A dangerous relic from the Calamity War has been
unearthed: The Mobile Armor Hashmal. Too
late, it’s revealed why this dangerous weapon should have been left deactivated
and now Mars will feel its wrath. In the
wake of this disaster, Tekkadan finds itself on even shakier ground with
Teiwaz, and Jasley Donomikols finally uses the instability to make his move to
eliminate Tekkadan and the Turbins all at once.
With Naze forced to make a critical decision regarding his beloved
group, will Orga be forced to watch his “brother” die to ensure Tekkadans
future is still a possibility?
Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans is a show that
isn’t holding back when it comes to Gundam’s core message, “War is Hell.”
Whether its against a mammoth and cool
looking Mobile Armor or against the unrelenting might of Gjallarhorn’s twisted
subordinates, the good guys took some major loses in this set.
One of these loses was so impactful that I
did something I haven’t done with a Gundam story in a long, long time…I
cried.
Yeah, I joined the Turbines and
Tekkadan in shedding some tears for some good friends.
For a show that I think has been a little
unfocused at times, or took its time figuring out what it wanted to aim for as
a story goal, that’s amazing.
Picking up from where we left of last time, McGillis’
faction and Tekkadan found itself in a race against time to stop the Mobile
Armor Hashmal from decimating Chryse, the city closest to Tekkadan HQ.
I finally got a good look at the Hashmal and
it looked pretty cool.
It was sleek,
bird like and was every bit the monster the legends spoke of, especially with
that devastating beam weapon.
It was
funny McGillis referred to the Hasmal as an “Angel”.
I was already getting Evangelion vibes last
time when they activated one of the Hashmal’s Plumes and it went berserk.
The Hashmal itself looks like an Angel one of
the Evas might’ve fought in Hideaki Anno’s Mecha classic.
So, no surprise, when it came to taking this
bad boy down, Mikazuki kicked off all limiters and training weights and kicked
the Hasmals ass six ways to Sunday.
It
was ferocious, it was brutal, fast paced and just plain freaking awesome.
Hands down, the Barbatos vs. The Hashmal
isn’t just one of the best fights of Iron Blooded Orphans so far, it’s one of
the best fights I’ve ever seen in the Gundam franchise period.
Unfortunately, this big win for Mika came at a cost, and
I’m not just talking about Mikazuki entire right side getting paralyzed (leading
to something kind of embarrassing I’ll talk about when I get to odds and
ends).
Jealousy and pure denial united
two forces against Tekkadan and the Turbines: Iok, who continues to be an
incredibly stupid tool, and Jasley, who has wanted Tekkadan out of the way
because he doesn’t want Orga to surpass him.
This unholy union sadly spelled the end for the Turbines, or at the very
least Naze and Amida.
It was a glorious
final charge for the doomed lovers, fraught with tearful farewells as Lafter
and Azee headed back to McMurdo and the sad acceptance that Iok and Julieta
were going to survive the battle inspite of the fact that if any duo has
deserved to get it in this show, it’s those two.
This was the moment of tears I was telling
you about.
While I had to say “ew” to
Naze saying some of his Wives were like his daughters (frak it’s the revenge of
Ouran High School Host Club’s Tamaki Suoh), he was Orga’s big bro who had his
back from the moment they met.
Losing
his guidance is gonna weigh heavily on Orga, whose already offered to leave
Teiwaz should Tekkadan become too much of a hinderance for McMurdo.
Many have sacrificed themselves for Orga’s
“King of Mars” dreams already…the loss of Naze could break that dream but we’ll
see about that next time.
With so much loss and death for our heroes, I cant help
but feel IBO is headed towards a dark finale, akin to what we’ve seen in Zeta
Gundam.
Victory had a dark ending too
but that was mostly due to the high kill count, it at least had a more brighter
final moment than Zeta’s tragic victory.
Iok’s stupidity on the battlefield isn’t being rewarded but he’s still
being allowed to do whatever the heck his psychotic tool brain wants.
Julieta is slightly better, in that she
doesn’t really tolerate Iok’s BS and just does what she wants but still.
Her incentive to be Rustal’s everything and
getting rewarded for it feels so unfair.
And how much longer is McMurdo going to let Jasley do his own thing
before he does something about him?
I
never realized til now just how similar the inner strife is between Teiwaz and
Gjallarhorn.
McMurdo can’t just have
Jasley taken out because it would show clear favoritism and incite a Teiwaz
civil war.
It’s already cost him Naze
and Orga’s ready to jump ship if need be.
Just feels like everything is on the up and up for Rustal and Jasley’s
factions while everything else is falling apart for everyone else.
Unfair dammit, unfair.
Odds and Ends time.
Atra is so worried about Mikazuki’s future she wants to bear his baby…or
let Kudelia do it, either way, WOW!!!
It’s rare to see a friendship in Gundam this tight knit that the love
interests for the main character are far from rivals and would be alright with
either bearing his kid.
I wonder who
will get the honors first.
Personally, I
think Kudelia wants Atra to be the lucky girl and it’s hard to blame her.
Kudelia might’ve been Mika’s first exposure
to romance when he kissed her, but Atra’s always been there for him and it’s
clear, in how own way, that he does love her.
That said, I hate seeing Mika still stuck in his living weapon
mindset.
With half his body shot to
hell, he can only function 100% when hooked up to the Barbatos.
“I can no longer live without fighting,” he
says…sigh, how pessimistic.
Also, Hush
has been relegated to carrying Mika around since he cant walk…but not by like
giving him a piggyback ride.
No, Hush is
literally carrying Mikazuki over his shoulder in the most undignified
manner…seriously, screw Hush.
Lastly,
it’s good that one of the last interactions between Naze and Orga had Naze
asking the question Orga needed to hear, “Is Sovereign of Mars really a smart
move for your family?”
He notes how much
of a hurry Orga is in but Orga refuses to run away from what he sees as the
fastest way to that dream.
Maybe with
Naze gone, Orga will do some serious thinking.
Oh and RIDE IS STILL ALIVE???!!!!
This kid is like the MCU Hawkeye of Gundam.
I keep expecting his number to be up but if
he survived a particle blast to his Mobile Suit and a slew of Plumes nearly
devouring him…crap I guess this kid is gonna survive right to the end.
Well, my tears are dry and I’m really, really hoping that
if things are gonna get worse for Tekkadan, they can at least get a little
payback before the end of the series.
Speaking of which, tomorrow starts the beginning of the end as enter the
last 10 episodes of Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans.
I’ll remember to bring tissues just
incase.
See ya tomorrow, right here at
the Gundam Anime Corner.
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