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Aug 2, 2017 3:32 AM

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Dec 2015
6449
The first part of the episode was a bit long and I can't make sense of the Moonlight Butterfly effect who "sealed" the Turn brothers and even Ginganham (who was a living being). I thought this "aura" made of nano-machines was supposed to eat away/rust technology, but I saw something else entirely. In the end, the scene is almost going against the fact it has caused the civilization reboot. It looks like something coming out of a magician's hat, to cover the lateness of the series to enter its final phase.
The epilogue was great, among the best sequences composed in this TV show. It flowed really well while revealing us all the necessary informations about the fate of the (quite large) cast, all the while excellently accompanied by a pretty song. My only concern is how Rolan suddenly started a more intimate relationship with Sochie ? I always thought he was too concerned with peace and his will to serve the glorious Dianna. This should come only once he's relieved of that.

5/5


Overall a nice peace story (with its lots of misunderstanding to feed it) in a great initial setting inhabited by a useful and living ensemble of characters. Past the beginning, there were very slow moments who sadly made some later parts seem extremely crammed.
It gave the Universal Century a fantastic finale.

The designs were all good and distinctive enough for a civilizations conflict. But the drawings were below average most of the time and terrible in a handful of episodes, the animation was quite limited at first (probably sparing for the later episodes).

Score: 7.5/10


CodeBlazeFate Where is your TurnA rant? :D
edit @CodeBlazeFate Yes, I know. And I found the blobk of text! Quite disappointed, almost no rant, such a giant spoiler resume (hopefully nobody reads it to judge if they should watch it XD). But there is a thing, Sochie: funny to read about her this way.
About Rolan & Sochie's kiss, did it "bug" you because it was shown as one-sided over the full show? (I thought that)



November 8, 2019
@AAn1430011 I noticed (the vehicles and some suits and screenshots too). But that's more of an afterthought than anything else. Tomino mainly intended to create an epilogue for his création.


April 23, 2020
@ickx May I ask for more about your impression? (genuinely interested)

ickx said:
It never felt like anything 'real' happened in the series.

I understand this sentiment, I thought it was a real problem in Victory already where characters and show simply drifted without a goal but Turn A's different "tone" and overall approach to the war/conflict (primarily thanks to being set before an actual armed conflict could happen) made it seem like a good choice unlike the V series that happened in the middle of a war (or right after if you want). The slowliness of Turn A is, maybe, a manifestation of us (and the heroes) waiting for the war to break?
I guess the same thing applies to the characters behaviours: they were indeed often "different" than what we could call the "Gundam norm" because (I think) preventing war doesn't call for the same approaches than ending a war. It is one of the things I appreciated greatly with Tomino's Gundam (and other early ones): each title tried in its own way to offer a slightly new angle.

Sorry, I 'm not trying to lecture you. Anyway, I wish you to re-experience it later in a more satisfying way then. Thanks for the answer!


January 15, 2021
@St0rmblade I meant Loran : I never saw signs of particular "feelings" for Sochie from him, only the natural concern he kept showing for everyone (that was of a lesser power than his protective/servant desire toward Dianna).
(Despite what could be read through my blabla , I actually love relationships developing without being the focus of a story or scene.)

(Everything is bound to remind you of Lala Ru ! She's like Earth incarnated. More seriously, the character drawing lines and eyes, probably. And the kind of colour hue used for her maybe?)

Ahah, I never thought about checking this kind of MAL character data (favourites), thanks.


PS: now for more Moon people, G-Reco? (or the Turn A movies, although I won't recommend them to you.)

PPS: so many post scripta...
Rei_IIIJan 15, 2021 9:33 AM
Aug 2, 2017 3:43 AM

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Apr 2016
4857
You know I still really like this show and this ending, right? @Rei366

Loran is genuinely the only good real pacifist character in Gundam other than Queen Diana, who is my favorite character in this show. This ending was great as well.
Aug 8, 2018 5:04 AM

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Jun 2015
3462
You can see Diana holding onto the railing for a split second after climbing those few steps very slowly. Yes, it looks like she won't last much.

I still would've enjoyed a better conclusion for Sochie, not because I think she had a bad ending (even though nothing went her way) but because the focus was put into the negative perspective. You don't get to see what she will do, besides letting go of Loran or rendering goodbye to her sister. And it's not that negative after all because she's alive and might find someone better than the always-servant Loran.
Feb 18, 2019 2:38 PM

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Aug 2008
728
For some reason I really thought Guin would bite the dust at the end. I wonder why Merrybell is following him. Not gonny lie, I'm kinda interested on what kinda after stories these two would have.

I think Soshie as a character has matured considerably in this story. I kinda wish I could say the same thing for Loran. To be honest he was already seemingly perfect from the very beginning of the show, there is not much room for any kind of development.

To be honest I'm not sure what happened between the turn a and turn x fight. I wonder if Gym is actually still alive. Who knows, maybe he's just sleeping, and one day will wake up and cause some trouble again.
VVillFeb 18, 2019 2:42 PM
Jul 8, 2019 7:18 AM

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Nov 2011
3473
The epilogue is really beautiful.. I found another "best ending ever" candidate..
The show is compact, we can easily get lost in story with lack of concentration.. But the setting and characterization is one of the best.. Character developments of Sochie, Kihel and even Lily are great ...

I am glad this show have a relatively happy ending.. Some still died (RIP Corin, Kafka, Muron, and others), but at least they didn't kill Harry nor Joseph so Kihel and Fran can have happy ending too ...

