Kidou Senshi Gundam: Tekketsu no Orphans 2nd Season

So we've finally reached the end of the ride, and what a ride it has been. IBO disappointed many fans early on due to the fact that (1) it isn't crossbone, (2) it is somewhat different from all the other gundam series and (3) it has no "waifu" as some of my mates have pointed out.
That being said, what IBO is full of is tear jerking moments, a few twists and turns which depending on your experience you may be able to predict, and lots and lots of deaths. As usual the ops, eds and osts are very good, and unlike clannad's ones ... they actually fit in with the story, meaning you wan't get a happy/dango song after someone's death.
The characters are not bad, but as I've mentioned some people have pointed out that the female characters need a little bit more work put into them, which isn't necessarily wrong, but it doesn't in the grand scale of things affect your enjoyment.
All in all watching even if you aren't a huge fan of mecha, but if this really isn't your thing then you won't be missing out on too much.

"There's no pure evil and there's no pure good in this world. The good and evil just a matter of perspective."

Sorry if my english were bad ^_^

Iron Blooded Orphans Season 2 (IBO S2) has already surpass my expectation. I have watched Gundam since Wing until today (IBO S2). Sometimes, i'll go to the classic one (Gundam, Zeta, ZZ, G-Gundam). But, this series really exceed my expectation. Gundam series didn't just about someone piloting giant robots fight and kill each other. There's always a deep moral value in every series, the political aspect, drama, and conflict around the main protagonist as the main dish of Gundam ... series. Love stories around the characters on stories is just like it's garnish.

On several years, the quality of Gundam series are under my expectation since AGE and *the worst one* G Reconguista. But, thanks to IBO the Gundam series can extend the breath of this series.

Story: More darker, the conflict were more complicated, the "feels" are everywhere, and moral message make us questioned our understanding about good and evil in our perspective.

The stories started when Tekkadan has been recognized as a legitimate organization. Not just ordinary organization, this season they deepen the main theme of this series, FAMILY. Orga, as their leader is trying to find a place and future where they can live happily ever after. But, the conflicts that revolve around them can't let it happen in subtle ways. Of course, the blood and the brutality of this series are increased. The weakest plot in this season stories are Mika character development (although he's kuudere), the love triangle harem things around him, and how they dethrone Kudelia as main heroine. The finale of this season, strengthen the statement that I make at first and strengthen the roots of the stories of all Gundam series, that war is to painful for both sides and it can't resolve anything. In the end, our "antagonist" Rustal Ellion, created the world that Tekkadan and McGillis want to made. Gjallarhorn evolving and become more democratic, the world with peace and equality, and Mars has achieved it's true independent. So, don't judge someone just because he has different perspective and ways to achieve the goal that we want to attain too.

Art: the art far away better than the 1st season. The details of the mobile suits and it's character are more better than the 1st season. At 1st season I almost dropped this series because of the artwork and the slow paced stories. But, when the series going to be like roller coaster, the artwork already accustomed to me. The 1st season, just like an introduction to those artwork, and the 2nd season they went all out to perfecting it. The battle scene of the finale was very enjoyable and entertaining. Probably the best of this whole series.

Sound: the soundtrack are very enjoyable. Especially the 1st opening and ending. The 2nd opening isn't my kind. But, the 2nd ending really flew the feels away especially at episode 23. The sound effect are more audible and epic especially when the mobile suit hammering and slicing each other. There's no more beam in IBO series. So, the noise when the fight happen didn't noisy like it's predecessor, and it's really help the audience to concentrate on the fighting scene.

Overall, I enjoyed the series. Gundam back on it's root when IBO series out. The battle scene, the artwork, and the stories (exclude the love triangle harem thing) are already passed my expectations. It really know how to feast the audience who grew up watching Gundam, and for me this Iron Blooded Orphans make Gundam 00 series is like to "soft" for me who grew up watching Gundam.

Gundam is for 15 and above when it first release. Thanks to AGE and *The Worst One* G Reconguista series, they are success to weaken the Gundam series grip as king of mecha genre anime with reason "to attract the younger audience". There's no need for Gundam to change it's way. Because, people like Gundam the way they are. I even watch Gundam Wing when I just a little kid. Even the stories were darker and complicated, Gundam Wing really hooked me up to Gundam series. So, to someone who says He/She is Gundam fans but only watch from Gundam 00 above. Man, you don't know the true colors and nature of Gundam. Gundam 00 is one of the best. But, still IBO is the one who make Gundam series back to it's roots, and admit it. This Gundam series are more Gundam since the 1st Gundam.

Let me say right from the get go, that if you like emo teens piloting the gundam, this isn’t the series for you. If you abhor on screen death, then this isn’t the series for you. If you want a gundam series that encapsulates everything we loved about Universal Century gundam then this IS the series for you. If you're looking for an intro into this thing called gundam but don’t know where to begin, this is the series for you. IBO has everything that we love about universal century gundam without the emo teens and child friendliness of the newer, alternate universe gundam series. ... The key here is the fact that IBO has no ties to any other gundam series so they were free to explore a world and mythos all their own. This is gonna be a turnoff to those who hold one specific gundam series above all others. But it’s still great, even for those who feel it doesn’t “measure up” to series in the past. The action is stunning and fluid, at times a little too chaotic to actually see what is going on exactly. Some characters develop, some don’t. One doesn’t watch gundam for the emotional content, but it has enough to make the characters matter to the viewer. I don’t know what else to say. If you love gundam, you’ll love IBO! Unless on screen death is a strict no-no with you; then you may want to avoid this one.

let me begin with just not understanding how stupid can some people in anime community be ...
writing a review just to state some false statement and easily get supported by people ah how amusing..
first of all this series is one of the best gundam serieses out there (speaking as someone that watched almost every single mecha anime out since the 2006)

Story?
good enough for being a gundam story that includes drama , action a little bit of romance ... even though there was some moments that may anger/sadden some people but as long as it gives you emotion , it did well.. they excuted ... everything so dam good , some deaths were impactful and some were not ...

Art?
a Gundam series what can i say . as expected .

Sound?
ooooh cant believe that some people find sound the most horrible thing , like what are you ? a fucking deaf? ofc not , you can hear ... they pretty much perfected the sounds , even though there were not so many SFX but still they added the ending song in some impactfull scenes and made it more reachable to the heart...

Character?
hoho Mika is up there with Setsuna and the others ... every other character had their place in the viewer hearts like some of them are despiseable and some are very likeable ...

Enjoyment?
well this was a very long journey and it was very much worth every second ....
they began it well and ended it better .

Overall
dont listen to the haters.. if one thing i learned from this site , is that there are many people that just throw you away from the truth . this series is almost a masterpiece (sorry i cant give gundam a 10/10 cuz gundam.. they always kill your favs)
i cant believe people are saying sound are horrible when they did the sound better than most mecha anime , oh and Character too i cant believe they are hating on the character... oh nvm all of that , i saw some reviews hating on art , am done with this community LOL , art is obviously is one of the best in gundams out there , gtfo...

well i hope this helps , even though it was mostly a rant since many reviews were delusions throwing people off a good anime.. thats why i made this account just to make things clear (being new doesnt mean that i dont have experience ... let me just say that i have been watching anime since 2006 each semester each year... yep i have no life )
try it , you wont lose anything ..
oh and sorry for my bad non-native english

First: Sorry for my bad english.

