It is the Correct Century, two millennia after a devastating conflict which left the world broken. Earth is now mostly uninhabitable, and thus a remnant of humanity has resided on the Moon while the Earth and its few survivors recover. For years, the "Moonrace," the people of the Moon, have continued to check if Earth is fit for resettlement. A boy named Loran Cehack and two others are sent down to Earth for a reconnaissance mission. Loran ends up spending a year on the planet working for the Heim Family, aristocrats living in a Victorian-like society. This family, like others of similar wealthy status, celebrates one's coming of age with a ceremony involving a giant stone statue known as the "White Doll." To Loran's surprise, the Moonrace suddenly touches down on Earth with the intent of taking it by force. During the attack, the White Doll is broken apart, revealing a mobile suit called the "Turn A Gundam" inside. With Loran in its cockpit, the Turn A causes a standoff between the forces of Earth and Moon. The young pilot, along with the people of both sides, must keep the peace and avoid another all-out, catastrophic war. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Nenhum episódio encontrado.
Turn A Gundam marks a turning point in the career of Yoshiyuki Tomino. Caught in a severe depression during and after the production of Victory Gundam he turned out two lackluster projects (Brainpowered and Garzey's Wing). As he came out of his depression he began developing an idea for a new Gundam series to include all the alternate continuities into one the Correct Century. He succeeds with Turn A Gundam. Breaking away from his Kill 'Em All melodramas that marked his earlier successes, he came up with a much lighter outlook which has shown in the works after. WhileTurn A follows the usual teenager finding himself piloting a mecha in a war it manages to present plot devise in an interesting and untried way successfully. The Mecha themselves (by futurist Syd Mead who designed Blade Runner and Tron) are so aesthetically different they border on grotesque. This plays very well in early episodes when the battles take on a very War of the Worlds feel to them. The characters interacting in a typically rich Tomino script are well rounded, likable, and surprisingly complex who carry with them stings of an individual plot that the director skillfully weaves into a deep and complex story. The plot itself is heartwarming, funny, tense and has Machiavellian dealings on both sides of the war. Action does take a back seat to plot development, but as the series progresses fights become faster, more brutal, and with none of the canned battles that tend to pop up in mecha series recently. Yoko Kanno delivers again in the soundtrack, one of my favorites she has done. Of Particular note is Tsuki no mayu which appears in the first episodes in one of the most memorable scenes in the show. Now if there was a downside I would have to say hardcore action fans would be disappointed in the slower pacing as Tomino slowly develops characters and the political situation. On the plus side this is one of the few Gundam series you do not need prerequisite knowledge to understand what is going on. It also has the single best ending I have ever seen in an anime. Whether you are a mecha fan or not I would implore you to at least give this underrepresented series a try, you will undoubtedly find something to you own liking.
with pictures and sounds creating an imaginary world, rich and beautiful, full with doubts and questions live is providing. unfolding an epic story just with giving the actions of the displayed characters in a fully participating enviroment. thats the way of Turn A Gundam. i enjoyed it very much, got deeply sought in. even more than by the literary quality of storytelling and the excellent work of all the participating visual and performing artists i was deeply impressed by the great respect toward nature and humanity as a part of it. the smallest thing was allowed to create its own beauty, the least important character was granted itscomplexity. so this is giving an idea how far you may advance the art of animated film. yes. the title is programme, but again a mark for the thoughtful balance of this oustanding art piece - a programme not only for the makers also for the recipient. so at least you have to decide how good Turn A Gundam might be for you... ...and. may be there is no turn back!
This is not your average Gundam series. If you're not familiar with Gundam and the UC universe in particular, then this is not a good place to start. It does have a stand alone story, but it's certainly not intended for people who have little to no prior knowledge about the franchise. This is a spoiler free review. *Story* This one takes place thousands of years in the future in which the only space colony left is on the moon and obviously its population has advanced technology (including mechs of course), meanwhile, the people on earth are still living in a 1930s way of life. Everything is fine and dandy,until one day the moonrace decide to return to their roots, earth. And of course, a war breaks out. It is a little different from the usual Gundam since it gives one side of the war a clear advantage due to their technology and knowledge on how to use it, while the other side is rather primitive. They also make it clear how different the two cultures are in many interesting ways and the 1930s clothes and technology really give off a unique vibe to this series, it's something you rarely see in anime in general. It's also different because the atmosphere is relatively lighthearted, but at the same time it also deals with its themes and issues with a straight face. Another thing you'll notice about Turn A is that even though it follows the Gundam tradition of a boy eventually finding a Gundam - piloting it - fighting in a war and so on.. It also goes through its traditional route in a noticeably unique way that you'd never see elsewhere. Furthermore, it's also famous for containing various easter eggs from previous Gundams that only fans will immediately recognize. I must warn you though, that the first episode is very rushed and poorly presented. I don't know what they were smoking when they made it, but thankfully the next 3 or so episodes slow down and assist in making everything sink in. And much like in most series in the franchise, the pacing in general is kinda slow and it does get faster towards the end. And it's not really slower than usual so you should be used to this by now. The story is also very rich since it explores this conflict through the various perspectives of each party that's involved, whether it's the citizens, the spies, the soldiers or the leaders of each side. It does this very throughly and it keeps going back and forth from peace or some sense of settlement and then back in to war again so the situation won't remain static. Also things do get wrapped up very nicely and the story is concluded very well. It also focuses a little more on politics than your average Gundam and as a result it doesn't have as much action and the battles aren't on a massive scale with many deaths in each episode either, but it does make sure that most deaths have a certain impact on the story and not just death for the sake of it (I'm looking at you, Victory Gundam). Overall the story is both more unique and more complex than usual, but as a result it's also a little more clunky and it felt like it's a bit much for the show to handle from time to time. Heck, at times it's even a bit hard to follow because it keeps jumping around, but I still think it's handled very well for the most part. *Characters* As much as I love Gundam in general, I can't deny that characters and characterization are among the franchise's biggest weaknesses. Gundam characters normally consist of angsty teens and/or dumb adults who randomly do irrational and unreasonable actions for petty reasons just to take the story in a certain direction. This is a bad thing because it normally makes them feel like slaves to the story without much free will or solid reasoning behind them. Fortunately, in this particular installment those types of things seem to be toned down significantly. Some characters are even more complex than usual and their motives and dilemmas are a lot more believable and easier to follow. Whether these motives are related directly to the war, or just normal motives related to their personal lives as a result of the war. This is truly what drives the story forward and not in an overly forced way. Many characters are inserted in to different inconvenient scenarios throughout the series that inevitably change them over the course of it. Their development in general is given a lot of time and focus. Even the main character is not your usual Gundam angsty teenage boy either. He's basically a pacifist, ("I'm on neither side!") and much like the story, he's also quite unusual. Oh, and I should probably mention that this boy talks, looks and even dresses up like a girl from time to time. So that might turn off some people (and turn on others, lol). I'm no fan of these types of characters, but this does make him far more memorable than usual. But besides that, he's also well portrayed and his actions are usually quite believable. The only downside is that he's kind of a Mary Sue and he's mostly the one who's there to change the people who surround him and not the other way around.. The series even tries to avoid having clear villains, but I'd be lying if I said it completely succeeds, since they do emerge eventually. And some characters even seem like plot devices who's main purpose is to prolong the conflict between the two sides (quick! throw in some random lunatic before they find an excuse to stop fighting each other!). Though I do like how some characters that seem to be very minor at first, unexpectedly play rather important roles later on. Overall, for a Gundam series, these characters are handled exceptionally well and are also pretty memorable. *Art* The visuals do have their ups and downs. On one hand the mecha designs are nothing amazing and the production values in general are a little low for the franchise. The Gundam of this series in particular gives me a craving for Pringles for some reason. With that being said, there are cameos of mechs from other Gundam series, most notably, the Zaku which is present through out most of the series. Now that more than makes up for those weird designs for me. The animation is overall fairly average, but the battle choreography is noticeably good and well above average, despite having less action in terms of quantity than most Gundams do.. And that's probably the result of it being on a smaller scale. In terms of character designs, they aren't the most detailed, but are expressive enough and they do have an interesting variety in their features. Each one looks very different from the other and the 1930s clothes add a lot to it as well. *Sound* The first opening is a pop song (I guess) and it isn't exactly a masterpiece, but you get used to it and at least the lyrics fit perfectly with what the series is about. And pretty much the same can be said for the second opening. The ending songs aren't bad, but are way too quiet for me to remember and the soundtrack in general doesn't have much variety but it does fit the series' tone and it's very noticeable. Especially one track in particular that had a violin in it, or something.. I don't speak Japanese, but voice acting is also ok, I guess, but nothing really stands out about it. *Enjoyment/Overall* 8/10 I enjoyed it very much of course. It's an exceptional Gundam series and a great anime on its own as well. Though admittedly, not every Gundam fan would appreciate it because of how different it is. I guess you either love it or hate it.