I want to give 9/10, but for now I will give it 8/10 because this show never really reached 9/10 in my book except for this last episode.. I will rewatch it in the future, my problem in this first watch is like I mentioned above, I easily lost concentration so I think I missed many things ...
"The Slave is the have-not, the oppressed one with nothing to spare.
But because the Slave is in that despairing situation, having nothing, it can kill the Emperor !"
Sep 3, 2019 6:48 AM

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Feb 2015
4122
I'm very satisfied with this ending and I overall really loved that show. My only real gripes are the odd pacing at times and the repetitive soundtrack. Maybe the final fight between Gym and Loran could have been a little longer too (especially that sword fight). Despite that, this was a really unique and intriguing story.
Sep 11, 2019 12:25 PM

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Feb 2017
2639
Great ending. I am happy that Kihel and Harry got to be together and I'm happy that Dianna got her wish to live rest of her life on Earth. Wish Loran and her got together though, I really enjoyed their dynamic in the early episodes. It was left kinda ambiguous but it mostly implies that he is just there to be her servant.
As for Sochie, I don't really feel much for her. I guess I'm feel bit sorry but to me she was by far the most annoying thing in the show.
Sep 12, 2019 1:55 AM

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Feb 2017
2639
Okay, I had some time to ponder upon the ending and the series as a whole and I think it's probably my favorite Gundam, definitely the one by Tomino. The ending sequence was perfect in almost every way and it's perfect way to end the huge saga that is Universal Century. (I know you could say it's technically sequel to all Gundams coming before it, but to be honest all those references and shots of Wing, X and G just felt like they were there only to acknowledge those shows exist and nothing more. Even characters refer to dark history as "Universal Century").

Setting, premise and beautiful soundtrack by Yoko Kanno made this whole experience unforgettable. Really, "Moon" is a masterpiece.

As a Tomino's work it suffers from the problems that have become his staples. Like weird pacing, characters acting irrationally out of nowhere and for no reason, etc.

Besides Turn A, a lot of mech designs are quite forgettable I feel. Quality of the drawings and animation wasn't that great most of the time which didn't help. Turn A's design is probably my favorite Gundam design and it's shame the quality of the drawings wasn't that great so it didn't give us that many good shots and sequences of Turn A and other mechs.
Mech action was also unremarkable except few scenes, such as the last battle between Turn X and Turn A. Shame because the overall designs in the show were quite good and unique (mainly Turn A and character designs). It didn't do justice to them most of the time. I really wish it did.

Whole final conflict with Ghingham could have been done better. It ended quite abruptly which left me a bit unsatisfied in that regard.

As for characters, I liked most of them except Sochie. Even characters like Red Team and Corin who were really annoying became sympathetic and likeable later, but no Sochie. I hated everything about her since the very early episodes. From her annoying behaviour to her design and voice. I said I didn't hate it after episode 2 or 3, but god, immediately after I couldn't bare it. Isparala mi uši u pičku materinu! After reading some discussions on the internet I was genuinely quite surprised to see how many people seem to like her. I know she gets development but it just didn't do it to me. Definitely most annoying thing about the show.

Other character were pretty good. Many of them were legit great.
Loran was breath of fresh air and is one of the better Gundam protagonist. He is a pacifist done right.
Kihel was also really good character. She was more Dianna than Dianna. Her development and relationships with other characters were good. Especially with Harry. Their romance is one of better Tomino romances and they were cute to watch when together.
Harry was a beast. Great character. His development was really good. Definitely my second favorite character in the show and probably the best Char clone there is.
The best character was, of course, Dianna. Not only was she the best character in this show, but she is one of the best characters in Gundam. I loved everything about her.
Characters like Guin, Liliy and the rest were also good and served their purpose well.

Ending was extremely satisfying. Though to be honest, I expected romance to bloom between Loran and Dianna. Looking at discussions, many people seem to forget that there were multiple episodes early on focused on Loran and Dianna going around and exploring the Earth and its people. Those are probably one of my favorite episodes in the show. They were definitely getting closer and I really liked their dynamic. If Tomino went for it I feel it would be one of his better romances. It really seemed like it was going to be the case with all those moments, characters throwing comments about it, recap episode outright calling it a romance and whole OP2. But it seems it was not meant to be, especially with Dianna's illness. Anyways, they got their happy ending. Loran is able to serve the queen he admires so much and Dianna got her wish of living and dying on Earth fulfilled. While it was happy for them, I feel it was bittersweet for the viewers because Dianna is never going to experience getting older and will die 'young'. I like to imagine that the lake has some sort of healing powers and she will be fine and able to grow old :3

Overall, the good stuff definitely outweighs the bad in my book and it being the great conclusion to the UC makes me give it 10/10.

Edit: I remembered that Dianna went as far as destroying the only picture of her and Will Game as well as destroying the sign on the tree they left, which symbolizes that she decided to move on. So that makes me believe that her and Loran's ending can definitely be interpreted both ways.
TsarkoSep 13, 2019 11:47 AM
Nov 7, 2019 12:16 PM
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Nov 2019
2
WolfWood37 said:
Okay so let's review:

Corin had a HELL YEAH moment, awesome.

Guin that bastard survived...Michael really should have shot him.

Dianna and Kihel switched places again and it looks like for good. Well at least Harry and Kihel will be happy together.

I know alot of people felt bad for Sochie...but I'm not one of them. Sochie treated Loran like crap for pretty much the whole series. She was one of the most prejudiced people of the series. She kind of deserved what she got in terms of her and Loran. I felt more bad about losing her fiance in the nuclear blast.

