Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans, Episodes 1-5 Review

This is a light jotting down of thoughts. A formal review may or may not come later. Remember that I am only 5 episodes in, and there’s 20 more to go! Development is inevitable.

Story

It’s not too special, but it’s also not boring. As long as it holds up and makes sense, the series should do fine. I noticed some parallels to Aldnoah/Zero. For example, the blonde ambassador princess from the opposing side of the protagonists, Mars and Earth duking it out for someone to get independence or recognition from the other, and mechs. But I have faith it will be better than that! The inclusion of the Alaya-Vijnana System is interesting, I can’t wait to see how it will contribute to distinguishing this anime from others.

Writing

The way exposition is delivered is really bad. It’s a case of ‘these characters are giving each other detailed explanations for information, even though it is more or less essential for their position in life’. Lines can be cheesy, but if you don’t think too hard about them you can still be entertained. I like the elements of war affecting children as well as the value of life. I hope these themes are explored properly throughout the course of the series, doing so would add an appreciated level of depth to the series.

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Characters

The characters are fun, I don’t really dislike anyone from the main cast yet, so that’s probably a good sign. Characters seem to be mostly one-dimensional for now, but there’s time for improvement. For instance, having Orga lead a failing mission and growing from the experience instead of everyone winning every time. At the very least, Mikazuki is calculating, but not as robotic as a protagonist as Inaho (from Aldnoah).

Orga is my favorite so far. 

Art & Animation

I can see where they were lazy with animation, but the fights are exciting. That’s most of what we should be concerned about for an action series, right? 3DCG is integrated well enough and isn’t noticeable unless a larger object is taking up most of the frame.

I’m not sure how the main Gundam can support it’s top half, seeing as the ‘midriff’ is very light, for lack of better terms.

Sound

The music is intense where it needs to be to raise the emotional tides of a battle. I really like the opening! The ending has yet to grow on me.

I appreciate the inclusion of Takahiro Sakurai as a voice actor.