Friday, June 17, 2022

Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans Part 1 Episodes 1-5

Post Disaster 323.  Over 300 years have passed since the Calamity War.  The planet of Mars has been settled but those living there seek independence from the Earth Government.  The beautiful Kudelia Aina Bernstein seeks to travel to Earth to speak on behalf of the Martian People, protected by the Private Security Company CGS.  However, the Earth Peacekeeping force Gjallarhorn seeks to crush the independence movement and attempts to kill Kudelia before she leaves.  When her protectors flee, the contingent of Child Soldiers they left behind step up, ready to liberate themselves from their oppressors.  A new legend begins as Orga Itsuka and MIkazuki Augus lead the charge…with Mika piloting a long dormant Mobile Suit into battle: The Gundam Barbatos.

As I was grumbling and fuming my way through Gundam: Reconguista in G, I always knew that, with luck, I’d be moving onto better things for the second half of Gundam Month Mark VI: The Undiscovered Country.  Dear Readers, I’m happy to report that we have indeed arrived at something better and a lot more challenging and far more bad ass…aka what Gundam should always be.  Welcome…to Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans.  I should point out right now, at least for this review, I’m gonna be making some callbacks to G Reco if only because after the Hell I went through with it, it feels only right to point out what IBO does so differently and correctly from the outset…I think I’ve earned that, hence why I’m kicking off this ten day review set on the same day G Reco is over and done with.
 
IBO kicks off quite differently from most Gundam shows.  For one, Mars is a primary setting rather than just being a pipe dream or final glimpse as it is in most entries.  We don’t stay on the red planet for too long but this is a 50 episode series that looks to see both Mars and Earth as battlegrounds for our heroes.  Speaking of, you wont find any wide eyed youths or random cheerleaders dancing about in Tekkadan.  These boys are all battle hardened or battle hungry, but more importantly, a lot of them have been raised as slave labor or child soldiers most of their lives.  We’ve seen Gundam leads with this kind of background, most notable Gundam Wing’s Heero Yuy and Gundam 00’s Setsuna F. Seieu and we’ll talk about their equivalent IBO in a moment.  But I think this is the first time such a group of youths are the main focal point of a Gundam series.  It adds a whole new layer of complexity to how the world of the Post Disaster Era works…and it aint pretty, especially when you have kids getting Mobile Worker and Mobile Suit control systems surgically grafted into their spines…ouch.
 
A planet as harsh and unforgiving as Mars feels perfect for our two lead protagonists: Orga and Mikazuki.  We see in flashbacks that these two have known each other since they were kids and…well they kind of have a very messed up friendship.  While Mika isn’t without his good points, he is also one of the most messed up Gundam leads, being so numb to the horrors of violence that he doesn’t break a sweat when it comes to killing or giving it a second thought.  And Orga uses this to his advantage several times, which in itself is messed up.  Mika is Orga’s “Yes Man”, who will do anything the Tekkadan leader asks…such as killing their old oppressors in cold blood when they don’t want to surrender to the kids coup d’etat.  Don’t get me wrong, the former CGS front men deserved to be punished for using child soldiers as human shields.  But flat out executing them is pretty damn dark, even by Gundam standards.  And remember…Mika and Orga are supposed to be the good guys.  Still, it makes them a helluva lot more compelling and fascinating to explore than anyone in G Reco.
 
I’m sure I’ll get to know the rest of Tekkadan in due time but for this intros purposes, I’m gonna touch on other supporting leads, starting with Biscuit, who is the heart and soul of Tekkadan.  While he is ok with killing CGS members, Biscuit is more the brains of the operation and even gets Orga to spare an accountant so they can figure out their finances.  Biscuit might not be much of a fighter but he’ll probably make a helluva tactician that can give Orga a run for his money.  We have two central female leads too: Kudelia and Atra.  Both have a serious crush on Mikazuki, with Atra even joining Tekkadan as their cook with motive being concern got Mika (and to make sure she doesnt Mika to Kudelia.  Kudelia herself feels like a hybrid of Relena Peacecraft and Marina Ismael from Gundam Wing and Gundam 00…kind of fitting since they were the main romantic leads for their respective leading men (even if Setsuna and Marina denied anything in hilarious deadpan fashion).  She truly wants independence for Mars and is willing to put herself in the middle of the conflict to see things through.  But she’s not confident in her own inner strength yet and puts a lot of blame on her shoulders.  The girl cant even cook for herself and Mika notes this by passing on shaking her hand because his is dirty and hers is clean.  Mika though is constantly challenging Kudellia’s mindset and their relationship feels closer to Setsuna and Marina than Heero and Relena.  Last there’s Gjallarhorn, the keepers of the peace in Space, Earth and Mars.  We see two members from this elite fighting forces: McGillis and Gaelio, the former I think is going to be Mikazuki’s Char for the series while Gaelio is his loyal lacky…also McGillis is engaged to the guys NINE YEAR OLD SISTER!!!????...how Game of Thrones of Gundam, also GROSS!!!
 
So the characters have promise, especially the loyal but morally grey zone lead duo.  What about the Gundam?  The Barbatos is a death bringer incarnate.  It’s a lot more skeletal than most starting Gundam Units, without a lot of armor.  This gives it ferocious speed but that’s interesting is its primary choice of weapon: a giant hammer.  Most of the Mobile Suit combat on Mars, and even a little in space, is more close quarters and gladiatorial in nature.  These are hard hitting machines and the Barbatos shows a lot of wear and tear, curious considering it’s a 300 year old Mobile Suit and can still run ok.  I did like McGillis’ thoughts on the Batbatos’ appearance: “Machines bearing the name Gundam have appeared at many turning points throughout our history.  They’ve played a major role in the fate of Mankind”.  Oh and look G Reco, we didn’t have to wait til the last act to refer to the Gundam by it’s proper title.  The action itself is intense as you’d expect and the show does not skimp on the violence towards anyone of any age (a lot of the Tekkadan kids get killed in the first big battle on Mars).  Though, the animation occasionally looks a bit unfinished and unpolished at times, hampering the fight scenes and some smaller character moments.  Sure it looks good when needed like the Barbatos’ bad ass first charge.  Otherwise, you’d think a Gundam TV Series would do its best not to show cracks this early in the show.

Overall, after dealing with a Gundam series that felt more like a soulless, below average Mecha series, it’s good to see Gundam return to it’s hard hitting roots with an emphasis on “War is Hell” and “Mars aint the kind of place to raise your kids”.  Led by two questionably moral leads and featuring a style of combat we haven’t really seen in Gundam since G Gundam, aka hand to hand and melee weapon carnage, Iron Blooded Orphans looks to be an intense ride that will hopefully make Tekkadan to be more heroic and not just “we’ll do anything to survive and kill anything in our way”.  Remember, these are supposed to be “the good guys.”  Hopefully we can see that in the future.  See ya Monday and look out for new reviews right up til the end of June for Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans, right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.

No comments:

Post a Comment