"Raise your Flag!": Review of Mobile Suit Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans (Seasons 1&2)

Overall score: 18/20

A

Here's another series I've followed for quite sometime, since Gundam Wing came out in the US while I was still in high school. Since then I've seen numerous entries in the Gundam universe, both the Alternate Universes (AU) and the original Universal Century (UC) timeline. Iron Blooded Orphans is certainly a worthy entry in the long running sci-fi drama space-opera.

Plot and Setting: 5/5
The plot follows a group of orphans, child soldiers, who go on to form their own private military company. The titular "iron blooded orphans". Being centered around orphans who come into possession of several Gundam type mobile suits, the series feels reminiscent of Gundam Wing. In fact, it doesn't end there, the international peace keeping organization "Gjallarhorn" which effectively controls Earth, and it's colonies on Mars and Jupiter has much in common with Gundam Wing's OZ/Romfeller Foundation. Yet at the same time, the orphans and their company "Tekkadan" and Gjallarhorn are different enough to set themselves apart and stand on their own.

The plot is set into a universe where 300 years ago Earth and it's colonies emerged from a brutal war dubbed the Calamity War (it's from this war that the Gundam and Valkyrja Frame mobile suits were developed), coming out of this war, the Earth was divided into several economic blocs, which in turn controlled parts of Mars, and presumably the Jovian moon colonies. For their part, the economic blocs were overseen by Gjallarhorn, an organization founded during the last years of the war to put an stop to the fighting and ensure another war of the same caliber did not happen again. Gjallarhorn is controlled by a hereditary council of seven (the Seven Stars) that dominate the group as an aristocracy complete with importance of bloodlines and racist views on "commoners" especially people from the colonies and Mars. By the time the show takes place Gjallarhorn has been rotting out from the inside and oversees an uneasy peace. A "peace" maintained by bribes, shady back door dealings and abuses of power. Calls for colony independence has been getting louder and louder. While Earth is presented as what one would expect of a 1st world industrial nation, Mars is depicted like a contemporary 3rd world nation. Much of the environment is depicted as harsh, the cities, while modern, look grimy, orphans are common and are often pressed into hard labor, military service and prostitution.

This universe has a sort of gilded age feel, in that the world is at peace, but beneath that veneer of peace is a rotting core, that various factions seek to address. One group seeks Martian independence, while another seeks to reform the world order and the show's universe is dominated by shades of grey. In the middle of all this conflicting interests, Tekkadan is cast into, and even they exist within the shades of grey.

Storytelling: 4/5 
Human drama dominates the storytelling of Iron Blooded Orphans. The show is very much about the characters, and not just the members of Tekkadan. For many of the leading characters the storytelling goes quite a bit into what makes them tick. While the issues of corruption and colonial independence are there in the larger picture, the storytelling focuses on all the characters who are cast into this situation and the various trials they need to overcome. An example of this focus on character involves one character who was in a child solider platoon under the command of a pirate who was implied to be molesting them as well. This character is more or less taken under the wing of one of the older characters and his younger sister. He's severely injured in battle and as he's dying of his wounds he tells the older character that he wishes he'd never met him and his sister, since then he wouldn't be so scared of losing them and losing them would hurt much less.

Speaking of death scenes, this series is NOT for kids. If this show was a movie it would easily be an R rated movie with all the graphic violence and gory death scenes. However as graphic and gory the action and death scenes are, it's not gratuitous. It's not done just for the sake of doing it. I get the sense that the graphic death scenes are to show that there is no glory in death. Several of the characters have a mind set of "going out in a blase of glory" and many times, they just end up a bloody mess in their mobile suit cockpits and fading out. One character is severely injured and is later revived and physically merged with an oversized mobile suit. While we see his machine/body out on the battlefield tearing up everything in front of him, in a later scene we see he's nothing but a torso in a tank of liquid wired into the machine's interface.

