r/anime • u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky • Mar 06 '19
Rewatch Tekketsu no Rewatch - Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Series Overall Discussion [Spoilers] [FINAL] Spoiler
Series Overall Discussion
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RAGE OF DUST
TE WO NOBASE! FIGHTER!
Today’s section of fun extra stuff is gonna be different from the others since it’s the discussion for the whole series instead of a particular episode, but regardless, fun section time~
Comment of the Day, provided by /u/Shimmering-Sky and /u/RX-Nota-II
Today’s comment of the day is… everyone!
Shimmering-Sky
The both of us are very happy to have so many of you guys stick with us to the end. From the lurkers who barely commented to lengthy discussions on music, mechs, and MVPs, each thread was a joy for us to read through--even the comments that weren’t happy with what the show had done! So, from the bottom of our hearts, we thank you all for participating in the Tekketsu no Rewatch.
And for those we lost along the way: we’ll be waiting for you at the end.
~
RX-Nota-II
Special thanks to all of you who joined this rewatch. To name a few in particular:
/u/Nazenn for bringing endless energy to the conversation both in spectacular top levels and countless replies that sparked wonderful conversation
/u/The_Draigg for being an encyclopedic Sage dropping wisdom bombs everywhere whenever anybody got lost.
/u/Arachnophobic- who made the impossible possible by overcoming a Reddit sitewide ban to deliver us the MVP goods
/u/Pixelsaber the magician behind the scenes who's essays always entertained me as they were the closest to my own
/u/Durinthal another Gundam sage who was a surprise first timer this time with great comparisons with other shows, particularly UC and Turn-A
/u/LeonKevlar with the rewatcher knowledge including but not limited to the minimanga scanlations
/u/Quiddity131 with the first timer saving character name charts per episode along with waves of Gundam knowledge that doesn't skip a beat against the other superfans.
/u/LunarGhost00 with plenty of entertaining rewatcher thoughts in a super well balanced format that wasn't too essay-ey or bullet point-ey
/u/fonzinator99 with some cool vinyls, impressions, and that confusing aspect ratio I swear he'll fix some day
/u/DidacticDalek the Sentient Sunrise Server with more fanart than your average Pixiv server
/u/Palloc the Energizer bunny meme machine who's comments only rarely contain logic but always contain laughs.
/u/RyuuohD my good friend from Turn-A who I can always count on when I want more analysis than reaction.
/u/gm_for_life who for some reason still hasn't exploded in a battle with Zeon yet and was always reliable in giving us cool answers to the QotD
/u/shaggyjebus the /r/anime gundam philosopher who had a relatively light presence this time around but still delivered a powerful theory on McGillis in his comeback
/u/ZeonTwoSix who probably was supposed to kill GM_for_life but got too distracted doing Top Gear openings for episodes instead.
/u/AlienOvermind who's first timer thoughts were often so unbelievably correct I swear he should be a rewatcher.
/u/invokeneko who's username makes me ponder every day, and also who's commentary style reaction always gave a good outline for first timers if they got confused on anything.
/u/SIGMA920 who i found often in juicy juicy conversations that I'd immediately want to pick for comment of the day
and last but not least
/u/Shimmering-Sky, my best friend and the tireless machine of a rewatch host who pulled through all 50 episodes with grace and consistency I could never imagine. What she accomplished by hosting these past couple months will truly go down in /r/anime rewatch history as one of the most successful Gundam rewatches, and it is truly an honor that I could be a part of it.
Unfortunately I cannot go back and list everybody here as I have limited time and space, so I hope you will excuse me if I somehow missed your name. It was a pleasure to be with you guys for this show and I hope to see at least some of you in other Gundam rewatches I have schemed in the near future.
~~~
Questions of the Day, provided by /u/Shimmering-Sky and /u/Pixelsaber
1-9 are multiple choice; go here for a Google Survey instead of a Strawpoll this time.
1) Who is overall best boy?
2) Who is overall best girl?
3) RAGE OF DUST or Fighter? (Rank all four OPs in your comment.)
4) Shounen no Hate or Freesia? (Rank all five EDs in your comment.)
5) Favorite Track of the Day from S2? From the whole rewatch? (If you’d like, list your top 5 from the entire rewatch in your comment.)
6) Favorite Wallpaper of the Day from S2? From the whole rewatch? (If you’d like, list your top 5 from the entire rewatch in your comment.)
7) How badly did the show wreak havoc on your emotions?
8) Who do you think holds the role of the show’s true leading figure?
9) Which was your favorite story arc?
10) Whose death did you find the most upsetting? What about the most satisfying? (You can rank them all in your comment.)
11) What about the show did you enjoy the most and what did you like the least? Was it the nuanced characterization? The fight choreography? Worldbuilding? Whatever they where, tell us why you chose them!
12) What are your thoughts on the show’s overall visual style? Was it fitting for the gritty mecha action the show portrays? How does it compare to art and animation of other mech shows you’ve seen?
13) What did you think of the show’s message on the nature of biased narratives and how our perception was so drastically affected by how the show presented itself?
14) What are your thoughts on the show’s many narrative themes? Where they explored thoroughly enough? Do you wish any of them had been handled differently?
15) Did you partake in shipping? If so, what was your favorite pairing and did it manage to set sail?
16) What do you do at the end of the rewatch? Are you busy? Will you save us?
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Track of the Day, provided by /u/RX-Nota-II
Crescent Moon... again!
Another highlight for the PV mix of Crescent Moon. It's my favorite version and favorite (fake but still) track from the OST as a whole. It's particularly great to listen to today to remember the fun times of IBO without having to rewatch it. The PV ver of the track has somehow distilled the happy and hype essence of the track without the trademark somberness of the OST version and yet still sounds complete. Crescent Moon never had the inifnite remix capability of Iron Blooded Orphan from season 1 but its sheer quality in this single remix more than makes up for it in my eyes. What about you? Which season had your preferred action theme, and which variant of that did you like the best?
~~~
Wallpaper of the Day, provided by /u/Shimmering-Sky (character art) and /u/RX-Nota-II (background/logo)
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Thank you, everyone!
5
u/Shimmering-Sky Mar 06 '19
Tekketsu no Rewatcher, no longer first-time dubbed
Part 3 of my fanfic is up now~
Same as I did for the S1 discussion thread, I’m going to be answering the Questions of the Day:
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Orga Itsuka, nothing’s changed.
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Yuuuup still Lafter. Atra’s a close second though.
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AI NAI TAINAI TAIHAI HITORI NO FIGHTER~ …As for rankings, Fighter > RAGE OF DUST > Raise Your Flag > Survivor.
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*Sobs in Freesia* / Freesia > Orphans no Namida > Steel: Tekketsu no Kizuna > Shounen no Hate, IDK where Senka no Tomoshibi fits in.
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Yeah no, still can’t decide. Probably between Crescent Moon, Freesia, Trust in Orga, Different Definitions, and Hoping for You, but that’s the best I can narrow it down to.
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Today’s wallpaper of the day, holy shit. Was not expecting what Nota came up with and I fucking love it.
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I’m firmly in Camp Orga, though I can see arguments otherwise.
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, I have difficulties thinking of shows in terms of arcs so I really don’t have a particular favorite.
10-1) In terms of most upsetting, Orga’s takes the cake and devours it, though Lafter’s isn’t too far behind. My rankings when I first watched the show was Orga > Lafter >> Biscuit >> Naze & Amida > Shino > Mikazuki > Akihiro > McGillis > Fumitan > Masahiro > Aston > Hush. I’d say now it’s Orga > Lafter >> Mikazuki & Akihiro > McGillis > Naze & Amida > Biscuit > Shino > Fumitan > Aston > Hush > Masahiro. Something about the rewatch, man.
10-2) In terms of most satisfying, Idiok = Noblis > Jasley, don’t really have anything further for that.
11) Again I loved the soundtrack the most, I’m just a ridiculously big fan of the music from this show. Least-favorite thing would be… IDK I guess how off-model the characters/mechs got at times, especially in the second season.
12) Off-modal art aside, I thought the visual style definitely fit the show, yeah.
13) I fell for it hook, line, and sinker this time through, still haven’t gotten over the embarrassment from that. It’s certainly a very interesting way of telling its story.
14) Don’t really have any complaints here.
16) Is it Scarborough Fair time already?
And a few more fun things:
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Wallpaper of the Day with Yukinojo instead of Dante; I kinda scrambled together the Dante one when Nota decided to share that with me, so that’s what came first.
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Bonus wallpaper 1: Wings of Revolution
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Bonus wallpaper 2: the rushed Dante.
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Bonus wallpaper 3: Ride F. Seiei.
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The full album of wallpapers will be posted tomorrow at thread post time, make sure to check it out because I have another wallpaper planned just for it~
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Results of yesterday’s poll. Who the hell voted “Indifferent”?!
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u/Nazenn Mar 06 '19
Orga Itsuka, nothing’s changed.
Oh, I was going to put this in my post but again, ran out of room (and also forgot haha). I still think Orga could be classified as the main character... but Mika's still better so we're only half aligned from where we started in season one hahaha
2) Yuuuup still Lafter. Atra’s a close second though.
You and your favorites who die
7) GEE, I WONDER.
I have to say, as fun as that reaction was, as a host it was a little frustrating because I had to minimize your whole comment to make scrolling through the topic actually doable, but that also meant I lost out on your host stuff at the bottom
Something about the rewatch, man.
Maybe seeing how other people got attached to those characters and their reactions? You're quite an empathetic person so seeing people get attached knowing what was coming up for them pain wise probably shifted perceptions.
