Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans - Overall Series Impressions & Total Series

[SonicSP]

Polling and statistics is a complicated issue and popularity is very hard to measure in a proper statistical way. Raw sales numbers and TV Ratings numbers are pretty much the best stats we can get.

The problem with Newtype polls and most anime polls is that they are voluntary polls. In statistics, voluntary polls are considered to be weak because only the people who are interested in telling their opinion will bother to vote, skewing the results. This makes their results less reliable in general. Newtype and most other polls don't choose by random on who gets to vote, anyone who wants to vote will be allowed to do so. Ideally, what you would do is have a more randomized survey within specific demographic groups that represent the "population" of what you want to run.

This isn't necessrily their fault. It's expensive and difficult to conduct a proper statistical study so a normal poll for a relatively unimportant subject like anime tends to be enough to get some picture.

A better conducted poll would the TV rating numbers in Japan. TV ratings usually already taking into account stuff like representative sample sizes (sample sizes that resemble the population in things like demographics, etc), the main reason they do this is because it is in their interest to get as accurate detail as possible so they can sell these numbers to TV stations which need to know what shows are doing well so they can show these numbers to advertisers and charge them accordingly. If you want as good as a statistically conducted number as you can possibly get, the TV Ratings and disk sales are it.

From what we know of IBO's TV ratings numbers, it wasn't really doing that good so not that many people were watching it. However it's pretty clear that the show is doing well enough for them to extend it to a second season, otherwise it would be easy for them to cut it short like they did with AGE and the storyline could have easily been wrapped up based on what we have seen. Regardless of whether it's popular or not, Sunrise sees enough in the commercial numbers (which would include things like disk sales, merchandise sales, etc) to extend it. This at least suggests that while not many people may have watched it, fans who do like the show are very engaged in it and buying enough stuff, which at the end of the day is all that matters to Sunrise.

[Kurohane]

Originally Posted by darkone45

Funny since daisuki twitte how successful IBO was on their site https://twitter.com/daisuki_net/stat...52787912052736 I don't understand these Low ratings at all and don't make sense at all. If the Ratings are that Bad they should have just Pull the show off for having a season 2 altogether since there was no indication there would be a season 2 ( unlike 00) Forgive me if I don't believe or buy into it or take those ratings seriously. Sounds like its people spreading bad publicity on the internet for a show that did pretty good , Since Unlike G-reco Nobody from Sunrise came out and Addressed this.

It's established that Gundam IBO was more popular out of Japan than in it.

[Tactics]

Originally Posted by darkone45

Funny since daisuki twitte how successful IBO was on their site https://twitter.com/daisuki_net/stat...52787912052736 I don't understand these Low ratings at all and don't make sense at all. If the Ratings are that Bad they should have just Pull the show off for having a season 2 altogether since there was no indication there would be a season 2 ( unlike 00) Forgive me if I don't believe or buy into it or take those ratings seriously. Sounds like its people spreading bad publicity on the internet for a show that did pretty good , Since Unlike G-reco Nobody from Sunrise came out and Addressed this.

One thing for sure, you can't expect everyone to have exactly same taste as you.

I'm not that bad to not be able to distinguish bad publicity with fact;

Japanese thought IBO is that bad, if you thought IBO is doing well, then what's the problem again? Did they ask you to have exactly same opinion with you?
Also, there's a lot of factors that decide the approval of S2. Its not always about rating, it could be the series planned for two seasons from start or the series managed to surpass or reach the designated target (in this case, kit sales) at some point, don't forget higher-ups approval of course.

Some discussion does discussing about reasons that could lead IBO to get S2. Some guess IBO already planned for two seasons from start, while others guess that's because the kit sales are good since Gunpla line of IBO is very cheap, containing skeleton and swappable (I believe the reason is both).

