Three Tekkadan MS pilots appear at the SunFes 2016 Iron-Blooded Orphans showing!

An all-night screening of Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans was held at Shinjuku Piccadilly on August 20th as part of Theatre Shinjuku, Shinjuku Piccadilly, and Toho Cinemas Shinjuku’s ongoing Sunrise Festival 2016.
Before the screening, special guests Kengo Kawanishi (Mikazuki Augus), Yasuaki Takumi (Akihiro Altland), and Taishi Murata (Norba Shino) appeared for an hour-long panel.

First, they spoke of season 1, with Mr. Kawanishi mentioning the impact of his encounter with Kikuko Inoue’s Carta in a snowfield, while Mr. Takumi recalled enjoying “the ironic chuckle the Tekkadan’s encounters with Carta always triggered.” Murata remembered portraying “Shino’s feelings of guilt over the deaths of his comrades leading him to, beginning in episode 14, take to the front lines himself”.

Each of the three played a Tekkadan mobile suit pilot, and Murata was the first to speak on that. “I didn’t expect my character to ever pilot. So my first takeoff sequence was a little bit gleeful.”, while Kawanishi agreed that “takeoff sequences are fun to act.” MC and Sunrise project lead Keijiro Taniguchi interjected, on that topic, that the Gundam Gusion Rebake alone lacked such scenes because its size meant it had to deploy from a different place than the Barbatos and Ryusei-Go, to the cast’s surprise. This lead to Takumi asking for his own chance in season 2.

▲ From left; Kengo Kawanishi, Yasuaki Takumi, Taishi Murata

They were asked to highlight scenes they felt deserved close attention in the screening from episode 14 on. Takumi chose the Gusion’s first appearance, while Kawanishi chose Akihiro’s “It’s looking right at us” after the fish appear, Murata, meanwhile, selected the rare conversation between Akihiro and Shino that occured in the MS simulator.

At this point, the results of the all-star polling on the official site were announced. Round 1’s theme was “best two buddies”, with Gaelio and Ein by a landslide, surprising the crowd. When the cast was asked their opinion, Kawanishi mimicked Todo while suggesting McGillis and Todo, Takumi chose Gundam pillots Akihiro and Mikazuki, and Murata selected Soma Saito’s Yamagi and his own Shino. Shino and Yamagi took third place in the public polling.

Round 2 was “Which character probably sleeps nude?” Uchida chose Akihiro, Murata chose Yukinojo, and Kawanishi chose McGillis, but when fan voting was revealed the runaway answer was Shino.

Then, Tekkadan Hosokyoku’s “Alaya-Vijnana System Activation” comedy corner was revived. Each’s answer to “Times when your friends thought you were crazy” amused the crowd.

▲ The three at the beginning of the corner. The crowd was amused perhaps too much, as the cheers and laughs meant it never really got started.

With that out of the way, they spoke about season 2, premiering October 2nd. While time has passed since season 1’s recording, the characters are still themselves: Shino is still a bit of a bore and Akihiro a tryhard at risk of turning into a grumpy old man, while Mikazuki’s addiction to dates is only deepening.

As the panel drew to a close, they gave out a HG Gundam Barbatos 6th Form signed by all three participants. Finally, each game a closing comment.

▲ Kawanishi signed over the Barbatos and Mikazuki!

Taishi Murata
Thanks for coming out in such messy weather. My shoes are sopping wet too, but that didn’t dampen my enthusiasm! Look forward to season 2 Thank you all!

Yasuaki Takumi
Thanks for coming here today. I’m looking forward to be an anime gold medalist and giving you all something to remember in season 2. Thank you all!

Kengo Kawanishi
I’m not saying season 1 was just for kicks, but don’t forget to tune in! Thanks for being here today!

Sunrise Festival 2016, a rotating seletion of Sunrise productions, runs through September 10th at theaters in Shinjuku. Gundam selections include G Gundam on August 25th and Gundam ZZ on September 2nd. See this post for details!
More info will be released about Iron-Blooded Orphans S2 on the 27th, and the world premiere on October 1st gives you the chance to be one of the first to see episode 1. Don’t miss out!