T5W#550-Top 5 WTF Moments in Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans

Save for a fun Monty Python influenced Top 5 on the matter (see here: https://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2025/05/t5w508-top-5-gundam-iron-blooded.html) I never thought to do some kind of celebratory Top 5 for the 10^th Anniversary of Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans last year.  Granted 2025 was mostly spent celebrating the 30^th Birthday of Gundam Wing but that also feels a little unfair to the boys of Tekkadan and their bad ass Mobile Suits.  To say IBO is one of the hardest hitting entries in the Gundam franchise is kind of an understatement.  It’s hits are as emotionally charged as the giant hammers that get whammied into Mobile Suits on an episodic basis.  There are also some truly F’ed up moments that are both shocking and awe inducing.  Since we’ll be covering the 10^th Anniversary Double Feature Special This Friday, on todays Top 5 Wednesday I’ll be counting down my picks for the Top 5 WTF Moments in Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans.

T5W#549-Top 5 Romantic Partners in Persona 5

Back around Christmas, I finally decided to give Persona 5 a proper chance after two false starts.  Well, just like Jujutsu Kaisen, third times proven to be the charm as I’ve been sinking a couple hours a night into this game since the start of 2026. TBH, it does start a bit slow but once you get going and are allowed to level up, gear up and have an active social life, Persona 5 really does live up to its rep as one of the best JRPGs out there.  And one area it defintiley excels at is the plethora of romantic options.  Basically almost every female supporting character is romanceable from your teammates to Teachers moonlighthing as Maids to a Gothic Doctor with a penchant for using you to test medicine.  To my shock, there are options to romance more than one girl (and there’s a hilarious outcome if you somehow achieve the “Harem Route”).  Tempting as that is, it’s a game in and of itself choosing who you want to dedicate your heart before the end of the game and definitely is a draw for multiple playthroughs to see how each play out.  So, while I know I’m well past Valentines Day, I’ve been pushing to try and beat this game before my vacation this weekend (and the inevitable purchase of Resident Evil Requiem that will take up a ton of time once I’m back).  Ergo, today’s Top 5 Wednesday shines the spotlight down on 5 particular beauties who are the Top 5 Romantic Partners in Persona 5. 

 

Samurai Girl: Real Bout High School Part 4 Episodes 11-13

The Daimon High School Festival is almost here and the entire school is stoked and ready for some fun.  But the main event, the School Play, is missing it’s star: Ryoko Mitsurugi, who is nursing a broken heart and broken spirit.  The might Samurai Girl will have to pull herself together quickly because dark forces are hovering over her beloved school and the battle she’s fought on behalf of the mystical world of Solvania are coming to Earth.  Standing alongside Shizuma, Ryoko prepares for one final showdown with everyone and everything on the line.

 
Well, that could have gone better?  Who am I kidding.  Given how much BS Real Bout High School has thrown into this Anime adaptation, there’s no way the Series Finale was going to end on a high note.  But wow, they just decided to ignore the fences and swing for anything in sight.  It’s honestly even hard to think of a good defense for the finale.  Even in my Pros and Cons notes I usually take watching a show or movie I was hard pressed to write something other than “Nothing” in the Positive Column.  I’m not even sure I can properly sum up all the nonsense but hell, here goes nothing.
 

Samurai Girl: Real Bout High School Part 3 Episodes 8-10

The tumultuous times of Ryoko Mitsurugi continue and this time she’s going up against her toughest opponent yet: unrequited love.  But before she can even think about confessing her feelings for her Senpai, Tatsuya, she’s got a mystery to solve on a haunted island before leading a band of Magical Girls (and Shizuma) to rescue a pair of young corporate Heirs.  Ryoko might be up to all challenges but there’s one even she might be unprepared for: her own broken heart.

Samurai Girl: Real Bout High School isnt a good show but I have been pretty lenient on it due to my love for the Manga.  I like the characters a lot and the initial concept of the K-Fight System is great.  However, both of those can only get you so far and in this penultimate set of episodes, the cracks are starting to show.  What’s even more worrisome is that we barely had any Magical Solvania stuff today outside of one bad dream sequence.  So normally taking that out of the equation would be cause for celebration.  It's too bad then that two of the three episodes are still not great and a third is doing the one thing I’ve been wondering if the show would from the get go: just rehash an entire arc from the Manga almost beat for beat.
 

FIF#255-Galaxy Express 999: The Series

In a future where trains deliver all species across the cosmos, young Tetsuro wishes to travel aboard the legendary Galaxy Express 999, to attain a body that can never die.  Through twist of fate, he gains an unlikely ally in the beautiful and mysterious Maetel, who offers him the chance of a lifetime to travel with her aboard the 999 itself.  It’s the beginning of a journey that spans the stars and beyond with dangers and wonders alike awaiting Tetsuro in his galactic quest.

 
The Galaxy Express 999 film from 1979 is one of my favorite Anime films of all time.  It’s a gorgeous space age fairy tale filled with wonder, excitement, terror and endless possibilities.  I’ve always known there was a TV version but there was so much I didn’t know going in to the first episode.  For starters, I didn’t know the movie came out during the TV Series, nor that the show wouldn’t wrap for another couple of years, and probably led into the theatrical sequel Adieu Galaxy Express 999 in 1981.  Not to mention, the TV Series is pretty long, clocking in at more than 100 episodes.  Does the Premiere inspire the urge to board that old space age steam locomotive once more?