When uru's ending comes out, omg this anime goes fly to the sky.
almost cry in every end of this anime.

Story : 10
The story was outstanding, imagine you are orga who's gonna save his family with all those burden in your shoulder's.
you lose your brother's, sister's, and you don't know where to go.

Art : 9
... The art was good after all.
And those battle scene was sooo "satisfying", especially when mika take screen.

Sound : 10
okay Sounds, the sound was good with all those opening and ending, especially those uru's song cry, cry, cry...

Character : 9
How sunrise put the antagonist and protagonist character was so amazing depend on their perspective

Enjoyment : 9
when the revenge was screened, that was my most enjoyment i've got.

Overall :9
okay, this season better than the first season.
when you want to go in, watch first season and go to this.

Hey guys,
so this is my first review on MAL and it has to be for Iron-Blooded Orphans. I haven't seen any other Gundam Anime so I am kinda a noob when it comes to the universe and I can't really compare it to others of this series. Please remember that this is my personal opinion but goddamn.. that anime was great!

Great music, awesome characters, really loved the artstyle and the story... ugh!

Iron-Blooded Orphans was a rollercoaster ride most of the time. I was shedding tears in this anime, thrilled by actions, had goosebumps during the fighting scenes which were so fucking epic. Holy shit.
The ... characters were really great in this anime. You had some you really love and others you start to hate with a passion. There were moments where you guys are going to be like: "What the fuck, why?" and other moments where you're going to be like: "FUCK YEAH".
Frustration, sadness but also enjoyment and satisfaction.
I was watching the anime while it was aired, so I had to wait week for week for a new episode which was so damn frustrating at most of the times, cause it's full of cliffhangers. That probably won't be a problem when you guys are bingewatching the shit outta this.
I had episodes where I just sat there for like 5 minutes in shock trying to understand why and what just happened.

This is by far one of the best animes I have ever seen. My rating is a solid 10/10, I would probably give it 11/10 just to make clear that it is in my eyes better than the rest on my Animelist rated with a 10.

I hope that review makes anyone of you guys to watch Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans and enjoy the trip with my dear friends from Tekkadan. Enjoy that ride, all the emotions and that really nicely told story.

Do NOT watch this anime if you want a fun shounen anime with clear "good" v "evil" factions who fight on equal terms.

This show was a fairly realistic portrayal of what would happen if a gang of murderous child soldiers tried to overthrow the government. The characters are complex and likable. My main complaint is with the character Juliet who seems like she could have been a lot more interesting, but was kind of neglected by the writers. Her character growth is very subtle and mostly happens in the final episode.

The overall vibe is much more of a mafia-style than the traditional gundam rebels vs. ... the man. Some of the character deaths are shocking and reflect this - be prepared.

The ending is very bittersweet but also very satisfying.

Would highly recommend this to people who watch things a little more closely, it will be less enjoyable if played in the background and only half payed attention to.

In the year 1947, over 1700 middle school aged boys were drafted into the Japanese Military to fight the Pacific War. They were given inadequate equipment and little training, predictably leading to mass slaughter without understanding what they were even fighting for. Their deaths were not worthless however, helping to inspire laws against child slavery and serve as an eternal testament to the horrors of war.

This group was named the Tekketsu Kinnōtai - Blood and Iron. Seventy years later Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans is a tribute to those fallen soldiers and a more heroic outcome, even if no less brutal.

Picking up where the previous ... season left off, the Tekkadan are continuing to fly towards a blazing sun that promises to light them on fire. They've gained a reputation as one of the most powerful organizations on Mars, a double edged sword that grants them both strength and danger as other powerful entities scheme ways to destroy them. Orga's promise to allow his men to live a life free from danger. Kudelia's desire for them all to make it out of war safely seems more and more far-fetched by the passing day. These ever-increasing stakes make this season a clear improvement over the first. most episodes are rife with tension and build to a dramatic conclusion that can be compared to the best in Gundam franchise history.

I appreciated this anime's approach to a group of adolescents assuming a large role of power. Rather than having all the answers or being overpowered, they are often overwhelmed, prone to mistakes and reliant on the adults around them for support. Even Mikazuki Augus - an unapologetic killing machine - has to sacrifice his own body for the sake of gaining strength in battle. There is a tangible cost to every action these characters take.

IBO offers an accurate portrayal of good and bad in war - there is no such thing. Both sides are spurred on by a selfish conquest at the cost of thousands of lives, with the victor being given the opportunity to shape the world however they see fit. It's up to the viewer to rationalize who's the least evil of the factions and come to grips with the decisions that they make. I found myself grappling with this decision until the very end where it all became clear.

The least interesting aspect were the political discussion. I did not care for negotiations when the solution for every problem is brute force and more resources. IBO can become preachy in between battles leading to periods of aimlessness. Fortunately, these moments aren't overwhelming throughout the second season and can be ignored with no consequence.

For the romantic shippers out there, you'll be happy to know there is substantial progress made on the love triangle. In a sense, IBO understands what the fan wants and gives it to them - of course with an appropriate level of caution because this is Gundam and nothing is sacred.

This is a season full of twists and turns, death flags, and a group of children finding out the hard way just how cruel the realities of war are. An appropriate follow up to one of the most grounded Gundam inserts in recent memory, I'll long remember impact a group of Iron-Blooded Orphans once had on the fate of the world and will eagerly look forward to any future installments.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans 2nd Season Review


Story (7/10) Good
More Specifically (7.50/10) Good+

The story for Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans 2nd Season was good. It doesn't try to follow in the foot steps of previous Gundams and it tries it's own thing, other than the Gundam itself there's barely any resemblance to any alternate universe that had come before it. No lasers (except that one the mobile armor used), No beam weapons and no haro, sure there's a mask character and a char and even a garma clone. But it still does things that aren't seen before in an actual plot in a Gundam ... story. Like I said I thought it was good but I do indeed think it could have been better as far as making some of the loose ends not so loose. For example the biggest one is the mobile armor situation that Bartbatos Lupus fought that whole ordeal was introduced but went nowhere. It's like they wanted to take the story somewhere by introducing the mobile armors but then focus on the war conflict and then the anime concluded.


Art and Animation (9/10) Great
More Specifically (9.75/10) Great+

The art and animation in Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans 2nd Season was great. When Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans 2nd Season wanted to showcase come nice ass looking animation they can deliver some, the mobile armor fight alone is probably one of the best mech animated fights I've ever seen and I will never forget it, after that the last episode of this second season and the McGillis vs Gaelio's final fight was amazing. A nice handful of nicely non-cg mech fights and I appreciate and would love more of in the future of the mech genre as a whole not this cg stuff.


Sound (9/10) Great
More Specifically (9.75/10) Great+

Just like Season 1 Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans 2nd Season brings the sound to high standards now I wasn't too found with the second ending outro but literally everything else sound related in this entire anime was outstanding.


