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「最後の嘘」 (Saigo no Uso)
“Last Lie”
That was every bit as bleak as I expected it to be.
We seem to be headed towards a downbeat finish in Tekketsu no Orphans, with Biscuit’s death having sent the series down a dark path indeed. Truthfully this was probably going to happen all along, because it’s clear that Orga was in way over his head, and he basically had two types of so-called allies – those who cared about Tekkadan’s interests but were basically incompetent (Kudelia) and those who were competent but basically intent on using Tekkadan for their own gains (everybody else).
I’m not buying this miracle transformation of the preposterous Carta Issue into a sympathetic character, but she dd serve as a useful vehicle to show just how fucked up Mika is (I was going to say “has become”, but I honestly don’t think Biscuit’s death changed him that much) and how far astray the rest of Tekkadan has veered. The Iron-blooded orphans really are a band of lost boys now, in more ways than one.
One interesting takeaway from the flashback sequence – even if it failed to generate much sympathy for Carta – was that there is a measure of personal loyalty in McGillis Fareed. Yes he’s using his childhood friends to serve his larger goals, but he does feel some sense of connection to them, even gratitude. Clearly McGillis played the outsider role as a child, someone looked down upon by the other highborn children. And that drove him to become the insurgent he is now, and those two were his lone allies in those days. Still, this seems more along the lines of guilt feelings than any real hesitation – Freed’s eyes are still very much on the prize, whatever the cost.
With the Tekkadan it’s really become all about revenge (the same thing that’s driving Ein and Carta, of course), which effectively makes them no better than anyone else in this story. And in pushing forward into a situation where he’s going to use the younger children in combat, Orga is validating every argument Biscuit made against his plans – an irony that’s most certainly not unintentional. Again, all this was probably inevitable but it’s still rather sad to see things descend so deep so quickly.
Carta’s issue of a challenge to Tekkadan comes off as pretty silly, but it’s still a striking moment when Mika responds by ambushing her royal guard and massacring them in cold blood. The challenge might be silly and Carta has no right to expect a temporary truce, and this is war (and not one that Tekkadan started) but still, I do sort of agree with Meribitt that what Mika does here just feels wrong. And that just because boys too young to understand the decision they’re making say they want to fight and die that mans you should let them do it. Ultimately, the responsibility for their deaths – and all the tragedies about to befall Tekkadan – rests on Orga’s shoulders. He may be too young himself to have taken this role, but take it he dd – and he has to live with the fruits of his actions. It’s not going to be pretty, that’s pretty much a lock.
Preview
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2 more episodes left for 1st season , expect lots of kids dying
I’ve always wondered why, in so many Gundam series, when the pilot gets out of the suit, why no one takes that opportunity to attack.
This episode just further reiterates what I said about Mika last week. Mika is not a hero. He is only on the side of “good” by reason of coincidence. He also clearly isn’t completely sane, which I kinda like.
There are still parts of this series that annoy me, but, all in all, I’m excited each week to see what they’ll do with our clearly mentally unstable protagonists. If done right, this could lead to some interesting drama.
My only problem with this anime is that there are no surprises. Watching IBO feels like rewatching an anime I’ve already seen and knowing exactly what’s going to happen in every episode. I’m not saying it isn’t enjoyable, I’m just saying that it would be 10 times more enjoyable if everything wasn’t so predictable.
Just once before the season ends, I’d like to be surprised.
Please tell me these other anime series with the same emphasis and premise on actual child soldiers doing their own PMC business and taking on difficult (nigh impossible) missions with all the plotting, backstabbing and political maneuvers of the adults that hanging over them. Coz if there are other shows like IBO, I’d like to watch them after IBO ends to fill the spot IBO will left.
Oops, didn’t mean to post my comment as a reply to yours hjerry. Just an accident.
I think it’s an honor code thing, because when a pilot is out of their mobile suit. They’re pretty much unarmed and maybe it’s a cheap motive to just strike when they’re out of it. If I’m making any sense. I haven’t watched this series yet, I like reading the reviews and eventually I will get around to watching this series. Just wanted to throw my two cents in. xD.
What an awesome episode!!! I had conflicting feelings about Mika’s actions and I have never felt so much sympathy for an enemy. It was a smart move to seize the most opportune moment to destroy your enemies, which not a lot of characters are intelligent enough to do so. The show seems to be heading for a tragic ending but I’m very excited.
Well it doesn’t help that the current Gjallarhorn uses underhanded tactics themselves when it suits them.
