Valvrave The Liberator: The Review

courtesy: Wikipedia

If you're not familiar with Gundam franchise you should know that it's a long running anime series about mass-murdering adolescents who piloted giant robots, every installment of Gundam deals with war and their effects to the people involved in them, at least until a failed effort called Gundam Age failed to deliver these things and make the show a joke. There's an HD OVA (mini series) called Gundam Unicorn (out on bi-three-monthly schedule) which still retain the premise. But unfortunately it's not enough, so former Gundam series creator and developers created a new series called Valvrave which embodies all past Gundam's niche.

Valvrave opened with familiar setting, fancy schoolboys and girls hangong out in their school, then war shoved in front of them in form of an invasion, giant robot appears and they have no choice to pilot it or their loved ones die, in this one Tokishima Haruto takes the helm of a suddenly appeared giant robot called Valvrave, unfortunately (formerly) unknown to him that it has dire consequences for him (and become more dire as the series progressed), the situation get more complicated when a genius calculative invader called L-Elf Karlstein suddenly switches side and join his forces. The story revolves around the survival attempt and consequences Haruto and his cohorts did to keep their independence.

There are a lot of going on in Valvrave as it borrows many elements from hit series, the cold and calculative L-elf can be related to Lelouch from another sunrise series: Code Geass or L of Death Note, Haruto is the narrow-minded straight good guy with little development but realistic, Haruto's schoolmates (lots of them) are supportive characters with their own reason to fight and support. There's also elements of mystic/supranatural as a balance of this story . But the one thing about Valvrave is that every elements of this series plays right, there's almost zero anticlimactic feeling after each episode, also there's always something going on with these kids and it's not here by itself or suddenly appeared, but surfaced as a result of their own doing in the past. As the series progressed more Valvrave are discovered and these kids despite knowing the consequences decided to pilot it, the thing is that it keeps the audience guessing who's the next pilot as a part of the series' appeal, and when it finally revealed it's not from a single scene of private episodic heroism but a clever chain of events from past epsiodes which it's plot twist can be shocking and unpredictable up to the borderline of controversy, it's not really subtle but it works.

Love story exist in Valvrave as a support plot, it takes form of impossible ones, nothing from these stories can be considered 'worked out' due to another elements of the plot: Lies/Truth and Indifferences, it can be considered harsh at some points, it's not a main dish of the main plot but it served as a foundation of expanding it. Indifference also plays major part in the global conflict as the little struggle of survival becomes international incident and ignite all out war between nations, and it was executed nicely without have to shove the audience an episode of just a laser battle between Gundams... i mean Valvraves

Element of Strategy plays a pivotal role of Valvrave since it's not only the Valvrave fighting out there, the transition of the naive schoolkids into battle-hardened veterans going on smoothly without making their original personality disappear, L-elf as the mysterious genius plays battle of wits on almost episode not only with the enemy but with his allies, and for each battle more of his personality begins to open up without leaving his original cold calculating self gone.

Valvrave is Gundam, I can give you that but it has it's own story, it's own design, it's own twisted imperfect sense of justice, turmoil is the Valvrave series main engine even when there's episode of peace, there's many plot in this series that has the potential of becoming a sequel even when it has been resolved, it's only a story about several schoolkids which the world altered between rejecting and accepting them, back and forth regarding of a global situation. Valvrave made everything logical, as it's slogan: "The system that unveils the world", exposing the truth can be harsh, sometimes people can't accept it, but acknowledging that people is different than you doesn't mean they held a gunpoint to your head, but when fear of differences has gripped you... you'll see guns everywhere and you'll shoot first.

Gundam Age Third Look: I want to cry now, can I?