Ever since I reviewed Gundam Build Fighters series aka the modern era for Gundam I wanted to check out the Gundam franchise again because Gundam Build Fighters series was the series that re intrudes me to the Gundam universe. At the time the only Gundam show that I saw before GBF is Gundam 0079 and a bit of Gundam Wing. Over the course of last year I started to watch the Gundam universe from 00. Wing, Seed, Iron Blood Orphans and so on. Some were great and others range from mediocre to bad. Now out of the all the Gundam shows Turn A Gundam isthe one of the few Gundam shows that doesn't get a lot of hate but has been praised by a lot of anime fans including Gundam enthusiast such as myself. Hello everyone this is Shawn aka KurataTrigger and welcome to my review of Turn A Gundam and with that out of the way let's get started. Story. It is the year correct century 2345 the earth has almost all of its space travel technology after a series of past cataclysms and has since been reduced to the technological logical levels of the World War 1 era. On the other hand the people on the moon also called the Moon race left earth long ago to live in space until they deem the earth suitable to return to. The story of Turn A follows a young member of the moon race named Loran Cehack who was selected along with his friends Fran and Keith to take part on a recon mission to see if the earth is suitable for resettlement. After landing on earth Loran befriends the Heim family as well as being hired for work. 2 years later during the Coming of Age ceremony the moon race deploys mobile suits and tries to earth by force. During the chaos the ceremony statue crumbles and reveals a While Doll aka an ancient mobile suit. Loran uses the mobile suit to fight back and the two sides call for a ceasefire. Soon the earth forces discover more mobile suits from the past who is known as the Dark History and uses them to fight back against the moon race while the Moon Race just simply just want to return to earth as they original home. Now Loran must find a way to maintain peace and prevent both sides from starting an all out war with each other. Turn A Gundam marks the return of director Yoshiyuki Tomino, after recovering from depression from Victory Gundam. However Tomino had a amputation. The amputation is to end the Gundam franchise. Also Tomino decided to combine every single Gundam universe together. From Universal Century to After War. Like most Gundam shows Turn A is set in futuristic calendar but the setting itself looks like it takes place in the early 20th century. This will play a huge role in the story as its connection with the Turn A. The tone in Turn A Gundam is mostly balanced unlike Tomino's others such as the brutal Victory Gundam or the Goofy ZZ Gundam. The pacing of Turn A may be slow but unlike Gundam Wing where it doesn't do anything in the terms of worldbuilding or character development. Turn A actually uses the slow pacing for great character building, worldbuilding and themes exploration. Speaking of World building the worldbuilding in Turn A is beautifully as its shows the life of the moon and earth races and very little things such as the perofomise of the coming of age ceremony and the amount of detail to such set events is honestly refreshing I personally didn't mind the pacing at all. One more thing you should know is Turn A Gundam is not your average Gundam show. You will need some knowledge about the Gundam before diving in to this series due the show referencing stuff from past Gundam shows as well as Dark History bits of the show. I can’t talk about anymore about the story of Turn A due to spoilers for both this show as well as the other Gundam shows but what it is Turn A Gundam story is great and very refreshing when compare to other Gundam shows. 9/10 Characters. The characters in Turn A are a massive step up from the bland and unlikable cast that is from Gundam Wing and they are actually interesting and very likeable to watch from start to finish. Loran Chack is honestly a great protagonist for Gundam. He is smart, mature and very likeable. He's also a pacifist unlike Quatre Raberba Winner (Gundam Wing) and Kira Yamato (Gundam Seed) who are hypocritical and pretentious idiots who fail at being a pacifist. Loran actually threatens his foes first and if they didn't comply then he will take action. Loran is honestly the best Pascfist character in all of Gundam and hes a perfect example how to do a pacifist pilot the correct way. Sochie may be a bit annoying but unlike the girls in Gundam Seed you can actually sympathise with her. Sochie life was turned upside down by the moon race and now she is trying to make a best of it. I personally kinda like Sochie as a character. Kihei Heim and especially Queen Dianna are two of the best female characters in Gundam. They are both well developed they are both interesting to watch from start to finish. I really the way they get to see the war from a different point of view and the way they deal with their situation is whets makes these two very interesting and likeable. In the wave of terrible female characters in Gundam especially the ones in the cosmic era timeline both characters stand out in their own right as characters. The rest of the characters are just plan fantastic as they are very likeable, memorable and have a purpose in the story and event of Turn A Gundam Overall the characters in Turn A are amazing. 9/10 Visuals. The visuals of Turn A Gundam is great and refreshing. The animation is smooth, constant and thankfully there is no stock footage used whatsoever. While the show may not be as well detailed as Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star and Escaflowne I still think Turn A looks impressive. Compare that to Gundam Wing where the show had inconstant visuals, choppy animation and heavily abused stock footage. Also the overkill formula from Wing has completely is non-existent making the battles in Turn A feel a lot more balanced in a narrative. I personally really like the character designs as they are very unique and original. It will take some time to get used with the character designs but once you get used it you will have a great time watching Turn A. Lastly the mecha designs in Turn A very unique, well drawn, very original and they fit with the setting and atmosphere of Turn A perfectly. My favourite mecha designs are the Turn A and the Turn X. They are so original very well design and fit well with the setting of Turn A Gundam perfectly. Overall the visuals of Turn A are great. 8/10 Sound. The soundtrack of Turn A is nothing but amazing. At this time of the review Turn A Gundam soundtrack is easily my favourite soundtrack in all of Gundam dethroning the Gundam Build Fighters soundtrack and I consider that soundtrack to be amazing. The soundtrack of Turn A was done by Yoko Kanno who also done the soundtracks of Cowboy Bebop, Wolf's Rain, Ghost in the shell stand alone complex and Escaflowne. Both openings are great put I personally prefer Century Colour over Turn A Gundam because the prefer the beat and the tone of it. The ending theme is good but not very memorable in opinion Sadly Turn A Gundam doesn't have a dub but the Japanese voice acting is top notch. Overall the soundtrack in Turn A is great as well as the voice acting and the openings were great. 9/10 Final Thoughts. Turn A Gundam is easily the most underrated show from the Gundam franchise. Lucky Rightstuff in America has officially released the series on DVD and Blu Ray. The UK version will be release soon but it will be a Blu Ray format only. For people who don't have a Blu ray player you can always import the DVD versions of Turn A from websites such as Okatu.co.uk or United Publications and they are cheap to buy now. Turn A Gundam is a great show that everyone should check. It has a great story, fantastic world-building, amazing and well rounded characters, impressible visuals, along with original mecha designs and a beautiful soundtrack. The only minor complaints that I have with Turn A Gundam is the pacing. I personally liked the pacing in Turn A but it may bother some people. Turn A Gundam is easily one of the best Gundam I have ever seen from the franchise I give Turn A Gundam a 9/10. Anyway this was KurataTrigger I will see you guys next time. Stay tune for my next Gundam review where I will be reviewing Gundam Seed Season 1
