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Lately, I’ve been running a little low on inspiration. Blogging can be great fun, but it’s hard work when the ideas aren’t flowing as freely. In the last week alone, I’ve scrapped two half-written articles simply because they felt like a chore to write, and after all, dear reader, the last thing I want to do is infect you with is my apathy. I’m thoroughly enjoying the likes of Gurren Lagann, Seirei no Moribito and Toward the Terra, yet I’m finding it increasingly difficult to write about any "current" anime at all, if just because I feel like my voice is drowned out by the sea of fandom; you know, I want to say an episode is cool, but its kind of pointless when dozens of others have already said the same thing.
By way of those feelings, over the weekend I started watching Turn A Gundam. Despite its obscure reputation, respected opinions have assured me that Turn A is the best of the post-UC Gundam productions and to be completely honest, the fact Yoko Kanno composed the music is enough to merit a substantial leap of faith anyway.
As of writing, I’m four episodes into the series and so far, I’ve enjoyed it. For a Yoshiyuki Tomino anime, the lead character (effeminate, white-haired teen called Loran played the stellar Romi Paku) is remarkably pleasant, and that the story has so far unfolded on Earth lends a dash a colour and diversity to Tomino’s typically oppressive, space dwelling back-drop. His ideas continue to fascinate me, as does the depth of the universes he creates; personalities, technologies, cultures, rituals; its easy to lose yourself, to believe in the story — the little details are so important.
Turn A is clearly influenced by a Miyazaki style environmental paranoia. The story begins as three kids (from a splinter human settlement on the moon) land on Earth with a mission to investigate the lush green planet and its industrial society. Two years later the army, mobile suits in tow, invades. Based on these four episodes, there is an obvious lamentation of both advanced technology and its irresponsible use, ultimately leading to the pointless desecration of nature as a power struggle escalates into an all out yet completely pointless war. A number of subtexts can be read into the invasion and occupation of Earth by "foreigners", not least of all a post-WWII fear of Western culture and technology occupying traditional Japan.
Yoko Kanno’s soundtrack is another highlight, epic and sweeping as ever, I’m looking forward to further acquainting myself with the OST. High amounts of nudity not withstanding, the animation is fine, clearly hand-drawn and evoking the sense of depth and life that today’s CG dominated, artificial fare has somewhat misplaced.
kauldron26 
S.A. 
Protodude 
bateszi 
Equitan
whoa this is crazy… i dl all the eps of animea.com a while ago its on my to watch list and i checked this out 4 eps in a long while ago… crazy huh. i put a halt in it to finish off other anime. i finally finished ghost in the shell SAC 1 and 2. and i have to say that sometimes i astonish my self. having had it on my hdd for OVER A YEAR. when i was about to delete it i decided i’d force myself to watch 3 eps because i knew that i should like a show as intelligent as it but the lack of overarching stories was ruining it for me and making me sleep. suffice to say after watching ep 21 i figured i should just catch the ending and i was blown away. to the point where i was asking myself what was wrong with me. ep 21 was especially phenomenal and it was a great show.
however 2nd gig is about a 10000 times better than the 1st gig and is at its heart a love story and an overarching story. a mudafucking love story in ghost in the shell. and it will break your heart many times over. yes ghost in the shell has a love story, and it will break you. i couldnt believe it myself. until i found myself dl the soundtrack (yoko kanno is not human by the way, she is a heavenly siren entity) and i listened and listened to the point where it just hurt to think about the story. and not hurt in a bad way, but in the way that u know spike dies when u listen to the bebop ost or when u listen to the wolfs rain ost. u know they die and its sad but it isnt at the same time…. not sure if it makes sense.
this is why i watch anime. to feeeeeel. however i have greatly digressed from my point about turn a gundam. lol. check out gits if anything just watch 2nd gig. it took me 2 yrs to watch 8 eps of 1st gig lol. however i powered thru 2nd gig in a day. i guess it shows how much ive grown?? just watch 2nd gig u wont regret it. i’ll be watching crest/banner of the stars next. graduating college and taking a couple of months off is awesome man. i swear i havent had this much free time since middle school…
ive been listening to the ghost in the shell ost for a whole day now even in my car, doing laundry and washing dishes… and do u ever notice that people who dont even watch anime like yoko kanno’s music w/out knowing it?? i was with my boys and all in my car going to the mall and they were like yo this jazz shit is tight… and i was like yea… i know… lol… i told u she wasnt human…