Why This Forgotten Gundam Anime Is Even Worse Than You Remember (2024)

The Mobile Suit Gundam franchise began 45 years ago, with the brand netting numerous entries since. Many of these anime are in the classic continuity known as the "Universal Century" timeline, though several were in their own universes and told self-contained stories. One such anime was meant to be a relaunch that grabbed a new generation of fans, but it ultimately failed dramatically in this endeavor.

Mobile Suit Gundam AGE was an experimental series in its own world, and it played with the idea of a multigenerational story. Sadly, AGE dropped the ball with this narrative and its cast, with fans young and old disliking or outright ignoring the show. Now long forgotten beyond the occasional model kit, Gundam AGE is little more than a mere footnote in the brand's history – for good reason.

This Gundam Anime Is Barely Remembered For A Good Reason

Gundam AGE Was an Experimental Failure

Released between 2011 and 2012, Mobile Suit Gundam AGE was the 12th main Gundam anime set in the "Advanced Generation" timeline. The series focuses on three different protagonists, all of whom are members of the same bloodline who are alive at different points in time. This reflects the title of the show – AGE – with the anime's different arcs set in varying years in the Advanced Generation timeline. The first protagonist Flit Asuno is a veritable child in A.G 115, 14 years after the beginning of the One Hundred Years War. He's followed by Asemu Asuno and Kio Asuno, his son and grandson, who are featured in A.G 140-142 and A.G. 164. They each pilot the eponymous Gundam using the "AGE device," which was given to Flit by his dying mother. Using this mobile suit and its power, they aid in the fight against the mysterious enemy known only as the "Unknown Entity."

Gundam AGE was developed by Sunrise and Level-5, the latter of which is a video game developer known mostly for family-friendly, somewhat youth-oriented video game titles. This was reflected in the general aesthetic of the series, which had a brighter and less "militaristic" visual sense to it. When added with the experimental writing of having separate arcs based on different generations, the anime was seemingly set to be a unique success within the franchise. Unfortunately, this wasn't what happened – especially among the existing fanbase. The anime was seen as a failure, as the intended length of Gundam AGE was cut down to a shortened 49 episodes.

Gundam AGE Failed to Reach Younger Audiences

Later Anime Worked Better as Entrypoint Gundam Shows

As noted, a big part of the draw for Gundam AGE was that the series was meant to attract a younger audience of viewers and fans. This can be seen not only in the anime's character designs, but the generally "simplistic" and almost generic nature of the mechs compared to other mecha anime from throughout the years. Once the designs were showcased, older fans immediately went the other way. Such was the case with the human characters, some of whom looked downright goofy. Keep in mind that Level-5 later made these intentions clear, explicitly stating they were disinterested in making a Gundam show for older audiences. To some extent, the idea was to hopefully replicate some of the success of Level-5's Little Battlers Experience franchise.

Sadly, this didn't work, as the series was still more of a mecha series than the Little Battlers Experience's anime. With older audiences completely disinterested and turned off, the show had no real draw for anyone. All in all, AGE was mostly just a generic anime series that had mechs instead of feeling like a militaristic "Real Robot" anime. Worst of all, the show tried to eventually deliver darker elements, but it was too little, too late for older fans. It was also jarring given the otherwise kiddie nature of the series. The Gundam AGE anime was a slapdash, haphazard and reactionary production that failed to please anyone. Ironically, later shows in the Gundam franchise were way better examples of reaching newer and younger audiences.

The Gundam Build Fighters and related series took the concept of Gunpla plastic model kits and made anime around them. Build Fighters actually appealed to kids who had never watched Gundam, and it was amusing enough to also attract older fans. It helped that none of these shows were marketed as the new "main" entry in the franchise, making it easier for potentially jaded older fans to enjoy them. The more recent Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury was definitely a show for a new era, and it also brought in more of a female audience for the stalwart and largely male-oriented brand. That's not even mentioning the continued success of the Cosmic Era shows and movies that are derived from the Mobile Suit Gundam SEED subseries, which started before AGE and continues to be a major hit. These all expanded beyond the existing fanbase for property, doing so far more than Gundam AGE ever could.

Gundam AGE’s Writing Left a Lot to Be Desired

The Writing Was the Anime’s Downfall

Besides the obvious disillusionment that older fans automatically had with the series, the real downfall of Gundam AGE was in its writing and characters. A big issue was just how simplistic the conflict could be, to the point where there was sometimes not enough conflict at all. This was a sad reality given the show's notably kiddie tone. It was as if everything from the plot to the characters were intentionally dumbed down. The three generations gimmick was simply that, and it was never used to even half of its potential. Perhaps the worst part was the fact that only the three protagonists get anything resembling character development, but even then, not much. To add insult to injury, there's even a sense of repetition, with the cast essentially having the same "sort" of characters as their childhood friends.

It's obvious that some of the show's planned ideas had to be truncated given that the series was shortened. The result of this is that Gundam AGE has no room to allow its different concepts to breathe. Even the basic premise of multiple generations falls flat because everything is run through in so short a time. AGE tries to tell the story of essentially three different shows in the length of one, which is why nothing gets the required length of time needed to develop things properly. Once the multigenerational story truly comes into its own in the final arc, it doesn't feel earned and instead comes off as being just as rushed as everything else. Strangely enough, the anime seemed to pander to older fans with cheap imitations of storylines from other Gundam works.

This included the classic anime, Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack and later series. Even this failed to work due to the lack of taking into account why these elements worked in previous continuities and projects. This didn't help a series that, at the best of times, felt "cheap" in just about every aspect. Gundam AGE felt like a "value brand" take on the mecha franchise, and the lack of polish in its writing made it seem unworthy of the illustrious legacy that had begun in 1979.

All the efforts to make the show appealing to kids utterly failed, and it didn't succeed elsewhere, either. If the show's writing quality had at least been up to par and taken advantage of the unique concept behind it, the series might have actually drawn in older and newer fans. Sadly, this wasn't the case, and to this day, it's rare to see new Bandai Gunpla model kits for Gundam AGE, much like what happened with the later series Gundam: Reconguista in G. Now over 10 years old, there are almost no fans that are nostalgic for it, and so it continues to live on as one of the brand's low points.

Mobile Suit Gundam AGE

TV-PG

Action

Fantasy

A colonized space had finally achieved peace, until a mysterious enemy, the UE, enters the scene and attacks colonies and other targets.

Release Date

October 9, 2011

Main Genre

Animation

Seasons

1 Season

Characters By

Sarah Hauser, Seth Leslie, Saori Hayami

Creator

Yoshiyuki Tomino

Production Company

Green, Mainichi Broadcasting System (MBS), Sunrise, Wish