The Official Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans Anime Thread Mk III

[Zeonista]

Late to the party due to download issues because Internets was down most of last week.

I was wondering what was going to happen in order to carry over from the energy of the Hashmal discovery-and-rampage arc. Well, now we know. The Opposition quickly moves to make Idiok Lemonade and stick it to Tekkadan and Fareed by attacking an ally. Bold, vicious, decisive... Somewhere the ghost of Jamitov Hyman is smiling. I was somewhat sad and proud at the same time. Sad, because Naze Turbine knows he is in for a fight he can't win, and it's the end of a dream for his followers. Proud, because he intends his last gesture of defiance, in true Japanese "Beautiful Loser" mode, to cost Gjallarhorn plenty and show them up as oppressors, rather than peacekeepers. If Orga is smart, he will take Naze's counsel and stay out of it. This is going to be tough on him; the heart must war with the head big time, and is there anyone who can talk him out of it?

New OP & ED: Woot! Great Gundam music here, hasn't been anything like this since SEED took the Gundam soundtrack honors forever. The credit sequences are well done too.
"I only ask you to follow me blindly!": That rousing line does not translate, Comrade! Seriously, that line fails the UC rhetoric test so bad...
Vidar = Gaelio: The anime has been hammering this home like Nora Valkyrie recently. Could he really take action to stop Idiok? Would he really care? Hmm... Nope! He wants revenge, and in true Gundam fashion what's a fleet or two worth in obtaining that?
Amida is Best Girl: She is #1 Spacenoid heroine of IBO and all Gundam ever. Younger gunslinger MS pilot Amida is just as hot. Kudos to Naze for hitting on her with such confidence.
Lafter & Akihiro: One more Gundam couple we will never get to see work out... You think I'd be used to the disappointment by now.
Harem still on: Kudelia-hime gets the "nice try" for the deflection bit on Atra. Atra then wins with feelings over reason. You know, sort of like love tends to do. Somewhere Amida the love guru is smiling!
"NO!": What Kudelia did not say.
Babies are like ham: I do believe Mikazuki just made a joke! Atra of course did not laugh, but we did at her adorable "bu" face.
"Call all our comrades": Once again McGillis shows us why he is Best Char Clone. It's going to go down soon, like it or not. Better be ready. So he will tell all his friends to come, and bring their guit-, er, Gundams.

[Amion]

Late to the party due to download issues because Internets was down most of last week.

I was wondering what was going to happen in order to carry over from the energy of the Hashmal discovery-and-rampage arc. Well, now we know. The Opposition quickly moves to make Idiok Lemonade and stick it to Tekkadan and Fareed by attacking an ally. Bold, vicious, decisive... Somewhere the ghost of Jamitov Hyman is smiling. I was somewhat sad and proud at the same time. Sad, because Naze Turbine knows he is in for a fight he can't win, and it's the end of a dream for his followers. Proud, because he intends his last gesture of defiance, in true Japanese "Beautiful Loser" mode, to cost Gjallarhorn plenty and show them up as oppressors, rather than peacekeepers. If Orga is smart, he will take Naze's counsel and stay out of it. This is going to be tough on him; the heart must war with the head big time, and is there anyone who can talk him out of it?

New OP & ED: Woot! Great Gundam music here, hasn't been anything like this since SEED took the Gundam soundtrack honors forever. The credit sequences are well done too.
"I only ask you to follow me blindly!": That rousing line does not translate, Comrade! Seriously, that line fails the UC rhetoric test so bad...
Vidar = Gaelio: The anime has been hammering this home like Nora Valkyrie recently. Could he really take action to stop Idiok? Would he really care? Hmm... Nope! He wants revenge, and in true Gundam fashion what's a fleet or two worth in obtaining that?
Amida is Best Girl: She is #1 Spacenoid heroine of IBO and all Gundam ever. Younger gunslinger MS pilot Amida is just as hot. Kudos to Naze for hitting on her with such confidence.
Lafter & Akihiro: One more Gundam couple we will never get to see work out... You think I'd be used to the disappointment by now.
Harem still on: Kudelia-hime gets the "nice try" for the deflection bit on Atra. Atra then wins with feelings over reason. You know, sort of like love tends to do. Somewhere Amida the love guru is smiling!
"NO!": What Kudelia did not say.
Babies are like ham: I do believe Mikazuki just made a joke! Atra of course did not laugh, but we did at her adorable "bu" face.
"Call all our comrades": Once again McGillis shows us why he is Best Char Clone. It's going to go down soon, like it or not. Better be ready. So he will tell all his friends to come, and bring their guit-, er, Gundams.

