Iron Blooded Orphans Is Unlike Any Other Gundam Series

Iron blooded orphans in one line . "In the end...they were just kids afterall"

A prequel for IBO set in the calamity war would be sick. Imagine seeing all 72 gundam frames in their prime.

I thought a thing IBO was trying to do was similar to what Wing touched on but didn't dwell on; namely, while giant robot series tend to naturally have plucky teen pilots for the audience to relate to, being a child soldier messes you the hell up. Mika is a once-in-a-century talent, able to awaken a legendary machine to its full potential in a way no one else can. He can do this not because he is genetically unique or spiritually superior, but because he has no regard for his own safety as a child soldier who was subjected to inhumane technology. Mika's life experience means he doesn't really have a conscience a lot of the time; he relies on Orga for a sense of right and wrong and Orga's own perspective is skewed because while he is a smart kid who wants to look after his found family, he was raised in a might-makes-right system where anything worth having must be taken–and defended–with violence. I feel like the fact Julieta tries to ask what cause Mika could possibly have that keeps him going when he should already be dead only to realize Mika doesn't understand the question is significant. McGillis and Julieta both try to establish some sort of rapport with Mika; McGillis is disappointed and repulsed by the realization the kid he's so interested in doesn't really have anything in common with him at all besides them both being traumatized, and Julieta understanding she's fighting someone who was never raised to view anything but violence as a valid choice turns victory to ashes in her mouth. I thought it was also interesting that the antagonists, despite your framing of them as hero antagonists, are ALSO punished harshly for choosing to escalate violence rather than seek peace. Orga GIVES UP. He is willing to show his belly and surrender unconditionally to Rustal to keep his family alive; Rustal refuses because he's not done slaughtering them to make an example of anyone that picks a fight with Gjallerhorn. His decision to do this, however, prompts Mika's last stand, and what should have been a quiet end to McGillis's sad little rebellion turns into a nightmarish slaughter; dozens of Rustal's men die unnecessarily, Iok is butchered, Julieta is lucky to still be alive, and ultimately Iok's demise is a deathblow to the system Rustal was trying to uphold. He's forced to accept change he did not want because his decision to escalate and retaliate turned around and bit him. Maybe not as badly as Orga's decision to start a fight, but still.

To be honest, I think what S2 says about Tekkedan is less of them becoming the villain, and more of showing that in the system that is in place, these characters who know nothing BUT violence and war never would be able to prosper if they didn't learn how to live in a time of (relative) peace, and it's not just Tekkedan that shows this, it's McGillis and a few others too, showing that valuing nothing but absolute might as a means to your goal is doomed to fail, even if the cause at first is noble.

I really liked how Guts stopped chasing Griffith and dedicated himself to space piracy.

BOOFIRE191: "Everybody's gangster till the fat kid dies."

Honestly, IBO got me back into the Gundam franchise because it was so different to what my expectations were. After rewatching gundam wing, seed, and OO it made me appreciate what IBO did even more

Honestly I see this as a near perfect Gundam show. The themes are so strong and they feel as clear as any other Gundam series. The characters are complex and you can see when they're making a bad turn. Hell you can see which way Orga is going to go by the end of season one and it is entirely down to Biscuit's death. The fact that Mika feels such strong loyalty for him that he just follows blindly is so tragic and neither Orga or Mika fully understand that. And the show makes it clear that despite the bad things they do the rest of the cast do them because they don't see any other path.

Moral of the story: never trust Mcgillis Fareed

I agree, but they were also children. All of which lived on an impoverished planet who were forced to grow up as soldiers without a good parental figure in their most important developmental years. They saw a chance to take what they never had and they did it at any costs. Rustal and Mcgillis ultimately manipulated children into doing what they want. They were ultimately the villains.

The problem I have isn’t so much the main cast losing, but of the bad guy. Based on how Rustal acted in the show, I find it hard to believe he would do all those things in the epilogue on the final episode. Gailio doing it seems somewhat believable, but not Rustal. Rustal was corrupt and evil. Because of that I don’t see the ending as viable. Remember the guy had an agent of his commit terrorism in the show to start a war, was willing to lie flat out and scapegoat people for his convenience, use illegal weaponry on his own men to lie about who use them first to justify his use of them. The main cast might not have been the heroes but the winner in the end was the bad guy. It would have been better if he had been killed in the show, exposed what he and Iok had done, and have that (along with what gailio exposed, and over half the 7 stars families being wiped out) be used as a catalyst for the reform the organization.

IBO by far is one of the most grounded AU in the series, specially in the end when there's no space magic bullshit to pull off was a breath of fresh air, truely unlike any other gundam.

Two things. First, you failed to mention how the Barbatos became more monstrous as the series progressed. Sort of a mirror to what Tekkadan had become. Second, I never saw McGillis as a tyrant. McGillis is an idealist and a product of the corrupt system he wished to overthrow. His character is beautifully fleshed out. McGillis became merciless as a means of survival and his love for the legend of Bael came as a means to mentally cope with the abuse he was subjected to. The same can be said for Tekkadan. Both are products of their environment and both wished to change things for the better.

IBO was really a rollercoaster of an anime and is one of my favorite animes right now. I really love that it's getting a lot of attention now, Cause it definitely deserves it!

I love the critical fail moments of IBO, it hammers home the overall grittier and less forgiving tone that the series is going for. It fits with the overall theme, being that pure will and determination is not enough to solve all problems. Sometimes you gotta use a screwdriver instead of a hammer, but Tekkadan kept using a hammer to solve its problems. It's not a failure of Tekkadan, it's just all they know. They're a bunch of traumatized child soldiers doing the only thing they know, which is fight for their survival.

I honestly preferred season 2. There's definitely cases of bad plot armor and rushed pacing, but I really like the ideas presented in the second season - and how melodramatic it becomes near the end as Tekkadan, completely outnumbered by an army using unfair tactics, pays the price for what they set up at the end of S1.

IBO is more grounded..... that's life, sometimes you plan for things to happen and it just doesn't work out. It sucks but its life.

If you look at it, Orga getting a bit more impulsive ever since Biscuit's (basically their "voice of reason") death in S1 kind of foreshadowed Tekkadan's inevitable doom at the end of S2 (which is full of rash moves by Orga). I love season 2 despite its imperfections, although I do agree that the same was a bit rushed.

Ibo I can't see a Gundam series coming close too it this was elite

I've never watched the other shows, but I've always loved season 2. Biscuit's death in season 1 always felt like a turn. It's no longer an epic space odyssey about scrappy heroes rising against the odds. It's a tragedy. It's a tragedy where we see our heroes strengths be the thing that destroys them. The wild and reckless plans that managed to get them through season 1? They aren't working anymore because people have learned. And people are dying because of it. The driving force behind our heroes has always been Orga's desire to give his family a better life. And in season two, we see that he's aware that there is more he can do for his family, and he takes that path. Things that gave our heroes strength are killing them.