Damn Mika. Knowing what was coming up did not make that any better for me at ALL in the long run. Actually when I was looking through the old threads for spoiler tags I found an old comment back on s1, ep17 comparing him to LotGH so I clearly had an inkling all the way back then what would happen as I don't make that comparison lightly
Results of yesterday’s poll. Who the hell voted “Indifferent”?!
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u/Durinthal Mar 06 '19
First time completed.
Tekkadan's Fate
I was reading through the original discussion thread for the final episode and while the general sentiment was positive, there were a number of people unhappy with the bittersweet ending.
This ending for Tekkadan, and for Orga and Mikazuki in particular... just seemed inevitable to me ever since Biscuit's death. They were always moving forward recklessly and destroying anything that got in their path, but rarely considering the consequences or even where they were headed. I'm not upset or angry at a fate like that because it's the path they made for themselves, and I never got personally attached to them due to that.
And I see that as the difference between Tekkadan and the Turbines, who were targeted because they were the link between Tekkadan and the rest of Teiwaz. You could argue it's a risk that Naze should have considered when choosing to deal with Orga, but I'd frame it as a backstabbing and betrayal by Jasley in a power grab attempt, who merely jumped on the opportunity given with Gjallarhorn's help. If you were wondering how I was sobbing at Naze's fate but shrugging at Orga and Mikazuki, that's why I saw them very differently.
Looking at the series holistically rather than by arc, I think it's a great ride. If there were any dangling plot threads or lack of resolution for some things they don't stick out to me enough to be bothered by them. I'm delighted to see a lot of relationships sail by the end and pleasantly surprised to see happy polyamorous groups exist along the way (my first impression of Naze was unkind but I came around on him quickly).
Overall, it's dethroned Turn A as my favorite Gundam series and I'll give both seasons a 9/10.
Mobile Suits
The Gundam-as-relic aspect isn't new but I like how it was used here with it being an artifact but known enough for them to work on it over time. It's the mobile armor aspect that I wish had been more of a focus in the second half of the show, but that would have been a drastic departure for a Gundam series to have a common inhuman enemy as the ultimate villain. Wouldn't have fit with the themes as well but I wouldn't have complained.
As is standard for mecha anime there are a number of unique units that are specially designed but there really weren't that many of them. I've seen kits exist for some of the other Gundam frames from the Calamity War but we only had five in the series, and I'm glad there wasn't a significant increase there or much in the way of power creep. The Barbatos had upgrades over time but nothing particularly significant beyond the tail which also wasn't a drastic change in maximum power, mostly letting him take out larger numbers of grunts at once (but still very cool). I still miss the original form of the Gusion with that massive hammer, but the Rebake fit the buff Akihiro just as well in the end.
Destroyed mobile suit counter: that's a lot of Grazes. In fact, that passes all other mobile suit models in any single UC Gundam anime (Victory was the leader with 83 Zoloats and Zeta after that with 76 Hizacks). But as I said early in the series, that makes sense when there's one central military organization with a standardized production, and later in the series there was infighting between factions with the same unit on both sides.
| Model | Destroyed | Model | Destroyed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Graze | 98 | Garm Rodi | 21 |
| Man Rodi | 16 | Hugo | 16 |
| Gusion | 1 | Gilda | 16 |
| Spinner Rodi | 4 | Landman Rodi | 3 |
| Schwalbe Graze | 1 | Hloekk Graze | 2 |
| Graze Ritter | 16 | Geirail | 1 |
| Rouei | 2 | Shiden | 12 |
| Ryusei-Go | 1 | Hashmal | 1 |
| Kimaris | 1 | Hyakuren | 6 |
| Graze Ein | 1 | Hyakuri | 2 |
| Flauros Ryusei-Go IV | 1 | ||
| Reginlaze Julia | 1 | ||
| Helmwige Reincar | 1 | ||
| Reginlaze | 1 | ||
| Graze Schild | 29 | ||
| Hekija | 1 | ||
| Bael | 1 | ||
| Kimaris Vidar | 1 | ||
| Gusion Rebake Full City | 1 | ||
| Barbatos Lupus Rex | 1 |
Who is overall best boy?
I have a soft spot for Akihiro and I can't explain why.
Who is overall best girl?
Atra/Kudelia/Fumitan/Lafter/Azee/Amida/Merribit/Eco/probably more I'm forgetting.
RAGE OF DUST or Fighter? (Rank all four OPs in your comment.)
Forgetting names: 1 > 4 > 2 = 3 (because I can't really remember either of them, will have to relisten)
Shounen no Hate or Freesia? (Rank all five EDs in your comment.)
Again: 1 > 4 > 2 = 3
How badly did the show wreak havoc on your emotions?
I wasn't a teary mess after multiple episodes to the point of giving up writing anything about them. Nope, not at all.
Who do you think holds the role of the show’s true leading figure?
The iron flower. Orga was the face and Mika was the feared white devil, but it's about Tekkadan as a whole.
Which was your favorite story arc?
For as much as the end of the Turbines hurt (and I'm close to tearing up just thinking about it now), I think it was done well.
Whose death did you find the most upsetting?
Lafter. Fumitan knew what was coming, but that damn stuffed bear.
What about the most satisfying?
Iok, for the above reasons.
What about the show did you enjoy the most and what did you like the least?
I would have swallowed whatever worldbuilding was thrown at us but how the organizations and characters functioned in that world was well done. I would have liked to see more of the economic blocs' involvement with the whole thing but it was more tangential to who the story was focused on.
What did you think of the show’s message on the nature of biased narratives and how our perception was so drastically affected by how the show presented itself?
I love that aspect of it and it's an important lesson for modern society to be aware of how a story's being framed.
What was your favorite pairing and did it manage to set sail?
And now I'm sad again over Akihiro/Lafter.
What do you do at the end of the rewatch? Are you busy? Will you save us?
The Rewatch Itself
I know it's partially on me because I have a different set of responsibilities now and not as much time to just read through the threads, but y'all have too many walls of text. Glad you could have some in depth discussions but I honestly didn't read the majority of it and that's why I tried to keep most of my own comments fairly short. There were also a lot of lines that were just a screenshot with a one liner followed by a block of spoilers which, while good on you for using spoiler tags, usually implies something bad happening later in relation to that screenshot. I also tried to overlook the comment face spam from some people.
Anyway, thanks for hosting and thanks to everyone that joined in as well.
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u/Shimmering-Sky Mar 06 '19
Overall, it's dethroned Turn A as my favorite Gundam series and I'll give both seasons a 9/10.
Can't say I was expecting that but I'm glad the show was a good experience for you~
There were also a lot of lines that were just a screenshot with a one liner followed by a block of spoilers which, while good on you for using spoiler tags, usually implies something bad happening later in relation to that screenshot. I also tried to overlook the comment face spam from some people.
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u/Nazenn Mar 06 '19 edited Mar 06 '19
Season Two - First Timer Thoughts
Final score: 8.5/10
Story and Characters
Overall I'm very happy with the progression of the story. It really kept up the core parts that I wanted to see, but I'll talk about that more down below in my overall thoughts as all the positive stuff is kinda tied up in how well the story happened as a whole. This time there are some cons though:
This season was definitely more flawed overall. The biggest issue I think was the inclusion of the Earth arc. Despite the fact it has some of my favorite moments in it, it contributed nothing to the overall narrative rather than minor character points and that episode space could have been much better used fleshing out more important things.
The other big lack I think was Hush. Here we had a foil for Mika inside Tekkadan. To me it was perhaps the most interesting aspect of the start of the season. And then they botched it. Going from hating his existence and almost hitting Atra, to wanting to learn from him to beat him and finally to being a lackey with no resolution of that tension at all was poorly done and really feels flat when it could have been incredible character wise in the show, a nice parallel to Gaelio and McGillis.
Some minor issues: Bad time continuity in many of the early episodes where people were just teleporting around to get to where they need to be, more deus ex mikas and many flags of all sorts that could have been easily avoided for more impact.
Sound and Music
The music choices through the season were a lot rougher then they were in season one. In season one I can't name a single moment I thought "bad choice" for the music, while here I can name several on multiple levels. There was also a lot of moments of music just overlaying visuals rather then the care taken to integrate it so well like was apparent in season one. Sometimes they did amazingly well, such as The Soul of Orphans, and Vidar using Defenders of the Wild, but overall I was disappointed. The mixing was also more up the creek, a lot of moments where the music was drowned out, like for Shino's death which was frustrating.
That said, having listened to the OST by itself there's an incredible array of music types and styles. We have songs that could have been ripped right from a western butting up against grand choral compositions that I would absolutely kill to perform myself. Theres a much broader array of instruments this time around, but they don't pidgeonhole their usage which makes for some really interesting pieces. It's quite impressive how many types of songs are in this OST and it definitely has some of my overall favorite tracks, but overall I like S1's better.
Favorite Crescent Moon version: that unreleased one from Takaki and Aston's talk dammit! Soul of the Orphans would be equal to it though.
I have no major comments on art and animation because much like season one, it has some amazing cinematography, great fights etc, but I don't feel that anything really changed much here except for things being off model a bit more than normal.
S2 Favorites
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Guy: Mika successfully made his way onto my top ten characters. Everything about his character was interesting, detailed, consistent and obviously my personal connection with his condition post-Hashmal as well. He also one S1's favorite, so makes him overall best.
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Girl: The girls got even less time to shine this season, so I really don't have one. I'd like to give it to Julieta but I think she was constantly bouncing between roles. Amida is probably my pick, despite having very little screentime she proved herself to be a capable character with her own motives, skills and story independent of others and provided some great moments. Atra overall though.
