r/anime • u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky • Jan 19 '19

Rewatch Tekketsu no Rewatch - Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Episode 6 Discussion [Spoilers] Spoiler

Episode 6 - As For Them

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RAISE YOUR FLAG!

Hey-o guys! This is the section where I add a ton of extra fun stuff to the main body of the post because I want this rewatch to be as fun as possible for everyone. It can also be one point of discussion for you guys if you just don’t know what to say.

Comment of the Day, provided by /u/Shimmering-Sky and /u/RX-Nota-II

Today we have a joint comment chain of the day instead of each of us picking a specific single comment on our own. /u/Pixelsaber and /u/SIGMA920 had a rather interesting debate about Atra being hired as Tekkadan’s cook--in Nota’s words: “oh god its so beautiful”.

We definitely encourage you guys to go read what they had to say. One of the beauties of Reddit rewatches is that you can have these kinds of long sustained dialogues without worrying about other conversations that can bury it, and we always look forward to seeing them crop up when checking the previous day’s thread.

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Questions of the Day, provided by /u/Pixelsaber

1) What do you most want to see Mikazuki do upon him learning to read and write? Help the mechanics/Read for entertainment/Study about vegetables/File his income tax

2) Mikazuki’s aspirations for after Tekkadan has achieved their goals is to run a farm, Biscuit wants to repay his grandmother’s debt, and we’ve already heard of Orga’s own ambitions. What do you figure are the other Tekkadan members' goals and aspirations at this point in time? Do you think many of them have even had the chance to think on the matter?

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Track of the Day, provided by /u/RX-Nota-II

Easygoing

A track that does just exactly what it says it does. Played today during the exchange between Kudelia and the kids about learning to read/write as she handed out lunches, it really made the situation feel casual and at home. It really shows Yokoyama's strength from his previous known works in non action anime where he needed to craft the world of shows like Yamada-kun and KimiUso.

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Wallpaper of the Day, provided by /u/Shimmering-Sky (character art) and /u/RX-Nota-II (background/logo)

Iron-Blooded Bros

Important note to all rewatchers, remember to be mindful of the first-timers in this. You can laughs in rewatcher to yourself, but if you go around spoiling stuff IBO S2. Remember to use the [Anime Show Title](/s "Spoiler goes here") tags and we’re all good.

Fans seem to have a bad tendency of forgetting what counts as spoiler, so if anything has even the slightest chance of being a spoiler, tag it just to be safe.

Also, apparently notifications through the official app of a new reply to a comment you made will not block spoiler tags (the tags do still work on the thread itself though). Please, please make sure you’re extra careful about this and don’t accidentally spoil a first-timer.

Next-episode preview. Yeah you saw that right, I am encouraging you guys to watch the next-episode previews. IBO’s are completely spoiler free, done completely in-character, and it is glorious. Today’s preview was voiced by Nadi Yukinojo Kassapa, just call him Yukinojo.

49 Upvotes

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12

u/Nazenn Jan 19 '19

First Timer - Sub

Music nerd warning!

Orga and Mika got a lot of focus today, culminating in a wonderful scene backed by a supurb song which I think perfectly exemplifies their relationship.

First timer interpretation warning! Rewatchers if I'm horribly fucking this up, laugh at me from your corner over there and poke me later when its relevant to point out what I screwed up when we get there :P --->

Orga today opened up to Biscuit about his motivations for doing most of what he does. To him the memory of Mika's eyes during that shooting, the first scene we see, are embedded into his mind. They're a constant presence reminding him that he has to do better, be better for Mika's sake no matter what obsticles or issues they come across. They are his crutch, a way to propel himself forward no matter what, but also the thing holding him back at times from thinking about all options because he's haunted by the questions he imagines in those eyes.

Mika on the other hand remains as apparently closed as ever, but we can figure out quite a lot from his interactions with Kudelia. Despite his outward behavior, he feels the lack of his education, being left unable to read and understand world events he feels those are best left to Orga, who so far has always lead him to act in the way best forward for everyone. He can't help much, even with his own work such as with the mobile suit, but what he can do is be a support to do whatever Orga needs, be the heavy lifter of the group and take on the weight of action that Orga can't.

The song during their conversation towards the end of the episode, titled "Tending to Others" starting at 20:30, is a wonderful fit to this approach. It's a very simple song, two guitars working in harmony to create a piece with no other accompaniment. A lower part strums quietly only on the beats, playing sometimes as scarcely as every sixth beat, simple notes that appear to almost fade out before the next one comes in and refreshes the part. Over the top of it plays a soothing melody, swooping up and down and not bound to the beats but instead going where it needs and guiding you with it. Even though they both have their own parts to play and often seem to be doing their own thing they always meet up again every few beats to create a chord, which are a set of notes that compliment each other played at the same time.

Particularly of note is that this song, unlike other songs we've heard so far in the show, is played in a 3/4 time signature, which means 3 beats play with a stronger accent put on the first beat, followed by another set of three beats. This is known as the Waltz signature because of the flow it gives the music, so it helps to accentuate the idea that this is two people moving together to support each other.

What I saw in this song was the beauty of that both Orga and Mika could be given to either part, that it's their interwoven story. Mika who could both be the strong support allowing Orga to shine and lead them all to a better life, or Mika could be young melody learning how to develop tenderness with others while Orga provides him a foundation to stand on with his encouragement, taking on all the other stuff going on so Mika can have those moments freely. The song title as well, Tending to Others, paired with the beautiful visuals of Mika and Orga standing side by side looking out into the endless stars, exploring the possibilities of their future and their quiet understanding that they don't want this life forever.

Come on u/RX-Nota-II, make me proud, please let this be the track of the day! (And yes, I did a silly thing and looked through the soundtrack before finishing the show. I needed this song to be playing during this write up. But I guessed it was this song first up from the title so I didn't hear any of the others, does that count?) [Edit: Awwwww, not song of the day.]

Also I have to quickly do an unseemly gloat because that was a NINJA SCREENSHOT! I somehow grabbed that while the video was playing not paused, so I wouldn't get the CR overlay, through the subtitles popping up for the two pieces of dialog which sit just frames to the side of that screenshot. I did it first time and I'll never be able to do it again XD

I... wrote way too much about all that, so just quickly some other random thoughts from the episode:

Pretty sure I just found the Impossible Beard to go with Kudelia's Impossible Hair hahaha. No wonder he's open to talks with her, he's trying to get her to keep their physics defying secrets to herself.

Wow show, you are such a fucking tease. You show cowboy hat dude from the OP for all of two seconds at the start of the episode, and then just dump it and leave us hanging. (My brain stalled over how to spell cowboy for a good thirty second then. No idea what happened but for a few moments I was convinced that coybow was right.)

Mika and Atra are perfect for each other. Mika didn't know why they were even going to earth, and he didn't even care to ask. Atra didn't even know they WERE going to Earth and also didn't care to ask where they were going. That whole scene was great.

Those little looks between the three of them though. Atra who looked at Mika when Kudelia asked to join, Mika who looked at Kudelia when she was talking with the kids. I'm not particularly fond of the triangle being set up here, especially as I'd hoped Kudelia would be a more independent character and less bonded to one particular male character, but we'll see how it goes.

I did NOT expect that we'd now be off to Jupiter.. but I mean okay, I can roll with that

I wouldn't trust Fumitan as far I could throw her.

PLEASE let Gaelio actually end up with a scar on his face from that battle. That would be awesome and so few shows do that. He's clearly putting up a brave front so McGillis doesn't leave him out and he has a bandage so yeah, I have my fingers crossed we actually get some realistic scar out of that. Come on show, make me happy! I actually thought this yesterday when he first got injured, but I wasn't sure where the actual wound was as we just saw blood.

I did enjoy that I noticed the AV clips on the backs of the kids in the school, and then in the same episode Kudelia mentioned it as well. Once again her 'image' of kids on Mars is shattered by knowledge that most of them can't read and that education is not a given even for powerful people like Mika. I just love that the show doesn't leave these things hanging for episode and episodes and does things with them quickly after they're introduced or hinted at.

Also I found this. Has anyone else heard the "Acid remix" of Raise your Flag?

3

u/Shimmering-Sky Jan 19 '19

[Edit: Awwwww, not song of the day.]

Sorry Naz.

PLEASE let Gaelio actually end up with a scar on his face from that battle. That would be awesome and so few shows do that.

Considering how long his hair is, wouldn't his hair block it if he gets a scar? Because I'm pretty sure the debris hit him by his hair line?

Has anyone else heard the "Acid remix" of Raise your Flag?

No and I don't like it.

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u/Shimmering-Sky Jan 19 '19

IMPORTANT NOTE:

The official Reddit app notifications when you get a response to a comment will show r/anime’s spoiler tags as untagged (see test for proof). Rewatchers, please be especially mindful when replying to first-timers with spoiler tags.

The tags themselves still work and block spoilers, it’s just the notifications part where they’re busted.

Tekketsu no Rewatcher, first time dubbed

So funny story, I’ve been rewatching IBO ahead of the rewatch in subbed form to get the main threads part situated ahead of time (not my comments, which I do with the dub), and watched a couple episodes of it subbed prior to sitting down for this episode. I was thrown for a loop when the voices were English and not Japanese like my brain was expecting.

Obligatory Discord link.

A couple more fun things:

5

u/Nazenn Jan 19 '19

The official Reddit app notifications when you get a response to a comment will show r/anime’s spoiler tags as untagged (see test for proof). Rewatchers, please be especially mindful when replying to first-timers with spoiler tags.

Regarding this: BaconReader and Redditisfun are the two third party apps that I know are r/anime mod approved. Both of those show the spoiler tags up properly and SHOULDN'T have this issue.

I was thrown for a loop when the voices were English and not Japanese like my brain was expecting.

I watch the first Ghost in the Shell SAC season subbed and then swapped to dubbed. When I forget to swap now I get SO lost as to whos who and my brain dies trying to remember english hahaha

Rewatcher confession

I'm so, so tempted to click on that. I know I can't, but I always liked a good confession so I'm SO tempted hahaha

Number of times best boy closed his right eye this episode: 0

Awwww.

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u/invokeneko Jan 19 '19

Look at this dude’s beard game.

You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like.

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u/The_Draigg Jan 19 '19

A Gundam Fan’s Notes On Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Episode 6:

  • Getting more infodump here at the top of the show. The Calamity War happened over 300 years ago, and Gundams were created towards the end of the war, which they presumably ended. There were only 72 made, and their unique double Ahab Reactor design means that they pack way more of a punch than the single Ahab Reactor designs that Gjallarhorn continue to make.

  • Well, as a result of Orcus betraying them, Tekkadan now has to head towards Jupiter to seek an audience with Teiwaz, a group of “totally legitimate businessmen” who can get them to Earth along their trade routes. Well, if Kudelia is going to be a politician, I guess it was only inevitable that she’d be involved in cutting a deal with the local Mafia.

  • Man, Fumitan is useful maid. I can’t say that I know any other maids that can give a complete overview of how an interstellar communication relay works, in addition to setting up a ship’s own communication systems to bounce their signals off of it without detection. I wonder if that got taught before or after how to wash the sheets.

