Turn A Gundam



"The white wings of moon butterflies Flicker down the streets of the city, Blushing into silence the useless wicks of sound-lanterns in the hands of girls."

- H.P. Lovecraft, Poetry Of The Gods

An Alternate Universe of the Gundam meta-series, actually, it is.

In the Correct Century, the people of Earth are living in a world roughly at the turn of the 19th century. What they do not know, however, is that they are not the first incarnation of mankind. Far in the past, there were humans living on the moon who, after a great catastrophe, were forced to go into cryo-stasis and await the time when it is safe to return to the Earth. In the meantime, they occasionally send scouts to the Earth to see if it has returned to a state where people can live on its surface once more. Among these scouts is a young boy named Loran Cehack.

At the start of the series, the people of the moon (descriptively dubbed "The Moonrace") decide that they and their superior technology wish to return to the open air and full gravity of Earth. This understandably leads to some confrontation with the people already there. Loran, who had been living on Earth a few years ahead of time, has grown attached to the people there and after Falling Into the Cockpit of a mobile suit that has been buried in the earth for millennia, proceeds to defend the aristocratic families of of the Kingdom of Bostonia as tensions build between Earth and the Moonrace, and the threat of war spirals ever higher.

Turn a Gundam (pronounced "Turn A Gundam" - because that symbol's an "A" turned upside down, get it?) premiered in Japan in 1999. It's notable as the last Gundam work by creator Yoshiyuki Tomino, his first outside the Universal Century timeline begun by the original series, and arguably one of his best efforts. It also came after he finally won his years-long battle with depression, thus rather stunningly averting his Kill'Em All reputation.

After years of No Export for You, Bandai Entertainment had announced--using TV Tropes itself to provide the hint (by listing three tropes from this page at random - the listed tropes have been bolded for your convenience--that it would be licenced for a Fall 2011 release, which was confirmed at Comic-con 2010.

... Except not. On January 2, 2012, Bandai Entertainment then announced that the release was canceled along with all their other new releases for the North American market, while the company undergoes a re-structuring process.


 * Action Girl: Sochie Heim, Poe Aijee.
 * After the End: If you believe the backstory, there's actually been quite a few.
 * Ambiguously Brown: Rolan, Miashei and Guin Lineford.
 * Many of the background characters are like this too, probably as a result of all the intermarriage that happens in ten thousand years.
 * And I Must Scream: A Fridge Horror version of . According to supplementary materials, . Given that, there is every reason to believe that.
 * Anyone Can Die: It may not be a Kill'Em All series, but come on, who expected
 * Artistic License Geography: This map places many of the important landmarks much farther apart from each other than they seem in the show. For example, Vicinity and the Mountain Cycle are close enough for young people to travel there on foot in one night, but on the map they're in central Jersey and West Virginia.
 * Ascended Fanboy: Gym, of all people. He finally gets to wage a war and give meaning to his life as a soldier.
 * This may also be a tongue-in-cheek reference to his voice actor, who was a long time Gundam fan before landing various roles in the franchise.
 * Badass: Harry Ord by way of being an Ace Pilot.
 * Berserk Button: Corin Nander does not like Gundams.
 * Super Robot Wars expands this: he doesn't like white Gundams. Other colors, like red and blue (from Gundam X), he doesn't care about.
 * Big Damn Heroes: Loran does this for the Militia very often. Harry Ord pulls it off a few times too.
 * Blind Idiot Translation: One of the songs is named "Puff The Pussy Puzzle".
 * Subverted in the case of the "mountain cycles." While one may think that "silo" was intended rather than "cycle," it refers to the act of digging up and using weapons used in past wars as a vicious cycle.
 * Bloodless Carnage: Not that there's much carnage to speak of, but when there is, it's usually this.
 * Blood Knight: Big Bad Gym Ghingnham and his minions.
 * Bodyguard Crush:.
 * Break Out the Museum Piece: The eponymous Gundam and other mobile suits that are dug out of mountain cycles.
