Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans Ep 2

After a dramatic premiere, this week’s episode is a lot more calm and simplified. They gave us an inside look of what happened before Mika went out into the field. We were given a bit more information on Gundam Barbados. It appears it was an relic mobile suit they had been ordered by Maruba. (Darn, so much for the hopes and dreams build!) Due to how old and worn out it is, much had to be repaired, including the area around the cockpit which had to be taken out entirely. In order to improvise, they decided to install the Alaya-Vijnana (the pilot cockpit where they would plug themselves in). However we learn (though it was not a surprise) that the Alaya-Vijnana can only be fused with growing children and is very dangerous with severe consequences, and that only increases dramatically by working with the far more powerful Gundam System. It is the cerebral nerves which are threatened by the the program, and by the sound of it- will cause brain damage.

If that itself wasn’t enough of a warning, before the fight had even begun, something went terribly wrong when Mika connected with the Barbados and then later started bleeding profoundly, causing him to black out. Who knows what could have happened had Mika not lucked out with the forces retreating after running out of fuel because they forgot to refuel the thrusters. I couldn’t believe it! It did make me laugh though because it was so unexpected, but at the same time- it was another element that could have taken Mika’s life!

We also learned Mika is illiterate and knows nothing about piloting. Instead it is the Alaya-Vijnana is what provides special nano-machines and is dangerous and inhumane. It creates pseudo brain lobe that governs spacial awareness. With this in mind, it doesn’t look like they will be switching out the Alaya-Vijnana, even if they do manage to get their hands on a proper pilot cockpit. But knowing the possibility of how they may never switch out the Alaya-Vijnana (unless Mika is provided with safer technology to enable him to pilot while lacking the education to do so without any support), Mika’s future is already looking terribly grim and I would be devastated if he doesn’t survive at the end of the series.

The number of causalities were massive. They were 42 from the Third Group and 68 from the First Corps. Mika was very upset about it the numbers, and took it very personally when Kudelia attempted to apologize for being the one who caused it due to being the target.

Once again, Kudelia struggled with her word choice, and she is kicking herself for making the same mistake over and over again. But this is specifically why she knows she needs to learn more, because she knows she doesn’t understand them properly. Interestingly enough she feels as though Mika is able to see right through her. I have to say though, because of her self-awareness, I am looking forward to how her character will develop as we know she absolutely has the resolve to make a difference (that’s why she is attempting to secretly go to Earth), but hopefully she won’t be like this for the majority of the series.

It was awesome to see Olga is not the type to dump the blame on his comrades, and see a bit more of his soft heart today. He readily took the blame and punishment from the First Corp in order to protect them from being beaten senselessly. He also knows of the dangers now that Maruda has fled, it only leaves the First Corp and the Third Group left at the base. He is aware of how the First Corp would run things, and would like to take over the base before they do- but first he needs to make sure everyone is on board, and of course- ultimately receive Mika’s approval (which he does without even asking). On that note, also learned that if Mika was against the plan, Olga would scrap it altogether. However, Olga had absolute faith Mika would accept as long as he knows he is serious. Like I said last week, these two really have an interesting dynamic and I look forward to seeing more of it.

Having failed to assassinate Kudelia, Major Coral freaking out about the severe losses of their own (including the nutty blood-hungry Captain). Although the Specialist Majors Fareed and Bauduin are there to investigate the matters which Major Coral is trying to rid of all the evidence, I don’t trust the Gjallarhorn as whole. I am sure the Specialist Majors have plans of their own, and also probably consider Kudelia as a threat. Out of the entire group so far: Crank is the only one who has any signs of standing by his own ethics, but he continues to puzzle me with his actions. He says one thing, but then engages in another. He is going off to attempt to capture Kudelia, but I wonder how he plans to accomplish the mission while trying to avoid killing or engaging into a fight with any of the child-soldiers. On that note, I pray to god that Kudelia doesn’t pull the stupid move of handing herself over into her enemy’s hands.

Lastly, I am curious to see what kind of character Ein will evolve into. He seems to be one of those type of characters who is all about “justice” and never questions anything and has the tendency to let his emotion dictate his actions. He shown us how emotional he can get as was furious to see Mika eliminate their captain. His reckless actions almost costed his life and it’s Crank that gets him out alive. But even with his injuries, he wanted to go back and seek revenge and more importantly, it didn’t faze him how he was fighting against child-soldiers.

Next week, Mika is back in action- the question is whether or not they will be kicking off their take-over attempt before the First Corp gets the chance to gain authority. But it might prove difficult with Crank returning to the scene.