Kidou Senshi Gundam: Suisei no Majo

Suletta Mercury leaves her planet and enters the Asticassia School of Technology at the behest of her mother. There, right and wrong are determined through duels between students, and the top-ranking duelist will receive Miorine Rembran as their fiancée—this prize being decided by Miorine's father.

When Guel Jeturk, the best pilot in school and Miorine's current fiancé, demands that his betrothed move in with him, Suletta disapproves, so Guel challenges her. Although she emerges as champion, Suletta is subsequently detained on suspicion of piloting a forbidden type of mobile suit—a GUND-ARM, or "Gundam"—which results in her victory being voided.

Miorine refuses to accept any more injustices and proposes another duel with even higher stakes. Now, Suletta must triumph a second time, otherwise she will be expelled and the Gundam Aerial that means so much to her will be destroyed.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Mercury, Suletta Main

Ichinose, Kana Japanese

Rembran, Miorine Main

Lynn Japanese

Haro Supporting

Furukawa, Makoto Japanese

Jeturk, Guel Supporting

Azakami, Youhei Japanese

Panlunch, Chuatury Supporting

Tomita, Miyu Japanese

Ceres, Elan Supporting

Hanae, Natsuki Japanese

Dote, Secelia Supporting

Yamane, Aya Japanese

Mercury, Prospera Supporting

Noto, Mamiko Japanese

Nanaura, Nika Supporting

Miyamoto, Yume Japanese

Pulone, Sophie Supporting

Izawa, Shiori Japanese

Maeda, Toshihiro Producer

Okamoto, Takuya Producer

Kobayashi, Hiroshi Director, Storyboard

Aketagawa, Jin Sound Director

Reviews

Jan 8, 2023

Marinate1016

Recommended

Gundam’s multiple timelines and universes often keep people away, which is a shame as shows like G Witch perfectly sum up why Gundam is one of the biggest franchises of all time.

For me, G Witch is one of the best Gundam series ever, and the best modern iteration for two simple reasons. 1:Cute Girls. 2:Yuri. In all seriousness, it’s such a breath of fresh air to have two awesome female leads with such great personalities and a naturally developing relationship. Sulletta’s social anxiety is extremely relatable and you can’t help but want to see her succeed. Miorine’s prickly personality that she uses to cover up ... her own insecurities and fears is also something many people can relate to. The two leads just feel real and that’s one of the hardest things to nail in this medium. In a franchise that is known for insane space battles, political drama and cool mechs, it’s also a massive bonus to have loveable characters.

I think the Yuri undertones have been handled really well. Pretty obvious, but not too in your face either. Suletta and Miorine’s friendship is integral to the story and the cornerstone of their growth as individuals and it’s been such a joy to see it play out in this first cour. I enjoy seeing female protagonists and romantic relationships more than traditional hetero ones as they tend to be better written and more organic. That said, there’s still a lot more room for growth and I can’t wait to see where things go in the second cour.

The school setting is a really nice departure from the usual Gundam formula as well. The various cliques and politics going on within the school are a cool take on the usual political drama in Gundam. In many ways, G Witch really feels like Gundam for a modern audience which is really good because the same things that made Gundam popular in the 70s and 80s, might not be the wave to ride right now. Knowing how to modernise and adapt franchises for modern audiences is important to stay relevant and it seems sunrise have managed to just do that. The series still has that Gundam feeling, but feels very fresh. Even the character designs are a welcome upgrade.

Of course you can’t talk about Gundam without talking about.. well.. gundams. In the show we haven’t seen too much action as it’s mainly been character driven over this first cour. That said, in the few action scenes we have had, I have been really pleased with the sakuga. The blending of 2D and 3D animation/CGI has been nearly flawless and the set pieces have been meticulously drawn and executed. I imagine as things heat up in the second cour, we will see even better action sequences and crazier battles, but I have no doubt in my mind Sunrise will do a great job. Minor note, but sound design has also been GREAT in the series too. I think it’s a detail that often gets brushed over in anime, but I really like it in this one.