 * Loran tries to do this with the weapons cache that came with the White Doll, but they're so old and ravaged by nanomachines that only one of them works.
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: Corin Nander is pretty loony and at the same time one of the first opponents Loran faced that gave him serious trouble. He's not charming or evil enough for Affably Evil or similar tropes.
 * He's also too down-to-Earth (no pun intended) to be a Cloudcuckoolander.
 * Butterfly of Death and Rebirth: . The quote at the top of the page is extremely appropriate after this is revealed.
 * Chastity Couple:.
 * Char Clone: Well, duh. Harry Ord.
 * Chekhov's Gundam: The Turn-A Gundam itself. It's the first mecha excavated, but soon the series is swimming in old mecha. However every once in a while there will be an indication that there is something different about the Turn-A Gundam. Only as the series nears its end does it truly become an important plot point.
 * The Turn-A Gundam's targeting system. Every time an enemy mecha comes within sight a small window will appear with its name and vital statistics: initially everything Loran fights is unknown. However, when Loran encounters for the first time, the system identifies it right away.
 * Combat Pragmatist: The Militia; they really can't afford to be anything else.
 * Continuity Nod: See Mythology Gag below.
 * Continuity Snarl: I dare you to explain
 * Cool Shades: Harry Ord
 * Dark-Skinned Blond: Frequent both among the Earthrace and Moonrace. Among the main characters are Guin, Miashei, Keith (more of a dark-skinned redhead), and Loran himself.
 * Loran's coloring is probably symbolic. He's a member of the Moonrace who has lived on Earth for years, feels a sense of loyalty to both sides, and so spends the series trying above all else to help them live in peace. And he has silver/white hair, and brown (earth-tone) skin.
 * David Versus Goliath: The Earthrace militias are at a severe technological disadvantage even after excavating mobile dolls from the Mountain Cycles, apart from the Turn A.
 * Days of Future Past: Why does the post-apocalyptic future look like a cross between The American Civil War & World War One? Maybe those scheming Innocents or Magus were obsessed with old Pre-WWII nostalgia pieces...
 * Justified:
 * Apart from the Industrial Neo-Americans, there are Neo-Mayans in Adeska (who worship a ). It's not hard to imagine post-apocalyptic humanity reverting to old cultures.
 * Did Not Get The Guy:
 * Distant Finale:.
 * Divided States of America: Well, they do start working together once the Moonrace invasion hits and the Earthlings find out how far behind they are.
 * Does This Remind You of Anything?: Scheming (though not necessarily outright villainous), technically advanced race comes to a hot, dry place claiming it's the land of their ancestors and they want it back, much to the consternation of the current residents. Hilarity (and sporadic firefights) ensue. Jee, wonder where Tomino got that idea...
 * There's also a reason why many Chinese viewers hate the moonrace.
 * Dropped a Bridget On Him: Harry and "."
 * Dude Looks Like a Lady:.
 * Dynasty Warriors: Gundam: The Turn A and Loran have appeared in all three games, with Gym and the Turn X being added to the second (and the Turn X being promoted to Rank 1 in the third.) Sochie and the Turn A era Kapool also appear in the third game.
 * Dying Moment of Awesome: Otherwise nondescript Moonrace soldier Ralfa fighting off multiple mobile suits so that the Dianna Counter does not get their hands on the nukes he discovered.
 * Easily Forgiven: The Dianna Counter force on Earth is never held to account for its mutiny.
 * Easy Logistics: It isn't elaborated on how the Earth Militia manages to keep their Kapools and Borjanons in working order, . The Turn A handwave this via the use of.
 * Enemy Mine: Loran and Harry team up.
 * Everybody Lives: Well, almost everybody. But since this is Tomino we're talking about...
 * A pretty large number of the cast do die, but it's mostly minor characters and a smaller proportion compared to previous Gundam series, due to the very large cast.
 * Evil Chancellor: Agrippa Maintainer. Too bad for him that Gym is his right hand man...
