Well after a couple of bumps in the road last time, we
arrived at the midpoint of Turn A Gundam with all cylinders on fire. There was the usual amount of well done
character drama and we finally got a battle of epic Gundam proportions, the
kind that haven’t really been seen yet in Turn A Gundam. All in all, if this was a season finale, this
set of episodes did a pretty good job.
Once again, the focus on characters over battle should be
praised. Yes, we all come to a Gundam
series for the giant robots and seeing them beat the crap out of each
other. But Turn A has thrown a lot of
time into developing not just the central cast but some side and one off
characters as well. This time, the
Moonrace was in the spotlight more than ever.
Both Dianna and Harry got to experience life working with the Militia,
and being a hard working human being in general. Harry’s turn in the field gave him the chance
to confirm for us viewers that he was actually aware of Dianna and Kihel’s
switch, and also allowed him to meet Loran again and even team up with him to
defend Dianna for a short time. Dianna,
though, continues to get some of Turn A Gundam’s most compelling and dramatic
moments. Her time in the Medical Camp
was chock full of life lessons (including how to turn a Gundam into a washing
machine…told ya this wasn’t your average Gundam series). The stand out from this experience was
definitely Dianna having to participate in amputating a Militia soldiers
leg. It began a steady line of
developments that had Dianna wondering if all of this suffering really was her
fault in the long run. All the while,
Loran continues to stand by her, being the pillar and friend Dianna needs right
now. In truth, im surprised he didn’t
just try to think of a way to go with Dianna when she told him she was
returning to the Moon. But I’d be
distracted getting into an impromptu dance with a beautiful woman too.
Ive spoken a bit at how it’s obvious the Moonrace is as
much at odds with itself as it is the Earthers.
In this set though, I feel we got some interesting reasonings for some
of these splintered factions and disillusioned soldiers. Tetehe, the cute red head spy who’s been
popping up here and there, fights because she feels it will earn her proper
status with the Moonrace since her mother was from Earth. Then there’s a team of very 70s Hippie
looking Moonrace pilots who grew up on Earth and hate it and wish to likewise
be seen as equals in the Moonrace that looks down on them. Themes of feeling exiled when you’ve done
nothing wrong other than trying to live is a complex and interesting topic to
explore. This actually goes double for
the trio of Moonrace spies we met in the first episode. Loran, Keith and Fran all got into an
argument about what they should be doing in this conflict. Keith wants to make his bread available to
everyone and Fran wants her newspaper to be more proactive covering the war. Loran was kind of called out for seemingly
being nothing more than Guins pawn in all of this. That mustve struck a nerve cause Loran
declared he wasn’t right before he charged through a Dianna Counter attack
force and kicked all kinds of ass (seriously, all that was missing was Stan
Bush’s The Touch from Transformers: The Movie and it would have been
perfect). Its good to see that even the
so called “bad guys” are being given understandable motivations and some of the
Moonrace are definitely not so bad as we might think (like Harry and Dianna’s
advisor Miran).
As usual though, some characters aren’t living up to
their potential OR learning from their past mistakes. In fact, Dianna deserves special cudos for
actually slapping Sochie for continuing to refer to Loran as her “servant.” Jeez Sochie just isn’t learning, even after
her blunders from last time. Believe it
or not, she’s getting worse. I haven’t
spoken much about Luisana pilot Gavane Gooney despite his introduction a few
episodes ago. I don’t think there’s been
that much to say about him besides the fact that his squadron of Zaku’s is
known as the “Suicide Squad”. He did
finally seem to get over his arrogant jerk side and actually play a sort of big
brother role to Loran in a couple of scenes.
I bring him up now because there has been a bit of a connection between
Gavane and Sochie…right to the point where Gavane proposes marriage to
Sochie…and she says yes (granted she thinks about it but it’s Sochie, she
didn’t think about it too long). She’s
just…ugh…whenever she’s on screen barking orders to trying to be important I
put my head in a pillow and moan in discomfort.
The only person managing to rival Sochie’s stuck up attitude is Lily
Borjarno, who keeps flaunting an even high and mightier attitude and even
belittles Dianna in a way Sochie belittles Loran in every episode. It was kind of gratifying to see Dianna
actually embrace a role Lily recommended even though im sure Lily did it to
watch Dianna squirm.
But let’s close things out on a positive note shall
we? The launch of the Willghem was
complimented with a huge battle between the Militas and the Dianna
Counter. I wont say the animators were
holding back to get to this scene because Turn A’s gorgeous art hasn’t let up
from Episode 1. But they were definitely
saving something special for this battle, which seemed to fit the larger scale
fights Gundam is better known for. The
Kapools launching themselves at the WaDoms and Loran single shotting those very
same units made for an intense and incredibly entertaining brawl. As icing on the cake, the Willghem was able
to launch and it quieted the entire battlefield. To see an actual spaceship hovering through
the air, it was as beautiful as you’d expect.
So where are we now?
Sochie’s getting married. Loran
might be taking a stand against Guin.
Kihel’s trying to keep things from getting worse with the Dianna Counter
(with Harry close by). And Dianna’s
trying to make her way back to space…with the help of a very alive and well
(and crazier) Corin (but at least he’s not back to murdering everything in
sight…yet). And the Milita has their own
ancient battlecruiser, ready to take the fight to the Moon. I guess when we return on Friday for the
start of the second half of Turn A Gundam, we’ll be well on our way to
space…and about time too.
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