The EFF holds a graduation ceremony on Tordia for new recruits, and Federation Prime Minister Froi Olfenoa gives a speech stating that people without ideals shouldn’t enjoy freedom, so they have to face each situation with unwavering justice. Watching from the audience, Unoa tells Emily that Asemu looks cool. Flit then addresses the recruits as their commander and issues their deployment orders. At Downes, Zeheart and Medel speak to Ezelcant over video, and he congratulates Zeheart on his infiltration mission, saying that the combat data may turn the war in their favor. Ezelcant then promotes Zeheart to commander of the Earth Occupation Forces, and Zeheart responds that he’s ready to sacrifice himself for the Vagans. Zeheart responds that he hopes the Vagans will witness the Day of Return. After the ceremony, Asemu spots Flit in the crowd and calls out to him, but Flit can’t hear him and walks off with Algreus. Unoa comes up to Asemu and congratulates Asemu on joining the military. Asemu says Flit told him he should go into space to pilot the Gundam, but he thinks everyone will believe he’s getting special treatment. Asemu sees Romary with her family, and Unoa says she was surprised to see Romary join the EFF. Emily and Vargas walk up to Flit and also congratulate him. They take a bus to the base and Emily gives Asemu a goodbye hug. At Tordia’s spaceport, Asemu is approached by Arisa Gunhale, a fellow rookie. He asks how she knows about him, and she mentions the gossip about Asemu getting special treatment. She then says that her father is a childhood friend of Flit’s, so they should be friends too. Woolf has a look at the Diva and comments that fate has brought him back to the ship. On the bridge, Captain Millais announces that the ship has been ordered to transport the new Gundam and will head to Olivernotes on Earth via Big Ring. The bridge crew talk about going to Earth, and some of them ask Romary why she joined the military. She answers that she always does what her father says, but she wanted to do something for herself. Flit’s executive shuttle leaves first for Big Ring with two Darwin class ships as escorts. At Downes, Zeheart addresses the soldiers as their new commander, but they whisper to each other about being under the command of a kid. Asemu enters the Diva‘s hangar and sees a fighter, which Dique tells him is a Gundam that can transform. He explains that it’s the second suit developed by the AGE System, the Gundam AGE-2 Normal, and adds that Vargas sent over Asemu’s combat data to help develop it. Dique explains that it has a hyper DODS rifle that’s twice as powerful as the old version, and it’ll be ready once its system optimization is complete. Asemu asks where the AGE-1 Normal is, and Dique tells him it was sent to Big Ring to be upgraded for use without the AGE System. Woolf calls all his pilots to report for duty and introduces himself. Woolf addresses Asemu and says he must get his recklessness from Flit. He then addresses Asemu, Arisa, Max Hartway and Obright Lorain and tells them his orders on the battlefield are absolute. Woolf goes over to talk to Dique, and Max whispers that people don’t last long under Woolf. Arisa says that Woolf is a famous pilot who used to be called the White Wolf, and Obright says he’s worked with Woolf and that he isn’t a model soldier, but a good commander. Asemu stops Woolf in a corridor and asks him if Flit was always perfect at everything, and Woolf answers that he was an interesting kid. He tells Asemu to do his best regardless of whose son he is. The Diva then launches and heads for Big Ring. Daz informs Zeheart that the Diva has launched, so Zeheart orders Mazato Langley’s team to “poke” the ship. Zeheart wonders if Asemu is also on the Diva.
