In a series of blog posts I would like to give my short thoughts on perhaps my favourite series of books set in the Gundam universe, Cocoon in the Moon, Fruit on the Earth. This will likely be the shortest of the planned three blog posts.
As of my writing of this post, these books are only available in Japanese, and I am doubtful that we will ever see an official English translation, but I can always hope.
Written by Harutoshi Fukui, who would later go on to write the Moon Gundam manga and the Gundam Unicorn series, the books were released in April and June of 2000, shortly after the airing of the Turn A Gundam TV show, and were originally a two-part book series that in later print editions were revised into three.
Yoshiyuki Tomino, father of the Gundam franchise as well as creator and main director of the Turn A Gundam TV show in an excerpt at the end of the first book explains that Fukui was provided the initial planning documents for the first part of the TV show as well as the “essence of the love story”. Unfortunately I could not find much information online regarding just how much information Fukui was provided, or how the TV show’s ongoing development affected the book’s story.
Generally speaking the books ditch the whimsical tone of the show in favor of a somewhat grounded take on the story: that isn’t to say that some of the fantastical elements like Newtype-ism and cryogenic technology don’t exist, but a lot of the humor found in the show is absent. In terms of plot and character motivation, although the part I sticks closely to the show, part II onwards is where the story starts to diverge: more deaths more tragedy and a much larger scale of devastation…but more on that in later blog posts.
Similar to the show the books focus on Loran Cehack, a 17 year old boy from a group of humans living on the moon known as the Moonrace. Loran is sent to Earth along with his friends Keith and Fran to survey and integrate into the population as part of a grander plan for the Moonrace to return to earth and reclaim the land that they believe that have the right to. Throughout the story we are introduced to many major and minor characters that appear in the show and who for the most part essentially play the same role. Those familiar with the show will be familiar with the events from this first book: The Moonrace attack on Nocis, Loran discovering and subsequently piloting the Turn A, Dianna and Kihel switching places etc.
Part I covers approximately the events from episodes 1-10 of the show, (Loran and friends landing on earth up to the destruction of Nocis) but dispenses with some of the some of the more filler type plots like Poe and Loran’s skirmish in the woods and the cow episode, and as a result progresses the overall story at a prompter pace than the show. Additionally, because of the way the Turn A story has been condensed into three books, out of necessity some story elements are introduced earlier than in the show, such as Sochie discovering Loran’s true identity on the night of the Coming of Age ceremony as well as the introduction of Will Game and his ship excavation story.
What the first book does do differently from the show however is the depth to which character motivation is explored through internal monologue. For example in the show, Guin Lineford although never explicitly stated, is implied to be a homosexual: his relationship to Lily Borajanon being mostly a facade to strengthen his own social standing and gain a foothold in the war against the Dianna Counter. In the book however, his homosexuality can be interpreted to be more of an open secret; his inner monologue revealing to the reader that he was abused as a child which informs his somewhat callous behavior as an adult. Interestingly the Lily character does not appear in the books, leaving Loran as the sole target of Guin’s affection.
Before starting these novels, I had also read many reviews of readers voicing their displeasure with the direction in which the Kihel character was ultimately taken…but again more on this in a later blog post.
I started reading these series of books immediately after finishing the 5 part Gaia Gear books written by Tomino, and my first thought after finishing the series was that Fukui is exceedingly efficient in his story telling and character utilization compared to Tomino. In Victory Gundam, G Reconguista and to a larger extent Gaia Gear for example, Tomino tends to introduce several side plots and multiple named characters that show up for a handful of scenes and serve no purpose to the story. I think that although Tomino excels in his scope for world building, his side characters and by extension side plots tend to meander mid-way through his stories. Tomino also tends to have what I would consider exceptionally awkward dialogue in his shows, sometimes characters talking to each other seem like they are talking about 2 separate things. With Fukui’s Turn A books however, every named character has a role that serves to advance the story in one way or another. To give one example of character efficiency, Pou Aijee from the show isn’t in the books; her role as Phil’s lover and co-conspirator is instead given to Teteth Halleh who in the books is an officer in the Dianna Counter army whilst also maintaining her ultimate goal of assassinating Dianna. By doing this, Fukui manages to maintain the character to character dynamic between two characters from the show, while also weaving the threads for an essential upcoming plot point.
This efficiency could be due to the fact that Fukui presumably had a template to work from, in the form of a general framework for the Turn A story from Tomino.
I would have to read some of Fukui’s other works to truly gauge his storytelling capabilities.
Other notable characters absent from these books include, Corin, Joseph, Miashei, Lily and although memorable characters in their own right, given the overall trajectory of the story in the books I can see why they were cut.
All in all, I feel confident in saying that this first book was an extremely well told alternative take on the Turn A story, and manages to convey the plot and characters in its own unique way.
PaddyPakku's thought space 