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「彼等について」 (Karera ni Tsuite)
“As For Them”
So far Tekketsu no Orphans is sticking pretty close to the template, but it seems to be working.
I had a chance to see Kokoro ga Sakebitagatterun da (Anthem of the Heart) this weekend, which I bring up here because like Iron-Blooded Orphans, it’s a collaboration between Nagai Tatsuyuki and Okada Mari. That film was much more akin to AnoHana (understandable, as it was by the same studio and set in the same place) but I nevertheless find it fascinating to look at the work these two have done together as a collective body of work. Toradora, AnoHana, Orphans – the stylistic and tonal range is astounding, and that’s not even bringing the wildly disparate work Okada has done with other directors into the equation.
The point is that these two – especially Okada – are mighty hard to pin down, and even if the project doesn’t always work, that kind of range is something to be respected. But a common thread I see through most of her work is that the word that springs first to mind for me with this series – “restrained” – isn’t one of the first descriptors you’d use. But it is here – Iron-Blooded Orphans is so far a model of restraint. It’s playing nice with the Gundam thematic palette, avoiding needlessly convoluted plotting and abstaining from broad melodrama. Especially after the Aquarion experience, it’s fair to say I was expecting something very different. And it’s nice to be surprised, especially by artists whose work we know extremely well.
The book says that after you do a breathless action episode like last week’s, you do a breather episode. And this time around Okada and Nagai are following the book – and doing so with very good results. This was a breather episode with a purpose, not simply taking your foot off the gas and coasting. Action series are like sports series in that these sorts of episodes have to happen, but the good ones understand that they can be every bit as entertaining – and important – as the episodes that cause their existence to be necessary.
What I really liked about this episode is that it was, quite simply, a 22-minute essay on interdependence. This ep was all about people needing each other – and why that’s a good thing. Orga reflects on why living up to Mika’s faith is what drives him forward. The adolescent hierarchy of Tekkadan grows increasingly protective of Kudelia, but even as that’s happening she’s feeling increasingly protective of them. This is the positive reflection of her somewhat arrogant and condescending paternalism of the first couple of episodes: Kudelia is coming to understand the weight of responsibility that her good fortune in life has placed on her. The boys are people who, through no fault of their own, have been denied their most basic human rights and he opportunity to make something of their lives. And because of her the situation she was born into, she’s in a position to try and do something to help them.
There’s definitely still the possibility for condescension in this scenario, but it doesn’t play that way here – in fact the episode is actually rather touching in the way it depicts Kudelia’s reaction to the way the boys support each other. There’s an overarching message that it’s impossible to get anywhere without depending on other people. But that doesn’t change the fact that Tekkadon is still basically powerless – forced to depend on others to try and survive. Be that Orcus or the new potential guides to Earth, the Jupiter-based Taiwaz (who sound a bit like the Yakuza) Tekkadan can’t do it on their own – which gives Kudelia’s efforts to try and broker some sort of peace a real sense of urgency.
We’ll see if this low-key approach continues – it seems very likely we’re going to see some serious tragedy before the series is over – but for now, it’s carrying the series nicely. The new player entering into the mix is Houki Katsuhisa’s Maruba Arkay (there are times I think Gundam names its villains after IKEA furniture), the president of CGS whom we briefly met in the premiere. But for me the most interesting antagonist remains McGillis Fareed – he doesn’t waste time on needless cruelty or grudges, avoids meaningless posturing and generally seems inclined to think everything through clearly before he acts. There haven’t been many chess players in Gundam over the years, but Fareed definitely seems like one to me.
Preview
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I really enjoyed the first few episodes, but it seems like it’s getting more shallow. What really bothers me, though, is Kudelia. She’s a sheltered princess with ideals and doesn’t understand how the world works. She’s fighting for the independence of Mars without knowing how the economics between Mars and other economical giants interact, as if “freedom” will solve everything. How will she argue for independence in the first place without leverage? “Mars should be free because… human rights!”?
Shallow? This episode was anything but.
Id like to agree with you, but I’m simply skeptical of this show (have been from the start and will continue to be). A lot of things this show does are very transparent, e.g. Kudelia or the relationship between Mika and Orga. And these are supposed to hold the show together. The way the show goes is more like Aldnoah (“deep” rasism themes, Hitlers & Martian princesses…) than Gundam. Its about generating attention, not having point. Its empty. When Aldnoah ep1 aired, everyone jumped on the train. 10eps later, train was empty. I dont board trains, it can get messy (for some have crazy train conductors you see, something about Rail-Tracer).
