Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans
|
Goto page Previous Next Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
| Author | Message | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kicksville
 Posts: 1176 |
|
|||||||
|
I had some impressions at the end of the first season. It's relevant again now, because the thing that bothered me most was largely still present here.
Short version, first: This was sort of like a reverse G-Reco - that was a show that was extremely fast paced and the drama was at times hard to latch onto. It arguably would've benefited from being longer. IBO here was almost absurdly slow paced, with drama that was very easy to suss out, and probably would've benefited from being shorter. I think IBO had good ideas, but its poor sense of pacing and lack of ability to do anything with its characters in between dramatic pinch points was incredibly frustrating. Said dramatic pinch points ended up feeling cheap. I ultimately didn't enjoy watching it. Good Things Anyway, let me start here with good things about IBO, because there were definitely good things in there: The theme of the show, I thought, was the dilemma of young adults growing up in a world where they've already been dealt a bad hand by the adults before them, and how they try to eke out a living or otherwise make sense of that world. But there's only so much they can do when those rules and promises set by the adults who run the world are so often flimsy and false, rigged to the benefit of those old adults and only those old adults. Topical, huh? I did admire that much. spoiler[McGillis' plot, while stupid, gets at one of the fundamental themes of the show: He'd studied up on what was right and good, and what the proper rules adults are supposed to use to correct the world were if things were not all right and good. And that amounted to getting in Gundam Head of the Pack and declaring "I AM THE ALPHA DOG!!" - but, of course, the response from the actual adults was "lol no", because in reality, they can cleanly side step those old laws that inconvenience them (whether they meant anything all those years ago or not). They may still be touted in the books, but if they actually get in the way of those in power? Ha, fat chance they'll let that stop them. Doesn't actually matter. There is also one thing I sure didn't see coming at the end of that first season, and it was how there was a Masked Guy II. I thought that was clever enough. It, uhhh, ultimately wasn't utilized very well, but we're still in the Good Things part, so more on that later... The end of the show amounts to them having to work with and around the old adults, even after being crushed by them, but...I have mixed feelings on how well that actually worked.] Bad Things The biggest problem, carried over from the first season, was how often characters basically amounted to nothing in between their particular dramatic pinch points and story beats. I mean, I might as well quote myself from my assessment of the first season... "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." ...because that still continues to happen here. Julietta, who had an exact story moment to play out at the tip end, but who otherwise was a one-note bore up until then. Hush, who had an exact story moment to play out near the end, but who otherwise was a one-note bore up until then. spoiler[That included Masked Guy II, whose appearance was intriguing at first, but who did jack shit up until it was time for him to carry out his revenge and death bed bromance. Well, jack shit except occasionally show up in his Attack on Titan Gundam (later Little Battlers eXperience Gundam) to sell some model kits. Not all that unlike the similarly underutilized Mr. Bushido in Gundam 00 2nd Season, actually. As for those "pinch points", those are, you know "push button" drama bits. X tries to do X, but fails and dies! Almost Girlfriend gets shot! Child prostitution! Teen pregnancy! Unrequited gay romance! Polyamory! (The latter two I thought were particularly admirable to include in a largely positive light, but OF COURSE ended in tragedy) Like...okay. That's fine to have those, really. But, again, we had characters who were just about devoid of personality save for the bad shit that happens to them. Yamagi's entire character is fretting over Shino, who of course dies, and he otherwise does almost nothing before and after. Akihiro seemed like he might be interesting at times, but still ultimately doesn't do much but get pumped up, fight sometimes, and have bad shit happen to him. Booorrriiiinnngg. This ended up undermining some of the thematic points it was (probably) trying to make. You know McGillis' plan? The one I said was stupid before? Yeah, it was stupid. There was a point there...but getting to that point, he spent nearly 50 episodes mysteriously preparing for his plan (speeching all the way like everyone else) and being smart enough to gain all this power, and was somehow still so stupid he didn't account for Rustal standing right in front of his face cracking his knuckles. Like...I'm not against characters doing stupid things. Even being smart, and doing something stupid anyway. But he had to be so blazingly incompetent to make it happen, it's...a little hard to get over. They couldn't come up with something to throw in there to make it a little