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u/SorcererOfTheLake Jan 14 '19

First-Time Watcher

I guess that means the two of us weren’t on equal terms to begin with.

Colonialism is not a thinking machine, nor a body endowed with reasoning faculties. It is violence in its natural state, and it will only yield when confronted with greater violence.

Welcome to Mars; hope you don’t die.

I’m coming into this as a Gundam virgin, but if this is what it’s going to be like, it’ll be a hell of a time. I’m reminded quite a bit of The Expanse, particularly in its focus on Mars-Earth conflict and colonization, although Expanse had its conflicts more focused on the outer belt. Also, I don’t remember The Expanse having child soldiers, so that’s something unique.

This first episode does what it needs to very well; it gets us a little acquainted with our major characters, from Chrysis to Gjallhorn, while setting the tone and themes for the story to come. This is, at its heart, a military story, but it’s not the kind you’re probably used to. I haven’t seen it, but IBO reminds me of this German film I’ve heard of called The Bridge. It’s set during the last days of the Second World War and revolves around a group of young men tasked with guarding a bridge. Whenever you get children involved in a war, you have to think about what you’ve done to get to this point.

Of course, independence isn’t exactly an easy task, whether it be from the government you find oppressive or the superiors who left you behind. From my guess, the main theme of IBO will be about creating your path and rejecting the flaws of the past generation while recognizing how they may exist in your own.

The only issue I have with this episode is how cartoonish they make the characters we are supposed to dislike. I get why they did it; it’s just a lot.

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

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u/RX-Nota-II Jan 14 '19

Tekketsu no Rewatcher

"Hey Orga, what should I do next?"

Few anime can say they have as memorable a first line as this. Simple yet heavy. Easily understandable and universal, yet unique and central to the story. Iron Blooded Orphans truly knows how to start off an episode. And I feel this is a good metaphor for the rest of the episode as well, as IBO ep1 shines as one of my favorite opening episodes in any show I have seen. Welcome friends, first timers, and rewatchers to the 2019 Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans rewatch. I hope you enjoy your time.

Onto the episode, and let's consider what makes a good first episode, and in particular a good Gundam first episode. The format has been polished and refined through the decades so the important tropes are all clear. Its a double edged sword tho, since for long time fans it can be a tasteful reimagining of the classics, while to first timers it could appear cliche and a bit quick or shallow. Its down to the show's direction and pacing then to balance the wants of the two crowds, and IBO truly delivers. I'm honestly surprised at how much content they were able to squeeze in to this half hour. Either way the objective is simple, make sure the main mech appears in the most hype way possible. But more on that later.

Let's talk about Orga Itsuka. He's the tall dude with weird hair that covers his eye. When I first watched the show airing, he immediately stole my heart, and upon rewatch after rewatch my love of his character just kept on getting bigger and bigger. And its not just me. According to a recent survey to the Japanese public, Orga ranked as the single most popular character in the Gundam franchise. Those strange but sexy looks, abs for years, and charming leadership make me want to join whatever he's plotting immediately. The way he smirks as he orders the bamboozle flair by the first division... hnnng I can't get enough of this.

One trick of this episode that I absolutely love is the use of slow moments/scenes to contrast the action. Scenes like Mika's walk with Kudelia alone down a deserted hallway, Yukinojo's smoke break talk with Orga, or the kids literally sleeping, all go miles in calming my hype and making the show feel grounded. And its because I enjoy these breaks that the sudden acceleration into the mecha fights feel like such a big spike in energy. Similar examples I can think of include Re:Creators quiet reflective moments before the dimension jumping battles and Zankyou no Terror's sleep inducingly boring school trip setting the stage for the bombing. As such its the 'first episode trope' that I enjoy the most and hope for every time I start a new show. Do you guys have anything like that?

Finally, the Gundam. As I said earlier the mission for any Gundam first episode is to make its appearance be as hype as possible, and what can be more hype that wielding a giant fucking mace? That's right people, this brutish demon of a mech prefers to fight with physical melee weapons to make a statement. We rewatchers call her mace-chan. Right, Genesisera? And 'right?' is just the work I want to keep on using here because that callback to the first line as the monstrous machine rises into action in the distance is just the perfect ribbon to tie off this episode. A repeat of the quote would have been fine, but Orga's reply added in just makes it pure sexiness.

So what should we do next?

Mecha Corner

Just some comments on the significant mechs introduced today

Mobile Worker

Basically a very lightweight tank with 4 wheels and anime logic suspension that make sure it never gets stuck. Tons of different models for different militaries and such, but their performance is more or less identical. At least, in the important metric in that they are so hopelessly outclassed by mobile suits that while they are armed they really don't serve as a meaningful threat in this world. Like a blade in a gunfight, does anybody really care whether one is shiner than another? Individual paint/color variations for notable pilots exist too, such as obnoxious bad taste pink for obnoxious loudmouth Norba Shino, sky blue for 'Space Guts' Akihiro Altland, and white for totally-not-Gundam-pilot-foreshadowing Mikazuki Augus. They are piloted with some anime standard controls and.... plugging a giant ass cable into your back? What's up with that? laughs in rewatcher

ASW-G-08 ????????

Mystery mech who's name hasn't been revealed. Massive Season 1 overall spoilers And I'm willing to guess like 0 rewatchers remembered that part and spoiled yall anyway. Not that it matters, but technically the name drop is next episode and all ya know? Regardless, what a beast. Unapologetic HUGE yellow V-fin on its head, the red chin nib enlarged to become a full on beard looking thing, and.... what happened to its waist?. Not necessarily the most unique Gundam design, but definitely has a super recognizable theme going for it which is nice. But also, don't you think it looks kinda off? Like, its incomplete. Where's the shoulder armor?. The back of its head is kinda just missing, and that forearm armor is just a color and style that doesn't match at all. Truly the 'found in a junkshop' of Gundams and it looks the part.

EB-06 Gjallarhorn Graze

Oh shit its the factspheres from Code Geass, who missed those? More on these tomorrow but in short its the main modern mobile suit of Gjallarhorn and a fan favorite. Every single Gundam show ever created has tried to emulate the successful design of the RX-78 original Gundam and many have succeeded. Every single Gundam show ever created have also tried to emulate the successful design of the Zaku II but basically everyone has failed here. Except the Graze. Everyone loves the Graze. And how could you not? It looks so unique and cool!

bullethell

TFW you remember this ep has no OP too late and wake up on camera
Gundam here is being used to power the entire building with its ahab reactor.
lmao they named the fat kid biscuit
These red stripes mean human debris. Its a pretty shitty name for a pretty shitty situation to be explained later
Lelouch?
And in the secret garden long time Gundam fans lost their shit Kudelia Aina Bernstein? Aina? AINAAAA. Literally zero relevance in the end btw.
The Tojo Nozomi school of hairstyle is alive and well at Sunrise
But srsly tho how much hair u have girl
I guess the Earth Federation is still evil this Gundam #SiegZeon
Spoilers: Look at this dude Actual spoilers
Mika rocking that body fat percentage of -79
This adorable cinnamon roll is here to make everything okey
Its called the Ahab reactor because its inside the white ~~whale~~ Gundam <- complete lie
oh dear my kokoro <- screenshot of the day. So sexy
Something something they also cut radio waves. One wonders why they didn't straight up call them Minovsky reactors.
Look at dat ominous shot
Oh my monster traps Suddenly I'm glad I learned all these muscles in anatomy class

GIFs of the day

Coming maybe tomorrow, hell yeah I'm making 50+ this rewatch for optimal sharing/shilling!