I have many complaints about this show, but I figure nobody is really interested. I’ll just mention few unusual ones:
1) The show seems to be about as immature as its characters (which is funny as this seems to be character driven show). Average characer age seems to be lower than that of Seed/00 (speak nothing of Unicorn…, im implying the serious tone of this show is a thin pretext for bishounen, waifus and the like). But, but Mika brutally killed bunch of guys! Sure, whatever (brutality != maturity).
2) the focus is on characters, not the wars (the entire children exploitaton (orphan) thing is corny and stupid – cheap way to generate interest&hype and was overdue already in ep1)
3) Kudelia has nothing on any of her female colleages (Laccuss Clyne, Marina Ismail, Relena Peacecraft,…)
4) characters in general are bland (not memorable) and either without or with only contrived&forced inner conflicts. I mean could we even start comparing Mika & Kudelia or with combos like Heero & Relena? (Im sorry if I sound like an old butthurt gundam fan…)
5) the fights are too random and confusing. And virtually nonexistent.
6) music. So far, enzo*nope^Okada.
7) villains – at ep6, and we already had how many crazy villains and simpleton idiots getting killed for them? Whats the point? Using stupid characters like this to make a point is stupid.
Every gundam show is unique and has some baggage and we should judge based on accomplishments, not failures. I get it. Its just so far, in my book, this one has accomplished a whole lot of nothing. Gundams take forever to take off (like Seed, jeez…), but my bet is this one never will. Ill be glad to be wrong.
Let the Okadam be with you.
PS: Did I mention Okadam?
*
was overdue-> was old@Okadam:
1. While it’s true that brutality doesn’t equal maturity, in this case it’s more the presentation of the brutality that comes across as mature: they show just enough blood to bring home the brutality of the act, yet they don’t show guts and body parts just for the hell of it, essentially they strike a good balance of what to show and what not. See for example Mika’s shooting of Crank: they didn’t show Crank’s blood and guts spilling all over the place to show Mika is brutal, they focus on Mika’s seemingly impassionate treatment of the action as he doesn’t even give Crank time to finish. While the former may be more effective for shock value, the latter is more effective at showing just how unnatural Mika is as a character, and is a lot more alarming. This is a good way to establish depth in the story, hence why I disagree about the show supposedly being “immature”, when it’s clear the scees are quite well thought out.
2. There is nothing inherently wrong with showing characters in a war instead of the war itself – in fact, some of the better war movies don’t focus too much on the war and instead on the characters affected by the war, which is where most of the tension comes from. So far, Iron-Blooded Orphans doesn’t abuse its premise for cheap sympathy points, but instead strikes another balance of showing just how bad the situation with the children are, while also showing that these children (and the show itself) do not fish for pity.
3. I’m afraid you’ll have to better explain why Kudelia is somehow inferior to other Gundam “princess” type characters before her. She may not be a badass pilot, but I feel as though she’s the most “real” of the archetype seen in Gundam: she’s able to distill the usual Gundam platitudes about peace to something that’s actually relatable and easy to understand – she’s working for the concrete goal of bringing independence to Mars instead of just ‘peace for all mankind’ -, and she’s a character who’s undergone some nice character development in the past 6 episodes, namely in how her view of the world is changing to make her see the plight of the people she wants to help at ground leve.
4. Heero and Relena have nothing to Mika and Kudelia’s interactions, which feel more natural and less schizophrenic – no empty death threats to the girl for one, and meanwhile Mika and Kudelia actually do benefit from each other in a symbiotic manner: as of current episode, Mika is learning the practical stuff from Kudelia, while Kudelia is learning from Mika the real situation of the children she’s helping.
5. How are the fights confusing? The fights in IBO have been one of the easier to follow battles in Gundam, since they don’t rely on ultra-fast blink-and-you-miss it action details (like the 00 Movie).
6. Subjective taste: it doesn’t strike me as well as titles like 00 or Unicorn, but the few bits of music in IBO that do stick out are quite good.
7. The only real valid complaint among the ones listed, though hoping Fareed steps up as the main antagonist.
Ugh, it’s really annoying when people go to extreme lengths to explain their incredibly subjective opinion as though it’s objective. Just say you don’t like it.
Instead you say it’s transparent, immature, cheap, contrived, bland, and confusing. These are all subjective terms that don’t have a ton of meaning apart from the person feeling them.