easier to buy?] I think this would all be easier to swallow if the show was shorter. If they can't come up with anything else, at least less twirling around on the way there. The Ending spoiler[Now, as for that ending. Our boys got their Proper Noble Tragic Anime Deaths after reciting their toy's full names. And after that...that sure wound up working out quite well for everybody, didn't it? Right up to the fat old bastard getting shot on the shitter! It was a little much, and sort it of felt like maybe they'd chickened out. If I'm to give them the benefit of the doubt, there is sort of a point in showing their actions were not entirely in vain, and Rustal is potentially an interesting figure, having technically been doing what is the right thing for him all along but perhaps only put into this happier democratic position thanks to the actions of those he vanquished - buuuut, with Rustal having been yet another character who was flat as a pancake for the duration of the actual show, I feel like that's being generous. Julietta's role here similarly should've been interesting (a good person, apparently, rising even within the youth-smashing adult system), but that too is robbed of any power due to her character being such a nothingburger.] Bleeegh. So, yeah. Some goods ideas, really annoying execution full of weirdly thin characters despite all the time it had. And bad hair. I know the robots are impervious to lasers now, but is Vidar's helmet hair really immune to the mighty power of the local Supercuts? Come on. Last edited by Kicksville on Mon Apr 03, 2017 11:02 pm; edited 1 time in total |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
BadNewsBlues
Posts: 5936 |
|
|||||||
Pretty much everything about season 2 felt cheap from Radice betraying Tekkadan on earth leading to a meaningless conflict that ended with Tekkaden having to pull out of earth and both Orga and McGillis being humbled by Rustal, to Nadi and Merribitt becoming an item out of the blue, to them further shoving Mikazuki and Kudelia's relationship under the rug just cause etc. Season 1 wasn't exactly flawless from start to finish but it also didn't bug the hell of out me as much.....or made stick to following the series via reviews/TV tropes.
Sure hope one those characters isn't McGillis though considering how his dumb decisions in season 1 led to some of the consequences in season 2.
A lot of things across season 1 and season 2 should either be expanded, rewritten, or thrown out altogether if they ever adapted this story into another medium. Maybe giving more backstory to the core members of Tekkaden like Eugene,Takaki, or (Dachi), maybe not having McGillis being a moron who betrays people for little or no reason and can't be bothered to double tap, or certain characters not being killed for little in the way of meaningful payoff. You can still have your bittersweet ending but make it less lazy and deliberate.
...Is that supposed to be a bad thing given who we're supposed to be comparing her with? Last edited by BadNewsBlues on Mon Apr 03, 2017 11:55 pm; edited 2 times in total |
||||||||
|
||||||||
Desa
 Posts: 285 |
|
|||||||
|
That final battle with Barbatos, Gusion, et al reminded me of Magnificent Seven in how stacked the odds were against them. But it actually wasn't too bleak until Rustal brought out the Gatling gun- excuse me Dainsleif and just razed the field, cutting short what could've been one of the most epic last stands in anime history.
It's a no-brainer why the Dainsleif was outright banned it's like the nuclear option. If everyone had Dainsleifs any war would be over real quick but there would be nothing left. Rustal himself was a half-second away from being Dainsleif'd himself but that damn Julieta curbed Shino's shot which could've altered the entire course of the series. Ahh what could've been! My laughter died when Lafter died, but Shino's final moments will always be the saddest to me. AHHH what could've been!!! I feel that the ending de-escalates conflict more so than most Gundam finales, which is very fitting considering how the Gundams were literally relics of a bygone era that you had to dig out of the ground (which reminded me of Break Blade in a good way). Just like how the Civil War was the last great war fought on U.S. soil, what we've witnessed in IBO may very well be the last great battle fought on Martian soil, with the abolishing of human debris being similar to the abolishment of slavery. There will always be conflict like we have today, but I feel the more important battles going forward in IBO will be fought with pens and keyboards rather than Mobile Suits. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
deltaTri
Posts: 1 |
|
|||||||
|
Overall I liked the ending, but there is just one loose-end that I'm curious about that didn't get addressed in the finale:
spoiler[Whatever happened to McGillis' wife Almiria Bauduin? Her appearance in episode 49 didn't seem to really settle her arc, especially after her final dramatic moment with McGillis earlier. To be fair though we saw very little of her throughout the series, so I guess there's that. ] |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
iCards
Posts: 78 |
|
|||||||
|
I'm surprised the reviewer didn't gush over Iok being crushed to death considering their vocal annoyance/hatred for the character.
