Valkyrie Colors

I've been messing around with Photoshop and I've come up with these color schemes for some of the famous Macross Valkyries. These are only first attempts so not all of them are that good, but I am particularly proud of the green and white VF-1J.

 

VF-1J Valkyrie

 

VF-1S Strike Valkyrie (Battroid Mode)

VF-19A Excalibur

 VF-1J Battroid

Gundam AGE Episode 15

Gundam AGE Episode 15:

Those Tears Fall in Space

It's been a somewhat long journey from October 9, 2011 to this, the last episode of Flit's arc. It is here that we finally learn who the mysterious Unknown Enemy are... they're martians. No not the ones from War of the Worlds or Mars Attacks or any of that other stuff, but humans who had emigrated to a group of colonies which had been built in the Mars Sphere, which is a fairly new term for Gundam as we usually just deal with the Earth Sphere. 

For those who might be kind WTF on what a Mars or Earth Sphere is, it is basically everything orbiting Earth and its five Lagrange Points, or in Mars' case, the martian Lagrange points. As for what a Lagrange point is, go look it up on Wikipedia, I aint your papa!  :)

These martian colonists, who call themselves the Vegans, were abandoned out at Mars by the Federation (why are we not surprised?), or so explains Yark Dole, when the Diva  crew confronts him inside Ambat's control center. 

It seems that some kinda cosmic rays produced by Mars' electromagnetic field or something caused a disease amongst the martian colonist's population. The Federation then abandoned them and they were forced to survive on their own. Now they have returned to the Earthsphere to claim Earth for themselves. How spending 14 years blowing up colonies and such is supposed to help them achieve such a goal is a little confusing at this point but it's nice to know who the UE finally are, even though I think it's a tad early for that revelation. Maybe if this was a more linear show, but AGE's nature seems to be playing this off well enough for now.

Other things in this episode: Flit's palpable rage is nice, giving the character a bit of an edge that he's been lacking. Would he have really shot Yark if Grodek hadn't done it first? Well , earlier he did try to beam saber the guy 

so I'm thinking he might actually have done it. But Grodek technically had the prior claim so he saves Flit the burden. 

I also like how immediately afterward, Yark's son comes in and sees his murdered father and Grodek just gets up in his face and is like, "Yeah, I'm the motherfrakker who shot your dad for revenge. Welcome to my world." 

I'm sure Grodek knew that with this kid seeing what he's done, that he'll have to accept the consequences of his actions as the UE have been made to feel theirs.

Flit's fight against Yark's Defurze mobile suit aka T-Rex Arms was a little disappointing but also goes to show how pumped up Flit is on anger.

Largan Drace actually not dying was pleasantly surprising. I'm glad AGE is avoiding at least a few tropes. Wuulf also isn't dead but there's yet another arc, so we'll see.

Also, the mention of this Sir Ezelcant, who's supposed to be the leader of the Vegans, has me a bit intrigued, as I want to know what this master plan of his is that's still kind of vague.

Emily and Flit also miss an opportunity to talk but I'm pretty sure she heard him mention Yurin. I have to wonder how this is going to affect their marriage in the future?

And now, the finale. In the aftermath of the Ambat operation, Grodek finally lets himself be arrested. During his court martial, he states emphatically that he threatened the Diva crew into going along with his plan and basically puts all the blame on himself. He's sentenced as a traitor and locked up and the Feddies take all the credit for Operation: Ambat Capture and it becomes know as the War of Bat Extermination. Um, what? WTF? The frak kinda name is that? Lastly Millais comments that this attitude of the Feddies' is what has caused this situation in the first place. 

We close the episode with a shot of some Vegan superstructure in Mars orbit and a new Vegan ship heading to the earthsphere with two new Vegan characters that comment about Ezelcant's plan.