I felt more bad for Loran tending to Dianna for the rest of her life. Now if they were married and were lovers it would be different but I don't think they got hitched.

Overall the series had a unique but terrible start. However the series improved alot and had very interesting characters even though a lot of them were very dumb and oblivious at times.

I give the series a 7/10. Very good overall, but there were quite a few hitches in the show.


I kinda feel that it had the best most refreshing first episode. It was the first episode that got me hooked...it kinda felt like Suikoden or FF or something..
Nov 7, 2019 12:42 PM
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Nov 2019
2
Rei_III said:
The first part of the episode was a bit long and I can't make sense of the Moonlight Butterfly effect who "sealed" the Turn brothers and even Ginganham (who was a living being). I thought this "aura" made of nano-machines was supposed to eat away/rust technology, but I saw something else entirely. In the end, the scene is almost going against the fact it has caused the civilization reboot. It looks like something coming out of a magician's hat, to cover the lateness of the series to enter its final phase.
The epilogue was great, among the best sequences composed in this TV show. It flowed really well while revealing us all the necessary informations about the fate of the (quite large) cast, all the while excellently accompanied by a pretty song. My only concern is how Rolan suddenly started a more intimate relationship with Sochie ? I always thought he was too concerned with peace and his will to serve the glorious Dianna. This should come only once he's relieved of that.

5/5


Overall a nice peace story (with its lots of misunderstanding to feed it) in a great initial setting inhabited by a useful and living ensemble of characters. Past the beginning, there were very slow moments who sadly made some later parts seem extremely crammed.
It gave the Universal Century a fantastic finale.

The designs were all good and distinctive enough for a civilizations conflict. But the drawings were below average most of the time and terrible in a handful of episodes, the animation was quite limited at first (probably sparing for the later episodes).

Score: 7.5/10


CodeBlazeFate Where is your TurnA rant? :D
edit @CodeBlazeFate Yes, I know. And I found the blobk of text! Quite disappointed, almost no rant, such a giant spoiler resume (hopefully nobody reads it to judge if they should watch it XD). But there is a thing, Sochie: funny to read about her this way.
About Rolan & Sochie's kiss, did it "bug" you because it was shown as one-sided over the full show? (I thought that)


Really loved it..but its not just an ending for UC..but for everything..You saw Turn X using Shining Finger right?
Mar 4, 2020 12:09 PM
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Jan 2016
52
One of the best Gundam stories. The pacing could have been better tho.
9/10 can't wait to revisit this some day!
Apr 23, 2020 3:17 AM
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Jul 2018
564612
I don't care how old this thread is, I just have to get this off my chest:

Worst Gundam anime so far, and my first 1/10
Apr 23, 2020 11:27 AM
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Jul 2018
564612
@Rei_III I was really looking forward to watch this for the longest time and made sure I had nothing else to watch when I did so I could fully focus on it... but it just didn't click

I love Gundam and know their pacing is often on the slow side, but it never felt like anything 'real' happened in the series, I spent most of my time trying to understand why everyone was so upset and whiny all the time, their reactions to events were so atypical of Gundam shows

I'll probably rewatch this next year or something with less expectations,,, because I love Gundam lol
Jul 10, 2020 3:07 AM
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Jul 2020
12
I'm so late to the party and it took a pandemic to finish it.

It's more like a Gundam: Slice of life, kind of understand why some people got bored but I think it's an amazing show.

The ending is quite ambiguous, especially because of the ring and the cane, I've read the entire thread but I'm on the optimistic side.



azerdarkbladeJul 10, 2020 4:26 AM
Jul 16, 2020 12:25 AM
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Aug 2011
6
Personally, I love this series. I loved the original Mobile Suit Gundam and if you loved it as well there isn't much to dislike about Turn A Gundam, I thought that it felt very similar to the original series in many ways. The characters were interesting, the mecha designs were fantastic, and the story was intriguing. And it had so many references to UC Gundam that I could squeal with joy.

Personally, my biggest disappointment was the ending and how unclear it was. Gym, for example, you don't really know what happens to him. You see a few tendrils from the Turn A and Turn X, you hear Gym grunting, but there's nothing beyond that. I mean, I essentially knew what happened to him, it wasn't that hard to figure out, but I wish it would have been more obvious. I also disliked how Sochie got so screwed over in the end... I mean, she essentially lost her sister, her mother is mentally unstable and the man she loves leaves her to go off with Dianna. Which is another thing I didn't understand until I looked it up online. Still, it's clear that Loran loved Sochie, and that was hinted through the last half of the series, and it seems unfair that his loyalty to Dianna is stronger than his loyalty to the woman he seems to love.

I was also kind of disappointed that Guin wasn't killed, I was kind of hoping he would be. But the more I think about it the more I realize that perhaps him having to go into exile and living as an outcast, while he has to watch the world change and evolve around him while knowing that it wasn't by his doing, and Lily being able to achieve what Guin wanted to do himself, was perhaps a much better punishment for him. His greed and lust for power made him lose everything.

I'm not sure why people are complaining that not enough characters died. Why do lots of characters needs to die? How does that make a series better? But there were quite a few deaths, anyway... Gym Ghingham, Gavane Goonny, Quoatl, Mayalito, Corin Nander, Agrippa Maintainer, Teteth Halleh, Meme Midgard, Dylan Heim, Sweatson Stero and Will Game, to name a few. The series also showed lots of people getting blown up in warships and mobile suits. There was plenty of death in the series. :P
Jul 17, 2020 8:48 PM

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Mar 2016
2038
All of the episodes on Earth, before they go to the Moon the first time, are basically perfect. Watching the Militia fight against the technologically superior Dianna Counter was just so much fun, as was watching them attempt negotiations amidst the chaos of so many competing ambitions and deception on both sides. Also, the Kapools are adorable.


