Gundam Discussion - Twilight Axis

[Tyrath]

I can't see Kudelia dying anytime soon. Orga maybe, but he'd probably be in season 2 if he dies.

[Vaspinne]

My shot in the dark guess is that they get into a big battle at the end of season 1, Tekkadon loses the battle, a bunch of the kids die (not Orga or Mika) and the rest are detained/separated.

Kudelia isn't dying. She's the Relena/Lacus/Marina/Audrey/etc etc of the series.

[Vaspinne]

IBO 24

Holy fuck.

Spoiler: show

All the death flags that have been building up are starting to get triggered. So many deaths, so many characters wiped out. And the rhetoric from Orga and all the kids (FUCKING CHILDREN!!!) basically going on a suicide mission. Unreal. I'm not a huge Gundam expert but I don't think any series has had this serious of a tone and taken the child soldier theme so deep.

I'm kind of blown away right now. Next episode is the last of the season? Or is there a 26th episode? Will be really interesting to see the aftermath of all this.

[Tymon]

Major Gundam shows are always 25x2.

[Greedouw]

That episode was awesome... holy hell

[Koul]

went by way too fast. holy shit

[Cleverness]

[Tymon]

Seriously though, that episode was on the level of some of the more tense Wing or 00 episodes. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Had no clue what was going to happen and when I finally thought I did, it didn't.

Awesome.

[Serra]

Spoiler: show

I'm so confused by McGillis.. What was the point of creating RoboEin and pushing Gaelio (and Carta for that matter) to fight.

Really I'm just upset Lafter died ; ;

Also, guess my theory for S2 is wrong now that everyone is down on Earth somehow..

[Cleverness]

Spoiler: show

I'm so confused by McGillis.. What was the point of creating RoboEin and pushing Gaelio (and Carta for that matter) to fight.

Really I'm just upset Lafter died ; ;

Also, guess my theory for S2 is wrong now that everyone is down on Earth somehow..

Spoiler: show

He's kind of shown he hates how Ghorn is currently running, and since it seems like he may have been adopted into nobility due to that Carta flashback he probably doesn't care for the status quo like the rest of them. He sees Tekkadan as a good tool to use to shake things up. After this last episode his team on that ship will probably spread the information of Ein Graze entering the city to stir up trouble around the globe and probably work his way further up into Ghorn like Paptimus in Zeta did.

[Koul]

Spoiler: show

I'm so confused by McGillis.. What was the point of creating RoboEin and pushing Gaelio (and Carta for that matter) to fight.

Really I'm just upset Lafter died ; ;

Also, guess my theory for S2 is wrong now that everyone is down on Earth somehow..

Spoiler: show

He's trying to see who is a true innovator, Ein or Mika

[Vaspinne]

Spoiler: show

It seemed like Ein was more or less melded into the mech from how it was described when he appeared. Maybe McGillis has something up his sleeve in regards to that for the cliffhanger ending next week?

[Xajii]

I don't think a show - Gundam or otherwise - has made me as truly uncomfortable with regards to child soldiers / war in general as IBO has.

Spoiler: show

The show has some flaws, but overall, I think it has fully realized one of Gundam's main goals from the very beginning. The way the two most recent episodes handled the entire Tekkadan crew's reaction to various events - such as Mika's mauling of Carta, or the seemingly hopeless engagement with Gjallarhorn on Earth - was perfectly juxtaposed with Merribitt's horror, with Orga's internal struggles at making the decision to send children to die, with Kudelia's finally coming to terms with that reality (even wearing a Tekkadan jacket!!).

And what I think is so strong about this message is that, compared to - say - White Base's journey in 0079... Tekkadan has barely accomplished shit. Their whole job was to get her to Earth, and it took the entire season to do so, and half or more of them are now dead.

This show gets flack for its pacing, but I like that. It's REAL. It's powerful. There's comparatively little honor or sacrifice in a death like Biscuit's when compared to Ryu, for example. He died with a likely pessimistic view of whether their nominal mission would even be completed.

I really like the whole "go home to where?" thing, too. It's a grim reality of so many soldiers' lives all over the world, young or not. Also, I think it's a big departure from some of Gundam's protagonists and the way they use their families and past lives to tug at heart strings - from the snotty privileged Amuro and Kamilles to the sort of 'revenge' narrative of guys like Setsuna... Tekkadan just comes from dirt. Pure, red dirt.

