Mobile Suit Gundam AGE



""It is the space age, hundreds of years after people began to emigrate to space colonies. The wars that were once fought for control of the Earth Sphere had ended, and it seemed that an era of peace had arrived. But this fleeting peace collapsed. A colony was destroyed by a mysterious enemy that suddenly appeared. The curtain was rising on a new battle that would continue over 100 years.""

- Opening Narration

Gundam AGE was a new addition to the Gundam Franchise, which began airing in October 2011 as part of Sunrise's autumn 2011 lineup. This revolves on three generations of pilots, namely Flit Asuno, his son Asem, and the latter's son, Kio. As part of a Level 5 multimedia franchising, a manga, several models, a card game, and a video game were quickly announced.

The sudden appearance of a hostile force know only as the UE (Unknown Enemy) prompted the Federation to hire Flit Asuno to build the ultimate weapon to beat back the UE: the Gundam AGE-1. As the Hundred Year War rages on between Earth and the UE, Flit, Asem, and Kio must use the Gundam to defend the Earth.

The first generation begins with Flit, who was allowed to pilot the Gundam when its intended pilot was injured during a UE attack. The destruction of his second home colony lands him on the Diva, piloted by a rogue captain who is determined to battle the UE in defiance of the Federation's sluggish response to the threat. Flit uses the Gundam to protect colonies from the UE and in general to be a savior for humanity.

The second generation starts twenty-five years later and follows Flit's son, Asemu. He is given the Gundam as a sort of coming-of-age present by Flit on his seventeenth birthday, befriends Zeheart Galette in his last year of school, and is devastated when Zeheart turns out to be a Vagan agent. Although he is kind-hearted by nature, Asemu joins the military to follow and impress his father. Their relationship becomes increasingly strained as Asemu sees the reality of war in his own way and Flit begins to treat him less like a son as the constant battles progress.

The third generation follows Kio, Asemu's son and Flit's grandson, who is only thirteen when he inherits the Gundam. The Vagan reveal their Earth-based sleeper agents on the anniversary of their first attack on the Federation and quickly turn Earth into a battlefield.

Two manga side spin-offs were also made: Mobile Suit Gundam AGE: Treasure Star (Set during the Flit Arc) and Mobile Suit Gundam AGE: Memories of Sid (Set after the Asemu Arc and before the Kio Arc).

An Action RPG for Gundam AGE developed by Level 5 was released August 30th 2012 in Japan for the PSP, and came in two versions, Universe Accel which features cameos and Mobile Suits from Universal Century Gundam series in it's sidequests, and Cosmic Drive which features cameos and Mobile Suits from Cosmic Era and Anno Domini Gundam series. The game follows the same plot as the anime for the main plot, but also features more content for the series's history and world through optional quests. It features many more Wears for the AGE suits other than the ones that have appeared in the anime. Interviews would later reveal the game was actually conceived first.

Despite its lofty ambitions of a megahit by chasing a younger audience, Age proved to be a flop for Sunrise that lost the original audience in pursuit of a new one. This low performance would be mitigated by an above expected success of Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn

"This is war! I'll defeat you any way I can!"
 * 108: A.G. 108 is the year Flit's mother dies. It's also the same year that Desil is born.
 * The Ace: Woolf "The White Wolf" Enneacle.
 * Ace Custom:
 * Woolf's Genoace Custom & G-Exes in Generation 1 and the G-Bouncer in Generation 2.
 * Largan Drace's Genoace count as well after it received some upgrades (better armor, Beam Rifle).
 * Obright's Genoace O-Custom and Abis's Clanche Custom in Generation 3
 * Alternate Calendar: Years are given in A.G., for Advanced Generation.
 * Animal Mecha: The Gafrans can turn into dragons and the Danazine has a dragon design as well.
 * Anyone Can Die: Oh yeah. Check Killed Off for Real below for the list.
 * Art Style Dissonance: This series is notorious within the Gundam fandom for pairing a kiddy art style with a rather cynical and mature story.
 * Awesome Yet Practical: The tails on the UE mobile suits aren't there just to look badass and menacing. They sometimes act as lifesavers when a UE unit is outnumbered or cornered.
 * Badass
 * Badass Bookworm: Flit Asuno, his son Asem & grandson Kio all of them being skilled MS pilots & engineers. Especially Flit, with him being the original creator of the AGE Gundam, and later proving himself a skilled tactician.
 * Badass Normal: Woolf Enneacle. No psychic powers, not an X-Rounder, no Gundam to pilot. Just skill & talent when it comes to kicking ass & taking names in an MS.
 * Even more obvious example would be Largan Drace. This so-called Red Shirt manages to hold off a Baqto with just a plain-vanilla Genoace for awhile before he was overwhelmed. Cue Flit's Big Damn Heroes moment in the AGE Gundam Titus.
 * Asemu also ascends into one when
 * Badass Grandpa: FLIT
 * Bash Brothers: After some initial friction, Woolf and Flit start heading towards this. By the time the former gets his hands on the G-Exes, they're a downright terrifying team.
 * Betty and Veronica: Averted in the first generation, since both Yurin (Shrinking Violet) and Emily (Girl Next Door) are both Betties.
 * Gender Flipped in the Second Generation: Asemu is the Betty, while Zeheart is the Veronica.
 * BFG: Mukured's Mobile Suit has one.
 * The Age-2 Double Bullet has two shoulder-mounted ones.
 * The AGE-3 has one called the Sigmasis Rifle.
 * And the AGE-3 Fortress has FOUR.
 * BFS: The AGE-2 Double Bullet's shoulder cannons can also be used as V2 Gundam-esque Wings of Light.
 * Big Damn Heroes:
 * Bittersweet Ending: The end of the Second Generation.
 * Only just
 * Blade Below the Shoulder: The Gundam AGE-3's beam sabers are mounted in its wrists.
 * Bloodless Carnage: Played straight in the first two episodes, but averted for the rest of the series . If a character dies and you see their face, it will not be clean.
 * Boss in Mook Clothing: Despite the Genoace II looking nothing more than a recolored Genoace Custom, it has the same armor, armaments and specifications of the original AGE-1.
 * Butt Monkey:
 * Call Back: In episode 28, the flight schedules in the background list flights to Fardain, Minsry, and Nora.
 * Calling Your Attacks: Done only once with the Gundam AGE-01 Titus. BEAM LARIAT!!
 * The Cavalry:.
 * Char Clone: Zeheart Galette.
 * Cheerful Child: Riria. Emily even says so using the exact same wording.
 * Cheshire Cat Grin: Grodek can't help but do this when his forces are about to attack the UE in Episode 13.
 * Childhood Friend Romance: Flit and Emily.
 * Child Soldier: Flit. It's perfectly clear he is turning himself into one; the first hint of that is . Understandably, Emily is not taking it well.
 * He also trains his grandson, Kio, into one, and Kio seems to be willing to join his company, too.
 * Colony Drop:
 * Color Coded for Your Convenience: Just in case anyone has noticed, the Earth Federation units are painted with bright colors, making them look like the "good" side, while the UE ones are generally darkly colored as the "evil" side.
 * Combat Pragmatist: In Episode 22, rather than fight Desil one on one, Flit brings a squad of Federation mooks along with him to guarantee a win.
 * Childhood Friend Romance: Flit and Emily.
 * Child Soldier: Flit. It's perfectly clear he is turning himself into one; the first hint of that is . Understandably, Emily is not taking it well.
 * He also trains his grandson, Kio, into one, and Kio seems to be willing to join his company, too.
 * Colony Drop:
 * Color Coded for Your Convenience: Just in case anyone has noticed, the Earth Federation units are painted with bright colors, making them look like the "good" side, while the UE ones are generally darkly colored as the "evil" side.
 * Combat Pragmatist: In Episode 22, rather than fight Desil one on one, Flit brings a squad of Federation mooks along with him to guarantee a win.

"Largan: "Woolf, do you...Do you have a girlfriend?" Woolf: "A girlfriend? Of course I do. She's a pure white princess (probably referring to his G-Exes here)." Largan: "Then, make sure she won't get hurt." Woolf: "Who the hell do you think I am?" (also translated as "Who do you think I am?"; He actually says "Ore wo dare datto omotteiru?" meaning "Just who the hell do you think I am?")"
 * Combining Mecha: The Gundam AGE-3 heralds the return of the Core Block System.
 * Comes Great Responsibility: part of Final Speech to Flit.
 * Compressed Adaptation/Adaptation Expansion: Depending on if one considers the first written PSP game or first released anime as the "original" in this case. Either way, the 49 episode anime has way less room to tell the story of three generations of characters.