Gundam Age act III, okay for all of you who doesn't realize it until now: This anime has become creepier and incompatible with my brain parts, and also an insult to the gundam franchise, this is a reminder for all of you movie makers: You CAN'T take Band of Brothers and tone down the level of violence so it'll be suitable for kids, Gundam is a story about war, about kids killing other kids or adults, you CAN'T TONE DOWN that!! and if the franchise really wants to sell more toys to kids please let me remind you that kids in Japan is a non existant entity. And the amount of teenage nerds that bought Gundam toy models is even bigger than the population in my city anyway

Because if there are kids in Japan, they'll start building weapons of mass destruction

Ok, so in the end of Act two the dark lord Flit Asuno and his force-less apprentice son Asemu set up a trap to lure the Earth spies for the Vagan, which apparently the president of Earth itself, so Darth Asuno captured him, executed him and the rest of his senate accomplice and start the dark reign of Earth under the military rules and strict martial law, turning the Earth itself into a training grounds for the new Sith generation.

Yeah...

I lied, apparently the citizen of earth are okay with those execution and live happily ever after, which is weird because in my head the battle between the V and the Earthers are becoming more and more 1980s cold war-like, except both parties endlessly launched giant robots to space and blow up planets and space stations, it's extremy unfathomable that Sith Emperor Asuno brainwashed the entire Earth citizen to hate Vagans while on the other side the prophetic leader of Vagans brainwashed the entire Martians to think Earth is their rights to take, it's like watching the entire international conflict on World War 1 fused itself into a giant ball of polarized opinion

I don't have any good picture to describe this but this one come close

So, let's continue, after Asemu and the most screen time girl have coitus (legally of course, they're married anyway) they have a son called Kio, apparently dark lord Asuno isn't finished on his quest to eradicate all communists.... i mean Vagans so he brought his grandson a combat simulation which apparently a Gundam cockpit simulator, so yeah little cute Kio has been trained to kill Vagans since he was five.

His parents will be so proud

After that the story goes on, Kio got a transformer big Gundam called Age 3 and start blasting away Vagans with ease, and that's that.

yes, that's all, the end, now let me cry.

Gundam AGE: Second Look (with half closed eyes)

--WARNING--
This post contains spoiler, in fact the whole thing in this post is a spoiler about Gundam Age, so you've been warned, go ahead at your own risk or you might want to visit this awesome website :D

Just a little reminder

So
...
Gundam Age
...
Arc Two

Well, the UE has new name, they called Vegans (or Vagans since we already knew vegetarians everywhere won't be appreciated their way of life slapped on aliens) but let's just call them V, like those aliens from the discontinued serial. Long story short apparently these V guy were once part of the Mars establishment project (which is failed) and abandoned by earth so in their rage they apparently developed superhuman abilities and capable of building mean killing machines, sent them into good guys colonies and destroying them, so yeah, they're probably communists

they also developed a bad sense of fashion

On the last episode of arc one we knew these V guy want to take over the Earth for some reason (there must be a reason right?) and apparently one of them is gone ballistic and kidnapped the "least screen time girl" Yurin (which Flit is head over heel for her), put her on a mobile suit and force her to attack the good guys, the battle ended with predictable scene

pretty close to this, but with blood, 

lots of blood....

After that Flit, which apparently embraced the dark side (and woke his own superhuman abilities, making him a Sith Lord) began his crusade to eradicate all Vagan from the universe, unfortunately we didn't got to see Flit on his Hallelujah type rampage because apparently the story 30 years later is more interesting, Flit now has a son with the most screen time girl (forgot her name, Flit probably too, but they also said the cure of lost love is bedding the nearest available girl, or something) and since he's also a genius and capable of Gundam-ing he become the head honcho of human's military, and apparently he once again failed to mass produced Gundams because I really have no idea if he's busy or so smart that he could make a bunch of V exploded on their own, but don't worry there are plenty of pretty-colored Genoace now, and who dares question a Sith Lord?

