Mikazuki Augus (三日月・オーガス Mikadzuki Ōgasu?, commonly called Mika) is the main protagonist of the Mobile Suit Gundam IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS television series. He is a member of Tekkadan and former member of the third group of Chryse Guard Security and is the pilot of the ASW-G-08 Gundam Barbatos and later, ASW-G-08 Gundam Barbatos Lupus. In the second season, he has gained the nickname, The Devil of Tekkadan (鉄華団の悪魔 Tekkadan no Akuma?), due to the fact he always fought on the frontline like a savage devil.
Personality & Character
Mikazuki is a calm and collected individual with a head for the big picture.[1] He has an easygoing personality and is devoted to his comrades,[2] despite appearing emotionless and blunt most of the time. He is an extremely focused individual when he wishes to learn or do something.
He is cold-blooded towards his enemies and has no qualms in killing them. His combat prowess and ruthlessness have inspired fear among Tekkadan's enemies. He is deeply loyal to his friend Orga Itsuka, and steadfastly follows any order or request without question. On the other hand, due to his background as a child soldier, he has difficulty interacting with people outside of Tekkadan and has a limited understanding of girls and relationships.
Because of his aloof personality and difficult childhood, Mikazuki has trouble interacting with others in topics that do not directly involve warfare; even if he is working to be more open about his emotions, and get to know the world better. Also, he seems to favor violence whenever he comes across someone or something he perceives as a threat, regardless if said violence is actually called for. For example, in his fight with Crank Zent, he refused to show sympathy towards his opponent, who clearly showed remorse at having to fight children, because he had killed his comrades. Another instance of his repression was when he attempted to strangle Gaelio Bauduin for almost running over Cookie and Cracker Griffon, even when it was an accident and the twins desperately begged him to stop. This is eventually brought to attention when Kudal Cadel accuses him of enjoying killing people. Mikazuki is subtly, yet visibly disturbed by this.
Starting from the death of Biscuit, he has developed a vengeful side. He declares whoever gets in his way is his enemy and he will fight to crush them instead of fighting for survival, and will press Orga into allowing him to do so. Mikazuki is very determined to destroy anyone who gets in the way of Tekkadan's, or more so Orga's, objectives.
Skills & Abilities
Mikazuki is the most experienced and the most capable mobile worker operator in CGS, thus he was assigned to pilot the Gundam Barbatos.[1] He has received the Alaya-Vijnana System surgical treatment three times and survived.[3] The system grants excellent spatial awareness and is required to pilot the Gundam Frame based mobile suit (such as the Barbatos) to their full potential.[3][4] As such, Mikazuki has high compatibility with the Barbatos.[3] In the battle against Graze Ein, Mikazuki appealed to the suit for more power via the Alaya-Vijnana System, and managed to acquire higher reaction speed as well as learning how to use a sword properly. However, this came at the cost of the vision in his right eye and all functionality of his right arm, although their full functions return when he enters Barbatos. Two years later, Mikazuki's piloting skills have further improved and during the fight with the Mobile Armor, Hashmal, he bypassed the safety limiter of the Alaya-Vijnana System and urged the suit to give it its all. This allowed him to use the Barbatos Lupus to its full potential. However, it came at the cost of losing all functionality on the right side of his body, reducing him to a cripple, unless he enters and connects with Barbatos Lupus.
In mobile suit combat, Mikazuki prefers to fight in close range and is often seen using mace-type weapons. Although he has also used swords, guns and cannons when required. Mikazuki can be reckless at times, and has no qualms wrecking his Barbatos during battle. His excellent mobile suit piloting skills eventually earned him the nickname "Devil".
Being left to fend for himself in the streets since childhood, the harsh upbringing turned Mikazuki into a ruthless killer. His employment at CGS necessitated that he remain fit—something he dedicated himself to as he simply had nothing better to do most of the time, due to being illiterate. His later reduced eyesight and loss of functionality in his right arm reduced his fighting abilities somewhat, but he is nonetheless still a capable fighter on his own right. Having pushed his suit for more power for the second time, he lost all functionality on the right side of his body, effectively making him a cripple unable to go anywhere on his own, let alone fight.
Mikazuki never attended school and never bothered to learn to read or write,[3] seeing it as something unrelated to his survival at first. However, thanks to Kudelia's efforts in teaching him, he has proper initiation in literary learning and begin to properly learn on his own. Eventually, he becomes capable of basic reading and writing. Mikazuki hopes that one day he would be able to read all-sorts of books so he can learn about vegetables. This is so he can own a farm like Biscuit's grandmother does, as he once told Orga.[5] During the timeskip, Mikazuki has been increasing his farming knowledge by experimenting with various farming cultivation techniques and crops to see if Sakura's farm is capable of growing anything other than corn.
History
P.D. 315
An orphan who lost his parents, he was in an alley way with his friend, Orga Itsuka where they had an encounter with a hostile person. Orga's right arm was wounded and his head was bleeding. Mikazuki fired his gun at the man and killed him before he could harm them any further. While the recoil made him fall on his back, he wasn't injured and was eager to ask Orga what to do next. Orga responded saying they need to leave as far away from that place as possible and find a place where they truly belong. When Mikazuki pressed on as to what that place is like, Orga became flustered but said that he didn't know but they would eventually find out.[6]
Some time later, he and Orga were recruited into Chryse Guard Security and placed in the third group. As both of them were illiterate, they received Alaya-Vijnana system implants to process the data required to pilot Mobile Workers. The implants would also prove to be useful when Mikazuki later pilots the Gundam Barbatos. Out of the ten people including Mikazuki and Orga who were given the surgical procedure without anesthesia at the time, only six survived unscathed while the others were either crippled or died from the surgery.
P.D. 323
Using his custom TK-53 CGS Mobile Worker, Mikazuki was in a practice match against fellow mobile worker pilots including Akihiro Altland. He easily shoots down nearly all of his training partners and comes out with no paint rounds on his machine. Mikazuki's group was later selected as the escorts for Kudelia Aina Bernstein. Later on, she introduces herself to the third group, and requests Mikazuki to show her around. During the tour, she wanted to shake hands with him, but he rejected since his hands were dirty. He implied that they were not on equal terms to begin with.[6]
Gjallarhorn assaults the CGS Base during the night, and Mikazuki quickly deploys out on the battlefield to counterattack. As the battle gets worse, he rushes up into the enemy frontlines and is joined by Akihiro, together they eliminated all of Gjallarhorn's Mobile Workers in close combat. In the midst of the battle, three of Gjallarhorn’s EB-06 Graze appear, and Orlis Stenja begins his attack on the CGS mobile workers for sport. Mikazuki asks Orga about their next step, and he is ordered to fall back. Mikazuki was then seen approaching the Engine Room which houses the ASW-G-08 Gundam Barbatos. He waits as Nadi Yukinojo Kassapa places the Alaya-Vijnana System/Mobile Worker cockpit into the Barbatos' empty cockpit. Afterwards, they start up the machine and Mikazuki receives a feedback shock from the system and a nosebleed. Meanwhile on the surface, Orlis’s Graze is about to strike at Orga. Barbatos appears and pummels the Graze with its mace killing Orlis instantly.
The remaining Graze pilots were momentarily stunned, but they quickly regained their composure. Crank Zent then asked Ein Dalton to back him up as he charges towards Mikazuki/Barbatos. To counter the attacks, the Barbatos hovers over to the retreating Gjallarhorn Mobile Workers, making it hard for Ein to shoot at Mikazuki without hitting his allies. They then engage in close combat as Crank Zent joins in. As Nadi had forgotten to refuel the Barbatos thrusters, the Barbatos begins to run low on fuel. Crank noticed the Barbatos' thruster problem, and later escaped with Ein by exploiting it. Mikazuki then received another bout of feedback shock from the Alaya-Vijnana System and his nose starts bleeding. Despite this, he tried to chase after the two retreating mobile suits but soon faints. After some time, he wakes up in the Gundam and then walks back to the CGS Base passing by Atra Mixta.
