After the ambush from the Brewers’ last week, Tekkadan and Turbine work together to strike a counter-attack and rescue Masahiro’s brother, and possibly some others. But unlike their relatively short and brief engages against Gjhallarhorn, traitors and Turbine, this is actually Tekkadan’s (as their new group) first major mission they have decided to embark on. As it is their first ‘big’ battle, and we saw the inevitable outcome, causalities- something Orga is going to have to face for the first time as he was the one who arranged their mission. And while Mika, ladies are out fighting in order to open an opportunity for Akihiro to rescue his brother, Turbine and Tekkadan are undergoing their own fight. Tubrine rammed their hammerhead ship into the Brewers, allowing Tekkadan members to successfully infiltrate the ship. But as they fight it out within the enemy’s ship, some of their comrades have already fallen, and more will likely follow. The Brewers themselves have already experienced a number of causalities, Mika has been trying to be gentle, but it doesn’t look like any of Masahiro’s friends are going to come out alive, including himself who threw his brother out of the way in order to witness how “Human Debris are killed”.

Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans Ep 12 Img 0034The subject of ‘family’ and ‘Human Debris’ were brought up again, but in a far more twisted manner. Masahiro is certainly not the boy he used to be. He lost all hope and no longer considers himself human. He doesn’t even think he will be reborn because he is ‘human debris’, they are trash, they are nobodies, they won’t have special treatment- even after they die. It was disheartening to see, especially when one of the boys were trying to lighten the mood, remarking how Pedro has probably already been reborn and is living a better life- and it was Masahiro who shut him down.
What was even sadder though, was despite the fact Akihiro told him he has come back to make sure he can fullfill his promise to rescue him, Masahiro was incredibly bitter and twisted his brother’s words, claiming how he must have been living a wonderful and easy life with his ‘new’ family. It was absolutely heartbreaking to watch Akihiro have to witness his brother absolutely falling apart and be killed right before his eyes- just when he was so close to saving him.

Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans Ep 12 Img 0006Amidst the angst and sadness, I was surprised by some of the humorous moments. Eugene taking the wheel to navigate through the cluster- he is the one to rely on for the rough ride- and boy did he deliver. I also continue to be entertained by Atra’s new mindset, of embracing Kudelia as Mika’s second wife in his harem between the two of them. She was friendly with Kudelia to begin with, but with that new perspective of hers, she isn’t feeling as envious and insecure, but instead embracing her friendship with Kudelia.  Speaking of Mika, he also showed us how he likes to multitask now, eating lunch and studying while on stand-by or on his way to missions. I absolutely adore his enthusiasm.

Finally last but not least, I remember last week some had made the assumption it was that old rat Togo who arranged the Brewers to retrieve Kudelia for Gjallarhorn. At the time I thought that guy was a goner, so I suspected it was someone else who arranged it- but this week… And interesting tip came up which debunks Tobo’s involvement.
First of all, no one as of yet should know about Tekkadan having formed an alliance with the Teiwaz brotherhood,  They only came together AFTER Togo was ratted out. Furthermore, Naze provides us a key hint based on the secret route they are taking. The route which they are following is a path that Turbine’s own navigation officer came up with. They know they logged it in to Teiwaz’s database before departure, so their best bet is: If their info had been leaked, then it would have been at Sansei. This amplifies my initial suspicions of both Fumitan and Merribit. Of course it could be someone else altogether, but right now they are the two people I can’t bring myself to fully trust yet.

Overall it was a good episode, with mix of laughter and sadness, it was a bittersweet one. The next one will be a sad and probably in some ways painful as the title bluntly puts it: “Funeral Rites”.

 
 

Eva

Blogging Anime since Summer 2009, & Founder of AngryAnimeBitches Anime Blog ...I may or may not be addicted to writing

This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. IreneSharda

    Actually, Todo’s involvement was pretty much confirmed this episode. They stated it was a job from Gjallarhorn and McGillis already said that his informant (with the little mustache) had asked for money to hire some pirates to get Kudelia. All Todo had to do after McGillis sent him on his mission, was find where Tekkadan would get a new guide to Earth (not hard since it was stated episodes ago that Teiwaz was the only option. ) then find a way to the main base and then either spy on them himself or find some contacts on board to get him the info. He found the path that the Turbines had entered into the database, and then gave it to the pirates.
    So, yeah it was still him.

    1. Eva

      Welp, I guess I really did miss it.

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