicts. And now with Gundam AGE following after Gundam 00 that also features aliens, this will without a doubt be like spreading salt on a wound to those who just had a sour taste from Gundam 00 movie.
I must say that I am impressed that you have the patience to sit through shows that you really don't enjoy and actually finish them. Well, let's have a look what AGE will be like when it starts airing in October.
@ AstrayP03 (Zhe):
Gundam AGE does not seem to be intended for us to watch in the first place, so I will not put too much expectations towards it. I will still watch a few episodes before deciding whether to watch it through completely or not though.
@ Lightning Sabre:
The box art of Gundam AGE-1 does look pretty good, like a lot of them for the Gundam 00 Gunpla. The hexagonal thing on the chest does look a bit odd, compared to those bubble shape GN condensers on the Gundams of Gundam 00 S1. The GM look-alike Genoace piqued your interest? Haha at least it does look more like what we're familiar with ^^;