Turn A Gundam is a landmark title for the Gundam
Franchise. It was released in 1999,
marking the 20th 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment