First Impression – Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans 2nd Season
The return of Mobile Suit Gundam: Shirtless dudes is back!
Woooooooooo! The best Gundam series is finally back in my life and damn I can’t wait to see what happens with this second season! Will Atra confess to Mika? Where does Orga get his fancy suits? Who is the new masked villain?! I hope we get some answers to a few of those questions…
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Raise your flag! Because if you’ll eventually end up as dust, you may as well be stardust…
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Fresh Meat
Will Cookie and Cracker have a bigger role this season? Id guess NOPE.
Fosh// Wow it feels really great to be back with my favorite cast of characters! Well mostly Atra who is always great! Besides missing her we are introduced to a few new faces of Tekkadan err just two I think? Zack, Dean and Hash who has a sort of revenge story about Mika? Now I don’t think Hash is going to attempt to kill Mika because we all know even without the use of his right arm Mika would still kick his ass, but instead I feel that Hash just wants to prove to everyone and himself that hes worthy of being a real mobile suit pilot? At least I think? We will have to see! Either way I’m glad to see some new side characters and each of them adds another layer to the overall story and at the same time through the eyes of these new characters we get a somewhat fresh view on how far Tekkadan has come. From their days as soldiers for hire all the way to running their own successful business; however there were countless sacrifices and losses that helped them get to this point and boy were there were a lot! Which we get to see as Orga visited that memorial. So how long has it been since the first season? Roughly a year or so? You can kind of tell its been a while especially with some of the main characters who look a bit older? Like Atra, Mika, Cookie, Cracker, Orga and especially Kudelia who all appear to have grown some or am I the only one that sees it that way? Speaking of Cookie and Cracker for a moment I’m glad they found out about Biscuit, but at the same time the loss of their brother is still fresh on their minds which makes me wonder if the twins are going to have more to do this season instead of staying on Mars? I don’t think they are going to be jumping into any battle anytime soon; however they could become like Atra from season one and help with other tasks? Or hell go all out and give them some training and they can fight along side the others? I would love that! Then again I’m sure Biscuit wouldn’t be to happy about that.
Welcome back Tekkadan
Mika already broke the new Gundam!? This is why we can’t have nice things.
Irene// It’s been a year since the first season began and half a year since we saw the world of Tekkadan last, and you won’t believe how much I have missed it! After only a few moments, I was thrust back into the conflicts between Mars and Earth, along with Mika, Orga, Kudelia, Atra, McGillis, and the entire IBO crew. Being a huge mecha fan, and especially a Gundam fan for over a decade now, I was excited but trepidatious when this newest Gundam series was first announced. I had been burned by the longtime franchise in the past and it was a legitimate fear to have going in. But thank God that my fears were unneeded and I have to say that the first season flew by with flying colors! Already one of my favorite Gundam series from the franchise, how it ends will decide its placement as either my #1 or #2 of all time, so…no pressure. After the events at the end of last season, everything seems to be looking way up for all of our heroes. Tekkadan officially joined with Teiwaz and grew by leaps and bounds, even having a facility on Earth now. They are bigger, badder and stronger than ever before, with Orga still at their head and Mika as their fabled “Fiend of Tekkadan”. As for our orphans personally however, you can see that Orga is feeling the pressures of the business aspects of being a CEO. It’s quite a different job than being a military leader, but it’s a path that the man has chosen and he seems determined to accomplish his goals. Sometimes the military kid in him seems to want to break free from the slick business suit that he now dons, but we’ll have to see how much this will really become an issue as the series continues.
The trio of best friends are back.
