Mobile Suit Gundam AGE

One of the key ideas of AGE is that it is a conflict that lasts through three generations: grandfather, father, son. The protagonist (and his contemporaries) of each AGE goes through his ordeals and then passes the torch to the new heir of the Gundam (but he still remains in the background, now older and wiser). The masters of the legendary mobile suits are, respectively, Flit, Asem, and Kio of the Asuno clan, who are venerated for their technical prowess (and piloting ability).

Complementary to a multi-generational story is an evolving system that learns from the protagonist's experience and then gets passed on to the next heir. It is the "soul" of the legendary mobile suit in which memories of many years and personalities are stored, reminding the current owner of all the blood and tears shed in the past. The whole set consists of a handheld device that serves as key to activate the Gundam (and remote control when necessary), an AI that is installed within the suit, and a weapon-producing machine installed on the capital ship that houses the Gundam, the Diva.

Meet Flit Asuno, the protagonist that introduces us to AGE. He shares the tragic/problematic family background with most mainstream Gundam protagonists. On the other hand, he is generally cheerful and optimistic, if occasionally haunted by what happened to his family.

Flit hails from a clan of famous mobile suit builders, whose mansion has the aforementioned oil painting of a Gundam and was entrusted with the AGE device storing all info on the Gundam by his mother just before she was crushed by a burning debris. To him, Gundam is not a weapon or a tool. It is a saviour of people living in space.

In a way, Flit is the soul of Gundam AGE: he is the one who experiences first hand the horror of the conflict in its very beginning ("The day the angels fell"), watches how it develops, and directly participates in it in various capacities throughout the series. Even when the protagonist seat is handed over to his son and then grandson, he is still there as a pillar of wisdom and experience, as well as a reminder of deep seated grief and hatred.

Quite a few years later when Flit grew up to be a high ranking officer in the Federation Force, the Gundam (and the whole AGE system) is entrusted to his son. Although the war is raging elsewhere outside his home colony, Asem Asuno is a child of peace whose biggest concern in life is to win a mobile competition to impress his father, and to keep his composure in front of a pretty girl. Growing up in a happy family, he is polite and all around nice guy. However, being an Asuno in his world means his easy life will not last long.

Kio Asuno's life mirrors his grandfather's somewhat in that he knows the losses war brings early in life. The only protagonist of AGE to grow up on Earth, he quickly assumes the role of its strongest defender along side the Gundam his grandfather builds. Like his grandfather and father before him, Kio has to adjust to the responsibilities of a soldier under fire, which is quite a feat considering he is only thirteen. Let's see what future has in store for him.

Humans have ventured into space and apparently the different nations have found a way to put aside their differences to explore the new frontier.

But then attacks on the space colonies by the Unknown Enemy break out on the so-called "The Day Angels Fall". Thus the 100-year conflict began. Our hero Flit, heir to the legendary machine Gundam, was a witness and victim of the event. And so he seized the rein of history.