FIF#47-Turn A Gundam

The year is Correct Century 2345.  After a near two millenia exile off world, the Moonrace, a long forgotten group of humans, makes plans to return to the surface.  Loran Cehak is a Moonrace agent sent to recon the planet before the rest of the Moonrace is set to follow.  Loran finds a beautiful world of wonder upon arrival, as well as two beautiful sisters who take him into their home.  One year later, the Moonrace finally returns…bringing fire and conquest along with them.  With the technology of the Earth based humans unable to withstand the advanced war machines of the Moonrace, it falls to Loran to protect the new home he has come to love.  His weapon is a buried relic from the past, a Mobile Suit whose resurrection awakens a dark chapter from humanities history…destined to repeat itself once again.

Turn A Gundam is a landmark title for the Gundam Franchise.  It was released in 1999, marking the 20^th anniversary of Mobile Suit Gundam.  It also featured an amazing production staff.  Gundam’s Godfather, Yoshiyuki Tomino, returned to direct after a six year absence following Victory Gundam.  Legendary composer, Yoko Kanno, fresh off Cowboy Bebop and Escaflowne, was tapped for the musical score.  And famous American scifi designer, Syd Mead, was tasked with giving the world a new kind of Gundam for this special series.  The sum of all these parts and more has led many to call Turn A Gundam the best Gundam series of all time. 

After watching the first episode, even without seeing a sign of the titular Turn A yet, I can say that so far the series is living up to its epic hype.  For starters, this is definitely the best looking Gundam series ive ever seen.  Even more modern day entries like Iron Blooded Orphans or Gundam: The Origin look as good as Turn A Gundam does, which is saying something about a show that is almost itself 20 years old.  The animation is breathtaking and near movie level quality.  Kind of makes sense.  Unlike the almost half hearted animation attempts with Gundam X, Turn A came out during a historical moment for Gundam, this show had to look its best and it does.

The story, once again, does a pretty good job of roping me in, even without the presence of a Gundam.  Loran’s wide eyed fascination with the Earth is a welcome approach.  While I know that the Moonrace is destined to start conflict when it arrives, you wouldn’t think they were capable of such violence if you were to judge them based on Loran.  Sure he may look like a girl (some jerk even keeps calling him Laura for a better part of the episode), but Loran’s got a heart that feels very different from any Gundam pilot before him.  Some of this has to do with how old school the Earth looks compared to what the Moonrace has at the moment.  The Victorian style dressing of the town Loran lives in gives Turn A almost an Escaflowne style vibe, like a small part of a fantasy kingdom.  The shots of the bi-planes in flight is awesome and I cant wait to see this kind of technology square off with Mobile Suits from the Moon (though im sure it will be one sided as heck).

By the end of the first episode of Turn A Gundam, I was sad I didn’t have access to more episodes.  Just like Gundam X, Turn A grabbed me with a unique take on a Gundam tale and leaves me wanting more.  Unlike X, however, Turn A’s pedigree of impressive artists, composers and writers, helps it shine brighter and I can see why this is held in high regard as the best Gundam since the original.  In many ways, it already feels like a Gundam series Tomino had long wanted to do but was unable to, due to creative differences with the studios (which led to the disastrous productions of both Gundam F91 and Victory Gundam).  Turn A Gundam feels instantly different.  The first episode feels confident without the need of a Gundam to bolster its appeal, no easy feat, and the series seems willing to let the set up, the scenery and the main character carry the weight of getting things off the ground.  That being said, more than anything, I want to see the Turn A in battle.  With animation this good, I cant wait to see how the action plays out.  I’ll have to track this one down in full sometime, it might be worth splitting things up for a full series review (we’ll see in 2018).

And that concludes First Impression Friday: GundamCember.  This is, sadly, also going to be the last First Impression Friday for the foreseeable future.  Once again, time is not something I have a ton of and sometimes its all I can do to get main reviews on Mondays written.  If more time frees up for me, I might be able to do some more articles for this feature.  For now, I hope everyone enjoyed the return of these snippets.  I promise FIF will return sometime in 2018.  Thank you so much for stopping through to check these out and I hope ive piqued some interest in these choice Gundam series ive shared thoughts on over the last month. 

I’ll see everyone in 2018.