Kudelia gives her gratitude to Mikazuki for protecting her, but he coldly replies that he doesn’t need it. She expresses that she feels responsible for the numerous deaths of his allies, but he responds, “They all died because of one mere person like you? Don’t look down on my comrades.”
Later on, Mikazuki is working on Gundam Barbatos when Orga asks him for a favor. He takes the gun without hearing the details, and tells Orga that he will do what he decides on.
After the CGS' First Corps wakes up from eating a meal with sedatives in them, they are greeted by Orga, Mikazuki, Biscuit, Eugene, and Norba from CGS' Third Corps. During their mutiny, Mikazuki shoots Haeda Gunnel, commander of the First Corps and defies Sasai Yankus without hesitation. Third Corps then takes over CGS and after settling down, the alarm goes off. Crank Zent of Gjallarhorn’s Front Line Troops appears and requests a duel between him and CGS. Mikazuki is then “told” by Orga to kill him and deploys in Gundam Barbatos. The two Mobile Suit pilots then greet with each other’s name and rank as the battle begins. Mikazuki eventually deal a serious blow when he launched the 'Needle' (a spiked rod) from the Barbatos' Mace into the chest of Crank's Graze. As Mikazuki was about to deliver the final blow, he sees Crank as the Graze's cockpit armor was lost during the earlier attack. He then gets out and points his gun at Crank. Crank requests for Mikazuki to kill him since he can’t end his own life due to his severe wounds. Mikazuki accepts but he notices Atra’s lucky charm bracelet on his left wrist, and hides it behind him. He then proceeds to fire at Crank before the latter could complete his thanks to Mikazuki. After that, he enjoys the scent of Atra’s bracelet. Mikazuki returns back to base and likes the company’s new name, Tekkadan.[7]
Few days after the battle, Mikazuki continue his usual routine just as before. He then worked with Nadi to service the Barbatos. The duo was then visited by Orga and Biscuit, and Nadi told them he would do as much as he can on the Barbatos considering it is hundreds of years old, and that he is only a mobile worker specialist. The next day, Mikazuki notices that Kudelia looks troubled and invites her to Biscuit’s Grandmother’s cornfield. At the cornfield, Mikazuki meets with Atra and he thanked her for the bracelet. He later grabs onto Kudelia as she lost her balance while harvesting the corn. He was glad to hear that Kudelia was feeling better and told her how cheaply the corns were being sold. He also revealed that Biscuit's salary was used to help maintain the cornfield, and they talked about the Human Debris. A while later, Cookie and Cracker screams as tires skid and Gaelio comes out to see if the girls are alright but instantly has his throat caught by Mikazuki. While the angry Mikazuki has Gaelio faintly calling for help, the girls recover and inform that Mikazuki has misread the situation. While Mikazuki apologizes, Gaelio throws a punch out of anger and misses. Both McGillis and Gaelio then notice the Alaya-Vijnana System implants on Mikazuki’s back/upper spine. McGillis questions about the activities related to CGS’ Battle but Biscuit and Mikazuki act as local commoners and denied knowing anything. The group (Mikazuki, Biscuit, Kudelia, and Fumitan) return back to the base and notice the new Tekkadan’s insignia in the form of a red flower replacing the CGS logo.