Story and Characters Initially, Turn A Gundam started as a total departure from the normal Universal Century Gundam formula. Set hundreds of years from the traditional gundam storyline, the earth has just began to recover from the depredations of the gundam wars, and the old earth citizens who escaped from the moon are planning a return to earth. Our protagonist Loran, is one of three "advance scouts" sent to earth by the Moon's queen, Dianna, to figure out if the planet is (1) habitable (2) worth returning to. This is his story. On the way he learns about earth, the moonrace decides to return and he inevitablyends up piloting a powerful relic from past "Dark History", the Turn A Gundam. He also ends up surrounded by powerful, strong women - at least, compared to other gundam series, the women in this series seem REALLY strong, and I don't mean physically. But the best characters by far were Keith and Guin Lineford. I have to admit, the first 22 episodes of Turn A Gundam flew by as the story, characters, lay of the land and politics unfurled. This whole set up was extremely well done and I was intrigued. Around episode 23 to 42, it started getting ... well ... repetitive and boring. Also by then my suspension of disbelief broke. Some of the actions of the third level peon military characters made me incredulous, I guess I can't believe how stupid they were, or how quick they were to change allegiences. However, the series redeemed itself. By episode 43, there was a HUGE, major plot twist that made the last 7 episodes or so fantastic. To be honest, if this series was condensed to 26 episodes and the middle one third cut out, it could have been as great as 08th MS team! Again, this is another of those gundam series that had great potential but it wasn't fully utilized. Art/Animation Overall, animation was very dated with a lot of frame reuse, so was ok for its time but compared to current anime it really shows its age. But, I hated the moustache on the Turn A Gundam. It was ugly, seemed kind of pretentious and served no useful weapon or asthetic purpose other than having people be able to call it "the moustache gundam". Maybe I'm being harsh but when you think of the sunglasses from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagaan - now, that's how you do a feature correctly! In this respect the Turn A Gundam animators/model designers failed horribly! To be fair, the Turn X gundam was actually a good looking gundam. All the rest were blocky and not appealing. Well, let's just say if I had the space to collect gundam models, based on this anime, the only one I'd buy is Turn X. Whereas I'd have purchased nearly every gundam from Gundam Wing, Gundam Seed, you get the picture. Art/Mecha design just wasn't well done. Sound Average sound effects, but the soundtrack was unexpectedly good, no great! Ending and theme songs were where this series really excelled. One of the ED songs "Moon's Coccoon" I have heard later used in RahXephon. I researched the OST and was not surprised to find out it is done by Yoko Kanno, a composer I really like. So, sound has a high score! Enjoyment I am in euphoria at having finished one of the last "old" gundam series, which makes my goal of completing ALL gundam closer to being fully achieved. Turn A Gundam's premise was intriguing, everything dragged in the middle and it got exciting again at the end. All this with a really good soundtrack and one of the best last 5 min epilogues I've seen in Gundam. Turn A is a solid 7 if you can get through the middle 20 episodes.
Without a shadow of doubt, Turn A Gundam, despite some flaws in the story, is my favourite show among Gundam, possibly even among all anime I've seen. What makes this show stand out significantly among Gundams is probably how light hearted this show is, even when compared to the later Reconquista in G. Instead of fighting continuously and keep on commenting how bad war is, this story is very light on the fighting aspect and doesn't comment so much on the horror of war, but the sides' opinion of the conflict. Instead of a gloomy atmosphere, with Loran Cehack, an all around peaceful and gentle butcapable MC as the lead, the story doesn't decent into the general despair or edginess Gundam usually ran with. The overall lightheartedness and the soft, colourful style used in Turn A Gundam, plus a plot with less edgy elements, makes Turn A a very relaxing and entertaining show to enjoy. While Syd Mead's design in this show is often contended whenever if it's astounding or terrible (except the Turn X and Sumo which are, in all aspects, very well designed and nothing short of amazing), the unusual and wildly different style nevertheless meshes well with this show and meshes very well with the fairy-tale like theme it is going with, despite the highly futuristic style of Syd Mead. Animation is overall smooth with very little to no failures or inconsistencies throughout the show, and the fights in between are very well drawn despite being so little in quantity. As Turn A Gundam doesn't really contain too much elements nor background information from previous Gundam series, the show is a very good entry for people who've never watched Gundam before.
I had a few recommendations for this series, telling me this was a great Gundam Series. Unfortunately I can't agree. The series takes place a few thousand years after previous Gundam Series. After a great war many humans fled to the moon, the remaining humans on earth slowly struggled to survive. Eventually the earth civilization resembles the early to mid 1900s. Then the Moonrace comes back to the earth claiming a right to live on the planet. War then erupts between the moonrace and earth. The overall story was the best part of the series. I liked the new plot tothe Gundam Series, though it did resemble the better series Gundam X. The biggest problem I had with the story was the Kihel Heim/Dianna Soreil story. It wasn't done well and very hard to keep track of. The characters were the worst part of the series. Vertically all the characters from Loran Cehack, Guin Sard Lineford, Miashei Kune, Sochie Heim and the rest weren't intresting. I didn't really care about any of them or what happened to them. The animation/Music was also pretty good. The animation was pretty good, but could have been better, this isn't that old of a series. I really enjoyed the muisc it added to the series. Overall it's just another average Gundam series, and not on the level of the original Gundam, Gundam X or 08TH MS TEAM.