 * Expy: Will Game was modeled after Brad Pitt.
 * Interestingly, the ship named after Will Game resembles A Star Destroyer painted like an A-Wing. Aside from the requisite White Base-class influences like the conning tower-style bridge and rounded yellow external hatches, anyway.
 * Harry Ord is a subversion. While obviously A CHAR, he's different enough that he's his own character and only shares some basic elements from Char.
 * Harry Ord is definitely more a QUATTRO than a CHAR. Obvious jokes aside, he wears shades rather than a mask, and pilots a gold Mobile Suit. Whereas other CHAR characters opted to imitate MSG Char and CCA Char, Harry is one of the few that really takes Zeta Char and runs with it.
 * Flash Step:
 * Gender Is No Object: Certainly true for the Moonrace. Dianna is the clear political leader, and there are many female pilots and technicians in the military. This is less true of the Earthrace--women can and do join the military, but it's said that they haven't progressed enough to be politically led by "someone in a skirt."
 * Ghibli Hills: No wonder the Moonrace want Earth so badly. Of course, it's been millennia since the
 * It's implied that Ameria is one of the few places where this is true.
 * Gorgeous Period Dress: Girls wear these in special occasions.
 * Gory Discretion Shot: "I don't think those are anything but hands anymore, Sochie..."
 * Go Out with a Smile:
 * Gray Goo:
 * Guile Hero: The mobile suits used by the Earthrace militia tend to be dated compared to the Moonrace, so they do things like get the Moonrace soldiers drunk or lay black-powder boobie traps first.
 * Gundamjack: There are a couple of instances where the Militia allows Sochie to pilot the Turn A, but Loran does not approve. More dangerously, Teteth Halleh tries to steal it and nearly succeeds.
 * Gundam vs. Series: The Turn A, Turn X, and Sochie's Kapool appear in Gundam vs Gundam NEXT.
 * Extreme Vs includes the Turns, Harry's golden SUMO, and Full Boost will add Corin's Kapool.
 * Hazy Feel Turn: Unusually, this comes about because the setting is so idealistic. Hores and his Moonrace technicians have no qualms about helping the Earthrace excavate and restore the Gallop and Willgame; they're more interested in their work than the conflict.
 * History Repeats: Retroactively applied to the Gundam series as a whole, with . The nth earth/Terrans-who-emigrated-generations-ago war is waged this time.
 * Heel Realization: Over the course of the series, Queen Dianna discovers that her policies and army have actually caused quite a bit of suffering.
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: As awesome as Harry Ord is, he does not come with Trombe override.
 * Gym Ginghnham would certainly not go far out of place donning a mask and getting in his Talgeese...
 * The three "hometown friends" would later go on to change the world on their own:
 * Loran becomes a state alchemist and saves the world.
 * Fran Doll tries to take it over.
 * Keith actually succeeds in taking it over.
 * Kouji Kabuto(!) is Agrippa Maintainer.
 * Human Popsicle: Cryostasis is how the Moonrace are able to live for several hundred years. Some have even been in stasis from the Black History, such as Corin Nander.
 * Humans Are Warriors: This is the basis of Gym's beliefs.
 * Humongous Mecha: Turn A Gundam sports some of the franchise's biggest. In particular, the WaDOM is fully twice the size of any other mobile suit mechanical doll, comparable to mobile armors.
 * It also has the smallest mecha in the entire Gundam Franchise, at least among Mobile Suits. The WaD only stands tall enough to reach Turn A's knee. That means the WaD are the same size as an average Knightmare Frame. They're also just as durable.
 * Identical Stranger: Kihel and Dianna.
 * Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Poe for the first half of the series, Corin Nander for a few episodes.
 * Intimate Healing: Harry, on Poe.
 * Karma Houdini:
 * Kiai: Harry's UNIVEEEEERSEEE!!!!
