Turn A Gundam

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∀ Gundam
∀ガンダム (Tān Ei Gandamu)
Genre	Drama, Mecha, Romance, Science Fiction
TV anime
Directed by	Yoshiyuki Tomino
Studio	Sunrise
Network	Animax, Fuji TV
Original run	April 4, 1999 – April 14, 2000
No. of episodes	50
Manga
Authored by	Yoshiyuki Tomino
Publisher	Kodansha
Serialized in
Original run	December 12, 1999 – August 23, 2001
No. of volumes	4
Movie: ∀ Gundam I: Earth Light
Directed by	Yoshiyuki Tomino
Studio	Sunrise
Released	February 9, 2002
Runtime	120 minutes
Movie: ∀ Gundam II: Moonlight Butterfly
Directed by	Yoshiyuki Tomino
Studio	Sunrise
Released	February 10, 2002
Runtime	128 minutes

∀ Gundam or Turn A Gundam (∀ガンダム, Tān Ei Gandamu^?) is a 50 episode anime series that aired between 1999 and 2000 on Japan's FNN networks and the anime satellite television network, Animax, created for the Gundam Big Bang 20th Anniversary celebration. It was also compiled into two feature-length movies titled ∀ Gundam I: Earth Light and ∀ Gundam II: Moonlight Butterfly.

It was directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, who had written and directed a number of previous Gundam works as the main creator of the franchise. This series was made after Tomino had recovered from his depression that influenced Victory Gundam, and the general tone and mood of Turn A is much more hopeful and less dark than his other Gundam series.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Mobile Units 2.1 Earth Militia 2.2 Moonrace 3 Cast & Crew 3.1 Japanese Cast 3.2 Staff 4 Episode list 5 Openings & Endings 6 See also 7 External links

[edit] Overview

∀ Gundam takes place in the year Seireki 2345 (正暦2345年 or CC 2345), in a different calendar system than the previous Gundam projects. Seireki is a wordplay on the Japanese term for the Common Era (C.E.) Western calendar system (西暦; also pronounced Seireki). Its kanji literally means "Correct Calendar" and is unofficially interpreted as "Correct Century" by English-speaking fans.

∀ Gundam tells the story of a war between space colonists calling themselves the Moonrace who wish to colonize Earth, and the Earth Militia forces, which use the ancient technology to counterattack. ∀ Gundam is a dramatic departure from the franchise in many ways. Instead of being set in an era of high technology, it is set in a future that has regressed to the early 20th century. Also, the unorthodox design of the title Mobile Suit comes courtesy of American Syd Mead, best known for his work on Blade Runner. The series also features the musical talents of Yoko Kanno. The series finished its run in early 2000, and in 2002 Tomino directed two compilation films, entitled "Earth Light" and "Moonlight Butterfly".

It is important to note that the "Turn A" (∀) in the title of the series is the universal quantifier used in discrete mathematics meaning roughly "all units in a set". Thus, the title can be translated as For all Gundams. This is neither an oversight, nor just arbitrarily selected symbol used for aesthetic purposes - Gundam creator Tomino clearly intended the series to be a sort of "unification" of the Universal Century and the myriad "alternate universes" into a coherent whole. As such, the series frequently features cameos of existing technology from the widely diverse gundam incarnations, examples to that effect include:

• Several of the mobile suits in the series are clearly from earlier series - the Luziana fiefdom's proudly maintained army of MS-06 Borjarnon units is, in fact, a collection of excavated MS-05 Zaku I and MS-06 Zaku II units. The AMX-109 Kapool appeared initially in Gundam Double Zeta, and the G-M2F (AMX-102) Zssan appears to be a heavily modified AMX-102 Zssa, also from the aforementioned show.
• In the Turn-A novel and manga, Gwen pilots a machine called the Black Doll, which is described as a giant black Gundam with three beam cannons in its belly and the ability to transform into a box-like form. This description strongly implies that it is, in fact, the MRX-009 Psyco Gundam from Zeta Gundam. The Super Robot Wars and G Generation video games would borrow this concept, having Gwen pilot the Psyco Gundam and calling it "Black Doll".
• The Turn A Gundam, and associated Earth Militia suits occasionally make use of a 'Hyper Hammer', a large, MS scale flail with mounted rocket verniers. The weapon itself bore a striking resemblance to a similar weapon from Mobile Suit Gundam of the same name.
• Eventually, the main character is assigned an excavated land-faring warship identical to Mobile Suit Gundam's Gallop land battleship. Coincidentaly, it is nicknamed "Gallop" to evoke horse-like swiftness, without prior knowledge of its true name.
• Queen Diana's palace is, in fact, an erected Squid class battleship from Victory Gundam.
• Both introductions, as well as Episode 43, present a montage of scenes from previous series as being part of the apocalyptic "Dark History" preceding the events in ∀.
• In one manga adaptation, Sochie finds a Haro while on the Moon. Dianna panics, telling Sochie to get away from it, as the Haro sprouts sharp saw-like teeth. It turns out to be Bug, one of millions of automated killing machines from Gundam F91 disguised as Haro.
• Several characters explicitly mention periods of the Dark History based on the calendar system of their respective series. Most notably the Universal Century calendar system is frequently described as taking place several thousands years before the events in ∀ Gundam.
• Panicking on the battlefield, Corin Nander, a pilot who supposedly served during the Dark History and was subsequently frozen cryogenicaly, briefly sees the XXXG-00W0 Wing Gundam Zero.
• Although Gundam SEED was launched a few years after Turn A, there are elements from the Cosmic Era present. The exterior of Genganam city, the moon's capital, is nearly identical to the outside appearance of Copernicus city and the interior bears a strong resemblance with PLANT Aprilius I.