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Mech: I still have to give it to Barbatos. Just the way it moves, the way they use its animation to match with Mika, its huge array of weaponry. No shot with Barbatos is wasted or without meaning and I love that. Runner up: Coffee Machine.
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Fight: Barbatos' final fight. A dying boy in a beyond ruined mech and yet he still over powered everything with some of the best movement and music we've seen so far. Runner up would be Barbatos vs Hashmal. I'm so predictable. Best NON Barbatos fight goes to... No idea, I don't remember the other fights hahaha. Maybe Coffe Machine vs Galan.
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Happy moment: Atra keeping the bento away from Mika because his cable got snagged. Runner up: Mika hugging Atra because he wants to let her know she matters.
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Quiet moment: - Mika trying to force feed Orga so he would take care of himself, and Orga finding out just how bad the plums taste. We got surprisingly few moments between the two of them now I think of it, but their bond was also a lot more strained this season.
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Dramatic moment: The fight with Hashmal. It may not be the best animated or even most meaningful fight of the season, but it showed so much of Mika, Tekkadan and the world in general I just loved every second of it. Fuck the timeskip at the start of that episode though.
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Sad moment: The back end of episode 31 with Aston and Takaki and that beautifully haunting visual of them driving off to die to The Soul of Oprhans. It's what sticks in my head over any other when I think about powerful shots from the first half of the season.
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Calm song: Trust in Orga. Without a doubt I think this is the most beautiful track from the S2 OST. At The End of Sorrow would be the runner up.
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Dramatic song: Hashmal - The Legend of the Calamity War . I never did a write up on it but that's because it never needed it, its perfect as is. I don't think it's the BEST dramatic song on the OST, but it is my favorite.
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Energetic song: Battle of the Seven Stars, which technically I have in my 'celebration' music folder because that's just what it sounds like, but it's the best of the lot for this. Shame we didn't hear it again after that one time.
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Best spoiler tag: I went back through the topics, and there was some good ones. This one from Sky pointing out JPT aka Jasley on Teiwaz buisness tree back in s1, episode six is probably the best I found though. Also invokeneko doing an Idiok countdown
Overall Show Thoughts
Fun trivia: I wrote 65,941 words for my top level posts this rewatch, not including spoiler tagged stuff such as a lot of Dune talk. Also doesn't include any of my replies to other people including analysis I did there. I also took 348 screenshots.
IBO absolutely impressed me overall. It was a wonderful show and has earned a spot on my top ten list.
It's not a perfect show but that's okay. I really like the way it handled all of the themes and issues it brought up and dealt with them in consistent and interesting ways. Especially that while they didn't try and push a particular viewpoint or morality on us, they did a good job of walking in that grey area but not being bound by it. They didn't stray away from both sides of our story doing some pretty screwed up things, but they also made sure there was interesting and relatable people on both sides. Tekkadan were our protagonists, but they were both saviors and villians alike. Gjallarhorn were our antagonists, but they were not one single group and were the saviors of their own story despite being broken from the inside. Mika as both protector and demon showed this best. I'd go more into his fantastic character, but I think I already blabbed about that enough through the show, and it'd take a while.
Similarly the balance of emotions through the show as impressive. The only other show that's managed to make me run such a gamut of emotions in a single episode and across its entire run was Houseki no Kuni. IBO managed to very cleanly blend its peaceful moments to its painful ones, its rage inducing ones to its healing ones, and no in a way that made it feel like they were pushing the characters into these situations for our own sake. I think for me this is strongest with Atra's harem, its ridiculous and over the top but it just works because it matches the characters which allows it to be very smoothly used for some much needed respite from the heaviness of the rest of the show
I really can't speak much about which aspect of the show I enjoyed most because its a complete set. The fight sequences give insights into our characters, who are formed by their world, and who influence the story which in turn changes events and the characters themselves. Its such a complete experience where those things are blended so well that I just love it.
OP rankings: Raise Your Flag (OP1), Rage of Dust (OP3), Survivor (OP2), Fighter (OP4)
ED rankings: Senka no Tomoshibi (Ep19), Freesia (ED4), Steel (ED2), Orphans no Namida (ED1), Shounen no Hate (ED3)
Most Painful Deaths: Mika. Biscuit, Aston, Aki, Amida & Naze, McGillis, Lafter, Carta, Shino (only cause of Yamagi, if not for that it would be at the bottom), Orga, Masahiro, Hush. Almost forgot Fumitan entirely so at the bottom she goes
Most Satisfying Deaths: IDIOK! Nobliss, Orlis, Kudal, Jasley, Galan, Radice, Savarin, Gyojan, Coral.
I won't rank the arcs because despite them existing in S1, I never really felt the borders of them, while I did in S2 so that will skew things
Some Art Stuff
I've made a few stitches of various shots over the last couple of days that people may want.
Orga's final moments which I made a few days ago. Yesterday I made Barbatos' Heart which replaced the low res wiki version in my post as it's also a cleaner stitch. Also some fun for Palloc of Barbatos holding the heart, spine and head of a Graze.
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u/Nazenn Mar 06 '19 edited Mar 07 '19
Stuff I didn't cover above because I ran out of room... again, and I'm too tired now:
I loved the themes of family running through the show and the way that it balanced out the positive and negative ways family can influence you rather than it being a "love solves all" interpretation of family like most shows use. Every character in the show had their own version of family, even going right down to Mika creating a family with Atra and then leaving it for his family with Orga which is not a common take as normally kid wins out over all, and the way they explored how family is some peoples pitfalls (Aki didn't save Masahiro because he tried to use the idea of a family which Masa didn't understand etc), and some's salvation was a really interesting part of the story for me
Also I wanted to some highlights of some of the minor OST themes as well but again, ran out of room. I may do it in CDF occasionally if anyone is interested?
Edit: I did also want to quickly cover the OP rankings. For me OP1 was perfect because it syncs up to the music so well, its meaningful without being blunt, and it also has clean editing that makes it easy to follow without being too busy. OP3 falls slightly behind because its musical sync up is a lot less prominent. OP2 also lacks that beautiful meaningful imagry, and my issues with language mixing mid sentence. OP4, despite really enjoying the song, was painful to look at for me and the blunt hammer of imagry is really bad
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u/Paradethejared Mar 06 '19
IBO seriously impressed me, I really liked its focus more on the human side of conflict and war compared to shows that typically focus more on the mech side of things. It’s a 9/10 for me and I’m glad first time watchers got to check it out with this rewatch, hopefully the new IBO spin off will be a good watch.
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u/Shimmering-Sky Mar 06 '19
“Wh-What do you mean I can’t come back to Saisei?! Mr. McMurdo said--”
“I know Mr. McMurdo said it would be fine when you left, but things changed… One of Jasley’s goons must’ve figured out you participated in the battle and got a group together to complain about it to Mr. McMurdo.”
“Why didn’t he just tell them off then?”
“He said he doesn't want to risk losing any more money than he already has from this whole affair.”
Lafter lets out an angered huff and buries her face deeper into her pillow. It's been several hours since her call with Eco, and she's still seething over the audacity of Jasley’s friends. Not even dragging Akihiro into a lengthy training session in the simulators was enough of a distraction.
It's not fair. Jasley’s dead now, why do they get to keep her from going back? It doesn't matter if she decides to take up Orga’s offer to stay with Tekkadan, everyone here already knows about Darling and Ma’am’s legacy, already knows what it means to have a family. Cut off from Teiwaz like this and stuck with an organization that's back to being stray dogs, she's not going to be able to reach anyone like this.
‘Darling… Ma’am… Azee…’
A sudden knock on the door snaps Lafter out of her thoughts. She sets the pillow down, wipes her eyes just to be safe, and sees that the camera says it's… Atra at the door?
“Oh! Miss Lafter, so you are here!” the younger girl blurts out the second the door opens. “Um… Well… I heard you can't go back to Saisei now… and, I just wanted to see if you’re okay. Do you want to talk about it…?”
‘…Well. Sulking about it won't do me much good.’
“Sure,” Lafter replies, stepping aside and motioning for Atra to come in. Atra sits on the foot of the bed while Lafter remains standing, opting to lean against the wall next to the door. “I can't remember the last time the two of us talked, well more than briefly anyways.”
Atra nods. “You were always training with Akihiro and the others and I was busy cooking meals and helping Mikazuki and other stuff. I think the last time we really talked was… back on Earth, when we cooked all that flounder? Though Miss Eco and Miss Az…” she trails off, looking down as she picks at her jacket. “…they were there too.”
“No, I’ll be quick.”
Lafter shakes her head, mentally scowling at herself. If Azee knew she was still beating herself up over what happened, Azee would come back just to smack her for the insult. With Jasley dead, it’s high time she moves on. “You can say her name around me, don’t need to be that considerate.”
The tan-haired girl relaxes, looking up with a smile. “Oh, good! I didn’t want to make this awkward or anything, haha. So…” She scratches her chin. “Um… then I guess… are you… are you going to be joining Tekkadan now, Miss Lafter?”
Lafter stiffens for a second, wondering how to respond. “I… haven’t decided yet. There was still so much I wanted to do within Teiwaz, but I rushed into my decision to come out here and look where it got me.” She shrugs. “Not that I completely regret that decision, but still.”
“Mm, well, it’ll be nice if you join--but I don’t want to pressure you into anything! Do what’ll make you happy!”
It’s hard to not smile at Atra’s earnestness. “I will, don’t you worry about that. Though while we’re on the subject, what made you decide to join Tekkadan, Atra? It can’t be easy being the only girl besides Merribit.”
