[4Tran]

wingdarkness, what you said is pretty much true for every single Gundam show until Seed. I may be wrong, but I think that there's either an action sequence or combat in every single episode of these Gundam shows except for recap episodes and episode 1 of Turn A. In fact, a lot of those episodes had action sequences even where one wasn't really needed, or where one would interrupt the flow of the storyline.

However, even with action sequences tacked on, the early part of Turn A is strictly drama-oriented. The pacing and the themes tend to tone the action down by quite a bit. Of course, this fits my tastes pretty well, so I enjoyed it immensely. I felt that it was a bit of a shame that it became more of an action show in the last half.

The point that you make about the cultural elements is quite good. However, I don't think that the execution was completely successful. The best part was actually the pseudo-Turn of the Century feel of CC North America. I think that Turn A capture the mood and the (romanticised) optimism of the period very well. It was a real breath of fresh air compared to regular Gundam shows.