The show also doesn't pull any punches in terms of showing just how messed up this world really is underneath the gilding. There are multiple scenes of children carrying out murders and executions as well as the previously mentioned prostitution. When the show reveals the background and motivations behind one character we learn they were abducted from the streets as a child and pressed into a brothel where they were subsequently abused and eventually purchased by a powerful political figure who continued the abuse. This show certainly deals with more "adult" themes than any of the prior shows in the franchise. Yes children being pressed into combat is nothing new in a Gundam series, but here, this is the first time they're just treated as commodities and abused by adults. In prior series, teens would find themselves having to fight in wars, but this was more of a matter of necessity and survival and the adult characters, even the enemies in some cases, tried to look out for them to some extent. Here, they're openly treated as not human and nothing more than trained attack animals. Of all the Gundam shows and OVA's I've watched, this is easily the one with the darkest tone. The tone is not too unlike Battlestar Galactica (2004) now that I think about it. It's quite gritty, we see a lot of on-screen deaths and violence, and there's the overarching theme of what is to be "human" that various characters find themselves grappling with.

Through out the course of the show we see various characters within Tekkadan grow and mature, one notable example being the group's leader/CEO Orga Itsuka and the company's "Deputy Boss" Eugene Sevenstark, the two initially appear as rivals with the viewer wondering if Eugene might make a move on Orga's position at some point, but the two eventually go on to respect each other and support each other in their respective positions. On the Gjallarhorn side we see Gaelio Bauduin who seems something of a privileged buffoon at the start but as the show goes on he becomes much more introspective and even after being betrayed, his motivations aren't simple revenge, but only an answer to the question of "why"?

However on the same token it isn't all doom and gloom, we do see genuinely good people. Naze Turbine for instances, while he's affiliated with a mafia-like business syndicate he takes Tekkadan leader Orga Itsuki under his wing and by extension the whole organization and looks out for them while at the same time giving them the space they need to all grow as people. Despite one of his roles in the organization being something akin to an enforcer, he's portrayed positively as a big brother character to the teenagers in Tekkadan.

The show also has it's light hearted moments and isn't always dark and serious. We have one scene where one of the older characters was asked out on a date by another, but is so thick headed that he doesn't realize it is a date and not just a hangout, until Tekkadan's Deputy Boss gives him an order to go see her by himself. The show also has it's share of a bit of fan service in the form of Naze Turbine's associates. Though series heroine Kudelia Aina Bernstein isn't free from fan service moments of her own as well.

Given the focus on character, in many cases, things aren't what they seem with many of the characters in the show. There's almost always something more going on below the surface. Not necessarily a "sinister ulterior motive" kind of thing, but definitely a more than meets the eye kind of thing. Some characters turn out to be in the right, but for the wrong reasons, and vice versa in being wrong but for the right reasons.

Though for all the focus the show spends on character, into the second season the show seem to lose sight of the broader narrative it had set up in the first season. In the first season colonial autonomy is a driving force behind the narrative, but this seems to fade more and more into the background of season two and seems to be forgotten about for half the season and even when it is brought back up, it's treated almost as an after thought.

While a lot of shows seem to fall short on the character development (Gundam SEED Destiny is pretty notorious for this, as well as for other short comings...), this show seems to have the opposite problem on a small degree.

Music, Sound and Visuals: 4/5
The opening and ending themes of the show are certainly fitting for the tone of the show. The opening theme is always a hard fast paced track that kind of reflects the "iron" determination behind the kids' drive and desire to find their own place in this brutal universe. A place that Orga Itsuka said that they wouldn't have to risk their lives just to stay alive. By contrast the ending themes are more somber, as is the accompanying montage that goes with it. Often depicting scenes where the main characters were still living on the streets as younger kids.

Where Gundam SEED and SEED Destiny had stand-out insert songs like "Akatsuki no Kuruma" (Carriage of Dawn), which in my opinion is one of the best "last stand" songs, as did another Sunrise produced show Cross Ange, Iron Blooded Orphans doesn't has the strong insert songs that other anime typically have. Let alone compared to soundtracks of the shows in the Macross franchise, that Japanese pop singers like Mari Ijima and May'N have literally kick started careers off of. However where Iron Blooded Orphan's soundtrack does shine is in it's background soundtrack.   