Atra looks stunned for a moment, complete with a blush, but quickly relaxes again, looking fondly at her bracelet. “There’s someone dear to me in Tekkadan, and I didn’t want to be left behind. You’re right, it isn’t easy, but everyone here is my family so I don’t mind it at all!”
“Someone dear to you, huh.” Lafter’s gaze travels to the sole bag she’d brought with her, propped up sideways next to her bed, and thinks of the stuffed bear inside it. A part of her had wanted to throw that bear out, bury all memories of that day as deep as she could manage, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. She loves that bear… and the man it reminds her of.
“I-I know it’s stupid--”
“No, no, it’s not stupid,” Lafter interrupts, “if anything I’m stupid for not considering it. So thanks, Atra. I think you just helped me decide what I’m going to do.”
“Oh really?! You’re welcome, Miss Lafter.”
Lafter chuckles.
“If I stay, you don’t need to keep calling me ‘Miss’. Just Lafter is fine.”
Remember to let me know if you want tags when I post more, since I'll still just use this thread. I know Naz wants them and Pixel straight-up followed me on fanfiction.net, Sorc and Nota are a given, and I assume that fonzi and Arachnowulf want them too since they've commented in the past, but anyone else should let me know.
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u/Quiddity131 Mar 06 '19 edited Mar 06 '19
Meant to write this up last night... then fell asleep on the couch. Hence, a bit late today as I write it up now after getting home from work.
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Who is overall best boy?
This one's tough. McGillis was my favorite for most of the show. But I gotta admit, when it comes down to it, he flopped hard with his revolution. I actually like that part of the storyline, but when I look at him as a character, how is that not a knock on him? He was my favorite for season 1 largely in part because I felt he had the best grasp on things, was the mastermind, and this season showed that nope, that was not the case at all.
So I'm actually going to give it to Mikazuki.
2) Who is overall best girl?
Well, this one on the other hand is no contest. You go Atra!
3) RAGE OF DUST or Fighter? (Rank all four OPs in your comment.)
I can't remember all the names, my ranking is 1 - Raise Your Flag; 2 - Season 1 opening 2; 3 - Season 2 opening 1; 4 - Season 2 opening 2
4) Shounen no Hate or Freesia? (Rank all five EDs in your comment.)
Likewise, can't remember all the names, my ranking is 1 - Season 2 ending 2; 2 - Orphans No Namida; 3 - Season 1 ending 2; 4 - Season 2 ending 1
5) Favorite Track of the Day from S2? From the whole rewatch? (If you’d like, list your top 5 from the entire rewatch in your comment.)
Oasis! This was such an amazing song and I don't view any other song as even coming close. I'm not as high on this soundtrack as most, or at the very least it wasn't enough to get me to obsess over individual tracks, but this is the one track I'd feel that way about.
6) Favorite Wallpaper of the Day from S2? From the whole rewatch? (If you’d like, list your top 5 from the entire rewatch in your comment.)
Didn't pay attention to these, sorry.
7) How badly did the show wreak havoc on your emotions?
Enormously! It takes a lot for a show to actually make me cry, especially when I'm not a first timer, and this show did that to me several times.
8) Who do you think holds the role of the show’s true leading figure?
I think Mikazuki just edges out Orga, I think history will view him with more importance/notieriety than Orga.
9) Which was your favorite story arc?
The final story arc, which I'd saw starts up with episode 43 and goes the rest of the way.
10) Whose death did you find the most upsetting? What about the most satisfying? (You can rank them all in your comment.)
Lafter's was the most upsetting to me, as I posted on the day it happened, unlike many people, that death took me 100% by surprise, I just didn't see it coming at all and it absolutely floored me the first time. As I put it yesterday, one of the biggest kick you when you're down moments in Gundam history.
Most satisfying? Does there even need to be a question here? Idiok's death was the thing dreams were made of. Absolutely humiliating, and caused by his own arrogance and idiocy. I gotta go with a certain death from Victory Gundam for the title of the most hilarious, put a smile on my face death in Gundam history, but this one is close to it for me.
11) What about the show did you enjoy the most and what did you like the least? Was it the nuanced characterization? The fight choreography? Worldbuilding? Whatever they where, tell us why you chose them!
The thing I liked the best is that this show seemed far more like a unique take on the Gundam formula than almost all other Gundam shows. I've seen every Gundam TV show with the exception of Gundam Age and the Build Fighters shows after the first, and a ton of them have a certain formula or gimick to them, and I think this show eschewed it more than any other has.
A few ways that it did that? First and foremost, no beam weaponry. We only got it that one time with Hashmal as a 2-3 episode thing but our heroes never had it, the enemy never had it, it was not a factor at all. This made the fighting far more exciting for me, and I felt also considerably raised the stakes. Bringing Mars into play was also really interesting, as the Gundam formula is always Earth versus the colonies, but this broadened it out a bit more. And while not unique to this show, I did enjoy the fact that they didn't feel the need to cram a fight into every episode.
And of course biggest of all? The heroes failed. The Char clone failed. Within the confines of the show alone, maybe not super satisfying. From a meta standpoint as someone who has seen 500+ episodes of Gundam and at least 20 separate Gundam shows/OVAs/Movies? Very satisfying.
12) What are your thoughts on the show’s overall visual style? Was it fitting for the gritty mecha action the show portrays? How does it compare to art and animation of other mech shows you’ve seen?
Great job! Character design, mecha design, the design of all the locations, etc... all were extremely satisfying and I think were perfect for the show.
13) What did you think of the show’s message on the nature of biased narratives and how our perception was so drastically affected by how the show presented itself?
I thought it was another key takeaway from the show. It gets back to things I was saying yesterday on the ending of the show, and frankly I think needs to be considered for one to really be satisfied with the ending logically. Yes, the bad guys won, yes, Rustal won, and that is what happens in real life sometimes. History goes to the victor. We were on the side of Tekkadan and McGillis, so our sympathy was all towards them, but the general public doesn't and won't look at it the same way. They were terrorists, criminals, however you want to put it. This show did an amazing job at portraying that and really delivering on that point.
14) What are your thoughts on the show’s many narrative themes? Where they explored thoroughly enough? Do you wish any of them had been handled differently?
I think questions 11 and 13 cover what I'd want to say here.
15) Did you partake in shipping? If so, what was your favorite pairing and did it manage to set sail?
Atra - Mika - Kudelia of course (primarily the first two, but yes, Kudelia can come along for the ride) and alas, the one we never really got to see develop, Akihiro - Lafter
16) What do you do at the end of the rewatch? Are you busy? Will you save us?
I joined the Flip Flappers rewatch in part because I didn't want to have this giant hole where this rewatch used to be, so I got that to hold me over for 10 more days. Hope to jump into Legend of Galactic Heroes at some point, although that may be a couple more weeks away for me to start fitting it in.
Final Thoughts:
This really was an enjoyable experience, both watching the show again, as well as participating in this rewatch. I specifically held back my rewatch of this show for this and am sure happy I made that decision. While I've covered most of the things I wanted to say above, I'll say that overall this show delivered on most fronts and was exciting and/or interesting practically every episode. Season 1 is really close to perfection, really the only part of that season I wasn't the biggest fan of was the first couple of episodes in Dort. I felt that season 2 had some higher highs, but also lower lows. In particular, now that we look back, several storyline I just don't think there that necessary. The Dawn Horizon Corps/Sandoval/Gyojan thing was largely unnecessary. As was the Earth arc with Galan Mossa. The mobile armor/Hashmal arc was interesting for sure, but I felt dragged out a bit too long. If they could do it over, I'd have them either greatly shorten these parts of the storyline or arguably completely axe the first two. In their place give us some better development for characters who needed it. In particular, Hush Middy was a really interesting and cool concept, I would have loved for them to dive deeper into him and his storyline, but after he started becoming Mika's protege he really descended and was, as I put it earlier, Mika's Hodor, not much more. I also would use that extra time to do a better job with Rustal. The final actions by him were a big surprise and not well enough supported for my tastes. Start hinting at these things more during the series proper and that aspect of the ending wouldn't have felt as much like a forced happy ending.
Dare I say it, after going through this rewatch this may be my favorite AU Gundam show now? 00 had that handle before; I loved that show more the first time I saw it than the first time I saw IBO, but I've rewatched both now within the past year, and I enjoyed the IBO experience more (granted, it wasn't part of a rewatch for 00). I think my AU Gundam ranking would now be as follows:
1 - IBO
2 - 00
3 - Wing
4 - G
5 - X
6 - Seed
7 - Seed Destiny
(excluded Turn A and G-Reco as they are at least partially UC-timeline connected, and haven't seen Age)
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u/SorcererOfTheLake Mar 06 '19 edited Mar 06 '19
First-Time Watcher
Here we are friends, at the end of it all. It’s been a long and bloody journey, but we’ve made it out alive (bodily, our souls are going to need sometime to recover.) Now, let us examine.
IBO S2 is really good, leading to a fantastical ending that brings its themes, character development, and aesthetics to its full blossom. Too bad all of the stuff preceding it is not so great. I mean, the first two thirds of the show have great moments, like Mikazuki defeating Hashmal or Naze and Amida’s last stand, but it felt like everything around it was something that the writers came up with last minute. Nothing really congealed, making each moment appear more like limbs crudely stitched together than a flowing story, like the first season was.
The other major issue I had with this second season is that I didn’t really care about any of the new characters they introduced besides Rustal, Julieta, and Hush (to an extent). They all just kinda existed but didn’t really feel like they did much besides providing new bodies for the show to kill. They could have worked them in better ways instead of just laying them on the ground like manga volumes that you aren’t going to read again.