Lt. Crank at least had enough honor to apologize that he can’t offer anything substantial to their victor when he challenged Mika to a Duel back on Mars
Cold blooded orphans
^give this man a cookie
or Biscuit
i thought it was gonna an epic final battle between them but that was a massacre
I think I’ll need to disagree about Carta being oh-so-evil. She hasn’t really done anything outrageous. She killed Biscuit, yes, but Biscuit was driving a mobile worker, making him a legitimate target. That’s why Mika’s disproportionate payback feels out of place, despite the fact he’s been doing this since ep1. I mean, he almost bisected Crank in ep3, and Crank was so far the least shady Gjallarhorn officer.
Carta, if anything, was merely out of place. She was a comic relief, probably put into the show because everything was getting so serious that it was stifling the atmosphere. This also means she had to be stuffed into a fridge before the Real Serious Drama (TM) began. Still, I think I’m gonna’ miss her and her antics. Especially when she was merely silly, contrasting to most of the cast who are outright malicious.
Oh well, let’s have the two insane blood knights duke it out! I have high hopes for Ein; his descent into blind vengeance is a great parallel for Tekkadan’s own fall into madness. Eye for an eye may leave us all blind, but it shall be a darn glorious sight to behold.
Haven’t enjoyed a Gundam serie this much in a long while.
Dunno about that, ordering her company to attack them on Earth (invading another country to do so) purely because of a petty grudge… that’s pretty outrageous.
I agree with the attacking biscuit thing though, imo that was Orga’s fault for driving an essentially unarmed vehicle around a combat zone for no real reason, that seemed pretty stupid to me, especially since their side was outnumbered and didn’t have control of the battlefield at the time.
Somehow I wish Carta could come back with a 360 degree change, maybe a edgy dirty fighter.
Something like Mashymre Cello in ZZ.
Maybe in season 2? If there is.
It’s anime. Unless you see her die, anything is possible. Don’t be surprised to see here come back as another living computer later on.
I actually LOLed when I heard Carta’s duel prize conditions if they managed to defeat her “You May pass”? I was thinking no sane commander would would agree to such ridiculous terms esp. if they have the advantage in numbers and is pressed for time (Elections), Mika blindsiding her was just satisfying as her terms are borderline insulting to Tekkadan.
So Next week we see Ein as Psycho
ZakuGrazeIf this was bleak, I’d love to see exciting. This was an awesome episode. Mikazuki beating the living shit out of his enemies, showing absolutely no mercy whatsoever. Most protagonists would give a merciful death, but Mikazuki just destroyed them.
Also, how is it that Kudelia still counts as incompetent? She managed to stop Gjallahorn with her words several episodes ago. She chose a route to allow them safer travel, despite this being her first time on Earth. In addition, she also managed to get someone to help with the old man’s election.
It usually takes a lot to have me watch an anime after a few episodes, even if the story is considered good. However, Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans has managed to keep me on my seat since the first episode. I’ve said this many times, but it is worth mentioning again. This is a major improvement to Gundam 00. Not to mention one of the better anime I have seen in a long time. I know there are many good ones, but very few manage to captivate me.
I don’t get the condemnation of Orga for the things he’s done or Mika attacking Carta mid-sentance. This show is not a story of Good vs. Evil. Never has been.
All that Orga went through, the things he’s done, the decisions he’s made, he did it all so his family, Tekkadan, and his client, Kudelia could survive. He’s basicaly acted as a human would and a professional.
From the moment the first Gjallarhorn commander decided to martyr Kudelia, Tekkadan has been forced into an ever escalating battle for survival.
But the real villain isn’t Gjallarhorn, it’s corruption and ignorance. And they don’t discriminate.
Probably the reason they gave us flashbacks of Carta’s childhood is to show that she, deep down, is just another human being trying to do right by her family. But unfortunately for her, she has been too sheltered from the real world and it’s shows by her misplaced focus on her subordinate group chanting and that misplaced duel declaration.
By contrast, Tekkadan members is incredibly pragmatic. They had to be, to live that long. From birth, they’ve been told their lives mean nothing and forced to live in poverty and harsh conditions. Condemning them for using child soliders and for cheering for the destruction of the people that killed Biscuit?
This harsh reality is all they’ve known, and judging them by your own standards, Enzo is about as self-rightous as Merribit trying to get them to look away.
All they wanted was to live and Gjallarhorn just keeps backing them into a corner. I don’t blame them for anything they’ve done. Tekkadan and Kudelia have done the best with what they had.
