Still trying to catch up on my anime blogging, and so here is a double-episode post for Gundam AGE. No, Zeheart. I do not want a hug from you. Episode 33 Summary: Zeheart's group finish setting the bombs in the Federation base and orders the Vagan pull-back, although Zeheart's underlings are curious why the bombs have a long 30 minute timer. Out on the battlefield, Kio is depressed and angry about Shanalua's loss and takes it out on some unfortunate Vagans, but he is soon confronted by Zeheart in his red Wrozzo. Kio and Zeheart battle, but the Gundam proves to be superior machine and Kio gains the advantage. However, before Kio can go in for the kill, he is recalled to help find the bombs planted in the Federation base. The Feds find one bomb and they use the signature to detect the approximate location of the other bombs. All but one of the bombs are located, and Kio is enlisted to help find the last bomb with Seric's squad. As the timer is counting down, Kio and company fail to see anything suspicious, but Kio then uses his X-Rounder powers to find the last bomb hidden in a wall. Kio grabs the bomb with the Gundam and tosses it out of the base just in time. Seeing that the plot has failed, Zeheart and field commander Zanald Beihart orders the Vagans to retreat. You'll see this pitch if they ever make a Gundam baseball game. Supercharged explosive mega-fast-ball!!! After the battle, Zeheart returns to space and calls Ezelcant wondering why Ezelcant always seem to give the enemy a chance to survive, but Ezelcant doesn't feel like explaining. Zeheart is then informed he has a new aide in the form of Fram Nara. Back on Earth, the Diva is preparing to head to the Federation's lunar base as the Feds finally conceded to looking into improving the AGE Device. Kio finds Flit and cries, but Flit tells Kio that he has to fight on as that is the duty of the Gundam pilot. A short time later, Kio, Flit and the rest of the Diva crew and passengers blast off into space. ----------------------------- Asemu found that being a pirate is cooler than being a Federation pilot. Episode 34 Summary: The Diva makes it into space and avoids Vagan pursuit by going into a dangerous asteroid region known for harboring space pirates. Inside the asteroid belt, Kio has a feeling that someone is waiting for the Diva. Soon afterwards, the Diva is confronted by the infamous Bisidian Space Pirates led by Captain Ash, who is actually Kio's father Asemu who went missing-in-action just after Kio was born. Asemu can sense that Kio and Flit are on the Diva and he wants to test if his son and father are worthy of holding onto the AGE Device. The pirates attack but they are not interested in going in for the kill. Asemu launches in his pirate-themed AGE 2 to spar with Kio's AGE 3 to test Kio's abilities. Suddenly, a group of Vagans led by the remaining two Phantom 3 pilots fly into the fray. Flit orders the Diva to maneuver so that the Vagans end up between the Diva and the pirates. Both the Diva's forces and the pirates shoot at the Vagans, but they fail to hit any of them. The two Phantom 3 guys then focus on taking out Kio in order to advantage their teammate. Kio gets grabbed by one of the Phantom 3 guy and another Vagan, and the other Phantom 3 pilot charges at Kio. Asemu steps in and frees Kio and then kills the charging Phantom 3 guy with his "super-pilot" skills. The last remaining Phantom 3 member and his squad of Vagans retreat in defeat. Having deemed Kio worthy of the AGE Device, Asemu orders his pirates to retreat but shoots a capsule onto Asemu's Gundam before leaving. AGE 2 got a pirate costume. Pirates are no fans of the Vagans. On the Diva, Flit senses that the pirate captain is Asemu. Kio returns and asks Flit about the black Gundam, and Flit reveals the truth to Kio. Meanwhile, Wootbit discovers Asemu's capsule on the AGE 3. At the Vagan command center, Fram reports back to Zanald about Zeheart. Fram was sent by Zanald to keep an eye on Zeheart, but Fram also has her agenda in mind. Fram then sees Zeheart and apologizes for the failed attack that she had ordered, and Zeheart tells Fram to remember the names of the pilots who were killed in action. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Episode 33 was fairly predictable and not that interesting. Zeheart was obviously setting up a "find the bomb" task for Kio, and Kio uses his X-Rounder powers to pass the test. The Vagan strategy always involved letting the Earthlings have a chance at escaping disaster, and this was no different. We don't understand the strategy, and neither does Zeheart, but Ezelcant seems pretty sure of himself, and things seem to going well for the Vagans despite their various defeats at the hands of the Asunos. I guess we can't blame all of Zeheart's failures so far on Zeheart himself, since in various occasions he is just following Ezelcant's plans. Other than the Asunos, Zeheart also has a rival in Zanald and an uninvited assistant in Fram to worry about. It ain't easy being the Char clone. Episode 34 was more fun though since we found out that Asemu is alive and is the one piloting the mysterious pirate Gundam shown in the OP. The pirate Gundam is also the AGE 2 but now with a black paint job and hooks to match Asemu's new profession. We don't know why Asemu decided to go MIA and ditch his family to become a pirate for 13-14 years. Maybe because Asemu finally had enough of Flit being an unsupportive father and all the BS from the Federation (some of whom are probably in cahoots with the Vagans)? Joking aside, Asemu must have found out something really important to make him abandon his wife and son, and we'll probably learn about it next episode from Asemu's capsule. It'll be important to see what Asemu and also the Feds have in mind for the AGE system. From the feed of A Product of Wasted Time

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