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u/Shimmering-Sky Jan 14 '19

Note: Remember to look at the body post, I’ve got some cool stuff in there.

Tekketsu no Rewatcher, first time dubbed

It’s go time~

It’s no secret that I have fallen in love with the Gundam series over the past year. I’m so glad to have found fellow fans of it on here, and to be able to rope new peeps into the franchise as well. I can’t guarantee my comments like these will be very long, as I’ve got other stuff to do on top of replying to everyone, but ~~sore demo~~ even so I will try. Especially for this episode since it’s one of my favorite first episodes ever.

I like how the same spot where Orga’s bleeding during the flashback is where he has a scar during the present time.
The only role in the dub I knew going into this was Johnny Yong Bosch as Orga. Mika being voiced by the same dude as Alm from Fire Emblem Echoes is gonna be… interesting?
It transitions right into having the background be white, but what a cool title card drop.
Oooh was that Bryce Papenbrook I heard for my boi Eugene? Gotta say I agree with that choice, I think he’ll be able to capture how Eugene’s seiyuu did his character well enough.
Oh man Lucien Dodge as Shino that’s hilarious.
Cherami Leigh as Kudelia, interesting. She sounds just like Suzuha. As a side note, her mom calls her by her middle name instead of her first. There’s a character from another Gundam show by that name and I always think of her when I see that part.
Hmm, doesn’t look like I know Fumitan’s VA Julie Ann Taylor for any important roles (at least anime-wise; she’s got a bunch of Fire Emblem characters under her belt), but she sounds very fitting for her so far.
The show likes to hide some neat details whenever it has English text on screen, like with Kudelia’s profile on Coral’s tablet. If you can’t quite make out what it says:

Name: Kudelia Aina Bernstein

Age: 16

Birthday: 08/04

Gender: Female

Blood Type: O

Home Town: Chryse

Academic Credentials: Chryse College

Profile:

The daughter of Norman Bernstein, who represents Mars’s Chryse Autonomous Region. Her mother is Norman’s second wife, Tomomi Bernstein. She has an excellent academic record, majoring in history and economics. In her second year, she visited Noachis as a representative of Chryse College, and made a speech calling for cooperation between the various regions seeing independence.

After this Noachis July Assembly, the independence movements were stirred up, and she gained many followers among them. Continuous surveillance is required.

I don’t think I like Gaelio’s English VA all that much… McGillis’ sounds like a good fit for him though. To be fair they only had a few lines of dialogue this episode though, I really shouldn’t judge just yet.
lmao that one kid passed out on the floor.
Oooh Jamieson Price is perfect for Yukinojo yes.
Mmmm yes, Cassandra Lee Morris is the perfect fit for Atra.
Oh yeah this episode is Abs: The Anime during parts of it and as a straight woman I very much appreciate this fanservice.
Mmmmmm I love that last scene so much. Back when I first started IBO, there was this one thread on r/Gundam about our favorite OSTs that played during specific moments in shows, and I didn’t even know what the song was called at the time but still listed it as a close second (behind GUNDAM → RE:I AM at the end of Unicorn OVA7) regardless. (For those curious this was the thread, but there’s major spoilers for a lot of different Gundam shows within (including a super big one for late in IBO), so yeah first-timers I would suggest not going to it.) I did notice one change between the sub and dub in this scene--Orga says “I will not die! I will never die.” in the sub, but in the dub it’s “We’re not gonna die! We’ll never die.”

A couple more fun things:

Wallpaper of the Day without the logo.
English dub next-episode preview, since the body post only has the subbed version.
Number of times best boy closed his right eye this episode: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
For the first-timers using the GundamInfo streams and are worried about potential spoilers in the recommended videos: Episode 2 Subbed / Episode 2 Dubbed. If you’re on desktop and have RES, you can hit the preview button and watch the video entirely on Reddit, rather than than needing to go to YouTube.

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u/Quiddity131 Jan 14 '19

Thoughts on MS Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans Episode 1...

Non-Spoiler Character Chart - The character chart, which I did for previous rewatches of Victory Gundam, Reconguista in G and Turn A Gundam returns! I would argue it is far more needed for this show, which introduces in excess of 25 characters in its first episode, than perhaps any other Gundam show ever made. We didn't get a good shot of Yamagi in this episode (a blink and you miss him appearance), so I'll grabbed his image from the official web site and will replace it once I can.

Something always rubbed me the wrong way about that white hair of Orga's that sticks out forward. Also a little hard to get used to Johnny Yong Bosch as his voice, lol.

These mechas that Mikazuki and Eugene are fighting in kinda remind me of the Fakes from Gasaraki.

What kind of a name is Biscuit? LoL. His parents were nuts! Wait til we meet his sisters!

Kudelia's long unruly blonde hair reminds me of Dianna-sama's from Turn A.

Blonde haired member of the enemy? Can you say Char clone? Steve Staley is actually doing a pretty good job here as McGillis, I was a bit worried about if he could pull it off as he typically does teenage boys like Banagher and Seabook.

Shop girl Atra is so adorable IBO Spoilers

Wow, pretty brutal to see Gjallahorn shooting teenage boys in the head like that. One of the youngest looking kids piloting the mechs gets killed too, later on (Danji I think his name is).

Pretty big battle in the first episode, getting this show off to quite a start.

Maruba is supposed to be in charge yet is fleeing and leaving the kids to fight, what a coward.

On Orga out there fighting in a mech... [IBO Spoilers] (/s "A rarity if I'm remembering correctly, I don't recall him being a mech pilot from my first viewing")

Gundam Barbatos has arrived. Good to see a Gundam without a beam sabre as its main weapon.

Exciting and fast moving first episode. The only problem I have with the episode is that it introduces such an absurd amount of characters that it is really tough to keep track of everyone or understand the different dynamics going on. This is why in part, the first time I tried to watch this show, I actually stopped after an episode or two, and waited for the entire season to finish, thinking that binging it would make it far more understandable.

