Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans

Episode 22

There were no Gundam battles this week on Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, and yet the episode was an absolute throwback. Though Orphans is Okada's first attempt at tackling a Gundam series, “Not Yet Home” nails all of the most memorable elements of an early Gundam series for a more modern time.

First, let's get the things I didn't like about this episode out of the way, since they both happened in the very first minute. First, there's Daisuki's teensy new subtitle font choice, which is making me strain to see the dialogue. Second, there's the complete non-resolution with Carta. Last week, everything was leading up to a showdown between her and Tekkadan. But now we're supposed to believe that in the chaos that was Biscuit's death, Carta was able to escape in seconds. Fortunately the preview indicates that we're going to see that face-off next week, and I'm really anticipating it. Between Mikazuki's dangerous calm and Carta's bravado, I'm expecting a clash of personality as well as fighting style.

It's actually a good thing that Carta hasn't been killed off yet because she fills a very important role in Gundam that I only just realized while rewatching Zeta Gundam this week. We never forget about the masked man with ambiguous motives, played so well by McGillis during this series, and even better this week now that we've learned he's playing both sides equally. But there have been some equally iconic villains characterized by their narrow mindset, deranged ideals, and bobbed haircut—I'm thinking especially of Haman Karn today. Like Haman, Carta would be a formidable ally if it weren't for her misplaced motivations.

Plenty of other iconic Gundam boxes got checked off today. First, there's the melodrama. It's a major part of any Gundam series to harp on the death of a character supposedly too important to die. From the rain that matches Tekkadan's mood to the general gloom in the cafeteria, Biscuit's death has affected everyone in a way that Fumitan's didn't. That's because Biscuit's death has significantly affected Orga's morale, and from there the misery trickles down through the ranks.

This brings me to number two: terrible relationships. Merribit spends a lot of this episode struggling with whether she should go comfort Orga or not. Mikazuki seems to be waiting in the wings for her decision, and one of them is going to go see him eventually. Merribit is clearly Orga's love interest, but it's rare in Gundam for lovers to ever really fulfill their relationships (I can count the number of Gundam marriages on one hand). So instead it's his most loyal follower, Mikazuki, who goes to him with his old refrain, “What should I do next? How many should I kill?” This riles Orga up alright, but as the lightning flash in the room indicates, it's probably not for the better. Since the beginning of this series, I've insisted that there's something unhealthy about Mika and Orga's friendship, since they often seem to bring out the worst in each other.

Third, we get a close-up view of the political machinations that keep this world running. There's no secret higher power—the people who make things happen are the main characters now. “You know how to boss men around,” Makanai tells Kudelia as the two scheme. Meanwhile, McGillis casually mentions to Galileo, “There's probably an informant. Shows how corrupt we are,” when he clearly means himself. And though it's been more drawn out more than I would have preferred, it looks like Ein is about to experience firsthand how the Alaya-Vijnana saved humanity before Gjallarhorn expertly made it taboo. With three episodes left, everything is coming to a head. This may be the final “calm before the storm” episode before everything gets crazy again. This was a very typical Gundam episode that hit all the salient points, but I'm looking forward to the action, which is when Iron-Blooded Orphans puts more of its own spin on formula.

Rating: A-

Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans is available streaming at Daisuki.net and Funimation.com.

Lauren writes about anime and journalism at Otaku Journalist.