 * Conspicuous CG: The AGE Builder sequence.
 * Crap Saccharine World: Fardain.
 * Crazy Prepared:
 * Curb Stomp Battle:
 * The first battle involving the G-Exes and Gundam AGE-01 Titus. Both of them curb-stomp a so-far invulnerable Gafran.
 * Happens again in Episode 10. When Gundam AGE-01 receives the Spallow upgrade, it has very little difficulty in tearing the Zedas limb from limb.
 * Again in Episode 14 after.
 * Once again in episode 26.
 * Cycle of Revenge
 * Dangerously Genre Savvy:
 * The UE seems to be this, at least in the first episode. One Gafran camps outside the hatch to a hangar, firing at the sortieing Genoace before it has a chance to get out. When the Gundam takes down one Gafran, rather than fight it, the rest retreat and start bombing the colony from outside, after destroying the one that Flit managed to down to prevent it from being analyzed.
 * And in the second episode, when Vargas sends the new Beam Rifle to the Gundam in a capsule, the Garfran immediately tries to shoot it down rather than wait and see what was in it.
 * In Episode 4, we get to see a huge mothership and dozens of purple Gafran, as they show up during a mock-battle between Flit and Woolf. They waited for the right time and launched an excessive force to deal with the Gundam and Genoace Custom, when they only carried non-lethal weapons.
 * For Episode 10,
 * In episode 19, after losing soldiers to the Gundam AGE-2, the Vagan take a soldier hostage to prevent the Gundam from shooting them. Additionally, the Vagan positioned themselves so that the Gundam would hit the Diva if he shot at them.
 * In episode 27, it appears all is well with the destruction of the Vagan flagship. However
 * In episode 30, when Kio receives an upgrade to his Sigmasis Rifle, Zeheart immediately recognizes the danger and orders all of his mobile suits to concentrate on the Gundam before the rifle can charge. One episode later, the Three Phantoms also try to prevent the AGE-3 from receiving its Fortress wear. In both cases, the Federation pilots are equally genre-savvy and successfully protect the Gundam.
 * Dangerous Seventeenth Birthday: On Asemu's 17th birthday, Vagan mobile suits infiltrate and attack his home colony.
 * Darker and Edgier:
 * Generation 3 seems to be the darkest yet.
 * The Novelization of the first generation. See here and here for details.
 * The Dead Have Names: Zeheart makes it a point to remember the name of every pilot under his command, especially the ones that are killed in action
 * Despair Event Horizon: Flit suffers a painful one
 * Disappeared Dad:
 * Doomed Hometown: Flit's birth colony as well as his current home colony.
 * Averted in the second generation. Although Asemu's hometown takes significant damage in a UE attack, neither it nor the colony is destroyed.
 * Played nearly straight in the third generation. Kio's hometown isn't totally destroyed, but it is subjected to a brutal attack on its civilian quarters.
 * Downer Ending: The final episode of the First Generation.
 * Dual-Wielding: Asem's fighting style when he first deploys in the Gundam.
 * Dude, Where's My Respect?: Despite being a goddamn hero and the former commander in chief of the Federation, Flit is not taken seriously by the Federation commander stationed in Olivernotes.
 * Enemy Mine:
 * Everything's Better with Spinning: The AGE's DODS Rifle fires a beam that spins, increasing its penetrating power.
 * Evolving Credits:
 * OP 1: The silohuette of AGE-1 Normal is replaced by Titus and Spallow after respective forms appeared.
 * ED 2: The Gundam AGE-2 Normal is replaced by the Double Bullet starting in episode 24.
 * OP 3: The Dark Hound is not shadowed and Captain Ash is added starting in episode 34.
 * ED 3: Captain Ash appears starting in episode 34.
 * Expy:
 * The Genoace MS is an expy of the GM. Woolf's Genoace Custom, meanwhile, is suspiciously similar to the RX-0 Unicorn.
 * AGE-1 Gundam looks similar to the RX-78-2 Gundam with its shield looking similar to the Gundam MK II.
 * Apparently, Gundam AGE Titus bears a striking resemblance to Bolt Gundam and some to Chibodee Crocket's Gundam Maxter.
 * Gundam AGE Spallow bears a homage to Setsuna F. Seiei's Exia.
 * Its variant in looks like the Aile Strike Gundam but was actually used for heavy ordinance rather than maneuverability.
