Being a big fan of the mecha genre and having watched every main Gundam anime, I feel that I can say that Turn A Gundam is the greatest mecha anime of all time.
Warning: This review contains spoilers.
After Victory Gundam finished airing Tomino fell into a deep depression due to a hellish production filled with studio and sponsor meddling and irrational decisions. His depression had him in social isolation and gave him health problems, but because of this he relied on the women in his life, specifically his wife and daughters. During the mid-90s he partnered with Marigul Management, which is where he was introduced to Capcom's Akira Yasuda ("Akiman") who would do the character designs in Turn A. During his rehabilitation he wrote novels with one of them being "Garzey's Wing" that later got an anime adaptation and returned to anime with Brain Powrd. And soon planning and production of Turn A Gundam began in 1997 and later aired in 1999.
Story and Setting
While the conflict might seem basic for a Gundam series, the setting turns it into something interesting. Thousands of years in the future Earth's civilizations have returned to a early 1900s industrial age, where the architecture and clothing look Victorian-esque and technology is progressing. On the moon a group of people named Moonrace wish to return to Earth, they send three teens one of which is the protagonist Loran Cehack. Two years after Loran arrived on Earth the Moonrace enacts their plan to return but their arrival starts tension that can lead to war and awakens an ancient Mobile Suit named Turn A Gundam. Many twists and turns happen with the conflict involving multiple parties and the truth of the Dark History being revealed.
Pacing can range from slow to quick, with the first half establishing the world and relationships and the later half going from Earth to the moon, showing it's culture, and going back to Earth pretty quickly but was handled well. The quick pace is do to Tomino wanting it to air for two years but was sadly denied. The ending is one of the best in anime and in the mecha genre with the amazing final battle and the beautiful epilogue. Not once did I feel bored or dissatisfied with the story or pacing.
The setting allows for unique interactions between the people groups, showing the differences in social norms, technology, and personalities. It allows for the world to feel alive and lived in even beyond the Earth.
Characters, Voice Acting, and Designs
The cast of Turn A is made up of some of the best characters in mecha, with Loran being the best protagonist in Gundam. Loran Cehack is a kind-hearted boy that after piloting Turn A and experiencing the horrors of war wishes to protect his friends, serve his queen, and bridge the gap between the people of Earth and the moon. He is the best pacifist in Gundam, wanting to talk things out but will fight back to protect himself and others and knows the importance of human life. The cast from Earth is made up of those of noble status, citizens, and the Militia. Guin Rhineford is a cunning nobleman who values his status and wealth. Kihel and Sochie Heim, sisters who go through their own unique arcs with Sochie wanting revenge on the Moonrace and realizing and learning from her mistakes after experiencing a nuclear blast, and Kihel who after switching places with the Moonrace queen learns the truth behind the conflict and tries to guide them into a peaceful direction and falls in love with her guard.
The cast of the Moonrace, while we mostly see the queen and her subordinates, is made up of the most entertaining characters. Diana Soreil the queen of the Moonrace, a kind and powerful woman that after switching places with Kihel learns the pain of Earth's and her people and learns through her hardships to become a better person and leader. Harry Ord, the personal guard of Diana, is a strong and loyal man who later falls in love with Kihel. The Diana Counter, Moonrace military, is made up of soldiers who become passionate about battle after experiencing war for the first time. And the best Gundam villain Gym Ghingham, a war and battle hungry man who has only experienced simulations and seemingly becomes possessed by his mech the Turn X.
Tomino was inspired by Takarazuka Revue (an all female musical theater troupe) and other performances for his dialogue and voice actor performances, making the characters declare their wants and actions leading to some of the best voice acting in Gundam. From the calm conversations to the action filled battles are filled with great acting. Tomino's eldest daughter introduced multiple actors and actresses to him to play his characters in Brain Powrd and Turn A. With Romi Park playing Loran Cehack, Rieko Takahashi (Diana/Kihel), Akino Murata (Sochie), other actors and actresses, and the legendary Takehito Koyasu (Zechs, DIO, Takasugi, and more) voicing Gym Ghingham.
The character designer Akira Yasuda was told to give the characters clothing from the early 1900s and found inspiration from Victorian, Edwardian, and Belle Epoque eras. And was heavily inspired by Takarazuka's Elisabeth, the character with the most outfits and elegance being Diana.
Mechs and Mechanical Designs
After having seen Syd Mead's works in magazines and even commissioning some art for Zeta, Tomino decided that he would be the best pick for the mechanical designs. Syd Mead brought his futuristic art style to Gundam and the main Mobile Suit, Turn A Gundam, was created from breaking down the Gundam design and recreating it. He even did the designs for the weapons. The Turn A Gundam is one of the best Gundam designs and Tomino makes it the most powerful. Even some old designs return with the Borjarnons which are repurposed Zakus. The Moonrace's Mobile Suits are made up of some of the coolest grunt designs like the SUMO, the first Mobile Suit designed by Mead, the Royal Guard's Mobile Suits with a round shape that fits it's name. WaDoms, giant Mobile Suits with tall legs and dome heads that fire giant lasers. And the Turn X, that was created because of a running joke from Mead, with it's unique almost bug-like design, ability to split into multiple parts, a Shining Finger attack, and is supposedly more powerful than Turn A.
