Just finished IBO and while I liked the premise and the mecha designs and the (potential) setting, there's one aspect that killed the whole show for me and made me struggle to slog through it.
There is absolutely no sense or weight or importance to the protagonists' "mission". They're taking some girl to Earth so she can... negotiate a trade deal for metals? That's it? Nobody in the show has any urgency about this, and don't seem to have any personal investment in it.
The main characters are literally just completing a chore and trying to get it over with so they can just go back home and say they did it. And as a result, I felt the exact same way about watching the show.
takaki best boy
The characters literally say they want to get the job done so they can get paid and go back to Mars.
>>14454036
Exactly. How am I supposed to give a shit about the story when its own heroes don't?
But guise le Mari Okada
>>14454399
Why is 4chan is obsessed with Okada?
I'd have never known she wrote more than half the stuff she apparently did if 4chan, especially /m/, didn't keep hammering on about her.
>>14454044
I think this is part of the reason why the show doesn't resonate with the Japanese. These kids are only in it for themselves, to make Tekkadan great. And what is Tekkadan? A PMC.
When you consider how the Japanese believe kids are incapable of killing, and how those that do are fucked up, I'm going to guess Tekkadan start appearing more monsterous than likable to them. After all these are kids who kill, join the mafia, smuggle goods, and the like for money. Not nationalism, not because they were brainwashed, not for some greater good. Cold, hard cash is all that matters to them.
Then you get Mika's lack of fucks. He kills? So what? He's only concerned about trying to get to his happy place where he can play farmer. He'll influence Orga to lead Tekkadan into high risk/high reward situations, and the show hasn't really done anything with that. Heero regained his emotions while Setsuna went from suffering the worst of humanity to being the next step in it's evolution. What does Mika have? He sold part of his body to win against Ein?
I finished binging it today. I know Tekkadan was morally grey from the start, but the weird sociopathic turn they took afterBiscuitdied felt a little jarring.
>>14454006
I actually like that about Tekkadan. Their mission is to get Kudelia to earth so she can make her speech about mars independence and that's as far as it goes. They will help people out if they can(the Brewers kids and the Dort protesters), but they're not trying to save the world or some nonsense, their just trying to survive and protect their loved ones.
How's it doing in toonami? I dont like the show much but ill be glad if it gets more westerners into gundam again
>>14455111
>After all these are kids who kill, join the mafia, smuggle goods, and the like for money. Not nationalism, not because they were brainwashed, not for some greater good. Cold, hard cash is all that matters to them.
This sounds pretty cool. The problem is that in the show is all pretty boring. IBO is a good example on "how to fuck a good premise"
I recently binged watched IBO too and I would say its biggest problem is it just has terrible pacing. If that first season was just thirteen episodes and they cut out all the bullshit, it'd be a wholly more entertaining experience but instead we get that boring ass arc on the colonies.
>>14455208
And that would explain the ratings, though I wonder if it has more of a shock factor for the Japanese audience.
>>14455232
Definitely this. I really liked the show, but it became pretty clear a little less than halfway that they were stretching it out. I'd guess that's around the time a S2 got greenlit and they weren't sure what to do so they bought time.
>>14455111
Take it to the extreme level . This is why I am much preffered protagonist like amuro/kamille than pretentious cool character who literally gave zero fucks about everything.
I liked that they cared about their PMC first, and everyone else second. None of that stupid nonsense about not killing in the battlefield.
You think the mission is boring because you have the wrong perspective. It's not about the 'why', it's only about success or failure, since their whole company depends on that one job. And they were willing throw their lives away for it, so I can see why you didn't understand.
the same argument could be made for 08th ms team or 0080 tbqh senpai-a-lam.
IBO was a contained story. It didn't want to tell some overarching plot about a larger war/revolution. It was just spread out over 25 episodes. I feel like if it was an 6-8 episode OVA or something, it would be received much better, but you wouldn't get as nearly as much exposition I feel in that format
Especially if you marathoned it I don't see how you can get the complaints of pacing. It's a lot more compact over the course of a few days rather than the original airing which took 26+ weeks
>>14455492
I look forward to the second season with a Martian Independence war, or maybe Tekkadan doing PMC things trying to stop a super weapon ala Metal Gear
>>14455519
yeah if they go that route of Tekkadan playing a more pivotal role (or at least depict the conflict on a broader scale) I wouldn't mind. I'd rather them tell the story(whatever that may be) consistently over the course of the season rather than pacing being all over the place.
i only watched for gundam whacking people with a dumb monster hunter hammer
>>14455492
The difference being that 0080 had a goal that its characters were invested in. Destroy Gundam Alex. Bernie wants to prove himself as a pilot. You've got things like Al growing up and learning the consequences of war, Bernie bonds with Al and the Colony itself. This gets him to look at the bigger picture. You've got things like tragic love between Bernie and Christie. Basically, 0080 has a lot of things going on and a lot more at stake in its battles.
