Category: Syd Mead

akiman · animation · Atsushi Souga · cels · Fukui · Interviews · Staff Highlight · Syd Mead · Turn A Gundam · Wind of the Moon

Turn A Gundam Resource Compilation (v. 5.0)

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This serves as a consolidation of materials and resources for English-speaking audiences. Contains links to manga and novel translation projects, notable interviews, audio commentary translations, selected blog posts and articles, and a MEGA folder with many goodies.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions on things to add to this post please contact me. You can reach me in the comments below or via Twitter @feezy_feez.

CHANGE LOG:
April 9, 2021 v5.0 – another massive re-haul
April 9, 2019 v.4.0 – massive re-haul and reorganization of content
May 24, 2017 v.3.0 – pastebin relocated to WordPress and re-organized, many new sections added

CONTENTS:

  1. WHERE TO OBTAIN?
  2. MEGA FOLDER
  3. THE HISTORY AND PRODUCTION OF TURN A GUNDAM
  4. TRANSLATION PROJECTS
  5. MEAD GUNDAM
  6. INTERVIEWS
  7. BD AUDIO COMMENTARIES
  8. SAKUGA MAD
  9. SELECTED POSTS, ARTICLES, AND TWEET THREADS
  10. TURN A GUNDAM GROUPWATCH
  11. MISCELLANEOUS LINKS
Continue reading “Turn A Gundam Resource Compilation (v. 5.0)” →
Syd Mead · Turn A Gundam

Mead Gundam

Feez4 Comments

One year ago Syd Mead passed away. He left behind a legacy that shall continue to be remembered. A visual futurist and industrial designer, he contributed much to film, anime, and other media. He was the primary mechanical designer for Turn A Gundam. Director Yoshiyuki Tomino had immense respect for Mead’s craft and sought his services in order to bridge gaps between cultures and mediums.

So naturally that brings us to “Mead Gundam”: a 321-page book featuring design drawings, concept sketches, and notes & annotations by the late Syd Mead pertaining to his work on Turn A Gundam. The book also contains an introduction (TL), a forward by Yoshiyuki Tomino (TL), and closing comments by Syd Mead himself (TL).

Where to obtain?
The book was originally published in 2000 and later received a reprint in 2013, so it is admittedly difficult to order online at a reasonable price. Your best bets for buying the book are Amazon listings (U.S., JP), eBay listings, or other such stores or auctions.

Download link to scans?
Lucky for you, I recently scanned my copy of the book. It is one of the few Turn A artbooks that hasn’t been scanned over the years, so I figured I’d do it myself. This was a long and arduous process of unbinding my book, scanning each individual page, and then cleaning and editing for presentation. I have newfound respect for people who generously provide anime artbook scans.
MEGA

Below is a link to a Twitter thread in which I briefly examined the book and provided commentary based on my knowledge and research. Please have a look if you’re interested in learning more.

akiman · Syd Mead · Turn A Gundam

In Remembrance of Syd Mead, Turn A Gundam’s Mecha Designer

Feez2 Comments

On December 30, 2019 Syd Mead passed away at his home in Pasadena, CA at 86 years of age. He was an industrial designer and visual futurist famous for his contributions to films such as Alien, Tron, and Blade Runner. Relevant to this blog, however, is his involvement in Turn A Gundam. He was its primary mechanical designer.

Syd_Mead
A photo of Syd Mead from his “Mead Gundam” book.

Continue reading “In Remembrance of Syd Mead, Turn A Gundam’s Mecha Designer” →

akiman · animation · Atsushi Souga · cels · Fukui · Interviews · Staff Highlight · Syd Mead · Turn A Gundam · Wind of the Moon

Turn A Gundam Resource Compilation (v. 4.0)

Feez12 Comments

This serves as a consolidation of materials and resources for English-speaking audiences. Contains links to manga and novel translation projects, notable interviews, audio commentary translations, selected blog posts and articles, and a MEGA folder with many goodies.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions on things to add to this post please contact me. You can reach me in the comments below or via Twitter @feezy_feez.