*Wipes tear* Thank you for agreeing with me on the music, fellow spacenoid. For a moment I thought I was surrounded by a bunch of Oldtypes.

[Zeonista]

*Wipes tear* Thank you for agreeing with me on the music, fellow spacenoid. For a moment I thought I was surrounded by a bunch of Oldtypes.

IBO wins on all levels, and the music is only one of them. It's great to get a production crew that for once understand they are together to make old school mecha anime. that being said, the music has been done right all through the show; getting a new set of OP/ED with the right feel going into the home stretch was excellent! Sunrise must be feeling very positive about the audience, in order to ask paymaster Namco-Bandai for the yen to put another mini-album out there!

Deacon Blues: The only lame thing about the episode was that accursed himbo Idiok was still alive. He has managed to elevate Jerid Mesa in my eyes, which is a thing I never thought possible. The "discovered" railguns was a tried and true "dirty cop" stunt. Oh gee Mister Turbine, we caught a couple of your ladies with some unlicensed and illicit heavy weapons in the trunk. We are gonna have to charge you with everything in the book and take you down!

Brave Fencer Kirby: I likewise agree that there are more than enough episodes to finish the story in a satisfactory manner. That is, if one likes the traditional Gundam approach to dealing with dangling plot threads. BANG! One subplot down! BANG BANG! There's another one! BANGBANGBANGBANG!! Well, we never really liked those guys anyway... BANG! Ow, right in the feels!

[Amion]

Your last paragraph in response to the plot resolution was hilarious and yet frighting for its typical accuracy for Gundam shows. Could we be in for a SEED or Zeta ending?

I am perhaps unfortunately a bit bloodthirsty in this regard. They should all go if a mystical sequel is not to be. Yes, no plot threads dangling, just limp Mobile suits twisting in the solar winds.

[Zeonista]

Your last paragraph in response to the plot resolution was hilarious and yet frighting for its typical accuracy for Gundam shows. Could we be in for a SEED or Zeta ending?

I am perhaps unfortunately a bit bloodthirsty in this regard. They should all go if a mystical sequel is not to be. Yes, no plot threads dangling, just limp Mobile suits twisting in the solar winds.

"I guess they had it coming."
"We all have it coming." - Unforgiven

I am not exactly a fan of Gundam story tendencies towards closure via gotterdammerung. That being said, I sort of expect it. Both in the way of the March Madness tournament, and for seeing who will be deemed victorious in the final shootout. The AU series have had a tendency to pull their punches, while UC has sardonically upheld the example of Tomino-sama. For me, IBO has stated that life is cheap and only the promise of tomorrow has enduring value. So we can't say we have not been warned!

Also, for the first time in a while we have had a Gundam story where real stakes are involved for the players on both sides of the war game. Yeah, the Establishment on Earth wants to keep things as is, but McGillis & Orga are also playing to win, for keeps, and not only for The Cause but for the people they care about who make up part of that cause. There is no hippy-dippy "give peace a chance" talk right thrown about right now; even Kudelia is backing the Tekkadan-Fareed alliance because Tekkadan MS will have to give her ideals meaning. So yeah, there will most likely be a body count.

[yazi88]

Well... given the way deaths are choreographed in this show

Spoiler

Its not a suprise that Naze and Amida died, along with a good number of Turbines girls in their transport ships. I almost thought that massive moron Iok would bite the dust too, but sadly he survived... barely... But hopefully he has a Mika approved death waiting for him. I bet Lafner, Azee and most likely Eco (the mechanic) along with some other Turbine survivors will join Tekkadan.

[Kuruni]

The final request from Naze to McMurdo is also call back to conversation between Orga and Naze... It's true ironic callback, Naze ultimately pay for orga's action with his life (even indirectly).

Watch the OP again make me notice how that white MW seem to be out of place, guess it will be replaced with that Not-unicorn Shiden soon.

So Turbines has some Rouei as regular unit?

Until this episode Idiok is sort of a manchild who cause damage and death because of stupidity, but it is innocent stupidity that there is very faint hope of him to develope into better person. But he cross the line from being simply idiot to "idiot and asshole" now.