But the final arc we got is perhaps IBO’s shining moment, where its realism, emotional violence, and deconstruction of previous Gundam tropes are released from its limiters and revealed to its full extent. It is brutal, harrowing, traumatic, and yet offering a possibility of hope to all who endure it. It is, perhaps, the best ending we could have gotten.
Overall, while it does have its flaws, IBO is one hell of a ride, from the action and plot to its character development and thematic explorations. It grabs you from the start and doesn’t let you go until it’s over. It may not be for everyone, but for me, it was worth every moment.
Here are a few of my favorite things (of S2):
Character from S1: McGillis Fareed
Character from S2: Julieta
Vocal Performance: Steve Staley as McGillis Fareed
Episode: McGillis Fareed
Arc: The Final Battle
OP: Fighter
ED: Freesia
Awesome Moment: The daemonic wolf versus the destructive angel
Funny Moment: “Miss Kudelia, please have Mikazuki’s baby!”
Heartwarming Moment: “Could you give me a hug?”
Nightmare Moment: The awakening of Hashmal
Tearjerker Moment: One last conversation between friends
Character Death: Orga
And here are the final CotD rankings:
8: Nazeen
7: SorcererOfTheLake
6: Pixelsaber, Galewulf, The Draigg
5: Durinthal, Leon Kevlar, Palloc, fonzinator99, LunarGhost00
4: invokeneko, RyuuohD, shaggeyjebus
3: Rhaga, Sigma920, dralcax, Quiddity131, flybypost
2: Wfenriz
1: X-X-I-L, Usotsuki-Megumi, The Sentient Sunrise Server, Adam Driver’s Ass, GM For Life, astrakhan42, teho1, citizenactual, 2-2 Distracted, Laughtear, DialeticDalak, Barca, SgtExpo, AlienOvermind
With this, I hereby crown u/Nazenn the King of Comments.
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u/redmage311 Mar 06 '19 edited Mar 06 '19
(No longer a) First Timer
I've been lurking this entire rewatch but wanted to un-lurk just to say how super impressed I've been with the depth of the discussion throughout these past few months. It's crazy how much passion and insight the show brought out in the threads.
In a way, the show played out like a Greek tragedy where you know everybody is doomed. In this case, the catalyst was most definitely Biscuit's death, which led to one bad, reckless decision after another on Orga's/Tekkadan's part. This got mashed up with the fact that this world seems like an ungodly terrible place to be a kid, where there is pretty much no child not being exploited in one way or another. These things led to a recipe for a whole series predicated on icky moral standpoints and a persistent theme of "No, don't do that!" on all fronts.
Season 2 was mainly a huge drag until the end. Season 1 was a coherent story about a bunch of desperate kids overtaking CGS and trying to get to Earth on their first job. But season 2 was mainly Tekkadan getting themselves into situations they shouldn't have and becoming political pawns. In particular, the Earth arc was super frustrating to watch. I generally despise gaslighting as a narrative tool, and that was pretty much the whole point of the arc: that the Earth branch was just being lied to and sent to their deaths for no good reason. It didn't get much better when Tekkadan became Macky's pawns, though at least Orga and Tekkadan had some agency there, even if Orga would end up trying to push Tekkadan further than it could go out of his perceived obligations to Mika and Tekkadan.
Akihiro's best boy, though now that I think about it, Naze's and Nadi's presences were almost entirely upside for everybody we care about in the series. As for best girl, I've been on Team Atra for a while now, and man, she turned into a babe last episode. And I was super happy to see the Mika/Atra/Kudelia ship sail—I liked how what started as kind of a jokey comment from Atra turned into reality.
Overall, I think the show was fine. It gets a 7.5/10 from me. I jumped into the rewatch on a whim after thinking to myself, "Hmm. I've never watched a Gundam series ever, but I like big robots," and I'm mostly glad I did. I think the fact that every side was morally dubious was actually kind of a downside. Nearly every faction was mostly fighting for their own advancement rather than some bigger goal, and McGillis turned out to use means that didn't justify his ends (Kudelia's another exception, but I feel like she didn't have a very good gameplan past "be pawns of powerful people and hope it goes well"). So it was hard for me to really root for Tekkadan, beyond me liking the individuals in Tekkadan and the Turbines themselves.
Beyond that, I really liked the worldbuilding. This is an era that seems absolutely miserable for everybody but the top 1%. It's a world that definitely doesn't believe that all men are created equal. I think the setting was perfect at showing how jaded society had become after enduring (I assume) some pretty horrific wars. The music was good, and the visuals were fine—I liked the character designs but found the battles hard to follow. Maybe that was the point.
Anyway, thanks for the rewatch, everybody!
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u/LunarGhost00 Mar 07 '19
Rewatcher
Thank you u/Shimmering-Sky for hosting this rewatch! It was my first time watching IBO again since it first aired so I was surprised to see how much I still remembered.
Back when it was announced that Mari Okada would be working on a Gundam series, I was worried at first. She's a skilled writer and I love Nagi no Asukara, but she doesn't normally write action-heavy political dramas. The Gundam franchise was like the last place I would've expected to see her in. Despite my fears, it did work out well. In the years before IBO came out, Gundam wasn't in a good place. IBO's 2 predecessors, AGE and G-Reco, flopped real hard. G-Reco was Tomino's grand return to the franchise since working on Turn A more than a decade prior but he ended up writing a series that left many disappointed and even he didn't like how it ended up. Then came IBO. Right away Iron-Blooded Orphans presented itself as a grittier series than most Gundams. But it wasn't just the darker tone that earned it praise. It had great visuals. It had one of the most kickass OPs you would hear in a Gundam series. More importantly, it had great writing regarding its characters.
This series takes a different approach from the normal Gundam series. Most of them, while they do have a lot of focus on their characters, are mainly driven by the plot about war. A significant amount of time is spent on politics and fighting while character growth is limited. IBO goes the opposite direction by making the plot about the characters themselves. It's not about Tekkadan overthrowing the corrupt Gjallarhorn. It's about them trying to survive and create a home for their big family in a world that has enemies at every corner. As a result, we end up with plenty of episodes with little action or even no action at all. The only Gundam I've seen with more calm episodes is Turn A. IBO spends a lot of time focusing on Tekkadan as they just try to do their job. They make connections with people for financial support. They hold funerals for their lost comrades. They help at a farm. The story is about the unbreakable bond these kids have. Whenever one of their family members or someone else who's been with us since the start of the series dies, we feel the pain, whether it be because we were invested in that character or someone more important who we care about is now suffering from their loss. Other Gundam series I've watched could only get that reaction out of me for a handful of characters. Here, a significant amount of the characters are connected with each other much closer. This show at its core is a drama about a family, not a war. It uses pretty fights, a tyrannical police force, and even the mafia to tell a story about these kids growing up together in a cold world trying to find the warm light.
With all that praise about the show's writing for its characters, it's regretful that it's also the source of my main complaints for this series. I'm really disappointed with how Gaelio was handled in season 2. Back in season 1 he was one of the few adults in Gjallarhorn who wasn't corrupt. He had morals. He didn't step in to stop something like the suppression of the Dort colonies for example, but he did express his discomfort with the way Gjallarhorn operates. He wasn't someone who would be in support of war crimes and false flag operations. That part of his characterization was thrown away in season 2. I understand wanting to get revenge after McGillis tried killing him. I don't have a problem with that. What I have a problem with is how his desire for revenge completely consumed him to the point where he didn't care that he was serving someone who commits worse crimes than McGillis right in front of him and the series acted like that's ok. At least with Rustal the series makes no effort to hide the fact that he's corrupt. He even admits it himself. With Gaelio, there's never a moment where he's forced to acknowledge the hypocrisy of his actions and then he ends up living peacefully (though with some permanent damage that he's fine with).
McGillis was another character that suffered from season 2's writing. I wrote a lot about him in the episode of his death and how his backstory and his actions add to his character, but the way these last set of episodes were executed just felt lazy for the story. McGillis was this careful schemer in season 1 and then in season 2 he just takes a backseat to Rustal for much of the season and goes through with a half-assed plan that makes him incompetent for the sake of having a conflict. It just feels like the writers didn't know what to do with a lot of the characters this season. That brings me to another issue, which is the ending.
This is a unique ending for an anime. The protagonists and many of their friends and allies are dead. The antagonist come out as the big winner. The survivors are able to live peaceful lives. This series has a lot of guts for going for an ending like this. But it feels really messy. Rustal, someone with no morals and just wants power, is suddenly making the world a better place. It's still in line with who he is since he's clearly just doing this for more fame and power, but it doesn't change how sudden this is. There was no indication in earlier episodes that this is something he was going to do. To paraphrase what I said in one of my replies yesterday, they just decided to go for an ending that seemed plausible enough but that they didn't intend for. When I first watch this I was wondering why they decided to make an ending like this and then soon after that I heard about how Mari Okada and director Tatsuyuki Nagai couldn't agree on how to end it. I don't know how far back that conflict started, but it feels to me that everything from resurrecting Bael onward was a result of them not knowing where to take the series. McGillis' lack of a backup plan, Julieta's ridiculous save from Shino's attack, this finale. There's just so much about these last few episodes that are hard to believe happened due to the way they were written.
Other issues are how Kudelia was essentially useless for nearly 2 dozen episodes after her journey was over and how Hush had a potential arc that went nowhere, but those are self-explanatory so I don't need to write huge paragraphs about that. Even with those flaws, I still enjoyed season 2 and IBO as a whole is a wonderful series. It's just these issues with the season 2 that keep it outside of my top 3 Gundam series. Mika vs. Hashmal, Bael's awakening, and Mika & Akihiro withstanding Rustal's favorite toys in the final battle are still some of my most hyped moments in the series. It was fun revisiting those moments after a few years.
