Turn A Gundam Staff, Production, and Episode Analyses – Episode #5 “Dianna Descends”

Turn A Gundam‘s fifth episode was broadcast on Fuji TV on May 7, 1999.

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The Moonrace have begun to set up fenced-off encampments to house their civilian returnees, much to the chagrin of the Earthlings. We’re introduced to the MR-SPI05Ω”Jet Stream” (aka the “Mobile Rib”), a cargo and construction utility robot. It’s designed by Syd Mead, who called it a “very strange looking thing”, and highlights his practical designer sense. A recurring aspect of Turn A Gundam is the usage of mobile suits not just combat, but for practical purposes as well, and the Mobile Rib puts this into perspective very early on. Anyhow, rogue elements of the Militia get wind of these encampments and use it as an opportunity to loot and steal supplies and take prisoners. They even try to steal a Mobile Rib in an attempt to begin to understand alien technology. The Moonrace respond in kind, with Poe in her WaDom easily fending off the Militia insurgents. Miashei gets captured and interrogated by Phil, who doesn’t believe that she was acting on her own volition rather than on Guin’s orders. Sochie and Loran (in the Turn A) launch a rescue operation and stop the conflict from escalating.

Kihel and Sochie’s mother makes her way back home. She shows signs of mental deterioration and memory loss, implied to be caused by shock from the Moonrace’s invasion and her husband’s death. Her servants lock her in the house for her own safety. This effectively writes off the Heim parents from the show, a sad loss for both sisters who are now thrust into a warlike situation. Meanwhile, Guin and Harry attempt to continue negotiation talks in one-on-one setting, but they keep going in circles. Both sides blame the other for the escalating skirmishes.

The mobile suits the Militia unearthed are called “Kapools”. If you’re a U.C.-head, then you may recognize the name! They originate from the Capules in ZZ Gundam. As we’ll further see, this is another running aspect of Turn A Gundam—many of the mobile suits unearthed by the Militia bare striking resemblances to previous suits in the Gundam franchise’s history. Turns out Sochie herself has become a pilot of this new fighting machine, which greatly worries Kihel, who wants her younger sister to return home and care for their mother. Sochie rebuts by stating she needs to pilot a Kapool and be on the front lines in order to get past her grief and avenge their father (remember: vengeance is her guiding motivation early on).

The episode ends in a grand manner. Dianna Soreil, the Queen of the Moonrace herself, descends onto Earth. The Earthling and Moonrace officials stand to greet her, with Loran and Harry at the forefront. Loran himself is excited beyond belief: this is the woman he’s admired his entire life, the benevolent leader of his people who sent him off on his scouting mission two years ago. His admiration is shown almost immediately, as he zooms into the aircraft lander to catch an early glimpse of her profile. We also briefly get a look at the Soleil, Dianna’s flagship and the Moonrace’s primary base of operations, a graceful and majestic battleship befitting of its leader. This is an early turning point in the show: Dianna is Turn A Gundam‘s focus character and she has finally arrived. I’ll talk a little more extensively about her later on, but it is evident that her resemblance to Kihel is uncanny!

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