User reviews

I haven't watched a Gundam show in a while. And by "a while" I mean at least 10 years. I got tired of the repetitive action scenes, cookie-cutter characters, and plots that were just an excuse for conflict. I dismissed new titles with fancy words like "Unicorn" and "F91" attached to them as essentially Barbie getting a new hat. But, there was something about "Iron Blooded Orphans" that just was very compelling. I gave it a watch and I am so glad I did as this is one of the better Anime shows I have watched recently, Gundam or not.

Story-wise it's pretty simple, child slaves on Mars in the distant future rise up and take over the business they were once beholden to as property. "Human Debris" is the term they use here. These children have been modified with technology so that education and training is not necessary, just plug them in and they know what to do. This instantly makes the cast of young protagonists easy to get behind. How can you not root for enslaved children to win? The plot is a bit weighed down by politics, sub plots, and many factions in what feels like a jigsaw puzzle of a story at times. I actually went out of my way to learn many names of governments and factions that ended up playing little to no role in the plot itself. Don't trouble yourself too hard with these details. The meat of the plot is the kids and their fight to survive the war they have set themselves up for by standing up. This is not war in the sense of excuses to have battles, comment on how awful it is, then experience no loss as many of these shows often do, this treats battle for what it is- hell. Casualties are suffered and comrades are mourned on both sides with a gritty emphasis placed on the youth of the fallen. I finished a few episodes with a depressed feeling. The Gundam itself is almost an afterthought!

The plot is helped along with a colorful cast of characters. There is no main character to be sure, but a central core four. Starting with the pilot of the primary mech, Mikazuki. In past shows, this kid would be the focus of the show 90% of the time. But, he is so subdued that it would be hard to just concentrate on him. He seems almost boring at first, but you learn very quickly that it's just one layer to what may be the most complex character in franchise history. A devoted, loyal, and courageous fighter but also a stone cold killer. Capable of compassion and tenderness, but also a lust for blood. Mikazuki follows the orders of Orga, the leader of the kids, Orga serves as military commander, business manager, big brother, and in many ways father to children he leads, putting a lot of weight on his shoulders while still managing to keep an ever present spike on the tip of his hair. That thing could put someone's eye out! Hair do aside, Orga generates a lot of sympathy from the responsibility he holds. He must give orders that may result in the deaths of those who are- not just employees and soldiers- but family members. A position he struggles with at times, but succeeds in ultimately. Then there is Kudelia, the leading lady, I think she is where the show fails the most in characters. Serving as the "only hope" character, she is generic in that she wants equality for an oppressed people, while detesting violence. She hires the band of child soldiers to escort her to Earth to meet with "X" government to discuss "Y" trade laws, but also hates all the bloodshed she causes by embarking on this journey. Thankfully she accepts it as a necessary evil to accomplish a greater good, but otherwise serves only as a stereotypical princess and love interest for Mikazuki. Finally there is McGillis, the resident Char Aznable type, who serves as antagonist and anti-hero. I won't give too much away, but he is a man with plans of his own while serving Gjallahorn, the main bad guys in pretentiously over-the-top uniforms to match their snobby personalities, making them as easy to hate as the kids are easy to root for. The rest make up a strong supporting cast, including a guy who dresses like a pimp and has a bad-ass ship crewed by his harem of hot wives earning him the award of "Luckiest Man In Space".

The cast of mechs in this is a good one, too. The primary Gundam "Barbatos" is interesting in that it has very little in terms of fire power, but makes up it melee. Most of the mechs in this show rely on some form of hand-to-hand combat weapon as their primary piece, making it short on sweet, sweet, 'spolsion porn yet gnarly in the way they show the carnage and brutality of each impact, fluids (blood and oil) spew frequently, with a lot agonizing scenes of machines being torn apart methodically along with their helpless pilots. This was the first show I have seen that took the glamour away from being a Gundam pilot and equates it more like being a medieval era knight. The battle scenes are some of the finest I have seen in almost any Anime, and the art and effects showcased in the them is the best I have seen in a Gundam series. Speaking of art, the character designs themselves are very bright and colorful, contrasting the dark atmosphere they live in, and hearken back to the days of the original series. They even have one of the male characters pilot a bright pink mobile suit. Real men wear pink. Just ask Vegeta. I found the music be to only above average with some good opening and closing themes to start with, "Raise Your Flag" by Man With A Mission served as a good tune to get the blood pumping for an episode and "Orphans no Namida" by Misia as a more bluesy and sullen closing theme that is catchy and fits the often sad endings to many episodes. The Sub vs. Dub battle here is no contest in my opinion, the Japanese cast destroys the English one in terms of quality of performance and fit. There is also a slight emphasis on the fact they speak Japanese, so accuracy plays a part as well. Go Sub or go home.