I see a lot of people talk about how one dimensional Mika is, but I find it utterly fascinating. The way he approached Orga after Biscuit's death was so intense and weird. He's just so goddamn weird. I love it.

[Tyrath]

Spoiler: show

I'm so confused by McGillis.. What was the point of creating RoboEin and pushing Gaelio (and Carta for that matter) to fight.

Really I'm just upset Lafter died ; ;

Also, guess my theory for S2 is wrong now that everyone is down on Earth somehow..

Spoiler: show

I'm not convinced Lafter is dead. Azee for sure is.

That was such an amazing ep. It's taken a long long time for us to get a good new gundam series but goddamn it's been worth the wait.

[Serra]

Spoiler: show

See, I think if either of them survived, it'll be Azee. They showed her after the injury and there wasn't any light in the cockpit, so I doubt the axe went through and hit her or anything. With Lafter, the freaking drill kick to the torso (which, why the fuck did someone design a drill kick? >.>) and the blood splatter seemed pretty definitive.

[Vaspinne]

Spoiler: show

See, I think if either of them survived, it'll be Azee. They showed her after the injury and there wasn't any light in the cockpit, so I doubt the axe went through and hit her or anything. With Lafter, the freaking drill kick to the torso (which, why the fuck did someone design a drill kick? >.>) and the blood splatter seemed pretty definitive.

Spoiler: show

Not only were their deaths (if they died) shocking, but what's really compelling to me now is how will Turbine respond? All those girls on his ship being his family and wife and etc, etc. Calling Orga his brother and then finding out that Orga more or less sent 2 of his family members off on a suicide mission.

I've said this already but the aftermath of episode 24 should be incredibly heavy. I just hope they don't drop the ball here and keep the quality of the story as high as it's been so far.

[Vaspinne]

I don't think a show - Gundam or otherwise - has made me as truly uncomfortable with regards to child soldiers / war in general as IBO has.

Spoiler: show

The show has some flaws, but overall, I think it has fully realized one of Gundam's main goals from the very beginning. The way the two most recent episodes handled the entire Tekkadan crew's reaction to various events - such as Mika's mauling of Carta, or the seemingly hopeless engagement with Gjallarhorn on Earth - was perfectly juxtaposed with Merribitt's horror, with Orga's internal struggles at making the decision to send children to die, with Kudelia's finally coming to terms with that reality (even wearing a Tekkadan jacket!!).

And what I think is so strong about this message is that, compared to - say - White Base's journey in 0079... Tekkadan has barely accomplished shit. Their whole job was to get her to Earth, and it took the entire season to do so, and half or more of them are now dead.

This show gets flack for its pacing, but I like that. It's REAL. It's powerful. There's comparatively little honor or sacrifice in a death like Biscuit's when compared to Ryu, for example. He died with a likely pessimistic view of whether their nominal mission would even be completed.

I really like the whole "go home to where?" thing, too. It's a grim reality of so many soldiers' lives all over the world, young or not. Also, I think it's a big departure from some of Gundam's protagonists and the way they use their families and past lives to tug at heart strings - from the snotty privileged Amuro and Kamilles to the sort of 'revenge' narrative of guys like Setsuna... Tekkadan just comes from dirt. Pure, red dirt.

I see a lot of people talk about how one dimensional Mika is, but I find it utterly fascinating. The way he approached Orga after Biscuit's death was so intense and weird. He's just so goddamn weird. I love it.

Our sentiments are very similar. I agree and feel the same way about more or less everything you wrote.

[Tyrath]

Spoiler: show

See, I think if either of them survived, it'll be Azee. They showed her after the injury and there wasn't any light in the cockpit, so I doubt the axe went through and hit her or anything. With Lafter, the freaking drill kick to the torso (which, why the fuck did someone design a drill kick? >.>) and the blood splatter seemed pretty definitive.

Spoiler: show

It basically shoes Azee's bloody, lifeless body though. We don't see anything besides blood from Lafter so who knows.

[Xajii]

Spoiler: show

Not only were their deaths (if they died) shocking, but what's really compelling to me now is how will Turbine respond? All those girls on his ship being his family and wife and etc, etc. Calling Orga his brother and then finding out that Orga more or less sent 2 of his family members off on a suicide mission.

I've said this already but the aftermath of episode 24 should be incredibly heavy. I just hope they don't drop the ball here and keep the quality of the story as high as it's been so far.

Spoiler: show

I need so so badly for Naze to come out in a fucking baller ass dark horse MS and tear shit up.

[Insanecyclone]