@SonyaUliana
In terms of #2, there’s also the fact that, when it comes to any actual big war, NO Gundam series ever truly focuses on the entirety of the war, but ONLY the parts that the main characters are directly involved in.
The One Year War, for example, was the only large-scale worldwide conflict in the Universal Century, and compared to the grand scheme of it, the main characters on board the White Base were actually only a very small part of it and didn’t even become that important militarily until after they return to space later in the series, where they are then officially tasked by the Federation leadership with being a distraction to Zeon while the Federation builds up its military forces with more GMs. Up until that point, they were largely doing things on their own outside of times they actually reached some sort of Federation controlled area (Luna II, Belfast, Jaburo, etc.)
Smaller conflicts later on usually had multiple locations where events were taking place, but we still only have the focus on the main characters while those other events may be covered in (unofficial) side stories, video games, etc. while usually only a small portion of the Federation is actually involved rather than its entirety.
Even alternate universe series’ like Gundam Wing only focused on the parts the main characters themselves were actually involved in, but unofficial side stories and such still cover other events that took place simultaneously and, for now (unless something is officially animated that tells a different story), helped influence the way things went.
And in terms of #3, agreed. If anything, Kudelia is actually SUPERIOR to those named “princess” types right now. Lacus, Marina, Relena, and such were largely all about being pretty and making pretty speeches that relied completely on people just stopping what they’re doing and listening to them, but otherwise were never that directly involved with the main events of things and/or the main characters and rarely seem to actually change their viewpoints on things or admit that they may be wrong whereas Kudelia has already admitted to her mistaken views several times already and is working to change and be as helpful as she possibly can, no matter how big or small that role may be.
@KaleRylan
You are wrong, because I like this show. How is this for an indicator: when the ep is over I want more. I dont like it nearly as much as I would have liked though. Regarding my writing, I often (like now) concentrate on the negative points, because it takes being critical to truly enjoy something.
That being said, your intention was anything but providing anything constructive in this comment section. Which identifies you as a troll. Its really annoying when people go to extreme lengths to offend someone as though they are merely speaking about some other people. Just say you want me out of here.
Instead you show everyone my “underhanded tactics”. This is all simply expressing your dislike towards (the image of) me (you have) and it doesnt have more meaning than venting your feelings out in the open.
@SonyaUliana
Its impossible for me to truly grasp and articulate my problem with the show, much less here and now. I havent even anticipated a response, much less like this. I want to articulate the intention of my 1st post: I wanted to show that the 1st commenter isnt alone in not taking everything positively and then proceeded to list some of the personal dislikes (ideally) leading me to the inherent problems of the show. So far my reactions are mildly positive, qualitatively at about 7/10 score – marking the show average (which for gundam show is bad), qualitatively though, im a bit ambivalent about it.
I dont want to write message such as this on a blog ever again, so if you want to follow this conversation, I can send you a MAL account or something.
1. I particularly liked the ending of ep2, where Mika didnt let the guy finish. The prisoner scene was really good as well. “effective at showing just how unnatural Mika is” – I agree. Although you largely ignored my point. The show is immature in a sence of how the dialogues are constructed and what themes it tackles, I emphasize, in comparison to other gundam shows. Short version – not deep.
2. “Orphans doesn’t abuse its premise for cheap sympathy points” It does (silently). “showing just how bad the situation with the children are” Exactly. Why do they have to be children? They dont, yet are. Its classic trick. And indeed its not inherently bad. But the cast and the show is crafted for younger audience.
3. I agree that character does not have to be badass or inherently have any skills to actually be extraordinary. To be accurate, here it is more of a story problem. After the riddiculous attempt to kill Kudelia, with her in the military orphan camp, the story entered a transitory stage where it didnt know what to do with the character. She decided to undergo dangerous operation ON A WHIM (“she felt useless”) and then just as easily scratched that to continue her mission for Martian independence. She shat all over her noble mission, because
she got lost herself in Mika’s mesmerizing eyesinferiority complex. How is that better than… How is that good?“she wants to help at ground level” She has to decide whether she wants to make breakfast or save the galaxy. Currently halfasses both. Btw, once again, story doesnt know what to do with her (ep5-6), she just goes around the ship in circles. Why doesnt she I dont know, review her speech? Why is she teaching people read? Its back to sympathy points. Smart show would show her reviewing that speech instead of teaching the children read and be tormented about it. Immature.
4. “Heero and Relena … less schizophrenic” – true. But it was because character interaction realism got a back seat, the point was for the characters to vocalize their war attitudes as vessels and its fine that way. Orphans is exact opposite, it tries to be realistic about this, and its pure uncanny valley for me. Plus, I miss, you know, random philosophical babbling. And I liked schisophrenic Wing.