This is a gritty experience from start to finish, yes the cast is primarily young children, but they are not innocent. They are products of the environment they were raised in. Each day is a fight to survive, not just for their own future, but for the ones who died fighting for that future. The show succeeds brilliantly in it's mix of emotional moments and awesome fight scenes so that it feels like a complete experience. The season ends well with a sense of closure, but still leaves plenty open for Season 2 which I eagerly look forward to. I would dare call this show a masterpiece if it were not for some episodes that dragged too long with politics and a few side characters that were introduced suddenly and forced to develop too quickly (looking at you, Carta Issue). I enjoyed this show immensely and recommend it to Anime fans in general as a great intro to the Gundam franchise and a very good series regardless. 9/10. Check it out. Cheers!

I just feel this series had the main characters in a bigger struggle than the other series. As the name suggested they are mostly from orphan backgrounds or situations and found together and be counted. There is certainly more struggle and risk involved.

This made their achievements even more significant.

I've always been a fan of Gundam. I think the politics, the good story, and the great animation are always appealing to a mature crowd. This Gundam series was exceptional and full of feelings, truths about life, and a realistic ending which made it ever more meaningful than most of the Mobile suit stories. I hope that everyone that watches this show enjoys it as much as I did. Great in all the sense of the word.

Please watch this Anime, you don't have to have knowledge on other Gundam series to watch this. This Anime has everything in it, it concentrates on social issues like Political affairs, Corruption, betrayel, poverty, child labour, War calamities, Friendship, leadership...!! It's about children who just wanted to lead a normal life in the midst of Chaos!!

Life is never black and white, there are a lot of grey areas..not being able to adapt , will only limit ones potential to go the unknown, reach the unreachable that others can. That's why i love the ending this is the most realistic and modern way of telling a story of tragic child soldier of wars...... u cant romanticize it like GUNDAM SEED or fantasize it like GUNDAM 00, this is just perfect way of showing how the real world is imperfect and unfair , sometimes brutally injustice but if one were to make a big enough impact through sheer determination and sacrifices sometimes, just sometimes u gain the fruits of life in the end, the goals that most want, a sense of freedom to discover the purpose of life for those unfortunate in life. Like orga said, there is only one way forward, and don't stop believing... this really conclude a strong Japanese spirit and moto of life.

This is the first Gundam series I ever watched and since then I am huge Gundam fan ! It has everything: cool characters, awesome story, action, bittersweet ending and more... If you 've never watched Gundam before, you should start with this one and I believe that you won't regret it!

This is easily in my opinion the best Gundam of all time, and one of the best anime's of all time. Season one is a 10/10 masterpiece and although season 2 is not as good it is still excellent 9/10.

A lots of action.. Emotion.. One of the best story line.. And well directed

Seriously one of the best anime's I have seen. The emotions, the bond and all of that. The end of S2 was really sad. But man this crap was better then most non anime movies and series.

The series is pretty good but definitely not one of the better ones. There's a lack of a lot of fight scenes where there could have been and said there's a lot of convoluted plot twists. Also in other moments later on in the second season where there could have been more action instead there are big gaps with just immense stupidity that's really hard to watch. At many points I wanted to give up because I felt that this character in these choices that are being made are so hard to watch.

I can't get over the fact how messed up my emotions are after finishing season 2. Lol. I don't even cry at funerals and this one pushed me close to the edge. I'm telling myself to snap out of it - repeatedly reminding myself none of these people are real. The story was being excellent. If it hadn't received an award it should. Much respect to its creators

An incredible series from start to finish. I'm struggling to put it in words after only just finishing season 2. You find yourself completely taken in by the raw and gritty struggle of the characters from start to finish. The rising up of the down trodden, whom as often are in Gundam, only children. This certainly isn't a Gundam series for children to watch though. Dark in many parts, its brutal nature brings a serious realisation to the issues and suffering of the people in this world.