Generally, acceptance of this theory is spotty at best. Some fans subscribe to a literal interpretation, attempting to piece together the specific order in which Tomino intended the prior shows take place. Others believe the theory, but prefer a less strict delination of time, accepting the show as the cumulation of 20 years of Gundam. Still more fans reject the theory outright, considering ∀ Gundam to be another alternate universe, albeit one in which events similar or identical to the other Gundam shows took place.

One of the more fantastic rumors concerning Turn A is that Tomino wanted to create a series to be a grand union of all his shows (Ideon, Heavy Metal L-Gaim, Zambot 3, etc), not just Gundam.^{[citation needed]} One such rumor states that Tomino wanted the battleship Willgem's main weapon to be Ideon's wave leader gun. When he presented the idea to Sunrise, they turned it down and suggested downscaling it to just contain the Gundam saga and its various alternate universes.^{[citation needed]} Fans of Tomino's works have dubbed this apocryphal work "Turn-A Space".

[edit] Mobile Units

[edit] Earth Militia

• AMX-109 Kapool
  • AMX-109 Kapool Corin Nander Custom
• FLAT-L06D FLAT
• MR-Spi05 Rib
• MRC-U11D Walking Dumpling "WaD"
• MS-05 Borjarnon Gavane Goonny Custom
• MS-06 Borjarnon
• NRS-P701R Godwin

[edit] Moonrace

• SYSTEM ∀-99 (WD-M01) ∀ Gundam "Turn A"
• CONCEPT-X 6-1-2 Turn X
• FLAT-L06D FLAT
• G-838 Mahiroo
• G-M2F (AMX-102) Zssan
• GMIF (XM-0754) Bandit
• JMA-0530 Walking Dome "WaDom"
• MR-Spi05 Rib
• MRC-C03 Verona
• MRC-F20 SUMO
• MRC-F31 (J-2126) Mutto
• MRC-U11D Walking Dumpling "WaD"
• NRS-P701 Gozzo
• NRS-P701R Godwin
• SPA-51 Cannon Illefuto
• TAF-M9 Eagel

[edit] Cast & Crew

[edit] Japanese Cast

• Loran Cehack / Laura Rolla - Romi Paku
• Dianna Soreil / Kihel Heim - Rieko Takahashi
• Sochie Heim - Akino Murata
• Harry Ord - Tetsu Inada
• Guin Sard Lineford - Tsuyoshi Aobane
• Keith Laijie - Jun Fukuyama
• Gym Ghingnham - Takehito Koyasu
• Merrybell Gadget - Rio Natsuki
• Gavane Gooney - Yoshitada Ohtsuka
• Meme Midgard - Ryuji Mizuno
• Sid Munzer - Akio Nojima
• Muron Muron - Fumihiko Tachiki
• Yani Obus - Takuya Kirimoto
• Joseph Yaht - Satsuji Satou
• Corin Nander - Yasuhiko Kawazu
• Cancer Kafka - Urara Takano
• Horace - Hirohiko Kakegawa
• Phil Ackman - Shigemi Ikeda
• Teleth Halleh - Yumi Touma
• Fran Doll - Kumiko Watanabe
• Pou Aijee - Yumiko Nakanishi
• Bruno - Kazunari Tanaka
• Jacop - Hidenari Ugaki
• Lily Borjarnon - Ai Kobayashi
• Will Game - Kenichi Sakaguchi

[edit] Staff

• Director - Yoshiyuki Tomino
• Character Designer - Akira Yasuda, Yoshihito Hishinuma
• Art Director - Ikeda Shigemi
• Mecha Design - Atsushi Shigeta, Kunio Okawara, Syd Mead, Takumi Sakura
• Sound Director - Yota Tsuruoka
• Music - Toshiaki Ohta, Yoko Kanno
• Prducer - Hideyuki Tomioka, Takayuki Yoshii, Yoshihiro Suzuki