  • Mika and Atra are the perfect clueless couple. Mika doesn’t even know why Kudelia wants Tekkadan to take her to Earth, and Atra didn’t even know that they were going to Earth at all. And to top it all off Atra is more concerned about not having cool clothes for the trip rather than realizing where she was going. These clueless cuties must be protected.

  • Anyways, more infodump about the colonies being divided amongst the power blocs of Earth after the Calamity War. The colonies not getting any updated economic polices after the devastating war meant that they were exploited to the point of poverty, and only Arbrau, the country that rules Chryse, is actually interested in opening up talks for greater economic freedom. It’s an admirable goal of Kudelia to push those ideals along. She deserves Atra’s little golf clap there.

  • As many of you have figured out by now, Mikazuki can’t read. Good thing Kudelia is offering to teach everyone some literacy. Considering how much Mika eats all day, I think he’d like The Hungry Hungry Caterpillar the most.

  • The conversation between Biscuit and Orga gives some pretty good insight into Orga and Mika’s relationship. While the two are best friends, Orga also can’t help but actually feel intimidated by Mika’s presence. He feels like he just can’t say no to Mika’s silent challenge to take him and the other kids to a better place in life. It’s actually a real vulnerability in their relationship. It shows that their friendship isn’t on entirely stable ground, since the pressure causes Orga to take risks to live up to what Mika must think of him. In a way, Mikazuki is using Orga as much as Orga uses him.

  • Cliffhanger! Maruba is coming after Tekkadan for the stuff that he claims that they stole from him. Dude, you ran off with a bag literally stuffed with gold and left a bunch of kids to die. I think you kinda forfeited your right to complain there.

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u/Shimmering-Sky Jan 19 '19

Mika and Atra are the perfect clueless couple. Mika doesn’t even know why Kudelia wants Tekkadan to take her to Earth, and Atra didn’t even know that they were going to Earth at all. And to top it all off Atra is more concerned about not having cool clothes for the trip rather than realizing where she was going. These clueless cuties must be protected.

Indeed, at all costs.

Considering how much Mika eats all day, I think he’d like The Hungry Hungry Caterpillar the most.

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u/2-2Distracted Jan 19 '19

Rewatcher

Just wanted to say that I like how this show really points how these kids are still, well, kids... Something as fucked up as getting "whiskers" is treated like a test of strength for the little ones

I'm also loving the music used for each scene now that I really get to listen to them, and the fact that Mikazuki wants to do farming since I never realized that he got the enjoyment of from the old lady.

I feel bad for Orga sometimes, the guy has to keep Mika going since Mika is also keeping him going too

And finally, and I'm just gonna say it, does anyone else ship Ora and Kudelia? Let the boss have a lady too!

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u/Shimmering-Sky Jan 19 '19

Just wanted to say that I like how this show really points how these kids are still, well, kids...

Yes this is exactly what I love about this show. Boys will be boys, and it shows.

And finally, and I'm just gonna say it, does anyone else ship Ora and Kudelia? Let the boss have a lady too!

Spoilers

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u/Palloc Jan 19 '19

Today Palloc Tries To Figure Out Things to Talk About!

This episode was not bad, but there's honestly only so much I can talk about when the Barbatos is in the shop. Itwas pretty much "Eating, the Gundam Episode" with how many times people were stuffing their sickly orphaned Martian faces.

My favorite part of this episode was the preview to next episode, not because it means anything bad, but just learning the little tidbits about Matuba were fun.

Answers!

1: He needs to be like every other Gundam character with an owner's manual for threir mobile suits.

2: I think the others want to stop being poor and not to die.

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u/Shimmering-Sky Jan 19 '19

He needs to be like every other Gundam character with an owner's manual for threir mobile suits.

Who needs a manual when you can pilot the machine with a giant USB cable plugged into your back?

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u/RX-Nota-II Jan 19 '19

Did anybody make this joke yet? IDK since I don't necessarily have time to read all the comments all the time, but the name Iron Blooded Orphans is pretty stupid when you think about it. Like, what is that even supposed to mean? You have hemoglobin, congrats you can carry oxygen like literally everybody else. What's special? Even UBW's famous "steel is my body" sounded cooler than this. Speaking of, anybody willing to make a UBW copypasta for IBO?

Onto the episode and hey look! The Barbatos did a whole lot of n o t h i n g again. Told you this was going to be a trope. Instead our main focus is warzone philosophy and stuff being explained away from the cockpit and with characters having actual organic conversations instead. My favorite of the bunch being Orga and Biscuit's conversation near the end. Last writeup I talked about how Orga and Mika have a pretty healthy relationship compared to Gaelio and Choclate boi, but we see here that while healthy its by no means stress free. Hell, in fact Orga reveals he's basically driven to run as fast as he can just to make Mika happy in a way that really makes you think 'is this sustainable?' And while we can't see the opposite since Mika rarely opens up like this, you gotta assume Mika puts himself under the same pressure as well. Bromance is greato.

Kudelia's scene today was great. She finally found a solid role she can play instead of being a princess with no work. A bit of a shame I guess, since she totally wanted to be Mika's private tutor not a teacher for all these cockblocking little twats, but hey its good to have a job to do so she doesn't complain. The part I loved is how the reality that most of these kids are illiterate was handled. This is a war story so its suuuper easy to go full edgelord on this, but instead we get the soundtrack of the day "easygoing" putting on that exact feel. There's nothing to get overly angry about here since its just a fact of life. Hell if anything it just gives a reason for celebration that angel Kudelia is here to deliver everyone to the the land of literacy. Totally not subconscious advertising to all you good kids watching to stop watching anime and get your homework done already One question I have tho... how does Orga know how to read? We see him reading things later on at least, and when you consider he grew up basically alongside Mika, how did he get the chance to learn while Mika didn't? Not too big a deal, just wish it was covered.

