Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans

Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans(Japanese:Cơ động chiến sĩ ガンダム thiết huyết のオルフェンズ,Hepburn:Kidō Senshi Gandamu: Tekketsu no Orufenzu),also known asGundam IBOand G-Tekketsu(Gの thiết huyết),is a2015Japanesetelevisionmechaanimeseries and the fourteenth mainline entry inSunrise's long-runningGundamfranchise, succeedingGundam Reconguista in G.The series is directed byTatsuyuki Nagaiand written byMari Okada,a team which previously collaborated onToradora!andAnohana: The Flower We Saw That Day.It aired in Japan onMBSand otherJNNstations from October 4, 2015 to March 27, 2016,making this the first Gundam series to return to a Sunday late afternoon time slot sinceMobile Suit Gundam Seed.A second season premiered the following year on October 2, 2016.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans
Cover of the firstBlu-rayvolume, with an illustration of the ASW-G-08 Gundam Barbatos.
Cơ động chiến sĩ ガンダム thiết huyết のオルフェンズ (Kidō Senshi Gandamu: Tekketsu no Orufenzu)
Genre	Mecha,military science fiction
Created by	Hajime Yatate Yoshiyuki Tomino
Anime television series
Directed by	Tatsuyuki Nagai
Written by	Mari Okada
Music by	Masaru Yokoyama
Studio	Sunrise
Licensed by	AUS:Madman Anime NA:Sunrise(Licensing Rights) Crunchyroll(Home Video)
Original network	JNN(MBS)
English network	US:Adult Swim(Toonami)
Original run	October 4, 2015–April 2, 2017
Episodes	50
Further information Manga Written by Kazuma Isobe Published by Kadokawa Shoten Magazine Gundam Ace Demographic Shōnen Original run October 26, 2015–October 26, 2018 Volumes 7 Manga Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Steel Moon Written by Hajime Kamoshida Published by Kadokawa Shoten Magazine Gundam Ace Demographic Shōnen Original run June 2016–March 2018 Volumes 4 Video game Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans G Publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment Directed by Tatsuyuki Nagai Music by Masaru Yokoyama Genre Role-playing game,Visual novel Platform iOS Android Released November 15, 2022 Anime film Mobile Suit Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans: Urðr Hunt Directed by Tatsuyuki Nagai Produced by Masakazu Ogawa Yasunori Fujiwara Music by Masaru Yokoyama Studio Sunrise Released TBA

Iron-Blooded Orphansfollows the exploits of a group of juvenile soldiers who establish their own security company after rebelling against the adults who betrayed them on a futuristic, terraformed Mars. The series deals with several real-life problems such aswar,slavery,child soldiers,poverty,neo-colonialism,andcorruption.The catchphrase of the series is "The sustenance of life is on the battlefield."(いのちの lương は, chiến tràng にある.,Inochi no kate wa, senjō ni aru.)

Story

See also:List ofMobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphanscharacters

It is the year 323 P.D. (Post Disaster), more than 300 years after a disastrous, interplanetary conflict known as the "Calamity War". Mars has been successfully terraformed and colonized by humans. However, even with the technological advancements, the humans on Mars crave freedom against the government of Earth and seek to improve their livelihoods. Furthermore, while most of Mars' nations have received autonomy, the planet is virtually dependent on Earth for economic development with many living in impoverished conditions.

Kudelia Aina Bernstein, a Martian noblewoman, employs the civilian security company Chryse Guard Security (CGS) to transport her to Earth to negotiate the independence of her nation, Chryse, from Earth. But the Earth Military organization Gjallarhorn, attacks CGS in an attempt to halt the Martian independence movement. During the attack, Orga Itsuka, the leader of the Third Army Division within CGS, which is composed of children, decides to rebel against the adult higher-ups who had escaped and left the child and teen foot-soldiers to fight and die as disposable decoys. As all hope seems lost, a young orphan under Orga's command named Mikazuki Augus enters the battle, piloting a hastily repaired mobile suit: the legendary Gundam Barbatos. After repelling Gjallarhorn's attack, Orga and the rest of the Third Army Division dispose of the adult higher-ups who betrayed them and take control of CGS, refounding it as the mercenary company "Tekkadan" (Japanese for "Iron Flower" ).

In Tekkadan's first job, they accept to escort Kudelia to Earth for her to take part in the negotiations with the government of Arbrau, the superpower that rules over Chryse. However, Gjallarhorn's continuous attempts to stop their progress leads Tekkadan to join forces with Teiwaz, a business conglomerate that operates around Jupiter. Under Teiwaz's protection and being secretly assisted by McGillis Fareed, one of the top echelons of Gjallarhorn with his own agenda, Tekkadan successfully takes Kudelia to Earth, and safely escorts her to Arbrau's capital where she successfully negotiates more economic freedom for Mars, while McGillis takes advantage of their success to overthrow his own adoptive father and bolster his position within Gjallarhorn.

Some years later, Tekkadan establishes itself as a prominent military company, while Kudelia establishes a mining company in Chryse, working to improve the inhabitants' conditions and McGillis moves forward with his agenda to reform Gjallarhorn. However, one of Gjallarhorn's factions opposing him, the Arianrhod Fleet, led by Rustal Elion, starts working in the shadows to sabotage both McGillis and Tekkadan. McGillis convinces Tekkadan to help him destroy Arianrhod under the promise that once he manages to take full control of Gjallarhorn, he will transfer all authority over Mars to Tekkadan, making them thede factorulers of the planet. However, they are defeated and forced to flee to Mars, where McGillis is killed after a last, failed attempt to kill Rustal and Tekkadan is disbanded after Arianrhod launches an attack to exterminate all members and make an example out of them, but only a few, including Mikazuki, sacrifice themselves to hold out the enemy long enough for the rest to escape safely.

In the aftermath several years later, Gjallarhorn repeals its council system and reforms into a more democratic organization, with Rustal as its head. Kudelia becomes the chairwoman of the now independent Mars Union and the surviving Tekkadan members follow their separate ways while remaining in touch, each looking to honor their friends who died to give them a new, brighter future.

Development

The series was first teased by Sunrise through a new teaser site for the series,with a countdown to reveal the new main Mobile Suit on July 15, 2015.As it was only referred to asG-Tekketsu,the details for the new lead Gundam was shown day by day until the full reveal at Sunrise and Bandai's press conference. Following the official unveiling of the series, Sunrise plans for a new wave of merchandise for the series, includingGunpla kitsand video game tie-ins.A second Promotional video was then revealed, confirming the voice actors for the series's main cast.The series ran for 25 episodes.During the end credits of episode 25, a second season was confirmed.

Production

For episodes 24 and 25, the battle inEdmontonin the fictional state of Arbrau features backgrounds based on actual locations of the city inAlberta,Canada.

Media

Anime

Main article:List ofMobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphansepisodes

Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphanspremiered in Japan onMBSandTBSon October 4, 2015 Sunday at 5:00 PM, replacingThe Heroic Legend of Arslanon its initial timeslot. It is the first Gundam series to return on the late afternoon schedule sinceMobile Suit Gundam AGE.Sunrise announced that the series will be streamed worldwide onYouTubevia the Gundam.Info Channel,Funimation,Hulu,Crunchyroll,andDaisuki.On October 9, 2015, Sunrise announced at their panel atNew York Comic Conthat the anime will get an English dub to be produced byBang Zoom! Entertainment.Turner Broadcastingbegan broadcasting the series onAdult Swim'sToonamiprogramming block on June 5, 2016 with season 2 premiering on October 8, 2017.

Following the conclusion to the anime's 25th episode, it was announced that a second season would premiere in the fall of 2016.The anime concluded on April 2, 2017 with the second season's 25th episode, bringing the overall episode count in the series to 50.

Bandai Visualreleased the first volume of the series in bothBlu-rayandDVDon December 24, 2015, containing a serial code forMobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. Forceto obtain the Gundam Barbatos. In the 2017 Anime Expo,Funimationannounced that the series will be released on home video in partnership with Sunrise for North American Territories, marking as the first Gundam series to be co-licensed by a company other thanRight Stuf Inc. and Nozomi Entertainment.Both seasons of the series were later added toNetflixfor paid streaming on November 5, 2019.

Manga

A manga adaptation by Kazuma Isobe began its serialization in the December Issue ofGundam Aceon October 26, 2015.A side story manga titledMobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Steel Moon(Japanese:Cơ động chiến sĩ ガンダム thiết huyết のオルフェンズ nguyệt cương,Hepburn:Kidō Senshi Gandamu Tekketsu no Orufenzu Gekkō)was published inGundam Acefrom April 26, 2016, to March 26, 2018 and collected into four volumes.

Music

The soundtrack is composed by Masaru Yokoyama (Nobunaga The Fool,Freezing). The first season's opening theme song is titled "Raise your flag", performed byMan with a Mission,while the ending theme is "Orphans no Namida"performed byMisiaand co-written byShiro Sagisu.From episode 14 onwards the opening theme is "Survivor" byBlue Encount,while the ending theme is titled "STEEL -Tekketsu no Kizuna-"(STEEL- thiết huyết の bán -,STEEL -tekketsu no kizuna-,"STEEL -Iron Blooded Bonds-" )byTRUE.The ending theme for episode 19 is "Senka no Tomoshibi"(Chiến hỏa の đăng hỏa,"Lamplight of War" )byYūko Suzuhana.,and "Orphans no Namida"is used again for the ending of episode 21.

