[Haak]

Episode 41-50

Hahahaha...hahahaha...So...apparently the Red team died ages ago and I didn’t even know. Apparently that scene with them celebrating at the end of Episode 39 was them fated to die by drifting off into space with no hope of rescue. I did think it was awfully weird why the Red team was conspicuously absent whilst I was watching the final fifth episodes but I never would’ve thought they were killed off if I hadn’t looked it up. And to that all I can say is...good riddance. They were poor characters to begin with and I don’t think anything could save them without sacrificing consistency. Their death scene is actually pretty well written now that I think about it, but all that does is make me lament on how such a good death scene was wasted on some craptacular characters. And as far as I'm concerned their undying loyalty to a political leader they've never met before is about as commendable as a broken clock being right twice a day.

And on the subject of not paying attention to shit, I’d like to amend something else I said. Remember what I said about Kihel’s character defining speech not making any sense? Turns out Kihel wasn’t announcing the annexation of the Sun belt. She was doing the opposite: announcing that she would abandon plans to annex the Sun belt in favour of negotiations...which makes a lot more sense given how the other characters reacted. I still don’t think that scene is good but at least it’s nowhere near as bad as I thought. I don’t know why I thought it was the opposite. Maybe the subs were bad or maybe it flew by too quickly or maybe I just wasn’t paying attention at a crucial moment or any combination of the above. Whatever it is, I’m glad they did a flashback to that moment in Episode 43 because otherwise I would’ve remained ignorant forever.

Now moving on, the final ten episodes feature two arcs. The first is the confrontation between Agrippa and Gym. I quite like the idea of having to confront two big bads that are working in a symbiotic partnership, though I can’t say I fully understood their motivations (exposition not being a strong suit of Tomino). From what I could gather, Agrippa found that Dianna’s desire to resettle on Earth would only ignite conflict (technically he’s not wrong since that’s exactly what happened) and any sort of conflict would bring increased militarism which he wishes to avoid at all costs due to his fear of the Dark History and his cynical lack of faith in humanity. So he decided to consolidate his power on the moon and tried his best to cut off all ties to the Dianna Counter (and assassinate Dianna as a bonus) so that he could live in an isolated society in peace. Of course, not only does he not see the inherent hypocrisy of using less than peaceful methods to achieve his goals, as Dianna correctly points out, forcing the Moonrace to live in isolation is only delaying the inevitable and there will ultimately be ambitious characters like Guin Lineford that will eventually travel to the moon and bring conflict to the moon whether he likes it or not. In terms of big bad motivations, this is actually rather good and portrays Agrippa with believable intentions but with an equally believable myopic outlook. What I don’t understand is why he ordered Midgard to bring Dianna back when Dianna had been overthrown and locked away (something Agrippa should desire), or why he turns a complete blind eye to the fact that his own society is plenty militaristic already with Gym and his army hanging around. As for Gym, he’s just a straight up warmonger that believes humanity shines brightest during conflict though I suppose this is guided by the fact that his organisation is a military force so naturally he has no relevance in a completely peaceful society. Of course, if he wanted to fight so much then he could’ve just gone to Earth instead of staying on the moon but presumably he wanted to research Turn X first. His motivations may be simple but I still think he’s a good villain too due to how cunning and clever he can be.

In any case, Gym and Agrippa team up to capture Turn A now that its arrived at their doorstep but whatever Agrippa’s plan was from the beginning is ruined when Gym decides to go all out and force the Terran militia of having to choose between surrendering Whitedoll or sacrificing Lily, Guin and Dianna. It’s a clever and dastardly move by Gym but unfortunately its brilliance is undermined by Sweatson who seemingly replaced the Red Team in being an utter joke of a character. However, this creates a bit of friction with Agrippa who is aghast at the thought of any damage falling upon his palace. So they come to a compromise of having Turn A duel with Turn X somewhere else whilst Lily, Guin and Dianna are still held hostage.

Thankfully Harry comes to the rescue with his Golden SUMO. I loved the scene where Harry lulls a guard into a conversation about not always liking what you have to do before punching him in the face . It then allows him to collect Kihel and escaped Gym’s ship, but I disliked how Gym wasn't at all concerned about Harry’s departure and suspected nothing amiss. That was a bit of an Idiot Ball moment there. But it allows a reversal of fortunes when Harry comes to save Lily, Guin and Dianna and then single-handedly wipe the floor Sweatson’s squad (I loled so hard when Harry lost his shit after Sweatson mentioned Dianna’s arse). Meanwhile Loran duels with Gym and Harley QuinMerry Bell (who is delightfully sinister) whilst Dianna and the rest learn about the Dark History. In terms of reveals, the history lesson is a little underwhelming considering I was able to guess the whole thing ages ago. However, I do like its role in the storyline. If the Universal Century was meant to be the equivalent of World War I & II then it follows that we’d get a sequel that’d focus on preventing such a tragedy just like how the aftermath of World War I & II brought about an era of international politics that would emphasise never to let such a tragedy happen again (a lesson that is still relevant today). I also liked Loran’s duel with Gym and Merrybell which was extraordinarily tense but I hated how it ended with Gyms retreat when he could have succeeded in capturing Turn A if he was a little more persistent. The Dark History reveal also causes riots...for some reason. I thought the Moonrace already knew something about the Dark history or else why would they be hibernating and why would they desire life on Earth again? In any case Agrippa gets betrayed by Midgard after he decides Agrippa has gone out of control...and then goes out of control himself before Harry smites his arse. Okay, whatever.

