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Oct 04 2015

Categories: episodic review, gundam
Tagged: gundam: iron blooded orphans

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“It’s hard to let go of a power once you obtain it.”

Get hyped! Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans is the 14th main installment of the Gundam franchise. It is the first one to have an older target audience since Gundam 00 back in 2007. Yep, 2007. It’s been 8 years since Setsuna F. Seiei (not to be confused with Setsuna G. Seiei), Lockon Stratos (not to be confused with Lockon Stratos 2.0), Allelujah Haptism, Tieria Erde, Wang Liu Mei (R.I.P.), Feldt Grace (and the rest of the crew of the Potemayo), and Marina Ismail (useless princess extraordinaire). In the past 8 years, we had a steady diet of Gundam Age, Gundam Build, Recongista in G, and other shows that while may feature Gundams never felt like typical space opera Gundam.

We want it all. We want the colony vs. Earth dynamic. We want the useless princess. We want the brooding protagonist who is supposed to be Japanese yet looks like a Kurdish kid fighting against ISIS. We want the uncomfortable scenes that will become centerpieces for yaoi doujinshi. That’s the Gundam we want. And guys in masks, people coming back from the dead, and power creep that makes Diablo 3 seem sensible with numbers. Oh, the power creep. GN particles or Solar Furnaces or Ahad Reactors for everyone!

And I will immediately regret wanting all of this once IBO turns into train wreck by episode nine.

Back in 2007, I was surprised Sunrise picked the creative staff of Onegai Teacher to work on Gundam 00. It seemed odd. I think Gundam 00 had potential, and I’m not sure if it is Kuroda or Sunrise who derailed the show. Kuroda would actually do okay with Gundam Build and deliver a knock-out series with Ano Natsu de Matteru. Having tried the creative team for that series, Sunrise is now using the creative team for Toradora and AnoHana for Iron Blooded Orphans. There is definitely some Poppo in Biscuit. It feels, again, like a missed opportunity to do interesting things with the franchise rather than hit the exact same beats again. I would have loved to see a different approach, like maybe featuring the robots in the periphery of the story but base it instead on a love story (a la Macross Plus). Or have a female lead pilot as the protagonist. Finally Gundam has a female writer, and the main character is basically a younger version of Heero Yui. We’ve been here. We’ve done this. Maybe try something new. Maybe Gundam should start Batgirling.

I think we all know what happens. Orga Itsuka (only anime has the Japanese people still being a relevant race in the distant future… I would fully expect Mars colonization equipment to have nothing but Chinese written on that) is going to die. He is too competent of a character, and he’s going to be the rod that sets off Mikazuki Augus (another terrible name) to become either Setsuna or Kira. It’s a shame. I’ve already seen this plot in Nadesico and Gurran Lagann. I’m not sure I need it again. Orga’s going to die, and he’s going to be come back in season two with a mask fighting for the enemy, Gjallarhorn, a faction led by Xur.

(I do like how insightful Orga is. I do like how he fucks over people who try to fuck him over. I do like his Hakuo-ness. I don’t like his hair. It’s terrible.)

(I am glad Underwater Ray Romano is back in our lives. It feels like 2004 again.)

(I should give Sunrise some credit: there are a lot of different races represented as Chryse members. Gjallarhorn, on the other hand, is literally all white people plus one random Japanese guy named after a space corgi.)

Watching kid soldiers get sniped… man… Big Boss would never do anything like that. He would tranq them, Fulton them to MB, and then make them learn algebra. I’ve been playing a lot of The Phantom Pain, and all I see now are things that need to be Fultoned. That’s all I see now. And all I hear is Quiet’s humming.

(Ahad Reactors?! Moby Dick references? Oh man, Kojima should write the next Gundam series.)

Why is there a Safeway on Mars? Why do buildings on Mars look so terrible? You’d think hundreds of years in the future, we would have improved our architecture.

Comiket, here we come!

Kudelia Aina Bernstein another princess in a long line of useless princesses. She is drawn in fully shoujo ojou-sama mode, and her look is a bit startling from the other characters. I don’t think she dies because we really do not need another mecha series about a Martian princess getting killed on the way to Earth for a peace conference. “Next time on Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans episode 17… Mikazuki’s new eye.”

I do like the concept of a melee-focused Gundam… except wasn’t Exia also focused on CQC? It’s first upgrade was even the Seven Swords upgrade. I’d like to see a Gundam that’s just a huge, gigantic 50m ball with laser turrets everywhere. Oh wait…

Check my Twitter feed for thin slicing updates.

Three MVPs…

1. Orga. Already a better tactician than Sumeragi.

2. Danji. Poor Danji Nochance.

3. Burrata Gundam. Tasty!