During the night time, Mikazuki takes his turn keeping watch and is visited by Kudelia. They then have a conversation. The next morning, Atra appears with her belongings proposing to work as a Tekkadan cook. Mikazuki lets her in the group by stating how delicious her cooking is and receives additional Mars Palms. After Tekkadan launched into space and is surrounded by Gjallarhorn space forces, Mikazuki deploys out of the space shuttle in the Gundam Barbatos to retaliate against the attack. He draws the Grazes away from the shuttle and avoids damage with his movement. Coral then decides to engage in close combat and manages to overpower Barbatos, however Mikazuki is saved by the timely arrival of the Graze Custom piloted by Akihiro. Coral meets his end as Gundam Barbatos launched the mace's needle into the Graze's cockpit. Mikazuki then continues his attack on the remaining Grazes, backed by Akihiro. Gaelio and his Schwalbe Graze later appears and engages Mikazuki/Barbatos. McGillis also sorties with his Schwalbe Graze later and noted that Mikazuki's evasion pattern is not in any attitude control system. He then attributes it to the Alaya-Vijnana System, and notices that Barbatos' back thruster's Nanolaminated Armor is more worn out. He then proceeds to attack this weakness, but MIkazuki quickly catches on to his plan. The two Schwalbe Grazes gave Mikazuki a hard time, and he was forced to eject the Barbatos' left forearm armor to free the Barbatos of the McGillis' Schwalbe Graze's wired claw and avoid a fatal blow. The Barbatos was then restrained by the wired claw fired from Gaelio's Schwalbe Graze and was pulled towards Mar's atmosphere. Through their exchange of communications, Mika and Gaelio recognizes each other. Mika calls Gaelio 'the one next to chocolate man', with the 'chocolate man' being a reference to McGillis as he had gave some candy to Cookie and Cracker as an apology after the accident at the cornfield. Mikazuki managed to free Barbatos and hit Gaelio's Schwalbe Graze with the mace when the Barbatos charges towards the latter. Mikazuki and Barbatos was then picked up the Isaribi and escapes.
Relationships
He and Orga have known each other from a very young age. They have an incredible loyalty to each other, each motivating the other to reach their full potential.[1] Mikazuki obeys any order or plan Orga issues, without question. Their deep trust allows them to cover each others' backs, and is their greatest strength. Mikazuki's loyalty and protectiveness for Orga is so strong that he is willing to sacrifice his body and potentially his life to see Orga's goal through. During the battle against the mobile armor Hashmal, Mikazuki disagrees with Orga's plan to launch in his custom Shiden so as to not take even the slightest chance of letting harm come to Orga. When Orga shows concern that Mikazuki may lose his life or limbs due to the Alaya-Vijnana System, Mikazuki claims that his life was given to him by orga, and that he needs to use his all for Orga.
She has a crush on Mikazuki.[2] They met outside a shop when Atra was ten years old and starving. Mikazuki asked the owner of the shop to give him any food that was worth what little money he had for her, and the shopkeeper responded by giving Atra food and a workplace. Atra made the bracelet that Mikazuki wears on his left wrist, and he treasures it greatly. He can be quite protective of her as he nearly crushes Hush Middy's arm when he was about to get physical with her. As Mikazuki's physical wellbeing deteriorates as a result of him seeking higher compatibility with his Gundam via the Alaya-Vijnana System, Atra begins to show anguish over his willingness to sacrifice himself. On the night before the final battle with Rustal Elion's fleet, she tearfully confesses that she loves him to which Mikazuki hugs her from behind and reveals that she is precious to him and that he will fight so she can stop crying.
Kudelia seems to have taken a liking to Mikazuki, frequently coming to him for advice. Mikazuki initially views Kudelia as very naive and patronizing towards the child soldiers at CGS and refuses to shake her hand at their first meeting. This changes when she offers to provide funds to solve the group's financial problem after the coup d'etat by the Third Group. He starts to warm up to her and explains to her things like the Human Debris and the situation of selling crops on Mars. After the funeral held following the battle with the Brewers and listening to Naze talk about women, Mikazuki kissed Kudelia, causing her to become very flustered while he did not think too much of it. His respect for her grows when she pacifies a hostile Gjallarhorn fleet mid-battle with words alone, something he admits to her not even Orga can do. During his battle against Ein in Edmonton, he becomes furious when Ein exclaims that he will kill Kudelia along with the rest of Tekkadan for all of their "sins". It is later shown that during his breaks from duty, he and Atra visit Kudelia at her office, and that he has her handle his paychecks.
