Reviewing Anime
Certainly it has some rough edges, and I'll elaborate on those below, but it is a charming story with a group of characters that you can like, hate, laugh at, cry for, and generally believe they are real people. Sometimes they are clever, and sometimes they are sad, and sometimes they are just kids well out of their depth, but the whole time you can see them as being very human and that makes everything else in this show work.
Overview: Previously I reviewed season 1 of Iron Blooded Orphans so you can check that out here. Season 2 pretty much picks up with Tekkadan trying to make it as a legitimate business but through various business and political maneuvers as well as some poor decision making we see our orphans going back into battle. … Continue reading Iron Blooded Orphans Season 2 Series Review
Review: This ends exactly as you would expect though I will give them points for one or two surprises (such as Ride's future which I didn't see coming). Still, any potential character growth for Mikazuki ends rather abruptly mid-episode much as it should given what they were up against. However, the general tone of the … Continue reading Iron Blooded Orphans Episode 50
Review: Orga's death hits Tekkadan hard but Mikazuki actually takes some initiative, even if he is just using Orga's words to rally the others followed by the blunt threat of violence. I'm not sure if this counts as development or not but it is more proactive than we have seen Mikazuki before. Spoilers below. Someone … Continue reading Iron Blooded Orphans Episode 49
Review: Please note: Major episode spoilers below - no attempt to conceal details. There was a lot of Orga focus in this episode, for good reason. What I particularly liked is that Orga's screen time didn't suddenly advance, and other than one flashback (which we've seen before from a different perspective) we didn't dwell on … Continue reading Iron Blooded Orphans Episode 48
Review: This is like watching a collision in slow motion. You know the impact is coming and you know it is going to be bad but you're just kind of inching toward it. This episode saw them finally arrive back on Mars but with no allies and no money, Tekkadan really has no chance. Zack … Continue reading Iron Blooded Orphans Episode 47
Review: Shino's death hits hard (you know, unlike the other half the cast that already died, we actually cared about Shino) and after the dust of the battle settles (or, rather Tekkadan and co scurry away to potential safety) we get the regret, the lamentation and the half-hearted I'm glad you didn't die speeches. Yamagi … Continue reading Iron Blooded Orpahns Episode 46
Review: This episode is essentially the battle that we've been heading towards for quite awhile. Though with so little reason to care given Tekkadan threw themselves willingly into the hopeless conflict, McGillis' plan was pretty much nothing, and given none of the other players have mattered in the slightest, essentially this is just watching bits … Continue reading Iron Blooded Orphans Episode 45
Review: There was a line early in this episode that just made me laugh. "You all must obey me now." Really? Because you dug up some ancient mecha. And if they don't? Well, clearly nobody thought that far ahead because it turns out they can choose to not obey and all he can do is … Continue reading Iron Blooded Orphans Episode 44
Review: After so many episodes of talking and set-up we finally know what this has been heading towards. The problem is, that it isn't such an awesome reveal. In point of fact it's pretty lame. One three hundred year old machine and Fareed thinks he can take on the world. I guess the only question … Continue reading Iron Blooded Orphans Episode 43