—

CHANGE LOG:
April 9, 2019 v.4.0 – massive re-haul and reorganization of content
May 24, 2017 v.3.0 – pastebin relocated to WordPress and re-organized, many new sections added

CONTENTS:

  1. WHERE TO OBTAIN?
  2. MEGA FOLDER
  3. MANGA AND NOVEL TRANSLATIONS
  4. MEAD GUNDAM
  5. INTERVIEWS
  6. BD AUDIO COMMENTARIES
  7. SAKUGA MAD
  8. SELECTED POSTS, ARTICLES, AND TWEET THREADS
  9. TURN A GUNDAM GROUPWATCH
  10. MISCELLANEOUS LINKS

Continue reading “Turn A Gundam Resource Compilation (v. 4.0)” →

Staff Highlight · Syd Mead · Turn A Gundam

Staff Highlight: Syd Mead, the Mecha Designer

Feez3 Comments

This is the third in my series of staff highlight posts. My sources include various written and video interviews, audio commentaries, and individual research.

Syd Mead is an industrial designer and visual futurist famous for his designs for science-fiction films such as Blade Runner, Aliens, and Tron. He’s an internationally-recognized talent who has won many awards. Mead provided Turn A Gundam‘s mechanical designs.

staff_mead
Syd Mead provided several mobile suit concepts and designs as a guest staffer for Turn A Gundam.

Below is a highlight of info pertaining to his time on Turn A Gundam.

Continue reading “Staff Highlight: Syd Mead, the Mecha Designer” →

animation · cels · Syd Mead · Turn A Gundam

19th Anniversary: Celebrating the Animation of Turn A Gundam

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Turn A Gundam celebrated its 19th anniversary this year on April 9th. Woo-hoo! Now here’s a little treat.

Turn A is unique in that it is the last TV Gundam to be mostly animated through physical cels, a process which began to decline in the anime industry by the late 1990s. In 2015 I made a sakuga MAD commemorating its animation. To celebrate Turn A Gundam‘s 19th anniversary I’ve re-created the video in HD, now with added clips and with fixed errors. Please enjoy.

Turn A Gundam features many animators. Below I’d like to highlight two of its prominent key animators: Atsushi Shigeta and Masami Goto.

Continue reading “19th Anniversary: Celebrating the Animation of Turn A Gundam” →
Interviews · Syd Mead · Turn A Gundam

Syd Mead Interview – Turn A Gundam DVDs

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https://i.imgur.com/UBCBN9K.png

This is a transcription of an interview with mechanical designer Syd Mead by Robert Napton originally shot for Bandai Entertainment’s canceled release of Turn A Gundam, which was announced in 2010. This has often been referred to as the “lost” Syd Mead interview, until it finally resurfaced with Right Stuf’s North American release of the Turn A Gundam DVDs in June of 2015.

The transcription follows below and has been edited for readability.

Continue reading “Syd Mead Interview – Turn A Gundam DVDs” →
akiman · Fukui · Interviews · Syd Mead · Turn A Gundam · Wind of the Moon

The Turn A Gundam Resource Compilation (v. 3.0)

FeezLeave a comment

This is a compilation of various Turn A Gundam resources and materials for English-speaking audiences. I’m taking my previous pastebin and continuing it here in this blog post.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions on things to add to this post please contact me. You can reach me in the comments below or via Twitter @feezy_feez.

—

CHANGE LOG:
May 24, 2017 v.3.0 – pastebin relocated to WordPress and re-organized, many new sections added
see pastebin above for change logs to previous versions

CONTENTS:

  1. WHERE TO OBTAIN?
  2. MEGA FOLDER
  3. MANGA AND NOVEL TRANSLATIONS
  4. MEAD GUNDAM
  5. INTERVIEWS
  6. BD AUDIO COMMENTARIES
  7. SAKUGA MAD
  8. SELECTED BLOG POSTS AND ARTICLES
  9. TURN A GUNDAM GROUPWATCH
  10. MISCELLANEOUS LINKS

Continue reading “The Turn A Gundam Resource Compilation (v. 3.0)” →