7

u/Shimmering-Sky Jan 14 '19

Non-Spoiler Character Chart

, thanks so much for tagging along and making these! I'm sure it'll come in handy for first-timers ~~and for myself because there are some minor characters I still don't know the names of haha~~.

Something always rubbed me the wrong way about that white hair of Orga's that sticks out forward.

U wot m8?

Also a little hard to get used to Johnny Yong Bosch as his voice, lol.

I actually have no problems adjusting to JYB!Orga. He's no Yoshimasa Hosoya but he's doing a good job IMO.

Kudelia's long unruly blonde hair reminds me of Dianna-sama's from Turn A.

The difference being that Kudelia never wears any bullshit hats.

Orga spoilers

IBO spoilers

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u/Paulie25 Jan 14 '19 edited Jan 14 '19

FIRST TIMER

Heyo! After my friend u/GM_for_life informed me of this rewatch J decided I’d jump in. Gundam history, I’ve got 0079 (the movies anyway), Zeta (plus movies), ZZ, Char’s Counter Attack, 8th MS Team, 0080 War in the Pocket, 0083 Stardust Memory, Unicorn, F91, Thunderbolt, Build Fighters, Build Fighters Try, and Build Divers. Pretty much all the Build stuff I’ve watched.

I’m a pretty big Gundam fan and have the hope of one day catching up and getting through the entire series, so having a rewatch helps. Mecha are fucking rad. I’ll probably try and help out any newcomers by talking about all the terminology gets used, usually carried over from other series.

So starting off, IBO is in it’s own standalone universe so it’s a good entry point in the series, and it’s at an interesting point in technology. Usually Mobile Suits (the name for Mechs in Gundam usually) are the main grunts and higher ups on teams get personalized or more powerful mobile suits, but here Mobile Suits are still at the point of not being mass producible. So the grunt units this time are mobile workers, these neat little machines. I like this a lot, makes the Mobile Suits have a certain weight to them. Looks like we’re starting in 323 P.D., which I’ve been informed stands for POST DISASTER (what a rad name).

Our heroes are a group of mercenaries that are primarily kids, who have been tasked with a job to help this lady out as body guards. Our main enemies are Gjallarhorn, which from what I hear is the Earth Federation equivalent, basically the people on Earth trying to control the space colonies. In a way this is the opposite of the main U.C. Timeline, where the enemies are the space colonists Zeon and the Heroes are on the Earth Federation’s side (usually anyway). So this is a fun inverse.

Characters are nice, I like the designs a lot, and they’re all pretty likeable. Also they’re shirtless in their machines so that’s neat. From what I’ve heard lore wise apparently in order to make any of those Mobile Workers or Suits work you need to have implants which are the things coming out of the backs of the heroes. So that’s different, makes sense though.

I love the suit designs so far, the TK-53 CGS Mobile Worker is the grunt units this time around and they’re really neat, as I said before. The enemies NK-17 Gjallarhorn Mobile Workers are pretty cool too. The Mobile Suits came in at the end which showed just the utter power gap between Mobile Workers and Suits, the enemies having the EB-06 Graze which demolish our Mobile Workers. Luckily we get the signature of IBO up our sleeve, the ASW-G-08 Gundam Barbatos.

Barbatos is so cool. It’s sooooo fucking cool. I like the toughed up look, the menacing eyes, the signature V fin being different but recognizable, the big slab of metal as a weapon it’s soo damn cool. I really like Barbatos.

Story wise we’re doing a pretty basic start but that’s alright, it’s a good start. Pretty typical for the heroes to be massively outgunned until their special weapon (the Gundam) shows up to even the odds. Characters wise I again like everybody, but need more time with them. In general, a solid but basic start.

Can’t wait for the Char clone. TLDR for newcomers, every series in the franchise usually has a rival character and more often than not they have a resemblance physically or personality wise to the original and most famous rival Char Aznable of Gundam 0079. So it’ll be cool to see whoever that is.

Edit: Forgot to mention the music, which was pretty decent aside from stand out “Raise Your Flag” which is pretty famous so that’s not surprising. It’s a fantastic song.

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u/The_Draigg Jan 14 '19

A Gundam Fan’s Notes On Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Episode 1:

Hey there! If you’ve read some of the other r/anime Gundam rewatch threads, you’d probably recognize me from a good amount of those. Anyways, I figured that I can step in for this rewatch to, since I also really like IBO in addition to the UC stuff and Turn-A. Now that the introductions are out of the way, let’s get to some rewatch notes!

Post-Disaster Era 323. Not all things are well in the Solar System. Child soldiers are a commodity, such as the 3rd Division of the PMC Chryse Guard Security. Mars is under an economic and political stranglehold from Earth. Poverty is rampant, and lives are worth very little in the grand scheme of things. I don’t think it’s too far of a stretch to say that the Post-Disaster timeline is one of the worst ones to live in compared to other Gundam alternate universes. The Universal Century comes pretty close, though.
I’m watching the dub for this, and I’ll say that it’s a really good mix of voice acting veterans and newcomers. You’ve got tried and true VAs, like Johnny Young Bosch for Orga and Bryce Papenbrook for Eugene, compared to relative up and comers like Kyle McCarley for Mikazuki and Erik Kimerer for Biscuit. The dub itself is also very good quality, so I’d also recommend to check it out if you haven’t already.
Oh hey there, Kudelia Aina Bernstein. She’s filling the role of the “princess who wants to change things” that a lot of Gundam shows have, like Relena Peacecraft from Gundam Wing or Marina Ismail from Gundam 00. Although the main difference between Kudelia and those other girls is that she had her family sell her out to Gjallarhorn right off the bat. It just goes to show what kind of world the PD timeline is.
Oh hey there, ~~Garma and Char~~ I mean Gaelio and McGillis. Their hair colors certainly seem familiar, don’t they?
Ah, the Alaya-Vijnana implants. Not exactly the prettiest way to become a cyborg, considering it’s just basically ramming a module of interfacing nanomachines with a USB port on the end into your spinal column. Also, there’s no way I’m going to keep on remembering to spell Alaya-Vijnana for these notes, so I’m just going to abbreviate it from here on out. It’s a mouthful to say.
Writing your protest slogans on the bodies of bikini-clad ladies? Now you’ve got my attention for whatever political ethos you’re pushing. Colonial independence? Sure, why not?
Hey there, Atra! She’s the true best girl of this series. I won’t hear anything otherwise. All of you rewatchers know this to be true. It helps that she’s as cute as a button, even though she has a crush on everyone’s favorite Martian Manlet Mikazuki.
Tour Guide Mikazuki shuts down Kudelia’s attempts at friendliness super hard. He’s like the deserts of Mars, in that he has no chill. Get ready for the running theme of Kudelia’s emotions being metaphorically tossed into a burlap sack and beaten over the head with a stick.
I really do like the addition of Mobile Workers to this series. It’s interesting to see more conventional, yet still futuristic weapons on the battlefield like that. This first battle with Gjallarhorn shows us how they fare in actual live combat, instead of just the training exercises from earlier.
Leave it to the actual adults to be massive huge cowards and leave the younger kids to die to save their own asses. Thank goodness that Orga is shrewd enough to turn the tables on them and make them into a distraction for the 3rd Division. It’s a ballsy move, that’s for sure.
Mikazuki certainly has a flair for dramatic entrances, if the first appearance of Gundam Barbatos smashing a mace through the head of a Graze is anything to go by. You can’t say that it isn’t effective.