All in all, this was definitely one of the best episodes of AGE so far, following on from the last episode and keeping the pace going. And having just watched episode 16, I can now say that I'm extremely confident in AGE's future. So to all the haters and trolls: STFU (shut the frak up) and peace out!  :)

Gundam AGE Episode 14

A Flash of Sorrow

We're almost to the end of the first arc now, and in typical Gundam fashion, we finish out with a dose of tragedy. 

But before we get to that, some explanation is once again needed. I’m partly behind once again, considering that episode 15 just broadcast a few days ago. However, they were really slow in getting the English subs up, so I actually have only seen the episode raw. So, I’ll get caught up with 14 and do 15 later and then it’ll be time for my Gundam AGE half-time report… even though this is supposed to be the first third of this series…

In any case, on with the show! As I said, episode 14 delivers a tragedy that we saw coming from at least the previous couple of episodes. Some said Yurin was doomed the second she appeared on screen, and I guess they were right. The set-up is that the battle against the UE continues, and Flit has a Newtype moment (no X-Rounders here!) and goes off from the main battle. Here he runs into none other than Desil Galette, everyone’s favorite pocket-sized psychopath. Now, I gotta take a moment here and talk about Desil. When he first appeared all the way back in episode 5, I really hated this kid, mostly because he was this annoying little kid. But now I hate him for a whole different reason: he’s completely certifiable! This kid is the kind of kid that fries ants with a magnifying glass and enjoys it. No, that’s not quite right. This is the kind of kid that has deep and complex mental problems that result in him flaying the family cat alive. Desil is in the battle with Flit purely to have fun, blow things up and prove he’s better than Flit. And his secret weapon turns out to be none other than Yurin in her own customized pink mecha. ‘Cause, girls would totally pilot pink mobile suits… ‘cause they’re pink… and pink is for girls. Riiiiiigggghhhhhtttt.

Anyway, the Farsia is kind of neat because it’s the first AG mobiles suit we’ve seen with bits/funnels. And they do remind me somewhat of George DeSand’s rose bits from Mobile Fighter G Gundam. The kicker here is that either Yurin has no control over the Farsia or she does but is getting constantly overridden by Desil. The only reason she’s here is because apparently when two AG Newtypes are close to each other, their powers resonate. So basically she’s just a 1-Up mushroom for Desil. The fight itself is actually pretty well done, with Flit getting kicked around some but just when Desil is about to get the drop on him, Yurin breaks control and puts the Farsia between the two and gets her suit stabbed through the torso.

We then get to have a Flit/Yurin Newtype moment, but thankfully they do something fairly unique instead of weird naked Newtype space. Considering its Flit and Yurin, that’d be pretty pedo. What we get is Flit and Yurin in a forest, which gradually fades away as Yurin dies. Not too shabby, I would say. We shift back to reality where Yurin has a last line and then her helmet visor cracks and the Farsia ‘splodes. This of course, was Desil’s Big Mistake, and bragging about it doesn’t help as Flit goes into Gundam RAGE mode and absolutely decimates him. Remember future villains; don’t EVER kill the protagonist’s Newtype girlfriend.

Here, Desil’s childishness is reemphasized as he starts to lose, he begins to have a serious freak out, especially when the Age-1 does its glowing-eyes-rape-face-look. But instead of killing Desil, Flit tosses him off into space. I really don’t know why he did that besides the obvious answer to have Desil come back in the next arc.

All in all, even though the Newtype girlfriend death is one of the oldest tropes in Gundam, AGE manages to make it still tug at your heartstrings, especially when you consider that Flit has been ignoring Emily for quite a few episodes now. Really makes you wonder how their relationship in the next arc is going to be, but I’ll talk more about that in my “half-time show.” Also, even though this was the main focus of the episode, you still get some more moments with other characters here. Wuulf and Largan still cheat death even though I was kind of expecting at least Largan to die at this point. The Titus armor for the Gundam Age-1 makes a return appearance and gets trashed just like the Sparrow armor but at least it gets to awesomely ‘splode UE mechas and pulls a Superman.

