Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Gave Us Struggle Bars, Gunsmoke, and Blood on the Mobile Suit

I never been a Gundam guy. I know there’s a bunch of Gundam series. The way I remember Gundam is from the late 90s to mid-2000s commercials for Gundam model kits that people would build up by hand. They had these super intricate big mech models in front of the camera with someone behind them, arms folded, saying, “Level 14 Gundam. 12 hours.” When I tell you that shit made me laugh every time I saw it. Like, okay, calm down. It ain’t that serious man. Little did I know, years later in 2020, I’d get told by my friend, Will, that I might rock with this show called Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans. We in the middle of a global pandemic, I got the time to start some new shit today. Never tried a Gundam before but sure, Let’s rock it out. I was not ready. I was not fucking ready for Mikazuki “I’m only 16 but my body count is old” Augus. Soon as I saw young boy Mika holding the burner, blood on his face, gun smoke wafting away beside him as he was looking at his mans and dem Orga Itsuka asking, “Who you need me to dead next, Orga?” I said, Tekkedan, you son of a bish. I’m in. Oh, I was fucking hooked. I was fucking hooked man. This is the hard shit I be talking about. These fucking teens being treated like human debris to fight wars for corporations, private militaries, and so on as child soldiers. They then say fuck that noise, cause a mutiny, then create their own private military called Tekkadan. Which gets them pulled into the politics of trying to Mars independence, they get ca…