 * Killed Off for Real:
 * Large Ham: Gym GhingnHAM
 * Really, Takehito Koyasu's performance as Gym must be seen to be believed as the man is clearly having the time of his life chewing the scenery with gems such as the famous "GEKKOUUU CHOUUUUUU DEARU!!" Thanks to this, Gym is considered one of the most enjoyable and entertaining villains to watch simply due to the sheer ham he brings to any scene.
 * Harry Ord has his moments. Like this.
 * Lampshade Hanging: Fans breathed a down-to-earth sigh of relief the first time the Turn A is referred to in-series as "the thing with the mustache," and later on when someone asks, of the Turn X, how an inverted X is any different from a regular X.
 * Latex Space Suit: Loran's pilot suit when he goes into space.
 * Lighter and Softer: Than all of the previous Gundam works done by Tomino.
 * Likes Older Women: Loran for Dianna. Likewise Sochie for Gavane Gooney.
 * Lost Technology: What drives the plot.
 * Lucky Charms Title: ∀ Gundam.
 * Actually subverted - the inverted A symbol was put in the title for a specific reason (see Meaningful Name below.)
 * Mayincatec: Adeska.
 * Meaningful Name: Merrybell Gadget and Dian(n)a.
 * The symbol "Turn A" is a mathmatical symbol meaning "all items in a set". Some assume that this is Tomino's way of.
 * The Heim sisters' name is an anagram of hime, Japanese for princess. Additionally, it's pronounced the way somebody unfamiliar with how romanized Japanese words might say it, making it almost an example of Alternate Character Reading, or as close as you can in romaji.
 * Motion Capture Mecha: Parodied by Harry Ord in episode 35. Aboard the, and Dianna see Harry's SUMO "adjusting" its sleeve as Harry normally does. Dianna mentions that it's one of Harry's bad habits, thinking that it's "dandy," while  says that it's funny for him to make his SUMO do such a thing.
 * Multiple Choice Past: The 's mysterious origins. It's vaguely implied to have been created by aliens in the series, but the videogame G Generation F seems to indicate that it was a descendant of the Devil Gundam, as the Original Generation unit Devil Gundam Junior bears an uncanny resemblance to it.
 * No reason it can't be both.
 * Mundane Utility: Gundam washing machine! Gundam cow carrier!
 * This becomes especially mundane when you realize that the Turn A
 * The Mutiny: Major Phil leads one against Dianna halfway through the series, feeling that she is too weak a leader to properly deal with the resistance on Earth.
 * Mythology Gag: Probably one of the things this series is most famous for. Hovering between Continuity Nod and Mythology Gag, the entire Black History is . This is especially noticeable when the Militia starts digging out.
 * Both openings make use of this. Freeze-framing the first opening, for instance, reveals the RX-78-2, the RX-93 Nu Gundam, the Gundam Mk. II, the NT-1 Alex, Gundam Deathscythe, Double X...
 * In episode 17, a Moonrace panics and mistakes lightning for a Militia weapon, similar to a Zeon soldier's reaction in the original Mobile Suit Gundam.
 * Fat Bastard Sweatson Stero attributes Loran's ability to beat him to his superior mobile suit, just like Ramba Ral, but after Loran has already handed him his ass thrice.
 * The Kapool combines several Mythology Gags in one - it's derisively called the 'Ball', referencing the best known Scrappy mech of Gundam, AND the way it unfolds into mech mode brings to mind the Haro. The original Capule was colored blue, but the ones in Turn A are Haro green, completing the illusion.
 * Episode 43 takes this to its logical conclusion, where, as the Black History is revealed,
 * Nanomachines: use these both for repairing themselves, and as an attack.
 * New Age Retro Hippie: The Red Team resemble this. Apparently, your ancestors getting stranded on Earth does that.
 * New Powers as the Plot Demands: The Turn A itself. Loran suddenly gets a lot more familiar with the features in the last ten or so episodes. Were you expecting
 * No Pronunciation Guide: Averted by the show's logo, which appears as the title is being spoken by a Japanese guy you'd swear was British.
 * Nothing Is Scarier: The Earthrace militia aren't put off by the David Versus Goliath nature of their conflict with the Moonrace, but they are so unnerved by space travel.