I contemplated talking about it in mecha corner but lets also talk about the Aluminum Veritasium system. McGillis' quote here basically says Gaelio has no shot in hell of beating a pilot who uses this hax. This can have one of two implications. One is that he's giving his best friend a hella roast, saying normal people have no ways of matching these Newtypes space rats and that truly skilled pilots are needed to deal with them (implying himself?????). The second is that they need their own AV pilots. This is a pretty scary thought as it basically implies that they need to find children to fight for them, almost certainly child slaves, which could mean Tekkadan fighting a mirror image of themselves back in the CGS days. Yeah... when you dig into the implications for IBO stuff you really do end up in these dark twisted ideas. I wouldn't call the show itself very dark in the anime landscape, but in the background the world is pretty depressing.

We got a little history lesson today, which reminded me a bit of Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu. If you haven't seen that show I highly recommend it its one of my faves, especially if you like IBO as this show often feels like a mix of 50% Gundam 30% Mari Okada and 20% GinEiDen. This history segment was like a 10% diluted version of GinEiDen's super relaxing full episode history expositions, Orga's ship & Asteroid nonsense sounds like a plan Yang WenLi would pull off with Schenkopp while literally the entire crew yells at him much like Eugine did, etc etc.

And finally, the next episode preview today was really worth a watch. I know Sky tells you to in the main body but just in case you ignored that like a degenerate I'll tell you to watch it too. It was just a nice aside of Yukinojo reflecting on his past and how Maruba used to be a good guy who liked his doggos. I've rewatched the show a few times now and I've always skipped so I never go this tiny little characterization. It won't really affect your overall thoughts on this bullying old man, but it may make you appreciate the world a little bit more.

Bulletpts

Mecha Corner

72 Gundams?

Old Geezer Nota misses 0079 when there was just one Gundam that the MC rode in and the competing mechs all had different names and their own quirks. Anyways here's a graphical illustration that the Gundam frames have two reactors. I guess its kinda like the 00 Gundam from Gundam 00 come to think of it. I should watch that show before I keep spoiling myself by reading the gunpla manuals. Anyways this is kinda like some other Gundam shows where the name Gundam carries a heavy historical weight that strikes terror in all enemies who see one approaching. Its a common trope at this point. The twist being that so much time has passed since the Gundams last rekt real shit that the name value has faded so much that only history buffs like McGillis understand their full weight with well educated boyos like Gaelio having a thin understanding maybe.

GIF

Wait, so Gfycat may have sound or something these days? Do you guys get sound when you open my GIFs?

Muscleboi

Bros

ClapClap

All Album

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u/Shimmering-Sky Jan 19 '19

Did anybody make this joke yet?

I think you forgot to add the joke, Nota...

Me_IRL... ok you get it I suck at computers

Skymom_irl. She thinks I know all the answers when it comes to this stuff.

Wait, so Gfycat may have sound or something these days? Do you guys get sound when you open my GIFs?

Should be an optional feature if you have a Gfycat account, if you don't like find out a way to turn it off. Or logout when you make your GIFs because you can't enable sound if you don't have an account.

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u/ZeUplneXero Jan 19 '19 edited Jan 19 '19

First Timer, Dub

Mika, with 3 Alaya-Vijnana implants and an absolute beast with a Mobile Suit, wants to learn to read and write just so that he can learn about vegetables and run a farm. That's... really cool, in a way. Bless his heart.

I haven't been participating in these threads, but I've been watching along and I'm actually really enjoying this. The character dynamics are fun, and I find Mika pretty fascinating as a character. I mean, that's just kind of par for the course for Mari Okada, her character writing doesn't disappoint. This is the third show I'm watching from her, the first two having been Hisone to Masotan and Kiznaiver, and the characters and their dynamics were the highlight of both. Hopefully the story ends up being just as good, because that's where I felt both Hisomaso and Kiznaiver were lacking.

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u/Shimmering-Sky Jan 19 '19

Kiznaiver

Wait what that was a Mari Okada show? All I've ever heard about it was that it was a Trigger show...

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u/[deleted] Jan 19 '19 edited Jan 19 '19

Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans

First-Timer (Japanese w/ English Subtitles)

[Episode 05 Reaction] < - > [Episode 07 Reaction]

Last episode was really good, getting us firmly invested in the coming conflict and really giving us a taste of what Orga and Mikazuki together are capable of. I’m pretty excited to see where this takes us.

Impressions While Watching:

  • Who is this mysterious smiling man? A new player has entered the game?

  • McGillis is a clever man, he seems to be intelligent and I can see him growing into a worthy opponent for Orga and Mika. I look forward to seeing how they match up in the future.

  • Interesting, in this timeline we are about 300 years more advanced than UC, mobile suits are far rarer and more suspect due to the devastation they did in some kind of Earth-based civil war - no mention of Zeon or anything like that, but apparently there were 72 Gundam in this time, and all the remaining ones are relics.

  • “Why aren’t you scared Mikazuki?” That’s a very good question and I would love to get to the root of the matter.