On a final note, I notice that Ein is very similar to Seryu Ubiquitous from Akame ga Kill. They both are sincere and earnest, they both have a unwavering dedication to justice, and they both mechanized themselves to further their cause.
Of course, they are both sanctimonious pricks.
Better than the review.
And well said on the ‘true villain.’ I think that’s an important point people keep missing. The fact that Mika is not a ‘hero’ keeps leading people to readjust the roles of the characters in an attempt to understand the morality play at work, but the whole point of the show is that it’s not really a morality play; at least not in that way.
The villain is the system, which arguably makes Fareed the ‘hero’ since he is trying to change the system for the better. Everyone else is basically just trying to survive, which is a pretty much amoral pursuit. But the fact that the hero here is not the protagonist and is basically just as corrupt as everyone else is key to the whole series.
Well I guess you could say Carta will no longer be an Issue for Tekkadan ahahaha……I’ll let myself out.
Joking aside, DAMN that was brutal. I mean its still in line with the kind of person Mika is, but that still caught me a bit off guard. I wasn’t expecting Tekkadan to play fair, but I was expecting them to use their advantage in numbers.
As cool as the fight was there certainly is a sense of “wrongness” to it. Anger and revenge may be good motivators, but they can easily bite you in the ass and I think Mika’s decision to rush Carta underlines this potential issue. Mika’s action seemed to be more of an emotional response rather cold calculation and in doing so he failed capitalize on Tekkadan’s number advantage. While his actions did give him the element of surprise he’s lucky that Carta and their subordinates were dumb enough to get out of their cockpits in the first place especially at a a relatively close distance. Luck has be a factor in a lot of Tekkadan’s fights and as we approach the season finale their luck may be about to run out. Had it not been for Biscuit’s death Mika would have probably waited to hear from Orga before making a move.
Unless I missed something, I have wonder what McGillis stands to gain from Carta’s death. While McGillis’ father is Carta’s guardian there doesn’t seem to be an emotional bond between the two so this isn’t like when Char betrayed Garma to get back at Degwin Zabi. I’m guessing the reason is political though exactly what eludes me.
We finally get a glimpse at mecha Ein. At first I thought that they just connected Ein’s brain to it, but the console seems to indicate that his head and torso are still intact…which seems even more disturbing. Reminds me a bit of Dingo from Zone of the Enders 2, but at least he got to keep most of his body parts, minus the heart and lungs.
Ok, with your last paragraph I went back to look at 9:59 again.
Now I better understand the reaction of Gaelio.
Reminds me of RoboCop.
Feels like he is even more connected via the A.V System compared to Mikazuki etc.
But I don’t think that Graze is a Gundam or Valkyrie.
Will it balance out?
Ein is the Human AI of he Mecha. The Big One will move like an Human. It became the extended Body for Ein, the Mecha legs are his Legs and so on. thats the secret of this Spine System, the Mechas of them fuse as one Body in mind
Perhaps McGilles parents gained their Status through being Carla’s guardians. And perhaps he feeled not loved from his parents because of Carla. He done this to hurt his Parents, take away their “plaything/doll”
But what i am talking, i can not look into the minds of the Writers. with the dead of Biscuit they got me good. But Tekaddan has lost the control over their own “Ship of Life”, someone other is on the Bridge steering them into doom
Did the old Men did not said, he is a Men without Power last time? But somehow he got Tekaddan working for him? He play a big Bluff/Fake card, and seems like he won. Thats why i am sad, the Story progressing use this Powerless Men to lead them the Dark and Bloody path, perhaps of no return
I though McGilis’ father Iznario is already in power as one of the head of the Seven Stars.
He became the guardian of Carta and married McGilis into the Bauduin family to gain influence in the other 2 Seven Stars families.
Then he is also going into controlling Arbrau.
Its like he wants the world.
McGilis with his pretty words united with childhood pals to his cause.
Orga reignited Tekkadan with revenge, focused fighting forward to greatness 😛
I really want to know what behind McGilis’ fixation on reforming Gjallarhorn.
Can we trust his words that he treasures his childhood friends?
Consoling himself? Making himself less guilty?
I kind of don’t want to trust this guy with his pretty talk.
But compared to Orga, McGilis is alone doing his plans.
Only he himself devise the plans, well at least we aren’t shown that he had anyone to discuss it with. Everyone else seems to be a pawn to him. Does he have some real emotion inside his cool facade?
Mikazuki has a cool facade too but he really lets his emotions come out.