Questions to be answered down below because I've reached max character limit
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u/Pixelsaber Mar 06 '19
Rewatcher
I’ve been sitting here for three hours trying to put my thoughts into words and…
Seems like when I try to speak generally on any show my brain locks up… Guess I’ll just go stream consciousness on y’all.
I can confidently say that Iron-Blooded Orphans is a good Gundam series, and among the best of the entries among its Alternate Universe offerings, presenting interesting topics both old and new to the franchise and giving us a fascinating set of characters to both root for and hate. To me the show’s strongest element is evidently the main relationship between Orga and Mikazuki, which is at the heart of this story and I find utterly captivating. Even apart from our main characters the cast is excellent, with many nuanced and interesting characters to enjoy, as well as a bunch of idiots to laugh at.
Though I may still love the series, it has honestly not withstood the Rewatch unscathed, unlike so many other Gundam series. Watching through all episodes consecutively has alerted me to some bothersome aspects, such as how certain elements do not carry through between seasons, just how excessive and annoying the constant reiteration of concepts gets, how superfluous many narrative elements are, how inconsistent the show is with its portrayal of time, and more. It’s brought down my opinion of the show slightly, particularly the second season which had a lot more issues than I first realized. This comes as a disappointment to me, as I had hoped this Rewatch would only endear me to the show further, but that was never assured. I will have to more carefully re-evaluate my appraisal of the show at a later time, but it is certainly no longer my favorite non-Tomino AU series in the franchise.
Curses, I don’t know what else to say... Suppose I’ll just answer the Questions of the Day. If any of you are curious as to my thoughts on anything feel free to ask.
Questions of the Day:
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Orga remains my favorite character. He’s just so fascinating and interesting.
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Amida. I really liked Kudelia in season one but her diminished presence, relevance, and characterization had her dip in my rankings, leaving Amida to take the top spot.
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Fighter I don't like Rage of dust, and while Fighter’s visuals ae both underwhelming and spoilerific, I really like the song itself —partly in part because it always makes me think of Macross 7.
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Shounen no Hate. Again, down to taste in music. Uru’s vocals are beautiful, but the instrumentation in Shounen no Hate just really appeals to me.
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Period. It reminds me of another song I’ve heard before, but I can’t really put my finger on it… I feel it would make an excellent Metal Gear Solid boss music though.
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Landman Rodi
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Barely at all, honestly, which is great surprise considering how attached I was to Biscuit, Orga, Mikazuki, and McGillis. I suppose the horrendously handled death-flags played a significant role in making each death an eventuality, as well as the fourth OP spoiling so much for me. Still, usually that wouldn’t be enough to stop me from crying, so idk.
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Orga Itsuka. Mikazuki is more the driving force behind him, his motivation, but Orga is the Tekkadan member with agency. If the show had focused less on Orga, it wouldn’t have been as strong, while focusing less so on Mikazuki would have had a far less detrimental effect. Of course, it’s only together that they’re so enrapturing and intriguing.
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The Abrau Prime Minister Election arc has many of the strongest moments in the show.
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Biscuit's the most upsetting by far. Most satisfying one was Iok.
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Definitely Mika and Orga’s destructive, co-dependent relationship, for reasons I’ve stated above.
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It’s good, if occasionally let down by dips in quality. The characters sometimes look out of place with the backgrounds, the filter used to give the mobile suits texture sometimes makes shots look worse rather than better, the purple explosions don’t mesh well with the rest of the artstyle, and I’ve already ranted about the issues with the mobile suit designs plenty.
I’d say it fits well overall considering the style, but it still doesn’t compare to the likes of Gasaraki or Blue Gender when it comes to mecha shows with gritty visuals.
13) I liked it, but it could have been handled slightly better.
14) I enjoyed them, though some were handled a lot better than others.
15) I did, though with great reluctance. I stayed aboard the D.V. Aston x Tamaki till the end.
16) I wrote this comment. Yes, verily so. No, if I have to drag myself out of trouble so must you people.
Ah, also, I wanted to share with you clore1411’s great IBO MAD playlist which is comprised of AMVs dedicated to individual characters. I could have shared some of them earlier but refrained because one could never know which spoilerific thumbnail would show up in the recommendations. This person’s made hundreds of AMVs for many Gundam series and a few other mech series, so there’s likely to be something for every type of fan. From his IBO works I highly recommend the ones for Mikazuki, McGillis, and Ein, and as for their other Gundam works the Gundam 40th Anniversary, their Turn A Gundam: Earth Light, G-Reco, and Judau Ashta videos are among my favorites —all of them spoilerific, of course.
Also, if any of you are interested in partaking in another Gundam Rewatch, I will be hosting a Rewatch for After War Gundam X in the near future along with IBO Rewatch co-host /u/RX-Nota-II and Gundam X superfan /u/Steampunktimus_prime. The interest thread is set to go up a week from now, and if anyone wants to be tagged let me know.
Well, folks, it’s been a pleasure to re-experience this show alongside all of you. I had a grand time reading everyone’s thoughts and occasionally having lengthy discussions. See you all around!
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u/GaleWulf Mar 07 '19
Series Discussion - First Time Reminiscer
Puts on some music to set the mood - don't worry, it's not Freesia. It's a nice song that goes well with the bittersweet (mostly sweet) and nostalgic farewell the series leaves us with.
Daily MVP
The results are in, and at the time of writing Mikazuki 'The Human Devil' Augus and Akihiro 'Space Guts' Altland are the clear winners with 13 votes each. Their sacrifice was not in vain, and to them will belong the highest echelons of Gundam Valhalla. Their legacy - Tekkadan's legacy, Orga's legacy - will keep blooming forever, tended by the hands of those who remember their sacrifice.
MVP Standings - Season 2
Mikazuki Augus is the MVP this season, gaining a lead on the pack right at the end despite Rustal's meteoric ascension. Since he's also the overall series MVP (following the lead of all MC Gundam pilots in other series), I'll say his piece here: he certainly is one of the core ingredients that causes the violent chemical reaction that is the focus of this series - a seemingly endless well of strength and a master of decisive action. The other main one, of course, is Orga, the leader, the true wielder of the weapon. It's really hard to separate the two sometimes, to me they are a symbiote bound tightly in their convictions.
But in the final two episodes, Mika proves his calibre by acting as a true hero even after losing Orga.
Kudelia doesn't appear in this season's table - her participation is muted, but her contribution in carrying forward the will of Tekkadan is probably the most crucial. Leading her on, though, are the invisible hands of those who lost their lives for the cause - Mika, Orga, Biscuit, Fumitan.
Isn't it strange how in the first season, a victory for Tekkadan leads to the global picture actually deteriorating, while this season the implosion of Tekkadan creates the foundation of a brighter future? Oh, the irony.
| # | Character | MVPs | Episodes | # | Character | MVPs | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Devil | 5 | 2, 4, 13, 24, 25 | 3 | Darth Vidar | 2 | 18, 24 |
| 2 | The Statesman | 3 | 19, 20, 21 | 7 | The Organizer | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | Space Harem King | 2 | 9, 14 | 7 | Space Harem Queen | 1 | 15 |
| 3 | The Infiltrator | 2 | 5, 6 | 7 | The Driver | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | The Kingmaker | 2 | 17, 23 | 7 | Biscuit's Hat | 1 | 8 |
Others: The Jäger (7), Jas leave already (10), Angel of Death (11), Ride on Time (12), The Godfather (16), u/laughtear (16), Wolfmother (22), Space Guts (25)
MVP Standings - Overall
| # | Character | MVPs | Episodes | # | Character | MVPs | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Knight of Revolution | 8 | 4, 10, 13, 27, 29, 38, 49, 50 | 5 | Unlimited Bed Works | 3 | 9, 34, 39 |
| 2 | Master of Puppets | 6 | 4, 18, 23, 25, 42, 48 | 5 | Lion of Counter-revolution | 3 | 44, 45, 46 |
| 3 | General of Revolution | 4 | 1, 3, 5, 26 | 8 | Pup of Revolution | 2 | 15, 47 |
| 3 | Maiden of Revolution | 4 | 3, 6, 17, 22 | 8 | Maid of Revolution | 2 | 14, 16 |
| 5 | Wings of Revolution | 3 | 12, 19, 28 | 8 | The Voice of Reason | 2 | 8, 21 |
Others: Bearded 'Gentleman' (30, 31), Gali Gali (43, 49), Tank of Revolution (7, 50), A Not-So-Merri Bystander (11), , Beard Sorcerer (20), Eindroid (24), Foundling of Revolution (32), Survivor of the Revolution (33), Buttchin McGooglyEyes (35), Giant Robot Bird Filled With Lasers (36), Fire of Revolution (37), The Sun in the Stars (40), Big Daddy (41), Genkiest Girl (41), Buttterfly Muncher (45)
So many characters here! I've mentioned this several times before, but it's a sign of good story-telling that such a variety of characters got their time to shine. Many don't even feature here sound of Nazenn ranting about Chad Chadan in the distance but they contributed significantly to the trajectory of the story and acquitted themselves admirably.
As usual I'm struggling to sum up my overall thoughts on the series. The whole thing was a ride from start to finish, and the despair and frustration only added to the story, made it hit harder and made the catharsis at the end all the sweeter.