On the other hand, you have good point with Mika & Kudelia symbiosis. But honestly, do you believe something will come out of it?
5) I noticed first in ep1 and then ep5. Something about camera angles making me lose sence of direction. I simply dont see the whole situation. Enemy X charges at MC and I have no idea where he came from, why he is alone in that direction when he was together with Y while ago. Etc. I want to pause and zoom out. But it never does. Frustrating.
6) Subjective indeed. Personally old Gundams (<2000) have classy music, so you cant go wrong there and newer ones (<2010) – well its Kenji Kawai and Sahashi Toshihiko and Sawano Hiroyuki. Even Build Fighers had great music. Yokoyama Masaru composes Orphans, he composed incredible OST for Freezing, buut im not feeling it here. I didnt even notice it was him, as a fan, thats bad!
Wow dude. Disagreeing with someone doesn’t make you a troll, you should really think on that a bit. Quite the overreaction. Secondly, I stand by my statement and it has nothing to do with whether you ‘like’ the show or not. You list all the things you didn’t like about the show but none of them can really be responded to because they’re incredibly subjective.
You say it’s bland. The only response a person can make to a qualifier like that is ‘no it isn’t.’ To which you then respond ‘yes it is.’ That’s not a debate, it’s a slap fight. And while you and the other poster are doing your best to write essays about this, in the end you’re not saying anything concrete because the complaints aren’t concrete.
For example, your complaint about Kudelia needing to ‘review her speech.’ It seems like this show is making travel between Earth and Mars take a LONG time (as it currently does, who knows what tech they’re using). With that in mind, let’s say she takes a few hours to review her speech right now. Then what? What does she do for the next however many days/months/episodes she’s on the ship? But I’m not trying to convince you with this. I’m pointing out that I can say whatever I want to your point because there’s nothing objective about it, it’s just your emotional opinion and it’s as valid or invalid as anyone else’s emotional opinion.
@KaleRylan
I agree, anyone who calls someone else a “troll” for giving an opinion on any subject has already lost any credibility they think they may have. It’s just a really poor attempt to shutdown someones opinion, he should just give a counter argument and leave it at that. If everyone agreed about everything, life would be boring.
“then I proceeded to list some of the personal dislikes (ideally) leading me to the inherent problems of the show.”
This means that everything I said is mere formulation of my subjective experiences. Some people here either can’t read or comprehend or my writing skills are much poorer than I thought.
@KaleRylan
Your idea of a conversation seems to involve personal attacks and demeaning sarcastic remarks. I find your idea of it immature. You don’t have to insult me to elicit response from me. Btw, you already did it 4 times. I wonder who out of the two of us is more difficult to respond to.
I didnt call you a troll for disagreeing with me, I specifically expressed that, yet you accuse me of it. To reiterate, I called you such (still do) because your response was not related to this show, you merely talked about ME or rather “THEM”, which is irrelevant in this discussion (it is off topic).
“You list all the things you didn’t like about the show but none of them can really be responded to because they’re incredibly subjective.”
True and intentional.
“…none of them can really be responded to”
Indeed. But everything in this world is subjective, because our perception of this world is always subjective. I think blaming me for being subjective is not constructive at all as trying to explain and describe our subjective experiences is NOT meaningless.
To reiterate: I merely stated some of the problems I have with this show, in order to shed light on my own understanding of it, and hopefully help other people too. Anyone is free to agree or disagree or respond however they want. You, however responded on that with a personal attack which had no basis or meaning whatsoever.
As an example: I mentioned my problem with fights (especially ~camera work), because nobody else mentioned that. Whats wrong with indirectly asking whether people noticed/felt the same thing?
“That’s not a debate, it’s a slap fight.”
According to you every message here that is not debatable or easy to respond is meaningless. I disagree. See my point on subjectivity.
“complaints aren’t concrete”
Our essays (mine at least) are not meant to be concrete. Its just 6th ep! I already admitted being unable to articulate my opinions concretely at this point. Im sincerely stating my subjectivity, hoping it will allow me to do exactly what you ask (in the future).
“it’s just your emotional opinion and it’s as valid or invalid as anyone else’s emotional opinion.”
And you are right and I have no problem with that. I dont understand why you do.
“For example, your complaint about Kudelia needing to ‘review her speech.’”