While unlike G-Reco where you have staff coming out expressing his confusion working with Tomino (CMIIW), in IBO, during the middle of the series (IIRC), by moment the rating fall below 2%, Ogawa (one of IBO producers) taking step and telling people by Twitter to be patient and watch until the end of series as the show would pick up more towards the end. The problem came from different cause, you can't always expecting a staff to come out and address the problem to know a Gundam series have low popularity (for IBO case, in Japan).

And, sorry for causing OOT in this thread ...

[darkone45]

Originally Posted by Tactics

One thing for sure, you can't expect everyone to have exactly same taste as you.

I'm not that bad to not be able to distinguish bad publicity with fact;

Japanese thought IBO is that bad, if you thought IBO is doing well, then what's the problem again? Did they ask you to have exactly same opinion with you?
Also, there's a lot of factors that decide the approval of S2. Its not always about rating, it could be the series planned for two seasons from start or the series managed to surpass or reach the designated target (in this case, kit sales) at some point, don't forget higher-ups approval of course.

Some discussion does discussing about reasons that could lead IBO to get S2. Some guess IBO already planned for two seasons from start, while others guess that's because the kit sales are good since Gunpla line of IBO is very cheap, containing skeleton and swappable (I believe the reason is both).

While unlike G-Reco where you have staff coming out expressing his confusion working with Tomino (CMIIW), in IBO, during the middle of the series (IIRC), by moment the rating fall below 2%, Ogawa (one of IBO producers) taking step and telling people by Twitter to be patient and watch until the end of series as the show would pick up more towards the end. The problem came from different cause, you can't always expecting a staff to come out and address the problem to know a Gundam series have low popularity (for IBO case, in Japan).

I didn't mean you specifically sorry if it came out that way, I'm talking about whoever going around spreading the anime Failed in Japan From what I getting at here is that we don't really know why a season 2 was green light ? Since Sunrise and Bandai are the type of People that tell their Audience ahead of time if there series was going to have another season But I guess as long as the Model Kits sales high enough it doesn't really matter to them. I'm Guessing Ogawa meant By Season 2 the show would pick Up ? But I hope that doesn't mean throwing way Character development like 00 did by its second half I think Action is very Important in Gundam but getting invested in the Characters is also important Because then you will just have a group of characters you just don't care about. ( and I want to care )


My Japanese might not be that good But I get the Impression a lot of Japanese ( on Twitter at least ) enjoyed IBO https://twitter.com/g_tekketsu/statu...15213666762752

[brightman]

Originally Posted by Tactics

IBO final rating is not far from AGE's 2.56% from what I've heard, a bit higher IIRC.

Kit sales is similar to GBF and G-Reco, dominated by Barbatos, which not really surprising IMO. Kits like the Man Rodi and some of the Turbines are seeing heavy discounts in Japan stores; I heard in some country there's some kit collector asking if there's any good MS worth-to-buy from IBO series aside of Barbatos. LOL.

IBO's final rating was 2.25%, which is close to the average rating of AGE after the initial Flit arc. As stated the alarming part is that the ratings slumped heavily during the second half of the show, and it's possible that the second season was green-lighted because of how well the show started ratings wise.

[darkone45]

Originally Posted by brightman

IBO's final rating was 2.25%, which is close to the average rating of AGE after the initial Flit arc. As stated the alarming part is that the ratings slumped heavily during the second half of the show, and it's possible that the second season was green-lighted because of how well the show started ratings wise.

I think I understand it was the Dorts part right ? I mean that whole part went with out mobile suits battle But I thought it had strong enough characters to make up for that ?

[brightman]

Originally Posted by darkone45

I think I understand it was the Dorts part right ? I mean that whole part went with out mobile suits battle But I thought it had strong enough characters to make up for that ?

Yup, basically the ratings were stuck at the sub-2.0 level throughout that arc and didn't recover until ep 21 or so.

[darkone45]

Originally Posted by brightman

Yup, basically the ratings were stuck at the sub-2.0 level throughout that arc and didn't recover until ep 21 or so.

