Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
sharp7j
I'll keep this short and sweet. First season is a bit confusing, slow, tedious, but it all comes together for second season making it the best gundam season I have ever seen (I've watched most of them), and easily in my top anime of all time.
Its that good.
It left an insane impact on my soul. Mcgillis is one of the best anime characters ever made. Hell one of the best fictional characters of all time.
Anyway I don't want to spoil anything. Its a dark, fascinating, and weirdly realistic show. With a lot of political philosophy. Just endure season 1 for the glory that is season 2.
Read at the sourceBeagle313
War is hell. A simple saying, with a lot of meaning. It's not hard to find an anti-war piece of media. From greak books like "All Quiet On the Western Front" to groundbreaking films like "Full Metal Jacket" and even songs like "Fortunate Son". It seems that the cry for peace is strong within us all. "Iron Blooded Orphans" is one of those cries and it's truly remarkable for what it does.
Most of the cast are children or teens, thrown into the war machine to become "human debris", lives without meaning, chunks of meat made to kill other without remorse. They have to kill, they are orphans, criminals, people who make up the margin of the society, so they have nowhere to go. And in there a light shines, a leader, Orga. He is the one who will lead them on their journey toward a better life, or…
Read at the sourcedaaphish
*No spoilers*
Summary
Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans follows a set of orphan child soldiers who form a group called Tekkaden, as they engage in an escorting mission through space. The story is part of the Mobile Suit Gundam (MSG) universe, though watching other MSG shows is not required. There are plenty of giant machine battles, as is expected in the mecha genre. The story starts off interestingly by introducing themes of freedom, liberation, war, mistreatment, and loyalty; however, the story develops more into action, battles, and politics which detracts from these themes. There are excessive characters, and very few of them have time to satisfactorily develop with all the action. Overall, this series may be of interest to you if you enjoy the mecha genre, sci-fi, and action,…
Read at the sourceProfane_Vestige
This is a self encapsulated anime along with its second season meaning you do not need to watch or know about any of the immense library of gundam anime to enjoy this. With that said it is a good well thought out story about child soldiers in the scope of a war that is far above them and yet they have the power to forge their own path out of the hellhole of the battlefield. Tense moments for the too young main characters are a running theme that molds the characters into something that is a sight to behold.
If you are new to gundam anime as a whole this is an easy way into the franchise as a whole. Good fights, backdrops of politics, and an enjoyable story brings this up as a golden standard for the new age of gundam anime.
Read at the sourcePrivateJoe
Iron-Blooded Orphans has some of the best animations I've seen in a mecha anime. The animation is fluid, and there aren't any CGI mechas. However, Iron-Blooded Orphans isn't a perfect show. The soundtrack is unremarkable, characters other than Orga and Mikazuki aren't interesting, the dialogue is forgettable, and the villains are lame. I mean, one of the final antagonists had some interesting ideas on how he was going to change the world... it has something to do with kids.
Still, Iron-Blooded Orphans is a good show. If you like mecha fights and Orga and Mikazuki, then you're going to enjoy this anime. However, if you don't like Mechas or Orga and Mikazuki's stories, then you're probably going to hate this show.
Also, I was drawn to watching Iron-Blooded Orphans because I've seen 86 ge…
Read at the sourceYa_B0i
*SPOILERS IN 'STORY' AND 'CHARACTERS' SECTIONS - THE REST IS SPOILER-FREE*
I have watched my fair share of Gundam (namely the entire 'Amuro saga'), but Iron-Blooded Orphans was the first modern entry in the franchise that I've experienced, and I was very pleasantly surprised by it. Unfortunately, I've seen many reviews on MAL that completely miss the point of the show and have glaring inconsistencies and errors within them. And so I decided to write a comprehensive review of the anime's first season to hopefully clear out any misconceptions about it and get more people to check it out, as it is, without a doubt, the best Gundam work I've seen so far.
Setting:
To put it simply, it's great, and its greatness comes from the fact that it's different from most Gundam media and doesn't settle…
Read at the sourcezohmusic5
Whilst IBO has had fantastic animation, the mech designs and plot are horrendous.
With too many overarching political subterfuge going on and with no answers being given for all of them. It's even worse with appalling characters and rushed sequences that make the plot fall apart.