Damn, they did it. This episode is full of action, tension, and depression. It's slaughter, and Tekkadan's rescue is more of relieve than awesomeness.

That being said, Amida easily pull the best pilot feat in this whole series, no doubt. And I'm pretty sure Julietta has realize about her crushing defeated.

Spoiler

Sadly, Idiok seem to survive.

[Deathzealot]

The Turbines only had Amida's Custom Hyakuren, the two new units piloted by Lafter and Azee (Now that is was a surprise I presumed that it was only going to be Lafter piloting one), and around four Shidens (Not Rouei, notice the Visors, they just have different colors then the Shidens in use by Tekkadan. In fact way back during the scene with the mini-MA thing in the Mobile Suit Workshop saw a pair of similar-colored Shidens holding it down). One of the Shidens got hit by those railguns and crashed into a transport the others I don't know what happened to them. It got kind of chaotic at the end there.

EDIT: Opps. Watched the Episode again. While the Turbines did have four to five dark purple painted Shindens like I mentioned before. There were two dark-painted Hyakuren's along their mobile suits. Not Rouei's since those units where ground-based units after all, but just painted the same. Or are they. They have the Heavy Club of the Rouei and not the Knuckle Guard of the Hyakuren. Hmmm... Also, didn't notice before but the machines reloading the Railgun Graze Units are Hloekk Graze Units. Interesting.

Spoiler

Agreed. Iok has the luck of the devil to survive not only what happened so far but a shot to the bridge of his ship, and then a ramming attack from the Hammerhead. Gah. What will it take to kill this guy! Though, I admit the entrance of Tekkadan into the fight was done very well along with appropriate music!

Spoiler

That said. Rest in Peace Naze and Amida. You shall be missed.

[yazi88]

Rouei is not just a ground unit, when Lafner and Azee used them in season 1 they were in space mode, they have equipment specific for ground combat.

As for the Turbine's Shiden's being blue, I'm guessing its the stock color they use, cause their Hyakurens are also blue aside from Amidas.

[SNT1]

I believe this is yet the most powerful episode in all of IBO, if only because Mikazuki Yamato is nowhere to be seen to save the day. I mean, Muscle Unit and Ryusei unit are formidable forces but they're not like a super saiyan who's ascended past a super saiyan tier like a Mika-Barbatos. This is the first battle since Edmonton where I felt like there's a number of characters that are fair game when it comes to dying in combat.

+Iok is way too dangerous to be left alone. As I said earlier, he is the most infuriating antagonist in the history of Gundam antagonists ever. This guy actually has power. The most dickish of any moves is to ignore that surrender, fire on retreating transport ships and put Julietta in danger (literally firing at her direction and going "she'll dodge". Fuck that noise.) In my book he's a full-fledged war criminal now. I really felt for the Turbine girls, and their desperate attempt to escape, even if the Tekkadan boys showed up. I felt the overall desperation of the situation. That said, I'm not sure who should be first in line to kill Iok; it can't be Mika, IMO. If anything, Lafter and Azee has the divine right to claim his head.

+I believe this is also the first time since Edmonton that our protagonists directly had a battle against Gjallahorn. I guess we'll find out next week but we'll see if there's any reports of Tekkadan joining the fray, and what will come of it.

+Was Arianhod using an 'illegal' weapon with those pike launcher things? (They looked cool by the way). And I wonder what McGillis has in store? I remember him musing about 'grey area' weapons coming out of the woodwork. I think it's really on now. With Rustal's crew, Iok's crew, McGillis' crew, Jasley's crew, Orga's crew and even McMurdo's crew... there's some serious strategic conflict happening now between all those factions. Right now I really don't see McGillis turning on Tekkadan, or rather, I see him fighting Gjallahorn still in the finale (Rustal and Gali-Gali). That said, we know he's capable of being a dick as well.

+Amida vs Julietta is probably the best display of non-lopsided combat that I've seen in S2; I've enjoyed that more than Hashmal vs berserker Barbatos. I would assume Amida's Hyakuren is inferior to Julietta's new Masurao-looking unit, but damn, that display of piloting superiority is a sight to behold. I got that fist-pump vibe similar to Gundam 00 when Graham Aker schooled a superior Throne Gundam in a flag.

Other things:

+Please, it's time to give Mika a damn wheelchair now.

