∀ Gundam

∀ Gundam (∀ガンダム), is a 1999 anime television series. It aired on on Japan's FNN networks and the anime satellite television network, Animax, created for the Gundam Big Bang 20th Anniversary celebration. It was also compiled into two feature-length movies titled ∀ Gundam I: Earth Light and ∀ Gundam II: Moonlight Butterfly.

∀ Gundam was the first Gundam TV anime to be directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino since Mobile Suit Victory Gundam.

∀ Gundam is also the last of the Gundam metaseries (not counting the compilations and future video game cut scenes) to be hand painted on cels. 2002's Gundam SEED was the first series to use digital coloring.

On July 22, 2010, Bandai Entertainment announced that they had acquired the license to release Turn A Gundam in the United States but in 2012, Bandai Entertainment announced that they were stopping production, and distribution, of anime thereof and that included Turn A Gundam. Fortunately, following the recent partnering of Sunrise and Right-Stuf! Inc. it was announced that part 1 of the series will indeed be coming on DVD on June 30, 2015 and it is currently available for pre-order.

Synopsis
For 2000 years, a separate race of humanity has lived on the moon. Known as "the Moonrace," their technology is leaps and bounds beyond those that stayed behind on the Earth's surface. Now seeking to return to their original home, the Moonrace send three teenagers - Loran, Keith, and Fran - down to Earth on a reconnaissance mission to test the viability of its environment.

After spending a year on Earth, Loran has become good friends with Sochie and Kihel, daughters of the prestigious Heim family, and he looks forward to fully integrating into Earth society. But before Loran gets the chance to make his report, the Moonrace launch a surprise attack. Earth's primitive airplanes are no match for the superior power of the Moonrace's mobile suits. However, in the midst of the initial attack, Loran and Sochie uncover a long-forgotten relic: a white mobile suit. As a Moonrace, Loran is quickly able to grasp the basics of piloting it, but by doing so, he inadvertently places himself in the middle of a war.

Relationship with previous Gundam series
Image showing relationships of different Gundam series' timeline, sourced from SD Gundam G-Generation DS promotional leaflet in 2005, before the merger of Gundam SEED series into the Dark History Timeline. The 2001 Correct Century, A Bibliographical Study of "Black History", printed in black pages in front of the Universal Century Gundam Officials Encyclopedia, is supposedly uncovered by a fictional Lecturer in Black History named Yokk Wakk Onimott during Correct Century 1993. Onimott spends 2 years to fix the broken pages, 5 years to interpret the language and a year to find a publisher. He states the book was first printed around 3000 years ago by the Rhea branch of the Earth Federation Government University. Included is a picture (drawn by Kunio Okawara) showing a mobile suit supposed to be MS-04 as a S.U.I.T. project of the Zeon forces in UC0072~0075, found in 1993 Correct Century in the mountain cycle Library A-a. The white page introduction by another fictional writer, Minaka Junkers, an economy assistant professor of the Rhea branch of the Earth Federation Government University, states the book was published in UC0100, celebrating the Centennial anniversary of the Universal Century. Thus it is officially claimed that the Universal Century is a time before Correct Century, possibly around 3000 years before the story of ∀ begins.

Cast
Further information: List of Correct Century Characters
 * Loran Cehack/Laura Rolla - Romi Park (朴璐美)
 * Dianna Soreil, Kihel Heim - Rieko Takahashi (高橋理恵子)
 * Sochie Heim - Akino Murata (村田秋乃)
 * Harry Ord - Tetsu Inada (稲田徹)
 * Guin Sard Lineford - Tsuyoshi Aobane (青羽剛)
 * Keith Laijie - Jun Fukuyama (福山潤)
 * Gym Ghingham - Takehito Koyasu (子安武人)
 * Merrybell Gadget - Rio Natsuki (夏樹リオ)
 * Gavane Goonny - Yoshitada Ōtsuka (大塚芳忠)
 * Meme Midgard - Ryuji Mizuno (水野龍司)
 * Sid Munzer - Akio Nojima (野島昭生)
 * Muron Muron - Fumihiko Tachiki (立木文彦)
 * Yani Obus - Takuya Kirimoto (桐本琢也)
 * Joseph Yaht - Setsuji Satō (佐藤せつじ)
 * Corin Nander - Yasuhiko Kawazu (川津泰彦)
 * Cancer Kafka - Urara Takano (高乃麗)
 * Horace Niben - Hirohiko Kakegawa (掛川裕彦)
 * Phil Ackman - Tsuyoshi Koyama (小山剛志)
 * Teteth Halleh, Linda Halleh - Yumi Tōma (冬馬由美)
 * Fran Doll - Kumiko Watanabe (渡辺久美子)
 * Poe Aijee - Yumiko Nakanishi (中西裕美子)
 * Bruno - Kazunari Tanaka (田中一成)
 * Sam, Jacop - Hidenari Ugaki (宇垣秀成)
 * Lily Borjarno - Ai Kobayashi (小林愛)
 * Will Game - Kenichi Sakaguchi

