Mobile Suit Gundam AGE

Mobile Suit Gundam AGE 機動戦士ガンダムAGE (Kidō Senshi Gandamu AGE) is a TV Series and the 12th in the Gundam franchise. It is a collaboration between Sunrise and video game developer Level 5. The series is directed by Susumu Yamaguchi and premiered on Japan's MBS and TBS stations on October 9, 2011. This series is also simultaneously broadcasted on Bandai's official video portal Gundam.info with English, Chinese (Traditional) and Chinese (Simplified) subtitles. An English dub of this show has also had its first overseas TV broadcast premiered in MediaCorp's Okto Channel in Singapore on 16th June 2012.

Story
Mobile Suit Gundam AGE takes place over the course of a century during a "One Hundred Year War". Mankind had migrated to space colonies several centuries ago, with wars on Earth having long ended. Suddenly during the Advanced Generation (AG) Year 101 an Unknown Enemy (UE) appears and starts to attack Earth and colonies starting a full-scale war. They destroy the space colony "Angel" in a disaster later referred to as "The Day the Angel Fell". In AG 108 the UE attack a once peaceful colony known as "Orvan". Flit Asuno, a seven-year-old boy at the time, had his mother killed in this attack. Before she died, she gave him the Asuno family heirloom—the "AGE Device " memory unit. Using plans hidden within this unit, Flit begins to develop the mobile suit "Gundam", humanity's last hope.

AG 115 (First Generation)
In the year AG 115, Flit Asuno, now age fourteen, lives on the colony "Nora" in an Earth Federal Forces military base named "Aliston". After seven years of research and development collaborating with the EFF, Flit completes development of the AGE-1 Gundam AGE-1 Normal, allowing it to self-evolve through combat experience. The UE finally begins an attack on the colony "Nora" and now Flit has no choice but to fight with the Gundam.

The First Generation follows Flit and the crew of the battleship Diva, as they begin the Federation's first major counterattack agains the UE. Along the way, Flit meets many people who make lasting impressions on his life; Yurin L'Ciel, a girl from Nora who displays mysterious psychic powers, and whom Flit develops a romantic interest in, Woolf Enneacle, a Federation ace mobile suit pilot, who becomes Flit's friend and comrade, and Desil Galette, a young boy who displays a streak of cruelty and keeps an eye on Flit and the Gundam during their travels. Also, unbeknownst to the crew, their captain, Grodek Ainoa, has actually stolen command of the Diva from the Federation and is now being chased as a wanted man. When the crew learns of his status, Grodek reveals his intentions, that he has learned who the UE really are, where their base is, and that he plans to use the Diva and the Gundam to launch an assault on them so take his revenge on the UE for killing his family, when they destoryed colony Angel. While initially shocked, Flit and the crew decide to follow Grodek, and after recruiting help, launch an attack on the UE's mothership, Ambat. It is here that Flit has a reunion with Desil, who reveals to working with the UE, and Yurin who is being held hostage anf forced to fight by Desil. The three way battle results in Yurin's death, Flit's awakening as an X-Rounder (the AGE equivalent of a Newtype), his defeat of Desil, and the cementing Flit's hatred for the UE for the rest of his life. The Diva manages to break through the UE's defenses and into Ambat, where a grief stricken and angry Flit fights against the fortress's leader, Gerra Zoi, and his massive mobile suit. Ultimately, Flit defeats Gerra and the Diva crew succeeds in capturing the base, and they learn the UE's true identity. The UE are actually humans, who were sent to colonize Mars due to the overpopulation on Earth, but were then left to die by the Federation when Martian storm killed most of the colonists. Embittered, the surving colonists repopulated and formed their own nation, Vagan, with the ultimate goal of returning to the Earth, and claiming it as their own. Despite the victory, the crew of the Diva are court-martialed, but Grodek takes the blame for all their actions, and thus only he is imprissoned. The crew disbands, and the First Generation ends with the war between the Vagan's and the Federation only having just begun.

AG 140 - 142 (Second Generation)
Twenty five years have passed since “The War of Bat Extermination”, where the Diva crew and the Gundam defeated the Vagan main force in the Earth Sphere. During that time, Flit Asuno had become the commander of the Federation’s main space defense fortress, Big Ring, and had also married his childhood friend, Emily Amonde, and raised two children, Asemu Asuno and Yunoa Asuno. On Asemu’s 17th birthday, Flit gives him the Age Device, passing on both the Gundam and the mission of fighting the Vagan’s to his son, and thus beginning Asemu’s journey.

The Second Generation revolves around the Vagan’s attempt to land on the Earth and Asemu’s relationship with Romary Stone and Zeheart Galette, the latter of whom is a Vagan. Upon learning of Zeheart’s real identity and his declaration of being Asemu's enemy, Asemu and Romary join the military a year after his departure, and are assigned aboard the Diva, at which point Asemu is given the successor to the Gundam AGE-1, the AGE-2 Gundam AGE-2 Normal. Throughout the war, Asemu struggles with the fact that he is not an X-Rounder like his father and Zeheart, and develops a need to prove himself. Also adding to Asemu’s frustration are the facts that no matter how hard he tries to impress his father, Flit constantly expects more from him, and that Romary, whom Asemu is in love with, seems to show more interest in Zeheart. Woolf, Asemu’s commander and mentor helps the young pilot, by making him more aware of his own strengths and focusing less on being like his father. After many clashes, the Vagan’s begin their final attempt to land on the Earth, in what is known as “The Battle of Nortrum”. During the battle, Woolf is killed, causing Asemu to fully embrace Woolf’s teachings about focusing on his own strengths, thus drastically improving his piloting skills. In the final stages of the battle, the Vagan’s battleship, Downes, threatens to crash into Earth, so Asemu and Zeheart team up to save the Earth, and successfully destroy the ship, but unbeknownst to the Federation forces, this allowed for the Vagan forces onboard the ships escape pods to land on Earth.