In the end the battle all along seems to be for this ambiguity: not too much fighting but not too much peace. I don't know how sustainable that is (things emerge from cocoons) but it's fitting for a show with a guy like Loran as an MC who doesn't want to alienate any side. But a war ends and things go on, it's not like any of this really extinguished the so-called 'fighting impulse' or whatever.

Dianna-Kihel is interesting as an idea, but not so much as a character for me. It's sort of terrifying how easily Kihel is able to lose herself in her role as a queen and never escape from it. Dianna has a distinct personality that goes beyond her political position, but with Kihel it seems as if her existence begins and ends with her adopted status. Kihel's existence is doubly murky, if we think of Dianna's actions as queen as just a role she herself was playing.

I don't have the best memory, but there were allusions to X and G in this show. They really put everything into this one.

As a full-length series this might be Tomino's best directed, and most consistent, Gundam. I might need to rewatch G-reco now, those compilation movies are gonna take forever.
syncrogazerJul 17, 2020 9:27 PM
Sep 28, 2020 5:53 PM
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Aug 2015
83
I'm gonna put this interpretation of the ending to rest, here I go

Loran kisses Sochie telling her that although he loves her too, he needs to go, and maybe it's better for Sochie to forget about him. Although her sister and Dianna intended to not let anybody know about their last and permanent identity swap, Sochie overheard their conversation during the car ride post battle and realized that Loran intends to fulfill his duty as Dianna's servant instead of staying with her.

So Loran is now living with Dianna in the woods, but only as a servant. They sleep in different rooms, he greets her as his master, and Dianna wears the ring from Will Game. Sochie one day decides to throw away Loran's toy fish thing in order to try to forget about him. Unbeknownst to Soochie, Loran is only living down the stream, and while he was picking firewood with Dianna, he found the fish in the river. He realizes that Sochie was still sad over his decision to leave her for his duties, but he still had to fulfill his duties.


Sometimes passes again, Dianna's body begin to weaken further, requiring a cane to walk around until one night, Loran tells Dianna good night, but didn't get any response. Loran never got any response from Dianna. Dianna passes away. Loran having finally fulfilled his duties, creates a grave for Dianna, took his toy fish, and goes back to reconcile with Sochie for a tearful reunion.

Judging by the number of winters shown after the final battle, at least 2 years have passed during the epilogue scenes.

There, that should lessen the sadness left by Sochie's screams.
Ken_ChenSep 28, 2020 7:03 PM
Oct 1, 2020 12:38 AM

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Sep 2014
268
Wew great series all in all, really enjoyed it

I loved the ending with the beautiful music showing what everyone was doing, what a great way to end the show. I wish it had actually ended on that beautiful song though instead of cutting awkwardly to a new song for the ed animation..weird choice

Regardless!!!!!!
I think they were trying to make clear by the emphasized shot of Diana sleeping in bed alone that her and Loran aren't in a romantic relationship

While Sochie had been a lil annoying thoughout the series, she tended to at least always do the right thing when the time came, so I really do kinda feel sad for her for getting such a terrible end.
Dec 23, 2020 10:04 AM
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Jul 2017
187
Honestly thought Gavane was going to show back up. Odd with Sochie and Lauran but I get it. He's a bodyguard. Internet wasn't a thing...no facetime. Good epilogue overall. Very satisfying.

If you are reading this and never watched Gundam before, please don't. Really if you're a Gundam fan, stick through the initial 30 episodes and it really pays off. Loved the tieins to previous shows. Never thought a Gundam could be more powerful than Unicorn but the ability to lay waste to a planet....that's it.

IMO the fits at the very end of UC just fine. RecoG is definitely before this.
Jan 11, 2021 7:50 AM

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Aug 2017
2977
This is the second episode (not counting ep. 16 as this was a full recap) in the series to have no "recap" after the OP

I wanted to expect a swordfight, but was sure it wouldn't happen...pleasant surprise! Well, it was short but still. We got a nice epilogue! I really laughed at Guin's new look xD Almost everything is good but Cancer and Muron are canonically lost in space :( The always useful (no) gundam wiki lists Cancer as dead, lost and alive at the same time (well ok she's alive in another version of the story, but it still doesn't tell me what happened in the anime)...What am I supposed to do with this info? By the way that same wiki claims that Loran is Diana's love interest (there's an illustration of them sort of hugging though)...and that Guin was the first homosexual character in Gundam. Oh, and there's a novel adaptation with designs by Moto Hagio. Cool.
I wonder whether I'll find out the reason for situating the cockpits of Turn A and SUMO in such an unusual place (UPD: Tomino's request was to place the cockpit in the "womb position"; same for Wodom, a cockpit in its "uterus" was requested). Fun fact: SUMO and Turn A are considered to be of the same type (spelled out during the show I think), and, coincidentally, they were both designed by Syd Mead, and SUMO was originally intended to be the titular mobile suit. But geez, this wiki...it asserts that Turn A is capable of teleportation (when in fact its disappearance in the show was explained by some features of light). Funnily enough, the wiki contradicts itself because the detail about lightwaves is written 2 blocks of text later. It seems like teleportation is an "ability" created by Fukui...I'm not surprised.
Another thing about adaptations: there's a novel by Fukui with illustrations that have even more nudity than the show. Huh. Some artworks are like that too (e.g. for the 2nd movie). Squeezing everything from those designs, I see.

