Finally gave that mecha anime my buddy recommended a shot

I was super skeptical of Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans for like 3 months. My friend kept saying it wasn't the typical kids-show robots. Then I watched the first 3 episodes last weekend and the politics and character deaths hit way harder than I expected. What anime did you brush off but ended up loving after giving it a real chance?

3 comments

3 Comments

wright.lisa2mo ago

Oh man, I gotta jump in here because the child soldier thing in Iron-Blooded Orphans is actually what got me. Like yeah, there's angsty speeches but compare it to Gundam Wing where the kid soldiers are just these untouchable perfect pilots. In IBO they're literally dying from shrapnel and infections and the show doesn't let you forget they're kids. The part where Mika gets his arm messed up and just keeps fighting without any dramatic monologue felt more real than any of the over-the-top tragedy in other mecha shows. And the politics, people complain it's confusing but the whole thing about Mars trying to get leverage against Earth, that's just how actual colonial oppression works, messy and full of bad compromises.

the_robin2mo ago

Did you see that review calling it "Game of Thrones in space"?

ryan_gibson842mo ago

Iron-Blooded Orphans is actually the one I keep seeing people hype up but I just can't get into it. I watched like 10 episodes and it just felt like everyone was making dumb decisions for the sake of being tragic. The whole child soldier thing was supposed to be heavy but it came off as them trying too hard to be edgy. Compare that to something like Gundam 00 where the political stuff actually made sense and the characters had clear motivations. I don't know, maybe I just missed something but it felt like a lot of sad faces and angsty speeches without much payoff.