The mid to late nineties was a dark time for the Gundam franchise. After several flops for once famed director, Yoshiyuki Tomino, he seemed to be on his way out from the anime community. His interesting blend of politics, misanthropy, and cynicism was finally losing its novelty. After the poorly received Mobile Suit Victory Gundam, Tomino entered a several year hiatus. The hiatus seemed to have no end in sight until he came back in 1999 with Turn A Gundam, arguably the strongest written anime Tomino has ever produced. Turn A Gundam is a rejection of Tomino’s prior Gundam entries in many ways. Whileit retains the anti-war message, it replaces his message of cynicism with a newfound hope in humanity’s future. It seems in his hiatus from the anime world, he was able to channel his feelings into a much more focused vision. Using all the experience from his prior endeavors as both an author and director, Turn A Gundam is the answer to both the Gundam universe and Tomino’s own personal strife. Where Zeta was cruel and bleak, Turn A is optimistic and expresses a hope in people that Tomino never had before. Turn A Gundam follows Loran Cehack, a young man from the Moon who was sent to Earth to see if it is ready to be colonized. He spends some time with an Earth family after he was found near dead. Loran soon learns to love the Heim family and become enamored with the Earth and its culture. He tells the officials back on the moon that the Earth is ready for settlement, little did he know that this would spark a conflict that threatens the existence of the entire human race. This initial premise is vastly different from previous Gundam entries which focused on the conflict between Earth and space. Here the conflict focuses on colonizers and the colonized which is untouched territory in anime. Turn A Gundam tackles the subject of colonization with a finesse that most other anime would not be able to pull off. It is divided into several smaller story arcs with the larger narrative of the Moonrace’s colonization of the Earth tying all these arcs together. Loran tries to balance his new love for the people of the Earth with his loyalty to the Moonrace, his birthrace. He encounters the people of Earth, the rural folk separated from society trying to make a living off farming and how colonization has impacted their livelihood. We see the small store owner who has to sacrifice his own business to placate the hostile invaders. We see the strife and pain of farming folk who lived lives untouched by war or technology. There is an intimacy in every encounter, a personal touch that other Gundam entries lack due to their epic scale of the narrative. Like all prior Gundam entries, there is never a simple black and white dichotomy. There are those who are part of the Moonrace who also desire peace, who do not wish to see bloodshed on either side. It is this commonality that both sides share allow for moments of diplomacy. Gundam has always been highly political and Turn A Gundam is no different. There are a lot of conversations between the leaders of Earth and The Moon that are easily the highlight of the series. Gundam has always, for me, been the best political anime I have seen. It does not preach political philosophy to you; rather it presents a circumstance for its characters that can only be solved through conversation. The dialogue, which is sometimes stilted in its delivery, never ceases to be informative or well written throughout. The art of Turn A Gundam reminds me of the American Gothic painting by Grant Wood. The color palate is full of light yellows, whites and beiges. It creates this classic Americana feeling and captures the spirit of a mid-1800s America. The art is easily one of the many highlights of the anime. The soundtrack, done by Yoko Kanno, captures both the delicate moments and the darker, tenser ones. Tracks such as Theory of the World’s Edge blends both an industrial beat with bagpipes highlighting the contrast of cultures in the form of sound. It comes together toward the end into a harmonious, luminous track that is more than music, it is an experience. There is also the track, The First Advent – God’s Scorn, which has an orchestral feeling with operatic vocals giving the track a dark, foreboding, tone. Turn A Gundam’s soundtrack ranks among Kanno’s best. Turn A’s cast is varied in terms of character and their symbolic purpose. The protagonist, Loran Cehack, is simple to understand in terms of personality. He is a pacifist, against violence and believes that both Earthlings and the Moonrace can live in harmony. Not only does he believe that, he represents that. Loran is the bridge between the two worlds and can navigate through them, highlighting the humanity that both sides share yet ignore due animosity and ignorance. This animosity and ignorance is what caused the conflict between Newtypes and Oldtypes in prior Gundam anime. Tomino posed a question to his viewers, ‘Can people get along although they are drastically different.’ Loran is the answer to that question, a resounding yes. He may not be as complex as Kamille or Amuro but he serves a higher symbolic purpose than those characters. Not to say they are bad characters, in terms of personality and character traits I highly prefer Kamille and Amuro to Loran. But Turn A Gundam is a show where ideals supersede reality. Dianna Soriel, the Queen of the Moonrace and her Earth counterpart, Kihel Heim, are probably the best written characters in Turn A. They switch roles early on in the story, since they are almost identical, and serve as both a way to explore their respective worlds without intrusive exposition and their respective characters. Dianna takes Kihel’s place on Earth while Kihel becomes Queen of the Moonrace. Dianna learns about humanity, interacting with the people of Earth who have had their lives ruined by colonization which Kihel learns the responsibility of a leader. These are the strongest characters in the show, not because they emulate a man’s behavior. They exude a beauty and strength associated with the female gender, the strength of compassion and conviction. The best moment in the show is a speech given by Kihel/Dianna to both the people of Earth and the Moonrace. A plea for peace so moving it nearly brought tears to my eyes. The strength of female characters, especially in the West, is associated with them being as close to a man in behavior and ability as possible, rejecting femininity. Tomino has often been accused of sexism, however, he has written arguably one of the best female characters I have seen in both anime and western fiction that maintains a feminine beauty. Kate Chopin BTFO. Queen Dianna’s most trusted guard, Harry Ord, is a char clone on par with the Red Comet himself. He takes Char’s best attributes, wit and ambition and rejects the other flaws, arrogance and sociopathy. The flaws are what makes Char a great character but it is loyalty that makes Harry a great one as well. He could be viewed as the answer to Char as character. What Char should have been if he was not hampered by his own flaws, he would be close to what Harry is. The dialogue that is going on between these two characters also serves to tie in the many universes of Gundam. Turn A Gundam is the answer to the Gundam Franchise, Tomino’s final call for peace. It would have been a magnificent swan song for him, ending on one of the most beautiful pieces of fiction I have seen in some time. Although there were moments that dragged, specifically the beginning, the middle and end more than make up for whatever slumps there were. Turn A Gundam is the ethos of every Gundam series converging into a single point and forming a singular identity, no longer fragmented by doubt or cynicism. I will undoubtedly be screaming “UNIVERSE” from now on.
Well, It's not even close to describe this work as a good under-rated Gundam... . I hadn't ever seen an unsaturated work to come close to Serial Experiment Lain in term of masterfully harmonized design style, animating style, music style,voice acting style, narration style,, and directorship in one word. they are each different tasks done by different genius artists but in the end it's the director who if not lead, approves of them and puts their work together. so it should be regarded as a whole. Yoko Kanno sure did a great work here but it wouldn't have worked if the other sections where not harmonizedby the director. so animating, design, voice acting, character development, and even mustache on Gundam was all purposed to be so-as was the music. so I'd end my talk of those story/art/sound/character/joy/overall parts here. The work talks its word modestly and in term of pleasure, obviously goes far beyond Evangelion, Lain, or any other sophisticated work out there. one can say it's magical. I doubt it makes sense to most of people if I say only FLCL gets a bit close to where this work stands since FLCL is so postmoder-ish. but this work, with all its classic-like expression has the same soft soul of art and caring that FLCL does. I'm getting more and more bizzare? anyway, it's a true work of mastery in anime. I never saw myself bothering with writing a thing here again due to a "dark history" but I just couldn't keep myself when I finished the series. seeing lots of "one of many" works rated 8.0+ here, drove to shout a 10 for this work which it really deserves. sure, to understand what kind of gem it is, you must be familiar not just with pictures of gundam series prior to this, but also but also with their discourses and core struggles of UC timeline maker, Tomino. Here..: story: 10 Art: 10 Sound:10 Character:10 Enjoyment:10 Overall:10