It had a strong start, but the writer relies on too many of the same plot devices. Repeatedly saying "suffering = good" doesn't make for a good story.
The entire story lacks cohesion and without any logical nuance, I just can't support this anime.
The story is not unique, we've seen it before and we're seeing it again. If you're into a lot of chaos and little plot relevance, I guess this is the anime for you.
Read at the sourceoozePOP
Iron-Blooded Orphans is easily one of the best anime I've ever watched. To me, the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise is like the Japanese equivalent to Star Wars, except the lore and aesthetic got better and tighter with time, as opposed to Star Wars, which many fans would agree is no longer canon. If you're a fan of Gundam in general but haven't watched this series, you definitely should.
Unlike the original movies, which are very old by now, this series is 25 episodes long, therefore giving plenty of time to allow the viewer to grow close to the main characters and witness amazing character development. The art style might seem kind of standard by today's standards, and while the action scenes might not feel as epic as some other modern anime (Jujutsu Kaisen is the first one that comes to m…
Read at the sourceexray0
This series ends with a bang and there are some good moments along the way.
A PMC made up of kids with a Gundam trying to survive and make a buck is an interesting premise that this series mostly delivers on, despite a few missteps here and there. There are probably too many characters and some of them don't quite pay off like they should for all the build up but most do what they need to do here.
The action looks good and Barbatos is a wonderfully unique Gundam design that is always great to watch.
The music is unfortunately forgettable and is especially disappointing during the battle scenes until near the end of season 2. This was particularly painful having watched IBO for the first time after a rewatch of Gundam 00, which had an absolutely banging soundtrack throughout.
The story…
Read at the sourceScreamingDOM
A refreshing start to those who hate see beam weaponry in Gundam franchise and those who know nothing about Gundam. No more pew pew beam just bang bang bullet and blunt weapon.
Story is just fine but feel stretched with its slow pacing but contain plot holes, not really enough action scenes. Character artstyle might be stylish but i see no problem. My biggest problem was just Mikazuki for being too one dimensional always angry looking protagonist, other character? they just fine. Sound design is top notch no ear-rape.
Recommend you to watch this if looking for fresh Gundam or Mecha anime. Even you dont know anything about Gundam.
Read at the sourceBruhItsJustAnime
A short and sweet review for this anime isn't really needed, but I feel like people sleep on this one quite often. Myself included. That being said, I wanted to publicly apologize for waiting to watch this show.
Disclaimer: I am NOT a huge fan of Gundam. I like the concept and do watch some mech genre shows, but I by no means have a professional or even brofessional opinion about the genre. I went into this show with low expectations and followed a friends recommendation to watch it.
Its good! It isn't a masterpiece by any means, but it will hit you in the feels some. The story itself did kind of get clunky toward the middle, but sticking with it had a pretty good pay off.
The mech fights are pretty decent. Maybe a little bit more fluid movements would be something to get it a higher s…
Read at the sourceBlueDiamonDrake
It’s my all time favourite.. although I’d have liked to seen a bit better way to finish the anime off. The rest is amazing, a must watch gundam anime.. filled with emotions, character and charisma. If you get into it, it really makes you feel like you want an extension to the anime. The premise of the story is very nice.. I won’t get into detail about what they are so as to not spoil anything at all to the readers. It might not seem interesting if it’s just said. But it is an amazing spectacular anime without a doubt in my mind. The Art, the mobile suits are incredible. Barbatos, Bael, Gusion etc have mind blowing design and so many other aspects of the anime are filled with spectral art and form. Typical of good gundam series’. Sound effects, music, etc are top class. It really brings out…
Read at the sourceDarkshark7000
Yeah, I think in terms of quality it's about a 5 for me. Like the characters and animations and stuff were fine just weren't really my thing. I just felt a lot of what was going on was just uninteresting and found the anime as a whole just kind of boring. In terms of personal enjoyment, id give this a 2/10 because I felt it was boring and wasn't interested in the plot or any of the characters, but I can admit maybe the show just isn't for me like I said before the overall quality seems to be there so ill give this overall like a 5 even tho for me personally it's more like a 2.
