The case of “mistaken and false identities” has been
bugging me a bit during the last couple episodes of Turn A Gundam and I bring
that up because something important happens in this set that hinges on how well
this plot device can work. Turn A Gundam
has a really good cast so far. Loran, Dianna,
Kihel, Harry and Guin all have their moments of likeability, or despicableness
that makes them entertaining to watch (and figure out in my eternal case for
Guin). That said, when it comes to the obvious being right in front of them,
it…bugs me. For Harry, it’s him not
being able to piece together (or at least show he’s aware) that “Laura Rolla”
and Loran are the same person piloting the Gundam. As for Dianna and Kihel, it was clear from
the get go that, yes, physically they look identical. But even though they can play each others
roles to a T, there has to be something that everyone around them (who should
know these girls very well) to spot that sets off some red flags. Not to mention im fairly certain Kihel has a
slightly darker skin complexion than Dianna.
Like I said, this bugs me quite a bit.
And yet these falsehoods are essential to Turn A Gundam, one more so
than the other.
During this set, Dianna and Kihel showcased that, despite
only knowing each other for a few short hours, they are perfectly capable of
slipping into each others lives with ease.
They gain experience about the others lifestyles, the people they
interact with daily and the new world around them, be it the lush green earth
or the scifi interiors of a space ship.
It surprises me that Dianna let this subterfuge go on so long before
realizing, “Hey Kihel might be in over her head trying to keep my people in
line…I might want to take my job back”.
And sure enough, Kihel was the target of not one but TWO assassination
attempts on her life. Funny thing is,
only one had unintended part way support by the Militia (they had their own
plan in mind that didn’t go so well). Im
anxious to see the rest of the Moonrace as we get ready for the second half of
the series and see just how bad these other ruling powers want “Dianna”
dead. How the heck did Dianna ever give
the OK for the Moonrace to begin descending to Earth without think the
slightest possibility that not everyone would want to do this peacefully. Cudos should go to Kihel though. Not only did she somehow outwit a beautiful
Moonrace assassin, but she delivered a speech that threw the Dianna Counter and
the Militia on its head, calling for continued peace negotiations rather than
establishing statehood for captured Moonrace territory. It stands out because it’s a double edged
sword of a scene. It’s a good speech and
has all the right words needed to be heard by peace minded individuals. And Dianna even conceded that Kihel gave the
speech better than she ever could. But
then you have the Dianna Counter and Militia pilots and higher ups who are just
going to use “Dianna’s” words as an excuse to escalate the fighting further:
cause the Militia thinks she’s full of crap and the on edge Dianna Counter
pilots like Poe wont stand for just laying down their weapons…plus paranioia
against the savages and all that. Still,
Kihel has made her intentions known and now we just need to see how she handles
it and how Dianna settles into her now seemlingly long term role as “Kihel
Heim”.
The twin female power houses aside, Loran continues to
make his mark as one of the best Gundam protagonists in the franchise. During both assassination attempts on Kihel,
he managed to use the Turn A to great effect (even when it hadn’t recovered
from its previous battle with Harry). On
top of that, the Militia recovered another old school Gundam vehicle, a Gallop
similar to the ones used by Zeon during Mobile Suit Gundam. It was probably Guin’s first good
decision…maybe ever, to assign Loran to command the Gallop. Given how quickly Loran’s adapted to the
Gundam and has the clearest head about the war, it makes him an ideal
leader. Better yet, Dianna has got his
back. I like the bond these two have
established. Even after Loran freaked
out when Dianna told him the truth about her switch with Kihel, they continue
to act more like equals, at least in Dianna’s mind. Loran might always be her fanboy but Dianna
sees Loran as a good friend more than a servant. Sigh, which is more than I can say for
freaking Sochie. Not only is she still
being a huge brat and proclaiming she’s the best Mobile Suit pilot out there,
but she tries to usurp Loran’s command and ends up getting two people killed in
battle. I really, really wish Loran had
chewed Sochie out for being…well kind of a bitch, not just to him but being so
cavalier about her place in this war altogether. Sochie’s foolhardy, snobbish and selfish have
made her so unlikeable. Plus after Loran
revealed he was from the Moonrace a while back, she instantly hated him after a
year of “friendship” (I use quotes cause even if she does like him, Sochie
always treating Loran like a servant instead of a person is bullcrap). Even if Sochie did feel some level of guilt
for something rightfully her fault (ahem getting two people killed trying to
save her sorry butt), I still don’t like her and Loran is a freaking saint to
tolerate her attitude for as long as he has.
More power to Loran I guess.
While a lot of big events took place in this set, there
were a pair of episodes that are both skippable. One is a simple clip show, hopefully the only
one of the series, where Loran narrarates the events of the first thirteen
episodes. Clip shows are always
tricky. I get that new viewers coming in
late need a cliff notes version of characters, mecha and events, but episodes
like that can kill momentum. And Turn A
has been building a lot of that even in its slower moments over the last few
episodes. The second episode feels like
a purely skippable one with Loran and Dianna trying to keep an old woman, who
refuses to leave her farm, out of harms way when a battle breaks out. Yeah it gives us some insight as to how those
on Earth not fighting in the war, Moonrace or Earther, are dealing with
things. But I feel like we should be
doing more important things with the story…like seeing more of Kihel and Harry
on the Dianna Counter side of things.
But hey maybe we’ll see just that when we come back on
Wednesday. We’ll be reaching the halfway
mark of Turn A Gundam and, on the whole, im saying this show is living up to
all they hype that it has gained since it came out in 1999. There are some stumbles, like the couple we
saw in this set. But im always intrigued
and hardly bored. See ya Wednesday as
the halfway mark approaches.