*SPOILERS FOR TURN A GUNDAM. YOKO KANNO DID THE MUSIC. THIS REVIEW WILL ALSO BE REALLY LONG, BUT PLEASE BEAR WITH ME* So, you've just finished making Cowboy Bebop! The century is turning as we speak! A famous writer presents an idea for a new Gundam show! As you know, some of the last few Gundam works haven't been so successful. Plus, your budget won't be as high this time around given Bebop. Do you take the risk and hope it becomes as successful as Gundam Wing? Do you let it die like some of Yoshiyuki Tomino's other works? Do you think you can pull itoff and not let it end up cancelled like with Gundam X? Well, you ARE Studio Sunrise, so you at least try. The result was Turn A Gundam that spanned between mid-1999 to mid-2000. So, does Turn A Gundam make a good Gundam show for the turn of the century? Well, let's find out, shall we? STORY: 8/10 It is over 2000 years into the Universal Century, and nothing has happened in a long time, except for something called DARK HISTORY. A time long forgotten by most, and for good reason, but we'll get to that. Three "Moonrace" people are sent to Earth to see if it is livable and colonizable. One of them is Loran Cehack; eventual pilot of a dug up mobile suit later revealed as Turn A Gundam. The others are: Fran, the journalist, and Keith, the bread maker/bread seller. After they land, Loran almost drowns, only to be saved by Kiel Heim, and as such, become a servant to the Heim family. After some slow paced first few episodes establishing relations and how the "Moonrace" is now attempting to forcefully colonize Earth, Queen Diana shows up to attempt negotiations, and if you know war, you know that negotiations rarely work. Eventually, it snowballs into misadventures, unauthorized fights, many new faces squaring off and eventually joining Loran, and then, SPACE! The first 36 episodes take place on Earth, while the last 14 switch between taking place on Earth, in space, and on the moon, depending on the current situation. Allegiances switch with decent explainations to excuse how easily they switch at times, and things get a bit complicated towards the end. While this is considered to be viewable as a stand alone Gundam show, this is NOT for newcomers. First off, the pacing is a lot slower than most Gundam shows. In fact, the first few episodes are a bit on the boring side, and if you wanted to start with a Gundam show for fights and picked this one, you may end up dropping this one early on before it picks up steam. Secondly, this is much more lighthearted and pleasant than say, the melodramatic SEED or the action heavy and bleak 00 series. This one rarely gets bleak, and focuses a lot on civilization, more so than most. Sure, there is still war, but it isn't as constant as other mech shows like 00 or even Code Geass. Thirdly, a lot of the lingo in this show is only understandable to those who have seen Gundam shows, and it's easier to understand if you start at the Universal Century, than if you start with other Gundam shows like say SEED and 00, like I did. Many of you who start with this, or even watch this after seeing things they aren't UC, will have a hard time picking up on what a "Machine Doll" is. This DARK HISTORY gets alluded to often, but we only know the truth when they literally reveal it to the world around episode 43. It turns out, before Turn A was worshipped as this "Whitedoll" God, t damaged a lot of the world, covering it in dust. It also had a counterpart called Turn X who was also buried and part of DARK HISTORY. The premise and excecution of the slower paced plot work well, and had some neat twists as it world-builds and interweaves around a large cast of mostly endearing characters. However, there are a few issues preventing this from being truly great. Towards the later episodes, some characters just get left behind, only to appear as if they were doing something we were supposed to know about. The final villain, Gingham, is introduced in episode 37, with no build up or anything. For him to be introduced so late, he should've at least had build up to excuse that. Some characters are a bit thick headed for their own good and make things unccessesarily complicated, almost to SEED or 00 Second Season levels. Also, there's this really annoying filler around episode 32. At least the ending was pretty good, even if Loran kissing Sochie isn't something I agree with. Luckily, he ends up living with Queen Diana. CHARACTERS: 9/10 The cast overall is pretty likable. With few exceptions, I liked most of the characters, and even a lot of ones I didn't like I at least tolerated, with three exceptions (two of them mere meant to be unlikable), but I'll get to them in a bit. Let's start with Loran. He likes peace, Earth, and Queen Diana, and will do anything to protect all 3. He likes resorting to words, but knows that when that fails, he must be violent, albeit he'd rather not kill anyone if possible. Such traits are found with many, such as Kira Yamato from SEED, but this time, it's actually done right! For one, he isn't whiny like other Gundam protagonists, nor is he bland, like other Gundam protagonists. He is naïve at age 17, but knows what must be done with his Gundam, even if he resorts to peaceful options first. Next, we have Queen Diana, or as the Moonrace call her, DIANA-SAMA!! She is lovely. While a princess wanting peace isn't that original, likely even at the time, she is a very likable person, worshipped by the commoners of the Moonrace. She and an Earth lookalike named Kiel also switch places from time to time, with no one noticing. For one, I really like these kinds of plot lines. It adds more complexity and excitement to these kinds of shows. She also gets fleshed out over the course of the middle of the first half in particular, and is actually a very sad person from hundreds of years ago. Plus, her acting skills are amazing and are likely real, as seen when she cries over Kiel's fathers grave while taking the role of Kiel. Unfortunately, she isn't much of a powerful ruler, as her power hungry subordinates in fact have a majority of the power. Diana's ultimate subordinate, Harry Ord is a cool guy who you just can't hate, even with his horrible fashion sense when it comes to formal events. He is responsible, cool, sneaky, and badass. He's probably my favorite character here, and considering the other two I mentioned so far, that sais something. He also ends up in love with Kiel Heim. She often switches place with Diana, but unlike Diana, we don't really get to flesh Kiel out that much. Ultimately, her words are far more scathing when the situation calls for it, especially towards the final few episodes. However, aside from falling in love with Harry, not much is fleshed out about her. Now, for the ones I hate. To put it bluntly, Sochie Heim is a racist, obnoxious, arrogant, rude, idiot, and I hate her. She is quite possibly the worst girl I have seen in a Gundam show, and considering Flay from SEED, that says quite a lot! It got to a point where Loran had to literally slap some sense into her! I did enjoy that however, as well as when she bumps her head into Turn A Gundam in episode 40. For the sake of time, I'll only go in depth in one more character: Gingham. He is an ok villain. He is thirsty for battle, and believes that it is an art that the Moonrace have unfortunately forgotten about. He pilots the Turn X and as such, is very fascinated about the Turn A. He goes very far to start a fight, as long as it doesn't involve acting up during moments of diplomacy. Like I said, this does leave out many characters for the sake of time, like Corrin's obsession with his hatred of Gundams, and other diverse characters with their own agendas and journeys, like Lilly, Grey, and many, many others. A lot of them do get interweaved into the plot rather well, and a lot of them are antagonists at one point or another given their agendas. However, like I said in the STORY section, some characters do get left out a bit too long. I didn't even cover those two enemy assholes I hate that work for Gingham, like Merrybell, another major contender for worst Gundam Girl. ART: 6/10 Coming right after Cowboy Bebop, this really sign have the best of excuses for not looking so good. However, given how long the show is, and how it came after Bebop, it DOES have some excuses. The art is very dated by today's standards, and even by the standards of the time. The animation gets very poor at times as well. Odd visual tricks are used that don't work very well. Oddly enough, some scenes and even whole episodes look very well, as if a lot more detail was placed into them, like episode 22, or that scene in episode 40 where the "river people" or Loran's hometown are introduced. The openings, especially OP 2, also have better visuals than a large chunk of the show. The same applies to ED 2 which looks actually kinda wired and abstract, but makes sense in the context of the last 9 episodes. It kinda sucks that it can't look as good as those scenes all the time. However, the battles are mostly well done, aside from the times where they show the pilot via a visual box. The fights are entertaining for most part, especially during the last few fights, like whenever Turn X and Turn A square off. I did like how they handled the Nuclear Missle explosions. SOUND: 8/10* *NO DUB EXISTS, AND CONSIDERING HOW OLD THIS SERIES IS, A DUB WILL PROBABLY NEVER HAPPEN* This soundtrack was done by Yoko Kanno. It isn't AS good as say, Cowboy Bebop, or even Macross Fronter, but it is a pretty good OST. I like the guitar but that plays during many episodes of the first half, as well as "Moon" a track that plays during the first episode, the final episode, and only a few other times; which oddly enough, sound different then any other Yoko Kanno song I've heard. Many tracks don't stand out that much, but are still likable tracks nonetheless. OP 1, Turn A Turn, is a very unique OP. It isn't as energetic as most OPs are nowadays, or even some Gundam OPs, but is really fits with Turn A Gundam. It is still a very catchy theme. Unfortunately, after episode 38, it gets replaced with OP 2, Century Color, an OP that doesn't fit with Turn A, doesn't fit with Gundam as a whole, and isn't even very good. ED 1, Aura, is also a plea to theme, as well as calming and slow. I rather enjoyed it. ED 2 is very similar to "Moon", but is sung by someone else. It is also a very good song. Oddly enough, episode 50 as a third ED that also has ED 2's visuals, and as expected, isn't as good as the other EDs. Like I said, this is still a good OST, even if it isn't as legendary as Bebop's. ENJOYMENT: 8/10 Like I said, the beginning is a bit boring, but it picks up after episode 5, and gets rather entertaining at points. I like when it focuses in misadventures that don't directly correlate to war. Episode 21 is a bleaker spin on this, but is probably the most pleasant episode of them all, except episode 9, which shows how well Diana fits as Kiel. It does lose a bit of fun around episodes 24-34, especially those damn fillers in episodes 32 and 33, but it picks up a bit afterwards. The final 9 episodes make a nice climax with some neat twists and the reveal of DARK HISTORY. Plus, the finale was pretty good. Just a shame it has those few dark spots like the filler, and some of the Moonrace that antagonize our heroes during the mid-way point. OVERALL: 8/10 RAW SCORE: 8.11/10 This is probably my favorite Gundam series so far. It isn't perfect, or even truly impressive, but is is a mostly pleasant and entertaining series, even if you will need to get familiar with some Gundam shows before jumping into this one. It has its flaws in places, which I already covered, but it is still a likable show that deserves some more attention, especially the attention of those familiar with the Universal Century timeline. Well, with all that said, I bid you adieu.
[4th Edit] Turn A Gundam is probably the Gundam series with the most diverging opinions out there. I watched every Gundam released, and, unfortunately, Turn A didn`t click for me. Overall, it is the most confusing Gundam, with the least interesting plot (although extremely original), the most confusing background scenario, and the least interesting characters. More bellow. Story: You will see many references here if you are familiar with the UC. I strongly advise you not to see Turn A if you are unfamiliar with the UC. The story is already too messy, even if you know it. Here is the thing: the story of TurnA is exceptionally original, and everything you will see in Turn A is entirely different from the other Gundam out there. So, why did I consider it bad? Well, let me explain - poor execution. First, it is too damn boring. Even after trying to rewatch this series (3 times, people, 3 times!) I still fall asleep multiple times. For a die-hard Gundam fan like me, that's a bad sign because I saw every other Gundam created. Nothing happens until episode 20 or something. The plot is a complete mess, you don`t get what is happening until much later, in a bad way. I love slow-building stories, but Turn A does not create an exciting or mysterious environment you want to know more about. Everything is so mundane, people are absurdly dull, and the society depicted is so lame that Time might as well be standing still. You spend way too much time seeing uninteresting dialogs that are utterly useless to the plot or anything else, seeing events with no purpose, and following main characters with whom you feel no connection. I felt like I was watching a theater play from the XV century trying to appeal to the royals. Now, let me explain the second worst thing: the world. Society is like late XIX century America; the technology is a mix of that time, World War I, and sci-fi. Sounds good? Well, it isn`t. The fights are absolutely lame, far from any Gundam out there. They are neither military-accurate nor exciting. They are also confusing: people fight in old airplanes, use carabines, drive zeppelins, then, out of nowhere, they use an old anti-air cannon, and you see a mobile suit! This might sound cool, but it is not. It creates a confusing scenario where you don`t understand how all those elements are mixed in harmony with the world they try to present to you. The show also fails to provide a reasonable explanation. Finally, this show was made to appeal to North Americans because everything is based on an old USA story: clothes, technology, houses, and society. It is everything Gundam tried to stay away from, being concentrated in one single society. Gundam was always about a reformed world where countries united in different ways. Not here, here you will follow the most USA Gundam ever made. If you are from the USA, you might love it. But for me, it is everything Gundam tried to stay away from. Art & Sound: The animation is marvelous, and the art direction is impressive. However, the soundtrack sucks. Not appealing in any way. Character: No character appeals to you, and that left me stunned because no other Gundam lacks a character that appeals to you. One thing that SHOULD happen in any movie, series, book, comic, game, or anime is that at least one character should be appealing; you must like someone. Or at least hate some character enough to see what will happen. None of those options apply in Turn A. Everyone is boring. They have no depth. They don`t talk about interesting subjects. I never felt so uninspired as I felt in Turn A. Every Gundam has some interesting characters, even amidst annoying ones. This one has nothing. I have no words to describe the absolute boredom of seeing an anime with the most uninteresting characters in the franchise. Even the protagonist is a complete bore. I prefer Shinn Asuka (the most annoying character in the franchise) to him. At least with Shinn, I could feel something. All characters appear to live in stasis, with no exciting personalities you want to explore. This is one of the reasons I always fell asleep trying to rewatch this show. Mechas: The Gundam in this series is, by far, the ugliest main Gundam ever made. The rest of the Mechas (except for the classic ones) are also terrible. I don`t know what happened in Turn A because Bandai continuously checks Gundam shows to profit from gunplas. And this is the first time I saw a Gundam where I don`t want any gunpla from the show. Many Gundam shows appeal to different audiences because they mix story and mecha action. For example, Gundam 00 is packed with action, and some people love it just for that. You will have neither action nor interesting mechas in Turn A. Overall, some people love Turn A for its originality. I wanted to feel the same, but even after watching the show three times, I can`t describe the boredom, lack of uninteresting characters, lame mechas, boring fights, and everything else that was Turn A - and since Turn A is a standalone Gundam series, I advise you to stay away from this show and use your time for a better Gundam. Want a slow-building story with unforgettable characters, exciting fights, and deep political backgrounds? See Iron-Blooded Orphans.
I personally think this Gundam is the most successful of all of them. Because it is so different. It gave me the atmosphere I truly desired, getting to appreciate humans living in harmony with earth. The pacing and adventure of this Gundam is also unparalleled. I didn't have to see someone being deployed or read drab dialogue in a war room every episode to still love it. The abundance of characters were not a jumbled mess like most of the Gundam series. While characters do feel very one dimensional or whiny and confusing in most of the series, (i guess for children to easily understand,)comparably these characters felt nurtured and mature. Not just in terms of personality and likability, but motives, resolves, even their levels of intelligence and self-awareness. This show also was not a sob fest killing all the main characters like they normally resort to. This is probably my favorite with 08th MS team, maybe even more so. This was also the end of the timeline. And rightfully so. I definitely recommend this series!!
