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Jan 4, 2025
Tenbou Daikaku
(Manga)
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(6/? chp)
Empyreal Cabinet sets out to be a great new gen manga with absolutely outstanding worldbuilding from the very first chapter. It centers around Toya Tatsumori, a young Spellcaster and a member of a special unit of exorcists protecting their country from supernatural threats. It may sound generic on paper, but I assure you it is not your average battle shonen. What makes this one stand out from the multitude of exorcist/anti-monster corps manga that we're getting nowadays is its resemblance to a… political thriller. Empyreal Cabinet has a unique focus on the inner workings of the Spellcaster society: a major part of each chapter is
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Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jun 15, 2024 Recommended
*SPOILERS IN 'STORY' AND 'CHARACTERS' SECTIONS - THE REST IS SPOILER-FREE*
I have watched my fair share of Gundam media (namely the whole 'Amuro saga'), but Iron-Blooded Orphans was the first "modern" Gundam work I've experienced, and I was very pleasantly surprised by it. Unfortunately, I've seen many reviews on this site that completely miss the whole 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 entry 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 all the other Gundam media. It's one of the few Gundam anime to receive an R-17+ rating (the other ones being SEED, 00, Thunderbolt and Witch from Mercury). It allows the creators to tackle heavier, more mature topics than in your standard shonen mecha. And OH BOY, tackle they do. Iron-Blooded Orphans has it all: greedy megacorporations, shady politics, slavery, private armies, human body modification and the most prominent theme of them all: the use of child soldiers on the battlefield. It leans heavily towards cyberpunk/modern military, as opposed to most of the other Gundam series, which usually go for a space opera-esque type setting. It's honestly kinda surprising that this show got greenlit for production in the first place, as Bamco usually tries to avoid heavy topics in Gundam media, and instead they tend to go for a more kids-friendly approach to sell more gunpla (cause only children play with those silly robot toys, amirite?). Story: Overall, it's really solid; however, it does have some drawbacks that unfortunately prevent Iron-Blooded Orphans from being the masterpiece it could've been (more on that later on), but it's still a very enjoyable watch and I was on the edge of my seat for most of the time. Our story takes place in the year 323 P.D. - more than 300 years have passed since the Calamity War, a huge conflict that nearly wiped out all of humanity. The human race is slowly healing and rebuilding the broken world, but the memories of the war still remain. Earth and all of its space colonies have been divided into four large quasi-countries (which are called "economic blocs" in the show), while global order and security are upheld by an organization known as Gjallarhorn. The story centers around a group of child soldiers working for a private security company called CGS. All of them have been implanted with cybernetic modifications that improve their battle efficiency, and they are badly mistreated by their adult superiors. The CGS is tasked with safely escorting Kudelia Alia Bernstein, a prominent figure in the Mars Independence Movement, to Earth for a press conference, but they are suddenly attacked by Gjallarhorn. Amidst the chaos, the children rebel against their leaders and seize control of the company, renaming it to Tekkadan. They decide to carry on with their original objective and escort Kudelia to Earth, thus setting off on a journey that will change both their lives and the fate of the entire world. If it sounds gloomy to you, that's because it is. It's much more of a grounded, gritty story than other Gundam series. Even though the main cast are obviously the "good guys", their methods are questionable to say the least. And vice versa, the show's antagonists - Gjallarhorn - turn out to be more than just the "big bad". I would even consider some of them to be more noble and righteous than the heroes themselves. Add two-faced businessmen and corrupt politicians to the mix, and you've got a story that emanates with shades of gray instead of painting everything black and white. The world of Iron-Blooded Orphans is not so simple, and sometimes it's hard to determine who is wrong and who is right - just like in reality. The portrayal of warfare in general is also significantly different from other Gundam media: it is, so to speak, stripped down from all its glory. While in other Gundam series I've watched war is portrayed as great fun for the kids (once again, those gunpla won't sell themselves), Iron-Blooded Orphans does an almost complete 180 on that matter: here, war is a painful, relentless and