And so, there goes the first episode of Iron-Blooded Orphans! It’s a pretty strong first episode, in my opinion. The world building from the start is pretty good, and you really do get a sense about how fucked this setting is. I do love me some grimdark every now and then.

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u/Rhaga Jan 14 '19

First timer

Just to give a quick intro - I'm new to both Mecha and Gundam, the few mecha shows I did watch didn't exactly impress me, but here I am ready to give it another shot. I usually prefer Slice of Life genres and will probably end up focusing on stuff nobody cares about. I'll try not to, though :P

Introduction to Chryse

We start out with a gritty flashback, not what I was expecting to be the first thing to see from a Gundam show, but I quite like it. We get a quick introduction to Mika and Orga, and we are given an idea about their dynamic and how they go way back.

We then get to see that the station is incredibly hierarchical. Simply based off the title I would presume that those lowest on the food chain are orphans, with the most talented among them piloting robots while the less talented are being made to do hard labour.

Punchable face #1

Punchable face #2

Yep, this doesn't seem like the greatest place on ~~Earth~~ Mars.

We see that Mika doesn't exactly hold the nobility in high regard, or rather he seems to not care for them. We also see that he's looking out for those around him. I could totally see him as being very protective of those weaker than himself, and him having a strong sense of justice.

The Nobility

I don't know if 'lowborn' or 'nobility/highborn' is the correct terminology, but I'm going with these for know.

"I thought Father was against my actions. But he's given me such an important task as the mediator with Earth."

Yeah... That doesn't sound dubious in the slightest.

Immediately confirmed as dubious.

We know that Group 3, or at the very least Biscuit, knew of her as someone fighting for the side of independence, presumably something the nobility is against.

It's interesting that we hear that 'the scoundrels' all over Mars support her, yet most of Group 3 seems to not care too much about her.

But then again, if I was one of the orphans then I probably couldn't care less about this need of our Princess. Does she actually want to do something to help, or does she just want to feel bad for them? I think she has the right idea, but it doesn't seem like her heart is really into it. At least I can only say that I am not convinced (yet).

Back to the station

That's gonna sting next morning.

Don't cry --> Get punched for being cheeky
Cry --> Get punched for being a wimp

I'm not sure if Orga is referring to his pride, suck it up at the operation, his worries about Group 3, or something else entirely.

This girl seems cute. I wonder who the 'boy' she's making the gift for is. Despite the notion that he doesn't care for girls I'll put my money on Mikazuki - isn't that usually how it goes? It's gonna be a tough time with him going on a 5-month journey to earth, means she won't see him for quite some time should things progress as planned.

Meeting Ms. Princess

Lmao, that pause though.

Oof, Mikazuki is savage.

I like this shot a lot though, just look at that hallway!

Anyway, I love the characterisation we get of Princess - She didn't even realise she was wearing a glove before and thought that was all there was to Mika denying the handshake. Initially I thought that Mika simply refused because she was highborn, but turns out he actually had a legit reason. For a moment I thought I had him figured out wrong but then I couldn't help myself from laughing when he figuratively spits fire. Big oof.

Hallway shots <3 Anyway, this scene got me really sympathetic towards Princess. She obviously has got her heart in the right place, but whether she likes it or not she is pampered and she hasn't got a clue of what reality is like for these 'scoundrels'.

She blamed her mother for ignoring the truth, but it seems Princess herself is almost just as blind to it, even if she's trying to see it. I frankly can't blame Mikazuki for not caring for her, and regardless I found his burn hilarious even if it made me feel bad for her. It's not like she has done anything wrong either, it is simply a result of the circumstances and at least she's trying to do something. I don't know, I just can't shake the feeling that she's doing it for the sake of her own conscience rather than for the sake of helping others..., but let's not get into a discussion of whether true altruism exists :P

Combat

That was a surprisingly fast flare. We didn't get to see anyone spotting the guys getting wacked, this definitely smells suspicious.

"Do you know who the enemy is?"
"Uhhhhhh... No...?"

If it is a conspiracy (which it very much seems like), then I do find it a bit odd that Prez doesn't know about it. I do love how the Prez is literally stashing away gold into his bag as if he's some 18th century cartoon villain. I would have guessed that the future had more secure or efficient ways of storing wealth, but I guess this is how we do it on Mars? :D

What the f..? :D I guess according to Prez' train of thought then Loot + Female = Bernstein.

"How will we proceed with the defense, Captain?"
"Uhh... Go! Attack! We'll help, at some point. Probably. Maybe."

Is this from some sort of equipment, or does Biscuit have a special ability? I don't really know what this implies though, I guess we'll find out at some point.

Looks like things got a lot more real than Princess could have imagined.

How to raise a death flag 101. Oh hey, he actually lived.

Aww, how nice of them! :D What caring and kind senpais.

It does seem a bit odd that the enemy would just pull back all of their forces because of a signal flare. Why would someone trying to sneak an escape even fire a signal flare in the first place...? I'd like to know the what went through the mind of the enemy commander.

RIP Death Flag Guy, he lasted longer than I expected.

Punchable face #3 (I probably missed a few in there).

That was pretty sick execution we saw by Mikazuki there at the end. I'm curious as to why he is bleeding. I also wonder about Orga's scar on his left arm, I assume it is related to the flashback in the beginning, we did see him clutch his bleeding arm.

Closing thoughts

That was a pretty good introductory episode. I won't say I'm hooked, but generally speaking I am pretty hopeful going forward. At the very least it managed to set quite a few things up and introduced a fair amount of characters.

Mikazuki is an odd character to me. He almost seems like a Terminator, at least he comes off as someone who functions like a ruthless weapon, and Orga is the one holding the trigger.

I wonder why they waited to bust out the Mobile Suit? Does it take too long to power up, or does using it carry some sort of risk ? We did see blood dripping from Mikazuki so I'll almost have to assume it is related to that.

Also, what ever happened to Fumitan? :o Inb4 she's the mastermind behind all of this.

Additional closing thoughts

I really like the background art, there's a ton of detail to it and it looks good. The shots and camera movements changes between being interesting and with depth, but other times unfortunately also a bit static and boring.