Characters (8/10) Very Good

A lot of the characters get characterization and this anime doesn't give anyone plot armor. Anyone had the potential of dying which I felt they handle nicely that suspense is what made it good. Now some characters did disappoint me because I was expecting more from them before the anime was over like I wish Orga ended up piloting his own Gundam alongside Mika (never happened), or that the new character of Season 2 Hash Midey was an interesting character which I thought would rise to top tier the way the anime had him talking at the start of the season but it basically felt like a waste of characterization, development and overall screen time by the time the anime ended I was quite disappointed he really didn't amount to a damn. Now Gaelio on the other hand surprised me especially doing what his original counter-part Garma could not his rivalry with the char clone is something I love to see in a Gundam anime. The main character Mikazuki was a beast until the end and I haven't seen a Kill em all Tomino style ending in a while although I felt it was handled better than how Tomino himself handles it in some way but worse in others.


Enjoyment (8/10) Very Good

My enjoyment for the series was very good, I was indeed expecting more enjoyment out of the series though to be quite honest. It does succeed in story building and characterization and some of the best mech fights I've seen in a long time. For me though some of the build up and pay off was not worth it. For watching it on a weekly release I feel it was not enough pay off when it was "pay off" time. I'm sure binge watching this one probably would not notice as if you were watching the episodes in bulk you most likely wouldn't feel this way.

Overall (8/10) Very Good
More Specifically (8.60/10) Very Good+

I will be honest Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans 2nd Season is a very good installment to the Gundam Universes but I'm not going to lie I was expecting more from this series. I do not feel satisfied and it's current rating on this site is still higher than Gundam 00 which I feel is a far superior alternate Gundam Universe anime to this one. Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans will be missed sure but not too much. If anything I would love to get a spin off prequel movie or something showcase the Calamity War or something to do with the Mobile Armors since they were not used alot in this series. Anyway Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans 2nd Season is very good but even with the many many good things I can say about it I do feel Season 1 was better from a story standpoint, Season 2 sure does a lot of things better but it has the burden of the conclusion of the overall series to live up to and I feel disappointed by how it ended which did not help in the enjoyment, character or story categories.

Gundam is a war drama. A drama being exactly what you expect it to be, a drama. Characters are put into very dramatic situations while feeling the pressure of adult hood and tragedy weighing them down to the point of breaking. People don't watch drama to have fun, they watch it for an interesting story full of twists and turns that shatter your expectations. Mix with war and you have some heavy drama coming your way. That is exactly what the most recent Gundam Franchise is all about.

As a great fan of the Gundam Franchise I can safely say that IBO as a whole ... is a fantastic war drama along with having some better spins on the franchise itself to keep it fresh. IBO is VERY different from other Gundam Series, but alas the core theme is still present. As long as Sunrise continues to experiment with the Gundam Franchise then perhaps the infinite possibilities that inhabit the core concept of Gundam can finally be discovered. In this case IBO shows plenty.

Story: 8
No matter how good a story is, presentation is key. The most boring of concepts within a story can be made interesting if presented JUST right. The same can happen the other way around where the most interesting of concepts can be made boring if the presentation is off. No matter how perfect someone's writing is people will find some sort of fault in it. The key of a good story is to present the premise, give tension, give reasons, give life and have a good time on that roller coaster ride. And a roller coaster ride best describes the story of IBO. Things keep happening and lead to another incident and you wanna know what happens next. If you have that "I wanna know what happens next" mentality for your target Audience to have, then you nailed presentation.

Iron Blooded Orphans is about a mercenary group known as Tekkadan trying to survive the bat crazy world of Mars/Earth government finding their footing. People fight, people cheat, people murder just to get by. Tekkadan is no different. They are mercenaries after all. They aren't supposed to be good guys, but people we can relate to. That spark of humanity is all what we need to follow a character. However, inhuman concepts that harbor within Mika are also important within dramas. With many characters with different points of the story you can see what they go through. It might be brief but all what you need is brief. It's a war drama after all. ANYONE can die.

As things go on, Tekkadan gets pushed and pushed until they struck a deal that they will soon regret. Watching their spiral into failure is indeed depressing, but that is Gundam at its finest. The ending itself is more unique than the other Gundam series' endings but it is at least bitter sweet. The theme for IBO is Family and the cold heart truth of reality that you can't change who you are or even how things are unless you become the very thing you set out to destroy.

Art: 9
Looking gooood again eh Sunrise? I never bought any Build Fighters or G Rec models, but I have bought several of IBO because of how amazing they are. The MS Designs are AWESOME! Getting some unique ones here and there and the Barbatos is a very cooold Gundam! COOL COOL COOL! What else must I say? Animation is saved for the action which makes total sense, and the color pallets work just fine. In the future I wanna get myself a Tekkadan jacket for obvious reasons. AHEM! Enough of me fan boying. I'm not the best on art analysis, but if Gundam's visuals rely on rule of cool then I was say they did a splendid job.

Sound: ALL of the openings are amazing! The Tekkadan theme is off the hook! And you know once that theme is playing you just wanna root for them! Take my word for it, listen to it with the Unicorn theme when you can.

Character: 8
I can say with great confidence that IBO knows what it's doing with its characters. With the theme of Family you can see Tekkadan giving themselves a shoulder to cry on and give each other support. Akihiro wanting to be more family orientated, Takaki leaving to get away from the fighting, Orga struggling and making poor choices, Atra opening up more and even Gaelio with McGillis are great wonderful characters to follow. Mika is...strange. I would say he is crazier than Heero and Setsuna. He is with out a doubt a sociopath that only cares about Orga. Though I feel like he has way too many Kira Yamato perfect moments, he is still touchable. Presentation is key here. When Mika is being perfect he looks GOOD being perfect, and when he struggles he REALLY does struggle and push his body and mobile suit to the absolute limit. That kid isn't afraid of death. Mika is far from realistic but characters like this exist because of how awkward they are. He certainly a wild card in IBO and I'm glad to get a shot to experience his flavor. McGillis is a what if Char failed from the beginning, though McGillis struck me as a small disappointment. It's not because he failed or how he failed, his failure makes sense to show how idealism on a single note can't accomplish everything. Even becoming the very thing you sought out to destroy. My disappointment lies within his interactions with Mika.

Have you ever noticed when McGillis had a flash back his young self has the EXACT same expression as Mika when he was younger? I always felt that IBO was setting up Mika and McGillis to have a clear rivalry or friendship. McGillis growing up closed his heart from people, planned ahead and did ruthless things for himself. Mika on the other hand did ruthless things for Orga, someone he CARES about, his heart is closed but not entirely. Basically a Good Sociopath and a 'Bad' Sociopath. But over time it is hinted out that McGillis TRULY is a good man who got corrupted by his own ideals. Making him closer to Mika than mirroring him. It felt like wasted potential that they would seem to hint that McGillis and Mika are very similar yet very different at the same time. Oh well, guess my expectations were subverted. But it still irks me...which leads to

Enjoyment: 9
Perhaps what I see the most in IBO threads here on anime list is the anger meter. People get ANGRY when characters die in a way they don't see fit. People get ANGRY when certain characters DON'T die. Die die die. He must die, no he must live. It's all the same. Things happen because the route is set for people's demise. It's satisfying when Iok dies, it's sad when Laughter Dies. The deaths fulfill their purposes. It fills you with emotions that you will never forget which is mission accomplish for a war drama. And honestly I feel like people here forget about that. I enjoyed it for what it was and had my own sort of way for fun. The show is a roller coaster and I love that aspect.