The Diva has landed and the crew, led by the fearless DAT BEARD/Cool Hand Grodek, prepares to charge into battle, which may or may not be a good idea. And at the last, Yark Dole or whatever-the-crap-his-name-is, boards a monstrous looking mobile suit called the Defurze or something, which was apparently made for combat on Earth. Guess it’s time for the last hurrah.

Gundam AGE Episode 13

Beginning of The End... of The First Arc

 

We're finally nearing the end... of the first arc! There's been some highs and some lows and this last arc seems to gearing up for a Gundam-style high octane finisher. As the picture above indicates, Desil suits up at the end of the episode to get in his Zedas and wreck some crap. And of course, right behind him, being restrained by the EDEN Sith Lords, is poor Yurin. Now if they don't actually end up killing her in the next episode or the one after that, I will be enormously and pleasantly surprised. But having said that, I'm 98% certain that she will die, that she and Flit will have a Lockon and Anew moment right before Desil blows her up like the little brat he is. I almost think that this HAS to happen because I'm not sure if they could have Yurin survive and have Emily end up as Flit's wife and the mother of his son.

Anyway, as far as episode 13 is concerned, the battle of this arc begins as the Diva and their Zalam/Euba allies engage the UE's mysterious space fortress Ambat. The mysterious UE Dreadnought shows up from some optical camoflouge and strangely enough, as big as it is, it doesn't absolutely wreck the Diva and the other ships. Doesn't really matter as the Diva's secret upgrade is revealed: The Diva is a new model of Macross!! No, not really but it does turn into...

Yep, that's right. It turns into White Base. Really Sunrise? Are you so worried about how AGE is going that you need all these wink wink nudge nudge visual UC references? Now some of you might say I'm being too anal about this but that's why it's my opinion and everyone's is different. I mean, it's not even a CREATIVE redesign of the White Base, not like the Archangel from Gundam SEED. So no, I don't really care for the Diva's Assault Landing Mode, I actually do prefer the way it used to be and I'm now kinda worried that we're going to get some kind of Argama ripoff in the second arc and a Nahel Argama or Ra Cailum ripoff in the third arc.

Moving on, the battle was really good with the Zalam and Euba suits finally getting equipped with proper weapons and actually getting some. Largan and Wuulf also get some but they've also thrown up some death flags so we'll see what happens. Flit does some more conscious Newtype syuff (I refuse to use the term X-Rounder) and awesomely 'splodes a whole cluster of UE MS. We see Yark Dole in a patently ridiculous outfit and some other kid we've never seen before talk strategy and Yark even says that the Diva looks like a "Trojan Horse." (rolls eyes)

The Diva then unleashes its supermegaultrastupendousawesomecool BFG cannon and decimates the UE ship Fa Bose. But at the last minute a section detaches and heads straight for the Diva! At the last moment its blown to crap by the Hyper Mega Cannon of Mukured madorna and his custom red Shalldol.

Hmm, a white-haired guy in a red MS? This possible reference I'm actually cool with and the fact that this guy has such wonderful toys. The good guys regroup to attack but waiting in the wings are Decil and--

Oh poor Yurin!! But it is possible she might survive, because I saw a picture of a new UE type that is colored in pink and purple. We'll see although i think we're more likely to see the tears of time.

All in all this was an awesome episode marred only by bad UC references. Its been said that the second arc will begin with episode 16 so we've only got two more episodes to go for this arc, although if I was in charge, I'd use 14 and 15 for the last battle, 16 as the wrap up and use 17 as the first of the second arc episodes. In any case, here's hoping that this'll be one heckuva finale!  :)

Gundam AGE Episodes 10-12

Well here we go with AGE episodes 10-12. I really feel that AGE has finally hit a consistent stride here. No more of this malarkey with Zalam and Euba, except where it's relevant to the overall plot, and we can finally get to the business at hand which is the UE.