Overall, Gundam G Witch is a great watch for Gundam Vets and newcomers alike and one of my fave shows of 2022. No, you do NOT have to have seen any other Gundams to watch and enjoy this. The other gundams will allow you to see the character parallels between new characters and ones from other series, but it’s not necessary. In fact, I would say this is an excellent starting point for those looking to get into the franchise, as well as those who enjoy well written female characters, mechs and sci-fi in general.

Gundam G Witch first Cour gets 10 tomatoes out of 10.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Jan 8, 2023

Mcsuper

Mixed Feelings

This was my first time watching a Gundam anime, and I feel like I have been bamboozled. Why, you ask? Because the prologue showed quite the dark space story that had me quite excited for what the series would bring. Instead, this show took place in an academy, and had all your academia tropes in there, which felt like a complete 360 from what I expected, which was more of a political show. Does that mean that The Witch From Mercury was bad? Not exactly, but I did have my fair share of issues with it. Now, I am quite aware that this was just ... the first cour, and I am quite certain that this will be the weakest cour of this show. There was still some intrigue here, with the politics and character interactions, and I look forward to where that goes.

As I said earlier, this show took place mostly in an academy so far, which, for more seasoned Gundam veterans, must have felt a bit surprising and perhaps a bit underwhelming. For me, it also felt a bit shocking considering the prologue, but the production looked pretty good early on that made it quite enjoyable. The things that I took more issue with in the plot was that the students seemed to hold so much power, and there were no higher authorities to speak of, other than the parents, but it’s not like the parents controlled the academy or anything. The students could just do as they pleased, harming each other like no one’s business.

The duels were also quite a convenient plot device to settle disputes, and I felt that took away some of the potential this show had to show how good it could be. It didn’t allow for the characters to shine in ways outside of battle enough, and while the duels are cool to look at, it does get a bit predictable and repetitive. It’s not all negative though, as the political themes were still interesting enough to keep me watching. The mind games surrounding the ethics of Gundam suits, the war between the companies, Prospera’s role in all of this, it felt quite intriguing, but it’s still too early to know where the plot will go from here. Overall, quite a mixed bag, story-wise.

As for the technical aspects of the show, it’s definitely the least of this series’ worries. Both the animation and music were well done, and the OP and ED were both quite the good songs. I just hope the production can stay afloat for the second cour, as we’ve already had some production issues this cour.

The characters of this show are definitely the biggest source of intrigue in this show, and I’ll go over my thoughts on some of them. First, Suletta, the new Bocchi of the Gundam Franchise, just without the comedic aspect. She’s a dunce, plain and simple, and sometimes, I did get a little frustrated by how gullible she was, but as with most protagonists, she had her time to shine, but sadly there just wasn’t enough development this cour for her. She just needs more moments that rely on her skills more, and not getting bailed out by others. Her performance in the promotional video for the company was pretty cool though, I’m not gonna lie. Miorine, the other half to this relationship, could have been a great character, and when she shows her prowess, she’s quite awesome, but too much of her screen time was centred around meaningless things, such as yelling at Suletta, which was a bit repetitive. Luckily she had more meaningful moments toward the end of the cour.

Shaddiq was a good side character, as I never really got a handle on his motives, though I was suspicious of what he would do. It made the climaxes a bit more shocking for sure. As for other interesting characters, Chuchu, Elan, and Nika come to mind, but it’s still quite early for me to formulate a firm opinion on them.

Overall, this was a series filled with solid ideas, with middling execution at times. I enjoyed watching the characters and the politics enough, and the production quality was solid. I’d imagine the future cours will get me more interested in what this series has to offer, so if you’re interested in a more unique Gundam story that’s a slow burn, this could be the Gundam for you. This was my first Gundam show, so I can’t compare this to other parts of the franchise, but all I can say is, the GUND-ARM promotional video was the best part of all.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jan 31, 2023

RebelPanda

Not Recommended

Queerbaiting criticism of anime often gets backlash from people who have had anime with complete representation for their whole lives. Heroes, supporting characters, romances, sexual relationships. You can live vicariously the fantasies of heroism, power, violence, love, harems, and much more. Film, tv, and anime have been that way for over a century.