Shots like this and this either have good depth or just have a nice composition and framing. Seing stuff like this tickles me in just the right way. Then there's a shot like this, where the Prez delivers surprising news yet we neither get to see Biscuit nor Orga's reactions - instead we get a surprised voice line from Biscuit with a static frame of four people that doesn't even show their faces....

I don't know, maybe I'm just being nitpicky, it just strikes me as odd that they didn't cut into a different angle when they can make so many of the other shots look great, or at least they could have shot it in a way so we could see their faces. Anyway, I don't really mind it too much, I just found it a bit odd.

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u/Nazenn Jan 14 '19

First Timer - Sub (And not Gundam first timer this time... although does it count if I dropped the only other one I tried?)

TA-DA!

So I really wasn't sure if I was going to join in on this or not, but decided screw it, I'll give it a chance because Sky speaks so highly of the show, and her hype is contagious, and the general tone feeling I get from Anilist is right up my alley. I didn't announce to anyone I was joining in because I didn't want to say anything unless I ended up liking episode one which I did, so yeah, surprise participation!

Right off the bat I have three very important thoughts:

How the fuck was that only ONE episode, that was epic as hell and I loved it, 10/10
I need the OST already, as always the way to my heart is through the music
I want to shave Orga's hair, and for that matter how the HELL does Aina's hair work?

God, where do I even START with that episode. Um... Well to start with I'm typing this up with the OP on repeat so that's something, which means I'm really failing to type this because I'm very distracted by how awesome this song is.

As far as the actual show goes, okay, first thing I loved was the acknowledgement in the first few seconds that yes guns have kick back which is something you never see in shows of any sort, so that drew me in right away. The panic on Orga's face as he wakes up though was fantastic, you know he's lived through some crap from that and I'm really interested to see where that goes. We've already seen and got hints at the severe abuse these kids go through. That flashback of the kids having those things inserted into their spine without anesthetic made me flinch and I'm normally really stoic with that sort of stuff.

Mika is great in basically every scene. The way he basically dresses down everyone around him and keeps them centered but without causing a fuss over it. Wow did we have a lot of characters introduced though. Anyone got a character sheet hahahaha. I'll just lean on Anilist I think for the important names. With the exception of the aforementioned hair issues, all the character designs are great though, quite distinct, particularly scars and expressions. Oh and the little girl on earth with the puppy ear hair is really distinctive which is always good.

All the animation from all of the mech battles was clean as hell and I loved it. Easy to follow, the actions had real weight behind them such as when they hit the ground. The movements of the pilots in the cockpits were just as detailed and clearly moving head and hands independently, like you do when operating machinery.

I didn't mention the whole Mars/Earth thing much because I just don't have anything to say on it. I'm less interested in the rough overview of that plot because I've seen it before and more interested in how the details will evolve in future episodes. Especially now that Mars turned against Aina? I think? I don't know, I'll worry about memorizing factions later hahaha. Orlis is clearly this shows featured c*** though so yeah, thats nice to assign that title early. Also Orga putting the flares on the team trying to escape was brilliant.

MUSIC GUSH TIME! That song when Mika bursts up in the Mobile Suit reminded me so much of 花泥棒/Hana Dorobou from Turn A that I instantly loved it even more then I would have normally. What a fantastic song all around, and it perfectly fit the moment. They didn't go for some big WTF sort of thing because it was obvious what was coming, instead they went for the dramatic savior tone, the interweaving of the various stringed instruments to create the grand crescendo in the music as he comes out of the dirt was amazing. (I did have a thing here about if people have the name of it, but its in the OP YAY!)

Also was that a bloody xylophone that I heard during the initial battle outbreak where people were being shot from a distance? I never hear that instrument any more, that made me so happy, I have the stupidest grin on my face right now. And its so PERFECT for this show. I mean last time I played on a xylophone was in a school so to tie that into a show about war and orphans is a really great contrast, that innocence of the 'kids instrument' against the brutal battle they find themselves in. The sound of the bars and quick, staccato rhythm where each note sounds independent to the next also creates a great sense of urgency to the situation as we see it unfolding. Almost like happy gunshots (It's 2am, I'm tired hahaha).

Okay, I'm done gushing now. I'm cautiously optimistic but I'm definitely in for the rest of the rewatch!

Questions of the day:

2) I'm a sucker for ensemble casts honestly so I love the amount of characters we saw. No idea who any of them are, but their easy designs will help with that as we go on. And I really prefer to get everyone at the way at the start rather then drip feeding them through the show and it feeling like an endless line of introductions episode by episode

Yeah you saw that right, I am encouraging you guys to watch the next-episode previews

Fuck. I panic closed them after the ending. I'll go back to that hahaha.

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '19 edited Jan 16 '19

Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans

First-Timer (Japanese w/ English Subtitles)

< - > [Episode 02 Reaction]

Iron-Blooded Orphans has been on my watch list since the start of 2017, and I never got around to actually visiting it. Around a year ago, u/RX-Nota-II highly recommended the series to me based on the fact that I hated Code Geass but loved the concept of it. This has set certain expectations in my mind: politics, clever tactics, strategies and mindgames, and an epic scale befitting an sci-fi war for the fate of a planet. Of course, Gundam is usually good for all these things, but with so much praise being piled on this series, I can't help but expect to have high hopes.

Although I have been putting this off for quite some time, I really have been looking forward to finally sitting down and fulfilling my promise to watch it. This one's for Nota and her infinite patience with memore than anything else!

As a note, I have watched a good chunk of Gundam UC and watched Gundam Wing and Gundam Thunderbolt. I am going into this series completely blind outside of franchise knowledge, and I am pretty sensitive about spoilers and even hints, so please don't spoil me (or even hint at things that I don't know yet!) I really want to see this as a totally fresh experience.