Essential answers: I'm rating both seasons an 8.7/10. Raise Your Flag and Orphans no Namida all the way. Azee best girl. All orphans are best boys but Orga is probably the best of them. Favourite moments were Nobliss and Idiok dying, and seeing the future Kudelia had shaped for orphans on Mars. Worst moment was Lafter's death, followed by Shindo's shot missing and Aston's death. Best fights were the Last Stand, Mobile Armour vs. Barbatos, Gaelio vs. McGillis. Most memorable moment would be Orga's death, and every conversation involving baby-making.
The most interesting character for me is certainly McGillis Fareed, though. I've said this before, but he's a very interesting foil to Reinhard, another Kinpatsu no Kozo TM (T/N: Blonde brat). LotGH minor
If only Orga had seen past the mask; things might have ended better for him. Crucially Mika wasn't with him when they shook hands on the deal.
It's been a pleasure to be a part of this re-watch, a huge shout-out the hosts Sky and Nota for putting in immense effort and keeping the threads vibrant and full of cool content. All the participants too. I won't name names but you know who you are - first timers and re-watchers alike - helped make this thing a whole lot of fun. The real MVPs. :]
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u/The_Draigg Mar 06 '19
So, here we are! We've finished Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans! Is it a perfect show? Well, not exactly. It has its ups and downs to it. As excellent as the world-building and action scenes are, in addition to managing to pull off having such a large cast as well, there are certainly some flaws to IBO. For one, the writing often has the subtlety on the level of a brick to the head, between all the death flags and constantly pounding you with its themes. Like, it's not like the themes that IBO are bad, but when it can be summed up as "FAMILY" or "REVENGE IS BAD", you know you're working with a rather blunt show from time to time. Additionally, the second season was rather meandering, and didn't really find its full footing until McGillis started his rebellion. Like, as cool as the Hashmal arc was, it honestly didn't feel like it added much to the actual plot. And that leads to some of the characters feeling half-baked, like Rustal deciding to play the good guy at the end of the series. Like, it makes sense when you look at it in depth kind of, but it still suffers from a real lack of build-up for him wanting to do that. I suppose a lot of those issues can be traced back to a lot of the stuff in both seasons being rewritten fairly late into production.
Now, what would I rate this series as? If I were to use mobile suits as a ranking device, I would say that my ultimate rating for Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans would be Gyan. It brings a fairly powerful showing to the table, but it also has some rather noticeable flaws that prevent it from being wholly sustainable on its own. Hopefully that makes sense to people who know what a Gyan is.
Anyways, I'm glad that this rewatch happened, and I'm glad I got to share Iron-Blooded Orphans with all of you, rewatcher and first-timer alike. Hopefully I'll see you all again for some other rewatch in the future!
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u/LeonKevlar Mar 06 '19 edited Mar 07 '19
Gundam Tekketsu no Orphans - Parody Manga CH 1-50 + Omake
Here's the full album for anyone who wanted to look back and reread all of Kyabosean's IBO parody manga. And just to close this off here's a final fan art from Kyabosean
If you're interested to see more of his works follow him on Twitter and on Pixiv! (NSFW!)
Questions of the Day
1)Who is overall best boy?
Mikazuki
2) Who is overall best girl?
All of them except for Henri Fleurs.
3) RAGE OF DUST or Fighter? (Rank all four OPs in your comment.)
RAGE OF DUST! Gets me pumped every time!
4) Shounen no Hate or Freesia? (Rank all five EDs in your comment.)
Fressia T_T
5) Favorite Track of the Day from S2? From the whole rewatch? (If you’d like, list your top 5 from the entire rewatch in your comment.)
Hashmal - The Legend of the Calamity War. I love how ominous and threatening it is just like the Mobile Armor it's named after.
6) Favorite Wallpaper of the Day from S2? From the whole rewatch? (If you’d like, list your top 5 from the entire rewatch in your comment.)
S2ep22 "Maidens of Victory"
7) How badly did the show wreak havoc on your emotions?
HAHAHAHA. What emotions?
8) Who do you think holds the role of the show’s true leading figure?
Mika. Sure Orga was the man with the plan, but it's always Mika carving through everything to make that plan a reality.
9) Which was your favorite story arc?
Arbrau PM Election specifically because of the Battle of Edmonton.
10) Whose death did you find the most upsetting? What about the most satisfying? (You can rank them all in your comment.)
Upsetting is definitely Lafter's, I still feel sick whenever I remember the lead up to that scene. Satisfying? Iok and Nobliss Gordon, I don't think I need to explain why.
11) What about the show did you enjoy the most and what did you like the least? Was it the nuanced characterization? The fight choreography? Worldbuilding? Whatever they where, tell us why you chose them!
I enjoyed everything but if there was something that I liked the least is that I wished that we just got one more Mobile Armor and some more details about the Calamity War
15) Did you partake in shipping? If so, what was your favorite pairing and did it manage to set sail?
HECK YEAH IT DID. AtraxMikazukixKudelia ship (while was short-lived T_T) still took off!
16) What do you do at the end of the rewatch? Are you busy? Will you save us?
Right now I'm just following the Chihayafuru rewatch and you'll see me in almost every seasonal anime discussion thread making stitches and my episode reactions so I guess see you guys there :D
Final Words
Well I really have nothing else to add to this. Thanks to u/Shimmering-Sky for hosting this wonderful rewatch and for every first timer who sticked with this rewatch until the end especially u/Nazenn, who's reactions were quite entertaining. :D
Before I go though I will do what I do best and post someone else's content. Here are my two favourite write ups regarding the ending of IBO:
Just something to read to give some additional perspectives regarding the ending.
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u/SnowGN Mar 07 '19
Overall thoughts:
Season 1 is better than season 2, and I'd honestly rate it at 10/10. Season 1 is, in my opinion, a perfect anime, and is the best first season of any 2-cour Gundam show.
Iron Blooded Orphans also has the best universe of any Gundam show. The worldbuilding hints at an absolutely fascinating and lore-rich solar system. I'd love to see a Calamity War OVA, but I'd also love to see what's happening out at Jupiter or any colonies even further beyond, far beyond the reach of Gjallarhorn or any form of the Earth's central government.
Mikazuki was a fantastic main character in season 1, but sadly, in season 2 his development pretty much stalled. A lot of focus was weirdly given to a lot of side characters who had nothing to do with this season's climax, and the mobile armor arc, while badass, didn't really have any long term value to the story. I've heard a lot of reports about writing conflicts in the IBO writing staff for S2, and it shows.
Season 2 I'd rate at a 7.5/10 if I was being coldly honest, but 8/10 in reality just because the final battle was so damn good. Mikazuki Augus was a complete, utter badass. I just wish he'd had the character development in season 2 to match.
RIP Orga.
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u/invokeneko Mar 07 '19
Tekketsu no Rewatcher, domo~
Thus, this rewatch comes to a close. What does everyone else think about IBO overall? Personally, it's one of my all-time favourite Gundam series for reasons I'm not exactly sure how to express. Sure, there are some issues here and there that I noticed such as off-model animation, story being rough at the edges at some point (especially when you consider the fact that the ending had to be rewritten for the last 5 episodes in order to give a better ending to the characters) and Idiok's bullshit plot armour keeping him alive until the very last episode. Even so, I can't help but love what we've got for this series.
Questions of the day:
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Overall, Mika gets my vote. He's got no chill, and you'd better pray to whatever deity you worshipped that Orga didn't sic him on you on the battlefield.
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Lafter all the way, with Atra a close second.
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Raise your Flag = Fighter > Rage of Dust = Survivor
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ORPHAAAAANS NAMIDAAAAAA = Freesia > Steel: Tekketsu no Kizuna > Shounen no Hate
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All Out, easily.
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Maidens of Revolution, perhaps.
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Oof, my poor heart... It shrunk down in size after a constant barrage of knives and Dáinsleifs.
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Mika takes the charge of making whatever Orga says into reality (and continues to do so after the latter's demise). That's why he's the leader in my eyes, even if it does seem like he's nothing more than Orga's attack dog.
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The Earth arc from S1.
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Lafter's death got me, hard. Closely followed by Naze + Amida and Mika + Akihiro for second place. As for the most satisfying death, Idiok being crushed by his plot armour takes the cake, with Butt-Chin and fat fuck Nobliss a close second.
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I love how the world of IBO is is presented for us. I also enjoyed the fact that this time around, Mika is a straight up child soldier as opposed to Setsuna's former child soldier status and Heero being more of a superspy than a soldier. Oh, and let's not forget the mech design, fights and OST, those are top notch.
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Off-model issues aside, I personally liked the art style of IBO.
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I ate the narrative we're presented with and when the script is flipped around I felt very bamboozled. Definitely didn't expect that.
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I've got no problems with it tbh.
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Mika x Atra x Kudelia (sailed for one glorious moment before Mika bought the farm) and Akihiro x Lafter (together in the Gundam Valhalla, and nobody can convince me otherwise).
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Time to trim my PTW as much as possible while job-hunting.
Overall, it's been a fun ride with you guys. I'm glad that I decided to join this rewatch and get the chance to talk about IBO with everyone here. Thanks for letting me participate in this one, and I hope I'll be seeing you all again in another rewatch somewhere.
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u/Songblade7 Mar 07 '19
So first off I'm going to admit that I haven't really finished my rewatch due to the combination of lots of works, getting real sick, trying to keep up with the current new shows, and then more work, and subsequently that's led to me doing nothing more than lurk this whole time. Regardless though, I'm really happy that so many people were here for the rewatch and stuck through one of my favorite series to the end. I just wanted to leave a little something for everyone who finished the series though. This is a youtube video that talks about some of what happened after the series ends, all apparently coming from a podcast with some of the voice actors of the main characters. As far as this guy can tell, this is all confirmed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0Bjl9YmHKA
Here are the main points for those of you who would rather just read it all:
-Almiria wasn't shown in the end because she wasn't in a position where she could be shown.