Openings & Endings
Openings: Endings: Insert Songs:
 * ∀ Turn by Hideki Saijo (Ep. 2-38)
 * Century Color by RAY-GUNS (Ep. 39 - 50)
 * Aura by Shinji Tanimura (Ep. 1 - 40)
 * Tsuki no Mayu (Moon's Cocoon) by Aki Okui (Ep. 41 - 49)
 * Kagiri naki Tabiji (The Endless Journey) by Aki Okui (Ep. 50)
 * After All by Donna Burke (First compilation movie ending)
 * Tsuki no Mayu (Moon's Cocoon) by Aki Okui (Second compilation movie ending ~ In its full version right before the ending credits which are instrumental only)
 * Moon by Gabriela Robin

Manga & Novels

 * ∀ Gundam (Manga)
 * ∀ Gundam (Manga 2)
 * ∀ Gundam: Episodes
 * ∀ Gundam (Novel)
 * ∀ Gundam (Novel 2)
 * ∀ Gundam: Wind of the Moon

Production
∀ Gundam takes place in the year Correct Century 2345 (正暦2345年, Seireki 2345, or CC 2345), in a different calendar system than the previous Gundam projects. Seireki is a wordplay on the Japanese term for the Common Era (C.E.) Western calendar system (西暦; also pronounced Seireki). The English acronym CC is Correct Century (コレクトセンチュリー) in the official Japanese ∀ guide book and Correct Century in English in the 2001 Correct Century A Bibliographical Study of "Black History" as the black paged introduction of Gundam Officials.

After the end of Victory Gundam in early 1994, Yoshiyuki Tomino took a five year hiatus from Gundam anime (although he created the story for the Mobile Suit Crossbone Gundam manga during that time). In 1999, he returned to the Gundam franchise with the 50 episode series ∀ Gundam (read as Turn A Gundam) as part of Sunrise's "Gundam Big Bang" 20th Anniversary celebration. Set in Correct Century (CC) 2345, this series tells the story of a war between space colonists calling themselves the Moonrace who wish to colonize Earth, and the Earth Militia forces, which use the ancient ∀ Gundam to retaliate. ∀ Gundam is a dramatic departure from the franchise in many ways. Instead of being set in an era of high technology, it is set in a future that has regressed to the early 20th century. Also, the unorthodox design of the title suit comes courtesy of American designer Syd Mead, best known for his work in the film Blade Runner. The series also features the musical talents of Yoko Kanno, who previously worked on Macross Plus, Cowboy Bebop and Tomino's own series Brain Powerd. The series finished its run in early 2000, and in 2002 Tomino directed two compilation films, entitled Earth Light and Moonlight Butterfly.


 * Director - Yoshiyuki Tomino
 * Character Designer - Akira Yasuda, Yoshihito Hishinuma
 * Art Director - Shigemi Ikeda
 * Mecha Design - Atsushi Shigeta, Kunio Okawara, Syd Mead, Takumi Sakura
 * Sound Director - Yota Tsuruoka
 * Music - Toshiaki Ohta, Yoko Kanno
 * Producers - Hideyuki Tomioka, Yoshihiro Suzuki

Release
The series is available on DVD and Blu-Ray in Japan but due to the problems with licensing Gundam series, there seemed little hope for a release until Right-Stuf! Inc. partnered with Sunrise in 2014. On March 11, 2015, Right-Stuf & Nozomi Entertainment announced that Part 1 of the series would be available June 30, 2015.

Trivia

 * "∀" is the is the universal quantifier used in discrete mathematics: meaning that the title of the series could be interpreted as "For All Gundam". This is proven throughout the series, as it is eventually revealed that the "Dark History" of the Correct Century is a combination of Tomino's Universal Century, as well as the Alternate Universes of "After War Gundam X" (1996), "New Mobile Report Gundam Wing " (1995) +" Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz" (1998) (V) & "Mobile Fighter G Gundam" (1994).
 * As well as "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED" (2002), and "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny" (2004), after the merger of the Cosmic Era into the Dark History in 2005.


 * Several references are made to previous Gundam series: The Turn X uses the Shining Gundam's trademark attack, "Shining Finger", although it looks more like the "Bakunetsu God Finger" (God Gundam's trademark attack). The Kapool from "Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ" (1986) reappears.


 * ∀ is the first series where the name of the main character's Mobile Suit isn't mentioned until halfway through. Most of the characters even stick to calling Turn A "the White Doll".


 * In episode 9, Corporal Korin Nander calls the White Doll "Gundam". When Loran is in Ades, the Adeskans refer to the White Doll as "the White Devil", a reference to the original Gundam, which is also often referred to as the "White Devil". Both of the White Devils belong to the Earth (Earth Federation Space Forces and the Earthrace).


 * The White Doll (∀ Gundam) is one of the titular Gundams to not get destroyed during the final battle.


 * Syd Mead, famous for his designs on movies such as Blade Runner, and Aliens just to name a few, was a featured designer on the series.


 * The mobile suit SUMO, was actually the first design of the Turn A only to be rejected and made into the Sumo instead.
 * Loran Cehack is the only time a character of Southeast Asian descent was the protagonist.
 * ∀ is similar to "Mobile Suit Gundam" in that only one Gundam is shown throughout the series.