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Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans
Episode 4

by Lauren Orsini,

How would you rate episode 4 of
Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans ?
Community score: 4.2

Here's a rare sight in the Gundam multiverse: a Gundam episode without a Gundam battle. In lieu of giant robots, episode four of Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans crams heaps of human drama and forced exposition into one poor little half-hour. Some of these explanations took away the mystery, while others left me in the dark, and I'm not sure what to think about the final result.

Todo's arc could have used a little more subtlety. By now we've established Todo—the sneaky Hitler-mustache guy—as this series' trickster character. Then again, the way things are going, that label might be giving him too much credit. For some reason, Orga feels like he can trust the guy because Mikazuki already killed a bunch of his comrades, and if Todo makes one misstep, he's presumably next. However, this episode makes it clear that Todo is absolutely going to betray Tekkadan without a doubt. This is an example of exposition that ruins the surprise. It'd be more interesting if Todo played a role similar to the character Kai in the original Mobile Suit Gundam, continuously antagonizing allies and leaving us in suspense about whether he's going to defect for a very long time. Instead, Todo's arc is ending quickly and almost certainly with his own failure or death.

On the other hand, Fareed and Bauduin's arcs could have used more clarity. Even ignoring the forced conversation about the nine-year-old fiance, there's a lot of obfuscation here. These two Gjallarhorn inspectors are trying to make sure every branch of the Gjallarhorn war effort is working in tandem, including the conniving Major Coral. Their own authority and allegiance is harder to follow. At one point, they're discussing the entire history of the Calamity War and everything that has happened since, with a map of the world and a rapidly scrolling timeline of English words. I paused the episode and I still don't understand the political situation. It feels like I'm supposed to read a book before I can begin to comprehend the nuances of the show. The inspectors travel to Mars to figure out what Major Coral is trying to cover up, but why is he concealing the failed military effort? His own pride? If he admits what happened, it makes sense that Gjallarhorn would provide him with reserve mobile suits to deploy on Mars.

However, the scene at Grandma Sakura's farm hit just the right notes. In a universe where soldiers usually resolve their conflicts behind the anonymous metal facades of mobile suits, it's rare for opposing forces to clash face to face. Some of the most memorable scenes in Gundam history happen when pilots run into one another in person—like when Amuro happened to meet Ramba Ral at a bar. This time was no different, further exploring Mikazuki's morally ambiguous nature. When the inspectors swerve their car away from hitting Cookie and Cracker, driver Baudain gets out to apologize and instantly ends up in Mikazuki's choking grasp. Mikazuki's eyes are expressionless as he strangles him with the intention to kill. He doesn't seem to hear Cookie and Cracker's pleas and is ultimately swayed only by Grandma Sakura's punch to his shoulder. The conversation that follows is telling. “You'd make a great soldier,” Fareed tells Mikazuki. He knows that this boy is already a soldier. His insight is certainly going to come up in a future battle.

This episode is titled “The Price of Life,” and after much exposition about humans being traded like property and referred to as Human Debris, it seems that we ought to take this expression literally. This group's role in the story is still unclear, but episode four probably focuses on them so much because its overarching story revolves around human inequality, mainly as seen through Kudelia's eyes. After seeing Sakura's fields, Kudelia expects that people would never go hungry. She's wrong—the corn is being sold on the cheap as biofuel. Watching this show as a middle class person, Kudelia is the character I relate to most. She's uncomfortable and a bit naive when faced with how badly the other half has it. “I'm such a weak person,” Kudelia says, and perhaps she's comparing her few hardships to the many she has seen since coming to Tekkadan. Mikazuki is her link to this new world and that might explain her attraction to him. (Although good luck falling in love with a guy who has a temper that bad.)

The episode concludes with Tekkadan's new insignia—perceived by our protagonists as a positive symbol of change. Things aren't going to stay so good, especially thanks to whatever Todo is cooking up, but apart from a sense of foreboding, I just don't feel like I got enough from that exposition overload to figure out what's coming up next.

Rating: B

Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans is available streaming at Daisuki.net and Funimation.com.

Lauren writes about anime and journalism at Otaku Journalist.


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