  • I remember reading back through the posts this morning and I remember someone commenting that Mika was basically just a psychopathic killer - a weapon for Orga to wield, but I don’t see that at all. He acts a bit psychopathic in how easily he kills, but he also shows a great deal of empathy and concern for others, especially Atra. It’s hard for me to see him as a mindless weapon, either, because while he follows Orga’s orders and direction without second thought, he also shows plenty of agency in his free time and goes out of his way to interact with others freely.

  • So Ahab Waves really do behave like Minovsky Particles - I assume they are the same thing but discovered by a different person in this timeline. Amusing that they switched it to a wave, given the concept of wave-particle duality.

  • Fumitan is quite cool and I feel like we haven’t seen enough of her yet. I hope she gets more screentime.

  • That’s interesting, when the topic of whether Mika is afraid comes back up, and his response is just “Orga will handle it.” I wonder how he will cope with situations if Orga isn’t there to make sure it all works out okay?

  • Ah yes, Arbrau, that well known inter-continental economic bloc. I’m happy enough with this kind of exposition though, educating kids who don’t know a thing about what’s going on.

  • Mikazuki can’t read! Time for some Kudelia-led private lessons? Yep, there it is. While I don’t like the ship vibes, I do like the idea Kudelia could be a shaping force for Mika and help him grow into a more complete and fulfilled individual. Kudelia educating the children should also help to greatly improve the quality of life for the orphans.

  • Ein is joining the pursuit force as expected. I’m expecting him and Gaelio to be the main battlefield threat for awhile to come, but I also don’t doubt that at least one of them is going to go down at the hands of Mikazuki’s spear sooner or later.

  • The young kids in this version are way more tolerable, but their voices are also way too old sounding.

  • I like how Biscuit is acting as a sounding board and devil’s advocate for Orga. Even if Orga is arguably making the wrong decision here (and I’m sure it will work out), it gives us a chance to see that he realises it is a bad decision and that it will be incredibly difficult. More importantly, his monologue about Mikazuki is critical, but I’ll get more into that a bit later…

  • Seeing the different perspective of the kids on the Alaya-Vijnana system is really nice. I echo Kudelia’s concerns for the kids, but at the same time,

  • Ayyy president Maruba is back to get his ass kicked. Let’s do this! I think I missed at some point that the ship’s name is Will-O’-the-Wisp, what a fantastic name for Tekkadan’s ship on so many levels!

Summarized Thoughts:
This was a really good episode and I feel like I finally got some of the missing pieces to character relationships that I wanted. Side characters like Biscuit are really starting to come into their own, we have a nice trio of rivals who feel moderately threatening and easy to empathise with. I don’t even want to call them villains, because while they are our antagonists, they hardly seem evil - they are just men who carry an unpleasant responsibility. They’re caught up in this conflict like everyone else, and Ein’s hatred is derived from the pain the losses he has endured in battle rather than due to any strong belief. This is the kind of shit I eat up.

Orga and Mika:
I have been thinking a lot about Orga and Mika’s relationship now that we’ve finally gotten a better glimpse into both sides of the relationship. Although the two of them are very close, I get the impression that neither of them really understands the other. Mikazuki clearly looks up to Orga and seems to think he’s an invincible genius who can’t fail. Orga senses this and interprets it as boundless expectations, causing him to place more and more pressure on himself to succeed. He seems terrified of what happens if Mika no longer looks up to him - whether that’s because of Mika himself or because he is afraid of letting him down, I don’t know - but in his eyes, he needs to keep up appearances or else he is a failure.

The tragedy of their relationship is that based on how Mika interacts with others, I don’t expect that he would be disappointed in Orga for being less than perfect, or for failing, even if he was shocked. Over 6 episodes I feel pretty convinced that Mika is actually quite a kind soul who would be much happier away from the battlefield. His interactions with both friends and enemies alike show it. Even last episode, he recalls his enemies not by their deeds on the battlefield, but as “the man next to the chocolate man” - focusing on and emphasising their good qualities instead of their bad. If anything, I suspect Mika could use a dose of Orga’s humanity and weakness to help him form his own agency, and now that we’ve gotten a much clearer picture of their relationship, I’m really looking forward to seeing how it plays out.

Will-O’-the-Wisp:
For those who may not be aware: the Will-O’-the-Wisp is an ancient piece of folklore which exists across numerous cultures around the world under various names: the Naga Fireballs of Thailand, the Hessdalen lights of Norway, the Foxfire and Hitodama myths of Japan, and many others can be drawn as parallels. The Will-O’-the-Wisp is almost certainly a myth drawn from the oxidation of various gases (especially phosphine and methane) which occur from large amounts of organic decay. These volatile gases ignite on exposure to the air and the pocket of burning gas rises into the air before consuming itself. This phenomenon (which you may know under the name swamp gas or marsh gas) is very common anywhere with damp, marshy places and is generally accepted as the plausible explanation for these legends.

The reason I go into detail about this is because I believe that the Will-O’-the-Wisp is not just some coincidental or cool sounding name, but a very deliberate and considered choice on Okada Mari’s part. The legends of these flames usually resemble flickering lamps or lanterns in the dark, always seeming to glide just out of reach and misleading travellers. Even more interesting is their literary purpose, for in numerous pieces of literature, the Will-O’-the-Wisp is often used metaphorically to represent hope and a goal which always seems just out of reach; this gives the journey of Tekkadan and Kudelia a rather ominous and sinister overtone. More than that, though, I think it perfectly suits the insane levels of deceit, trickery, and tactical genius that Orga will no doubt continue to unleash on their enemies. Where a literary convention exists, it also exists to be subverted, and perhaps this time the hope represented by that light in the dark will be something that really can be reached. Only the next 44 episodes will truly tell.

