Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Anime General Discussion Thread

[SonicSP]

Originally Posted by LoweGear

Has anyone ever considered that ratings may no longer be as relevant as it is in the current media environment as it once was, considering the proliferation of online media sites and online television?

It could be, but the other TV shows are also being judged on the same metric so it's probabaly not a good first sign in any case.

I also think streaming sites are less of a thing in Japan. I remembered watching some analysts talking on Bloomberg about Netflix's debut in Japan some weeks ago and they also discussed the streaming industry in Japan there and how one of the challenges for Netflix was that Japan's television. I assume some exist of course but it's definitely not as much of a thing compared to say, the US where they are more and more prevalent. Even in US, traditional viewers still massively outweigh cord cutters despite the exposure the trend have had in the media in the last few years.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Well, as long as we can still get the whole story animated and presented (not get cut by cancellation), I’m fine with it. I’ll trust the Japanese audience for the following episodes to boost the ratings (given the series’ quality doesn’t go downhill from here).

[SonicSP]

A better metric of success would be Blu-Ray and DVD sales since those actually provide revenue, though they are probably some good correlation with ratings I assume.

Model kits and merchandise sales are also important for Bandai, though I don't think we ever get those numbers. Supposedly Gundam X's failure was also in this area.

[Arya]

mmm, so it's 25 episodes, I think it's the bare minimum for a mecha anime. It's fine for fancy series, less for more serious ones.

About the ratings, coming just after G-Reco (and don't forget Age before that) probably didn't help the confidence of the viewers. I myself would have been far more skeptical if it wasn't for Okada (and for no good reasons given how M3: was).

Ah, so Mika is illiterate. Having the princess teaching him seems pretty the most obvious outcome (hopefully she won't be relegated being his personal tutor). That's definitely Okada material after all.
Personally I find this kind of dynamic very endearing to watch, it worked so well in Gangsta, even if it was a bit different and more meaningful all around for obvious reasons. Or in Tokyo Ghoul. I liked it also when happened in GoT.

[SonicSP]

Originally Posted by Arya

About the ratings, coming just after G-Reco (and don't forget Age before that) probably didn't help the confidence of the viewers. I myself would have been far more skeptical if it wasn't for Okada (and for no good reasons given how M3: was).

I heard G-Reco didn't do too badly in Japan, though I am by no means an expert on that topic of data that showed this since I didn't follow G-Reco too closely personally.

I'll be happy if someone can show me data on this subject though, as I am very much interested in it myself. AGE though I recall having bad ratings and sales all around.

"If" Gundam fatigue may have played into any possible bad ratings for IBO (still early in afterall), I would also suspect Build Fighters and Build Fighters Try contributing to it as well even if they are very different types of shows than a normal Gundam show.

[monster]

I don't think the comparison with the 1990s situation is apt. In the 1990s, there were 4 back to back main series with each having 35+ episodes.

I think Build Fighters can arguably be considered closer to a side series, like SD, than the main series. But even if you count them, BF/BFT/Reconguista each have 25 episodes. So, Build Fighters Try and Reconguista aside, which aired around the same time, there were plenty of time in between not to get fatigue with Gundam. And AGE wasn't back-to-back with Build Fighters either.

So maybe people were weary of Orphans due to AGE and Reconguista (again, BF/BFT probably isn't comparable).
Or maybe it's because the previews for the first episode didn't excite them.
Or maybe because there were simply so many other competing shows to watch.

Whatever the reason, I don't think it's anything as simple as "Gundam fatigue" like in the 1990s. (Actually, I don't even know if X really did suffer due to "Gundam fatigue" or because its timeslot was moved to a worse spot.)

[SonicSP]

It may not be back to back and to the same extent, but I feel like the general trend and happening is similar. Plus we're a much more interconnected world than the 90s so I feel it's much easier for people to feel fatigue and exposed to something.

I know I feel this fatigue, despite the fact that we have G-Reco coming out last year and not having anything for six months, I get the "another Gundam show so quickly" feeling. It's definitely much much more concentrated than it was in say the late 2000s where we pretty much have 00 and Unicorn were the new released that I thought was discussed widely (if we discount Unicorn for being an OVA, 00 was pretty much the only Gundam show to have been newly released in the latter half of 2000s). And even before that they were only Seed and Seed Destiny in 2002 and 2004 respectively.

I also feel like shows with 25 episodes are more common compared to the 90s, so the relative episode count needed for people to feel it would be less relative to the standard of other anime. I also feel that even if Build Fighters is a side series, it gets a lot of more exposure compared to SD and would play towards that mentality and its model kits are apparently popular enough to even warrant MG releases.

Of course I also feel like AGE and G-Reco's standards didn't help and also probably contributed but I also can't help but think that some sort of fatigue is also part of it. Even if IBO ratings does turn out to be good, at least personally I know that I'm starting to feel a little bit of fatigue though personally if the show is going to be as good as the first episode, then it's the best Gundam show to help me out at the moment.

[monster]

I can see it both ways as far as the increased exposure is concerned. If you watch other shows that are similar, then a new Gundam series might not be as special anymore. On the other hand, if you watch different kinds of shows, then a new Gundam series might still feel special, at least at the beginning.

