Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans (機動戦士ガンダム 鉄血のオルフェンズ) is a 26 episode mecha war drama set in the Gundam franchise. The series aired between 2015 and 2016.
Set more than 300 years after the Calamity War, in which Earths power concentration is drastically changed. The story deals with a group of unwanted child soldiers employed with a security firm on Mars known as CGS. Mars is under control of factions on Earth and has limited wealth and resources. The daughter of an aristocratic Martian family, Kudelia Aina Bernstein, decides to head to Earth and plead for Mars to become more independent. When the strongest faction on Earth, Gjallarhorn, decides to stop Bernstein from leaving Mars they attack CGS headquarters. Many of the deaths in the successful defense come from the child soldiers 'employed' by CGS.
One of the older kids, Orga decides to start a coup in retaliation for the attitude towards the worth of his fellow soldiers. Through determination and cunning they succeeded in taking control of the mercenary group and change its identity to solidify their emergence as a new operation. Orga, now the leader of Tekkadan, takes over the task of escorting Bernstein to Earth, believing in her goal and the possibility of it being successful. The members of Tekkadan are children who live on the margins of Martian society, despised as little more than sewer rats. They see a chance at earning respect and taking control of their own destinies under Orga's leadership and enthusiastically throw their support to continue to job.
From the start everything is stacked against the upstarts. Gjallarhorn sends reinforcements to succeed where the provincial forces failed. Tekkadan leaves Mars, fleeing their vastly superior enemies. Once they understand the level of threat aimed at them they join with a powerful crime syndicate for patronage, support and protection. The lone Tekkadon ship partners with a sister group in the syndicate to continue the treacherous journey. Along the way they are constantly attacked by forces trying to prevent Bernstein from publicly addressing imperial oppression. Tekkadan facing lose and a greater understanding of the difficulty of others, not just on Mars, further empowers them to push on towards their inevitable death on Earth.
This was a much needed return to quality story telling in the Gundam universe, following a few less than stellar TV series. The core ideals of the series deal with child soldiers and imperialism. The series deals with these powerful things with bi-shonen Caucasian looking characters. Somewhat lessening the impact of real world issues. There is a lot of freedom when it comes to Tekkadan's abilities as well, most glaringly when it comes to space flight and operating space-faring ships. How exactly do discarded, lowest tier child soldiers who are abused and used as little more than cannon fodder understand how to not only launch but successfully operate an orbital vehicle? This is one of the glaring and obvious lapses of reality that go to lesson the impact of the real world messages the series is trying to deliver.
The character designs are some of the oddest that that the Gundam franchise has seen since the 80's. The mechanical designs as well are rather sub-par compared with other recent series'. The bread and butter for the die hard Gundam fans is also mostly absent in the series. As the story progresses we don't see the constant equipment upgrading that has become integral in the franchise. There are long pauses in the story in which a mobile suit is almost non-existent. Instead we get a decent attempt at a Gundam story that focuses more on the characters and their plight instead of spending undue time on the mechanical aspects of the show.
With all of that said, I actually enjoyed the series and eagerly await its return, as eluded at the end of the final episode. There were some serious levels of plot armor through out, but its no fuss straight forward story telling was welcomed. As it neared the end it did begin to pick up some less than useful obligatory characters which didn't do much for the over all progress and appeal of the story. They seemed more as throw ins for helping develop a plot arc that wasn't fully developed. Yet with all of it's flaw's it was still enjoyable.
The series is available streaming in North America currently, with a dub being produced. This is also a signal that video releases are pending. The second season of the show is slated to begin airing in the Fall of 2016.
Set more than 300 years after the Calamity War, in which Earths power concentration is drastically changed. The story deals with a group of unwanted child soldiers employed with a security firm on Mars known as CGS. Mars is under control of factions on Earth and has limited wealth and resources. The daughter of an aristocratic Martian family, Kudelia Aina Bernstein, decides to head to Earth and plead for Mars to become more independent. When the strongest faction on Earth, Gjallarhorn, decides to stop Bernstein from leaving Mars they attack CGS headquarters. Many of the deaths in the successful defense come from the child soldiers 'employed' by CGS.
One of the older kids, Orga decides to start a coup in retaliation for the attitude towards the worth of his fellow soldiers. Through determination and cunning they succeeded in taking control of the mercenary group and change its identity to solidify their emergence as a new operation. Orga, now the leader of Tekkadan, takes over the task of escorting Bernstein to Earth, believing in her goal and the possibility of it being successful. The members of Tekkadan are children who live on the margins of Martian society, despised as little more than sewer rats. They see a chance at earning respect and taking control of their own destinies under Orga's leadership and enthusiastically throw their support to continue to job.
From the start everything is stacked against the upstarts. Gjallarhorn sends reinforcements to succeed where the provincial forces failed. Tekkadan leaves Mars, fleeing their vastly superior enemies. Once they understand the level of threat aimed at them they join with a powerful crime syndicate for patronage, support and protection. The lone Tekkadon ship partners with a sister group in the syndicate to continue the treacherous journey. Along the way they are constantly attacked by forces trying to prevent Bernstein from publicly addressing imperial oppression. Tekkadan facing lose and a greater understanding of the difficulty of others, not just on Mars, further empowers them to push on towards their inevitable death on Earth.
This was a much needed return to quality story telling in the Gundam universe, following a few less than stellar TV series. The core ideals of the series deal with child soldiers and imperialism. The series deals with these powerful things with bi-shonen Caucasian looking characters. Somewhat lessening the impact of real world issues. There is a lot of freedom when it comes to Tekkadan's abilities as well, most glaringly when it comes to space flight and operating space-faring ships. How exactly do discarded, lowest tier child soldiers who are abused and used as little more than cannon fodder understand how to not only launch but successfully operate an orbital vehicle? This is one of the glaring and obvious lapses of reality that go to lesson the impact of the real world messages the series is trying to deliver.
The character designs are some of the oddest that that the Gundam franchise has seen since the 80's. The mechanical designs as well are rather sub-par compared with other recent series'. The bread and butter for the die hard Gundam fans is also mostly absent in the series. As the story progresses we don't see the constant equipment upgrading that has become integral in the franchise. There are long pauses in the story in which a mobile suit is almost non-existent. Instead we get a decent attempt at a Gundam story that focuses more on the characters and their plight instead of spending undue time on the mechanical aspects of the show.
With all of that said, I actually enjoyed the series and eagerly await its return, as eluded at the end of the final episode. There were some serious levels of plot armor through out, but its no fuss straight forward story telling was welcomed. As it neared the end it did begin to pick up some less than useful obligatory characters which didn't do much for the over all progress and appeal of the story. They seemed more as throw ins for helping develop a plot arc that wasn't fully developed. Yet with all of it's flaw's it was still enjoyable.
The series is available streaming in North America currently, with a dub being produced. This is also a signal that video releases are pending. The second season of the show is slated to begin airing in the Fall of 2016.
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