IBO doesn't have that because no one feels invested. This is despite them telling us directly how much they care about each other as a family. IBO would be twice as good if it had half the exposition.
Fumitan best lady
>>14455488
basically
>>14455168
It's changing timeslots for OPM next week
>>14454006
I agree.
It's basically my biggest criticism towards it but I'm not sure if It's the writers/director fault when characters say "Guys let's wrap it up and go home already."
I mean is that supposed to be intentional or what?
It's also why I'm hesitant to judge it when we only saw half of it.
>but it's dark
>but it's realistic
>but it's edgy
>but there are no beam weapons
>but there's no newtype bullshit
>but the protag has a kill count
>but that's not how things are in my fanfic
Literally everybody who unironically likes this only likes this because they are reacting to something they dislike about Gundam.
They are literally liking this out of spite for the framchise, not out of any sort of love or attachment to it.
>>14456345
It was a show with the Gundam label slapped on it that felt like it wasn't directed towards Gundam fans. I can see them doing a 00 S2 by making it more Gundam-yI hope so because I liked 00 S2 a fuck ton more than S1
>IBO would be twice as good if it had half the exposition.
I think the amount of exposition is actually fine, it's the content and quality of said exposition that matters.
>>14456345
wew lad
And here I thought only G-Reco haters could straw man this hard.
>>14456345
You're saying it as if that franchise deserved any sort of love or attachment in the first place.
>>14454006
>There is absolutely no sense or weight or importance to the protagonists' "mission". They're taking some girl to Earth so she can... negotiate a trade deal for metals? That's it? Nobody in the show has any urgency about this, and don't seem to have any personal investment in it.
Now, you might probably laugh at me but that's the thing that actually made me interested in it.
Because when you do something like that it usually means that the show becomes or should be more character driven, so that the characters are explored more and you have a show talking about people and their stories and how all those people came around and ended up together instead of another bland war background used as a scenario to move puppets around.
Unfortunately, I was very wrong and it was complete garbage on that point too.At least we got those qt Grazes tho.
>>14456397
This. The lack of a 'save the world' plot is fine, not every story needs to be about high stakes like that. But IBO lacks anything else to fill the gap. None of the characters have any engaging motivations and the personalities are largely one-note. If there was some more charisma sprinkled around the cast I might be invested in watching just to see who lives and who dies, but IBO pulled its punches on that note too.
The show just sort of assumes you care about these people based on nothing at all. Combine that with a fairly weak story direction, and a budget that turns a lot of its fight choreography into a joke, and there just isn't a lot to recommend about it beyond there being a lot of Yaoibait.
The worst part for me was the fact that they skipped several days worth of fighting with the Edmonton Siege. We get in there right when it's dying down.
Imagine if they did that with A Baoa Qu.
One episode the Feds are just about to launch the attack, and next episode the White Base has already crashed into the fortress, the Zeong fight is over, and everything else that happened happened off-screen.
>>14456345
You know, you can enjoy something that's a fresh twist on a genre without "liking something out of spite". I enjoyed IBO.
>>14454006
Gjallarhorn stuff was where the fun plot was at. The true protagonist of this story is Chocolate and the rest were just fujobait chess pawns
>>14456345
>but the protag has a kill count
yet one of the smallest killcounts in battle
>>14456345
>but there are no beam weapons
Why do people hate beam weapons?
>>14456345
>but the protag has a kill count
eh? fucking Kio has a kill count.
>>14458425
Scared of beamspam, which is a legitimate complaint, plus it opens the door to tons of cool physical melee combat with bludgeons and blades. Of course, it usually comes with an expectation that the fight choreography will try to capitalize on this cool new opportunity, which was squandered in IBO.
>>14456187
soooo good?
>>14456458
>The show just sort of assumes you care about these people based on nothing at all.
Not nothing, poverty porn. We're supposed to sympathize with them because they're poor kids who resorted to being mercenaries in order to make a living.
It's what IBO runs on, because being poor justifies doing whatever it takes to make a living according to the show.
>>14454006
>They're taking some girl to Earth so she can... negotiate a trade deal for metals? That's it? Nobody in the show has any urgency about this, and don't seem to have any personal investment in it.
It gets worse when you realize an entire assassination plot was hatched out of this and it took the show 10 episodes to tell you what exactly she was going to Earth for.