 * The AGE-2 Gundam has a Mobile Armor mode like the Zeta Gundam while the AGE-3 Gundam resembles the Full Armor ZZ. The Gundam AGE-3 Fortress, on the other hand, resembles Seravee Gundam.
 * The Gundam AGE-2 Double Bullet is quite similar to Gundam Dynames, and also has the Wings of Light. Its weapons load is essentially a miniature version of the METEOR weapons platforms.
 * Asemu Asuno is not unlike Kou Uraki for all the low self-worth in him at the young age, and he is also a straighter homage to Amuro Ray.
 * Kio Asuno bears a big resemblance to Uso Evin from the start, joining him as one of the youngest Gundam heroes in the franchise.
 * Yurin is a homage to Tiffa Adill
 * Emily is Frau Bau.
 * For all the initial Fa Yuiry likeness, Romary Stone behaves much more like Nina Purpleton.
 * Woolf Enneacle acts like Bernard Monsha. He also takes the role of Slegger Law, Ryu Jose and Mu La Flaga.
 * The two warring factions in Fardain fight against each other, with Zalam using Zakus and Euba Gelgoogs. Even the Zalam space suits resemble strongly Zakus, too.
 * Zalam = Zeon, and Euba = Titans.
 * Desil Galette is a child version of Ali Al-Saachez or, depending on how you look at it, Yazan Gable.
 * X-Rounders are like Newtypes with a different name. No Gundam-series is complete without them.
 * Zeheart Galette, he is a CHAR (and to a lesser extent, an Athrun/a Gato as well).
 * And now he bears similar characteristics to Treize, by remembering each and every men killed in action.
 * The UE
 * The Visidian Pirates are likely a nod to Crossbone Vanguard.
 * During the third generation, the Diva carries three children on it, much like Katz, Letz, and Kikka. And Wendy is assigned to take care of them, making her the Fraw Bow.
 * The Phantom 3 are expies of the Black Tri-Stars. They even have their own equivalent of the Jet Stream Attack.
 * We're even given an expy for a place. Roustroulan, the Federation's HQ on Earth, is one to Jaburo, down to the location.
 * The Gundam Dark Hound is painted mostly black, has a lance that doubles as a beam saber, grappling hooks, and an overall pirate motif. Sounds like the Crossbone Gundam X-2, doesn't it?
 * Falling Into the Cockpit: Surprisingly averted in a Gundam series. Even though Flit wasn't intended to be the pilot of the Gundam AGE-1, he built the suit and knows how to use it. In the second generation, Flit gives Asemu the AGE device for his birthday and Vargas leads him right to the Gundam when he needs it. Likewise, in the third generation, the first thing Kio thinks of to repel the Vagan is to the find the Gundam, and Flit brings it straight to him.
 * Fan Service: A controversially cartoonish art style doesn't stop this series from featuring this. Episode 18, for example, shows a photo of Romary in her swimwear.
 * Flash Step: What the Spallow can do.
 * Foregone Conclusion:
 * It's pretty much a given that neither Flit nor Asem will be able to end the war with the UE.
 * From the physical appearances of Flit's son and grandson, it's pretty obvious that
 * Foreshadowing: Desil Galette was first introduced in episode 5 named "The Demon Boy." Guess what Desil turned out to be.
 * And one more featuring the same character in the second generation. Episode 22's Gundampedia noted that the Khronos (Desil's personal mobile suit) was rumored to have the ability of controlling allied mobile suits.
 * Fire-Forged Friends: Flit and Woolf.
 * Generational Saga: The format of the series. In addition to the Asunos, the Gunhales have had a representative in each generation, and supporting characters from the generation previous often return.
 * Generation Xerox: The three protagonists. Specifically, Asemu and Kio are male xeroxes of their mothers.
 * Also, Dique and Wootbit Gunhale. The latter looks exactly like the former did at the same age, only with blond hair, and both fill the same role. Wootbit's just not as friendly to his Asuno counterpart.
 * Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: Arisa snaps Asemu out of a funk by slapping him on the ass. It's as funny as it sounds.
 * Go Out with a Smile:
 * Gratuitous English: Yurin actually says "Nice catch" in English. It is more of Surprisingly Good English.
 * "Supah Pairotto!" Thanks for that, Woolf.