I see makes sense tho I thought that part was interesting for what it was with the Union Workers stuff. Wait what ? what about episode 19 ? everyone seems to agree that it was the Best IBO episode to date.

[xeviouses]

Originally Posted by darkone45

I see makes sense tho I thought that part was interesting for what it was with the Union Workers stuff. Wait what ? what about episode 19 ? everyone seems to agree that it was the Best IBO episode to date.

Everyone meaning the western side. The ratings are usually from the japanese audiences.


I'm surprised the ratings slogged on the second half though, I was expecting low to average ratings during the first half but not the second.

[darkone45]

Originally Posted by xeviouses

Everyone meaning the western side. The ratings are usually from the japanese audiences.


I'm surprised the ratings slogged on the second half though, I was expecting low to average ratings during the first half but not the second.

I really don't want this to be another Tri Gun situation where only the west enjoy a certain anime. (－‸ლ)

[Kurohane]

Originally Posted by xeviouses

Everyone meaning the western side. The ratings are usually from the japanese audiences.


I'm surprised the ratings slogged on the second half though, I was expecting low to average ratings during the first half but not the second.

The fist half serves as an indicator on what the rest of the series will be like. Through that first half, we had multiple pit stops to the point the main group really didn't start their journey to earth until episode 10. Then, they were held up by pirates. I think everyone was unanimous that the pacing was a issue. Also, a significant amount of viewers didn't like the fact that again there would be a kid piloting the Gundam. Trained soldier or not, a kid is still the one piloting the most powerful weapon, and the Gundam is still tearing through everything in it's path with no difficulty. Also, what further broke the base is how the adults were portrayed. I'm not really surprised the ratings dropped after what was shown in the first half. This series isn't specifically catered to a wide audience in the first place.

[darkone45]

Originally Posted by Kurohane

The fist half serves as an indicator on what the rest of the series will be like. Through that first half, we had multiple pit stops to the point the main group really didn't start their journey to earth until episode 10. Then, they were held up by pirates. I think everyone was unanimous that the pacing was a issue. Also, a significant amount of viewers didn't like the fact that again there would be a kid piloting the Gundam. Trained soldier or not, a kid is still the one piloting the most powerful weapon, and the Gundam is still tearing through everything in it's path with no difficulty. Also, what further broke the base is how the adults were portrayed. I'm not really surprised the ratings dropped after what was shown in the first half. This series isn't specifically catered to a wide audience in the first place.

Before this anime even aired they already said the Title was going to be Called Iron blooded Orphans last I checked the series wasn't called Iron blooded adults So what were they even expecting from this anime ?

[SonicSP]

One of the theories on why the ratings dropped badly during the second cour - is because it's a new cour. New shows come out that people checked out and watched instead. The correlation was pretty close from what I recall.

Of course, this can also be joined in with the people not liking the first cour possibly (because they dropped it in favor of something else), though it's impossible to tell with certainty what was the case here other than people watched it less.

[wissenschaft]

Originally Posted by Kurohane

Also, a significant amount of viewers didn't like the fact that again there would be a kid piloting the Gundam.

I find that hard to believe since gundam has a long tradition of kids piloting Gundams. I think the pacing is the main issue since I feel the 2nd cour is a lot better than the first cour. Especially once they reach the moon colonies, the show was at its best. I think my favorite episodes are the last three.

[Skaddix]

Yeah I don't really think a kid is the problem gundam MCs tend to be teenage to mid 20s. Not that these kids act especially kiddy anyhow.

[SonicSP]

You know, I wonder whether Setsuna got the same complaints back in the day from certain groups? He was also shown to have murdered his unarmed mother in cold blood and Gundam 00 aired in the same timeslot as IBO does, but on Saturdays. Of course he didn't do it twice in an episode like Mika, only once.

Originally Posted by wissenschaft

I find that hard to believe since gundam has a long tradition of kids piloting Gundams. I think the pacing is the main issue since I feel the 2nd cour is a lot better than the first cour. Especially once they reach the moon colonies, the show was at its best. I think my favorite episodes are the last three.