-I am disappointed that Hush is pretty much gone in terms of development

+We learn now that Gusion Rebake is powered by a Camaro small-block V8

-Another cooldown episode next week, presumably where Lafter/Akihiro can really go full sail, we learn more of McGillis's dastardly plans, Orga cries some more and Hush continues to be useless.

[yazi88]

Those Pike launchers are the Dainslef weapon capable of piercing nano-laminate armor that Iok was accusing the Turbines of keeping, it was to falsify the turbines and give Ghjarrhorn a chance to wipe them out thanks to A-hole Jasley. Not only did Iok lie but also extremely hypocritical about Ghjarrhorn trying to keep the peace by using the same weapons that were outlawed by everyone to use, including Ghjarrhorn themselves.

I can't wait for McGillis to use this evidence as help take down Iok and the rest of the scumbag Einrad fleet, including Rustal himself. Rustal is not a good person, he is in charge of the whole fleet and uses plenty of underhanded techniques to spur up conflicts just to help his fleet's image and power. Remember the Dort colony suppression and the war with Arbrau on Earth? Rustal's hands were all over that.

McGillis, being shady as he is to make sure he doesn't get caught until he fully executes his plans, knows full well how corrupt the organization is and I'm rooting for him all the way. I'm curious to see how many allies he has, I think the Mars Ghjarrhorn group is in on it, given his relations with them, although they are more poorly equipped and trained when compared to Earth's and the Moon's forces. We haven't seen or heard anything about the Jupiter Ghjarrhorn forces, I know they exist but probably even worse equipped and staffed compared to Mars.

[Amion]

I believe this is yet the most powerful episode in all of IBO, if only because Mikazuki Yamato is nowhere to be seen to save the day. I mean, Muscle Unit and Ryusei unit are formidable forces but they're not like a super saiyan who's ascended past a super saiyan tier like a Mika-Barbatos. This is the first battle since Edmonton where I felt like there's a number of characters that are fair game when it comes to dying in combat.

+Iok is way too dangerous to be left alone. As I said earlier, he is the most infuriating antagonist in the history of Gundam antagonists ever. This guy actually has power. The most dickish of any moves is to ignore that surrender, fire on retreating transport ships and put Julietta in danger (literally firing at her direction and going "she'll dodge". ZOINKS that noise.) In my book he's a full-fledged war criminal now. I really felt for the Turbine girls, and their desperate attempt to escape, even if the Tekkadan boys showed up. I felt the overall desperation of the situation. That said, I'm not sure who should be first in line to kill Iok; it can't be Mika, IMO. If anything, Lafter and Azee has the divine right to claim his head.

+I believe this is also the first time since Edmonton that our protagonists directly had a battle against Gjallahorn. I guess we'll find out next week but we'll see if there's any reports of Tekkadan joining the fray, and what will come of it.

+Was Arianhod using an 'illegal' weapon with those pike launcher things? (They looked cool by the way). And I wonder what McGillis has in store? I remember him musing about 'grey area' weapons coming out of the woodwork. I think it's really on now. With Rustal's crew, Iok's crew, McGillis' crew, Jasley's crew, Orga's crew and even McMurdo's crew... there's some serious strategic conflict happening now between all those factions. Right now I really don't see McGillis turning on Tekkadan, or rather, I see him fighting Gjallahorn still in the finale (Rustal and Gali-Gali). That said, we know he's capable of being a dick as well.

+Amida vs Julietta is probably the best display of non-lopsided combat that I've seen in S2; I've enjoyed that more than Hashmal vs berserker Barbatos. I would assume Amida's Hyakuren is inferior to Julietta's new Masurao-looking unit, but damn, that display of piloting superiority is a sight to behold. I got that fist-pump vibe similar to Gundam 00 when Graham Aker schooled a superior Throne Gundam in a flag.

Other things:

+Please, it's time to give Mika a damn wheelchair now.

-I am disappointed that Hush is pretty much gone in terms of development

+We learn now that Gusion Rebake is powered by a Camaro small-block V8

-Another cooldown episode next week, presumably where Lafter/Akihiro can really go full sail, we learn more of McGillis's dastardly plans, Orga cries some more and Hush continues to be useless.