Episode 10 opens up with something of a sudden battle that wasn't even hinted at last episode. There's lots of good stuff here including the first large-scale battle of the series and Don Boyage and his extremely annoying sidekicks biting the dust. It's not that I don't like Boyage but he got the Oliver Inoue death from Mobile Suit Victory Gundam, where he crashes into a ship and his supposedly heroic sacrifice does nothing, except demonstrate that the UE dreadnought is pretty tough. Flit also gets the Sparrow upgrade (trust me, the Japanese are trying to say Sparrow, they're just doing it wrong, like "Shalon Apple.") but it's no where near as impressive as the Titus in my opinion. Ok, so it goes fast and can use it's green crystal blade that it borrowed from the 00Qan[T] to slice, dice and make julienne fries. Big deal, we've had Gundams like that before. I sadly think that this means that the Titus is going to end up with the crown of Most Awesomely Short-Lived and Useless Gundam Upgrade Ever.
On the character front, Ensign Adams/Ensign Zinger finally comes to terms with the fact that the Feddies aren't going to lift a bloody finger to help out the Diva. Good in a way but I would've liked more of a confrontation, perhaps when the Diva was gearing up for the Ambat invasion.

Moving on to episode 11, we finally get to see Yurin again and find out she's been adopted by some guy name Alzeck Birmings, who looks like Sunrise borrowed him from the next pirates of the Caribbean movie. She and Flit get to spend a lot of time together while Emily, the supposed future mother of Flit's son Asem, is working on the Diva. This trips all sorts of death flags for Yurin. The poor girl is unfortunately doomed it seems.

Speaking of Emily, she seems to have gotten over her Fraw Bow-itis and is taking charge of things, like getting that Madorna guy to come and upgrade the Diva with something called a Photon Blaster Cannon or in other words an RRBFG (Really, Really Big Fracking Gun). One last interesting thing in this episode is a Federation Inspector who comes to find Grodek and arrest him. Almost manages it too if not for that pesky kid and his Gundam. But he's not done yet because...

In episode 12 he shows up with a fleet! He tries to outmaneuver Grodek but DAT BEARD is just a little too good at playing The Game for Mr. Chocolate Bar. Also the UE pick a convenient, not-at-all-timed-by-the-plot chance to pull off another attack. Grodek and the Diva crew show that we're all just bros in the end by coming to the Feddies rescue which convinces Mr. Chocolate Bar to let them go. At least there's one other honorable officer in the Federation Forces besides Grodek and the late, lamented Cmd. Bruzar.

Ah, but the happiness is spoiled by the arrival of Desil and his Sith Lord Guardians, including Yark Dole (dumbest name ever). It seems that young Desil might be something of a bloodhound for these EDEN/UE guys, because they've come for Yurin and threaten her to come with them... or else. You see, it seems that Flit and Yurin and possibly Desil are something called X-Rounders which seem to be this series' version of Newtypes. Now personally, they couldn't have picked a worse name for these guys. X-Rounders? Seriously? What is this, a new X-Men comic book? Look, if anyone from Sunrise happens to be reading this, just because this show is aimed at an audience younger than normal Gundam fare, doesn't mean you have to shoot yourself in the foot. Just 'cause you've already used up Newtype, Coordinator, Extended and Innovator, doesn't mean there aren't other cool names you could have used.

Now that we're at this point in the series, things are wrapping up. Episode 13, which I'll be posting right after this, just broadcasted and the final battle of this arc has begun. I could definitely see it lasting another two episodes and then using 16 as a wrap-up to the first arc. As to what will happen after that... who knows. Scans of the characters and mechs from the second arc have already been released and it looks like at least a few characters are making it through. Who will live and who will die? Will we see the tears of time? Find out on the next exciting episode!

Doldrums

Well the holidays have come and gone (although technically the twelve days of Christmas didn't end until the fifth). I haven't been posting much as I've spent the holidays with my whole immediate family for the first time since 2006. Family is a bit of a higher priority than a blog you understand. So what's next on the chopping block? Well before I finish up all my Macross stuff, gotta get caught up on Gundam AGE reviews, then The Year 2011 In Review. Look forward to it!


--Robert