The Mobile Suit Gundam series has existed since 1979, so 36 years old as of the end of 2015 later this year, and in that large span of time, Sunrise and Bandai have put out a vast array of Gundam anime. And for the 20th Anniversary of Gundam in 1999 they released the first Yoshiyuki Tomino(Creator of Gundam) series since Mobile Suit Victory Gundam, Turn A Gundam. And even when placed against the myriad of Gundam series, and even the black sheep Mobile Fighter G Gundam, Turn A Gundam is a bit of an oddball. It is a well known fact that Gundam often portrays largescale wars with high death tolls of both soldiers and civilians and the emotional, the psychological effect that it has on the main cast of characters. But Turn A Gundam has neither a large death toll nor any kind of psychological effect. Very few characters actually died in this series compared to any other and their deaths had very little impact on the main cast. In fact, compared to Gundams normal dark atmosphere, Turn A is actually very lighthearted, very free spirited. And this is quite the departure from just about any Gundam series in existence save Gundam Build Fighter/Build Fighters Try and Gunpla Builders Beginning G. As a fan who really likes the dark atmosphere, this was kind of a letdown. The characters themselves though weren't bad by any stretch of the imagination. The Moonrace protagonist Loran Cehack wants nothing more than for his fellow Moonrace to come and live on Earth. And this creates conflict with some kind characters who hold racial prejudice against the Moonrace who violently emigrated to Earth. And this puts him in an interesting position because the story constantly wants him to choose between the Terrans or the Moonrace and despite fighting for the Terrans, he still manages to walk a very grey line. His two main companions, Kihel and Sochie Heim also play an important role. Kihel looks identical to the Moonrace Queen Dianna Soriel which proves to be a crucial plot point as the story progresses and Sochie reflects the maturation of the cast. She goes from being the spoiled daughter of a mine who is racist against the Moonrace for killing her father, to being a mature woman who becomes the head of the Heim household despite being the younger sibling. The Royal Guard Captain, Harry Ord, is probably one of the most interesting Gundam characters I've ever seen. His unquestionable loyalty and devotion to Queen Dianna shows itself multiple times over the course of the series. The rest of his personality is unlike any other character. He wears the strangest clothing and constantly tugs on his sleeve because he thinks it "makes him look dandy." Harry is definitely a unique character. The theme of the show was kind of hard to nail down for the majority of its 50 episode run. At first I assumed it was all about racism or coexistance, but that wasn't it at all. It's only in the stretch of the last 10 episodes of the show that the true theme comes out: Human Nature. Despite the Terrans and Moonrace having developed separately over the course of 2,000 to 3,000 years, they are both still Human at the core, and it is often said that fighting is in Human nature. Neither race displayed this nature for those thousand or so years that they had no contact, and when the Moonrace finally began to return to the Earth, it awakened Humanity's desire to wage war, and in turn awakened it within the Moonrace. And that is the theme of the show. It wasn't trying to hide it from you so it really isn't a spoiler. It's just that it isn't as readily apparent as it would be in most other series. That confusion took some of the enjoyment out of it for me because I like to see how they tackle the theme over the course of the series. I have to give praise to both the art and the sound though. The art was really good for a 1999 series. Very detailed, very fluid, and very vibrant. They shunned the use of newly emergent computer tricks and it was all hand drawn. So props where props are due. As for the sound, the soundtrack was composed by Yoko Kanno, which is an immediate win in my book. I've had "Moon" and "The Third Advent" on repeat for days now. The sound effects are entirely new as far as I can tell, especially having watched a vast majority of the available Gundam series. Most series reuse sound effects to avoid having to create new ones, and so it gets repetitive after a while of hearing those sounds since the beginning of time. Turn A was refreshing in that respect. And so looking back at Turn A Gundam, it is by no means my favorites as it didn't quite live up to what I expect a Gundam show to be. Many of my friends had hyped it up as being the pinnacle of Gundam stories, and they would know since they grew up with the first Gundam and so on, but to me it just didn't feel like Gundam. I had Mobile Suits and Gundams, it had a very Gundam theme to it, but at the end of the day it just didn't feel like the Gundam that I fell in love with. And so it's somewhat of a love/hate relationship because I liked the story, the character, the music, the art, and I did enjoy it, but at the same time it just didn't scratch that itch. And I noticed quite a few similarities with the currently airing Gundam: Reconquest in Gravity(Yes, that is the actual English translation of the name.). Both were conceived and written by Yoshiyuki Tomino and both are more lighthearted than their predecessors. Though this is to be expected since Turn A's Correct Century timeline is the destiny of all Gundam timelines, whether the show was made before or after Turn A aired. Correct Century is, officially, an actual continuation of the original Universal Century timeline from the original Gundam series, and therefore it is also a direct continuation of Reconquest's Reguild Century which comes directly after the Universal Century. This is made even more apparent because the country or continent of Ameria exists in both Reconquest and Turn A. I digress, Turn A Gundam seems like more of an acquired taste even for Gundam fans. Fans who have been around since the beginning will be able to pick Turn A up in a heartbeat because it's a Tomino series, but people who grew up on the alternate universe series like Wing, X, G, SEED, or 00 will more than likely find it hard which is to be expected. In fact, the same is happening with Reconquest at the moment. So really, I say give the show a try, but not even I can guarantee who will like it, who will say "Meh", and who will not like it. I recommend it to Gundam fans, but I can't really recommend it as a starting point to anyone.
One thing that has kept the Gundam metaseries relevant over the decades is the fact that it can completely change the setting, style, and characters from series to series yet still feel like a Gundam show as long as it retains some key elements. The great flexibility of Gundam is shown yet again with Turn A Gundam, a series that is not without weaknesses but still successfully tries to separate itself from the Gundam pack. When I first started watching the show, I immediately connected with most of the extremely likable and interesting characters. Sometimes, it takes a while for characters in a Gundam show togrow on you, but it's very apparent from the first few episodes of Turn A that many of the characters feel real. Loran himself is probably the first Gundam pilot without some severe mental disorder. He's not as anti-social as Amuro or as hot-headed as Kamille and Domon. He's not a panic-stricken youth like Uso or a soldier who has thrown away his emotions like Heero. He's just a guy with a (not overbearing) sense of justice trying to find his place in the world. Who cross-dresses when necessary. The other good guy characters pleasantly surprised me even more than Loran. Dianna I thought would be another impractical idealist who represents some kind of purity, but she takes a lot of risks and action after realizing her flaws. She can be giving an eloquent speech one minute and in disguise, wielding a rifle the next minute. Sochie is another protagonist I found intriguing, as she goes through a ton of personal growth as the series goes on. Even minor characters, like Corin Nander, had the potential to steal the show every time he was on screen. The weakness of the series started to become apparent to me when after this great cast of characters was laid out, very little happened. The conflict of the main story revolves around the people of the moon trying to migrate back to Earth, and the Earth trying to stop the perceived invasion. However, the conflict is really a result of racial tensions and differing view-points of what is right. The higher-ups on both sides of the conflict seem to want peace, which makes the whole conflict rather weak. For the first 40 out of 50 episodes really, mobile suit battles are small scale and often the result of disgruntled soldiers defying their commanders. It's not until Gym Gingham appears very late in the series that we even get a true antagonist. The overall weakness of the "bad guys" in Turn A is apparent when looking at MAL's character page, where nobody has even bothered to yet list any of the show's troublemakers outside of Gingham (I may fix this). The general setting and aesthetic of Turn A is wonderful. The technology and fashion of the Earth at the beginning of the show represents the 1920s or 1930s. It makes everyone look very fashionable as they fly around in their suits. The hair of Dianna and Kihel is probably the most well-animated hair outside of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. The music in Turn A varies in quality but is overall good. The first OP is very good, the second OP is very bad. The first ED is okay but somewhat forgettable. The second ED is one of the best EDs I've ever heard. It's apparent that Tomino was going for something radically different from his usual depressing war epics. He purposely wanted to move away from epic battles and "Kill Em All" with an extremely colorful show that is 100% character-driven. In some ways, this was a success and made this particular series memorable among the crowded Gundam universe. In other ways, the action and deviousness was probably minimized too much. The plot moves very slowly at times, with very few plot turns before the run up to the finale. I can handle a lack of action as long as you put something else compelling in its place, which Turn A didn't do well at times. Because of the lack of action, this Gundam series has the potential to be very polarizing among people who watch this show with certain expectations for how mecha needs to be. Even after keeping an open mind, I still have my issues with the pacing and the weakness of the overall conflict. However, the strength of the characters make it a show I don't regret having seen.
After watching this through, I can confidently say that this is my favourite anime, Turn A Gundam resonated with me in a way that I haven't gotten from any other anime before. The characters are fantastic here and absolutely live up to the Gundam franchise standards. The show is paced in a way that allows you to understand the characters and see them grow as they persevere through situations of varying intensity. It's not afraid to deal with relatively mundane situations, which makes a huge difference when compared to other Gundam series and I absolutely love it for this. Some people may think Turn A istoo silly, but aside from a few moments, I think the tone is really well balanced, having really impactful moments to keep things from being too silly. The pacing also never left me bored for the whole 50 episodes, which was surprising because usually shows as long as this tend to drag at some points. The animation surprised me with how good it looks to this day, it's the best looking hand drawn anime T.V. show I've seen. I think I noticed only two minor instances of reused animation. There's even some CG mixed in at some points which looked pretty good and was used sparingly. It honestly is of movie quality in terms of animation. The art direction also seals the deal for me, it does a great job at showing off how beautiful nature is in the setting. If I were to complain about one thing, it would be that the next episode previews can sometimes reveal too much about the next episode. Getting spoiled, even if it's minor, takes away from the experience and makes things less interesting. But this is only a minor problem that's easily avoided. It's hard to specify what makes this show so amazing, I can't think of any proper comparisons for it, but know that it is well worth experiencing. I have never loved a T.V. series as much as watching Turn A Gundam.
