The folly of ideals. What do I live for? What do I fight for? What shall I die for?

Mobile Suit Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans asks this question. However, it may seem like it failed to answer it. I would argue the opposite, rather the absence of an answer is in itself the answer. We follow the struggle of the Iron Rose Tekkadan and its soldiers, a family made of those that were rejected by all now united under a banner and a cause. "To reach the place where we belong." The pain of this goal is that we follow them across the stars, from Mars to Earth and back again, in search of this place. They live in order to attain their goal, they fight for the ideals of others' ambitions, and they die for the hope that one of them will make it there. In the end, the goal is realized for all that survive, but the hope of Tekkadan, their goal, and ideals are only acknowledged by us. The heartbreaking realization that the place they belong is on the battlefield, being willing to fight and kill and die like human debris for the dreams of others.

Iron Blooded Orphans also warns us about how tightly should we hold to ideals, what shall we sacrifice? What is worth casting aside and what is worth holding onto. For Gjallerhorn it is order, for Kudelia hope, McGillis Fareed it is the power to mold the world into something anew. As for Tekkadan? Their ideals are less clear, that is in part their strength, for some of them it may be money and an easy life and they are willing to chase it with all they have. However, their true strength lies in their bonds with one another, the fact that they will leave no one behind. "We'll find the place for us to belong" that promise is what fuels all of them even to their tragic fate and it's what defines their humanity.

The other tragedy is the passing of time, the realization that only those who live can carry our stories forward? But what about those whose stories shall never be shared? They only live on in our hearts, in the memories we store and the impact they had on those they loved and fought with. The struggle of Mikazuki Augus, Akihiro Atlan and Orga Itsuka, as well as the rest of Tekkadan may have faded from the minds of those from the outside. But the hearts of those who survived carry on their hopes to the dream they had so desperately chased after and fought for and that is why they live on. Like the Iron Flower that will never wilt, Tekkadan lives on.

With a phenomenal soundtrack and a story that may seem slow before it grabs you. Mobile Suit Gundam Iron Blooded Oprhans is worth the watch. It may even capture you long before you realize, when your heart starts pounding and your hands shake that's how you know they got you. Iron Blooded Orphans asks us the question of what are we willing to fight for in our own lives. And that it's up to us to find the answer and carry it forward to the realities we hope for.

Later Days,

Africanime