[edit] Episode list

1. - Howl to the Moon　 (月に吠える　Tsuki ni hoeru)
2. - Adult Ceremony　(成人式　Seijin-shiki)
3. - After the Ceremony　 (祭の後 Matsuri no ato)
4. - Soldiers from Home　 (ふるさとの軍人　Furusato no gunjin)
5. - Arrival of Dianna　 (ディアナ降臨 Dianna kourin)
6. - Forgotten Past　 (忘れられた過去 Wasurerareta kako)
7. - Training to be a Lady　 (貴婦人修行 Kifujin syugyou)
8. - Laura's Cow (ローラの牛　Laura no ushi)
9. - Corin called it a "Gundam" (コレン、ガンダムと叫ぶ Corin, Gundam to sakebu)
10. - Grave Visit (墓参り Haka mairi)
11. - Nocis Destroy (ノックス崩壊 Nocis houkai)
12. - Underground Corridor (地下回廊 Chika kairou)
13. - Older Person (年上のひと Tosi-ue no hito)
14. - Separated Again (別離、再び Betsuri, hutatabi)
15. - Disappearing Memory (思い出は消えて Omoide ha kiete)
16. - All about Turn A (ターンＡの全て Turn A no subete)
17. - Nation Founding's Dust Blow (建国のダストブロー Kenkoku no Dust Blow)
18. - Kihel and Dianna (キエルとディアナ Kihel to Dianna)
19. - Sochie's War (ソシエの戦争 Sochie no sensou)
20. - Power of Anis (アニス・パワー Anis Power)
21. - Hard Battle of Dianna (ディアナ奮戦 Dianna hunsen)
22. - Harry's Disaster (ハリーの災難 Harry no sainan)
23. - Teteth's Will (　テテスの遺言 Teteth no yuigon)
24. - Loran's Distant Howl (ローラの遠吠え Laura no to-oboe)
25. - Willgem Taking Off (ウィルゲム離陸 Willgem ririku)
26. - Refining Battle (悟りの戦い Satori no tatakai)
27. - Daybreak at Midnight (夜中の夜明け Yonaka no yoake)
28. - Entrusted Object (託されたもの Takusareta mono)
29. - Two of Soleli (ソレイユのふたり Soleli no hutari)
30. - Hugging in Chest (胸に抱えて Mune ni kakaete)
31. - Pursuit! Crybaby Pou (追撃！泣き虫ポゥ Tuigeki! Nakimusi Pou)
32. - King of Myth (神話の王 Shinwa no ou)
33. - Strategy of Manuipich (マニューピチ攻略 Manupich kouryaku)
34. - Fly! To Stratosphere (飛べ！成層圏 Tobe! Seisouken)
35. - Zacktraeger (ザックトレーガー Zacktraeger)
36. - Militia's Space Decision Battle (ミリシャ宇宙決戦 Militia Uchu kessen)
37. - Gateway to Moonworld (月世界の門 Getsu sekai no mon)
38. - Battle God Ghingnham (戦闘神ギンガナム Sentou shin Ghingnham)
39. - Explosive of Small Planet (小惑星爆烈 Syou-wakusei bakuretsu)
40. - Sea Battle on Lunar Surface (月面の海戦 Getsumen no kaisen)
41. - Determined to Fight (戦いの決断 Tatakai no ketsudan)
42. - Turn X Activate (ターンＸ起動 Turn X kidou)
43. - Shocking Dark History (衝撃の黒歴史 syougeki no kuro-rekishi)
44. - New Enemy (敵、新たなリ Teki, arata nari)
45. - Guin's Betrayal (裏切りのグエン Uragiri no Guin)
46. - Again, to Earth (再び、地球へ Hutatabi Chikyuu he)
47. - Ghingnham's Invasion (ギンガナム襲来 Ghingnham syuurai)
48. - Return of Dianna (ディアナ帰還 Dianna kikan)
49. - Moonlight Butterfly (月光蝶 Gekkou-chou)
50. - Golden Autumn (黄金の秋 Ougon no aki)

[edit] Openings & Endings

Openings:

• Turn A Turn by Hideki Saijou (Ep. 2-38)
• Century Color by RAY-GUNS (Ep. 39 - 50)

Endings:

• AURA (Ep. 1 - 40)
• Tsuki no Mayu (Moon's Cucoon) by Aki Okui (Ep. 41 - 49)
• Kagiri naki Tabiji (The Endless Journey) by Aki Okui (Ep. 50)

[edit] See also

Preceded by(in production order): After War Gundam X

Followed by(In production order): G Saviour.

[edit] External links

• Official site (Japanese)
• Animax's official website for Turn A Gundam (Japanese)
• Turn A Gundam at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia