Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
DonPetals
Turn A Gundam is a life-affirming masterpiece in the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise and my personal favorite. This is a must-watch for any fan of anime as a medium and requires very minimal knowledge about the wider Mobile Suit Gundam franchise to be invested.
The old-meets-new world is endlessly interesting, and each character that dwells within it is a joy to watch on screen. The art direction, music, and animation are the best in the franchise up to this point. The character development and world building are rich with an appropriate level of depth for the story. Somehow Turn A Gundam turns even the mundane into a mesmerizing affair. We even get great homages to prior Gundam series.
Read at the sourcethewiru
Turn A Gundam is a series of good episodes (When it isn't being Turn A Gundam) in a sea of mediocre to bad episodes (When it is being Turn A Gundam). By MAL standards, this anime is not very popular, which creates the effect that most reviews of it are popular because they come from a sampled bias of Gundam fans.
While it starts with a very good first episode, showcasing the late XIXth century to early XXth century setting, the reality is that most of the anime is comprised not of this, but of pointless mecha fights in green prairies without any personal stakes involved. Indeed, it was the time of "sponsor-mandated one mecha fight per episode", though while anime like Macross manage to structure themselves in a way that it is never a problem or even imperceptible, here it sticks out like…
Read at the sourceSp1cyCrab
Turn A doesn't preach about morality. It's not about a kid learning responsibility during a war and growing up.
The core of Turn A is how people are fucking stupid on the organizational level. Military disobeys its government because they think they know better. Multiple factions arise fueled not by lust for power but their genuine worry for their people.
This isn't typical for the franchise where each side appears to be monolithic (unless you're the "bad guy" then you're doomed for double crossing closer to the finale)
Tomino here wrote to his strength. While Loran is a simple character, he is surrounded by an amazing supporting cast that often carry the show.
There are some pacing issues in the second half but such is a fate of 49 ep show.
This might be the peak Gundam.
Read at the sourceNoahboy
After watching this through, I can confidently say that this is my favourite anime, Turn A Gundam resonated with me in a way that I haven't gotten from any other anime before.
The characters are fantastic here and absolutely live up to the Gundam franchise standards. The show is paced in a way that allows you to understand the characters and see them grow as they persevere through situations of varying intensity. It's not afraid to deal with relatively mundane situations, which makes a huge difference when compared to other Gundam series and I absolutely love it for this. Some people may think Turn A is too silly, but aside from a few moments, I think the tone is really well balanced, having really impactful moments to keep things from being too silly. The pacing also never left me bored…
Read at the sourceA1anne
I saw one of the review saying that there wasn't many fight and I laugh so loud about that.
There isn't an episode without a fight. This is what almost made me drop this. « I am mad cuz i see a new robot in the air, so i'm not gonna ask what's happening, i'm gonna fight » « They are asking for peace, it's insulting, we should fight » « There is a nuclear bomb that could kill everybody at our feet, we should fight for it, who cares if it exploses. » « i'm mad, i don't care who, i'm gonna fight » And so on for 50 episode, at least once for episode.
And trust me, there is no exageration.
Character developpement is non existent. Characters are flat, in a loophole, you take them from episode 1 and episode 50, they are the same.
Story goes around in circle. Etc.
I gave this a 6. Know th…
Read at the sourceTenshouYoku
Without a shadow of doubt, Turn A Gundam, despite some flaws in the story, is my favourite show among Gundam, possibly even among all anime I've seen.
What makes this show stand out significantly among Gundams is probably how light hearted this show is, even when compared to the later Reconquista in G. Instead of fighting continuously and keep on commenting how bad war is, this story is very light on the fighting aspect and doesn't comment so much on the horror of war, but the sides' opinion of the conflict.
Instead of a gloomy atmosphere, with Loran Cehack, an all around peaceful and gentle but capable MC as the lead, the story doesn't decent into the general despair or edginess Gundam usually ran with. The overall lightheartedness and the soft, colourful style used in Turn A Gundam, p…
Read at the sourcekesafat
Well, It's not even close to describe this work as a good under-rated Gundam... .
I hadn't ever seen an unsaturated work to come close to Serial Experiment Lain in term of masterfully harmonized design style, animating style, music style,voice acting style, narration style,, and directorship in one word. they are each different tasks done by different genius artists but in the end it's the director who if not lead, approves of them and puts their work together. so it should be regarded as a whole. Yoko Kanno sure did a great work here but it wouldn't have worked if the other sections where not harmonized by the director. so animating, design, voice acting, character development, and even mustache on Gundam was all purposed to be so-as was the music. so I'd end my talk of those story/art/so…
Read at the sourceManthors
[4th Edit] Turn A Gundam is probably the Gundam series with the most diverging opinions out there. I watched every Gundam released, and, unfortunately, Turn A didn`t click for me. Overall, it is the most confusing Gundam, with the least interesting plot (although extremely original), the most confusing background scenario, and the least interesting characters. More bellow.