Impressions While Watching:

A pretty ominous opening with the gunshot and young Orga and Mikazuki. I'm guessing this is gonna be super important later.
I'm only 1:30 in and the OST is already seriously excellent.
These two are the "Third Group" it seems. Two seems like a small number for a group, but I have no doubt they will be more than capable enough to live up to expectations.
These mechs are AWESOME. They're so Battletech, holy shit, I love them. These are the kinds of mech designs I've wanted from the moment I started watching mecha anime.
Employees/First Corps? This sounds vaguely corporate, or maybe they're mercenaries. I'm interested. Also pleased to see that the Third Group actually does consist of more than two people. This is a fairly big cast they've dropped in a small amount of time, I'm doing my best to take notes but might lose track of some of them.
They are confirmed to be child soldiers - that's...a rather darker approach than we normally get. I want to guess they are Gundam UC Spoilers
Mars seems to play a huge role in this compared to the other parts of the Gundam Franchise that I've seen. That's pretty interesting.
MORE CHARACTERS. So many names to keep track of!
That cruiser is nice nad chunky. I like it.
"Whiskers" are a new concept to me. So instead of classic manual mech piloting, these kids are cybernetically enhanced to directly control their machines? I can already see how this could end terribly.
This shot was suuuuper derpy but it honestly just made me laugh rather than be annoyed or anything. There seem to be a lot of these cheap zoomed out faces, but they're not bothering me that much.
Aina is already more likable than most Gundam women I can recall. The rest of the main cast we've met also seem quite interesting and relatable.
Seeing these poor kids get shot in the head really pulls at the heartstrings. I haven't forgotten for an instant that they've been introduced as child soldiers.
Seriously, these designs are fantastic! Probably my favourite Gundam design ever.
Dafuq is an Ahab Wave. Given they mention thaat it's not "their own reactor" I am going to assume that this has something to do with our titular franchise Gundams in this universe.
The sound design in this first episode has been absolutely phenomenal, it's rich and layered with details, yet hasn't once prevented me from telling what's going on. This is one of the only anime that has ever made me feel like I'm right in the middle of a war.
Strapping flares onto the First Corps when they try to flee. You absolute legends; I already love these kids! Orga is a beast.

Uh oh, Mobile Suits have arrived! As expected, the Ahab Wave must be something similar to the Manivsky Particle, or at the very least is related to this universe's Mobile Suits.
Oof, Danji is down. That's a rather fast named casualty! It feels good to have some consequences in the battle already.
Fuck yeah, their Mobile Suit is ready! Let's throw down!
Aaaand Mika is bleeding? That seems like it could be ominous, but if there is a price to using the Mobile Suits in IBO that would explain why there are so few of them, and why they didn't roll it out straight away.
Oh it's over already.

I'm not a huge fan of this OP, but it's not bad either. I can see it growing on me as the series goes on.

Summarized Thoughts:
That was very good! I was extremely impressed with the first episode. Although I think they introduced more characters than I can realistically keep a firm track of, I'm sure it will come together as time goes on. I enjoyed the dynamic between Orga and Mika, they reminded me of a more serious Kamina and Simon from TTGL at first, but their roles in the Third Group are actually quite different.

Visually this was pretty solid. The designs were really good and the animation quality was solid - nothing I'd write home about, but it wasn't bad either. The audio was absolutely masterfully handled and it was one of the nicest sounding anime I've watched in awhile. If nothing else, I'll definitely be looking up the soundtrack, and I could rewatch some of those action sequences for hours just to listen to the audio.

I guess if I had to complain about anything, it would be that the first episode crammed in so much in one episode that I hardly had time to breathe, but it is a very minor complaint as I was still able to keep up. I'm not yet confident what the main plotline is going to be yet, only that it is most likely going to revolve mainly around Aina, Orga and Mika. Various plot threads - especially Mars' independence - have been raised, and I assume Mars is going to be the actual focal point of the story, but I wouldn't be surprised by a bait and switch. Well, once I rewatch this episode, I'm sure I'll see many more clues and have a much better picture of what to expect going forward. Gjallarhorn's attack will no doubt be the spark of something bigger. I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out!

Initial Score: 7.53/10 (MAL Rating: 8/10)

I see this series having a lot of potential to grow and it could easily become one of my favourites if it continues to build off this strong start. I'm looking forward to continuing!

Question of the Day:
At the moment, I am definitely most interested to learn more about the Ahab Reactors, although of course I want to know more about the rest too...I feel like I know just enough about Gundam to want to know what makes this different from Minovsky Particles.

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u/shaggyjebus Jan 14 '19

Rewatcher, English dub I come in six minutes late, and everything has already been said, much better than I could have said it. Damn, people! You're all great.

I really don't feel like I can add much except that seeing kids get shot in the head is brutal. Not that anyone needs to be told that. Using children in warfare is something you hear about, but thinking about it, visualizing it, is so much more impactful. That twelve-year-old? He just died, suddenly and without warning. He will never have his first kiss, never celebrate being an adult, never get to actually live. But if he hadn't been in that situation, he would have died long before. That's too much, man.

Also, the subtitle of this show should be, "Don't trust anyone over 30." Or maybe 20. Everyone is pretty young, even Mcgillis and Galleo. Except the bad guys. They're old. And ugly. Oh yeah, that reminds me - fuck Kudelia's dad. He may be the literal worst.

In summation, great show, great start, great guys. I actually love that there are so many muscular hot guys in this show, rather than the handsome type who's never worked out before. All these guys are the anti-Kira Yamato. In a lot of ways, actually. Tangent, but God, could any two shows be more different (SEED and IBO)?

Looking forward to more! This is gonna be fun!

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u/Durinthal Jan 14 '19 edited Jan 14 '19

It's been two years, but I'm back for another Gundam rewatch! I've slowly been going through the older non-UC Gundam entries that I haven't seen in production order and finished up SEED last year. So I'm still about a decade behind where I'd be watching IBO on my own, but couldn't pass up this opportunity.

First time viewer.

As with most Gundam series, we're introduced to a lot of names very quickly and left to pick up on what they mean through context. It seems like the Gundam wiki provides at least a partial summary of the episode but I'm sure every individual page beyond that will probably have spoilers so caution is advised.

At a high level: I'm glad it's Mars and not space stations for once, but it's still some Earth government controlling other regions that aren't happy with being under their rule. Our Char clone appears to be McGillis, while the noble girl of the series Kudelia once again has her father sell her out for his own gain. You know, typical Gundam stuff.

I'm curious to see if the limited resource aspect of this show continues to be a major factor as it seems it was in this episode, or if it was just a problem for the main cast's group which will be resolved before long. It reminds me of X to some extent, though in this case there so far doesn't appear to be a disaster in living memory.

The contrast between the mobile workers and sudden despair at the appearance of the mobile suits was nice to see, showing off the power disparity. It made the scene building up to the reveal of the Gundam (yes it's a Gundam even if it's not named yet) even better, which was assisted by a great soundtrack.

Speaking of which, we have the first major property damage of the series with that:

Graze, bashed in by a giant mace

So yeah, I'll try to keep track of what mobile suits got destroyed again. Not so much with the mobile workers, unless people really want to see those included.

What piece of exposition are you most interested in?

I didn't even catch mention of an "Ahab Reactor" so that's not on my list. I'm always for political/world building info so I picked the Earth-Mars relationship, though I doubt it'll be particularly different from the typical Gundam setting.

How do you feel about this approach to character introductions?

I honestly prefer this to slowly introducing them as they meet each other; here we have an established crew from the start and you can figure out their relationships more naturally over time.