Kudelia on the other hand, shows a startling amount of maturity and change about her in this new season, both physically and mentally, that comparing her here to her first appearance in season one, is like looking at night and day. The girl has faced the flames and the moulding hammer and has come out the other side, a woman in all respects. As a businesswoman and president of her own company (which she subtly named after the dearly departed Fumitan) which handles the half-metal that she fought so hard for last season, I have to say that I am extremely proud of the adult that Kudelia has become. Saying this, I get the feeling that she will be taking a major step back from the action that she was at the center of last season, but we shall see. And then there is Mika, who on the other hand, seems to be mostly unchanged from last season. While we see that despite his stroke-like injuries that resulted from last season’s final battle, he still train his body to stay in tip-top muscular shape. He still pilots the new Barbatos Lupus to rather devastating effect, earning his new nickname as a “Fiend” and “Demon”, and pretty much acts in the same stoic, emotionally stunted demeanor that we all fell in love with. And even then, I do see some hints at new issues that he might be facing this season as well. With the loss of his right arm and eye, and the fact that they are only of use when attached to the Barbatos, has cost a major loss of mobility, and for Mika, an increased confusion of purpose. He has always been Orga’s (and thus Tekkadan’s) weapon, his ace and sword that will carry out Orga’s commands. And for the most part, that is still his purpose. And yet, Mika is not able to help as much as he once did. In fact, at this point, the only thing he can do, is pilot Barbatos. While still seen as a hero by all his comrades, you get the feeling that Mika himself might begin to see himself as a burden of sorts. And the new guys sure aren’t helping…
A couple of new faces! Will any of them survive this season? I hope so!
Yes, while our old familiar cast is definitely there in the forefront, we do have some of last season’s background characters, such as ex-Brewers slave pilots Aston and Delmas, who will be taking a step up this season to full supporting rolls, and we also have three new supporting characters that will be joining Tekkadan’s ranks: Dane, Zack, and Hush. While Dane and Zack might eventually fall into that background/supporting middle ground that characters like Ride and Yamagi dwell in, Hush Middy on the other hand, looks to be forcing his way into full-time support. I’m not sure where I stand on this new guy, as he seems suspiciously Shinn-like to me, but I’m pretty hopeful that he won’t disappoint. While his backstory and altercation with Mika do show him to have quite a chip on his shoulder, it also shows the dangers of A-V surgery that we’re only hinted at in the first season. And it’s definitely not something pretty. I’m hoping Hush is open to learning, or else he’s going to have to learn from an even harder school of hard knocks. Well, on top of the new and old characters, we are also seeing new and old conflicts and politics that look to span everything from interplanetary terrorism, to fracturing within the ranks of Tekkadan itself. Will the Iron Flower crack now that it has become so large, or will it become all the better for it? While McGillis/Montag continues in his somewhat alliance with Tekkadan, it seems a new Char Clone has arisen. Who is this new guy and will he wear a familiar face? I guess we’ll just have to keep watching to find out.
Extra Mechs
Mika is part cat he sleeps anywhere and everywhere.
Does she eat the butterfly? Yes she totally does…
This dude really loves shopping at Target.
Atra yay!
A new threat or a hardcore fan of McGillis/Montag.
End Thoughts
Wow this season is off to a good start! I’m happy they had a time jump instead of it being the next day and the addition of all these new characters is also great, but of course I can’t help thinking these new characters were created just to be killed off? This is always the issue with adding new characters to any series; however I’m sure some of them are safe? We shall see and I totally forgot to mention Julietta Julis she’s a new soldier in the Gjallarhorn side, but my god is she “special” and I do mean mentally special! I’m not sure what she will bring to the series other than reminding me of past Gundam characters like her…anyway I can’t wait to see where things go and with Mari Okada returning as the script writer it only adds to my excitement.
My most anticipated anime of the season and it hasn’t let me down. I’m really excited to see what is going to happen next and how the situation will unfold for our heroes. As for OP and ED, “Rage of Dust” by SPYAIR and “Shounen no Hate” by GRANRODEO are both standouts for the series and the season, sitting for me as the second best in both categories for the series after “Raise Your Flag” and “Orphans no Namida”. The animation is your standard stuff from Sunrise, but I have to say their mech designs as always, are great. The new Barbatos Lupus looks great, and I can’t wait to see all the other new Gundams that are to come.
About Tag Team
We live, laugh, enjoy and strictly believe on "more the merrier". When together, we usually come up with very chatty, conversation-based episodics and interesting posts.
