Gundam AGE was ambitious, doing something no Gundam series did before, actually showing the Gundam technology passing from one generation of the Asuno family to the next: Flit, to his son Asemu, to his son Kio.
AGE 1
Despite its accusations of being kiddy, Age 1 wasn't half bad. It had its flaws, such as the idealistic ending to the Fardain episodes, and the plot wasn't necessarily strong. What made it watchable for me was a few good characters, especially Grodek Ainoa, the Ensemble Darkhorse mysterious and vengeful Guile Hero, who knows that he ended up becoming a victim of the Cycle Of Revenge...and just doesn't care. If it hadn't been for him, I probably would have stopped watching after the first few episodes. Desil was also interesting as a surprisingly creepy Big Bad.
AGE 2
The best Age, and unfortunately the shortest. It's good to actually see Flit mature into a competent commander and see what the effects of the previous Age are on him. It is unfortunate though that he never explains his motives and pain to his descendants, and that he loses his hate due to a psychic vision induced Deus Ex Machina instead of actual Character Development. I also thought it was nice for Asemu to be an actual soldier and bold for the series to not have Asemu become an X-rounder and instead focus on honing his piloting skills. However, I didn't like the tacked on love triangle which ends up resolved off-screen.
AGE 3
This is where everything goes to the toilet. First off, Kio is an absolute idiot who trades his family military secrets for something worthless and hypocritically doesn't want to kill but won't stop fighting. Then Asemu is turned into a horrible father. Then there is Ezelcant, whose nonsensical Evil Plan makes you want to Dope Slap the writers. Age 3 would be better off if Zeheart just shot him once he heard it. The only high point of Age 3 for me was Seric and Obright taking out custom suits with named Vagans in them.
As for the villains, the Vagans waffle back and forth between competency and stupidity. Most of their victories are examples of "that was the plan all along", and they capture a Gundam only to lose it again way too easily. Then there is the misogyny of the Asuno wives being Put On A Bus after they pop out the next protagonist. It could have been nice to have one of the Gundam pilots be female.
Age by Age
Gundam AGE was ambitious, doing something no Gundam series did before, actually showing the Gundam technology passing from one generation of the Asuno family to the next: Flit, to his son Asemu, to his son Kio.
AGE 1 Despite its accusations of being kiddy, Age 1 wasn't half bad. It had its flaws, such as the idealistic ending to the Fardain episodes, and the plot wasn't necessarily strong. What made it watchable for me was a few good characters, especially Grodek Ainoa, the Ensemble Darkhorse mysterious and vengeful Guile Hero, who knows that he ended up becoming a victim of the Cycle Of Revenge...and just doesn't care. If it hadn't been for him, I probably would have stopped watching after the first few episodes. Desil was also interesting as a surprisingly creepy Big Bad.
AGE 2 The best Age, and unfortunately the shortest. It's good to actually see Flit mature into a competent commander and see what the effects of the previous Age are on him. It is unfortunate though that he never explains his motives and pain to his descendants, and that he loses his hate due to a psychic vision induced Deus Ex Machina instead of actual Character Development. I also thought it was nice for Asemu to be an actual soldier and bold for the series to not have Asemu become an X-rounder and instead focus on honing his piloting skills. However, I didn't like the tacked on love triangle which ends up resolved off-screen.
AGE 3 This is where everything goes to the toilet. First off, Kio is an absolute idiot who trades his family military secrets for something worthless and hypocritically doesn't want to kill but won't stop fighting. Then Asemu is turned into a horrible father. Then there is Ezelcant, whose nonsensical Evil Plan makes you want to Dope Slap the writers. Age 3 would be better off if Zeheart just shot him once he heard it. The only high point of Age 3 for me was Seric and Obright taking out custom suits with named Vagans in them.
As for the villains, the Vagans waffle back and forth between competency and stupidity. Most of their victories are examples of "that was the plan all along", and they capture a Gundam only to lose it again way too easily. Then there is the misogyny of the Asuno wives being Put On A Bus after they pop out the next protagonist. It could have been nice to have one of the Gundam pilots be female.