The music accompanying the action scenes make use of a lot of percussion and strings, as opposed to using a wind ensemble like what John Williams did with a lot of action tracks in the original Trilogy. Where as the more somber mood setting tracks make use of more piano to accompany the strings. With the more light heartened sounding tracks going back to more up beat strings. 

The action scenes are fast paced and smoothly animated. The show is definitely no slouch in that regard. There's far less "posing" like what plagued Gundam SEED, nor is there as much recycled animation as we see in Macross Frontier. The mobile suit combat scenes are as violent and brutal as one would expect with giant robots knocking each other around. Unlike Transformers, mobile suits are just piloted vehicles. You will see their pilots getting knocked around and it's not uncommon to see a pilot being killed when he gets crushed in his cockpit. One scene even shows Mikazuki Augus, piloting the Barbatos Gundam, kill an enemy pilot by ripping the cockpit out of his Graze mobile suit and crushing it in the Barbatos's hand, with blood being squeezed out of the crushed cockpit.

It isn't just the combat with mobile suits that are well animated, but combat involving the tank-like mobile workers as well as infantry engagements are also well done. At no point did I notice any drops in quality, even in the fast paced action scenes (something that plagued Macross Delta). You could even take a screen grab from the show and it'll have enough detail to use as a wallpaper if you like.

Art Style and Design: 5/5
The mobile suits in this series have their own distinct look. Unlike the original RX-78 Gundam, the Gundam Mk.II, Wing Gundam or the Strike Gundam, the design of the lead suit, the Barbatos Gundam, makes use of sharp angles and pointed edges to give the suit a very aggressive, and in later iterations, a beastly appearance. This styling isn't just localized to the Barbatos, while it may look more beastly than the others, the other Gundam Frame suits have the same sharp angles. Previous Gundams have had darker or more demonic looks, but this was the first time around that there were open demonic references, and they're used by the protagonist faction. This styling is most pronounced in the heads of the Gundams. Prior designs like the RX-79[G] were clearly based on samurai helmets and had a more heroic looking visage, in this series by contrast, all the Gundam suits have an almost evil or monstrous appearance in their head designs, this is very noticeable in Flauros's design where it's face looks like it's grinning with needle like teeth.

The other thing setting apart the the designs of IBO from the other Gundams of the other series, is whereas other protagonist Gundams generally have a heroic look/feel/theme to them, here they out right have demonic/monsterous/evil tone to them. All the Gundam type suits (Gundam Frame) in IBO are named from demons from the Ars Goetia, with the first Gundam manufactured in this timeline being named Bael for the principal King of Hell. With subsequent Gundams carrying the names of other demons such as Barbartos, Gusion, Kimaris, etc. Granted there were Gundams from antagonist factions that had a darker feel to them, but here the dark references are out there in the open. The Gundam Frame is less a "gallant knight" and more a mechanized demonic monstrosity. Almost like if a Gundam were to show up in DOOM, it would be one of these Gundam Frames. In a sense, given the pilot interface of the Gundam Frame, a system that physically links to the pilot's central nervous system, the Gundam Frame may as well be a Cyberdemon.  

Additionally, perhaps influenced by the Astray Gundam, the mobile suits of IBO have components of their internal frame exposed. This is most notable in the midsection. Though more unlikely, but I also wonder if the Revenant from DOOM with it's exposed skeleton served as inspiration, given the series's demonic references. The result are Gundam designs that stand out from the rest of the franchise. While the different Gundams have their own styles, many of them look like they could be from other universes. The Strike Gundam, mentioned exists in the CE timeline, but it's looks and designs don't look too far removed from the Gundams and mobile suits of the UC timeline where the RX-79 and Gundam Mk.II exist in. With the ASW-G-08 Barbatos Gundam, there's no question which series this particular Gundam is from.