brutal struggle for survival. Even victories aren't usually a reason to celebrate because the characters' consciences grow heavy from the people they killed (this unfortunately doesn't apply to the mc, but more on that in the "Characters" section). IBO is also grounded in a more literal sense - it's stripped down of all the supernatural elements that are present in UC Gundam. In the Universal Century timeline the OPness of the main characters comes from the fact that they are Newtypes, a group of people born with psychic powers. In the Post Disaster timeline, the concept of Newtypes is replaced with the Alaya-Vijnana system, a technology that utilizes the implants in a person's body to stimulate their brain to process more data and quicken their reaction time. When it comes to pacing, Iron-Blooded Orphans once again does the trick. The major problem I had with some early Gundam works was that they were unnecessarily drawn out and bloated with subpar filler episodes, to the point that it was a chore for me to watch them. IBO, on the other hand, stays at a healthy 25 episodes per season, keeping the pace of the action quick but also leaving enough runtime to develop various relationships between characters. Before we move on, I'd like to take a moment to talk about violence against children in this show, as I've seen some reviewers getting upset over it: yes, it is present, yes, it is bad and *that's the whole point*. I don't know if they noticed, but it's a show about a group of CHILD SOLDIERS, which I'd assume would lead you to believe that it is gonna tackle the subject of violence against children pretty extensively. I am genuinely confused how some people don't get this: the violence is there to show the true terror of war and to emphasize that children are the victims of every conflict and that they should be protected from it at all costs, so they could just be kids and have a normal childhood instead of being forced to fight. If it was to be taken away, the message of the show would've been lost completely. It would be like making a comedy series where nothing funny ever happens: it just wouldn't make any sense. Ok, now that I've glazed the story enough it's time for some critique. As I said before, Iron Blooded Orphans aims to be the more "mature" take on the Gundam world, and while it manages to accomplish this for the most part, the anime also commits one of the deadly sins of dark/edgy TV shows: it doesn't kill off enough important characters. Now don't get me wrong, death is one of the most important themes of the show, they keep bringing it up almost every episode. For the members of Tekkadan, the death of their comrades is the main driving force that pushes them forward. And all would've been fine, except we never actually *see* all this death they keep yapping about. A lot of people die in the show, true, but they're mostly insignificant background characters. Only two members of the main cast actually die, only one of them being a member of Tekkadan. The scene that particularly pissed me off was in episode 24 where a giant Gjallarhorn mobile suit wrecks three of the heroes' machines, annihilating them in just a couple of hits. They were pretty important characters and they were killed in a very brutal manner so it left a big impression on me when I've watched it. Unfortunately, the writers decided to pull off a standard shonen "they're dead until they're not" bullshit and it turned out they magically survived in the next episode. I don't know what was the writers' intention, but it completely ruined the impact of that scene. You can't just talk about brutal casualties of war over and over again without actually showing them to the viewer. An example of something like this done right is Attack on Titan: there you can actually feel the unforgiving reality of this world because half of the characters don't make it to the end of the story. Hovewer, as I said before, despite a few inconsistencies the story is really enjoyable and it paints an interesting picture of a grim, war-torn world, filled with inequality and suffering, where one has to carve their own path with iron and blood (pun intended) if they wish to survive. Characters: Unsurprisingly, Iron-Blooded Orphans has a very strong cast of characters, each of them memorable and unique in their own way. The absolute goat of the show is definitely Orga Itsuka, the young leader of Tekkadan. Apart from amazing character design, he's very complex, relatable and, most of all, cool as hell. On one hand, he's still a teenager who doesn't fully know how the world works yet. On the other hand, he's forced to grow up early and be sort of a father figure to the rest of the boys. Throughout the season, Orga is forced to make some difficult decisions to ensure the safety of the group, a burden that he's forced to bear as a leader. We can see him struggle with it multiple times, which is by all means a good thing because it makes