|
∀-Gundam (read "Turn-A Gundam") was a 50 episode series that aired in 1999, created for the Gundam Big Bang 20th Anniversary celebration.
It was directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, who had written and directed a number of previous Gundam works, being for all intents and purposes the main creator of the franchise. Having the creator back in the Gundam franchise served to give more prestige to the anniversary, so to speak.
The series is yet another alternate universe, taking place in Seireki (CC) 2345. The series 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 Turn-A Gundam to retaliate. Turn-A Gundam is a dramatic depature 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, which means that the title can be translated as ""For all Gundams"". This is neither an oversight, nor just a symbol used to "look cool" - 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. Some examples:
- Several of the mobile suits in the series are clearly from earlier series - the MS-06 Borjarnon is either a MS-05 Zaku I or a MS-06 Zaku II (depending on the unit using it), the AMX-109 Kapool appeared initially in Gundam Double Zeta, and the G-M2F (AMX-102) Zssan appears to be an altered version of the AMX-102 Zssa, also from the aforementioned show. One of the moon palaces is a Squid battleship from Victory Gundam, and there are similar references to almost all of the Gundam series.
The acceptance of Tomino's grand vision has been mixed, with a significant number of fans treating Turn-A Gundam as another alternate universe.
See also
Preceded by: After War Gundam X
Followed by: G Saviour
External Links
http://www.mahq.net
|