Quite a few fast developments, which is expected from an epilogue, but...Diana's ring (in memory of Will Game? The house was Guin's "base" from before, right?) and Sochie's tears after being left behind made me feel various things (and I'm sure Sochie could hear the switching plan - what kind of secret is that!). Still, it's good to see the show end in such a way - a bit like Victory, which also had a "peaceful" epilogue. Main question: did Poe find a better man than Phil, as per Harry's advice? I surely hope so. Also I wish there was a bit more of Lily closer to the end - I wish she could do something a bit more significant...though her final standoff with Guin was rather funny too. I never got the answer to whether she shot Agrippa or not. I'll keep believing that she did (together with Midgard). Another thing left to our speculation is the similar appearance of Kihel and Diana. Coincidence, I guess.


This almost looks like an official art, despite being a fan creation. Cool.
UPD: nevermind, it's an official art indeed.

Rei_III said:
The first part of the episode was a bit long and I can't make sense of the Moonlight Butterfly effect who "sealed" the Turn brothers and even Ginganham (who was a living being). I thought this "aura" made of nano-machines was supposed to eat away/rust technology, but I saw something else entirely. In the end, the scene is almost going against the fact it has caused the civilization reboot. It looks like something coming out of a magician's hat, to cover the lateness of the series to enter its final phase.
...
My only concern is how Rolan suddenly started a more intimate relationship with Sochie ? I always thought he was too concerned with peace and his will to serve the glorious Dianna. This should come only once he's relieved of that.

IMO it was hinted that Moonlight Butterfly's nanomachine effect was not a "given" - we never see the nanomachines activate with this ability (not counting the flashback), maybe because there're more preconditions for it. Knowing that Tomino can have some weird metaphors (like with Axis drop from CCA representing his resentment for the anime industry producers...or was it Oshii's opinion?), I wouldn't be surprised to see something like that here too. Though to me it seems like Loran's will to end the war caused such a "kind" effect (and the nanomachine apocalypse was probably a logical conclusion of human hatred and its pilot's will). Maybe I'm just crazy, idk. Shouldn't the cocoon represent rebirth, by the way?

As for Sochie...I wasn't that surprised, actually. She definitely got more "mature", as signified by her earrings and lipstick (give me my pigtails Sochie back!), and their "relationship" should've come either way and wasn't one-sided (not only did they go through the ceremony together, there were hints at their mutual affection throught the series, either coming from other characters like Miashei, or from Loran and Sochie themselves; it definitely was never the focus, but whenever the hints were there, I did notice them, personally). In any case, what happened in this episode is not a relationship, but rather a farewell kiss. Though I guess there was some relationship before that, hence Sochie's tears (there're timeskips after all).

Some of the last few episodes felt a bit less impactful than they could've been, but they were good nevertheless. I was expecting something more "grand" from the episodes that were leading up to the finale (given Turn A's and Turn X's abilities). More character interactions could've been nice too. Or maybe a sooner final battle and a longer epilogue, maybe even an entire episode dedicated to it. Now I wonder whether the movies changed anything in that regard...

Sochie overheard their conversation during the car ride post battle and realized that Loran intends to fulfill his duty as Dianna's servant instead of staying with her.

Loran wasn't aware of the plan yet, only later. I think Diana's ring could also be a way to trick everybody into thinking that she, as "Kihel", married Loran and started living with him separately - after all, they needed some justification for Kihel's absense! Unless they just told everybody about Diana's identity, of course, which I doubt. Although this theory doesn't make sense given Loran's relationship with Sochie...grr.

We still don't know anything about Diana's parents (neither does she, except for the part about growing food in space). So, her past is still more or less shrouded in mystery...as well as the future of the Queen of the Moon, since Diana doesn't have any descendants. I guess the next Queen (or King?) will be the child of Kihel and Harry, haha.

Gym's fate is also interesting, did he even die? What if the cocoon is akin to hybernation? Would be funny to see Gym awaken hunderds or maybe thousands of years later haha. This gives me some JoJo vibes.

There aren't many winter scenes in UC Gundams, seeing some was nice. Thankfully we didn't get a *nuclear* winter after certain events. Among other rare things are kisses - and here they managed to be pretty impactful and meaningful, I think.

I guess Diana couldn't have left for that house right away since it'd be suspicious. She also had to spend some time with "her" mother, maybe do other necessary things, etc. But after some time...she really wanted to live almost in solitude. Could this be interpreted as a sign of bad health due to her age ("wanting to peacefully die alone")? If so, this plays nicely into the theory that Diana died at the end of the episode.

P.S. Seeing the car in the Heim family's garage at first made me think of Loran's return...but that's just another one :( By the way, why does the series keeps reminding me of Lala Ru? It isn't even the same universe!
Fun fact: for all the negative reactions Sochie seems to get on this website, she still outnumbers Kihel in terms of people who "favorited" her :D

P.P.S. I don't think Diana was dead in the end, lol. She even returned without a cane. Seems pretty healthy to me.

P.P.P.S. The new ship for returning to the Moon wasn't really necessary though - there were plenty of others already! Oh...and am I the only one who thought that Teteth was somehow related to Bruno and Jacop?..

Rei_III said:

@St0rmblade I meant Loran : I never saw signs of particular "feelings" for Sochie from him, only the natural concern he kept showing for everyone (that was of a lesser power than his protective/servant desire toward Dianna).
(Despite what could be read through my blabla , I actually love relationships developing without being the focus of a story or scene.)