The beast came lashing and chewed Carta up good.
Carta, I wonder will the series of unfair fights change her?
Will she learn to fight dirty? Hope she is not dead.
Otherwise Gaelio will be so sad. He really feels it when people around him gets hurt.
Ein and that Super Graze, kind of makes me think of Psycho Gundam.
Or should Carta take that role later on if she survives?
Wonder how does Ein look like now.
McGillis real enemy are his Parents. “Daddy please notice me!”. Perhaps they put him in a private School away from home, took away his childhood. Because of some things i do not know. But my Guts are yelling at me this Story
MCGillies had perhaps nearly the same experience as Kudelia, outsold from their own Parents for reasons. That is perhaps a drive for helping her out, too
McGilis is Iznario’s illegitimate son according to Wikia:
http://gundam.wikia.com/wiki/McGillis_Fareed
I can only guess he could have suffered hardship before Iznario procure him for his masterplan.
Ya, I suppose theres that similarity with Kudelia.
McGillis doesn;t consider Iznario to be his true father, and is working from the inside to overthrow him. If I had to guess, I’d say that he’s probably been wronged by him in some way not yet revealed, and has been slowly crafting his grand revenge plot. He’s most likely not doing this for good either. I stand by my early prediction that he’s just using “everyone” including Tekkadan, and will be this show’s final big bad.
perhaps McGilis parents push him aside for not become his Successor of the five Stars postion, and he is plotting against it to “fix it” his way, bomb or kill the other Stars out of order, so he can be the one an only Mr.”Top Star!”
with the forced Marriage they put him on the sidelines..
forgot to add this
I wouldn’t be surprised if it just ended up being something simple, like he blames Iznario for his mother’s death, or something like that. I would hope not, since that’s so obvious. I’d rather they be more original.
Is Orga still the same as we know? Do he care for the Children in the Preview? or are inside his Mind they Pawns for his Vengeance? When Orga lose his Heart, then the friends transform into Tools for War…
Orga is walking the Dark Side, with full Power. And there is no one that hold him back.
I suppose he is on the fence but I don’t think he will lose his heart as he is not alone.
We see McGilis claiming that Gaelio and Carta are his best friends (feels like he is self-psyching himself, to me) then in the next scene we see Orga confide in Mikazuki.
With that support I think Orga can stay sane to an extent.
Orga and Mikazuki, they kind of support each other.
Orga is thinking and when in doubt he talk it out.
Just so many feels in this episode. Really does make the kids of Tekkadan out to be the nascent villains of this series rather than the disgraced Gjallarhorn members who are just being made to dance to another’s music sheet of a much bigger picture.
Out of curiosity: is Ein interned into a mobile suit that uses a Gundam frame?
No more negotiating uncivilized savage kids anymore.
I would bet that McGillis is slowly turning Tekkadan into the enemy that Gjallarhorn can unite against under him, when he takes over after killing his “father,” then they’ll have to regroup with new allies, to defeat him as the new big bad.
I’ll be expecting a “kill-em-all” tribute then if this instability from Orga continues.
(ie. Can someone else PLEASE armor-pierce slap that guy to his senses.)
…
Anyway, it looks like in the irony of all things McGilis turned his two childhood friends opposite of what the two were and had hope Gjallarhorn to be, honorable and just. All in order to start a purge of the corrupted.
Also, McGilis has quite a bit of pieces against his step-father here… though it looks like he’s mostly finished with Tekkadan (and Kudelia Aina Bernstein as well?), seeing how he’s letting loose Cyborg-Ein in the (soon-to-be) Battle of Edmonton.
“to show just how fucked up Mika is”
Fucked up? What he did was the most normal thing in the world. Every single soldier in the world would have done that.
Carta was the strange one, thinking she was a samurai or whatever. She went out of the MS started talking about having a duel… Really, that’s fucked up.
If was Mika I would have done the exact same thing he did. The enemy is outside his MS talking some random shit? Well, that’s a chance for me.
Mika just acted like a soldier in the real world, while Carta acted like an anime character. LOL.
Soldiers approaching under truce are usually not shot on sight. Or well, they could be, but then the other side shouldn’t be surprised they find themselves unprotected by the same laws when things start going downhill!
If other soldiers today did what Mika did, its possible they could be put in trial for breaking ROE.
where would be the country yard at the UNO? You know how is the UNO, and two of them are not best friends right now. I think they want the status quo from “yesterday” to stay forever… But time moves on, it do not stand still for someone that lives in the past