Overall: IBO gets an 8. Some disappointments but the good outweigh the bad. I had a great time with this show and I can't wait for the next franchise.

I've talked about the Gundam franchise once before with the sub-par 00. Honestly, it's a franchise I'm not super familiar with even though it's incredibly famous. I've seen bits and pieces of some others but the only other one I've watched all the way through was Wing, which I have a lot of praise for. None of the others have really grabbed my attention, though. Enter Iron-Blooded Orphans, which just finished its second series in April. I haven't seen anything of this one. I've heard some positive things but I can't say whether or not I agree with them. One thing that interests me is ... that it was written by Okada Mari. She's written some anime adaptations we've looked at before like Toradora & Kuroshitsuji. We also have her to thank for writing Canaan, Black Rock Shooter TV & AnoHana, the original novel, anime & manga. She doesn't have the world's best track record with me (The late Sir Terry Pratchett holds that distinction) but she does have a pretty solid one. Especially when it comes to non-adaptation works. And, with Gundam, the anime and manga were basically released simultaneously. This may be another Gundam series I can be really positive about, but let's watch through it before making that judgement. After all, we all remember that time Ikuhara Kunihiko disappointed me even though I usually like his work. Keep in mind, this review is going to cover both series of Iron-Blooded Orphans.

Story:

We open on Mars with a company called CGS. They're hired by a young activist, Kudelia Aina Bernstein, to escort her to Earth so that she can try to push for some changes to benefit Mars. Things go south quickly. The powerful military organisation, Gjallarhorn, sends troops to demand that CGS turn over the young lady. This results in the older member scarpering and the child soldiers taking advantage of the situation to take control of the company, after using a Gundam Frame to repel the initial attack. Under the leadership of Itsuka Orga, they change the name to Tekkadan. Their first mission, finish the escort job that CGS started. Thus begins their legend.

The biggest flaw with IBO is that there are some plot points that rely on some pretty contrived stretches. In the first series, our heroes arrive at a colony where there's a group that's been heavily inspired by Kudelia & she's still being chased by Gjallarhorn. Both groups mistake Tekkadan's chef, Atra, for her. Now, let me get this straight, Kudelia is a public figure who's appeared on television stations and the like, but these groups don't know what she looks like? Gjallarhorn couldn't pull up a stock photo for their goon squad to look at? The group inspired by her speeches and ideas never bothered to actually watch them? What makes this even dumber is that we know they have access to them. There's a point where she's recognised by a member of the group who saw her on the news. But we're expected to believe that this major public figure who's inspired all these people is only recognised by this one person? Is literally everyone else in the group named Matt Murdock?

The second series gives us another with a character who was shown pretty definitively dying in the first series turning up alive and well. You'll know them when you see them, they try to hide the identity but it's really obvious. Then again, this is Gundam, maybe he was just replaced by his identical younger brother. No, I'm not sick of mocking that bit from 00 yet. A more minor issue is with the romances. There are some characters who end up together even though they've just exchanged a few lines and never shown any chemistry. Fortunately, the romance is just a side thing and has very little impact.

The death scenes are a bit of a mix. On one hand, the series generally does do a good job of illustrating why a character matters before we see them die. Unfortunately, this has the side effect of making the major character deaths incredibly predictable. Most of the time you'll get five minutes into an episode where a major character dies and you'll know it's coming. Now, there are ways to write a strong character death when it's obviously coming. Beast Wars managed it as did A Prayer for Owen Meany. The difference between those and this is that one started delivering hints for a good dozen episodes in advance and the other was a fairly long novel where most of it was dedicated to showing why the character mattered. It doesn't work as well when you try to cram all of that into fifteen minutes or so. Especially when it comes to less prominent characters who haven't had all that much of a role.

There are plenty of positives to the narrative. I appreciate that the series takes risks. There are quite a few major characters who don't make it. There are times the antagonists win major victories. The ending is very bittersweet. The series also has a good amount of subtlety in its portrayal of the conflicts. There's rarely a side that's just abhorrent, rather, you'll get two sides coming into conflict and you'll have an understanding of why each one is fighting. And chances are they'll both fight dirty. You'll probably favour one side over the other but you can understand both. The series is also good at handling its darker content like slavery, arranged marriage involving characters who are far too young or child soldiers in a way that doesn't shy away from showing or discussing the darker aspects. The content isn't just there in an attempt to be edgy or dark, it's actually relevant. Sadly, that's not common.

Characters:

One thing that's kind of inevitable when you've got a cast this big is that some characters are better developed than others. You'll have some characters who are largely relegated to the background, others who are big supporting characters & the core group. I will say, the characters you spend any amount of time with do have decent levels of verisimilitude. They're fleshed out enough to make them compelling. The major characters get even more development, mostly. Then we have Mikazuki. In some ways, he's kind of like your typical, emotionally stunted protagonist. He has a perpetual thousand yard stare, speaks pretty monotonously and follows his orders. He is shown to have some emotions, mostly violent, but he's still kind of dull. I do appreciate that our antagonists are given proper motivations and fleshed out too.

Art:

One thing that Sunrise is pretty consistently good at is artwork & this series is no exception. The backgrounds, mechs, space ships, & character designs are all really strong. A lot of the characters even have noticeable non-verbal tics. Which adds some realism to them since we all have things like that that we do without even thinking about it. The action flows well and a lot of the battles are absolutely brutal. The artwork is also really effective at setting tone. The worst I can say about it is that a lot of the major characters have shounen hair. You know what I'm talking about. Ridiculous looking hair styles that probably involve entire tubes of gel every day but the characters have them because they stand out.

Sound:

There are plenty of strong performances. To name a few of the more prominent ones, we've got Terasaki Yuka, Kanemoto Hisako, Takumi Yasuaki, Sakurai Takahiro (stop following me, Cloud), & Hosoya Yoshimasa. There aren't any poor performances in this. About the worst you get are the minor characters who never get to demonstrate any kind of range. Even then the few lines they get are capably delivered. The music is really good too. The theme tunes are nicely done & the music within the episodes is used, effectively, to enhance the atmosphere.

Ho-yay:

IBO has a lot of characters who read as bisexual and a few who take things a step further. Mikazuki likes to talk about how Orga gave him his life and he'll do anything for him. Although he also has female love interests. Speaking of, Atra & Kudelia both seem to be as interested in one another as they are in Mikazuki. Especially Atra who likes to fantasise about a world where the three of them are all together. In the second series, Takaki seems to have a thing for Aston. We also have Yamagi who wants to Trowa Shino's Quatre.