And thus there is a brief peace. Dianna once again takes control of the Moonrace society and Gym can’t do anything because he’s isolated. There’s a nice little aftermath breather as Loran and co enjoy their time on the moon and a nice romantic moment between Harry and Kihel. But wait, there’s a surprising twist! Or at least it would be if Tomino hadn’t named the episode “Guin’s Betrayal”. I mean it’s been hinted for a while so it’s hardly surprisingly anyway but you could’ve at least kept me guessing XP. So Guin (who seems to be the real Char clone of this series) decides to team up with Gym after witnessing just how technologically superior the Moonrace are and desiring the same level of technology for his own country. Furthermore, he wishes to rule over a united Ameria which can only be achieved through force of arms. This is where Guin falls a little flat for me. It’s not surprising that he’d feel uneasy about another side having such a massive difference in technology even if they aren’t immediately hostile so the concept is great but the way he goes about it doesn’t feel like it adds up. In the end he isolates himself by allowing Gym to attack everyone on Earth. He takes on both the Luzianna militia and the Dianna Counter and starts a war on two fronts which is further undermined by his own incompetence when he gets handed the Idiot Ball and allows Turn A to be taken back so pathetically easily. And if Gym causing havoc and isolating Guin wasn’t a part of his plan then he should’ve still known better and should’ve learnt his lesson after he failed to control his own militia leading to Inglessa’s downfall.

The final confrontation on Earth is then undermined by a whole host of other writing issues. Dianna inexplicably returns to Dianna Counter, where despite having narrowly escaped a military coup d’état a while ago, is now welcomed back by Phil and Miran without a fuss. Corin comes back and proceeds to get handed everything to him (despite supposedly being a mentally unstable criminal) including precious screen time just so that he can spout some incredibly sexist nonsense at Sochie and Miashei before taking out Merry Bell and nothing else (I suppose it would be even worse if he actually did something more relevant though I would’ve much preferred him to just be out of the picture altogether). Screentime is further wasted on Joseph when it should be focusing on an underdeveloped Loran and the final fight between Turn A and Turn X, whilst very intense, ends anticlimactically when Turn A inexplicably wraps the whole place in a cocoon presumably to seal Turn X, though no explanation (or even any acknowledgement) is ever given for Turn A’s apparent sentience.

That said, the final confrontation did have some nice fight scenes. Lily’s increased presence was a nice twist and I liked the verbal smackdown she gave Guin at the end, after he threw her away. Guin turning out to be gay for Loran was something that I was unfortunately already spoiled on but it’s still a great twist. I thought nothing of Guin calling Loran Laura until I was told that but it really puts things into perspective.

And then the series ends on an epilogue packed with so many developments, I sorely wished it was given a whole episode to properly explain, especially the whole thing with Dianna. The ending seems to imply that Dianna is close to death due to prolonged hibernation taking a toll on her body (foreshadowed in an earlier episode) and has decided to enjoy the remainder of her life in seclusion whilst Loran looks after her. What I don’t like is that it seems as though he really does love Sochie (who is horribly underutilised and shafted through the whole remaining ten episodes) but decides to be alone with Dianna and there’s no explanation why Dianna can’t just live close to the Heim family so Loran can be with both Dianna and Sochie. If Dianna just wants to die alone and she’s very close to death then I suppose it would make sense but that doesn’t fit in with Sochie’s anguish unless Sochie was actually sad about Dianna dying and Kihel leaving. There are a lot of question marks in that epilogue and thus fails to be conclusive. What’s more is that it ends on Kihel well and truly taking over which is just downright stupid. Just being a good actor and having a similar personality as well as the same looks does not make you the equivalent of someone else and the Moonrace would be better off electing someone with actual experience and the whole glorification of benevolent Queens and Princesses is one of the worse recurring themes of the Gundam franchise.

Overall, Turn A Gundam is a solid good series and really had the potential for greatness but was let down by the execution when it came down to it. (7.8/10)

Now time to go and break DragoonKain’s legs....