ok saving the Gjallarjorn group for last is definitely a tactical thing aimed at fujos
buuut wait, it's not just the gjallar gang, it's also every single character who has appeared in these in the previous weeks too. these shorts are 2-2.5mins, but this one was I think 4mins.
at the start, almiria finds macky at the movies alongside isurugi. macky asks where gaelio is since he thought that were coming together. Gaelio and Ein show up after, mentioning that almiria ran off ahead of them up find macky lol. this is ein's first time at the movies and keeps acting formal/stiff even though they aren't on a mission. macky asks almiria what she wants to drink (cola). ein is still in formal mode so he tries to offer to go buy it but Gaelio is like... bro no don't do it this small child will end you if you get in between her and macky. macky calls her his princess and takes her to buy refreshments for their group. while pondering what to buy, he overhears familiar voices and sees that all of the characters who came to the theater in the previous weeks are there that day again. shino, aki and mika are talking about popcorn flavors (important: shino prefers caramel), Aston is interested in ice cream, etc. almiria asks if he knows all of them and he's like "uhhhh kind of" and he goes to talk to Mika and orga. they thought it would nice to come to the theaters one last time since it's the 10th anni celebration.
(I just realized I never said this before, but the shorts are like 4th wall breaking and the characters talk about it being a festival of sorts for the 10th anni celebration)
OK, let's break down the new Urdr Hunt trailer a bit. There are spoilers here if you haven't seen the game cutscenes, so I'll place most of this under a cut.
It starts with shots of Wistario 'Wiz' Afam and Mikazuki Augus, as is only to be expected, these being the nominal protagonists of this spin-off movie and Iron-Blooded Orphans proper. There's a quote on the Gundam Wiki about Wiz being designed to evoke 'hope' vs Mika's . . . other stuff. I personally hate this on principle because the Teen Gentrifier is, well, exactly that, but hey ho. Let us pause to appreciate that Mika remains the most jacked half-pint in existence. You really need to drink more, kiddo.
Things quickly progress into what I believe is the second fight scene of the game's plot, where Wistario takes Gundam Hajiroboshi up into space in pursuit of the Omden Colony Company forces that have just torn up down-town Radonitsa Colony, getting into it with Range and his Enzo before being ambushed by Cyclase's Schwalbe Graze.
We then swap to a later fight, also reusing a game cutscene, where Range (I'm going to keep using the original romanisation of his name, I'm sorry) uses one of the Zahn Clan's modified Hloekk Grazes as a shield against Rome Zahn's Geirail. I'm capturing this mainly as hi-res footage of that Graze variant, because this is a unique model, possessing a different head to the ones we see in IBO Season 2.
RIP nameless Human Debris pilot. You will not be remembered at all.
Following standard trailer logic, we then get some cutaways to the various Urdr Hunt participants: Tamami Rakou (or Rakow), Rome and Akio Zahn, Kozo Mendo (previously Urso Mendou), Range Dubrisko (I'm not calling him 'Renzie Dablisco', I'm sorry), and of course, my darling gremlin child, 598.
Of these, I think only the Zahns are new footage; I don't recall that shot from the cutscenes, so this will be replacing an in-game interface click-through conversation. Suitably this places Rome in the captain's chair, as was only ever implied previously (thinking back, I don't believe we ever got a fully rendered scene of them inside their ship).
We then have a card showing the exact number of zeros on the promised prize-money for the Urdr Hunt competition. This is in meria, the currency used among the space colonies in IBO's setting, which is distinct from the gallar currency used on Mars. This has only appeared in spin-off material; it's not mentioned in the main series.
In case you were wondering, 100,000,000,000 meria is enough to buy a whole colony and refit it as a tourist destination. Hence why we're all here on this insanely dangerous scavenger hunt!
I kid you not, that's his motivation.
Anyhoo, we then get some shots of the gang hanging on the Radonitsa Colony observation platform. These aren't new, either, but it's a nice reminder this place is quite literally Venice in space.
There follows some more stuff taken straight from the game: the confrontation between Cyclase and Wiz in the ruined colony, Lond Bron and Gundam Zagan, and finally mobile armour Mebahiah in all its Zeonic-ish glory. Notably, they mix up the order of the shots, showing it fully revealed before cutting to the point where it spreads its sub-wings after emerging from its asteroid tomb.
The reaction shots interspersed here are partially new; we didn't get that lovely downward-looking 598 in the game. Then we close out on shots of Wiz and Hajiroboshi with its right eye lighting up ala the full-power signifier from the main show. This raises something that was never fully resolved in the game: Hajiroboshi is implied to somehow operate at Alaya-Vijnana levels despite Wistario 100% not having whiskers. This is how he can hold his own regardless of his comparatively limited piloting experience. If that was what the writers intended, it never paid off. I guess we'll see if the movie version gives a concrete explanation.
Interestingly, this trailer does not show the extra characters or mobile suit featured in the first preview of the Urdr Hunt movie. I assume those haven't been cut; we're just not given any hint at the plot beyond the game's conclusion here.
But enough of that. I know you're all going to go watch this for the Tekkadan cutaway short, rather than for 598 like I am (I am also going for the Tekkadan stuff too). So let's see what the lads are up to.
We start with some excellent news: more Akihiro expressions.
Even better, Shino bothering Eugene.
And Yukinojo's here, along with Kudelia.
As a note, Yukinojo is obviously working on the Barbatos Repair, but I'm not sure where he is doing so. It looks like it might be the same crater-ish area the mobile suit is seen fighting in later. On the other hand, it might just be lighting in a hangar looking a bit off. Kudelia, meanwhile, is clearly in the boss's office.
Also in terms of location, the shots of everyone eating lunch are set in the Season 1 mess tent/open section rather than the custom-built cafeteria seen in Season 2, so this is probably set closer to when Tekkadan got back to Mars.
There's little indication here of how much plot this short will have, but it will involve a mobile suit battle, specifically between the Barbatos Repair and . . . OK, this is where things get interesting.
That is a Graze. Or more likely a Geirail, given the shape of the hips and the apparent booster at the waist, but definitely a Gjallarhorn mobile frame. However it's unlike anything we have seen before. I don't just mean that it's a custom model; it's far from unique in that regard. No, what's special is that it appears to have two eyes.
In IBO, only Gundam frames are equipped with binocular vision, fitting with them being much more human-like in form. Every other mobile suit has either a single optical sensor or a cluster of such sensors that effectively operate as one eye. Even those Graze variants that look like they should have two eyes, like the Schwalbe Graze or the Adler actually have a visor over a standard mono-eye. So this is very interesting to me. The head on this thing really does look it should belong to a Gundam, not a Graze-type. Hmmm.
The other, simpler option is that this is a Teiwaz-built 'suit. Teiwaz's mobile frames do not have an in-built head and instead each have a unique visual set up, with Hyakurens having two small, sunken eyes, Hyakuris five eyes, and Hekijas something more akin to two rows of sensors. But again, this looks far closer to the human-like Gundam set-up. Oh, and it has head-mounted vulcan guns. That's cute.
Well, whatever the case, I'm not putting any money on the weird new guy in a match up against the Devil of Tekkadan.
Yeah, those expressions mean someone's about to come to a sticky end.
Speaking of ends, this preview concludes on a gorgeous shot of Barbatos in the hangar, evoking the very start of Season 1 and showing off its currently-lopsided crest. Love seeing the frame sticking out from under the damage.
And that's it. I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with this short, although if I'm honest, what I'd really like is the side-stories from IBO G being expanded into full animated shorts along with the game's main campaign. Those were some neat little extras and it'll be a real shame if the game's death leaves them lost into the ether.
