"A Work That Makes You Want to Talk About It with Someone" – Voice Actors Yūichirō Umehara & Yasuaki Takumi Reflect on Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans After 10 Years

In 2025, Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans celebrated its 10th anniversary. The special edited version Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans – Urðr Hunt Special Edition, which screened for a limited four weeks starting October 31st of that year, along with the simultaneously released 10th anniversary commemorative new short film "Makuai no Kusabi" (Interlude Wedge), are currently available for digital purchase and rental on various streaming services.

"Makuai no Kusabi" is set in the timeline after the first season of the TV series, depicting a story where Orga Itsuka, who is striving to expand Tekkadan, receives a special present from the members.

In this article, we conducted an interview with Yūichirō Umehara, who played Eugene Seven Stark in the TV series and "Makuai no Kusabi," and Yasuaki Takumi, who played the role of Akihiro Altland. Taking this 10th anniversary as an opportunity, we asked them to talk about the charm of Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans once again.

——It was a hot topic even during the original broadcast, but I think many people will rewatch the TV series or watch it for the first time with "Makuai no Kusabi" as a catalyst. Could you tell us once again about the charm and appeal of Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans as it reaches its 10th anniversary?

Umehara: A group of slightly outlaw characters, carrying something like a sense of chivalry, confront society and larger forces while gaining more companions along the way... Looking back on it, I feel it's a kind of classic story in a sense.

Within that, distinctive characters each carry their own motives and human relationships, showing human growth over the course of 50 episodes. I think it's a human drama about overcoming people's deaths.

——Now that you mention it, that certainly seems true.

Umehara: The beauty of how they scatter in the end is also a truly universal element. At the time I was performing it, I thought it was gritty and innovative, but looking back and putting it into words like this, it's really a very straightforward work, isn't it?

Takumi: Yeah, definitely. While there's the appeal of that human drama, it's a work with charm from various angles, isn't it? There's naturally the appeal of a robot anime that doesn't shoot beams, and as with Urðr Hunt, there's also an aspect like a historical drama where there are people influenced by the existence of Tekkadan.

——The Alaya-Vijnana System too, but at the time of the original broadcast, there was a strong impression that it was a hard work in the early part. After that, a story was depicted of traveling from Mars to Earth, and while there were road movie elements, I think multifaceted elements became visible.

Takumi: For me, the number one work I've appeared in that acquaintances say "I watched it!" is Iron-Blooded Orphans. When I ask what they found interesting, they say they just became completely absorbed in it. There were episodes that became painful to watch, but people said at the time that there was no work they'd become so absorbed in that they couldn't wait to see the next part immediately, and people who watched it recently say the same thing.

From those words, while 10 years have passed, I've learned that it's a work that depicts something universal and is packed with various complex appeals.

——At the time, you two also knew the developments from reading the scripts, right?

Umehara: That's right, but we also didn't know the next developments until we read the scripts. We'd receive the script for the next week and be surprised like "Whoa."

Takumi: That's right, we can talk about it calmly like this now, but we didn't know at the time. But it had such amazing power that you'd become absorbed in the story.

Umehara: That's right. Especially Orga Itsuka's scene in episode 48 had a truly intense atmosphere even at the recording site.

Takumi: Including the actors playing Gjallarhorn in that episode too. Their eyes were just...

Umehara: That atmosphere was incredible. After that scene, Hosoya-san (who played Orga Itsuka) who came to the recording site was like a Buddha with a weight lifted off his shoulders (lol).

Takumi: Ahaha (lol). There was a bit of a relieved atmosphere, yeah.

——Hearing about the atmosphere at the time, you really performed with your all.

Takumi: We just performed Akihiro Altland and Tekkadan with all our might. I think that touched the heartstrings of those who watched. As long as we're performing, there are various feelings like wanting people to enjoy it, but I especially have a strong desire to be involved in things that stay in people's hearts.

Being able to be involved in a work that generated the passion to want to talk about this work, I think it's the best work from the perspective of those performing. I want people who haven't seen it yet to tell us what they felt, and it's definitely a work that makes you want to talk about it with someone, so I really want people to watch it!

As the two reflected and told us, the unique appeal of Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans is contained in the work. Whether you watched it during the original broadcast or haven't seen it yet, why not take this opportunity to experience the work?

Reporting, Photography, Text／kato
(C)SOTSU·SUNRISE

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