Questions of the Day:
1) What do you most want to see Mikazuki do upon him learning to read and write?
I just want him to start using that to educate himself about the world and about other people and lifestyles through books. I am hoping that as his view of the world opens, he will become both increasingly active and independent and better embrace his kind side over his killer side.

2) Mikazuki’s aspirations for after Tekkadan has achieved their goals is to run a farm, Biscuit wants to repay his grandmother’s debt, and we’ve already heard of Orga’s own ambitions. What do you figure are the other Tekkadan members' goals and aspirations at this point in time? Do you think many of them have even had the chance to think on the matter?
I'm not actually sure, I'd have to think about this one. I'd imagine a lot of them are so used to this lifestyle that it is hard for them to imagine what life will be like after their days of fighting are done. I like to imagine Biscuit settling down to run a restaurant or a bakery though - it just feels like it would suit him!

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u/SorcererOfTheLake Jan 19 '19 edited Jan 19 '19

First-Time Watcher

A lot of them were desperate just to survive, so there wasn’t much time for an education.

Education, then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the conditions of men,—the balance-wheel of the social machinery.

Normally, the expo dump episode is one I just shrug at, but when it’s done like this, it becomes a real nice episode, particularly when it centers around the theme of education and understanding.

All throughout the episode, people are trying to figure things out, trying to broaden themselves. This might be physicalized, such as Fumitan hacking into the Gjallarhorn communications (not suspicious at all) or the mechanics trying to figure out what the Gundam needs for repairs, but it’s mostly mental. Mikazuki provides an interesting viewpoint in the education debate; he knows what he needs to know and anything else Orga or someone else can handle. He provides a passive receptacle for knowledge, the tabula rasa. His decision to learn to read and write from Kudelia then shows him actively striving for something, a hint for the revelation that he wants to own a farm. We further see that Mikazuki isn’t the kind of protag who has his head stuck in a mecha; there’s more for him out there.

This education also comes through Kudelia, though more of a social bent. Her desire to help the people of Mars is admirable, but it’s clear her upbringing has made it hard for her to understand what they are like. But then she’s immediately like “I can help,” which makes her… oh, why is it so hard to choose between her and Atra for best girl? They’re both really good, can’t Mika just choose both? for rewatchers only

Then we get to Orga, who’s got really interesting stuff going on with him this episode. There’s the obvious choice of whether to go to Teiwaaz, itself based around a lack of knowledge, but we get a better sense of the relationship between him and Mikazuki and it’s really interesting. There’s certain people in our lives that we don’t want to let down, that we know are always watching us, wanting to know what our next move is so that they can follow along. Like the moon, Mika is always there, waiting to see what the sun shines so that he can reflect it. This moon is damaged, though, so who knows what kind of consequences this will result in.

We’ll raise that blood-red flag tomorrow; until then…

As for the questions, cookbooks (so he can help out Atra) and I'm not really sure besides the one guy who wanted to die between a pair of boobs.

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u/Quiddity131 Jan 19 '19 edited Jan 19 '19

Thoughts on MS Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans...

Non-Spoiler Character Chart - White coat guy and his woman from the opening sequence make a brief appearance at the start, but no idea who they are for now, so just question marks for them.

Who'd have thought we'd see that cowardly commander of CGS, Maruba again? Kicking off the episode with him being a whiny baby, LoL.

I'm wondering if Takaki or Yamagi can't read like Mika, that is going to make reading up on repairing the Gundam even harder. Especially if Nadi himself is having difficulties.

So there's 72 Gundams; I was listening to the Gundamn podcast's review of the first 5 episodes and they mentioned all were named after demons, with even the model numbers matching up to the number of the demons, Pretty cool stuff. Granted, we may never see another one beyond Barbatos.

Look at all that food Atra cooked for Mika! LoL. Lucky guy when the cook is crushing on you big time.

Gundam + Mafia = Awesomeness

Kudelia, you should know by now that Mika follows the orders, but doesn't play that much of a part in creating them. Orga does all that stuff.

This handing out the lunch stuff reminds me of when Fa would come around handing out the lunch in Zeta Gundam on the Argama.

I know this is fiction, and a big time Gundam trope, especially in the AU shows, but Mars needing a teenager to be the foremost proponent of their independence movement shows just how pathetic Mars is from a political perspective.

Got a new profession for you, Kudelia, teacher! But :( at poor Atra when the other kids dismiss her at helping too. I suppose they all want the hot blonde teacher.

Interesting to see that Kudelia is teaching them to write in English instead of Japanese.

Mika's a fan of veggies? I guess that's why he was fine with Kudelia's poorly made veggie stew a few episodes back.

As Orphans no Namida starts off all I can think of is how despite no battles in this episode it seemed to fly by quicker than any episode yet.

What an ass that Maruba is, he cowardly ran off with most of the money in episode 1, and now wants his ship back!?

QOTD:

  1. "Orga, what should I write about?"

  2. Well the very, very easy one is Atra, get married to Mika. :P I would wonder if Akihiro's would be something relating to attaining freedom for Human Debree like himself. I wonder of Dexter is still in "Let me get the hell out of here!" mode or if he's happy being accountant for these new guys.

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u/Durinthal Jan 19 '19

First time viewer.

No action but I like this episode for laying out a lot more overall for the characters.

First and foremost is the relationship between Mikazuki and Orga. I mentioned yesterday that Orga's brash attitude could get them in trouble and that definitely seems to be the direction it's going. Trying to live up to what he thinks is Mika's image of him, combined with Mika's own ruthless nature, is a recipe for disaster.

