Turn A Gundam Staff, Production, and Episode Analyses – OP2 “Century Color”

Turn A Gundam‘s second opening is titled “Century Color”. This song is a collaborative project with RAY-GUNS, who provide the vocals and arrangement. Its lead singer Youmu Hamaguchi composed the song and also co-wrote the lyrics with Yoshiyuki Tomino (under the pseudonym Rin Iogi).

---

“Turn A Turn” (OP1) was unfortunately unpopular in airwaves and dwindling CD sales eventually prompted Sunrise to approach director Tomino about a new opening theme. This gutted Tomino, as he was a big fan of the song and wanted it to remain as the show’s OP for its entire run (read more about OP1’s production here). This is why “Century Color” doesn’t kick in until episode #39, since it originally wasn’t planned to exist in the first place—likewise with “Tsuki no Mayu” in episode #41. While Sunrise executives and Fuji TV producers were relatively accommodating to Tomino during Turn A Gundam, they did make demands when necessary. Then-Sunrise CEO Takayuki Yoshii recommended he have a different approach for the music for the new opening, so the band RAY-GUNS were approached.

Tomino toyed with a handful of ideas to help promote the show with its new OP. The generic approach would be to introduce a mid/late-season upgrade for the titular Turn A Gundam. A “Mk-II” upgrade featuring wings or a backpack system and new armaments, etc., but Tomino could not bring himself to request Syd Mead to draw new designs. Mead’s assigned work on the show had already finished by this point, and there wasn’t enough time to re-open the contact channels and get the ball rolling. Producer Hideyuki Tomioka suggested simply adding the Turn X and Bandit in an attempt to appease the higher-ups, so that’s what they did.

---

Thematically, “Century Color” places heavy focus on Loran and Dianna’s relationship—their Takarazuka-inspired subtle and sweet lady & knight romanticism. It features animation by the show’s prominent animators: Masami Goto, Yoshihito Hishinuma, Atsushi Shigeta, and Akitoshi Yokoyama. Shigeta played a important role in Turn A Gundam, primarily being responsible for taking Syd Mead’s design sketches and realizing them into master drawings for animation, and Goto was a tenured animator who was seen as a successor to Ichirō Itano. While “Century Color” is an upbeat and exciting song with fantastic visuals, it never caught on with diehard fans the way “Turn A Turn” did, understandably so. But it’s my favorite anime opening theme, personally! I even own a copy of its storyboard.

---