Story: You will see many references here if you are familiar with the UC. I strongly advise you not to see Turn A if you are unfamiliar with the UC. The story is already too messy, even if you know it. Here is the thing: the story of Turn A is exceptionally original, and everything you will see in Turn A is entirely different from the other Gundam out there. So, why did I consider it bad?
Well, let me explain - poor e…
Read at the sourcesupedeglupe
I personally think this Gundam is the most successful of all of them. Because it is so different. It gave me the atmosphere I truly desired, getting to appreciate humans living in harmony with earth. The pacing and adventure of this Gundam is also unparalleled. I didn't have to see someone being deployed or read drab dialogue in a war room every episode to still love it. The abundance of characters were not a jumbled mess like most of the Gundam series.
While characters do feel very one dimensional or whiny and confusing in most of the series, (i guess for children to easily understand,) comparably these characters felt nurtured and mature. Not just in terms of personality and likability, but motives, resolves, even their levels of intelligence and self-awareness. This show also was not…
Read at the sourcePoeticJustice
The mid to late nineties was a dark time for the Gundam franchise. After several flops for once famed director, Yoshiyuki Tomino, he seemed to be on his way out from the anime community. His interesting blend of politics, misanthropy, and cynicism was finally losing its novelty. After the poorly received Mobile Suit Victory Gundam, Tomino entered a several year hiatus. The hiatus seemed to have no end in sight until he came back in 1999 with Turn A Gundam, arguably the strongest written anime Tomino has ever produced.
Turn A Gundam is a rejection of Tomino’s prior Gundam entries in many ways. While it retains the anti-war message, it replaces his message of cynicism with a newfound hope in humanity’s future. It seems in his hiatus from the anime world, he was able to channel his feelings…
Read at the sourceTakaCode
Ever since I reviewed Gundam Build Fighters series aka the modern era for Gundam I wanted to check out the Gundam franchise again because Gundam Build Fighters series was the series that re intrudes me to the Gundam universe. At the time the only Gundam show that I saw before GBF is Gundam 0079 and a bit of Gundam Wing. Over the course of last year I started to watch the Gundam universe from 00. Wing, Seed, Iron Blood Orphans and so on. Some were great and others range from mediocre to bad. Now out of the all the Gundam shows Turn A Gundam is the one of the few Gundam shows that doesn't get a lot of hate but has been praised by a lot of anime fans including Gundam enthusiast such as myself.
Hello everyone this is Shawn aka KurataTrigger and welcome to my review of Turn A Gundam and with th…
Read at the sourceCodeBlazeFate
*SPOILERS FOR TURN A GUNDAM. YOKO KANNO DID THE MUSIC. THIS REVIEW WILL ALSO BE REALLY LONG, BUT PLEASE BEAR WITH ME*
So, you've just finished making Cowboy Bebop! The century is turning as we speak! A famous writer presents an idea for a new Gundam show! As you know, some of the last few Gundam works haven't been so successful. Plus, your budget won't be as high this time around given Bebop. Do you take the risk and hope it becomes as successful as Gundam Wing? Do you let it die like some of Yoshiyuki Tomino's other works? Do you think you can pull it off and not let it end up cancelled like with Gundam X? Well, you ARE Studio Sunrise, so you at least try. The result was Turn A Gundam that spanned between mid-1999 to mid-2000. So, does Turn A Gundam make a good Gundam show for the turn o…
Read at the sourceNyren
The Mobile Suit Gundam series has existed since 1979, so 36 years old as of the end of 2015 later this year, and in that large span of time, Sunrise and Bandai have put out a vast array of Gundam anime. And for the 20th Anniversary of Gundam in 1999 they released the first Yoshiyuki Tomino(Creator of Gundam) series since Mobile Suit Victory Gundam, Turn A Gundam. And even when placed against the myriad of Gundam series, and even the black sheep Mobile Fighter G Gundam, Turn A Gundam is a bit of an oddball.
It is a well known fact that Gundam often portrays large scale wars with high death tolls of both soldiers and civilians and the emotional, the psychological effect that it has on the main cast of characters. But Turn A Gundam has neither a large death toll nor any kind of psychological…
Read at the sourceHatul
This is not your average Gundam series.