My point was that making her abandon her humanity (speech>>children) in order to save it is an interesting and mature inner conflict. More than what we have seen in this episode. Its not about travel speed or being realistic. Its about which themes and points the show embraces and tells. To be honest, I’m dissatisfied with those found in this show so far, maybe you aren’t and as you say both our angles are valid. And we can still both express ourselves here.
Because world with only 1 opinion would be boring. People here probably want to read about Gundam though, how about you give us/me your subjective opinion? I guarantee you it will be worth something.
@Lyfe
“…anyone who calls someone else a “troll” for giving an opinion…”
I called him troll for NOT giving an opinion (about subject at hand). I also wasnt shutting down his, I admitted it. Meaning you are wrong to apply your statement on me.
“he should just give a counter argument and leave it at that.”
There was no counterargument to make. Since, again, I was agreeing with him.
You are yet another person who is not contributing anything here. Could a thump up not do the job? And the way you are not facing me directly is underhanded.
PS: If anyone wonders, Kudelia is my favourite character in this show. I like her.
https://randomc.net/image/Gundam%20Tekketsu%20no%20Orphans/Gundam%20Tekketsu%20no%20Orphans%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2018.jpg
Wasn’t that adressed in this episode? That scene where she starts talking about her cause… only to discover that neither Mika nor Atra had heard anything about the glorious cause of Martian independence.
The scene felt more about her learning to see beyond her bubble than about ignorant masses needing to be enlightened by the intelligentsia. Even Mika in the end asked with scepticism if her cause would make them live better (no independentist is going to admit that independence might make people live worse than before, after all).
Mika wasn’t being skeptical or scornful.
He smiled while walking out of the elevator.
——————-
I really wonder just why until Ep6 do people still actively trying to prove Kudelia is worthless and disdainful.
‘ She’s a sheltered princess with ideals and doesn’t understand how the world works.’
<- Initially. She realized that in the 1st ep and has been doing field observation for 6 episodes.
'She’s fighting for the independence of Mars without knowing how the economics between Mars and other economical giants interact, as if “freedom” will solve everything. '
<- Sorry? She explained how the economics between Mars and other economical giants interact to Mika and Atra.
How will she argue for independence in the first place without leverage? “Mars should be free because… human rights!”?
<- Shown in ep 4, she knew beforehand (in a distance, maybe only from media and books) and has mentioned poverty, child labor and child prostitution in her speech. And this diminishing statement can easily be applied to all those first-world country doctors volunteering in Africa helping to build a healthcare infrastructure to save children. What do all you US doctor know about life in African war zones? Go home!
There's countless replies in this and previous posts that talk about and acknowledge her progress since the 1st ep.
It's ones freedom to hate a character for no reason. But replies like that aren't going to make it sound more subjective or meaningful.
Up until now Kudelia-haters can be summarized as:
She's a girl. She is rich. She isn't badass enough to pilot a Gundam and making double tabs without a wink, and we've seen princess, so she's boring as hell.
If Mars became independence, how you think want to monopolize the Trade market? Teiwaz has surly their hands in this
Great episode. I quite like how this show focuses more on the relatable issues than the politics that few people care about. It was really touching to see Kudelia teach the children to read and write.https://randomc.net/image/Gundam%20Tekketsu%20no%20Orphans/Gundam%20Tekketsu%20no%20Orphans%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2023.jpg
The co-dependence between Mika and Orga continues to be intriguing, but I hope it doesn’t spell out disaster, because it seems quite dangerous.
https://randomc.net/image/Gundam%20Tekketsu%20no%20Orphans/Gundam%20Tekketsu%20no%20Orphans%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2028.jpg
Is there anything NOT inherently dangerous once Mika is involved?
Orga keeps throwing up death flags left and right.
https://randomc.net/image/Gundam%20Tekketsu%20no%20Orphans/Gundam%20Tekketsu%20no%20Orphans%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2029.jpg
There are also quite a few parallels between him and Kamina from TTGL. Both are capable leaders, but acknowledge that the one they look after the most has the potential to rise to the top. Both are trying to keep a cool and bold front to inspire them, despite having their own uncertainties deep down.
https://randomc.net/image/Gundam%20Tekketsu%20no%20Orphans/Gundam%20Tekketsu%20no%20Orphans%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2033.jpg
At this rate, I predict that Orga will go out in a blaze of glory.
Also, I give you this fanart.