 * Grey and Gray Morality: The Federation versus Vagan. The Federation . Vagan, while having a sympathetic cause, began the war without warning, targets civilian colonies, and refuses Federation efforts to negotiate peace.
 * On a smaller scale, Euba vs Zalam in Fardain.
 * Grievous Harm with a Body: Asemu in Gundam AGE-1 used a Dorados's severed arm with its beam saber still active to destroyed another Dorados.
 * Gundamjack: Grodek manages to do one better and battleship-jack the Diva.
 * Woolf tries this with the Gundam, and probably would've succeeded, had Flit not been present.
 * Happily Married:
 * Heroic BSOD:
 * Asemu has had two so far.
 * Heroic Sacrifice: Bruzar sacrifices himself to get Nora's colony core free when it collapses.
 * Hidden Agenda Villain:
 * Who are the UE? What do they want? No one is quite sure, although Grodek seems to figure it out midway through Generation 1. Not that he tells anyone.
 * Episode 15 finally showed us the truth about the UE.
 * Humongous Mecha: Gundam series. Duh.
 * I Let Gwen Stacy Die: Flit will never get over the fact that
 * Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: The guards who attack Woolf in the factory in episode 23.
 * Improbable Age:
 * Despite stiff competition from other series, Flit, the fourteen-year-old weapons designer on the military's payroll, may win the all-time achievement record for Gundam protagonists when it comes to this trope.
 * Flit is out done in his own series by the seven year old Desil who
 * Zeheart gets this, too. At age 18,
 * Irony: As the Third Generation rolls in, it's pretty clear that Vagan boasts a technologically advanced military.
 * Also at the beginning of the third generation, when Flit asks for the launch of the Diva (which is at that point in time an antique and Flit has also left the military, only holding merit as the former commander-in-chief of the Federation), another high-ranking officer puts together a ragtag crew of half-dead pilots and rookies, even giving a complete amateur Nice Girl the position of captain, for it out of pure spite. Genre Savvy viewers should know that the Diva's new crew will likely wind up turning the tide in the war.
 * I Was Quite a Looker: As of Generation Two, Flit has long since kissed his Cute Shotaro Boy days goodbye.
 * It's Personal: Flit and Desil.
 * Jumping Off the Slippery Slope:
 * The UE/ did this circa A.G. 108, when they started wiping out colonies full of civilians.
 * Killed Off for Real: With all the homages AGE pays to previous entries of the franchise, it's only natural that it would be just as eager to kill off its cast.
 * Generation 1: Flit's Mom,
 * Generation 2:
 * Generation 3: Deymon Large,.
 * Kio, he is your father: Flit reveals that Captain Ash is actually.
 * Lensman Arms Race: Thanks to the AGE Builder, the Diva is pretty much a one-ship Lensman Arms Race, developing massively powerful new weapons after receiving only a single battle's worth of combat data.
 * Likewise, the Vagan seem to be able to produce newer and more powerful mobile suits at a faster pace than the regular Federation forces.
 * Lightning Bruiser:
 * The G-Exes. Fast and maneuverable, can take it and dish it out pretty good thanks to good armor, a strong shield and two hideously powerful beam-sabers.
 * Gundam AGE-1 Spallow too can be considered one thanks to it's very strong performance in combat & the ability to Flash Step. If it was not for it's armor being as thick as tofu...
 * The bad guys have the Zedas,.
 * And now they also have the Zeydra, the first mobile suit that can.
 * The Gundam AGE-2 Normal can be considered one due to being fast & strong. But the one that takes the prize would be
 * The Gundam AGE-3 Normal is shaping up to be this. Despite being the physically largest of the three regular Gundams, it has surprising agility and maneuverability (able to glide around melee strikes on a city street) and excellent speed thanks to its massive thrusters, and is also armed with a miniaturized version of the Diva's Photon Blaster Cannon.
 * Lighter and Softer: Averted. The "kiddy" art style doesn't stop the show from featuring its fair share of deaths or depict the Federation as still a corrupt organization. The scenes of large-scale battles throughout the series are no more sanitized than those in other Gundam shows either.
 * Love At First Sight: Flit and Yurin.
 * Love Hurts:
 * Second Generation:
 * Love Triangle:
 * Flit with Emily and Yurin.
 * For the Second Generation, Romary with Asemu and Zeheart.
 * Meet Cute: Yurin for Flit. Romary for Asemu.