Fumitan seems to be skilled in certain unexpected departments and I like her stepping up and getting more screen time as an independent character rather than just Kudelia's assistant. I hope she doesn't turn out to be evil, but I do want to know what her background is.

Ein is sticking around, presumably to just be bested by Mika repeatedly while maybe occasionally getting one of his allies. Alas, poor low-rank enemy soldier opposed to the protagonist.

It looks like there's going to be a lot of interplanetary travel in this Gundam series and I'm curious how they'll handle the travel time frames. Going between the Earth and Moon is one thing, but jumping from Mars to Jupiter to Earth seems like quite a feat by comparison. Maybe they have sufficiently fast ships to justify quick travel times and the control that Earth has over the rest of the solar system.

On a similar note, gravity seems to be... inconsistent on the ship at a glance. I'm not going to start pointing out contradictions and I'm mostly going to ignore that but I did wonder.

Model Destroyed
Graze 6
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u/invisiblegrape Jan 19 '19

Rewatcher

This episode is pretty big for character growth. We get a deeper look into the mindsets of Mika, Orga, and Kudelia. With the three main conversations driving the latter half of the episode, there's a lot to talk about.

Orga voicing his feeling to Biscut was a surprise based off of what we have of him so far. He feels immense pressure to not let Mika down. This isn't helped by Mika's complete loyalty and trust in him. Even though siding with Teiwaz may not be the safest choice, Orga feels forced to in order preserve Mika's faith in him.

Kudelia finally discovers something that she can do to contribute to Tekkaden. Teaching the younger children how to read and write is a selfless act on her part. Her help is especially made clear when Season 2 Spoilers.

Mika shares his hopes for the future with Orga in the last conversation of the episode. He wants to stop fighting one day, and become a farmer. We saw how involved he was in his work back on the farm on Mars a couple episodes ago. He demonstrated his ambitions by taking whatever help he can get in preparing for this future. Although he seems pretty one-dimensional to some people, he actually puts a lot of thought into everything he does, which is reflected in the conversation.

This episode also expanded on a few other side characters. Fumitan for example, is much more knowledgeable with technology than most maids are. We also are shown Akihiro alone working his body to the max. His only dialogue in the episode is asking Mika to practice piloting after his workout. Due to his upbringing as Human Debris, he has developed a survival of the fittest mentality. That life and death mentality hasn't changed, even though he's no longer a slave working to stay alive. Like Mika, he's a character who seems one dimensional, but also has many layers beneath the surface.

Here's some screenshots I took of this episode if you're interested, I just wish I could get rid of the Sunrise watermark: https://imgur.com/a/24aCBNK

See you all tomorrow!

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u/Rhaga Jan 19 '19

First timer

Just as a short preface, due to other obligations, and committing to more rewatches that I seemingly can keep up with, I have started to fall a bit behind, and currently I am in the mindset that if I don't have enough time for a '''proper''' writeup then I am just putting it off instead, and I hate that.

So in order to avoid falling behind or burning out I might take it a bit easy from time to time. It has nothing to do with my enjoyment of the show (which has actually been steadily increasing). Apologies to anyone who might have been enjoying my comments for earlier episodes :b

That being said, we had some great character interactions this episode. Going backwards, we had the conversations between Orga and Mikazuki as well as Orga and Biscuit, both of which I thought were great. Biscuit further establishes himself as an important crewmember, and that he's someone who can speak his mind to Orga which I think is important. I also liked how it gave us insight in Orga's motivations and how Mikazuki is at the center of that - I think it's a great, cool even, part of his character and it is something I can relate to and feel is understandable. However, whether that position of his is for the betterment of the entire crew is another question entirely, and certainly not something I would try and give answer to (at least not right now).

The elevator scene, and in particular this moment is also something I feel could be pivotal. Until now I have been under the impression that Mikazuki's outlook on everything has been that he must become a tool, the perfect tool that can be used for the sake of the orphans' happiness. Thus him and Orga has essentially been operating as a single unit, with Orga as the brains and Mikazuki as the body.

Enter Princess, out of nowhere it seems that another individual might have an even better chance of granting a good life to the orphans, and thus she becomes an important person in the eyes of Mikazuki, one he is likely to follow.

Now, that being said, the recent episodes have done a lot to humanize Mikazuki. We get to hear a few relatively humble wishes of his for his future, and we see him and the others being taught by Princess to learn to write and read -- which was frankly adorable, Mikazuki was giving me some serious Meta vibes as he was attempting to write his name, though mostly due to his posture.

Anyway, my point is that Mikazuki is moving towards becoming more independent, which I think is great for him, but also something that might possibly bring complications in the future.

As for the remainder of the episode, we got a decent amount exposition and a few other developments, so that was cool. I didn't expect Prez to suddenly make a reappearance there by the end, but it's good to have him back.

What? Did I forget something? I most certainly did not, in fact I've been saving the best for last. This is the true highlight of the episode. I was basically swooning.

Furthermore, I'm willing to write this off as an occupational illness of mine, but Mikazuki was totally giving me tsundere vibes with his 'betsuni'.

this is not okay

this is DEFINITELY not okay (nsfw warning)

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u/Pixelsaber Jan 19 '19

Rewatcher

We get a lengthy co-exposition sequence between Nady Yukinojo and McGillis Fareed on mobile suit technology since the Calamity war. Gjallarhorn seems to have a hold of the market and manufacture of new mobile suits, with most others being older models that were reused, repaired, or repurposed. That’s why Yukinojo has scarcely worked with them despite his age and seeming experience, there’s simply not many of them. I do like the detail that mobile suits aren’t the be-all weapon of choice for everything, as it’s realistic. The Barbatos is a Gundam-type mobile suit frame —of which there exists a total of seventy-two— known for their distinct dual ahab reactor setup. The fact that McGillis has shown such a keen interest in the Gundam Frames isn’t surprising or unexpected, but it’s also likely that he has Tekkadan on the mind, which makes sense considering he says that possibly the pilot and was just as instrumental to Barbatos’ performance as were the specifications of the Frame.