Along side the Gundam Frames exist the the Valkyrja Frame, a parallel development to the titular Gundam Frames from the same era as the Gundams. Where as the Gundam's carry namesakes from the Ars Goetia, these suits carry namesakes from Norse Valkyries. We see two of the original Valkyrja Frame mobile suits, the red winged helmed Grimgerde. and the blue horn helmed Helmwig. The Grimgerde being a light, fast and agile type of suit armed with a machine gun based on the Lewis machine gun from WWI and two one-handed swords while the Helmwig is a large heavily armored unit armed with a large two-handed sword. Developed from this line is the Graze mobile suits used by Gjallarhorn.

The Graze suits follow more with the Grimgerde, being lighter suits, though where as the Grimgerde is seen caring out fast rapid strikes the Graze is seen more doing multi-role work. The Graze is essentially a remake of Gundam Wing's mass produced, general purpose mobile suit, the Leo. Like the Leo, the Graze is armed with everything under the sun, ranging from swords and axes. To rifles and machine guns, to bazookas and large single-shot rail guns. Also like the Leo, the Graze comes in mostly green, blue, and purple colors, as well as having a simple block shaped camera eye in place of an actual face, with only versions like the Graze Schwalbe having a visor style eye piece giving it the appearance of having a face.

Also like the Leo there are multiple derivatives from the base model, including ground combat versions, space combat version, specific versions assigned to various fleets within Gjallarhorn, multiple commander and ace-type high performance models and even a few one-off models.

Along with the Gundam and Valkyrja Frame suits are various third faction suits developed by other parties. Most prominent are the rotund Man Rodi suits, and Hyakuran suits in Season 1 and the Shiden and Hekija suits introduced in Season 2. If the Grimgerde is a nod to Gundam Wing's OZ-00MS Tallgeese (high speed suit, shoulders and leg styling, progenator of the main line antagonist grunt suits), then the Man Rodi is a nod to MS Gundam's MS-06 Zaku II (rounded appearance, green color scheme, and mono-eye sensor). These suits follow a different linage and in some ways are something of a cross between the war relic Gundam and Valkyrja Frames and the contemporary Graze. Mobile suits in this era are powered by Ahab Reactors, a technology that by this time period is monopolized by Gjallarhorn. While the Man Rodis are refurbished Calamity War era suits, the other suits are new manufactured frames like the Graze. However to power these suits, Calamity War era Reactors are salvaged from various battlefields across the Solar System and are refurbished and essentially recycled and used on new frames. Apparently the ability to reverse engineer the Reactors being beyond the capability of other factions.

The character designs are varied and practically every member of Tekkadan and Gjallarhorn have their own distinct appearance. Much unlike one of the major complaints with Gundam SEED, where characters all seem to have the same set of faces. In general though, the character designs are pretty typical of what one would expect from an anime.

However that isn't to say the designs are bland. There is a contrast in the way the characters of different factions are dressed. Members of Tekkadan are dressed in very basic uniforms that somewhat resemble Battle Dress Uniform fatigues, consisting of an olive drab jacket, light grey pants and combat boots. In stark contrast Gjallarhorn's uniforms are bright and flashy. Whereas Tekkadan's uniforms look like field uniforms, Gjallarhorn's look like parade ground dress uniforms. Their ornate uniforms following in the footsteps of other oppressive organizations such as OZ of Gundam Wing and the Titans of Z Gundam.

Characters of other factions generally wear some kind of suit, some wearing a basic two piece, while others wearing expensive looking three piece suits. While the boss of the buisness syndicate Teiwaz is often seen wearing traditional Japanese garb.

Final Verdict:
This show certainly isn't for everybody. The series is much darker in tone than other series in the franchise (including Gundam SEED where genocide and whole sale deployment of WMDs against civilian populations becomes a central issue). As previously mentioned, I would compare the darker tone of the show to Battlestar Galactica (2004). The heavy subject matters tackled by the show and the darker tones it has compared to many other shows may turn some people off.

However if what you're looking for is a space opera with a strong narrative centered around human drama then this is a show certainly worth giving a try. Even if you aren't a fan of the franchise. This show is very much character driven and the mobile suits, even the titular Gundam mobile suit are only "supporting characters" in the narrative.