'Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans' Episode 5 Review; Tekkadan Takes Battle To Space!
The fifth episode of "Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans" showed viewers that the young Tekkadan crew are just as formidable in space as they are on land, according to Reno Gazette-Journal. The episode gave a glimpse of how "Iron-Blooded Orphans" will feature space battles, a staple in all Gundam titles.
The episode opened up with the young Tekkadan crew preparing for their first ever mission, a transport job with a VIP as the package. Kudelia, the face of Mars liberation, formally requested their service to take her down to Earth for negotiations. She needs help in going to Earth because according to Reno Gazette-Journal, "there's a line of folks eager to turn Kudelia Aina Bernstein into a symbolic puppet or worse."
The lone Gundam in "Iron Blooded Orphans" is piloted by the calm, diminutive protagonist Mikazuki "Mika" Augus. Mika is the "ace pilot" in the anime, as he proficiently piloted Gundam Barbatos on his first try, accoring to TvTropes.com.
In the previous episode, it was revealed that one of Tekkadan's adult employees has been scheming behind their backs. That episode lacked the typical mobile suit battle, but made up with plenty of character expositions and human drama, according to Realty Today. Episode 5 of the "Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans" is the ideal continuation of the 4th episode, following up human drama with pure space action.
Tekkadan is led by Orga Itsuka, a cunning tactician. In the midst of betrayal, he revealed that he already anticipated the move and already has a contigency plan in action. The Tekkadan are characterized as a "band of brothers" by TvTropes because of their tight-knit relationship. Together, they were they able to fend off all their enemies and were able to launch a counterattack against their enemies.
The main characters, Mika and Orga are "orphans" from a previous military experiment. They are nicely grounded, with no other motives except for achieving independence for their friends and family, according to a review from Forbes.