 * A Nuclear Error: Averted. While nuclear weapons are treated as being at risk of going off by being bumped too hard, this is Truth in Television since it is possible that the warheads seen in the series were impact-fused, or a timer set to an impact fuse; after all, some Real Life nuclear missiles are specifically designed to penetrate bunkers several hundred meters underground, or are impact-fused.
 * Besides, would you want to risk it?
 * Nuclear Weapons Taboo: Explicitly avoided. Some nukes are dug up, and Loran hides two inside the Turn A to prevent them from being used until he can properly dispose of them.
 * Of Corsets Sexy: Kihel dresses, then adds a corset for a better effect.
 * Official Couple:
 * Oh Crap: gets an absolutely glorious one when.
 * Everyone who sees the eponymous "sunrise at midnight" in Episode 26 has this reaction.
 * The Ojou: The Heim sisters, though Kihel follows the trope more closely.
 * And then.
 * Even pulls this off quite well.
 * Perky Female Minion: Merrybell Gadget to Gym.
 * Poor Communication Kills: Much of the arc could have been avoided had  been forthcoming about her true identity, though extenuating circumstances did prevent her from doing so.
 * In fact, a lot of the show itself could have been avoided if people listened to other people, both on their side and the opposing side.
 * Proud Warrior Race Guy: Gym Ghingham, the race being Humanity.
 * Ragnarok Proofing: Many of the machines excavated from the various mountain cycles are in perfect working order despite having been buried for millennia. Of course, this is because of
 * Really Seven Hundred Years Old: Dianna Soreil was in cryogenic storage for a good chunk of time. While she does go in and out of stasis occasionally, she is rather old, as she was able to meet Will Game.
 * Gym Ghingnham is stated to have been conducting military maneuvers for roughly two thousand years. This is likely an exaggeration, though.
 * Corin Nander was the same, apparently for much much longer than Dianna as he apparently suffered some form of brain damage or other while in stasis.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: Sochie and Miashei.
 * Reporting Names: In the same context as BattleTech, many Moonrace mecha get different names from Earth troops.
 * The Reveal: The Black History, a.k.a..
 * Word of God
 * Rock Beats Laser: Averted. Biplanes and foot soldiers don't do much against Dianna Counter; it's not until the Inglessa milita finds its own mobile suits that they start putting up a decent fight.
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something: Dianna's position is anything but ceremonial--she sets policy and makes the original decision to recolonize Earth. She also does a lot of hands-on work over the course of the series,.
 * Lily Borjarno is also a skilled politician who knows how to work an angle and frequently does so.
 * Heck, if we're counting the rich and well-off, Sochie counts, too, as she was a member of the Inglessa Militia before the conflict started.
 * Running Gag: Loran just keeps getting his crotch smashed in early on when Soshi's around.
 * Second Hand Storytelling:
 * Shout-Out: Not surprising, considering the not quite insignificant amount of references to already existing Gundam timelines. Most prominently in the mecha, which include designs (overall and cockpit) and model numbers that reference all the previous Gundam works.
 * The Turn X deserves specific mention for its Shining Finger Attack. At one point, Gym even takes down a WaDOM by picking it up and performing an Erupting God Finger on it.
 * HEAT END!
 * Southern Belle: Kihel & Lily.
 * Space Whale: There's quite a large number of cetaceans living in the Moonrace's sublunarian canals.
 * Not to mention that Dianna's flagship is named the Whales and has whales painted on it...
 * Spell My Name with an "S": The Kapool is romanized differently than.
 * Also, is it "Loran" or "Rolan"? When he gives someone an autograph, it is written as "Rolan Cehack," but the pronunciation seems to be very clearly "Loran."
 * There is a Recap Episode (the only one, episode 16) that has Loran (accompanied in voiceover by two cheery kids) explicitly state that the viewers may recognize the Borjanon as a.
 * Most of the human characters have this problem. Seriously... Loran/Rolan, Lineford/Rhineford, Corin/Colin, etc. Meshy/Meshie/Miashi probably gets the worst of it, and let's not even get started on her last name...