him feel human. When it comes to the heroines of the story, the best one is, without a doubt, Kudelia herself. When we first meet her, she is a spoiled crybaby, but she progressively changes into a shrewd orator and a talented tactician, ultimately becoming a symbol of hope for the oppressed. The heroes are really interesting, but the villains' cast is equally stacked. Ngl, at first I thought that Gjallarhorn would just gonna end up being another boring, run-of-the-mill totalitarian regime type organization that you see hundreds of in sci-fi media, but I'm happy to say that I was wrong. Gjallarhorn is a much more complex organization than it looks at the first sight. They are basically sort of a "world police" that aims to maintain the status quo of power in the world. Think of them like the Titans from Z Gundam, but actually interesting. As we learn from the show, Gjallarhorn is in fact not a uniform organization. Gjallarhorn of the Earth Sphere is vastly different from its Outer Colonies branches. Whereas the forces around the Earth Sphere care about their public image and need to follow strict regulations, the Mars branch is corrupt to the core, essentially ruling over the whole sector with an iron fist with no regard for human life. Apart from that, Gjallarhorn of the Earth Sphere has its own set of shady affairs. It is implied that many years ago, Gjallrahorn actually cared about upholding peace and justice in the solar system, but as the years went by, they became rotten and corrupt, with Gjallahorn eventually becoming merely a stage for power struggles between its seven most prominent families, known as the Seven Stars. Out of the Gjallahorn officers that stand in Tekkadan's way, McGillis Fareed and Gaelio Bauduin deserve the most appreciation. Each of them a member of the Seven Stars, they start off as a harmonious duo of great friends. Despite being members of Gjallarhorn, they see the corruption within the organization and they want to reform it, bringing back the old Gjallarhorn values. The former takes matters into his own hands and decides to temporarily side with Tekkadan to discredit his father and the rest of Gjallarhorn's current leadership, seizing the power for himself. McGillis betrays and uses Gaelio, as well as another righteous Gjallahorn member called Ein to realize his plan. The parallel to Char Aznable comes to mind immediately (they even both have blond hair and wear masks!). Gealio, while not as cunning as McGillis, is also interesting. He is (despite being a "bad guy") one of the very few characters in the show that I would describe as "noble" and "just". A particular scene that got me feeling emotional is when their mutual childhood friend, Carta Issue, gets beaten by Tekkadan. Carta has always had feelings for McGillis and Gaelio was aware of that. When he comes in to rescue her, she is on the brink of death and losing touch with reality. Thinking that it was McGillis who came to her rescue, Carta calls out his name. Gaelio is distressed, but he wants Cartas's last moments to be happy ones, so he pretends to be McGillis and comforts her. Like, this is not how a villain acts, this is straight up chivalrous behavior. It's even more heartbreaking when Gaelio later on realizes, that McGillis is a traitor and that he used him, Carta and Ein as mere pawns on a chessboard. While the vast majority of the characters are really interesting and compelling, there are some that I have a slight issue with. I'll start with the less important one: Atra Mixta. She's just your usual shy/"kawaii" loli type character that tags along with the rest of the main cast for no particular reason. She doesn't contribute to the story in any meaningful way, all she does is cook, clean the kitchen and gush over the main hero. Idk why she's even in this show in the first place, I guess maybe the Japanese audience likes lolis so much?? I mean it's not like I hate her or anything, she's just an unnecessary side character with an annoying, high-pitched voice. The second character that I don't fw is none other than the mc himself: Mikazauki Augus (MAL labels both Mikazuki and Orga as main characters, but in reality Mikazuki is like the main main guy, while Orga is more like a "cooler older brother" type character). Mika's signature trait is that, unlike his comrades, he kills people without any remorse. And the thing is, I wouldn't have a problem with it if the show actually took the time to explain why that is the case, which it doesn't do. It is only implied that his behavior has something to do with his past, but it's not explained properly. It's certainly not ideal, but I'm 100% positive that they'll gonna elaborate on it in season 2, so I give Mikazuki a pass for now, I just hope the writers took the time to further develop his character in S2. Dialogues: It's gonna be a short one since there really isn't much to talk about: the dialogues are fine, nothing crazy though. Still, I think