One year later, the Vagan forces on Earth, lead by Medel Zant, attack the Federation capital, but are intercepted by Asemu. Meanwhile, Flit and the military arrest Prime Minister Froi Olfenoa, as he has been conspiring with the Vagan’s. The battle ends with Asemu finishing off Zant and Flit reaffirming his goal of wiping out every last single Vagan. Following this, Flit leads the military to purge the government of every last Vagan conspirator, and thus establishes a new rule for the Earth Federation. Elsewhere, it is revealed that the Vagan supreme leader, Fezarl Ezelcant, has placed Zeheart in cryogenic sleep so that he hay may take part in the next phase of their plan in the later future. A few years later, Asemu returns to his home colony of Tordia, where he and Romary are married in the presence of their friends and family, thus ending the Second Generation.

AG 164 (Third Generation)
The Third Generation starts from AG 151 where Romary Asuno gave birth to Kio in a hospital in the City of Olivernote on Earth. However, his father Asemu has to go on his final mission as a Earth Federation Forces Pilot moments after he was born where he has to investigate a derelict ship before he suddenly went MIA, the millitary search party then discovered Asemu's AGE Device during their search and handed it to his own father Flit, which then passed it onto Kio.

13 years passed and Kio grew up to be a gentle young man. While riding on a car his friend bought, they encountered a Vagan mothership with the Vagan leader Fezarl Ezelcant declared a full-scale invasion of Earth as the final phase of his plan to take back their former home, led by a reawakened Zeheart Galette in his Ghairaga along with several Danazines, collaborating with the Vagans hidden on Earth with their Dorados in an attack on Olivernote. All this happened just after the defense fortress "Big Ring", who is under a different commander now, was destroyed by a giant Vagan mothership. Kio and his friends escaped on the car but he saw three children who were trapped, so he and his childhood friend, Wendy Hearts rescued the children and brought them to safety before being evacuated by the Earth Federation Forces stationed there.

Believing the Gundam can stop them, he was nearly attacked by a Danazine before Flit came in with his carrier and Kio boarded it, only to reveal that this was actually the Core Fighter, one of the two components of Gundam AGE-3. After Flit as asked the Diva to launch, the second carrier that contains the other component, the G-Ceptor was launched at the same time, allowing Kio to pilot the Core Fighter form the Gundam AGE-3 Normal by docking with the G-Ceptor in mid-air with Flit's guidance. It was then that he realised why Flit bought Kio the MS Battle Simulator while he was a little kid, it was to prepare Kio for the time that he inherits the Gundam AGE-3 for himself to protect his home and the ones he cherish, something that Flit and Asemu once did in their own generation.

Music

 * Opening
 * "Asu E (To Tomorrow)" by Galileo Galilei
 * "sharp#" by Negoto
 * "Real" by ViVid
 * "Aurora" by Aoi Eir Source


 * Ending
 * "Kimi no Naka No Eiyu (Hero in You)" by Minami Kuribayashi
 * "My World" by SPYAIR
 * "White Justice" by Faylan
 * "Forget-me-not ~Wasurenagusa~" by FLOWER Source


 * Insert
 * "Memorial Days" by KOKIA
 * "Kimi to Boku wa Soko ni Ita" by AiRI

Episodes
The three generation arcs are listed as follows:


 * First Generation Arc featuring Flit Asuno as protagionist starts from Episodes 1-15


 * Second Generation Arc featuring Asemu Asuno as protagionist starts from Episodes 16-28.


 * Third Generation Arc featuring Kio Asuno as hero protagionist starts from Episode 29 onwards.

Manga

 * Mobile Suit Gundam AGE: Story of the Beginning
 * Mobile Suit Gundam AGE First Evolution
 * Mobile Suit Gundam AGE Second Evolution
 * Mobile Suit Gundam AGE 〜Climax Hero〜

Novels

 * Mobile Suit Gundam AGE (1) Stand Up
 * Mobile Suit Gundam AGE (2) Awaken
 * Mobile Suit Gundam AGE (3) The Second Age

Drama CD

 * Mobile Suit Gundam AGE Drama CD Wedding Eve

Side Stories

 * Mobile Suit Gundam AGE: Treasure Star
 * Mobile Suit Gundam AGE Memories of Sid
 * Mobile Suit Gundam AGE ⇀EXA-LOG↽
 * Mobile Suit Gundam AGE -UNKNOWN SOLDIERS-

Games

 * Mobile Suit Gundam: Try Age
 * Mobile Suit Gundam AGE (game)
 * Mobile Suit Gundam AGE: Cosmic Drive/Universe Accel 

Trivia

 * Gundam AGE is made as a tribute to the Universal Century timeline, describing the three main characters in each generation it passed.
 * The first minute of the Promotional Trailer shows several scenes that are similar to scenes from "Gundam Rising", the first episode of the original series.
 * The Vagan are identical in concept to the 'Jovian Lizards' of Martian Successor Nadesico.