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Gundam AGE Ep. 34: The Space Pirates Bisidian

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Summary

The Diva escapes from Earth’s atmosphere and heads for the Moon base. Wootbit is excited to see space, but Kio is still caught up in thoughts of Shanalua. He then has an X-Rounder reaction and says someone is waiting for them. On the Vagan mobile fortress, Fram reports to Zeheart that the Diva‘s current location is unknown, but they know it left Rostroulan. She says she has a plan that she’s putting in motion, and Zeheart tells her that she’d better prove useful. Fram looks at a picture and says to herself that her brother gave his life for Zeheart, and if he’s not worthy of that, she’ll kill him herself. In the Diva‘s mess hall, Wootbit sits down to eat next to Wendy and the children. He asks how long the children are going to be on the ship, and Wendy explains that their parents were evacuated to a colony near the Moon. Kio sits down with Wootbit, and when Wendy asks him what’s going, he says he feels like someone is blocking their path. The bridge crew wonder about entering the special alert sector called Sargasso, which Wootbit explains in the mess hall is a place full of shipwrecks, along with rumors of disappearing ships and instrument malfunctions. Flit tells the bridge crew that the fact that ships generally avoid Sargasso means it’ll be harder for the Vagans to follow them. The ship then enters a foggy field, which Wootbit explains are droplets of ice from a comet swarm captured by a Lagrange point. The battle alert then goes off when the pirate ship Baronoke appears in the Diva‘s path. Bisidian pirate Raddock Horn calls the Diva and demands that the crew surrender the ship to them. Kio asks Flit about Bisidian, and Flit says they’re enemies who have attacked multiple EFF ships. Flit asks Natora what to do, and she orders battle stations and the launch of the Abis team. Raddock asks Captain Ash (aka Asemu) what he wants with an old ship like the Diva, and Asemu tells him not to underestimate it because it carries an evolving monster. As Kio prepares to launch in the AGE-3 Normal, Wootbit tells him any data he can gather will probably lead to the creation of new wear parts. Flit calls Kio and tells him not to be nervous, adding that he should trust his previous experience. Seric launches in his Clanche Custom, followed by the two Clanches, Kio and Obright’s Genoace O-Custom. Bisidian launches several Shaldoll Rogues and G-Exes Jackedges, along with Asemu’s heavily modified Gundam AGE-2 Dark Hound. Asemu wants to see what his son can do.

Asemu rushes in and attacks Kio with his wire hooks. Kio rushes in to attack, but the AGE-2 Dark Hound’s chest flashes a blinding light, allowing Asemu to maneuver behind Kio and kick him into a large piece of ship debris. Asemu wonders if that’s all Kio has, and Flit tells Kio that the suit’s pilot is probably the leader of Bisidian. Kio then attacks with his beam saber and SigMaxiss rifle, forcing Asemu to dodge. Flit thinks to himself that no one knows the identity of Bisidian’s leader. He wonders why they’re using a suit that looks like the AGE-2 Normal, and he then has an X-Rounder reaction to Asemu. Asemu and Kio cross sabers, and Asemu wonders if Flit is still worthy of using the AGE System now that he’s out of the military. Obright and Derek engage a Shaldoll Rogue, which manages to blow off one of Derek’s arms. Seric fights off a G-Exes Jackedge and wonders why Bisidian doesn’t press the advantage they have. He thinks that Bisidian is testing them, and a call comes in from the Diva that Vagan suits are incoming. Seven Danazines approach the battlefield, led by Godom and Glatt, who want revenge against Kio for Deymon. Natora doesn’t know what to do, so Flit gives specific firing orders that don’t hit the Vagans, but force them between Bisidian and the Abis team. Both forces turn their attention to the Vagans, and Kio comes under fire from several Danazines. The Danazines circle him in the icy fog, and Asemu wonders if that’s all Kio has. Kio has an X-Rounder reaction and turns and fires, destroying two Danazines. Godom and another Danazine grab Kio from both sides while Glatt rushes in to make the killing blow, but Asemu intervenes by beheading a Danazine with his wire hook and electrocuting Godom. He then pushes Kio away and turns around just in time to stab Glatt with his DODS lancer, killing him. Kio calls Asemu and asks why he saved him and who he is, but Asemu transforms and flies away, firing a small capsule that attaches itself to the Gundam. As Bisidian withdraws, Flit wonders what Asemu is trying to do. Fram reports the failure to Zanald, but he doesn’t care since her main mission is to observe Zeheart. Fram then reports to Zeheart with platitudes about becoming a better commander, but he cuts her off and asks if she knows the names of the soldiers who died. She answers that she doesn’t, and he recites the names Sam Kalev, Lin Foster and Glatt. He tells Fram to remember them, which surprises her. On the Diva, Kio tells Flit that the pirate leader saved him, and Flit asks Kio if he’s felt anything. Kio says he’s felt something over and over since they got to space and guesses that Flit knows who the pirate leader is. Flit says there’s no point hiding things since Kio is an X-Rounder, so he reveals that the pirate leader is his father, Asemu. Asemu tells Raddock that his target was the AGE System. Up to now, he’s been targeting EFF traitors who are working with the Vagans, but that’s no way to make progress. If he found that the Diva crew was weak and wasting the AGE System, he would’ve taken it for himself, but that’s not the case. He says he’s given Kio the key and wonders what he’ll do with it. Wootbit examines the small capsule that Asemu attached to the Gundam.

Commentary

This feels like it should be a more momentous episode since it marks the return of Asemu, but it plays out rather unremarkably. For those who are surprised by this turn of events, Asemu’s fateful mission is recounted in the side story Memories of Sid, which also features Bisidian. So for the last 13 years, he’s been carrying out small attacks on EFF traitors and basically accomplished nothing. I don’t know what his life has been like, but he doesn’t come across very well here. For as cool as Flit could be at times in the second generation, Asemu abandoned his wife and baby son to be a space pirate. I don’t see how that qualifies him as anything other than a horrible parent. On top of that, he attacks his own son to “test” him, then saves him and leaves without saying a word. Interestingly, he saves Kio in a situation that plays out exactly like when Woolf saved him, but he manages to react in time and not die in the process. Admittedly, the AGE-2 Dark Hound is pretty neat looking and is reminiscent of the various Crossbone Gundams. We learn that Fram has ulterior motives and has a brother who died to save Zeheart, so she wants to judge if Zeheart is worthy of that sacrifice. We don’t see her brother in the picture, but I’d have to guess that it’s one of the Magicians Eight, specifically Dole, since he sacrificed himself to save Zeheart (and has similar hair color to Fram). Zeheart seems bored this entire episode, so I wonder if he’s having doubts given his last conversation with Ezelcant. At the very least, that’s what Zanald is looking for. Overall, I didn’t feel as though this episode exactly accomplished what it set out to do.

Overall Rating
3/5

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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