 * The Messiah: Flit aims to become one throughout much of the first generation.
 * Mid-Season Upgrade: Woolf replaces his nearly out-dated Genoace Custom during the middle arc of the first generation with the G-Exes.
 * Asemu gets an example of this, too, when he switches from the Gundam Age-1 to the Age-2.
 * And on the villains' side,.
 * The Mole: Over the course of the war, the Vagan have infiltrated countless moles and sleeper agents into the Federation. Zeheart initially started as one, and it is heavily implied in Episode 31 that is one as well.
 * Multiform Balance: The Gundam AGE-1's Normal, Titus and Spallow modes.
 * My Greatest Failure: See I Let Gwen Stacy Die.
 * Narrator All Along:
 * Ninja: Gundam AGE Sparrow.
 * Not Worth Killing: Despite the Zedas outpacing Gundam Titus,
 * The same thing happens in episode 20 when.
 * Older Hero vs. Younger Villain:
 * Probably the most twisted example ever with Flit versus Desil. The former is a maturing fourteen-year-old kid aware of his own limits; the latter is an arrogant and selfish seven-year-old Ax Crazy Blood Knight Complete Monster.
 * Averted with Asemu and Zeheart in the Second Generation. They are exactly the same age.
 * Inverted with Kio vs Zeheart.
 * Ominous Latin Chanting: In the opening crawl for the third generation.
 * "On the Next Episode of..." Catchphrase: "Three destinies will form history..."
 * Psychic Powers: The X-Rounders, which at first seem to be a fairly basic and near identical Newtype equivalent. And then people start talking about it being a regression in humanity, rather than the next step in their evolution.
 * Punny Name: The Adders have the ability to use the AGE-1's add-ons. Unless you're one of those people who thinks they're named after a famous singer.
 * Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The 3rd-generation Diva crew.
 * Ramming Always Works:
 * Also averted for Ract, who was actually going to ram his own Mobile Suit into the fragment's engine, to stop it so it wouldn't hit the Diva.
 * Rescue Romance:
 * Flit's and Yurin's meeting leads to this.
 * This is played with in the Second Generation, as Romary is saved by both Asemu and Zeheart at different times. Asemu rescues Romary when she's injured during a Vagan attack, and Zeheart rescues Romary from getting hit by a wrench. She distinctly blushes at the latter.
 * Rule of Three
 * Secret Keeper: Romary to Asemu.
 * Shallow Love Interest: Emily, and to a lesser extent, Romary. Emily's only concern seems to be Flit, and she barely even interacts with her grandfather. Romary has more screentime, but her role is overshadowed by the rivalry between Asemu and Zeheart. Their absence in subsequent generations makes it painfully obvious that they were only included for their ovaries.
 * Shell-Shocked Veteran: Grodek, Flit, Woolf in Generation 2, Obright and Shanalua in Generation 3.
 * Shoulders of Doom: The Gundam AGE-1 Titus has those. Notice the 4 holes in each of its shoulder-pads? Those are actually Beam Spikes stored in the shoulders, placed ideally for tackling the enemy.
 * Shout-Out: What good is an anime if it doesn't have them?
 * In episode 13, Woolf quotes Kamina.
 * Averted with Asemu and Zeheart in the Second Generation. They are exactly the same age.
 * Inverted with Kio vs Zeheart.
 * Ominous Latin Chanting: In the opening crawl for the third generation.
 * "On the Next Episode of..." Catchphrase: "Three destinies will form history..."
 * Psychic Powers: The X-Rounders, which at first seem to be a fairly basic and near identical Newtype equivalent. And then people start talking about it being a regression in humanity, rather than the next step in their evolution.
 * Punny Name: The Adders have the ability to use the AGE-1's add-ons. Unless you're one of those people who thinks they're named after a famous singer.
 * Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The 3rd-generation Diva crew.
 * Ramming Always Works:
 * Also averted for Ract, who was actually going to ram his own Mobile Suit into the fragment's engine, to stop it so it wouldn't hit the Diva.
 * Rescue Romance:
 * Flit's and Yurin's meeting leads to this.
 * This is played with in the Second Generation, as Romary is saved by both Asemu and Zeheart at different times. Asemu rescues Romary when she's injured during a Vagan attack, and Zeheart rescues Romary from getting hit by a wrench. She distinctly blushes at the latter.
 * Rule of Three
 * Secret Keeper: Romary to Asemu.