It depends I guess. Personally as I get older, I wish to see older and older protagonists in anime. I understand that it's a tradition in Gundam, and even by extension quite common in most anime since forever (teenagers tend to be the target audience). But if the audiences feel like I do as they are aging then I can see how some people would wishing for older protagonists more often. (Japan as a demographic is aging rapidly, to the point where it's been declared a huge national crisis)

In fact, now that I think about it, one of the things I liked about Gundam 00 was that two of the Meisters were adults and their share of the lead role was quite prominent in Season 1. And Setsuna himself became one in Season 2, and grew some handsome points as a bonus. And I had this feeling even though I was much younger when 00 Season 1 aired.

It's not really a huge problem on IBO since a lot of the Tekkadan regulars can physically and emotionally pass as adults especially in their circumstances. It's just that now whenever I find an anime with a lead that's older than 18, that automatically adds points to me.

[Tactics]

Originally Posted by SonicSP

You know, I wonder whether Setsuna got the same complaints back in the day from certain groups? He was also shown to have murdered his unarmed mother in cold blood and Gundam 00 aired in the same timeslot as IBO does, but on Saturdays. Of course he didn't do it twice in an episode like Mika, only once.

Setsuna didn't get any complaints back then, people like him instead.

The reason mainly because he's portrayed as a character who grew up, from an innocent child to part of Ali's group then to a proper Gundam pilot;
Setsuna does have bad experience but he's working to became a better person than before. They value that growth hence there's no complaints for him.

If there's problem for 00, the problem is mainly caused by reason Japanese people set high standard for new Gundam series because of SEED (not Destiny, we're talking about starter of new Gundam era).

[darkone45]

Originally Posted by Tactics

Setsuna didn't get any complaints back then, people like him instead.

The reason mainly because he's portrayed as a character who grew up, from an innocent child to part of Ali's group then to a proper Gundam pilot;
Setsuna does have bad experience but he's working to became a better person than before. They value that growth hence there's no complaints for him.

If there's problem for 00, the problem is mainly caused by reason Japanese people set high standard for new Gundam series because of SEED (not Destiny, we're talking about starter of new Gundam era).

I remember a news outlet ( in 2007 ) in ANN saying Japanese Broadcasting Ethics said Sunrise was trying to promote Children to kill their Parents and Before that there was The Gundam seed one with Kira and flay having sex which Had a Lot of Negative feed back from Japan So I don't Think Setsuna was well liked as you say he was Because that not really the case here.

[Tactics]

Originally Posted by darkone45

I remember a news outlet ( in 2007 ) in ANN saying Japanese Broadcasting Ethics said Sunrise was trying to promote Children to kill their Parents and Before that there was The Gundam seed one with Kira and flay having sex which Had a Lot of Negative feed back from Japan So I don't Think Setsuna was well liked as you say he was Because that not really the case here.

Well, Setsuna and Kira once receive accusation for what they did.
However, do remember that they only did it once, so it didn't last long and not affecting that much compare to Mika.
Setsuna character development (and Gundam 00 S1 itself, of course) completely crush those accusation by the end of S1, made him one of the most well-known Gundam pilot, together with his MS, Exia.

[darkone45]

Originally Posted by Tactics

Well, Setsuna and Kira once receive accusation for what they did.
However, do remember that they only did it once, so it didn't last long and not affecting that much compare to Mika.
Setsuna character development (and Gundam 00 S1 itself, of course) completely crush those accusation by the end of S1, made him one of the most well-known Gundam pilot, together with his MS, Exia.

I'm sure Mika will do the same in season 2 ( he still was able to rank Number in the new type ranks which Setsuna never did and falldog at Gundam Reddit said that still an amazing feet for IBO) now In my opinion Both Setsuna and Mika have treats that make them Unique to them ( Exia with its particles effect with the GN drive and The
barbatos animalistic way of fighting that very different then how normal Main Gundam fight )