Above: Picture of 40 year old Flit Asuno,
taken a second before the cameraman got force choked

Story of Asemu so far: A mobile suit maniac, saved a girl (yes he'll have kids with her in a few years), and best friend of a V spy Zeheart Gallette, and a new Gundam Pilot, it's nepotism all over again, damn. Well after Zeheart reveal his own agenda they ended up fighting each other, apparently Zeheart have some sort of excess of superhuman abilities (dubbed: emo) so he's forced to wear a glasses just to look cool and Bandai can sell more of them. Asemu on the other hand have zero superhuman thingie because apparently her girlfriend hasn't been killed yet

...or he's probably Luke Skywalker

Well, watching Gundam sort of removed my writer's block, somehow... 

My prediction: The last Battle will be a staring contest

Gundam Age First Look

Kids and Gundams? What can go wrong?

For real? Everything....

Enter Flit Asuno, one day some Unknown Enemy (UE) razed his home colony and killed his mother, at her last breath she gave Flint something: A plan to build war machine called Gundam, after that Flit is quickly taken under the wing of the Human Defense Forces and when he discovered genius they told him to build Gundams deemed capable to eradicate the aliens, after seven years Flit finally got his chance of revenge, by pwning every aliens and lead an army of Gundam to their homeworld thus wiped it off the galactic chart....

Above: Savior of mankind.... in different series

No, it's not the story of the newest Gundam show, but I think it's more interesting than the original which here's the breakdown of it:

Flit escaped the UE, moved on to new colony and grew up normally, yes he's a genius and built Gundam with the help of a funny-bearded professor, ... for.... ummm... pah, who cares, oh hey didn't I told you that the humans didn't manage to keep these UE in check? because apparently they're not smart enough to built Gundams for the last SEVEN YEARS and got pwned over and over again by the UE. Okay, now we looked at Flit again and there's a flashback of him with funny-moustached butler who explained that his family only have one job: to be Gundam riding heroes, and by listening to the latest attack location of the UE he drew a (genius) conclusion that his colony will be next, of course his teacher treat him like a boy who cried wolf, and when the wolf suddenly attacks the adults is nowhere to be seen except just to prevent Flit to activate Gundam by scolding him and said "It's too dangerous"

I built the Gundam and this series' goddamn hero, screw all of you

I've only watched five Gundam series (Wings, Turn A, Seed, Destiny, and OO), never bought their merchandise so I don't deserved the Gundam otaku title, but every Gundam's first episode is always gripped the theme: War, let me give you some explaining

Gundam Wings: "We hate you Earthling, DIE! For the Colonies!!!"
Gundam Seed: "Why are you siding with them? you belong to us!!"
Gundam S Destiny: "I'm Gundam, war machine!"
Gundam OO: "We're above you and our goal is world peace, so now if you started a war we'll kill all of you"
Gundam Turn A:  "I haz nekkid buttz and my employers are sorta killing my new friends"

Then we came to this:

Gundam Age: YOU'RE A F***IN HERO FLIT!!! FIGHT!!! FIGHT!!! FIGHT!!!

Gundam Age was... I don't know, is....wrong, the original theme of Gundam is gone, the attacking UE scene (which KILLED a lot of humans) seemed awkward, the death of the unknown first prototype rider wasn't even on the screen, and clashing of twisted subjective justice from characters is nowhere to be seen, there's only one side: Human, and the other is as the name suggest: Unknown, but even the unknown origin of the UE didn't feel strong enough to give this first episode an appeal and the battle has been reduced to something no more than Human vs Genocidal Alien, there's only one hero and it's Flit Asuno, the maker and rider of the awesomest robot in the universe: Gundam, Hell Yeah!!!

The A stands for Awesome, 

now go watch 'Easy A' to find out what awesome really means

Hell no, this is not Mazinger or Voltes V, this is Gundam FFS!!!! Can't you get enough alien and kiddies with Zegapain and the latest Gundam OO yet???!!! -- I actually said it

But I'm always tried to keep an open mind, there are probably some cool plot twists in the future episodes like all Sunrise series, it'll probably cooler that if Flit somehow revealed never escaped the UE and instead he's planted to walk among humans to accelerate UE's galactic domination plan by destroying humans from the inside.... 

Hopefully....