I also predict, that someday Orga bite more as he can chew. Thinking he must play the Big Brother and even more risk for the entire Company. On Mars, he was the Chief of the Fighting Squad. Now he is responsible for the entire Company with their Crew and the young Ones. I do not hope his Shoulders will break under this heavy lift now
And if it does, i hope someone stay on his side and helps him to recover and put him back to upright and proud
I have a request, is it possible not to mention fucking Okada in half your post next time? I’m really sick and tired of reading “Okada this” “Okada that”.
RandomC (enzo) coverage: MGS:IBO
Okada: 6(x) already(?)
Also found it amusing that every post by enzo always connect to Okada and Nagai. Is it really necessary? Just only asking, I’m no writer just a watcher.
I’ve been following RandomC since the time Omni was in charge. So it’s been a while by now and i’ve really enjoyed the content, articles, reviews etc. and not even once had i the desire to write a comment, it’s just not my thing, that is until now. I can’t stand it anymore. Enzo, I have the same request as Ppearl. Can you please stop writing about Okada, it was ok the first 2 times, but she keeps popping up every single episode and it’s really annoying and at least for some of us is really ruining what would otherwise be a nice coverage of an interesting show
Yo dwag. I heard you like
GundamOkada, so we put Okada in yourGundamOkada so you can read Okada while you readGundamOkada.I feel bad about laughing at this, since I don’t mind Enzo’s newer reviews as much as I did the earlier ones. At least he’s actually devoting a sizable chunk of his articles to show itself now (and at this point, an equally huge chunk to Okada/Nagai, too, but I doubt we’ll ever completely escape that), and not treating the story like some inconsequential thing that should be eclipsed by the reputation of the writer/director.
Maybe, as the story unfolds and his opinion of the show continues (hopefully) to improve, he’ll talk less about Okada and Nagai. If something earns his disapproval, though… oh boy… he’s like that strict Lit teacher you don’t want to annoy.
W-wait, is Okada involved with this anime? Why did nobody tell me?
@N
Yeah. This is weird situation we are in. At one hand I dont think bloggers should change the way they write and what they write about to serve their readers (just like readers are free to read blogs they want, bloggers are free to blog about what and how they want), but on the other hand reader’s feedback is partly also a contructive criticism. Im not saying either party is being wrong here, author of this blog piece or readers reacting on what they dont like, and as usual the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. The writers should be more open to criticism (and openly face it) and readers should try to see writer’s perspective before posting (although harmless jokes are harmless).
Lets cut to the chase: The problem I (and probably many others) have with reading about Okada in these Gundam posts (and believe me, this exact problem has spread like a virus to various other blogs) is that this Okada person, who none of us knows about or her exact involvement and influence on this show has become writer’s mouthpiece. Anything that happens in the show is immediatelly somehow traced back to Okada through random conjectures that may or may not be true.
If there is an interview with this person or some other source of confirmed information about decisions this person made and how it influenced making this show, okey. If writer wants to compare shows involving Okada, okey, take those shows apart, look at the entire staff and try to dissect which parts Okada was responsible for and try to apply that into Gundam Orphans. This may very well get a separate blogpiece. And in fact author tried to do exactly this, but… Let’s see:
” the work these two have done together as a collective body of work.” Anime isnt produced by two people! Stop putting all of the characteristics of the show on single person!
“Toradora, AnoHana, Orphans – the stylistic and tonal range is astounding” And maybe its because it was produced by different studio and different staff, which WOULD stronly indicate that juxtaposing these shows makes no or little sense.
“wildly disparate work Okada has done” Do you perhaps know the circumstances that led to her works being disparate? What actual relevance does it have to Orphans? Doesnt it again make it even more difficult to trace Orphans to anything in her other works?
Author tries to desperately show that Okada’s distinctive works in the past can be understood as Okada’s style, which he then “applies” to Orphans and concludes that its unlike her “normal” works because its more restrained. And MAYBE its just because Sunrise keeps her in check, since this is their age old milking cow. Or maybe million other things. It comes down to: “Latest Orphans episode still doesnt have melodrama, figers crossed”. We all got the point. Does it warrant so much attention? Isnt it just making empty buzz to keep the convos going?
What they want to say, they think you should turn down your “Okada” fanboy flame, to an normal reason
Agreed. Can we please try to forget about Okada until something happens that warrants mentioning her (like her infamous melodrama)? So far there hasn’t been a reason to drop her name constantly, other than “this series isn’t like Okada at all.”
Do people want her to fail that badly?
When Enzo isn’t busy hiccuping on some cumming of age, he’s probably talking smack about Okada Mari.