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
traitorAIZEN
 Posts: 94 |
|
|||||||
|
"One of Gundam's happiest little families—two moms and a cute little kid named Akatsuki."
That's 2017 for you. Who cares about normal families anymore right? |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
BadNewsBlues
Posts: 5936 |
|
|||||||
To be fair it was supposed to be two moms a dad and two cute kids.....but the writers forgot they had been pushing that for two seasons. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
Vent
 Posts: 318 |
|
|||||||
I know I don't! |
||||||||
|
||||||||
AnimeAddict2014
 Posts: 925 |
|
|||||||
|
Finally! It's time to finish watching whole 2nd season in 2-3 days
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
dark13
Posts: 562 |
|
|||||||
|
My main beef with IBO is that I felt there was so much wasted potential. I see it in nearly every facet of the show. Orga and Mika's relationship could have went somewhere, but it didn't really. The backdrop of the oppressive Gjallarhorn government and it's mistreatment of Mars and the colonies doesn't actually get interesting/fleshed out enough for it to be important. There are a multitude of side characters that get the smallest amount of definition/development then the show basically drops them. Take Hush for example. Early on he was getting a good few scenes, signalling to the audience that he would become more important. But after a few episodes defining his character and setting a goal for him, the show basically drops him entirely and he gets pretty much no more scenes (about him
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
DmonHiro
|
|
|||||||
|
"His name is obviously inspired by his father's, but I wonder if the “aka” comes from “red,” as in the blood from the show's title"
Uhm, no. Absolutely not. Akatsuki simply means dawn. Mikazuki means half-moon. Glad Iok's dead. I can imagine someone reporting that to Rustal. Guy: Rustal-sama, I'm sorry to report that Iok-sama has been killed in action. Rustal: Good. Guy: Sir? Rustal:... Good Lord, that's horrible.... Guy: Yes sir! |
||||||||
|
FenixFiesta
Posts: 2581 |
|
|||||||
This is not even close to the first Gundam series that has an ensemble cast, gives a few sets of a characters a "below the deck" episode early on, and the run ends up simply using the minimally touched upon character as a "regular cameo". It makes much more sense that the Tekkedan crew didn't get "more development" with Mika's closing observation that "they had already found where they wanted to be", it was the simple goal in Season one for Tekkedan to be an operational mercenary corp, they completed the Kudelia mission that prompted a steady stream of work and Orga honestly didn't need to go into any more ambitious jobs than the ones he had been offered. The season proper was spurred with the McGillis vs Rustal factions, Tekkedan and there allies simply ended up getting swept in the political machinations of an interplanetary civil war (which was not so different from how the first season started, CGS was under attack due to political strings being pulled by Nobliss Gordon) |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
vonPeterhof
Posts: 729 |
|
|||||||
Anyway, this is the only Gundam show I've watched other than 0079, and while I can't say that I've been converted into a Gundam fan or even a mecha fan, I did enjoy the show overall. The political and social commentary never really struck a good balance between "poignant" and "on-the-nose", and not every character's story got enough closure by the end, but I liked the musings on the form and essence of "family", and the mecha action scenes did impress me from time to time. Sort of looking forward to seeing what Kim Se-jun does with the next instalment in the franchise. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
dark13
Posts: 562 |
|
|||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Savion
Posts: 40 |
|
|||||||
|
I personally enjoyed the 2nd season more than the first. The series had some very noticeable faults. I felt character building fell through (too many characters, not enough personal interactions etc) and many of the death flags prior to the last few episodes were too obvious/cliche.
But the ending, while incredibly bittersweet (TBH almost too hard to bear for me) was a good way to wrap things up. I'm enjoying reading everyone's personal analysis. I wonder if power hungry McGillis would have brought the same changes as Rustal. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group