it's worth noting because they at least *feel human*, which is not a given when it comes to Gundam. Dialogues in the early Tomino works were questionable to say the least. They honestly felt like they were written by ChatGPT (AI wasn't around back in the 80s, but you know what I mean, they felt unnatural). Art style/Animation: Iron-Blooded Orphans has a good story and likable characters, but art style and animation is where it truly excels at. All the mobile suits look AMAZING. They don't look like plastic toys anymore, instead, they look like the heavy, powerful machines aka how they're supposed to. The animation is smooth, but it also packs a hell of a punch. Every hit has an impact to it, every shot actually feels like it's doing damage. All the fights are masterfully choreographed, they really are a treat to watch. There's also one other thing mechanical designers and animators deserve praise for which is often overlooked in many reviews. You see, mobile suits in IBO are built differently than in other mecha anime. Instead of being your regular robots, they are comprised of two main elements: the Frame, which is sort of like a mobile suit's "skeleton" and the outer coating, which is heavily customizable. Tekkadan gains a few mobile suits throughout the series, and they customize and tune them to fit their fighting style. It adds to the whole "rough" vibe this show has going for it. Remember, Tekkadan is not a regular army but a ragtag paramilitary group, so they have a finite amount of resources and need to utilize everything they have to their advantage. It also makes fights more engaging to watch because every hit leaves a mark on the mobile suit's armor. Stronger blows cause the metal coating to fall off and have to be replaced (due to this, Barbatos looks a bit different after every battle lol). Another thing worth noting is that Iron-Blooded Orphans is one of those anime that get the CGI just right. Personally, I'm not a fan of CGI in anime in general, I think that 2D will always look better. However, I know that with anime's rise in popularity and growing demand for more shows, the animators just don't have the time and resources to do everything in 2D and meet the crazy deadlines set by their executives. Computer-generated imagery is much faster to do, and it can look nice if you know what to animate with it and what not to. CGI tends to look best when utilized for animating machines or inanimate objects moving in a simple and predictable pattern. In IBO's case, things like starships and trains are done with CGI, while all the people and mobile suits are beautifully drawn in 2D. Music: Another strong point: while not best-in-class, music in IBO is really solid and complements the action pretty well. The OST by Masaru Yokoyama is great, it has a bit of a folk vibe to it, which may sound like a weird choice at first, but it actually fits nicely into the story (the main theme is a bit overused tho, you can hear it in almost every episode lmao). The openings and endings are also good, especially the first OP by MAN WITH A MISSION. I think it captures the atmosphere of the show perfectly. The other ones feel a little too upbeat in my opinion, but they're still pretty good, just not *as* good as 'Raise your flag'. Conclusion: All in all, Iron-Blooded Orphans is a great anime. It is both entertaining to watch and thought-provoking, as the creators are not afraid to tackle some heavy topics. I wholeheartedly recommend it to every military anime fan and I will definitely be watching season 2.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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All (2)Badges20th Anniversary Fantasy Anime League All (11)FriendsFortress_MaximusMusashiKarlsefniKaiserMichaelAJ_JODSzczelajoWeirdstuff_tmJMEbanba_84SverkellKurGsPanGaX
Also Available atRSS Feeds |
Jan 4, 2025
Tenbou Daikaku
(Manga)
add
Empyreal Cabinet sets out to be a great new gen manga with absolutely outstanding worldbuilding from the very first chapter. It centers around Toya Tatsumori, a young Spellcaster and a member of a special unit of exorcists protecting their country from supernatural threats. It may sound generic on paper, but I assure you it is not your average battle shonen. What makes this one stand out from the multitude of exorcist/anti-monster corps manga that we're getting nowadays is its resemblance to a… political thriller. Empyreal Cabinet has a unique focus on the inner workings of the Spellcaster society: a major part of each chapter is
...
Jun 15, 2024
*SPOILERS IN 'STORY' AND 'CHARACTERS' SECTIONS - THE REST IS SPOILER-FREE*
I have watched my fair share of Gundam media (namely the whole 'Amuro saga'), but Iron-Blooded Orphans was the first "modern" Gundam work I've experienced, and I was very pleasantly surprised by it. Unfortunately, I've seen many reviews on this site that completely miss the whole 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 ... |