Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans
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Calsolum
 Posts: 898 |
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man it feels like its been forever since I've watched a good gundam series. It seems like gundam 00 happened a decade ago and the way the movie ended left a very bad taste IMO. I hope iron blooded orphans has more than 2 seasons because it definitely caught my fancy.
I sincerely hope they find a reasonable way to bring back Gaelio or Ein but at the same time I hope they don't. Lets face it they got shafted bad by McGillis and while I hate what he did to them it was probably for the best. Gallahorn was clearly corrupted and did more harm than good and he seems like he genuinely wants change for the better... but at the end of the day will he truly BECOME a better leader? Power corrupts far too easily and i can totally see him eliminating Takkaden later down the line to serve as a warning that those who attempt and succeed to disrupt the status quo will eventually be punished. which will subsequently deter any other rebellious factions from even considering to overthrow him. As for why i wouldnt want Ein or Gaelio to return is because if they do they will definitely want revenge on McGillis and they should... but that will just also lead more war and innocents are always the first to suffer in wars. sigh im just confused as to whether to want McGillis to keep ruling or fall. he's definitly a bastard, but he's not a (completely)heartless one. On a side note i hope theres less uh... uncomfortable moments with McGillis and his (loli)fiance |
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maximilianjenus
Posts: 2867 |
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[quote="dark13"]
one dimensional mika works because of how the rest of the characters are, mika feels genuinely broken, like this is the only way of living he knows. |
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Kicksville
 Posts: 1182 |
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Hrrrmmrmrmrmrrrmmm.
So the drama in this episode was good, in a sense, but I think it highlighted IBO's biggest problem, one that I was worried about since early on. spoiler[So Gaelio being betrayed by McGillis was a pretty big dramatic moment, and it worked well for what it was - and gave the impression these characters were all designed with this moment in mind from the start. That's all well and good...but they didn't feel like fully formed people beyond existing to be betrayed. Gaelio doesn't do much at all over the course of the show. Carta was absurdly incompetent, I suppose to demonstrate the organization's incompetence on the whole, but she felt like even less of a character. "Oh btw she loved McGillis, now she's dead". Okay. Ein was more interesting to me, but this is pretty much entirely because of his late transformation into an actual robot. He too was otherwise a one-note bore.] And that's the thing: The characters largely feel like they were set up like pins for specific moments, and were left to just twirl around until those moments came along. And by "twirl around", I mean sit there and recite platitudes and verify bits of information to each other for entire episodes until the designated robot fight episode comes along. How could they have so much time to talk and yet end up establishing so little? That much time and yet still have so many superficially human characters? I'd thought Orga was the most interesting of the cast from the start, but by the end he's just a speech spouting loud speaker like the rest of them. I really don't understand how this show ended up this way. It'd be a lot better if it were half the length, and even then...ehhh. I'm not really looking forward to the second season. spoiler[I hope Hitler dies] |
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One-Eye
 Posts: 2261 |
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EP 24-25
Overall, I felt that IBO started very strong but ended up as just a solid show. But I'm looking forward to another season in the fall. I'll take Mika's disturbingly cold and perhaps emotionally stunted character over Aldnoah. Zero's robotic Inaho any day. I think IBO got that character type right. The whole thing with McGillis is interesting because he's just engineered the killing of perhaps the more honorable people on Gjallarhorn's side. Friend Gaelio, foolish Carta, and driven insane Ein. Perhaps people that could have been redeemed under a different regime he instead used them as tools for his plans and then discarded them. Is this man who is dead to his emotional ties really going to reform Gjallarhorn? However, show hasn't been always hitting on all cylinders. I felt that sometimes the pacing got a little wonky and wasn't as smooth as it could have been. I didn't like how last episode they clumsily dumped us in the middle of the fight and they didn't take enough time imho to show the increasing attrition and desperation of Tekkadan. It was just handled too quickly. I really wanted to see what they do with Merribit's character after what she witnessed and how she would interact with Orga after that fight. There's been one too many episodes where she has been forced to watch children fed to the fires of war. Her whole "oh, they've gone back to being children after all" in the final episode was kind of lame. I think there are serious physical and psychological consequences to children being used as soldiers which I think they just glossed over. Last episode I thought they were showing some guts by having several characters get killed, but unfortunately a bunch of people survived that didn't seem like they should have and which felt like a total lack of balls. I was just a bit disappointed with how this last episode played out, but again I will pick up the next season in the fall. |
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Ryomanagare
Posts: 69 |
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It looks like one of the younger kids lost an arm, but I am not sure. His jacket might just be oversized.
Pretty sure his name is Ride. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11406 |
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I think his contribution to humanity will be a bit more apocalyptic than that. Remember that the sound of Heimdallr blowing Gjallarhorn is what calls the gods to battle at the time of Ragnarök. 