The Diva‘s sensors pick up several approaching Dorados, so Millais orders battle stations. Woolf addresses his pilots and tells them to come back alive so that he can pick on them. Dique tells Asemu that the AGE-2 Normal’s optimization process isn’t done yet, so it’ll be another five minutes. Obright launches in his Genoace II, followed by Arisa and Max in Adeles and Woolf in the G-Bouncer. The Dorado team, lead by Mazato’s yellow unit, opens fire on the Diva team. Woolf destroys one of the Dorados, but Max and Arisa panic under pressure. Arisa’s Adele takes hits from Mazato’s missiles, and he closes in on her, only to be kicked away by Woolf. The optimization process finishes, and Dique tells Asemu to stay in G-Strider mode until reaching the combat zone because this form has three times the thrust. Another Dorado attacks Arisa and is destroyed in one shot by Asemu’s hyper DODS rifle. Mazato’s Dorado L unleashes a volley of missiles, so Asemu transforms and rushes in to destroy Mazato with his beam saber. The other Dorados attack the Adeles, and one of them damages Arisa’s unit and grabs it from behind, but Woolf blasts its head, allowing him to escape. Asemu prepares to shoot at two Dorados, but Woolf tells him to stop because the Diva is in his line of fire. Asemu gives chase to the Dorados against Woolf’s orders. The Diva is unable to fire its weapons because Asemu is too close to the Dorados, and Asemu ignores Millais’ orders to back off. Asemu transforms to G-Strider mode and pulls ahead of the Dorados, stopping in front of the Diva‘s bridge. He then transforms and destroys both Dorados with one shot. Woolf says to himself that even the son is going to give him trouble. Daz reports to Zeheart that Mazato’s team was wiped out by a new Gundam, so Zeheart wonders if Asemu is the pilot. In Millais’ office, she notes that Asemu disregarded orders, and when he points out that he destroyed the enemies, she tells him that orders are absolute. She says that he disobeyed Woolf’s orders and put the ship in danger, but Woolf tries to downplay things since it was Asemu’s first battle. Millais cuts him off and says she’ll deal with him later, and she confines Asemu to quarters. After he leaves, Woolf tells Millais to go easy on him since he’s a kid, but Millais counters that the Vagans won’t treat him like one. Asemu looks at the AGE-2 Normal in the hangar, and Arisa tells him not to worry too much about what happened.
This episode sees the return of several old characters, several new characters, an old ship and the debut of the AGE-2 Normal. On the Vagan side, we finally see Ezelcant, although it’s interesting that most of his face is hidden, which leads me to wonder who he really is. He also makes the strange move of promoting Zeheart to command of the Earth Occupation Forces, which doesn’t go over well with the grunts. It’s weird that he congratulated Zeheart on his infiltration mission, which basically failed since Zeheart was found out. The Diva is still around a generation later, and it looks like it has permanently stayed in its Pegasus-style assault landing mode. Millais is now the captain, Dique is the chief mechanic and Woolf is once again the MS commander. Romary is part of the crew, and it seems clear the only reason she’s even in the military is because she has a thing for Asemu. Dique’s daughter Arisa makes fast friends with Asemu, and I see her as having a death flag since it’s clear she won’t be hooking up with Asemu. We also see the rest of the MS team, and they’re all mostly useless, with the more experienced Obright being in one of the worst suits. Asemu disobeys orders twice in one episode, although I don’t see how a little bit of creative thinking couldn’t have fixed things. Since space is three dimensional, I don’t see why he had to get in front of the Dorados when he could’ve also attacked them from above or below. It’s also interesting that Asemu keeps saying he doesn’t want special treatment, but it certainly seemed like he did when he tried to justify his disobedience. Either way, the new Gundam is a pretty nice suit, and it’ll be interesting to see the inevitable battle with Zeheart.
Gundam AGE Info
Director(s):
Susumu Yamaguchi (TV)
Shinya Watada (OVA)
Writer(s):
Akihiro Hino
Kazuho Hyodo
Noboru Kimura
Rika Nakase
Yoichi Kato
Mechanical Designer(s):
Kanetake Ebikawa
Kenji Teraoka
Junya Ishigaki
Character Designer(s):
Takuzo Nagano
Michinori Chiba
Musical Composer:
Kei Yoshikawa
Airdates:
Japan 10.09.2011 – 09.23.2012
Format:
49 episodes; 1 compilation OVA
Video Release (OVA):
Japan 07.26.2013
U.S. 07.03.2018
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