(Everything is bound to remind you of Lala Ru ! She's like Earth incarnated. More seriously, the character drawing lines and eyes, probably. And the kind of colour hue used for her maybe?)

Ahah, I never thought about checking this kind of MAL character data (favourites), thanks.


PS: now for more Moon people, G-Reco? (or the Turn A movies, although I won't recommend them to you.)

There was that brief scene where Loran and Sochie were together in the ocean and we could see Loran blushing during his talk with Sochie (due to the sight of her body on the screen, of course). Yeah I know that's definitely not an enormous amount of information xD But it's expected from Tomino since he doesn't like to make romance the center of the story (I guess it's one of the reasons you seem to like him):
https://twitter.com/feezy_feez/status/1349850516700897282

Speaking of Lala Ru, I was actually imlplying the lyrics of the ending song, which "has" her name. Now that I think of it, she does bear some similarities to Diana indeed (in terms of her look)

Yeah, I'm planning to "finish" with Tomino's Gundam soon, looking up to G-Reco and its controversial reputation. Wasn't really planning to see the compilation movies for Turn A, at least not right after finishing the series (do they even provide anything new besides the music?). Funnily enough, it seems like the less episodes a Gundam show has, the more compilation movies it receives (not always true but still amusing): F91 - planned 50 (?) episodes, 1 movie, Turn A - 49 (not counting the recap) episodes, 2 movies, 0079 - 43 episodes, 3 movies, G-Reco - 26 episodes, 5 movies. Leaving out Zeta because it would ruin everything by having 3 movies for 50 episodes xD Though it's noteworthy in another sense too (having 3 different 50 episode shows condensed into 1, 2 and 3 movies)
St0rmbladeJan 15, 2021 11:32 AM
Jan 27, 2021 9:20 PM

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Nov 2012
4705
I might be in the minority when I say this, but I loved this series' first half much more than it's second half.

The slow building/escalating conflict, the focus on it's characters and world building in the first half really drew in into this and got me heavily invested. The turning point came the episode Teteth got killed (ep 23) the first bad episode this series had. After that I felt the show's overall quality dips a bit during the Phil rebellion & Manuipich/Adeskans segment. This last part with Gym Ghingham kind of threw me off too. It felt like suddenly things were happening too quickly in comparison.

I think I like the first half so much because of how un-Gundam like it was. It was a different approach to things which I liked alot and appreciated.

If I remember correctly, It was mentioned at one point that those who were in hibernation for too long had all kinds of issues and Diana Soriel was probably one of the ones longest in hibernation. Loran was just taking care of his queen. The ring she was wearing was in memory of the Will Game guy she fell in love with once.
That seems more rational, was quite confused as to why Loran ended up with Dianna.

I want to give this a 9/10, despite having alot of issues with how the second half turned out. I liked the first half too much to give this anything less. If I wanted to be more strict/critical I'd still only lower it to an 8/10, but my bias would still carry it.
VanishingKiraJan 27, 2021 9:25 PM
May 13, 2021 6:06 AM

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Dec 2017
198
Bored, at the beginning I dropped the series and thanks to its little fandom I took it up again hoping to find "one of the best series", but it was disappointing.

Its beginning is bad, for several chapters nothing happens, THIS IS NOT A SLICE OF LIFE, IT IS A WAR DRAMA, combining both was its first mistake, in addition to its several plot holes and its gundam is OP (and the fandom complains that Unicorn is too powerful).

His direction is not to my liking either, Tomino in addition to leaving us several doubts, he also leaves us some ridiculous scenes (the one of the old woman who does not want to leave her house is the best example, or the one of Gym giving a sword to Loran WTF).

4/10
AquaMercuryMay 13, 2021 9:41 AM

Sep 21, 2021 7:22 PM

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Mar 2013
457
It's a wonderful show but I'd have liked for it to use and explain several key plot points better. I honestly don't get what actually happened at the end with the Turns and Gym. The final battle ends extremely abruptly and that's a huge weak point for the final episode.

As for the epilogue. I interpret it as Loran going to serve Diana until her final days. The final scene can even be interpreted as her dying as it seems strange that he's getting her to bed on daylight and she doesn't answer him. But it's up in the air.

I liked that most of the cast survived the show and we got to see them in the epilogue. It felt like a breath of fresh air especially compared to Zeta, Ideon, Dunbine, etc.

As for thing i'd have liked to see were that supposed Moonlight Butterfly thing in action. They mention what it does but it didn't do it in the end. The Turn A is usually considered the most powerful Gundam out there by the fanbase but I honestly didn't see either Loran or the suit itself doing anything special. Especially considering the show never touched the newtype plotline. The Zeta, ZZ FA, Unicorn, Qanta, G-Self and many others felt way more OP than the Turn A to me.

I LOVED Sochie. Her voice was so good and I loved how she grew
Oct 1, 2021 3:40 AM
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May 2018
8
Finally, completed this show even though the first half of the show felt dragged the second half makes up for it. But I regret watching it because of it being a finale to the series, guess I'll watch some of them later.
Oct 21, 2021 8:09 PM

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Sep 2011
33680
TRI_Mike said:
It's a wonderful show but I'd have liked for it to use and explain several key plot points better. I honestly don't get what actually happened at the end with the Turns and Gym.
The turn A and the Turn X ended up triggering the moonlight butterfly which would recreate the universe the same way it has before it. Gym was just sucked into it where he will be trapped alive for all of eternity watching the world go on.