IBO seriously made my shit list after that.So much drama over such a mundane thing. It's like they thought she'd become Full Frontal or something.
>>14458544
Trust me, it falls apart even more.
Think about it, Kudelia goes to meet this guy to negotiate half-metals or whatever. This guy is supposed to be the PM of his country, which controls her region of Mars, except he resigned from power (the official website says it was over a bribery scandal). He was able to get a message to Kudelia, telling her to come of Earth in a scheme to get himself reelected.
Funny how Kudelia is going to meet the PM of her region, yet no one knows he left office despite him contacting her. Seems like a detail that would have any sane person going "trip is off. Nothing to gain here." Maybe he set it up before he stepped down, but I digress.
But they go through with the trip, with faceless Tekkadan kids dying along the way. And when they meet the guy, what happens? He blackmails them into taking him to Edmonton, so he could be reelected. He couldn't travel there alone, I'm guessing Gjallarhorn would have had him killed or something, so he makes them take him there.
Then Carta kills Biscuit after she chases down Tekkadan, who essentially broke through boarder control to meet this guy. And that sets Tekkadan off. I guess one face character is all it really takes, and Tekkadan is out for revenge against Gjallarhorn. Not the fuck who brought them here on a lie and then blackmailed them (again, with Tekkadan members dying along the way), Gjalllarhorn. He then has them seige Edmonton for three freaking days, approves of Mika's approach and sees no problem with using child soldiers.
And he then gets reelected while rewarding Tekkadan and Kudelia. And this is all while the show goes on about how corrupt Gjallarhorn is while the heroes installed this guy into power.
Not to mention, the problems concerning the assassination thing. It's amazing how this show appears to be so straightforward, but the writing is such a mess upon examination.
>>14458639
So glad i didn't waste my time on it.
>>14458639
>but the writing is such a mess upon examination.
If you're retarded, maybe.
>>14459119
You're right, only a retard would have to look past the surface to see IBO's awful writing.
>>14459110
Why watch something you want to shitpost about when you can just go by whatever people say to you right?
>>14459129
It didn't look that appealing and the fact i'd just sat through AGE right as it came out@? Meh.
>>14459122
wew lad
>>14459149
It's a great time to watch IBO then. It'll make AGE seem better in retrospect.
>>14459122
Not look past the surface, just paid attention and listened to what was being said. You know, instead of getting caught up in shipping discussions.
>>14454006
I actually like that the thing they're trying to achieve is so small and reasonable. But I agree the journey there was long and meandering
Somebody post that sped up webm of that webm of the episode where nothing happened
>>14458639
>I'm guessing Gjallarhorn would have had him killed or something,
Yes, the plot was that the leader of Gjallarhorn wanted a certain candidate, some lady called Fleurs IIRC, to become Prime Minister.
That way he basically gets to control ARBRAU since she's his puppet.
Gjallarhorn is supposed to be extra-national, and not involved in politics. Kind of just a third party arbitrator that ensures safety, think of the U.N Peace Keepers but without the U.N attached.
Makanai is somewhat of an wild-card, but he's not controlled by Gjallarhorn.
It's like the US elections this year, except Trump doesn't have a band of child soldiers with killer robots to help him get into power.Yet
>>14455139
"The world calls for wet-work, and we answer! No greater good. No just cause!"
>>14459892
Theyd just get fired or resign anyways
The real question is; does this girl ever get her happy end?
>>14459920
The Ovelia to McGillis's Delita.
>>14459920
It depends really, she could end up fine or like this good anon said >>14459929 it’s also possible and interesting, so I doubt it will happened.
Other question, will Atra survive this season? A lot of people were expecting her to die, other candidates were biscuit and Fumitan and they bite the bullet, Shino was also up there but he survive somehow
>>14459993
Atra might as well be a fucking box with rhe other bracelet inside, so it's hard to tell. If she suddenly starts developing, be afraid.
>>14460003
This is true, both aren’t really all that important for the plot, yet relevant enough to impact a few around them, so they could be killed creating some drama and everything could go on without mayor problems
>>14459920
If she does end up like this next season, the fan artist will be an accidental fortune teller.
>>14454006
It's got more weight than you realize.
>>14454006
Now that is a giant HG if I ever saw one.
>>14458639
Even Seed had more nuance than this. SEED.
>>14456845
Chocolate hardly did anything for most of the show and the drama around him was some shoujo tier shit with Carta and the other guy. He's fujobait himself even with the loli wife.
>>14455168
The livewatch reception for ep 1 on /co/ was awful.
>>14462113
>shoujo tier shit
>>14462113
Nah