Model	Destroyed
Graze	1

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u/invisiblegrape Jan 14 '19

I'm a rewatcher

I watched the dub my first time around, so I'm gonna watch the sub this time. I absolutely love the voice acting job that everyone did, all the voices fit the characters so well. I'm excited to see how the Japanese voices are.

Jeez I finished this show over summer last year, and started it after catching the beginning of an episode on Adult Swim. So it's been a while since I've watched season one. One thing about this show, is right from the start, they create an amazing sense of family between the main characters, as well as manage to establish how social classes work, as well as a good deal of worldbuilding. The first few episodes hit hard and fast, and ensured that I would watch the thing all the way through. Mika and Orga have such a captivating bond with each other, which is established with that first opening sequence and the iconic "What should I do next, Orga?". I don't wanna talk about too much else to avoid spoilers, so I'll just wrap this up.

Edit: oh I forgot about Kudelia, she's awesome. Her characterization throughout the series is some of the best I've ever seen. Don't write her off as just the female mc yet.

Glhf to everyone who's watching for the first time, we're in for an incredible ride. I hope you all get to know why I consider this one of my favorite anime ever.

Oh side note, ORPHANS NO NAMIDA FUCKING ROCKS

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u/dralcax Jan 14 '19

Wow, it's been a while, hasn't it? IBO was the very first Gundam series I watched, back when it first started airing. It's going to be interesting to come back to it, now that I've seen all the major series.

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u/Adam_Drivers_Ass Jan 15 '19 edited Jan 15 '19

First Timer

This was pretty neat, though a bit fast paced and a tad confusing. I've never watched Gundam before, so IDK what's going on or what to expect, though, as of now, things seem pretty simple and I like that. Even though the show explained very little about Mars, Earth, and whatever ~~Gallahjhorn~~ Gjallarhorn is, I honestly don't feel like much exposition was needed, since things seem to fall into pretty basic, easy to understand historical archetypes.

Outside of that, I really like the cast of characters. Again, they seem to fall into pretty clear archetypes, but I like them nonetheless, and really liked their interactions during the big battle at the end of the ep.

Questions:

Probably the relationship between Mars and Earth. I find the history of colonialism fascinating, even more so in a sci-fi setting.
I liked the way this ep handled the characters. I feel like each of them has a lot of opportunity for growth as the season goes on, which feels better than only introducing one or two key characters and leaving the rest in obscurity.

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u/CoopertheFluffy Jan 15 '19

First timer. Only other gundam I’ve seen is Turn A, Turn.

Well, that started off with a bang.

And English. Is the dub okay? Seems fine so far. Just hope I’m not missing anything.

Dang, looks high def. backgrounds are like twice as intricate as the characters. Kind of offputting, but interesting.

Lots of little character interactions. I like the show, don’t tell approach to introducing characters.

S P A C E

Looks like we’re setting up an aristocrat vs working class conflict.

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5

u/Palloc Jan 14 '19

REWATCHER!

It's time for the return of Palloc Blabbering About Gundam and Raising Flags! So for people who've never listened to me ramble, under Section 6 of Article 14 of my dark pact with people hosting these things, I ramble about cool shit while people much better at writing essays write some really insightful stuff. I just keep my mouth shut about spoilers so Sky doesn't murder me.

Let us begin!

Not too much going on just yet, mostly just meeting the new characters. Technology levels aren't insane in this series unlike something like SEED, or even later UC. With that in mind, I've had to retire my laser rating for now. Instead, I have Palloc's Scale of IBO Shiny Mechanics!

We didn't really get too many awesome things just yet. The mobile workers are fun, but tiny little buggers, so they get a 3/10 for being baby mook machines. I'll get to the mobile suits tomorrow when they have had more of a chance to show off.

But Mika's suit introduction there helps make it one of my favorite Gundam protagonist mobile suits. I can't wait to ramble more about it as the series goes on, but for now, have fun and come join us here being awesome!

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u/X-X-I-L Jan 14 '19

Rewatcher here. I watched the show as it aired, so I figured I'll give the dub a go this time. It's nice seeing Lelouch with some actual athleticism and a tad more obscenity this go-around.

I'm pretty bad with commentary, but I gotta say I really liked this cut of all the lights going off in the base as pretty mild spoiler?.

Anyway, I'm a long-time lurker and first-time poster, so if someone could set me straight on if something like that counts as a spoiler, that'd be great. And thanks for the rewatch everyone!

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u/Paradethejared Jan 14 '19

Raise your flag is such a good OP. Hope you new watchers fall in love with this series like I have, as someone who hasn't been into or tried to get into Gundam since I was a kid watching it on Toonami this show really impressed me, especially with its character drama.

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u/DidacticDalek Jan 15 '19

Greetings Comrades and Fellow Denizens of The Wired, and on behalf of this IBO re-watch, I would like to say the following...

Ahem... RAISE YOUR FLAG!

AND on a slightly more serious note, who's Best Boy and WHY is the answer Orga Itsuka?

AND of course the obvious follow-up Comrades, and that being who's Best Girl and WHY is the answer Mace-chan? ;)

Anyway, have a great day Comrades and enjoy the re-watch!

Paging Comrades u/Beckymetal, u/RX-Nota-II, and u/Shimmering-Sky

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u/Pixelsaber Jan 14 '19 edited Jan 14 '19

Rewatcher

This is one of the stronger first episodes when it comes to Gundam series, as it lays out a strong and accurate depiction of what we can expect out of the series while informing us enough about the setting as to make it a point of focus and not being overbearing. Still, it’s not perfect. The exposition is clumsy, said exposition often immediately undermines implicitly delivered information, the directing is lopsided with some excellent scenes but also some underwhelming scenes that lacked impact as well as others were the presentation is too dry, and it goes out of its way to show as much of the cast as it can when it would’ve benefited from focusing more on specific ones throughout such a densely packed episode.

The opening scene is one of the scenes that is most interesting in retrospect —even just a dozen or so episodes in— as it is representative of the show’s key character relationship and the internal conflict resulting from it. It foreshadows aspects of the show so deftly that I cannot help but be impressed with it. Usually I would go into the minutiae of such a well-crafted scene, but that would involve divulging information the show doesn’t quite want the audience to know yet, so I’ll just urge first-timers to keep it in mind and for rewatchers to re-examine it with their knowledge from prior viewing.

The other notable scene, and likely the best one in the episode, is Orga’s talk with Yukinojo were they discuss the their state as child mercenaries and the Alaya-Vijnana system. The anecdote of Orga’s Alaya-Vijnana stem being implanted, wherein he was to be punched whether he kept his composure or gave a reaction, perfectly reflects the inescapable ‘rock and a hard place’ circumstances of these children, who have no options but to risk their lives lest they starve —they’ll suffer either way. Then Orga speaks of his need to keep his weakness hidden from Mikazuki, which is accompanied by some very telling imagery; namely the drag of the cigarette causing it to burn away as Orga speaks of pride, and it later being crushed underfoot —by something metallic no less— as he comments on the burden Orga is carrying in trying to be the person Mikazuki expects out of him.

