Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans

Episode 5

Things are getting real on Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans. After a battle-free world-building third episode, “Beyond The Red Sky” launches our entire cast into space, turning this drama into the space opera it was destined to become. By the end of an episode packed with nonstop action, every player is in place and, in a surprising turn for the Gundam universe, everyone already knows each other's identities and what their varying allegiances seem to be. While previous episodes have risked an information overload, this week's entertainment zips from one development to another for a flag-raising good time.

Writer Mari Okada knows that when you're going to have one big turn after another, there's no need to prolong any single dramatic sequence. The old chessboard metaphor is perfect for this episode—antagonists serve a purpose and then are promptly disposed of. With this in mind, Todo's evil but stupid plan is resolved within ten minutes. How dumb was Todo, by the way, to expect that Tekkadan would turn over Kudelia without a fight? When the orphans didn't behave exactly the way he expected, it put everyone's lives in danger—including his own. Next came curtains for Major Coral, yet another antagonist who failed to predict his opponent's next move. Gjallarhorn has the kingpin who sold Tekkadan their ship on its side, but they never expected Tekkadan to have its own allies in the form of the former Human Debris team. Tekkadan even turns the environment into its ally by harnessing a mining asteroid as a weapon. Meanwhile, Mikazuki and Akihiro—in Crank's old machine—square off against the investigators and Crank's revenge-focused successor. There's action everywhere you look, and as soon as one conflict is resolved, another rises to take its place. Brilliant storyboarding means that even with such a busy plot, I never struggled to figure out what was going on. The show's willingness to kill or incapacitate characters in rapid-fire succession doesn't hurt either.

Even with so much going on, the centerpiece of the show is the Gundam battle. Mikazuki's moves are effortless and beautifully animated, as fluid as a living person's. Things get real when Fareed accurately IDs the Gundam as a legendary machine from the Calamity War that "appeared at many historical turning points." Rather than deterring him, however, the Gundam's pedigree compels Fareed to suit up. He may not have a mask, but Fareed is the closest thing Iron-Blooded Orphans has to a Char character—a worthy antagonist who runs toward a challenge instead of running away. It's even more promising that the two have already identified one another, even behind the impersonal facades of their mobile suit armor. Mikazuki's identification of the “chocolate man” makes him even more determined to try his skills against him, while Fareed is fascinated by the supposed power of the iconic suit. The Latin-flavored battle music emphasizes the fluidity of this battle's choreography, making it seem even more like a dance than it already looks.

It's fascinating how this episode managed to cover so much ground and still conclude with a post-battle denouement as everyone regroups. This is some expert pacing—I feel like I learned a ton about the characters and their motives, even in the midst of so much action. Iron-Blooded Orphans remains entertaining thanks to its winning combination of character development, action choreography, and great animation.

Rating: A

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

Lauren writes about anime and journalism at Otaku Journalist.