 * Shallow Love Interest: Emily, and to a lesser extent, Romary. Emily's only concern seems to be Flit, and she barely even interacts with her grandfather. Romary has more screentime, but her role is overshadowed by the rivalry between Asemu and Zeheart. Their absence in subsequent generations makes it painfully obvious that they were only included for their ovaries.
 * Shell-Shocked Veteran: Grodek, Flit, Woolf in Generation 2, Obright and Shanalua in Generation 3.
 * Shoulders of Doom: The Gundam AGE-1 Titus has those. Notice the 4 holes in each of its shoulder-pads? Those are actually Beam Spikes stored in the shoulders, placed ideally for tackling the enemy.
 * Shout-Out: What good is an anime if it doesn't have them?
 * In episode 13, Woolf quotes Kamina.
 * In episode 13, Woolf quotes Kamina.

"Flit: Desil....Why did you..... Desil: There was no reason! It just means I've lost one of my playthings! Flit: Lives...ARE NOT TOYS!!!"
 * The revelation of the UE
 * Flit's 2nd generation portrayal is already being compared to Gendo Ikari.
 * The Principality of Zeon is to Nazi Germany, as Vagan is to North Korea.
 * It's not hard to find yourself comparing Romary to Mary-Jane Watson.
 * In episode 20, Zeahart uses an Inazuma kick.
 * Some have also compared it to a Rider Kick.
 * And still others would have called it a RED HOT KICK either way nice.
 * In the First Generation, Flit wanting revenge on the UE/ for the death of his mother is very similar to Tetsuro Hosino wanting revenge on Count Mecha for the death of his own mother.
 * In Episode 26, the Diva uses a weapon system called the "Photon Ring Ray", which is a large ring used to amplify the beam fired by the Diva's Photon Blaster Cannon. It is basically a lower-tech version of the Double Shooting Warship Takehaya's Reflector Cannons.
 * Another: In Episode 29, Kio is told to push the G-button to combine the Core Fighter with the G-Ceptor, and does it exactly like Utsugi Mikoto would do it; by hitting it as hard as possible.
 * Space Pirates: Visidian.
 * Spell My Name with an "S": Depending on who you ask, the protagonist's name is either Frite or Flit (the official translation seems to be the latter).
 * Also, fans are having trouble deciding if the antagonists' nation is named Vagan, Veigan, or Vegan.
 * The Second Generation's protagonist has conflicting spelling as well. Some say it's Asem, others say it's Asemu.
 * Adeles/Adders.
 * Sparrow/Spallow.
 * Farsia/Farseer.
 * Visidian/Bisidian.
 * Wendy's last name is either Hearts or Hertz, depending on who you ask.
 * Stealth Pun: All that talk about aliens in the series. Well turns out
 * Stock Sound Effects
 * The Gundam AGE-01's Beam Spread Gun uses the laser-firing sound effect from Star Wars.
 * The Gafrans wield beam vulcans that fire with the same sound as the plasma pistols in Halo.
 * For once, Sunrise actually didn't reuse the same few sound effects from the original series.
 * The Photon Blaster Cannon makes the exact same noise as GENESIS.
 * The Stoic: Grodek
 * Obright, too. Especially in the third generation.
 * Super Prototype: The Gundams, of course, as well as Woolf's G-Exes.
 * Surprisingly Good English: For once, a Gundam series has this. Some examples of this could be seen in Episode 14 (when Yurin says "Nice catch"), as well as most of the written English text in Episode 18.
 * Taking You with Me:
 * Teen Genius: Flit Asuno.
 * There Are No Therapists: Young Flit, Asemu, and Romary (among others) seem in desperate need of one. Too bad this is Gundam.
 * This Is Unforgivable!:
 * Three Amigos: Flit, Emily, and Dique. Asemu, Romary, and Zeheart are strongly implied to have been this during their last years of school, with the photo montage in the second ED.
 * Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Asemu throws a beam saber to distract a Dorado before finishing the said Vagan mobile suit with his other beam saber.
 * Trailers Always Lie: At the end of Episode 8, we are shown
 * Transforming Mecha: The Gafrans.
 * The Gundam AGE-2 as well.
 * The Gundam AGE-3 too, sort of. It doesn't transform as much as the AGE-2, rather the arms and legs fold up into a flight-mode, stretching out to become the body which the Core Fighter then transforms into the Head and Cockpit for.