I will say that the time between airing (not counting SD shows, TV specials, OVAs, and movies) have gone up and down over time since X, and more down for the past 2 years, but altogether there is still quite a bit of down time:

4/96-12/96 - X
4/99-4/00 - Turn A
10/02-9/03 - SEED
10/04-10/05 - SEED Destiny
10/07-3/08 - 00 Season 1
10/08-3/09 - 00 Season 2
10/11-9/12 - AGE
10/13-3/14 - Build Fighters
10/14-4/15 - Reconguista + Build Fighters Try
10/15-ongoing - Iron-Blooded Orphans

2 years, 4 months
2 years, 6 months
1 year, 1 month
2 years
7 months
2 years, 7 months
1 year, 1 month
7 months
6 months

Anyway, it's still just the first episode for Orphans.

[SonicSP]

Yeah too early to tell at the moment. Hopefully it picks up though especially if reactions of the Japanese viewers are good as they have been with the English speaking ones.

[Arya]

I'm leaning toward a lost of confidence on the brand, I myself as a generic mecha fan, so not a Gundam fan specifically, lost it. I felt that from AGE onward the franchise went and kept going into a direction that felt like no Gundam anymore. Surely G-Reco don't belong to this trend, but had its personal, and apparently more serious, issues that in any case added-up perfectly to that slippery slope.
So maybe general viewers stepped back waiting to see how this new show would go (as I did with G-Reco), leaving all the room to the detractors

[Duo Maxwell]

I guess skipping G-Reco did more good thing to me than I thought.

[SonicSP]

Originally Posted by Duo Maxwell

I guess skipping G-Reco did more good thing to me than I thought.

I watched through until 8 but then I gave up. I do plan to finish it someday just for conpletionist's sake. Maybe it gets better or something.......

I also want to keep watching it so I can add some info to Gundam Wikia. But right now I'm focused on keeping IBO articles up to date so that's on the back burner.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by Duo Maxwell

I guess skipping G-Reco did more good thing to me than I thought.

Yes, G-Reco is skippable and not worth your time if you’re looking for a good & engaging story. But if you’re a sucker for rich visuals & Ghibli-esque oldschool animation (with TV budget of course), you’ll probably enjoy the series purely on its visual aspect (and probably audio too). I know I do . G-Reco is indeed a mess, but it's a beautiful mess.

[dragon1412]

Originally Posted by Obelisk ze Tormentor

Yes, G-Reco is skippable and not worth your time if you’re looking for a good & engaging story. But if you’re a sucker for rich visuals & Ghibli-esque oldschool animation (with TV budget of course), you’ll probably enjoy the series purely on its visual aspect (and probably audio too). I know I do . G-Reco is indeed a mess, but it's a beautiful mess.

beautiful ??? OBJECTION !!! I didn't bother watching the G reco purely out of the hideous Gundam design and just the image of following it till the end scare me.

[SonicSP]

I actually rather like the Gundam design and some of the other designs there, I just wasn't into the characters as they annoy me quite a bit. The story seemed decent though, and I was really looking forward to the show before it aired because of the setting.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by dragon1412

beautiful ??? OBJECTION !!! I didn't bother watching the G reco purely out of the hideous Gundam design and just the image of following it till the end scare me.

Different strokes for different folks, I guess. For me, the mecha designs are one of the highlights of the series. The big-eyed G-Self is quite pleasantly unique for me, as well as the other Gundams & MSs:

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It also helps when you have this level of animation:

[Chosen_Hero]

Originally Posted by Obelisk ze Tormentor

Different strokes for different folks, I guess. For me, the mecha designs are one of the highlights of the series. The big-eyed G-Self is quite pleasantly unique for me, as well as the other Gundams & MSs:

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It also helps when you have this level of animation:

Like once every 5 episodes (sometimes more), if anyone is watching G-Reconquista it's only because of the wtf element of it all, I finished all the episodes and to this day i'm still trying to figure what the hell halpened and why and let's be real only the Tomino hipsters act like they know what it was about.

[Wandering Soul]

Originally Posted by Duo Maxwell

I guess skipping G-Reco did more good thing to me than I thought.

Honestly unless you are a hardcore Gundam fan and really fond of Tomino's works I wouldn't recommend G-Reco. Even then, I'm still not entirely sure I would recommend it.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by Chosen_Hero

Like once every 5 episodes (sometimes more),

Like I said: TV budget.

You can’t expect that kind of movie-quality animation in every episode. But the second half of the series is indeed filled with visually great fights like my example above (and inspired art, backdrop and setting too) unless you openly ignore and deny them all. All in all, G-Reco still has more animation & movements than Wing, SEED & SEED Destiny combination of stock footage & re-used animations. Heck, I’d go further and say that G-Reco has more animation & richer visuals compared to every single Gundam series to date except for maybe Turn-A.

Originally Posted by Chosen_Hero

if anyone is watching G-Reconquista it's only because of the wtf element of it all,

You may or may not believe me, but like I said, I watched G-Reco mainly for the (audio)visual experience. WTF-plot alone won't be enough to make me finish that series, unless you're a masochist .

Originally Posted by Chosen_Hero

I finished all the episodes and to this day i'm still trying to figure what the hell halpened and why and let's be real only the Tomino hipsters act like they know what it was about.

I think all of us are confused by the story to various degrees. But there are Tomino-fans out there who have watched G-Reco multiple times to understand the story more, and they have indeed picked up more info than us who have only watched it once or twice, and I appreciate their effort.

[Yu Ominae]

It's been announced on ANN that an English version is coming. Most likely done with LA/NY VAs like how Unicorn's English version was handled.