First used as the end track of episode 26, "RAGE OF DUST" bySpyairis the opening theme beginning with episode 27, while the ending theme for episodes 27 and following is "Shōnen no Hate"(Thiếu niên の quả て,"Childhood's End" )byGranrodeo.From episode 39 onward, the opening theme is "Fighter" byKana-Boonwhile the ending is "Freesia"(フリージア,Furīja)performed by Uru.

Video games

The series's main mobile suit (1st form) first appeared on thePlayStation VitagameMobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. Forcethrough the first Blu-ray volume serial code. The mobile suit (4th form) also appeared in thePlayStation 4and PlayStation Vita gameGundam Breaker 3and the arcade GameMobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. Maxi Boost ON.Later, Gundam Barbatos 6th form, Gundam Barbatos Lupus, Gundam Gusion and Gusion Rebake, Gundam Kimaris and Gundam Astaroth was released asDLCunits forGundam Breaker 3.Gundam Kimaris Trooper is added inMobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. Maxi Boost ON's expansion pack and later supplant by the Second Season's main mobile suit, Gundam Barbatos Lupus and later, Gundam Gusion Rebake Full City and Gundam Bael. InMobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. 2,Gundam Barbatos Lupus Rex is a playable unit. The Graze Ein serves as a boss unit. Gundam Kimaris Vidar was later added as a playable unit. InMobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. 2 XBoost,Gundam Flauros (Ryusei-Go) was later added as a playable unit.

An official spinoff game, titledMobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Urðr Hunt(Japanese:Cơ động chiến sĩ ガンダム thiết huyết のオルフェンズ: ウルズハント,Hepburn:Kidō Senshi Gandamu Tekketsu no Orufenzu: Uruzuhanto)was announced on January 7, 2019 foriOSandAndroid,as part of Gundam's 40th Anniversary celebration,with animated scenes done bySunrise Beyond.It is directed byTatsuyuki Nagaiand written byHajime Kamoshida.The game was part of theMobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans Gmobile game,which was released on November 15, 2022, and began to be released in 2022.Iron Blooded Orphans Gended service on January 11, 2024.An anime adaptation ofUrðr Huntwas announced by Sunrise in November 2023 and is currently under development.

Merchandise

Merchandising of the series is officially linked toBandai's long runningGunplamodel line and related collectable merchandise. Both the High Grade and 1/100 scale models of the titular mecha, Gundam Barbatos, were unveiled during the press conference and both stated for a Fall 2015 release, alongside the standard and commander versions of the HG Graze and weapon packs for the main mobile suit. A NXEDGE Style version of the Gundam Barbatos was also revealed. The titular gundam, Gundam Barbatos is also released as part of the Master Grade line of gunpla models.

Reception

The series premiere received generally positive reviews from critics.Anime News Network's Nick Creamer gave the first episode a 4 out 5 stars, saying that "Iron-Blooded Orphans hits the ground running, establishing its world in the natural conversations of its many characters." He goes on to say that "Mari Okada's an inconsistent writer, but definitely a talented one, and given the focus of a traditional Gundam-style opening, her gift for illustrating character shines through." Zac Bertschy gave the series a 4.5 for the first episode, saying "Iron-Blooded Orphans has a lot of moving parts, but it's only deceptively complex; this episode starts out confusing (due to the relatively haphazard way they introduce all the various factions and the sizable cast) but as it goes on it all becomes very clear". He also adds "Instantly likable characters, desperate battles, a broad science fiction story about a colony struggling for independence, giant robots and even a Char-like smooth-talking pretty boy weirdo who's working with the bad guys; what's not to love?"

However, the series has received some criticism from the Japanese Broadcasting Ethics and Program Improvement Organization, regarding the harsh themes and depictions of child soldiers in the anime. They also stated that "several nonresistant prisoners and enemy soldiers are gunned down by the young male protagonist. If you look at the title, one would immediately think of this as a children's show and that many children would be watching.", referring to one scene in Episode 3, and that "If you want to broadcast such material, please provide some sort of age limit for viewers."

External links

• Official site(in Japanese)
• Official site(MBS)(in Japanese)
• Official Adult Swim website
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans(anime) atAnime News Network's encyclopedia