dena.steuber - 2017-02-13 18:35:11

The best of Mecha anime. Battles in space and earth. A group of kids trying to defeat a corrupt organization while losing thier own. Intense character development and serious heartfelt moments. Let the second season more intense for Tekkadan.

timmothy81 - 2016-04-26 11:15:26

IBO First Season ended on a relatively great note. Plot progression tend to be choppy in the early episodes but it managed to remain coherent with each passing episode towards the finale.

Last time I ever felt this satisfied is Gundam 00. It was a satisfaction long forgotten by previous Gundam series like Build Fighters, which never meant to be serious to begin with, and Reconguista... Which left a terrible taste with its incoherent plot.

Usually, Gundam series (especially AU ones) will have a few protagonists who desire to remain morally-correct and often play nice, which tend to serve as a plot device/point of some description. The child soldiers of Tekkadan, however, are not entirely like that.

Sure, we have characters like Biscuit and Merribit whose characters acts a proxy for the audience, someone to relate with. But almost half the time, especially in that one episode, protags know when to NOT play nice. Doesn't sit well with at least a handful of viewers I'm sure but understandable nonetheless.

Despite the odd mix of humor and tragedy, IBO is quite enjoyable with its plot being tied to its universe's backstory. Though some may find it a little...less fulfilling considering how the entire plot of IBO first season is practically about Tekkadan's first job.

(Note: This review is based on Gundam series and not OVAs. Hence why I refer to Gundam 00 instead of Unicorn, which I enjoyed as well.)

kautzer.otho - 2016-04-06 18:56:04

Iron-Blooded Orphans is a qualityshow, and a great Gundam show. The Gundam franchise has been filled withattempts to retread their past accomplishments, but these attempts never seem sosuccessful. G-Tekketsu borrows very little from other Gundam shows and improveson most of what it borrows.

The most noticeable thingG-Tekketsu does better than most Gundam shows is the characters, or more so thecharacter relationships. From episode 1 several character relationships areintroduced. Every character has a different relationship, and the maincharacters have several different types of relationships with one another. Nowin other Gundam shows each character would have a set relationship with anothercharacter and maybe sometimes it would develop or change, but they would alwaysbe incredibly simple or shallow. The relationships in G-Tekketsu feels veryhuman and natural and are nurtured by the setting and events of the world.  The characters grow, learn, and fall then getback up again throughout the story. The characters accomplish great thingsagainst all odds but they also make mistakes and do not always have the correctanswers for everything. These are great features to have in a show about adolescentsgrowing up on the backdrop of violence.

Another thing G-Tekketsu doesbetter than almost any Gundam shows is its’ directing. TatsuyukiNagai is a great director who takes priority on telling a story as clear aspossible. Which is something this franchise needed since G-Reco’s directing andediting was a complete pile of ass. Creative choices like starting episode oneon a sunset to signify the ending of the character’s innocents to then havingthe episode end on a sun-rise to represent a beginning of a journey was greatway to express the narrative visually.  Theaction directing did not try to recreate the action of the past Gundam showseither. The action was a new take on how mobile suits can fight. With the focuson melee weapons the show’s cinematography had to follow suit.

https://sakuga.yshi.org/post?tags=mobile_suit_gundam%3A_iron-blooded_orphans

The link above will show you thatthe animation is pretty amazing as well.

            Themusic of the series is nothing less than amazing. Yokoyama, Masaru isabsolutely marvelous. Just like his previous works; he goes a step beyond justmaking cool sounding music. All of the music in this show builds the atmosphereand works thematically as well. Making this soundtrack one of the best of theyear. Furthermore it’s just well written music.

Mari Okada gets a lot of flak. Forwhat reason? I don’t know, but for this series she does bring some pretty interestingideas. Such as when Char Clone dawning his mask and reveals his new identity tothe viewer on the episode in which all the characters come to realize that theydon’t truly know who each other really is. Another is example is how she mirrorsthe first two episodes with the last two.

Many call this show blatant. But inreality it just really clear. However it has many deeper intricacies if theviewer is willing to put in the effort to actually look deeper. Significantthings always are happing and the story and characters go a long way. Kudeliais leagues better than Lacus Cline and Helena Peacecraft. Mikazuki is leaguesbetter than Heero or than any of the characters from Wing. All of them are morecomplex than the cast from dense piece of shit that was G-reco. This showstacks up. To me my new favorite AU Gundam show at the moment. That is If TurnA doesn’t count as an AU, which I don’t think it does.