Mead's contributions to Gundam helped change the possibilities for Gundam designs, like the G-Self, Exia, and Age Gundams help allow for more creativity in Gundam.
Animation and Art
Turn A is one of the last anime to be mostly animated through physical cels and filmed with a camera. The animation and art help brings the world of Turn A to life, from the backgrounds, the characters, Mobile Suits, and effects. The animation is consistently great with a few odd scenes here and there. A lot of animators worked on it but the two main ones are Atsushi Shigeta and Masami Goto. Atsushi Shigeta has worked on a lot of Gundam anime and brings his best in animating, he also includes details in his work and perfectly brings Syd Meads designs to life while including the little details. Masami Goto helped animate a lot of the battle sequences and his effects adds a bit of realism and weight to the battles. The characters are amazingly animated with even some characters' detailed clothing not losing quality, there are even dance scenes that had love and care put into them. Yasuda's art and the color palette adds a comfortable feeling to the anime whether the scenes are on Earth or the moon.
Music and Sound
Multiple talents worked on Turn A's music with the famous Yoko Kanno in charge the soundtrack. The first opening, "Turn A Turn", is sung by Hideki Saijo and the first ending, "Aura", is sung by Shinji Tanimura. Tomino originally only wanted one OP and ED, but due to sales had to add more. The second OP, "Century Color", is sung by RAY-GUNS and the last two EDs, "Tsuki no Mayu" and "Kagirinaki Tabiji", is sung by Aki Okui. Multiple insert songs were made and sung by multiple people. Turn A's soundtrack is made up of a neat mixture of classical and orchestral music and futuristic and digital music. Some tracks are composed of tribal like beats and chanting giving the world of Turn A a mystic feel that adds to the wonders of it.
The sound effects are great with a lot of them adding a bit of realism. The SFX in battles are amazing, whether it is the sound of Mobile Suits clashing, the Turn A and Turn X resonating, or the sound of the Moonlight Butterfly.
It is hard to put into words how amazing the soundtrack is so here are links to the three albums.
OST 1:
Turn A Gundam OST 1
OST 2:
Turn A Gundam OST 2
OST 3:
Turn A Gundam OST 3Themes and Inspirations
Turn A takes the messages and themes of the mecha genre and almost perfects them, from themes of peace, love, and understanding. Multiple parallels can be made between Turn A and Ideon, from ancient robots being uncovered, misunderstanding starting a war, trying to bring two groups together, etc. But the ending of Turn A is a positive one, showing the potential of humanity to move towards a bright future of peace and unity. One message is about how we should not hide or destroy history but learn from it's mistakes and move on for the better. The biggest message is about how love and understanding can bring peace. Diana and Kihel try to have the Moonrace settle on Earth peacefully, Loran tries to bridge the gap between the two groups and tries to protect everyone's lives, and multiple characters learn from their mistakes and try to get to know each other. The symbol "∀" means "for all" and can be interpreted as humanities turning point towards peace and the Turn X symbol can stand for the constant repeat of war and chaos.
Tomino was inspired by a lot of things like the Takarazuka Revue with his characters, acting, and designs but the story was inspired by stories like The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, also known as Princess Kaguya, that can be seen with Diana and the Moonrace and The War of the Worlds that had minor elements put into the story.
Legacy and Influences
After the last episode of Turn A aired Tomino viewed it as his "will", were he poured his heart and soul into it and not only him but his staff and everyone that worked on it. He believes that because of everyone working together is what makes it a masterpiece. Making Turn A helped recover Tomino from his depression and he rediscovered the joys of life, even to this day Tomino is still inspired by Turn A. His later works have a lot of influence from it, like Overman King Gainer, Wings of Rean, Gundam G Reco, and even Zeta Gundam: A New Translation which even got a happy ending. Other Gundam works got influenced by Turn A, like Gundam 00's designer Yun Kouga cited Turn A as her favorite and 00 even has some possible references like the GN wings. Gundam AGE even has it's own Dark History.
Turn A Gundam and the Turn X have gotten model kits and have appearances in the Gundam Build series. Games also have references to Turn A like the Dark Souls' enemy called Moonlight Butterfly which looks like what it is named after, and even the latest reference can be found in No More Heroes 3 were a mech has large butterfly wings come out of it's back.
Conclusion
Just like Tomino my life was changed after watching Turn A and having re-watched it recently I love it even more, it made me a more peaceful and joyful person and hopefully others will be affected by it like I was. Big thanks to Feez (
@feezy_feez) on Twitter and their website
tsukinomayu.com for providing a lot of information used in this review and check them out for more information on Turn A. This is my first review for anything so feedback and criticism is welcome.
