Felt disappointed by the previous Gundam anime series I watched, “Gundam: G no Reconguista” was plain horrible and while “Mobile Suit Gundam AGE” did have some good moments, it failed to keep my attention throughout its different story arcs. The last incarnation of the Gundam franchise I was genuinely impressed with were the sublime “Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn” OVA’s.
Hence, was hesitant about “Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans”, but decided to give it a chance as the promotional video looked excellent and suggested this might be a darker and more dramatic Gundam series, akin to “Gundam 00”.
These first few episodes of “Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans” have been impressive, the story setting and the characters seem typical but nonetheless feel like they will work well for a Gundam mecha series.
Its core plot device features a group of abused youth soldiers that have been experimented on and desperately seek to survive after rebelling against the company that enslaved them might not be refreshingly new, but it might just provide the necessary sparks when intertwined with the typical Gundam styled plot of satellite (planet) Mars rebelling against Earth.
At first glance the main male leading character and Gundam pilot Mikazuki may be similar to Setsuna from “Gundam 00”, however it feels like they may develops Mikazuki’s character such that he remains a distant, cold-blooded killer whose personality evolves differently throughout the story than Setsuna did in “Gundam 00”. Whether Kudelia will convince as female lead character and leader of the opposition remains to be seen.
Am looking forward to the rest of this Gundam anime and hope that it will be good.
You can watch “Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans” on Crunchyroll.