If you're not familiar with Gundam and the UC universe in particular, then this is not a good place to start.
It does have a stand alone story, but it's certainly not intended for people who have little to no prior knowledge about the franchise.
This is a spoiler free review.
*Story*
This one takes place thousands of years in the future in which the only space colony left is on the moon and obviously its population has advanced technology (including mechs of course), meanwhile, the people on earth are still living in a 1930s way of life. Everything is fine and dandy, until one day the moonrace decide to return to their roots, earth. And of course, a war breaks out.
It is a little different from the usual Gundam since it gives one side of the war…
Read at the sourceggultra2764
Turn A Gundam was created to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Gundam franchise and is directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino. Being of a different continuity than the Universal Century timeline, Turn A made for some of the best material I seen for an alternate continuity to the Gundam franchise thus far. Rather than try ripping ideas from the Universal Century continuity and/or get into overblown antics like Gundam Wing, SEED and G Gundam, Turn A Gundam implements its own ideas and mecha designs to a great extent here.
Turn A depicts a time thousands of years in the future where the space battles of old have left Earth in an Industrial Age-like state and those who ventured into space on the moon continued to advance their technologies from that time. The conflict that arises between the Moon…
Read at the sourceunclesnapple
One thing that has kept the Gundam metaseries relevant over the decades is the fact that it can completely change the setting, style, and characters from series to series yet still feel like a Gundam show as long as it retains some key elements. The great flexibility of Gundam is shown yet again with Turn A Gundam, a series that is not without weaknesses but still successfully tries to separate itself from the Gundam pack.
When I first started watching the show, I immediately connected with most of the extremely likable and interesting characters. Sometimes, it takes a while for characters in a Gundam show to grow on you, but it's very apparent from the first few episodes of Turn A that many of the characters feel real. Loran himself is probably the first Gundam pilot without some severe…
Read at the sourceralfi
with pictures and sounds creating an imaginary world, rich and beautiful, full with doubts and questions live is providing. unfolding an epic story just with giving the actions of the displayed characters in a fully participating enviroment.
thats the way of Turn A Gundam.
i enjoyed it very much, got deeply sought in.
even more than by the literary quality of storytelling and the excellent work of all the participating visual and performing artists i was deeply impressed by the great respect toward nature and humanity as a part of it. the smallest thing was allowed to create its own beauty, the least important character was granted its complexity. so this is giving an idea how far you may advance the art of animated film.
yes.
the title is programme, but again a mark for the thoughtful b…
Read at the sourceStormy_77
Story and Characters
Initially, Turn A Gundam started as a total departure from the normal Universal Century Gundam formula. Set hundreds of years from the traditional gundam storyline, the earth has just began to recover from the depredations of the gundam wars, and the old earth citizens who escaped from the moon are planning a return to earth.
Our protagonist Loran, is one of three "advance scouts" sent to earth by the Moon's queen, Dianna, to figure out if the planet is (1) habitable (2) worth returning to. This is his story. On the way he learns about earth, the moonrace decides to return and he inevitably ends up piloting a powerful relic from past "Dark History", the Turn A Gundam. He also ends up surrounded by powerful, strong women - at least, compared to other gundam series, th…
Read at the sourceHuntsman
I had a few recommendations for this series, telling me this was a great Gundam Series. Unfortunately I can't agree.
The series takes place a few thousand years after previous Gundam Series. After a great war many humans fled to the moon, the remaining humans on earth slowly struggled to survive. Eventually the earth civilization resembles the early to mid 1900s. Then the Moonrace comes back to the earth claiming a right to live on the planet. War then erupts between the moonrace and earth.
The overall story was the best part of the series. I liked the new plot to the Gundam Series, though it did resemble the better series Gundam X. The biggest problem I had with the story was the Kihel Heim/Dianna Soreil story. It wasn't done well and very hard to keep track of.
The characters were the…
Read at the sourceBernard_Monsha
Turn A Gundam marks a turning point in the career of Yoshiyuki Tomino. Caught in a severe depression during and after the production of Victory Gundam he turned out two lackluster projects (Brainpowered and Garzey's Wing). As he came out of his depression he began developing an idea for a new Gundam series to include all the alternate continuities into one the Correct Century. He succeeds with Turn A Gundam.
Breaking away from his Kill 'Em All melodramas that marked his earlier successes, he came up with a much lighter outlook which has shown in the works after. While Turn A follows the usual teenager finding himself piloting a mecha in a war it manages to present plot devise in an interesting and untried way successfully. The Mecha themselves (by futurist Syd Mead who designed Blade Run…
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