Final Thoughts:

Iron-Blooded Orphans has some flaws. It has some really noticeable contrivances, romances that are mediocre at best & the main protagonist is just okay. Still, it's a really good series with positive aspects that far outweigh those issues. My final rating is going to be an 8/10. Next week I'll look at Koe no Katachi.

Before writing this review, i'd need to clarify some information regarding my standpoint as an audience: A
1. This is my FIRST Gundam. So i can't really tell the different between the art and the story between this and the previous gundams. So don't expect something like "This is the best/worst gundam ever out of me". ALSO, if you learned enough Psychology you'd know that human has tendency to have emotional attachment to the FIRST VERSION of something that they LIKE/LOVE. For example, if you listened to Michael Buble's Home FIRST and loved it, you would not like West Life's version as much. The same logic ... applies to the reverse case when you listened to West Life first. Thus, it is possible that i'd have higher opinion on IBO than your beloved Gundams, and pardon me for lacking of Gundam-culture. In return, i'd keep my review as neutral as possible.

2. I always appreciate the CONSISTENCY the animes when the season 2's on par with, or better than season 1. It is extremely difficult to keep surpassing. Remember, IBO ss2 served as a CONTINUATION of one storyline, which mean it is not meant to SURPASS the story of first season, but meant to CONNECT with the first season into a GRAND STORYLINE - ONE ANIME (This logic does not apply to all the animes, obviously. But in the case of IBO, it does). In short, DEMANDING for SS2 to have BETTER story than SS1, to me, sounds nothing more than a load of bull spouted by a bunch of ungrateful fcks.

Now, for the review.

The first strong point of IBO (Both SS1 and SS2, as i said) is itself being a symphony of battles/Wartime and short breathe of Peace. If you read a lot of wartime literature (I was born in Vietnam, so there's a lot of those in our literature), you'd see that this the War-Peace blend that this anime maintained is close to, if not to say, perfect at a masterpiece level. Comparing to Code Geass or Aldnoah: Zero, IBO is just of another level in this particular department. Basically, Adnoah: Zero and Code Geass both created a good proportion of war but the variety of characters available and the depth at which each characters are portrayed are just not enough to create a good War-Peace blend. On the other hand, IBO have multiple characters sharing the role of the first-person view and main character and that's what make the anime's so dam good.

The second strong point lies in the many faces these anime characters that this anime portrayed. The number of characters having a relatively far personality development is absolutely phenomena. We have multiple 1st-person seats: From the main hero Mikazuki, to the ones have their loves and siblings and comrades die in the war, ones who could have separated themselves from the war, and the ones who are obsessed with the war. Most of the characters are developed just perfectly deep enough. And the romance factors, little as they are, shine like flowers blooming from the iron armor of the Isarabi, along with family love, and comrades' bonds. At the same time, all of those flowers of different circumstances and lives are connected with the bloodline of fate they shared together: The thing most people would perceive as these kids' naivety and shallowness is exactly the kind mindset they need in wartime, especially as the underdogs with no chance of victory. Again, it comes back my background: As i mentioned earlier, I read a lot of Vietnamese wartime literature and this psychology - what's called "naivety", "stupidity" or "madness" by the enemy, and called "Patriotism" and "Sacrifice" by the Vietnamese, is simply ubiquitous, and overly familiar. This is what it looks like from the perspective of the underdogs. In order to win, they have to let themselves be brainwashed. They need to fight with a few hundred, or thousands, percent of what they have. IOB is a masterpiece at portraying wartime, that could easily shy Aldnoah: Zero and Code Geass.

In short, this is, in my opinion, absolutely a masterpiece among war/military animes. The character's development, the comrade bonds, the wartime romance and the psychological progress of each characters have never been this close to perfectly developed, given the story of the entire anime and the background of the characters (both season 1 and 2). The story, as most people would say, predictable. But it doesn't have to be overly complex. Sometimes, simple story is needed provide the perfect environment for many other perspectives of an anime to shine.

I seriously do not understand how there are reviews of this anime that are negative. It is extremely easy for me to say this was one of, if not, the absolute best anime I have ever seen in my life. The journey Iron-Blooded Orphans takes the viewer on is anxiety-inducing, emotional, stressful, and by the end, satisfying and worth it. I have to admit that the character development isn't as strong in season 2 as it was in season 1, but that's forgivable given that we already know plenty about our main characters. There are some new characters introduced in Season 2, and they definitely ... see some growth, but it isn't as powerful as it is when we are first introduced to the main characters. Regardless, this season is still perfect because it doesn't rely solely on the character development.

Iron-Blooded Orphans really ups the ante on the intensity of everything: the stakes, the battles, the victories, the defeats, and everything in between. When a character dies, you really feel it, even when it's somebody from the team you're not rooting for. Everyone's motivations are clear, but that only adds to the extreme intensity of each side's righteousness. Each faction wants what they want, and it makes sense why. Mobile Suit Gundam is just really good at displaying the horrors of war, but I think Iron-Blooded Orphans takes it to a unique level.

This show had me pretty emotional throughout the entire thing, but during the last arc, I could not handle myself. I was essentially crying the entire time. I won't tell you exactly what happens because you really need to watch this anime, but what I will say is if you're invested in the show and not just having this anime on to pass the time, I think you will easily see the magic of this anime. The art style is pretty straightforward, but it really comes to life during the action scenes. The way the Mobile Suits clash together and metal explodes is just really awesome. You need to give this anime a chance.

