Story (7/10) Good
More Specifically (7.75/10) Good+
The story for Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans like majority of the gundam plots attempts to juggle two main plots at the same time. One being about the characters and their goals they want to achieve and the second being the political side of things and they intertwine with each other. One would say if you want to follow the Gundam story plot formula both of these story plots need to be present and as synced with each other as you can possibly get. Like majority of Gundam alternate universes this universe does indeed have a just a little bit more focused on the character side of things (which there's nothing wrong with that). The political side of things (kind of like Gundam Wing's and Gundam 00) can be a little be hard to follow if one is not paying full attention during the political scenes. I personally think it wasn't too hard to follow but I can't say I understand majority of what was going down during the political scenes and that's kind of the thing that may turn off a lot of people because it did with previous Gundam series. Luckily in my personal opinion even with it's political influence side of things Tekketsu no Orphans' character is something that should keep most people a bay because the are good ones.
Art and Animation (8.75/10) Very Good
The art and animation in Tekketsu no Orphans was for the most part very good. I couldn't give this second a 9 because there were obviously some art style derps here and there when it came to characters only slightly in the background and the actually mech fights some Mech designs looked a teensy bit whanky at times but the scenes they were focused on and polished out are what is keeping it at a high 8 for me. Another thing I appreciate is that it is hand drawn, not a lot of mech anime comes out these days and when they do most of the time it is all CG. And I don't mind CG mechs trust I'm not one of those people to complain about CG mech (I love CG in Gundam Unicorn and The Origin). And I think CG on Mechs is the only thing that looks acceptable to an extent when it comes to putting anything CG in an anime. BUT I do appreciate to a well hand drawn mech anime because that's how it all started and what I'm used to. And I'm sure all the scenes that I felt could have looked better WILL look better in the retail blu-ray release... one would assume and hope.
Sound (10/10) Masterpiece
The sound does not disappoint in any category and that's usually the case when it comes to Gundam. Voice acting (JP), BGM, both openings and endings are all outstanding.
Characters (8/10) Very Good
The characters like I said in the story category are very good and what will keep newcomers to Gundam staying and watching. Although there are not a TON of characters that this applies to the ones that it does like our MC Mikazuki Augus is definitely a character that I've heard nothing but positive things from. He's not like your typical whiny pilot that we've seen in the past. He's more in the category of Heero Yuy and Setsuna F. Seiei but calling him a clone of either of the two is definitely not what I'm saying either. Because honestly I think from a character standpoint Mikazuki is a better and more interesting character than both Heero and Setsuna combine. Yes he has traits from both of them but he also has his own flair of insanity which comes out in the heat of battle. I haven't seen a main gundam pilot with such a personality trait yet the closest I can think of is Haptism Allelujah but he's not an MC. They are either on the whiny, calm or dull for the most part so to see this definitely sparks things up. Majority of the other characters are very good and like Gundam tradition we have character deaths we didn't want but expect. I knew a hand full of people where going to die not because of the countless death flags we've been given throughout the anime but because it's basically tradition at this point.
Enjoyment (8/10) Very Good
I'm a Gundam fan if you couldn't tell I love majority of the series and I'm not your average anime fan that despises all mech anime expect Code Geass and Gurren Laggan. Some might say I give Gundam a little bit too much credit but that's all opinions and a discussion for another time. Going into Tekketsu no Orphans sadly I was already ready to like it because like I said it's Gundam. You have to really fuck up on some Reconguista type shit for me not to like you and it's definitely no where near as bad as that trash. Tekketsu no Orphans brings us a nice 8th MS Team vibe to the series. And I doubt a lot of people realize this but there was absolutely no beam sabers or laser guns in the series (as far as season 1 is concerned). Impressive because a lot of Gundam anime and other mech anime kind of have that as the requirement in their anime and it cool to see a series were as of season 1 is concern does not exist, it was enjoyable to watch the mech fights, characterization with the combination of outstanding BGM this series brought to the table.
Overall (8/10) Very Good
More Specifically (8.50/10) Very Good+
Tekketsu no Orphans in my opinion delivered what it was suppose to which was a good spin off adaptation to the Gundam series and can be recommended proudly when the franchise Gundam is brought up in conversation. Tekketsu no Orphans had people worried not only because the series before it Reconguista was trash but because the Main Director Episode Director, and Storyboard creator Nagai Tatsuyuki had his hands on it and people were extremely worried that this was going to flop because of his past works. It even had me a bit worried when I heard that. But that wasn't the case as Tekketsu no Orphans in my opinion is a successful and very good alternate universe to the Gundam franchise. And with the announcement of the english dub a couple of months ago I hope Toonami grabs it and airs it on there so that the western toonami viewers can possibly get into the Gundam series like what happened back int the good ole Gundam Wing days.