 * Stock Footage: Completely and utterly absent. This is surprising for a Gundam series.
 * Straight Gay:, the first (and so far, only) character officially outta the closet in the franchise. Then again, he might be bisexual, but his onesided love for is carefully held off until the last few episodes.
 * Superpower Lottery:
 * This is a common joke on most mecha/Gundam forums. The at its theoretical full power has more potent abilities than even the infamous Zeorymer. Only the most Super of Super Robots are unquestionably more powerful, like Gurren-Laganns starting from space-time twisting, city-sized Arc Gurren, casually planet-crushing Getter Emperor or reality-warping RahXephon. Therefore, most Gundam vs Gundam arguments end up solved with "." Everything else is basically competing for second place.
 * It could also be argued that since, the doesn't need to beat all the other Gundams; it already has.
 * Super Prototype: Parodied. Gavan chose his personal Borjanon because it looked different from the other Borjanons that his men excavated. That would be because it's a, while the other Borjanons are.
 * Super Robot Wars: Has appeared in Alpha Gaiden and Super Robot Wars Z/Z2.
 * Another Century's Episode: The Turn A and Turn X appear in 3, though they have no plot inclusion.
 * Sweet Home Alabama: Tomino seems to have based the setting on Gone with the Wind. The fiefdom of Luiziana is the most blatant indicator here.
 * Sword Fight: Loran has one with Gym . It only lasts for a few clashes before.
 * This Looks Like a Job For Aquaman: It's a damn good thing that Sochie's Kapool was meant for underwater travel, otherwise.
 * Title Scream
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Heim sisters: Sochie is a Tsundereish Action Girl. Kihel is a quiet Ojou.
 * Tsundere: Sochie, Kihel's younger sister.
 * Undying Loyalty: Harry Ord.
 * Unfortunate Names: Miashei, a mulatto (or something like that) has a surname that most subbers wisely romanize as Kune or Kyunn...
 * The Vamp: Teteth Halleh.
 * War Is Hell: Although it's less pronounced than in other Gundam shows, the After the End setting and Dark History showcase this quite well.
 * The scenes that take place in the military hospital, with heaps of bloodied bandages and a soldier desperately begging the doctor not to amputate his leg, are also an effective illustration.
 * Weak but Skilled: The only explanation as to how the Militia forces, using millenia-old machines, are able to put up more than token resistance against the moonrace. It helps that all those I-Fields do jack squat in deflecting bullets and bazookas, the Militia forces probably have more experience with actual military actions, and they are familiar with Earth's terrain.
 * Wham! Episode: "Sunrise at Midnight." Zenoa, a Moonrace officer, is absolutely horrified to discover a cache of nuclear missiles.
 * What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic: A boy, during a festival in which he takes his rites as a man, ends up piloting a machine that will go on to defend all of humanity and make him a hero. Totally not symbolism for a Coming of Age Story. Nope. Not at all.
 * White and Gray Morality: There are very few people who are actually evil. Much of the conflict arises from a lack of understanding between the two sides when they first meet.
 * Wholesome Crossdresser:.
 * Why Am I Ticking?: Prior to safely disposing of the nukes, Loran has to worry about the fact they are stored in the chest region of Turn A and they could go off if he's hit there.
 * Wrench Wench: Miashei Kun, Merrybell.
 * Writer Revolt: See Wholesome Crossdresser above.
 * Maybe even the whole series as a whole, considering on how different it is to mainstream shows, including other shows in the same genre or even franchise.
 * Why Am I Ticking?: Prior to safely disposing of the nukes, Loran has to worry about the fact they are stored in the chest region of Turn A and they could go off if he's hit there.
 * Wrench Wench: Miashei Kun, Merrybell.
 * Writer Revolt: See Wholesome Crossdresser above.
 * Maybe even the whole series as a whole, considering on how different it is to mainstream shows, including other shows in the same genre or even franchise.