English version- Sorry if the translation was erroneous, translated Google.
I hope the main idea will be clear
The ending turned out very good, but the author on the original idea wanted to kill all the characters from the "Tekkadan", and I think it would be more correct for the plot.
   Main thought:
 "We ended up where everything started," it would have a deep meaning, an evil one - irony, so much food for thought, ... an opportunity to reflect on what we are striving for, and where we are going, at last - where the road chosen by us will lead us. And as for me, the other authors (everyday romance - like Toradora) sat down (if you believe the of-th site, it was) on the head of the leading director, and changed several storylines. Orga and Miss Marribit were supposed to meet and conceive a child and at the end the child from Mikazuki and the child from Orga were supposed to play together, thus showing that the war of their fathers is over, but their children will have future in which one does not need to survive, the future in which There is no war in which life on Mars is life, not survival.
 One of the ideas that really appealed to the tech is that people who were considered garbage, no one needed material, only able to die collect fists, achieve such heights, declare themselves to the whole world, from the battle for survival, they go to the battle for freedom, they fight not for money, but for the highest goal, and eventually with their support, their native planet is reformed, the one on which no one else needs to die, for survival, the one with which it all began and on which it all ended.
 They do not even know where to spend money, they simply do not need them, they are good without them, when all the members of their unit are whole and alive, their goal is not money, they are looking for their way, the path in which there is no war, and no grief.
 At the end, the plot begins to spin into several layers, but then as a fist on the table, there is a loud noise, a sharp clap, puzzles stand in their places, and a complete picture of the actions and their consequences.
     Minor nuances:
  1-It is not clear why the love line between Yamagi and Shino is made, I will not say that this can not be, quite the contrary, it's no surprise considering the factors that do not need an enumeration, but still I think it was possible to do without this story line, so more such turns are not very popular with the target audience of this work, but most likely this is the initiative of the authors of love-carrot comedies / everyday life / romance.
  2-Also there was a very fierce prince of Egypt - Iok, whose character I would not venture to introduce, if not for his death at the end. This character who infuriated with his impenetrable dullness, scratching, constantly and with all his honor, and his death at the end, was like revenge for fallen comrades. I literally felt comforted, but this was far from the main thing, although it was also not an unimportant detail.
  3- It's not clear why the added new heroes, although we can say that they show Tekkadan from a different angle, so to speak from the side, but still, then why not reveal the Hash. His story with his hanged friend and his goal of surpassing Mikazuki as for me is not fully revealed. And in the course of the story, the characters are forgotten and in the end he remained the same as he was, without being more striving and goal-oriented, but still not yet up to uncovered.
And as a whole, I think they should have had a dilemma towards the end, and then a fight in mobile armor, or something like that, Hash had to show that it was not in vain. But no, it was more important to make Yaoyo line Yamagi and Shino.
  4- Oppenning - "RAGE OF DUST" as for me is the weakest for the whole series, and does not convey the necessary atmosphere as opposed to all the others, I'm not talking about the meaning, I'm talking about the performance, although from the part this song conveys some idea of ​​the plot , but still I would choose something different, there are a lot of ideas, but it's more like something like "Raise you Flag", because they were going to the goal at the time and nothing seemed to stop them!
    Outcome:
 In the end, I believe that this story should have ended with the death of all the heroes, as was originally intended, at the end of the course of their battle, there should have been flashbacks from the first season, music of the first opining at the beginning, and endings near the end when they reflected the attack on their base, fighting no longer without reason, and fighting for their comrades, their friends, for the common good, this would be an irony, but also a profound meaning.
 The plot by which some characters survive - there is a place to be, but does not have that emotional shock, as the original plot, which seriously would make you think about your life, goals, your vulgar and future. The end that turned out of course is also good, of course, but he continues to develop the story of each character separately, they become isolated from each other, everyone is busy with his goal, somebody's revenge, somebody's work, somebody's children, that under Tekkadan - ( the community of people obsessed with one goal, for the common good) is difficult to imagine. The end should be the way the author intended it, and not the way the authors want it to be. It would not be bad if the original ending was out



Концовка получилась очень хорошей , но автор по изначальной задумке хотел убить всех героев из "Теккадана" , и как мне кажется это было бы правильней для сюжета.
Основная мысль:
"Закончили там где всё и начали" , в этом был бы глубокий смысл, злая - ирония, столько пищи для размышлений, возможность задуматься к чему мы стремимся, и куда идём , наконец - куда избранная нами дорога нас приведёт. И как по мне другие со авторы (повседневной романтики - по типу Toradora) сели (если верить оф-му сайту, так и было) на голову ведущему режиссёру , и изменили несколько сюжетных линий. Орга и Мисс Мэррибит должны были встречаться и зачать ребёнка и в конце ребёнок от Микадзуки и ребёнок от Орги должны были играть вместе, тем самым показывая, что война их отцов окончена, но у их детей будет будущие в котором не надо выживать , будущие в котором нет войны, в котором жизнь на Марсе это жизнь , а не выживание.
Одна из идей которая очень понравилась тек это то что - люди считавшиеся мусором , никому не нужным материалом, способным только умирать - собирают кулак, добиваются таких высот, заявляют о себе на весь мир, от битвы за выживание, переходят к битве за свободу , борются не за деньги , а за высшую цель, и в конечном итоге при их поддержке реформируется их родная планета, та на которой больше никому не нужно умирать, ради выживания, та с которой всё началось и на которой всё и закончилось.
Они даже не знают куда тратить деньги , они им просто не нужны , им хорошо и без них , когда все члены их отряда целы и живы, их цель не в деньгах, они ищут свой путь, путь в котором нет войны, и нет горя.
Под конец сюжет начинает закручивается в несколько слоёв , но затем как кулак по столу , раздаётся гулкий шум ,резкий хлопок, пазлы встают на свои места , и складывается полная картина действий и их последствий .
Мелкие нюансы:
1-Не понятно зачем сделанная любовная линия между Ямаги и Шино , не скажу что такого не может быть , как раз наоборот , ничего удивительного учитывая факторы которые не нуждаются в перечислении, но всё же Я думаю можно было обойтись и без этой сюжетной линии, тем более такие обороты не сильно нравятся целевой аудитории данного произведения, но скорее всего это инициатива авторов любовно-морковных комедий/повседневностей/романтики.
2-Так же был очень бесячий принц Египта - Иок, персонаж которого Я бы не рискнул вводить, если бы не его смерть в конце. Это персонаж который бесил постоянно своей непроглядной тупостью, тчеславием, и везде носился со своей честью, и его смерть в конце, была как отмщение за падших товарищей, Я буквально почувствовал успокоение, но это было далеко не главное, хотя тоже не мало важная деталь.
3- Не понятно зачем добавленные новые герои , хотя можно сказать что они показывают Теккадан под другим углом, так сказать со стороны, но всё же , тогда почему не до раскрывают Хэша/Hash. Его история с его повесившимся другом и его целью превзойти Микадзуки как по мне не до конца раскрыта.И по ходу сюжета про персонажей забывают и в конце он остался таким же каким и был, без условно более умелый и целеустремлённый, но всё же ещё не до раскрытый .
И в целом мне кажется у них ближе к концу должна была произойти дилемма, а затем драка в мобильных доспехах, или что то подобное, Хэш должен был показать что всё было не напрасно. Но нет, видно важнее было сделать Яой линию Ямаги и Шино.
4- Оппенинг - "RAGE OF DUST" как по мне является самым слабым за весь сериал , и не передаёт нужной атмосферы в отличии от всех остальных, Я не говорю про смысл , Я говорю про исполнение , хотя от части эта композиция передаёт некоторую задумку сюжета, но всё же Я бы выбрал что то иное, идей очень много, но скорее что то похожее на "Raise you Flag", потому как они в тот момент шли к цели и казалось ничто их не остановит !
Итог:
В итоге, Я считаю что данная история должна была закончится смертью всех героев, как и было изначально задумано, в конце по ходу их битвы, должны были быть флешбеки с первого сезона , музыка первого оппенинга в начале , и эндинга ближе к концу, когда они отражали атаку на свою базу, сражаясь уже не беспричинно, а сражаясь за своих товарищей, своих друзей, во имя общего блага, в этом была бы злая ирония , но и глубокий смысл .
Сюжет по которому выживают некоторые персонажи - имеет место быть , но не имеет того эмоционального потрясения , как изначальный сюжет, который серьёзно заставил бы призадуматься над своей жизнью , целями , своим пошлым и будущим. Конец который получился в итоге конечно тоже по своему хорошим , но он продолжает развивать историю каждого персонажа по отдельности , они становятся обособленными друг от друга, каждый занят своей целью , кто то местью , кто то работой , кто то детьми , что при Теккадане -(общностью людей одержимых одной целью , во имя общего блага) представить - сложно.Конец должен быть таким каким его задумал автор , а не таким каким его хотят видеть со авторы. Было бы не плохо если бы оригинальную концовку выложили хотя бы в качестве альтернативного сюжета , в виде OVA или в каком то подобном формате.
Теккадан - это семья , кровь которой застыла и смешалась вместе, судьбы их уже не распутать , цель одна , и они пойдут к ней , за погибших , и за тех кто жив.