Guys, Enzo has big back problems…give him a break! Perhaps he just needs to go on an extremely long hiatus.
Is this deliberate? Is he actively trying to troll us? Or maybe it’s a sign of obsession which borders on an autism-related disorder? I’m equally sick of the OKADA-OKADA-OKADA-OKADA-OKADA-OKADA-OKADA-OKADA-OKADA-OKADA-OKADA-OKADA-OKADA-OKADA train of writing. First of all, attributing all aspects of a show to the series compositor is just a ridiculous idea, since it disregards the effort put in by episode writers, the director, various staff (as Hajime Yatate) and (last but not least) PRODUCERS.
Secondly, this is Gundam. A franchise meant to sell toy merchandise. It’s not an experimental late-night anime that airs on noitaminA meaning you only have as much creative freedom as ‘the ones you serve’ give you. Remember how people often say that Gundam 00 S2 sucks? How it feels different from S1? It’s the same staff who were on board, so what happened? It’s actually the ‘big guys who give the money’ who decided that certain things needed to be added to broaden the appeal etc. (sorry, can’t find the source). Mizushima was kind of upset to learn long after the series planning was done that the second season would be cut from 50 to 25 episodes.
I don’t want to sound negative but I do agree with the overall consensus here. I pay close attention to staff members of series and end credits listing staff of individual episodes as well as read up info on the staff when considering shows I want to watch. However, there is too much push and mention of Okada Mari regardless of whether she wrote things that reflected positively/negatively on her.
It really feels like she’s being mentioned in the meantime every episode post for the sake of the moment where she screws up somewhere so fingers can quickly be pointed at her and we’ll have to face a tirade about how it was expected for her to mess things up. Even if matters turn out well overall, I feel like that will be simply dismissed with “Well, it looks like she didn’t screw things up THIS time.”
By no means do I imply that no mention of staff members should happen whatsoever. However, I feel that balance and necessity are key factors that I personally don’t see much of in these posts (and yes, I acknowledge that a writer can write what they want and the reader can choose what to read). If there is going to be a heavy emphasis on discussing staff members each post (especially story), how about at least acknowledging that while Okada is the overall series composition writer, she’s not even the one writing every episode script? So far, she has personally written the first 3 while different writers have each written the last 3 episodes recently broadcasted.
A complaint was made in Japan re. Iron Blooded Orphans’ violence, specifically the part where the CGS prisoners were killed.
https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2015-11-09/scene-in-gundam-iron-blooded-orphans-causes-viewer-complaints/.95182
Most likely someone’s child mistook IBO as being similar to Gundam Build Fighters, and because IBO airs in primetime hour on a main broadcast channel (5pm to be exact.)
Mika should have tended the injured pilot instead executing. I was right all alone.
And here I thought it was a good scene. The executions weren’t dramatic, emotional, heroic or justified. They were cold and ruthless, but that’s their world. Not the pretty world of national armies, official planetary defense agencies or well-funded mercenary companies operating in first-world equivalent countries that we see in other mecha series.
Oh, well, it seems the complaint was more about the time it was aired and the lack of warning than about the content itself. “If you want to to broadcast such material, please provide some sort of age limit for viewers.”
This statement made me laugh:
“If you look at the title, one would immediately think of this as a children’s show and that many children would be watching.”
@WarriorsHeart
Has trolling gone too far? 8D
Eh? They’re not my words. You can find it in the link from zztop.
I’m just concerned that this complaint won’t ruin the story overall. I don’t want a good series ruined because some idiot adults are letting the television be the parents.
Don’t they have TV content ratings* in Japan for their shows? (Where I’m from, it’s “G”- General Audience, “PG” – Parental Guidance, and “SPG” – Strong Parental Guidance. Pretty sure Iron-Blooded Orphans would fall under the last rating if it were broadcast over here. Over in the West, Iron-Blooded Orphans is rated “TV-MA.”)
* – OK, I read through that article and… Japan actually has no TV content ratings? (Either that, or Japan actually has one, but the Wikipedia contributors forgot to include it.) In any case, that explains it…
Since when has Sunrise bent backwards to do anything about this kind of complaints?
Which Gundam first started giving their characters weird names, BTW? I notice this is a tradition in the franchise.
The very first one. Char Aznable, Bright Noa, Kycilia Zabi…
Was this the writers’ attempts at creating cool-sounding names?
Also, Revive Revival and Full Frontal.
Don’t forget Quattro Bajeena and Zechs Merquise
Bring Stabbity is my personal favourite. Although G-Reco’s Zucchini Nicchini is also not a name I can take seriously in any way.