Immahnoob said:
Jizzy, I know you have no idea how to argue for shit,

tokiyashiro said:

Jizzy as you would call yourself because youre a dick The most butthurt award goes to you And clearly you havent watched that many shows thats why you cant determine if a show is unique or not Or maybe you're just a child who likes common stuffs where hero saves the day and guys gets all the girls. Sad taste you have there kid you came up to me in the first place making you look more like a kid who got slapped without me even knowing it and start crying about it to me

Nov 21, 2021 2:13 AM

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Dec 2016
557
The ending of this series still gets me a little chocked up even 20 years later when I first watched it. Maybe it's the music but when Loran turns down Sochie it still breaks my heart to this day. But apparently if you read the novel the ending makes more sense because Dianna is actually aging rapidly and dying. So Loran is taking care of her for a short time until that happens.

It's a beautiful ending yet it's one where I don't feel satisfied and want to know what becomes of the characters.
Dec 17, 2021 1:24 AM

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Oct 2013
427
I had some doubts initialyy but this final episode really delivered...
I kinda feel bad for Sochie, but if the common interpretation of the ending is correct, Loran can still come back to her someday... maybe.

Corin, shortly before dying (RIP true mvp of the series) had a vision of the Wing Zero. Does this mean he's from the After Colony timeline?

All the other characters more or less had a happy ending. Kihel became the Queen and got to stay with Harry, Fran and Joseph had a son, Poe went mountain climbing with old man Syd, Bruno and Jacop put up a Gundam themed marionette show and so on... Oh, and Guin became a sea captain and sailed off with Marrybell, probably in (self inflicted?) exile. A bit random but it was also kinda cool; I guess they will discover Europe or something.

Anyway this show was amazing and despite some imperfections the plot was incredibly refreshing. The whole switch between Dianna and Kihel kept the story constantly engaging and the setting made the series different from everything Gundam was before it aired.
10/10 easily, I adored the cast and I'm thankful to Tomino firstly for not screwing them up for cheap drama points and secondly for giving everyone their time to shine.
As for the soundtrack, well it's Yoko Kanno, of course it's amazing. Not eclectic as the CB or Macross Plus soundtrack, but still full of memorable tunes.

One last thing:
Jan 19, 2022 2:33 PM

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Jul 2020
80
So After War Gundam X wasn't good enough to run for 50 episodes and got cancelled but this absolute garbage was fine? Really Sunrise?
Mar 23, 2022 12:06 PM

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Nov 2009
1402
This was a hot mess. Entertaining, admittedly, but still a mess. 7/10

A pretty good ending, as far as endings go. I'm of the opinion that Loran said a final goodbye to Sochie and has no intention of going back to her even after Diana dies, thus her throwing away his precious toy with vehemence. I didn't like her much anyway, she's spent most of the series as an unreasonable, jealous, spoiled and annoying hothead, so I can't honestly bring myself to feel for her. I think I'd be interested to learn more about the journey of such unlikely companions as Guin and Merrybell, given their respective personalities it looks like it could be fun.
ったく、嫌な世の中だよ。
Aug 9, 2022 4:23 PM

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Oct 2010
80
Loran pretty much turned down Sochie, and I do think the last scene was meant to be Dianna dying?

Loran decided to grant her wish to die quietly on earth as she had wished to do with Will Game.

Loved the main cast, definitely really good written characters. Ghingham and the Diana Counter guys not so much...

Guin had potential to become a really good antagonist but it felt rushed how he decided to side with Ghingham. He was already in a position to ask for anything from Dianna and probably becoming president of Ameria.

The music 10/10.

Overall really good, almost a masterpiece.

AndiuxyAug 9, 2022 4:27 PM
「Self Aware Cringy Weeb」
Aug 17, 2022 10:05 PM
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Sep 2017
502
One of Tomino best works(alongside Ideon:be Invoked).

I don't have any issue with the story. Man, kinda feel bad for Sochie 😔

Overall, 10/10
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Sep 3, 2022 2:49 AM

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Apr 2016
190
I actually find the relationship between Rolan, Sochie and Diana handled surprisingly well
Diana needs a normal life and Rolan may be the only guy who can accompany her in somewhere secluded
Rolan still loves Sochie but maybe Diana needs him more or he loves Diana more(romantical or not) since he has been admiring her before the series even began
Might be nicer if Rolan showed more romantical interest to other(s) in the main story instead of just in epilogue but this ending is still very neat.

Overall the action of this show is like the biggest turnoff. And the annoying, cartoonish antagonists are the second. (Looking at you war criminal crybaby Poe who murdered countless civilians when she's not remotely in danger and was just mildly annoyed by some planes, and somehow got a lot of love by the show while portrayed as an underdog)
I don't know if it said more about the show or about me that laundry gundam is my favorite episode but I still don't like the show

First > ZZ (forgive first 20 eps) > CCA > Zeta > Unicorn > Turn A for me
Apr 26, 2023 10:53 AM