In this second series of Iron-Blooded Orphans (which I'll refer to as IBO for the remainder of this review), Tekkadan serve as bodyguards to a new organization created by Kudelia to help restore the independence of Mars while also contending with the remnants of Gjallarhorn, when the military organization's credibility to the masses became damaged following the events of the first series. However as the series progresses, multiple parties are able to exploit Tekkadan's brutal reputation on the battlefield to decredit them and cause things to go on a downward spiral for the group as the series progresses.

IBO's second season will perhaps become remembered in ... time among Gundam fans as one of the more darker and bittersweet entries in the franchise to date, and for good reason. The first series established Tekkadan as a team of tragic anti-heroes consisting mostly of child mercenaries who knew only how to fight throughout nearly their entire lives and sought to break out for themselves as an independent entity by taking on the job of protecting Kudelia to get her to Earth and reveal the corruption of Gjallarhorn. As mercenaries, they are not hesitant to kill any enemies that get in their way and will strike up deals with any party or organization that will assure them success, hence their dealings with Teiwaz and Gjallarhorn's McGillis Fareed.

In the second series, Tekkadan have become instant celebrities to the people of Mars for their exploits in exposing Gjallarhorn's corruption. While Orga and the other members hope this would allow them to become an honest business due to their association with Kudelia, their brutal reputation among their enemies and the dealings they made with questionable entities eventually comes back to haunt them in later episodes. Through complicated manipulations and politics, Tekkadan's public reputation among the masses eventually becomes tarnished and the associations they established with questionable parties unravel. While I won't spoil too much else of what happens with Tekkadan, all I will say is that the series returns to the days of older Gundam titles where you would never know who would wind up a victim of the travesty of war and IBO cruelly delivers on showing how Tekkadan's reputation eventually comes back to bite it hard.

Outside of its focus on Tekkadan, IBO also takes a decent amount of time to explore more about the complicated power structure within Gjallarhorn and further develop the character relationships within the series. The series devotes time to exploring McGillis' motives and past, which turns out to be a rather tragic one due to being an illegitimate child of one of Gjallarhorn's influential families. In addition, more of the power structure within the organization is explored with the Seven Stars, those making up the seven most influential families within the organization.

A number of the show's character relationships also have time to get further fleshed out and focused on. Some of them are on the romantic side and serve to show more of the human side to the mecha pilots of the series, this most notable in Mikazuki's relationships with Atra and Kudelia as he starts to better understand human social skills. Others serve to explore how character relationships have deteriorated due to the complicated manipulations that occurred in the ensuing conflict between Tekkadan and Gjallarhorn, this notable with McGillis as his manipulations lead his former friends in Gjallarhorn to show hostility toward him as they learn more about his actions and motives.

In terms of presentation, IBO's second season retains the high-quality visuals and fluid animation of its first series that made mecha action scenes a treat to see. This combined with the title's great musical composition within action and dramatic situations offers it one of the best overall presentations within the past year for an anime.

Overall, the second season of IBO is yet another excellent recent addition to the Gundam franchise as it offers a tragic and bittersweet end to the struggles of Tekkadan that will remind fans of older entries in the franchise coming from Yoshiyuki Tomino. A definite watch for fans of the Gundam franchise, provided you have already seen IBO's first season.

This Review is for both Season 1 and Season 2 of Iron-Blooded Orphans

Firstly let me say this anime while it captures the great feeling of what a Gundam anime should be it fails in one major place and in my opinion thats its character development.

I found that the characters could of been worked on a little more and given a bit more depth to their personality as I found that the main protagonist felt a little robotic and while I understand that he was meant to act like that I still felt there could have been a little more depth to his character.

Towards the ... end of the second season I felt that the story was slightly rushed and left a few plot holes that needed to be addressed, but while there was some noticeable plot holes within the series the story itself took on a simple story and wasn't too complex to follow.

But the story itself wasn't all in all that gripping and at times i found that not paying attention nor caring about what was happening.

Moving onto the positives the Art is fantastic and easy on the eyes and the mobile suits are superbly well designed and drawn, the characters also look well drawn and match their personailties despite the lack of depth.

Sound wise it suits the theme and lives up the reputation of how a gundam show should feel and sound and at times enchances the scene that is currently at front and another positive is that niether the art or sound overshadows one another.

Character wsie I felt there was more then enough characters to fill its roster to keep an auidence interested enough but I didnt feel connected enough to care what happened to any of the characters as as such I feel that this show overrall could have been better.

Overall the enjoyment is very good and the reason why it has a good score from me is because of the first season. in my honest opinion the second season was a slight let down and it didnt do nearly the same job as first season in keeping me wanting more.

I recall a word, from a far off dream, space opera.

I believe that is what the original star wars was called, this is that in all its IRON BLOODED GLORY, this is space opera. Iron and blood roar across the stars an adventure for the ages.

It is a must to watch season one to gain the seed or attachment to characters of the cast as this series with a spectacular job, of rendering a woe filled-bitter sweet narrative of friendship, with clashes of morality.

Burning automatons races across the heavens, as tensions rise between the rag tag group of freedom TEKKADAN as the saga clashes with ... forces of the old as well as new world.

The narrative brilliance as well as execution of the series, rendered me with a new admiration for the character development, BRAVO.

Iron-Blooded Orphans, or as the cool kids call it, Code Geass's dyslexic younger brother in space. All jokes aside, I loved this sleigh ride, and if MAL didn't have a backward system of cataloging different seasons as separate shows altogether, I would review the entire series at once to do it justice.

Story 9/10: Nothing wrong here, a continuation of the plot of the last season after a time skip, it picks up where things left off without missing a beat. I’m not gonna lie, it was a bit of a slow burn at first, but after a few episodes, it really kicks it back into ... high gear. It raised the stakes and all around is a decent political drama with plenty of spectacular action scenes. No plot holes large enough to be noticeable, nobody does anything quite stupid enough to break your delicate immersion, and it’s full of more than enough twists and turns to keep you engaged.

That said, there is a lot of world-building left out of this universe. IBO is disconnected from any of the main timelines of the classic Gundam universe, and it’s also a good introduction to anyone unfamiliar with the franchise, so when they mention events that are fairly universal in all of them like the Calamity War they shouldn’t expect that people will intrinsically understand without explaining it a little more.

Still, the amount they did give was good enough and everything else story-wise went over pretty well. Overall, this is much, much darker than the first season, but if you have the stomach for it you in for a fantastic ending.

