[drmchsr0 - 12 Days of Anime] TURN A TUURN, TURN A TUUUUUUUUURN, TUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURN A~
on December 14th, 2011 at 12:00 pm
Sorry to disappoint anyone who thinks I’m gone for good, but I’m still alive and I’m ready to tear hipsters a new one. And just in time for the 12 Days of Anime, too. I wish I was stuck in a spiral of depression and despair to the point that I’d miss this, but somehow, I managed to claw my way from six feet under. No drills, Gurren Lagann references or cats were harmed in my revival. No, I did not take a cat to the knee.
In other words, it’s just Sayaka-chan. IN GLASSES. :P
Ah well, before I overstay my welcome, I do remember watching the thing that Tomino gave birth to after he shook off being depressed over the commercialization of Gundam (and even after turning the Master Gundam’s hands into a manufacturing nightmare) – TURN A GUNDAM.
I’ll admit that most conventional Gundam holds little interest to me. Universal Century is insanely hypocritical and hilarious, Another Century was what turned me off Gundam, After War is something I have yet to watch, Cosmic Era is arguably bad, 00 seems… a little too close to home for my taste, and everyone knows Future Century is the best era. Not to mention where ever Gundam AGE is set in.
My loyalties lie firmly within the super robot side of mecha. it is the reason why G Gundam will forever, to me, be the best Gundam show to date.
Still, I heard that Turn A was rather… different from most Gundam shows. Well, Syd Mead designed the Turn A and most of the original technology in Turn A, for one thing. I’ve heard largely good things about the show, anyway, so I decided to give it a watch.
Well, what happened next was rather pleasant and didn’t require the sacrifice of bucketloads of named characters.
The story of a single, rather feminine-looking male character from another world, trying his very best to preserve, maintain and forge a lasting peace between his people and his, erm, adopted people. Okay, so the story is a bit contrived and feels a lot like most Gundam plots, but stick with me here.
Despite the painfully contrived plot (echoed much earlier (or later, depending on how you see things) in the 08th MS Team), I have to admit, unlike a good portion of Gundam, Turn A takes the idea of peace and heavily emphasizes it. Yes, there’s the ruined towns, stereotypical dead relatives driving people to fight (a major plot point for a character I hate so much. YES SOCHIE HEIM, YOUR IMMATURITY AND PETTY HATE MAKES ME WANNA FLIP TABLES. SHIRO AMADA SAW HIS ENTIRE COLONY GETTING WIPED OUT BY ZEKES AND HE DIDN’T FUCKING SNAP WHEN HE HAD TO LEAD THE 08TH MS TEAM TO FIGHT THE ZEKES ON EARTH), and the whole heavy handed “SEE THIS IS WHY WAR IS BAD” imagery Gundam is so famous for, but it also shows the other page, so to speak. In one episode, there’s a shot of the beautiful scenery and peaceful farmlands (and the hale old lady who does NOT want to leave her home, despite the EXPLOSIONS). Most of the show has the characters digging up old tech and shows their joy when they finally locate them. There’s a character who maintains peace by… BAKING THE BEST DAMN BREAD MONEY CAN BUY. The Turn A Gundam, a weapon of war, is used to do… laundry.
It’s so… surreal. Most Gundam fans more used to the heavy-handed anti-war imagery would have been taken aback by what I just said. I ate it all up.
It’s certainly the strangest Gundam show I’ve seen up to date. And I loved every minute of it.
It’s not the best Gundam show out there (G Gundam, The 08th MS Team and… War in The Pocket are a lot better.), but it’s certainly outstanding enough for a recommendation. I mean, HARRY ORD IS THE BEST GUNDAM CHARACTER OF ALL GUNDAMS.
Meet Harry Ord. No, that’s just your imagination. He does not come with TROMBE.
Dudes seriously, if Char Aznable dropped with the hate and ambition, he’d be HARRY OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORD. A man more devoted to his job than anything, he even subverts his personal life to do his duty. And may BASED MADOKA have mercy on you if you talk about the Queen’s behind…
Where this guy goes, MANLINESS FOLLOWS. There is no exception. Even Loran’s nuts grew three sizes upon meeting HARRY OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORD. Even GYN GHYINGHAM had to acknowledge his LOYALTY and GIANT ADAMANTIUM BALLS when he UNIVEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE’D him.
Yeah, Harry Ord is so much more of a man than most Gundam protags.
Tomorrow: TWITTER ROCKS
Extras!
Yes Sochie, you are very moe. You are still an immature little bitch, though.
Oh please you can’t tell me Sochie’s ending didn’t make you sad.
I enjoyed Turn-A for its theme of trying to prevent all-out war, rather than trying to end it. Before they went to space, though, there were episodes in there that were pretty boring.
Also Loran crossdressing(also Loran X Harry Ord OTP) was the highlight of the series
Only the tiniest bit sad.
You have to admit, if it was any other character suffering the same fate (with the exception of one Mr. Guin/Gwen “I am so fucking gay for Loran” Rhineford [Please note that this is not a slur on homosexuals, but a slur on Guin/Gwen himself]), it’d have a lot more impact on me. But it had to happen to Sochie. The only character I felt was taking the whole war thing at the most immature angle. So the emotional impact was a lot lessened for me.
To me, though, Loran got the shaft. he’s trapped in a loveless relationship with someone he has admired from afar and I highly doubt he’s going to develop it any further. Hell, even Poe got a fresh start on life (by being Sid’s assistant) and she’s supposed to be one of the minor antagonists. And it’s fucking Crybaby Poe.