Fall 2022 Anime: Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury

Synopsis

A.S. (Ad Stella) 122. An era when a multitude of corporations have entered space and built a huge economic system. A lone girl from the remote planet Mercury transfers to the Asticassia School of Technology, run by the Benerit Group which dominates the mobile suit industry. Her name is Suletta Mercury. With a scarlet light burning in her pure heart, this girl walks step by step through a new world. (Source: gundam.info)

Comments

Caesar E.S. (The Indonesian Anime Times)

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury feels like a significant leap forward. It feels like the right step for Gundam as a series to take.

It’s not just that the anime features the first female main character for a mainline entry in the franchise’s 40-year-long history. Nor is it how contemporary the series feels, from the animation to the designs to the music (you can’t get more contemporary than YOASOBI). Nor is it the school setting, that’s already drawn comparisons to Revolutionary Girl Utena. And this isn’t even mentioning the show’s incredible production quality.

Indeed, coming into the show as an established viewer, the more you see familiar elements that Gundam has either featured before or briefly touched upon. You have a seemingly sentient Gundam, similar to the S Gundam featured in Gundam Sentinel, a series of photo novels published way back in 1987. You have the one-on-one mobile suit duels, perfected in the Gundam Build series over the past decade. You have what seems to be a revenge story setup, not unlike Char & Garma from the original Mobile Suit Gundam.

Yet despite all the familiar elements, or perhaps because of it, The Witch from Mercury feels fresh in the same way that Gundam SEED felt fresh in 2002. It re-contextualized all the Gundam that came before it into what a modern take on Gundam for the 2000s should be. Only this time, for the 2020s. I had my reservations coming into the show, fearing that Gundam‘s formula had become a bit stale, but The Witch from Mercury‘s first episode’s smart use of both familiar and new elements completely blew my expectations. It’s a new Gundam for a new era, a whole new audience thanks to worldwide simultaneous streaming, and another chance for Gundam to prove that it can still push the envelope even after 40 years, even despite the mainstream juggernaut that it’s become. I’m looking forward to whether or not it will put a spotlight on elements that might have not been explored as thoroughly before in Gundam, such as gender and sexuality. 

And speaking of success, The Witch from Mercury looks on track to it, at least anecdotally: model kits of the Aerial Gundam have been flying off the shelves at retailer BIC Camera, sold out to the point that they had to fill the empty The Witch from Mercury shelves with other kits and Aerial brand corn chips.

So whether you’re a completely new fan or someone who has probably watched every piece of Gundam media imaginable, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury is one show to look out for.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury is currently streaming on Ani-One Asia and Gundam.info

Facts and Figures

Screenshots and Trailer

The Indonesian Anime Times