Paptimus Scirocco, Elpeo Ple, Kacricon Cacooler…Zeta names are the weirdest.
Well, at least Zechs still sounds…sexy. (Yeah, I just went there… But seriously speaking, that’s one of the handful of reasons why he’s still my favorite Char clone.)
Now compare that to Zeta‘s Jamaican Daninghan or Jamitov Hymem (the surname unfortunately sounding a lot like…*ahem*…a lady part, just like Char’s paper-thin disguise). Or G-Reco‘s Klim Nick (which sounds like an old milk brand).
Biscuit, Cookie and Cracker are actually pretty funny names even without whatever sexual innuendos the audience or creators can cook up (as well as pretty likeable characters in their own right, too).
damn it Enzo shut your trap about Okada. Can’t we have another person reviewing this!?!
rude comments are auto-ignored
Please write it more polite
Kudelia offering to teach the kids to read and write was a pretty beautiful scene. It harks back to previous episodes on how Kudelia laments on what her value is and to think she was considering giving herself up to the enemy. And here she is now teaching the kids and Mika something they will find very useful in their lives. From the looks of it, Kudelia is becoming a big source of moral support for the kids.
Teiwaz..Barbatos will be be getting its shoulder armor and sword soon (by ep 13?) then onward to the Earth story arc. Maybe another clash with the Gallahorn guys to mark the first battle of the 4th form and to end this arc?
I thought Fumitan would miraculously setup some connection with Teiwaz.
Finally
Warning!, this is pure Fan Fiction. No real Spoilers
I began to think about backgrounds of my Favorite Animes, and want now to write down here my idea for Gundam
to spice the Story line up, i had the follow idea:
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At this point, I’m rather amazed at how consistent and steadfast Enzo is in starting off his first 2 to 3 paragraphs of his IBO blogs with Okada and how can she possibly screw the series despite how many times he’s been called upon to drop that Okada thing.
I’m now anticipating for enzo’s next post on this series for his Okadaism. Now I’m excited.
It’s such a thing, seeing kids being so overjoyed in wanting to learn something as simple as reading and writing, which is something we most likely take for granted every single day. As mentioned, Kudelia realizes more and more just how different things are than what she first thought them to be, and that it will take more than simply pretty speeches to be able to bring about real change for something as big as (economic) independence for a whole planet. Sometimes even the littlest of things can end up resulting in huge changes down the line, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Mika and the others learning to read and write actually plays a small, but important role somewhere later in the series.
“Orga will find a way”
I just knew he’d say that! >D
As far as duos are concerned, I appreciate that in this show it’s the tall and muscular guy who is the brain and the shortie who does the dirty job.
Hmm, so that ambiguously brown casanova we see in the opening is part of (or possibly the leader of) Teiwaz?
Also, that scene with Kudelia teaching the kids of Tekkadan how to read and write is another nice addition to her character development from “sheltered princess ignorant of how the world works,” to someone who is now genuinely trying to do something meaningful–even in the smallest possible ways. Sure, the noble ideals that Kudelia fights for can easily get shot down by a corrupt political system instituted by the world’s powers or sheer indifference from Earth’s citizens (things that I’m sure she will encounter in future episodes). But I still can’t help but want to root for her to succeed.
And finally, I’m glad that even with these breather episodes of Iron-Blooded Orphans, I’m still entertained–and more importantly, get me to actually care about the characters. Had Iron-Blooded Orphans subscribed to the “Jun Maeda School of Rushing The Story,” I would definitely be lamenting on how mediocre this season is–or just skip it altogether.
It’s interesting how the orphans resemble the pre-nationalistic peasantry with their lack of literacy or political awareness. I can’t recall any show tackling the issues of emerging national and political consciousness before, and am interested in seeing where Gundam goes with this. However, I suspect it will try to push some messages I don’t really agree with… yes colonialism is wrong, but economic autarky has never really worked out well for anyone in real life either.
or…
It is just an Anime
Well, you can of course see an conspiration in this Episode or the entire Series, that Gundams want to take over the World. Yes, even the Mars!!!
Just kidding
So you don’t agree with econic freedom and freemarket? You support state infringing on our individual freedom ?
We should only judge the anime after it has completed its airing. It is still too early to judge at this stage. Personally, I think this has been the better Gundam series I have seen since 00. I would like to think it will live up to its potential.
Ep 07:
Still watching, but want to write some things. Stilts “inspired” me
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