Read at the sourcealgoPotaku
very good anime, it is very good all the truth is an excellent mecha anime. If you want to see death and destruction is your anime you will not regret it. The only thing I don't like is that it sins from the typical resource of killing someone but not killing them, that is, if you kill someone, that's it. It's dead, fuck no more, but hey, it's still an excellent anime of mecha like few others. I think it's from the gundan series so that's why it's also very good. I highly recommend it, the end is a half ending but it's good. The animation is very good, it's the fighting is where it excels. It is the perfect series to start watching highlights anime because at no time it bores you.
En español:
muy buen anime, está muy bueno todo la verdad es una anime de mechas excelente. Si quieres ver m…
Read at the sourceRoronoaZoloft
The first third of the show is outstanding. It has youth liberation, poly relationships, and a militant worker's revolution.
But of course it's a commercial product so that all sort of fizzled out and it turned into just another super robo anime with shallow badass characters. It's enjoyable enough to keep watching to last episode, but the ending is very bad. They tried to have some sort of moral pathos with the epilogue that is not earned at all by the events of the show.
I would recommend the first 20 or so episodes. Then just watch a better Gundam.
Read at the sourceBurrZurrCarr
An unapologetically raw mecca action show, that both takes itself seriously and has the substance to be able to back that seriousness up is extremely rare these days, especially for a mecca; oh my how they've done justice to one of my favorite subgenera of anime. This is an action adventure blood and gore soaked clusterfuck of constant fighting, and it's awesome. I can somewhat understand the criticism this show commonly receives, but IBO is not fine art, it's just pure fun violence.
Story 8/10: A very solid anime original story, feels like it's trying to be Code Geass in some places, but with less politics and good writing and a shit ton more fighting. This show is definitely a show where the story is there to serve the action and adventure as opposed to the other way around. However, if…
Read at the sourceKenny2803
So I'm gonna preface this by saying that the only gundam series I've ever watched are Gundam Seed some years ago and then Iron-blooded Orphans. With how vitriolically I responded to Gundam Seed, I'm glad I actually gave this one a chance. Unlike its predecessor, its characters are instantly likeable (looking at you, Kira Yamato), and its themes of fighting for your home - whether by leaving a mark in a society that rejects you or freeing your land (planet?) from opressors - are relatable as well. Some parts of the story might be a bit predictable and rushed, but any minor negatives of the series are offset by the depths of its ensembled cast and their dynamics with each other. All in all, a good series.
Read at the sourceEDOSHINRATENSEI
What should I do next, Orga? Nah, I already know. Just wanted to ask.
Season 1 was very good. Some characters I didn’t care too much, but I liked the main duo the most. Their background wasn’t delved in too much, but there’s a feeling that they are very close. The theme of how corruption and inequality in the world ruin childhood innocence was explored well. Finally, the plot was fairly complicated with many parts that kept me intrigued. The mecha fight scenes were fun and bloody. I felt the passion and potential from the characters, and I wanted to see the kids succeed, after seeing them suffering so much. I enjoyed this first season quite a bit. 8/10
Read at the sourceuWuDesuWooWoo
I have seen Gundam Seed, Gundam Seed Destiny and 00 S1 and S2, all twice.
I just finished season 1 of Iron Blooded Orphans and I can safely say that if this didn't have the Gundam branding on it, it wouldn't have a season 2, and would likely be rated somewhere on MAL within the 5-6 range.
This is a terrible mecha show, and it's quite clear how this was an original anime with no manga, light novel, game or even previous anime to base this off - it never would have been published. To say that the story is, uhhhh, confusing, is putting it mildly.
SPOILERS AHEAD
I won't be using the characters' names unless I can remember them. This is my first review on MAL, and I'm writing this because, well, this show sucks. Star Driver is better, and hoo boy, that show ain't great. This makes Code Geas…
Read at the sourcerobert788
Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans (2015)
From Kudelia Aina Berstein repeated a lot and the word responsibility mentioned after a while multiple times we still get Atra Mixta as best girl.
The story is one of the massive Gundam universe stories that are very well done. It does involve a militia based company run by mostly children or very young adults so some may find that distressing. It is a pretty straight forward mission of essentially a courier job that has many distractions on route to an epic finale. At times episodes almost feel like a few minutes have been missed but that is the style I can only assume.
The art style is very good for its age although it has started to look a bit old it is very much fine to watch. Sometimes shows like Gundam do suit more of an older anim…
Read at the source