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SHD
Posts: 1752 |
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Like, er, Kamille Bidan? The Gundam protagonist who ends up as a vegetable after his last battle, in one of the most famous Gundam series that also happens to precede Gundam IBO with 30(!) years? Anyway, in the end I'm unimpressed with Gundam IBO. It started strong and I kind of hoped that it would be a serious and mature show, but in the end it became just another show that's nowhere near as smart as it thinks it is, with zero actual dramatic tension, and the heroes protected by plot armor from pretty much everything, except the one who needed to die to provide plot/character moments for the others. The characters also somehow turned boring except a very small handful of them. I agree with Kicksville above, the character writing was pretty mechanic and soulless (in line with every other Okada Mari original that I've seen... Gundam IBO won't be the show that convinces me that she's a good writer), with the characters' personalities mostly being set up to do specific things at a specific moments, instead of being developed in an organic way. It doesn't help that in the end they eschewed actual drama for overwrought melodrama (again, Okada) in which everything magically becomes OK once the fight is over, and there are no real consequences to be faced by our heroes. I'm really disappointed by how they kept setting up Orga to be constantly over his head - I was waiting for his luck to run out, for him to screw up, to have actual, real conflicts (I mean look at how his conflict with Biscuit ended, on a character level) perhaps to eventually reach a conflict with Mika that sheds some light on how unhealthy their relationship is... but in the end we got nothing of that sort. The only thing that remained enjoyable for me was the McGillis and Gaelio dynamics - they were so blindingly obviously Char and Garma that it pretty much sucked every suspense out of their plotline once I realized that the show was not about to subvert Garma/Gaelio's fate, but at least by that time I was attached to him enough to be invested in his story (helps that he was more along the lines of Garma's popular image than the actual Garma himself). Gaelio would have really deserved more screentime and more actual stuff to do. |
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Johan Eriksson 9003
Posts: 281 |
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I have only been a mild fan of Gundam, but this series did make me more interested in the franchise. Ultimately though, I don't know if I will watch the second season since pretty much all the characters I actually care about are gone.
This is alwas annoying to me, when the villains of a show are so compelling that the people I'm SUPPOSED to root for seem lackluster and unlikeable by comparison. I have infinitely more pathos for the tragedy of Ein and Gaelio than our resident MC, who so far comes of more like a serial killer than someone I would like to win. Even Carta, who came in late to the story and was mainly defined by her foolishness was far more sympathetic to me with her nobility and honor than almost anyone in Tekkadan. This would probably be fine since a good enough subplot can make of for uninteresting main characters, but now those boring people are all we are left with. spoiler[Ein is pretty definitely dead, killed off in a manner that perfectly encapsulates this series (his heartfelt speech about his motivations and Mika's questionable actions so far being completely ignored so that Mika can focus on how to best kill a person), and if Gaelio somehow survived then that would pretty much torpedo McGillis's plans before they begin.] There is almost no one left alive who cares or even remembers these characters or their tragedy, which means that the focus will be completely on Tekkadan. I don't doubt that they will face off against McGillis down the line, but they will probably do it because he is just another "enemy in their way" and not because they take issue with anything he has done so far. In other words, unless the second season features a subplot about Gaelio's sister finding out what McGillis has been up to and decides to stab the bastard in the gut, I don't have much interest in what happens. |
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Eivion
Posts: 569 |
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I'm finding myself at the complete opposite opinion of the Gjallarhorn characters. I couldn't finding myself sympathizing with them almost at all as their nobility was mostly veiled bs pride without any consideration to why they were doing what they were doing. I actually liked most of Tekkadan and am curious to see where they go. I don't think the series had much in the way of pacing issues though there were still moments they could have used their time better. I think some of the dramatic moments could have been better done. The setups were just a bit too obvious sometimes. I think they cheaped out a bit on those last three deaths, but I wasn't fond of how they were handled int he first place. Really though only one of those guys should have realistically maybe made it back. Despite the flaws I loved the show and look forward to the next season.
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Sakurie
Posts: 19 |
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This is like every Gundam I've watched so far - the supposed bad guys are always more likable as their end goals are usually not so evil (economic and political freedom mostly) and they aren't kids screaming about how awesome fighting is. Meanwhile this time we have Mika whose verging on an emotionaless killer vs the noble yet not so skilled Carta and the good intentioned Gaelio. I know who I liked better. I also called BS at the number of survivors of Tekkadan...atleast Mika actually got injured I guess >.> |
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Eivion
Posts: 569 |
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You do realize that wasn't remotely their goals, right? Their goals were pretty much the complete opposite. |
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Sakurie
Posts: 19 |
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Wasn't talking specifically about IBO but in most Gundams thats the goal/s of the anti-villians (char etc) - McGillis goals are clearly different but might have the same "united world" outcome that is the theme in the majority of Gundam series. |
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Eivion
Posts: 569 |
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I see, my apologies then.
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Calsolum
Posts: 898 |
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i know what you mean but imo that shouldnt necessarily be a bad thing. I mean if they manage to make characters that you strongly empathise with then theyre doing something right even if it happened to be the bad guys. gankutsuou, breaking bad, aldnoah zero all had villains that i rooted for more than the protagonists and while im sad that they got the shorter end of the stick compared to the "protagonist" i still enjoyed the series as whole. Ein is without a doubt one of the series biggest victims while mika just walks around eating raisins and (unintentionally)building a harem. as for Gaelio's sister finding out that "macky" killed her brother i have mixed feeling for it, sure itd be great if she learns the truth and hates the bastard and kills him for it but thatd just be another innocent life corrupted by the cycle of revenge. Id much rather Ein return however crazy and even more cyborg-ed and in a bigger machine along with a independent mechanical body (like orange-kun  ) and axe him for murdering Gaelio
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AiddonValentine
Posts: 2227 |
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Ah, back into the Mobile Suit groove. Watching this episode my first thought was "wait, did we miss an entire season somewhere?" due to the nature of the info dumps in order to set up the new status quo (with some of it admittedly being superfluous and they could have SHOWN us instead of telling us). This is a season opener that's all about setup instead of action, getting everyone up to speed, introducing new characters like Hush (who has a strangely large amount of time dedicated to him, making me wonder if we have our third Gundam pilot for the Tekkadan), and getting into the new conflict for the season. What I'm really curious about is what's happening over on McGillis' end and how that's going to eventually affect Tekkadan. Still, not a bad way to start the season and considering how good the first season was I'm eager to see how this will pan out.
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