Art 10/10: Perfect 10. It's dark, it’s gritty, and it's beautiful, vibrant, and breathtaking when it wants to be. From the vast and varied settings to the character designs, to even the smaller details like the logos and random insignia, the attention to detail is very impressive. The Gundam’s look truly unique from anything else in the franchise, and are closer to Eva’s than actual conventional mech designs. CGI is used very seldom, but it’s always used with great restraint and layered on top of classic 2d art that really keeps the flow of the animation going without losing its rhythm. Also, can we talk about the animation? Fucking god tier, THIS raises the bar for how a fight scene should work. It's fluid, it’s fast-paced, and it’s by far some of the best fighting I’ve ever seen. For real, this is smoother and cleaner than even AOT, beyond a shadow of a doubt a perfect 10.

Sound 8/10: It is great, I love it, and you'll love it too. The OST is always on point, and both of this season's intro's slap just as hard as the last season. Not sure what to comment on this, the only drawback I can think of is that a few of the tracks feel like they come close to being overplayed but other than that the variety is good. I certainly wouldn’t change anything.

Character 7/10: I’d like to think that this is simply the hardest part for any show to get right, and that I’m not just a cynical anime critic swamp dweller that whines about character development, yet refuses to socially interact with those in the world outside my parent’s basement. The main characters are strong, the supporting characters and strong, and the villains are mostly pretty strong as well.

However, I think we have a combined issue of the cast being both dramatically larger with the motivation to only kinda halfway develop one or two. They do just justice to the OG cast, it isn’t bad but I could see how someone more critical than me might get frustrated; it could have been better. That said, I think it’s justified due to the sheer body count of this season. Julieta and McGillis are the only characters whose development made me actually frustrated. Okay, McGillis is like a dollar tree version of Lelouch, I have to question if he has stage 4 autism every time he pulls a big-brained 1000 IQ political power play. As for Julieta, it’s a massive spoiler.

Enjoyment 10/10: This was everything I look for in a good show, such a fun ride all the way through with an epic climax that, while not leaving me completely satisfied and left a few things on an open door, was extremely exhilarating and fits the bloody tone of the show perfectly.

Overall, a very solid 9/10: A bloody retelling of Code Geass, with all the political theater pushed to the wayside in favor of violent carnage. While it doesn’t quite scale up to its predecessor of 10 years in basically every department except action, it doesn’t miss the mark by much, and even coming close to a masterpiece like that is great company to be in. This is one of the most enjoyable shows I’ve ever seen out there though, definitely an S-tier mecha seinen worthy of praise, cause there simply just isn’t much criticism I can offer. I loved every second of it, can’t wait for the movie.

Not spoiler free so...

Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans is the third Gundam series I have watched after Seed and 00, and as much as I have only watched two, I got the "gist" of the franchise's different plots for its series. But boy was I surprised with this one.

Let me start off with the story. The complexity of it aside, it's basically another anime about an overpowered protagonist and a selfless man of dreams. We'd usually get the two in the same package but the creator/s decided to make a team of two this time. From start to finish, the anime's plot was an ... absolute roller coaster of extreme ups and downs where you just really start to wonder about its direction and how it's going to get where it's supposed to. In the end, the destination of the plot was understandable and, in a way, realistic. But it certainly doesn't justify the amount of deaths we see in this anime, and most, if not all, in vain. The plot was, all in all, good, but definitely not great if it leaves me feeling a little frustrated and unsatisfied, although many would find it quite unique.

The art, however, was absolutely fantastic for an anime of its genre. The fight scenes were amazing and fluid, character designs were on point, backgrounds were detailed, the design of the anime's technology is basically what you would expect from a Gundam anime. Well, the art is the same of what I can say about other animes of its time.

Sound was amazing as well, especially the OST, as expected of the man behind the music of Your Lie in April and Plastic Memories. Each piece of music fits the scenes so well that I was compelled to listen to the individual pieces online.

Ah, the characters. I'm going to keep this short or I'll end up ranting for paragraphs on end.
So, we have the main characters, Mikazuki Augus and Orga Itsuka. Two very different personalities but somehow work as the leading duo of the anime. One is a born leader and the next is his born follower. Orga's drive to keep moving on is Mikazuki, and Mikazuki's drive is Orga. Of the two, the only one who actually earns obvious character development from this mutual relationship is Orga. Mikazuki is like a finished painting that doesn't exactly need more details, but to display it, it needs some sort of support. Orga is that support, or his "trigger" more like. Whatever Orga wants from him, he does it without question. As characters, I actually like their relationship as a duo. I don't think I've ever watched an anime with such main characters as them until this.
Next, the supporting characters. We have the sort of stereotypical ragtag group of friends who consider themselves a family, which is Tekkadan in this case. Nothing special to say but they were all basically great as supporting characters for the plot, as much as some of their deaths hit me like a tonne of bricks. The Gjallarhorn guys also played their parts well as the antagonists. But one special mention is McGillis, whose presence in the anime is actually what led to the sort of ending the anime had, which just goes to say that, as much as McGillis was made to be involved with the main characters of the show, it didn't erase the fact that his intentions can be deemed "evil" from a certain perspective and so died as a result of playing the anti-protagonist role.

Truthfully, I can't say that I didn't enjoy this anime. It was great and I would probably watch it over, only it would be years from now when I have completely forgotten the plot just so I can experience it all over again, but who can really forget an unforgettable anime like this?

Overall, IBO is a great, imperfect anime with a few downfalls, but great nonetheless.

When I look back at Iron-Blooded Orphans, for me the outstanding value of this series is definitely the story line. Mainly it is a story about a struggle but it is also a story about revenge, about sacrifice, about pursuing one's dream and never losing sight of what's important. The story is definitely one of the grittier ones, particularly in the mecha genre. Expect tragedy, expect disappointment and difficult situations - the world of Iron-Blooded Orphans is tough, unforgiving and full of people trying to take advantage our protagonists. The anime does offer some suspense relief through light-hearted humour but I personally had an ominous ... feeling whenever something happy happened. Don't get me wrong, this anime is still an action anime but it is dramatic, it is powerful, this is a solid 10/10 story.
So is there anything else to look forward to? The next 10 score in my books goes to sound. The soundtrack is amazing, I loved the background music, sometimes hearing the music start in the background made me enjoy the scene so much more. It is definitely one of the stronger points of this series.
So why am I giving this anime a 9 and not 10? As some of the other reviewers out here pointed out, Iron-Blooded Orphans fails a bit in terms of character development. It almost feels like this is a natural consequence of having such a powerful story: the characters are hostages to the events that unfold around them, and really have no time or space to think or adapt to the situation. They are swept of their feet just like the viewers are. I cannot say more because I don't want to spoil the story but don't expect character development, this is not that type of anime. In a way, you could say that all character development happened in the first season. In that regard, first season is a must-watch to really understand characters' feelings and appreciate the story.
I enjoyed Iron-Blooded Orphans a lot. It was a hell of a ride, it is an anime which after watching the last episode, made me look back and think about what just happened. I felt happy, felt sad, felt disappointed and satisfied... It is a mix of conflicting feelings - an indication that I just watched a great series which is a great addition to the Gundam universe and to mecha genre as a whole. Watch it and decide for yourself what you think of this series. It deserves your attention!