Couldn't agree more after watching. And I now believe Amida was probably the best pilot in the entire story, and none of us knew it. Mika could only rival Julietta and he has 3 AVs. Amida did all she did with nothing. Take note, Hushpuppy, take note. Your time may yet come, if you just applied yourself to doing more than carrying Mika.

also, do they even have wheelchairs in PD? We know graves aren't a thing. Maybe wheelchairs aren't either. We haven't actually seen one yet in the whole story, right? Gosh.

Now, that... that beautiful thing Julietta was piloting. It just made Amida's glorious moves all the better. She shown indeed. And that fierce confidence. She sure schooled Julietta. "Don't be a man's tool! You'll never get to my level relying on him like a crutch!" Well, she didn't say it like that, but it's clear that was the meaning for Julietta to get. Whether she got it is unknown.

Idiok, you must die now. Hopefully a glorious death is in store, though I guess we can now possibly rule in the horrifying scenario whereby the infighting destroys all the other Houses and Idiok is left as the only one... the world would welcome all the Hashmal's back. Heck, he'd probably issue one built, if possible, as one of his first orders. Someone had better make his death a priority, before his bumbling competence at killing people does something worse.

At least Jarid Messa was incompetent, or at least couldn't ever seem to get Kamille. He could give him a run for his money there for a while, or at least until the Earth Arc. But outside of their duels he was never really effective. But Idiok is very good. At killing innocents. And he almost got "Rustal's Sword". How many more are going to die just because Tomino hasn't snuck in and offed him yet?

[Ryujin]

For a while there, I was hoping that Naze would do to Iok what Kamille did to Scirocco especially after he refused to retract the bridge, but alas, maneuvering thrusters are still a thing.

I'm assuming the Dainslef weapons use up a lot of power; those MS seemed practically helpless after firing the things.

Julietta's getting more interesting to me as she seems to become more & more aware of her own limitations and mortality (and consequently, the predictability of her actions in future encounters).

[Kuruni]

He might get away of using it if he actually leave no witness. But now I wish that the news of Idiok using Deinslaif will trigger other forces to bring them back to battlefield too.

And that would be the point Rustal actually kick him out of his club (as he warned him already).

[Outlaw]

Wow, this one was rough.
- Congratulations your Iok has evolved from a Dork to a Dick!
- Why is she going to strangle me? XD

[Deathzealot]

- Why is she going to strangle me? XD

I know right! I was literally dying laughing when he said that. Poor boy really doesn't understand does he.

[AmuroNT1]

SNT1: You don't just think Iok is a war criminal now, he IS one because of his blatant use of the Dainslev. And that's not even getting into things like attacking unarmed shuttles or blatantly ignoring signals for a ceasefire or surrender.

Simply put, in a sane world, Iok would be right and proper ****ed right now because of all the witnesses and recorded evidence of him doing these horrendous things (it's just a shame none of the shuttles survived with those huge lawndarts sticking out of them, because those would have been the real smoking gun). But I have a feeling that much like a reality show, they're going to keep the stupid little ****stain around precisely because he generates this kind of reaction from the audience.

[zetatype]

OK now I hate Lok. I mean he was always an idiot and a danger to those around him, but I didn't really care about him despite the damage he caused back in the MA arc. Now the guy is a dick and i was really hoping either Amida or Naze would take that SOB out, but it looks like the writers have other plans for him.

Next episode looks it will be a breather with the focus on Akihiro and Lafter. Still I wonder what the next step in the plot will be. McGillis is beginning to make his move and I wonder if he was plans to use this in incident between Lok and the Turbines to his advantage. Then there is jasley who most likely isn't done with Tekkadan, and Orga will most likely find out someone within Teiwaz set Naze up.

[domino]

As mentioned before, Lok/Iok has gone past the point of redemption. He deserves a nasty death - hopefully at the hands of Orga and not Mika. I suspect that Iok is dangerous enough that he will also reveal his own Gundam now that his old mecha is out of commission - and the Kujan Family is all about unleashing maximum force

Is Jasley the boss' biological son? He seemed to be implying that

I wonder how the boss will react to Naze's death and Iok's actions? It's likely that Orga will go on a manhunt to find out who betrayed Naze and this will cause ripples through Teiwaz

[Chris]

Is Jasley the boss' biological son? He seemed to be implying that

No, I don't think he was implying that at all. McMurdo treated Naze like a favored son and allowed him (and by extension Tekkadan) get away with lots of stuff. Now that Naze is gone, Jasley probably feels that McMurdo will have to give him that special treatment instead.