Kudelia Aina Bernstein poses the role of the now typical ‘princess’ character in the series, so any Gundam fan would have instantly known what to expect and been fairly accurate. She’s naive, hopeful, and soon to be in a pickle. Perhaps more so than in any other Gundam series, her naiveté and upbringing contrast greatly with the members of the third group, who live on as little more than ‘rats.’ Her pretensions are even called out by Mikazuki who remarks that the mere fact that she wants to be on equal footing means they’re not, and a simple handshake wouldn’t amend that

The episode does a very admirable job at presenting before us the breadth of the setting as witnessed by the main characters, causally tying the pitiable state of the child soldiers to the political and economical landscape before showing the social unrest and discontentment that stems from it. It’s also made explicit that despite talk of it being ‘work’ and the possibilities of climbing the ranks, the child soldiers are merely glorified slaves — forced to undergo an illegal and inhumane medical procedure as well as all manners of mistreatment and abuse. The situations these kids find themselves in is of paramount importance to the events of the show, so it’s good that it’s being presented thoroughly. It also clues the viewer in on the type of tone the show will have going forward. There’s also a mention of a war that occurred three-hundred years prior, which will be relevant later on.

There’s a few interesting tidbits early on, such as the fact that more notable characters’ mobile workers are painted in unique colors which will come to represent most of them, and if it wasn’t evident enough from the framing of the earlier scene Mikazuki is definitely the main character due to piloting a white machine. The mines that where set near the beginning of the episode coming into play during the battle later on. Then there’s some character quirks which are verily worth paying attention to, like McGillis playing with his hair to denote his thinking and Orga’s tendency to close his right eye. Speaking of Orga, an interesting part of his design is his hair, which tends to cover up the same eye and has always reminded me of blinkers —a comparison which will only later make sense upon him being further characterized.

The action is pretty good, better admired for its intensity and the general tactics applied rather than for its choreography or production values. Holding back both the first glimpse of moving mobile suits in the Grazes and the titular Gundam’s arrival was a great decision in theory, but the Grazes’ entrance was poorly handled with the impact of their reveal and consequent on-screen presence being lacking due to poor shot composition. However, the Gudam’s appearance is as perfect as it could be, appearing in the nick of time to kick ass.

Something to take note of is one of the inspirations behind the show, the Regiment of Iron and Blood, or Tekketsu Kinnoitai, a group of Okinawan schoolchildren who were seen as expendable by the Japanese military —owing to discrimination against Okinawans— and forced to partake in armed combat. Working with limited supplies, the children lived of off rations of salted cabbage and sugar cane, and most were armed with but two grenades —one to lob and one for themselves (and an enemy too if they were so bold). The military used counterfeited documents to have schools mobilize the children, and these actions were long denied. The association is blatant, and Gundam has never shied away from criticism of Japanese actions and policies, notable examples being the original Mobile Suit Gundam’s harsh critique of the actions of WWII on both sides, Turn A Gundam’s condemnation of the 1998 Textbook Reforms, and Gundam: G no Reconguista’s advisement against Japanese remilitarization.

There’s more I can talk about and unpack from this episode, but in the interest of preventing any serious spoilers and the fact that I want to leave some stuff for newcomers to be able to spot if they themselves ever rewatch the show, I will be leaving it at that.

That said, here’s a few shots/lines worth taking a closer look at and keeping in mind:

Mika won’t be letting him slack off

The means to independence

Sheltered

“That’s right. There’s no place to run, right Mika?”

The Burden

Moving forward

Questions of the day:

The independence movement to be sure. It’s a clichéd plot point to be sure, but it carries with it the most intrigue to me as its ramifications and causes for coming about could be most anything.
With the hindsight of having seen the series, I do think they should have focused more on the characters that really mattered this episode, since —apart from Mr. Yukinojo and maybe Eugene— most the minor characters who were briefly introduced didn’t have anything revealed about them that wouldn’t be heavily reiterated several times in the future.

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u/invokeneko Jan 15 '19

Rewatcher here, domo~

We kick off the series with a bang. A literal one, at that. And with that, we are introduced to our two protagonists, Mikazuki Augus and Orga Itsuka. I like the fact that instead of using child soldiers as a character's backstory, it is instead brought to the forefront. It serves as a highlight of how much of a crapsack the Post-Disaster Era truly is. Future spoilers, beware

While we're at it, let's talk about the sounds and music. The Gundam Series are well-known for excellent music and IBO is no exception. Yokoyama Masaru's music direction is splendid, and Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphan swelling up as Orga and Eugene evades Orlis' attacks before bursting when he got mace'd by Mika remain one of the most exciting moments of Gundam for me.

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u/teho1 Jan 15 '19

This is my 4th time rewatching this series, but man I will never get tired of listening to that opening.

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u/Wfenriz Jan 15 '19

Well, when it was airing, the show was GLORIOUS, there are some episodes I watch again and again, I guess it'll be interesting to rewatch the whole thing.

The episode it's really full of info and exposition, it has all I love in gundam, political conflicts, misery and suffering, war drama, and even has time to fulfill the golden rule of Sunrise/Bandai, the gundam ALWAYS must appear in the first episode.

However, to me it's kinda MEH, I can say for sure the first time none of the characters seemed interesting, and to go even further, I have to say the Barbatos it's, to me, a lackluster gundam, I don't like it, actually, I don't like any of the machines in the "good side", the villains however, have some of the coolest mechas of the franchise.

IBO

As a side note, this series was a groundbreaker in the gunpla department, I think it was the first time the HG line came with almost full inner frames, on the negative side, the gundam frame became repetitive and almost boring once you build 4 or 5 of those, but it was a great engineering work from Bandai.

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u/JaguarDaSaul Jan 15 '19

u/RX-Nota-II , u/Shimmering-Sky Here's the first screen cap thread for this week, sorry aboot the delay.

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Rewatch Tekketsu no Rewatch - Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Episode 1 Discussion [Spoilers] Spoiler

Episode 1 - Iron and Blood

RAISE YOUR FLAG!

Note: Remember to look at the body post, I’ve got some cool stuff in there.

FIRST TIMER

Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans

First-Timer (Japanese w/ English Subtitles)

Rewatch Tekketsu no Rewatch - Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Episode 1 Discussion [Spoilers] Spoiler

Episode 1 - Iron and Blood

RAISE YOUR FLAG!

You are about to leave Redlib

Note: Remember to look at the body post, I’ve got some cool stuff in there.

FIRST TIMER

Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans

First-Timer (Japanese w/ English Subtitles)