Turn A Gundam

Being an adaptation of the Turn A Gundam anime, this manga follows roughly the same plot. I say “roughly” because it skips a lot of stuff from the original in order to get through to the end in only 5 volumes. I imagine this would make the manga quite confusing to someone who has not seen the anime because it skips over many important events and pieces of dialogue that explain the reasoning behind the things that they did include. This makes it jarring at times and it seems to jump around frequently in terms of character development and setting. The art is definitely this manga’ssaving grace, with its clean linework and detailing that make the mobile suits and other machines pop. It also remains reasonably faithful to the original in its art style for character faces and clothing designs, which is a positive. That being said, I did feel like Loran Cehack and Guin Rhineford could have been drawn with a bit darker skin to be more accurate, but that’s a minor nitpick. The cast of characters is the same, but the characters themselves can feel a bit wishy-washy due to the ultra-fast pacing of the manga. This only adds to the confusion that one who has not seen the original may feel when reading it. This does not mean that the manga is unenjoyable though, and I found it to be entertaining enough. As a result, I do recommend this manga, but as more of a recap rather than a complete retelling.