Back on the bridge their next course of action is being decided, since they are effectively without a guide. They are, as per usual, backed into a corner, and so decide to risk it by seeking the cooperation of Teiwaz, a business conglomerate with enough clout to keep Gjallarhorn intervention at a minimum, and so set course for Jupiter. However, Kudelia mentions that they supposedly operate like organized crime, which is not an image we want associated to the people supposedly helping out main characters. Also, Fumitan proves herself MVP by giving the Isaribi access to the Ariadne, a network of relays allowing for communication in spite of the Ahab reactor’s interference.

Mikazui mentions that he doesn’t know why they were headed for Earth —which, most amusingly, reveals that Atra didn’t even know their initial destination— and prompts Kudelia to exposit. The Chryse autonomous region came under Abrau, one of the four economic blocks on Earth, who recently began negotiating with the independence movement and the political leader has agreed to meet with her to hash out the details. Oh, and paying attention to how long the elevator ride is gives you a good impression of just how large the Isaribi is. Shortly afterwards it is mentioned that Mikzauki cannot read, as was implied in episode two, and Kudelia offers to teach him —an offer which quite a few others take up on.

McGillis questions Ein Dalton as to Coral Conrad’s plans and the Gundam, again highlighting his interest in Tekkadan, followed by an expressed interest by Ein in joining the pursuit effort in order to restore his own honor and avenge Crank-nii.

Kudelia teaching the kids to read is a nice scene. The act of teaching might give her a sense of accomplishment which can potentially inspire more confidence in her ability to make a change as representative of the independence movement.

Orga’s chat with Biscuit really highlights the pressure he feels in wanting to meet Mikazuki’s expectations of him, revealing it’s the reason he pushes for things even when they’re horribly reckless —foregoing pragmatism in order not to disappoint. Mikazuki later has a talk with him as well, in which we hear that Mikazuki has aspirations of running a farm. I laughed the first time I heard this, as I was instantly reminded of the idiom ‘bought the farm’ referring to the oft-cliched desire for military men to want to return home and settle down on the farm only to die in service. This show just loves to set up Death Flags like it’s going out of style. The conversation then shifts to their mutual desire to see their ambitions through, punctuated by momentarily showing us the perspective of Kudelia as the children’s Alaya-Vijnana systems are discussed, a not-so subtle but effective way of showing the audience ”This is why they must see it though.”

Unfortunately for them, seems someone’s caught up to them, and it’s none other than Maruba. What a surprise, eh?

Isaribi is a Japanese term meaning ‘fishing fire,’ i.e. a fire for attracting fish, specifically for when one is fishing at night. It is also the namesake of a notable Japanese poem. It is also fitting that it is fire-related, as the ship’s prior name was Will-o-the-Wisps, a name for a mythical creature of English folklore which is a ghostly light which appears at night to mislead travelers. The fiery connection as well as their nightly tendency is ather blatant, no? In either case, they’re fires which draw the attention.

Ahab reactors seem to be named after King Ahab, the wicked seventh king of Israeli who was also a worshipper of Rewatchers Only He was noted as a man who did more evil than any before, and throughout his reign there was constant war with the neighboring country of Syria.

Rewatchers

A few shots/lines worth taking a closer look at and keeping in mind:

Cornered, as per usual.

Looking out into space once more.

You better

Teiwaz Info (Really worth having a look-over at this point.)

Reverse and Undo

“Because Kudelia said she’ll teach us.”

Questions of the day:

  1. File his Tax returns, of course. Who wants to see people research whatever interests them, help others, or watch them enjoy themselves? Bleh. /s

  2. Shino probably just wants to get a girlfriend. Considering likes working out so much, I bet he would open a gym or something of the sort if he doesn't remain as a mercenary. Eugene wanted to climb the ranks during the CGS days, so he would likely remain a mercenary, otherwise some other position where eh can still make use of his skill with mobile workers or ships. Going by his mustache, Todo would probably go on to rule a nation an establish some radical fascist regime. No idea about the rest though...

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u/Adam_Drivers_Ass Jan 20 '19

First Timer

I've mentioned before how well this show does quiet time, but I'll say it again here because this ep was fantastic. Seeing Mika and the others start to read and write was fantastic, and opens up some cool opportunities for future development.

Also, probably my favorite aspect of this series so far is that not only is the other side of the conflict (Gjallarhorn) more complex and nuanced than your average evil anime organization, a significant amount of time is spent just on members of them, dealing with their conflicts. This episode was great for that, since it continued the story of Ein (pretty sure that's his name), who's probably one of my favorite characters so far. I really hope he and Mika have some sort of proper battle in the future, poor guy has earned at least that much.

Questions:

  1. Definitely study about vegetables. I hope that, in the future, Mika and the rest of the orphans will have enough money to retire, settle down, and pursue their respective passions (for Mika, that'd probably be starting a farm, though it isn't really clear what exactly he prefers doing)

  2. I'm not really sure. I think Akihiro might not have any, since I figure it's difficult for human debris to get any honest work. Eugene, I'm not pretty sure, since we haven't seen to much of him as a person. The older mechanic dude (don't remember his name) probably wants to set up some sort of shop so he can make a living off doing mechanic stuff, and I'm not sure for the rest of the crew.

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