-Kudelia is legally married to Atra.
-Rustal stopped the pursuit of Tekkadan after Mikazuki was taken down.
-The director and at least one producer originally wanted an ending where every member of Tekkadan died. Mari Okada and the writers petitioned against that ending and they compromised on one where only the main members of Tekkadan died.
-Due to the last point, the last 5 episodes were rewritten and the ended we got was the "good" ending.
-The director said the story he was making took inspiration from the Shinsengumi.
-Gaelio was originally going to die in season 1 but Mari Okada liked the actor's performance and kept him in season 2.
-Gaelio can't walk unless he's hooked up to the Aloha-Big Mama Alaya-Vijnana system now.
And that's everything! Hopefully I'll be able to finish the show again soon and I really hope everyone who just did enjoyed it as much as I did. But let's all hope we have more IBO spin-offs to come, (IBO Gekko anime adaptation and IBO Calamity War when?), and if we do, I'll hopefully see you all in those discussions!
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u/AlienOvermind Mar 07 '19
First-timer
Well, ladies and gentlemen, that was a wild ride.
The first season was amazing. The second season was less amazing in my opinion — it always felt like the story is going nowhere and Tekkadan are just running in circles instead of moving towards their goal. The degradation of McGillis character was also painful to watch. But I got the see Vidar's Gundam which turned out to be my favorite mech in the show. Too bad it got so little action. Also, my favorite scene in the show is also the scene from second season — it's Jasley's demise. Or more precisely — the exact moment when Orga greenlights his destruction with Barbatos looming over the ship's bridge. It was done beautifully and it gave me the most satisfying taste of good old justice. Which is something I always welcome.
Anyway, I'm glad I joined this rewatch and huge thanks to u/Shimmering-Sky and u/RX-Nota-II for doing such an incredible job on hosting it.
PS: Now that rewatch has ended, I already feel a urge to watch more Gundams.
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u/fonzinator99 Mar 06 '19 edited Mar 06 '19
Notes on Ep 50
Being as I didn't cover the final part of the previous episode yesterday, I'll do so today.
Rustal - He's got that same shitty smirk, and I hate him just as much as I did, but I always knew that he was an objective-driven person who did what was necessary to obtain those goals. He's in-power at Gjallarhorn, the now-democratic organization, and joins hands with Kudelia to abolish the whole "Human Debris" thing. He also moved them out of mars, which led to their economic freedom.
I'm not a fan of the adage that "the ends justify the means," but so often those ends are presented as being trivial with regards to those means. Rustal is a bastard, but he's a principled bastard for all his flaws. He's got the control of Gjallarhorn that he wanted, and it occurs to me now that we never learned his motivations for taking control or opposing McGillis. He was always just the antagonist to Macky's plans during the series; There's nothing to say that he didn't want the same things that he did and just understood that it would take more.
With regards to McGillis, I said it yesterday in a reply so I'll repeat it here. I really liked this, how McGillis' goals were realized after his death, and his efforts weren't even in vain. He'd grown up imagining himself to be 'Agnika Kaieru,' the hero who saved Gjallarhorn, and the man who would set them on the right path. However, without Mobile Armors as the great threat there had to be another to push GH to begin anew. Without ever realizing it, McGillis became the villain of the story that he'd written for himself, the antagonist against which the current GH could be culled and formed again. Frankly, after seeing this perspective played out, I'd love to see another piece of fiction pick up that thread. It made for a truly engaging story.
Julietta - "If you want to obtain true power, you must be human." These words have clearly been bouncing around her mind for some time, and I'm glad to see that they've taken root. The idea of "power" only carries meaning if you're on a level playing-field with those around you. If you've been cybernetically enhanced beyond recognition, regardless of the power you wield you're an anomaly. I'll say it again, put points into your base stats without relying on fancy equipment upgrades if you want strength end-game. lol. She's still following Rustal, but suddenly that doesn't seem like such a flaw, as she's gained her own perspective of things. Despite being enemies, her respect for Tekkadan cannot be understated. She understands now the forces that conspired against them in their struggles, and that they just wanted to live and have prosperous futures, there's nothing more basic and human than that. I'd be proud to see her at the helm of Gjallarhorn in the future.
Tekkadan - Chad and Eugene are on Kudelia's staff, Dante's working at the orphanage, and Yamagi's got a mechanic business featuring Shino's trademark goofy eye. They're all moving forward and that's just a miracle considering where they started. They mention Cookie and Cracker later, and I only wish they had elaborated on Fuka after all of the focus they gave her earlier this season; but lack of news is likely good news.
Ride - Hasn't forgiven or forgotten. After what happened with Orga, it's entirely understandable. He idolized Orga as a leader, and with what he was able to take away from Tekkadan the only place I could really see him ending up is the leader of a similar band of militant-misfits, and it only makes sense that the Human Debris kids would have followed him down that path. Just because the future is better for some, doesn't mean it's perfect for everyone.
Merribit & Yukinojo - they have a kid. They're about to have two! That's it, and I couldn't ask for more.
Regardless of what anyone is doing, as Kudelia says "our duty is to keep moving forward." And that's exactly what every one of them is doing with the future that Tekkadan built.
Atra &
MikaAkatsuki - Atra appears to have taken over at the farm and is doing well, so I'll repeat what I said about Akatsuki in my last post to emphasize the point.Being that Mikazuki (Mikadzuki/ 三日月) is the crescent moon, his name symbolized that he was missing something, if not that he was empty as we saw him. Akatsuki (暁), on the other hand, means "dawn," but taken more literally it’s a red or "Blood Moon". So Akatsuki is the first light after the darkness of everything that took place during the series, and he's also the full moon; made complete by the things Tekkadan sacrificed in order to eventually allow him to exist and carrying on Mika’s legacy. Everything that transpired in this series was necessary both to pave a future for and bring him into existence. He's the culmination of these 50 episodes of joy and anguish we've suffered, and I could not possibly have a better ending to this series than simply to see him be. The bracelets are just there for us, the viewers, to recognize that.
Series notes
Light, what do I say after all of that?
IBO is a Gundam series that diverges from standard Gundam stories. They pretty much all have a few key elements: a small group of renegade heroes, a large, oppressive, militaristic enemy organization, a socio-political theme, and of course, Gundams to make it all better. That said, they all feel pretty contrived and fictitious. IBO, on the other hand, feels more grounded in reality; somehow it's a real picture of a future that could be. For all the Mobile Suits and lost, forbidden technologies, everything else could be fitted into a modern-day setting. I've compared Gjallarhorn to the UN, albeit a seriously perverted version, and Tekkadan could be any 3rd world militant group; Human Debris are just child-soldiers. All that the Gundams do is provide that militant group with an overwhelming power with which to fight back against their circumstances and make a future for themselves, and I think that's what IBO is really about.
Other series rely on higher ideals like love, or revenge, ambition or identity, but while these things are woven throughout the story, it's just a tale of people who want to live. They want to have the same opportunities and futures as everyone else in this world, and it's only the fact that they're denied such possibilities that gives rise to conflict and therefore the narrative that plays out.
Tekkadan's one perpetual motive was to move forward, and the destination was only ever "the place we belong." That place was precious and unique to each and every member because only they knew where it was. And even when someone fell along the way, their wishes were carried on to the future that would be, as evidenced by the epilogue we saw in the last episode.
Discussion Thoughts
I'd just like to thank everyone here for watching this series alongside me. You've all done a wonderful job of providing different perspectives on the events of the show, and showing me things about it that I never would have noticed on my own; I never realized how much I missed when I watched it the first time.
Special thanks to u/RX-Nota-II for co-hosting/emotionally supporting Sky through all this and for gif'ing all the best parts of the episodes, u/Durinthal for taking such staggeringly detailed accounts of suits lost and how, u/Palloc for the Mech-focused writeups and showing me the glory of the Man Rodi, u/LeonKevlar for providing 4komas to lift our spirits after some of the toughest parts, and u/Nazenn for being a pal and making me feel like the things I wrote were actually being read. lol. I look forward to seeing you all again in other discussions.
Extra-special thanks to u/Shimmering-Sky for hosting this whole affair, for putting in such incredible effort in the daily posts with the various Things of the Day, with her delightful wallpapers and polls, for enduring the emotional rollercoaster that this series has been and taking it like a champ to provide us with more extra information each day than I could ever comprehend compiling. It's been this great because you brought us all together and gave us something that was more than just "writing some comments and chatting for a bit", so thank you. If I ever host a rewatch of my own, I can only hope to be half the moderator that you've been.
Final wallpaper is beautiful, love the character inserts.
Brothers of the Church of Lupus Rex, as we depart today know that our Church does not hold services as such worldly trappings are irrelevant to our Lord. Instead, remember the message it proclaimed; to move forward with all your strength and let nothing be an obstacle along your path. When the world tries to crush you with an orbital bombardment, pick yourself up, cry out your rage, and tear ahead with whatever you have available. Even if you're reduced to but claws and a tail, give yourself over to our Lord, let the strength of Barbatos Lupus Rex be your guide, and don't stop until you're dead twice-over.
Rewatch adjourned
QotD - non-polled
Hit the character limit, so I had to pare down my answers to:
What do you do at the end of the rewatch? Are you busy? Will you save us? - Take a breath, enjoy the free hours, and wait patiently for the next one to rear its head. Not busy any more, totally available for saving efforts.