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May 2019
1887
What a ride of a Gundam story this is. It takes me less than 1 week to binge the show. I never thought of being sucked into their world and the characters. I enjoy every second of my viewing and I love the whole cast and their journey to bring peace between the Terrans and the Moon race. The political intrigue and the double bodies play really sold it for me. All of the characters are very well written with their idiosyncrasies, thoughts and views are conveyed extremely well. I love Dianna as a character so much and the pairing between Harry and Kihel. Although its ending is a bit weak but I think it's still very good. The journey is what matters more to me rather than the destination. With the final villain like Ghringham being a bit rushed like everyone else says, at least this show gives the very best and most fitting epilogue for everyone. Yeah, Sochie is the only one that gets a bad end it looks like. Although Dianna gets to live her peaceful life in the woods just like what she wanted, her life ultimately is not long and it's good to have Loran by her side to serve her in her final day. Looking back at my journey with the Gundam franchise, I never have the fondest memory of it. It still left a bad taste for me (Universal Century), because of the Newtypes BS and the angsty teens. But after I finished this show, I think I would check the other centuries too to see what the whole franchise has to offer. This Gundam is like no other Gundam and it offers the best character-driven Gundam story ever. With its overall aesthetic, atmosphere and its godly soundtrack to boot. I'm quite satisfied with its ending so I could give a full score for maximum enjoyment.
VivaceRexApr 27, 2023 11:20 AM
                                                                   


Apr 29, 2023 3:41 AM
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Apr 2022
74
Show Rate Meter Guide  - (5 Great _ 4 Good _ 3 Fine _ 2 Not Good _ 1 Bad).(dismal are sometimes needed)
[Story] - 4.5   
[Art/Animation] - 4.5
[Sound/Music] - 3.5
[M-Character] - 4.5
[S-Character] - 4
[Enjoyment] - 4.5
[Overall] - 4
All Mains Were Great story was a none-stop interesting ride form beginning to end.
CcCharlesDec 28, 2023 9:54 AM
Aug 1, 2023 3:18 AM
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Aug 2023
3
One of the most profound endings to any anime ever.
Aug 13, 2023 11:58 AM

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Nov 2007
102
Despite having some problems about staying involved with the show around the midpoint, the way it ended resonated with me a whole lot more than I had expected. The series got a lot better once the cast made it to space and I am surprised by how much I enjoyed the last third. This ending was really great, despite the final battle being kind of underwhelming.

Some unorganized thoughts:

  • Dianna and Kihel trading places again at the end feels a little like a spur-of-the-moment decision. I've heard people say that Kihel makes mention in the series of having aspirations of being more than just a local mining baron's daughter, but I may have missed that, because that final switch, despite being aware of it beforehand, came out of nowhere. I am surprised Kihel would just leave everything behind and go to the moon to rule as Dianna there. If they had said this would be a temporary thing so the real Dianna can enjoy a peaceful life on Earth for a while, it would have made more sense to me. Though I have also heard people discuss the fact that Dianna might not have much time left anyway.
  • It took a long time for me to be alright with Sochie, I'd say until around the time when Gavane died. Until roughly that point, she was easily my least favorite character in the series with her brashness, her constant racism against the Moonrace and her admittedly somewhat annoying voice. Still, she got better eventually and I actually felt quite sorry for her in the end. This poor girl as been through hell over the course of the series and still does completely unrewarded at the end. Her family home gets destroyed in the initial landing of the Moonrace and her father gets killed and her mother goes a little crazy as a result; Loran, who she had a thing for, revealed himself to be a Moonrace; the other man who expressed interest in her and wanted to marry her, Gavane Gooney, gets unceremoniously blown up by a nuke; her sister decides to trade places with Queen Dianna for good and return to the moon, while Loran leaves Sochie behind to be with Dianna. It really can't get much worse than that. I guess all of Tomino's work into writing strong, interesting female characters went into Dianna and Kihel and there wasn't much left for poor Sochie Heim.
  • I am surprised to see that Guin Rhineford survived this series. I guess he will try to gain fame and fortune elsewhere in the world of Turn A, though I doubt he learned his lesson. At least he got forsaken by everyone else, except Merrybell, who he just took with him I guess.
  • The one area that I think the ending to be lacking in is in addressing how the conflict between Earthers and Moonrace concluded. Did the Moonrace just go back to the moon? Was an agreement for colonization reached? The show doesn't say and I find that annoying. Indeed, the entire conflict between Earth and the moon felt a little weird to me, particularly in the first parts of the show because people were fighting in random skirmishes despite the leaders on both sides telling them to not to that and let the conflict be handled diplomatically. In that regard, that coup by Phil Ackmann should have happened a lot sooner. Speaking of him, did I miss something, or why did he and his faction decide to accept Dianna as their queen again?




Nov 29, 2023 7:35 AM

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Jul 2017
890
This was a wonderful, beautifully written ending, and i LOVE the fact that is vague and up to your interpretation.
I feel bad for sochie, but Loran and Dianna are perfect togheter.
The show has its lows, but its highs were truly good.
I loved the uniqueness of the story, the likeable characters and the setting.
I think Loran and Dianna will join my list of favorite anime characters, a deserved place for two beautifully written characters.
The art was very good and the music was one of the best i have ever heard.
Overall, 9/10 for me, one of my favorite Gundam shows.
''Touch the darkness inside me''
Nov 30, 2023 7:12 AM

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Mar 2018
208
I'm slightly disappointed with the series in general, as my enjoyment was relatively high when they were on Earth. From the moment they went to space, the episodes became so boring, it almost felt like it was a different series...

The thing that bothers me the most is the fact that the main villain (Gym Ghingham) only appears near the end. That made all the fights in the final episodes so boring as I couldn't care less about him and the other soldiers from the moon...........

As a whole I can't really see why this Gundam entry is so praised (among my mutuals), there's nothing that stands out... I'm thinking on giving this a 5, maybe a 6 because I enjoyed the majority of it but the final episodes were so boring that they're the ones that stood out the most.
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