Turn A Gundam was created to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Gundam franchise and is directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino. Being of a different continuity than the Universal Century timeline, Turn A made for some of the best material I seen for an alternate continuity to the Gundam franchise thus far. Rather than try ripping ideas from the Universal Century continuity and/or get into overblown antics like Gundam Wing, SEED and G Gundam, Turn A Gundam implements its own ideas and mecha designs to a great extent here. Turn A depicts a time thousands of years in the future where the space battles of old haveleft Earth in an Industrial Age-like state and those who ventured into space on the moon continued to advance their technologies from that time. The conflict that arises between the Moonrace and Earth people create some interesting tensions with multiple factions formed within each group trying to grab power for themselves and claim superiority for their race or agenda. A number of characters that are introduced seemingly appear good or evil on the surface, but appearances are deceiving as the series does provide details on the backgrounds and beliefs of said characters where their motives become justified and they can be sympathized with. The series also does a solid job exploring the political and social issues plaguing both factions such as discrimination, planetary colonization and military corruption. Unlike Tomino's earlier work with the Universal Century titles of the Gundam franchise, Turn A is a bit more light-hearted in exploring the tensions between Moonrace and Earth. While the series still features the trademark fighting mobile suits of both factions in war and not being afraid to kill off some characters, Turn A doesn't go for its character killing on major characters and it isn't as dark with its plot twists as you would find with Tomino's involvement in older Gundam works. The series carries some humor with it that is used well to balance out its more serious scenes and it doesn't get in the way of the mood for the series when things get heated. Along with the show's more lighter plot, Turn A Gundam also sports plenty of original mecha designs for this take on the Gundam franchise, which are quite unique compared to the designs used in other Gundam titles I've seen that still bare resemblance to the original RX-78 Gundam and Zeon models of the original series. For some of the designs, they serve different functions on the battlefield rather than the human-like characteristics and actions adopted with mobile suits from other titles. Beyond the mecha designs, Turn A's scenery and character designs are standard late-90s animation with some implementation of CG animation used with rendering of computer specs and some complex methods of animation like an asteroid used by Moonrace queen Dianna as a personal sanctuary that is seen later in the series. Yoko Kanno does contribute her composure talents for Turn A's soundtrack with the musical tracks, as usual, being catchy and doing very well at complimenting the various scenes that music is used in. A major flaw with the series in my eyes though would have to be aspects to its characterization. While a number of characters are reasonably fleshed out, there are others that feel more like they are products of the show's plot who are around to either push the plot into a certain direction or tacked on with some sort of archetype instead of feeling like a normal person. Unfortunately, Loran's very character is one of those said archetypes as he doesn't have much complexity to his personality like you would find with Amuro or Zeta Gundam's Kamille and there isn't any change in his character throughout the series as he is still the same kind-hearted, peace-loving young man who is "always right" with his actions. Setting aside this major flaw though, Turn A Gundam was the first alternative continuity title in the Gundam franchise that I did get a reasonable amount of enjoyment with thanks to its unique take on the franchise's trademark themes and its engaging plot developments.
Turn A Gundam (along with Mobile Fighter G Gundam) may stand out as the oddballs of the Gundam universe. Set in a time period resembling the industrial revolution, Turn A pits mobile suits VS fighter planes. Weird, huh? Another oddity is the lead suit, Turn A or "White Doll" as it is often called. Instead of having a V-fin, it has a mustache. It may turn you down at first, but soon you'll grow to love it. The Turn X, the enemy counterpart of Turn A, is pretty nice as well. The characters are memorable too. There's Loran Cehack, the pilot of the White Doll; Lieutenant Harry, thisseries' Char Clone; and Gym Ghinginham, this series' main antagonist who only appears in the end of the series. The story is more on the political side-negotiations between the two sides, the Earth and the Dianna Counter or the Moon faction. You see, the moon faction wants to return to earth, but of course the Earth won't let that happen easily. Aiding the Earth is Loran Cehack, who joins Earth against the moon, despite being a moonrace himself. Aside from the Turn A and Turn X, mentioned above, we see the SUMO,used by the royal guard of the Moon; the WaDom, a 2-legged weapons platform; and the FLAT, a mobile suit as well as a transport unit. There's more of course, but I'm not telling. The uniqueness of the designs make them stand out. Of course there's also Zakus (from the original gundam) and Kapools (gundam zz). What are they doing there? Watch to find out. At first I was bored when I was watching the initial 10 episodes or so. I even muttered to myself, "is this gundam?" but I stuck with it through the end, and I got a real treat as the series progressed.
I saw one of the review saying that there wasn't many fight and I laugh so loud about that. There isn't an episode without a fight. This is what almost made me drop this. « I am mad cuz i see a new robot in the air, so i'm not gonna ask what's happening, i'm gonna fight » « They are asking for peace, it's insulting, we should fight » « There is a nuclear bomb that could kill everybody at our feet, we should fight for it, who cares if it exploses. » « i'm mad, i don't care who, i'm gonna fight »And so on for 50 episode, at least once for episode. And trust me, there is no exageration. Character developpement is non existent. Characters are flat, in a loophole, you take them from episode 1 and episode 50, they are the same. Story goes around in circle. Etc. I gave this a 6. Know that this is the worst note i give cuz for lower, it's simply a drop. I give 10 to almost anything that make me smile, cry, or something like that. So a 6 for me is probably a 3 for you. This is the worst Gundam so far.
6.5/10 ~ Peak Gundam with some major flaws This Gundam is truly Peak Gundam in terms of the story they are trying to tell, Animation, design, art direction and some character writing. And Making all Gundam Timelines diverge into this is something I can get behind. The fact that there are actual scenes of Industrial Age vs Space Age/ Mobile Suites and everything in between is wild, and you generally don't know what will actually happen which is a huge plus. I am a bit torn by this rating, I really really enjoyed this one... but my god was most of the viewing exsperiance for me jankey.- Only available in Sub - extremely hard to find online anywhere legally and you have to purchase expensive DVD's or Bluerays - streams of this are hard to find - no reliable torrents are available - horrible pacing - bad ending - main character is flat and bland, but kinda cute lmfao - almost every romance just happens and makes no sense - what show/time line is Corrin from, this will haunt me - I still dont understand the inclusion of the turn x, atleast they said the name was dumb in the show lol - BBEG is just a guy... why does every Gundam end in a sword fight out of mech lol That being said this has to be the worst Gundam as far as Pacing, things just happen left and write for no explanation, The very beginning and end truly suffer from this. The ending which is about the last 2-3 episodes has a season worth of content of event that happen. The final battle just kinda ends with no real explanation, and the final sequence of where all the charecters end up are just random scenes, many of which don't feel like they really belong to anything in particular. This one really could have used a better story board director, I would assume that they ran out of time at the end or planned poorly to fit the story into a neat 50 box, which is crazy when you realize there are recap episodes in there as well. Unlike other Gundam Series that preach over and over again that kids shouldn't go to war, and morality. But rather how idiotic the government, Military and low key men can be. Especially when the military thinks it knows best, how that can be ironic and hypocritical to their motives and actions, and how power can corrupt. Like Every other Gundam series that was smooshed down into a recap movie series, I couldn't imagine this or any of the others a good watch especially for a first time, so I would skip those and just commit to the whole series. I left this one as one of the last Gundam's to watch as I thought I would want to understand all the foreseeable references to the past series I knew this was chockfull of. Past all the Zakus and the fact there is a ZZ Mobile suite, in the form of the Kapool (AMX-109 Capule), and some random flash back scenes that honestly do not impact a single thing in the story if you do not understand them... nothing here is even really that enhanced other then that you know that the Kapool should be pained Blue lol So dont feel like you have to watch 100's of hours of Gundam to watch this... hell this one is so stand alone it could be the only Gundam you ever watch.