Turn A Gundam, Part Two – Review

As mentioned in this week in review post, I recently returned to Turn A Gundam, sweeping through the second half and thoroughly enjoying the process. I definitely had some central issues with these episodes – in particular, the moon setting and villains never managed to be half as engaging as the earlier material. But even though you’d think those would be major flaws, this half still felt overall more accomplished than the first. Part of that came down to the fact that the show had real momentum now; in the first half, far too many episodes were given over to episodic stories that didn’t amount to much (with Poe and Will Game’s narratives being the worst of them). Here, even though I wasn’t happy with every choice, things were moving almost all the time. Additionally, this second half also managed to build on and complicate the first half’s best characters, making almost all the dramatic clashes here feel weighted and satisfying. Overall, I’d definitely recommend Turn A Gundam to anyone looking for an easy, satisfying entrance into the Gundam franchise.

You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below!

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Summer 2015 – Week 11 in Review

Wednesday has come again! Once again, I devoured an absurd bounty of anime this week, all concentrated into one friggin’ show. It turns out when I don’t have a day job, I can really crank through those reviews. Who would have guessed! I’ll probably spend next week working more on site interface stuff and freelance work, working towards establishing ways to make funding specific writeups more accessible, but for now, all I can do is marvel at the fact that I’ve probably watched around seventy episodes worth of anime in the last two weeks.

Fortunately, this week was all upside – not only did I watch the second half of a good show, even the weekly stuff put out some stellar episodes. So let’s start right there, appropriately beginning for the very first time over in this season’s reliable Trash Alley.

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Turn A Gundam, Part One – Review

TURN A TURRRRNNNN. TURN A TURRRNNN. Sorry. That ridiculous opening song is has been stuck in my head for weeks.

Anyway! I got to review some good ol’ Gundam this time, and really enjoyed the experience. I’m told Turn A is often regarded as the best (or at least most accessible?) of the central/Tomino Gundam shows, and it certainly does have plenty to recommend itself. A compelling world, an engaging cast of characters, and lots of fun/silly ideas. It’s also marked by some really, deeply weird quirks of storytelling, but I’m told that’s just how Tomino rolls, and I’ve kinda gotten used to it. The weirdness of the telling means this isn’t nearly as emotionally strong of a ride as it could be, but it’s still a very enjoyable one.

You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my episodic notes below!

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