 * The Federation's new Clanche is a straighter example, being developed directly from the AGE-2.
 * The Purge: The second generation ends with one of as part of a coup. To be fair, they had it coming.
 * The Uriah Gambit: When His subordinates then accuse him of invoking this trope in order to conveniently get rid of him, but he points out that they probably would have ended up as Canon Fodder if he'd allowed them to assist.
 * In Episode 30, the Olivernotes commander deliberately assigns the worst crew he can find to the Diva, as well as promoting an inexperienced lieutenant into captaincy long before she is ready for such responsibility. He seems to this all for the purpose of spiting Flit.
 * The Usual Adversaries: The UE.
 * Unstoppable Rage:
 * Unfortunate Names: From Wootbit Gunhale to Netora Einus, Generation 3 is a major offender.
 * Villainous Breakdown:
 * does not take losing well at all.
 * Was It All a Lie?: Asem demands this of Zeheart, who wishes they could have remained friends.
 * Wave Motion Gun: The Diva's Photon Blaster Cannon is definitely one.
 * Big Ring's Photon Ring Ray is a Wave Motion Gun powered by the Photon Blaster Cannon.
 * The AGE-3's Sigmasis Rifle is a smaller, MS-mounted version of the Photon Blaster Cannon.
 * And then the AGE-3 Fortress tops it by combining all four of its SigMaxiss Cannons to form a shot similar to the Satellite Cannon.
 * And because that just wasn't enough, it gets a one-shot upgrade into an even bigger gun to kill a Vagan battleship.
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist: Both Flit and Ezelcant can be considered these. Ezelcant is willing to do anything to take Earth for the Vagan, while Flit is certain the only way to protect Earth is the complete extermination of all Vagan.
 * "Well Done, Son" Guy: Asemu enters mobile suit contests and excels in school so he could attract his father's attention. When he joins the Federation, he focuses on being just as good of a mobile suit as his father in order to impress him. Woolf tries to teach Asemu to be his own man and not to be confined by his father's accomplishments.
 * Wham! Episode:
 * Episode 8's last scene of was but an appetizer to how big episode 9 would be.
 * Two words: Episode 15.
 * Episode 29.
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: Some characters seem to have been completely forgotten about after every generation change, such as ...unless you read Memories of Sid.
 * What Measure Is a Mook?: Episode 15 has a heartbreaking example
 * In Generation 3, Zeheart makes a point of knowing the names of soldiers who die under his command.
 * White-Haired Pretty Boy: Woolf and Zeheart Galette.
 * Worf Effect: While Asemu is perfectly capable of handling Vagan mooks, the early 2nd generation episodes show him continually getting curbstomped by Zeheart.
 * A lot of Federation mobile suits that aren't the Gundam or piloted by Woolf fall victim to this too, though they're not as hopeless in the second generation.
 * The "Magicians' Eight", a squadron of elite Vagan X-Rounders, spend most of the episodes they show up in getting continually and rather easily picked off and killed by the protagonists.
 * By the point of the 3rd generation, the Defurse, which was able to give the Gundam AGE-1 a tough fight, is easily one shotted by the AGE-3.
 * World Half Full:
 * World of Cardboard Speech:
 * Worf Effect: While Asemu is perfectly capable of handling Vagan mooks, the early 2nd generation episodes show him continually getting curbstomped by Zeheart.
 * A lot of Federation mobile suits that aren't the Gundam or piloted by Woolf fall victim to this too, though they're not as hopeless in the second generation.
 * The "Magicians' Eight", a squadron of elite Vagan X-Rounders, spend most of the episodes they show up in getting continually and rather easily picked off and killed by the protagonists.
 * By the point of the 3rd generation, the Defurse, which was able to give the Gundam AGE-1 a tough fight, is easily one shotted by the AGE-3.
 * World Half Full:
 * World of Cardboard Speech:
 * World of Cardboard Speech:


 * Wrestler in All of Us: The Gundam AGE Titus's weapons loadout is specifically built around giving wrestling moves that little extra kick, making it perhaps the only Humongous Mecha in existence to utilise the 'beam lariat'.
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness:
 * You Killed My Family: Flit's (initial) hatred of the UE comes from watching his mother die during an attack on their colony.
 * Grodek's wife and daughter were killed in the very first UE attack, and he has no other purpose in life but to avenge them.