The story aside, even the editing adds to the emotion when the end of some episodes spill over as the credits start rolling. Excellent.

I strongly recommend this as someone who is a Gundam fan, but one that has been looking for one with such a raw feeling to it without the over the top heroics and Mobile Suits (there are some of course).

I was very happy to get this edition of the first season of Iron Blooded Orphans. The whole package is great quality! The box comes in a nice plastic sleeve that protects it while making it look nice. The Card board holder for the Blu-ray boxes is really strong and finished with a polished design that makes it sturdy and great to hold your Blu-ray boxes in (there is even room for season 2 when that comes out). The art book is a cool little added bonus and the Model was fantastic! It's a high grade model and the metallic injection style really was a nice touch. All in all, I highly recommend getting this if you're a fan of Gundam.

Amazing story line great action best I've seen in a long long time

You might even watch it twice

Top draw

I have not watched a Gundam series in a while (since Gundam SEED) so when i watched Orphans i was amazed on how good the show is. I would recommend this show to both fans and new comers.

Granted I've only seen 3 and read the Thunderbolt manga, for the most part they're a depiction of the art of war as well as being drenched with politics, with this you don't really get that.

Instead you follow a bunch of loud mouth kids, as they take on anyone who gets in there way. Even gangster's, at that point I was hoping they're have their comeuppance but it just made things worse. The main problem I have with the series is how stupid it is, you can't go from being a slave to having your own spaceship and escorting a princess, logically it just doesn't work.

Let talk about the princess quickly so she's from wealth obvious, he wants mars to have independence so she decides to team up with slaves. I kind of get but at the same time she think that she's had it rough like them, no just not. As for everyone else the Gundam pilot doesn't have a personality but everyone looks up to him for some reason. The actual main guy in this is Orca, he's so cock sure of himself, doesn't matter how many people die he just wants to achieve his ever changing goal. The rest of the guys in this are basically the same, mindless sheep that just follow orders. I did kind of like the new group in the second season, they had a bit of flavor to them as well as the main villain through the series, shame the disguise where blatant and obvious, they tried it twice and both times it was as clear as down who they were.

Now lets talk about the fights, they were most good but had some hiccups. Like the end of season one they had to throw in a big battle but the outcome is so clear it sucks all the tension out of the scene, actually the same can be said about the finally. It was laid out differently but you could tell how it was going to end, I think the most interesting fights were all by the secondary characters. My personal favorite only actually got about 2 or 3 episodes, I think is where one of the problems lie, all the interesting characters are all back up.

All in all I did enjoy watching the show, quality wise it just doesn't hold up to the other Gundam. I even think Unicorn looked a lot better, which is weird being it made 5 years before. Gundam's main selling point is it's depiction of war and the politics, as that doesn't really happen in this I felt a little disappointed. Quality wise I would say this was on par with Neon Genesis Evangelion, though both have there ups and downs, they're worth a watch and can be quite fun.

This will be my first ever review ever of anything, but this series had me both mad and satisfied . On one hand one expects the protagonist to always win, but alot of Japanese drama ends in tragedy, this is neither one but the perfect balance. Great story telling, amazing characters building, some sexy innuendo, and lots of moral lessons. All in all, a series way above expectations, at one point I was expecting the mega tragic type of Japan type of drama a d you do get that but way more. Highly recommend. Is way better than I jad expected. Its starts slow please give it a chance is way better.

Constantly things blowing up, screaming, rocket thrust. It was just too annoying noisy, brought memories of my favorite x-men show even though that also a bit annoying noisy

The characters are cookie cutter, predictable anime characters that we have seen a million times already, including the all-too-common Gary Stu who is a super cool teenager doing an adult's job with inhuman skill that has multiple female characters swooning over him. Of course, like many animes, the show also has the usual annoying "fan service" thanks to the typical, forced "princess" character (among several other female roles) who looks like a 14 year old barbie doll. Even worse than that is one of the characters being an adult man who is engaged to a 9 YEAR OLD GIRL!? Freakin' pedophile writers. Every line, every scene, every cheesy moment makes me roll my eyes. The only good thing about this show is the animation quality, which is above average, but nothing else. It's basically just the type of bottom of the barrel anime one tends to watch when you are out of everything else.