Mikazuki's first interaction with Hush was to stop him when he was about to get physical with Atra during an argument over the Alaya-Vijnana surgery. Despite only being able to use his left arm, Mikazuki grabbed Hush's arm so hard and inflicted enough pressure to immobilize it and possibly even break it. After the defeat of Dawn Horizon, Hush approached MIkazuki and expressed his desire to pilot a mobile suit. When asked why he wants to pilot one, Hush bluntly told Mikazuki that he wanted to become stronger than him. Mikazuki approved of that intent and told Orga about the request, leading to Hush's training in the Shiden simulations and lackluster deployment on Earth. After that, Hush decided to study under Mikazuki and follows him around, much to Mikazuki's annoyance. Hush is frequently seen as Mikazuki's self-assigned assistant or chauffeur, and after Mikazuki's right side is paralyzed, Hush also begins to carry him around.
McGillis first encountered Mikazuki at Mrs. Sakura's farm due to an incident involving Gaelio and Biscuit's sisters. He noticed Mikazuki had the Alaya-Vijnana System and that he moved quickly against Gaelio's punch, making McGillis suspicious that Mikazuki wasn't just any ordinary "farmer" as he pretended to be. McGillis then encounters Mikazuki again in space, in his Gundam Barbatos. McGillis considered Mikazuki an adequate pilot, as he escaped one of McGillis' attacks that could've caused great damage. He was rather excited to be fighting against a legendary Gundam Frame and he realized how Mikazuki was able to use the Alaya-Vijnana System to his advantage in the Gundam. Mikazuki calls McGillis "Chocolate Man". Later, when McGillis disguise himself as Montag, Mikazuki was the first to recognize him through his voice and in turn, McGillis removes his masks' eye shades and asks for the whereabouts of Biscuit's sisters. Two years later, when McGillis proposed an alliance with Tekkadan, Mikazuki seems wary of him; however Mikazuki willingly protects McGillis from Galan Mossa during the war between Abrau and SAU under Orga's command due to their alliance. McGillis thanks Mikazuki for saving him at the end and gives him a chocolate to show his gratitude. McGillis mentions that Mikazuki saving him in Barbatos Lupus was like watching a scene from the legend of Agnika Kaieru. After Mikazuki brutally defeated the Hashmal, McGillis' respect for Mikazuki grows. McGillis sees Mikazuki as a source of inspiration and credits Mikazuki for showing him that only true power will help fan the flame of revolution, leading the world to the ideal path.
Gallery
Notes & Trivia
- Mikazuki (三日月?) is the Japanese word for "Crescent Moon". When he talks to Kudelia in the CGS control tower in episode 5, this fact is one of the reasons why he wants to visit Earth; so he can see his namesake with his own eyes. The fact it is transliterated as Mikazuki in Latin differently to the way it is pronounced, Mikadzuki (みかつき?) is highlighted in episode 6 by Elgar and Embi who are learning how to read and write with, Mikazuki, Takaki and two other children under the guidance of Kudelia.
- His family name Augus (オーガス?) has the same Katakana as the titular mecha of the 1983 anime Super Dimension Century Orguss.
- In February 2016 issue of NewType magazine, Mikazuki Augus was ranked the second best male character.[8]
- Mikazuki's personality resembles that of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing protagonist, Heero Yuy, and Mobile Suit Gundam 00 protagonist, Setsuna F. Seiei . All three are loyal to their friends, merciless towards their enemies and are the pilots of the titular Mobile Suit in their respective series. All three also share a similar lack of emotion shown externally, leading many to believe that they are emotionless.
- Like Setsuna, Mikazuki also pilots a Mobile Suit that primarily uses melee weapons.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Profile on Gundam.Info
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS PV2
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 High Grade 1/144 ASW-G-08 Gundam Barbatos model kit manual | Translation Link : [1]
- ↑ Great Mechanics G Spring 2016 | Link: [2] | Translation Link: [3]
- ↑ Mobile Suit Gundam IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS Episode 6, As For Them
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Mobile Suit Gundam IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS Episode 1, Iron and Blood
- ↑ Mobile Suit Gundam IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS Episode 3, Glorious Demise
- ↑ NewType Magazine February 2016