The latest Gundam spin-off series, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury, appears to challenge the status quo of gender roles in the long-running mecha franchise and anime as a medium. The female leads of G-Witch, Suletta Mercury and Miorine Rembran, are engaged to marry. Suletta assumes the traditional role of a man, ... piloting the Gundam, and Miorine is her handler, frequently placed in the role of damsel in distress. The twist is that they're women and challenging the patriarchy. Suletta's fiery red hair and anxious personality are a nice departure from the standard high-school-aged male anime protagonist—stoic, monotone, and overpowered. I don't buy the criticism that she is a gender-swapped overpowered protagonist because, despite her aptitude with her mobile suit Ariel, she's relatively weak, bad at communicating and doesn't magically draw people to her.

Other students treat Suletta like a naive country bumpkin because she's from Mercury—her struggle to prove them would make compelling character development. Suletta’s unlikely companion Miorine reluctantly accepts her help to avoid becoming a bride to some misogynistic asshole. The real villain of Gundam Witch is the patriarchy, big, scary, evil men and their evil sons making life harder for women at the Asticassia School of Technology. The first male chauvinist pig is Guel Jeturk, which sounds like a repugnant name, and he tears apart Miorine's greenhouse because she doesn't obey his orders as a fiance should. Suletta challenges him to a duel for Miorine's sake, and in doing so, she clashes with a high-class faction. Like a real patriarchal system, a more powerful misogynistic man behind Guel stands in the way of Miorine's dream—to escape to Earth.

Miorine's character consists of misfortune caused by men; her father forces her to attend a school she dislikes, makes her quit piano, and arranges a marriage she doesn't want. Men, or the patriarchy, are the closest thing G-Witch has to an antagonist. Hell, it's no wonder Miorine’s miserable. Her relationship with Suletta is entirely transactional. She only wants her to pose as her fiance until she can escape to Earth, and breaking out of an oppressive system is an admirable goal. However, jeopardizing this girl's school career for her dream is transparently selfish and inconsiderate. She makes no attempts to hide her motivations—privileged, opportunistic, victim of misogyny—what you see is what you get, and there's nothing original here. Other characters criticize her prideful behavior, despite maintaining a status quo. She is like a wealthy upper-middle-class liberal who rejects her upbringing despite benefitting from it. Her affection for Suletta is non-existent, and their continuous misunderstandings don't equal romantic tension. Besides the urge to protect Morine and their marriage pact, Suletta does not need to stick with her. No wonder she has far more chemistry with another pilot, Elan Ceres. Nothing regarding Suletta's characterization signaled that she is queer. My attempts at searching for queer coding that isn't baked into the stolen premise are like grasping at straws.

The stolen premise, yes, stolen, comes from my favorite anime of all time Revolutionary Girl Utena—an explicitly queer deconstruction of how the patriarchy controls stories. There's a difference between a homage and copying. G-Witch isn't a homage to Utena because it doesn't emulate any of what made that series great. There are no references, no symbolism honored, no inspired framing, or even a wink to fans of the show it ripped off. I doubt the creators have even seen Utena. Pairing two girls together in a patriarchal school doesn't equal homage. It's just plagiarizing a good premise. Not to belabor this point, but Utena understood how to subvert the classic damsel in distress trope. Prince saves princess stereotypes and marriage as a plot device. Marriage is a result of patriarchy, and Sulleta and Miorine's engagement only adds a candy-coated prison cell. Their marriage is not a revolution until they become equals, leave the system, or dismantle it. There's a second cour coming, so those more hopeful than I might see some progress. I'm not staking anything on it.

Since Suletta is a transfer student, we learn about the school's politics, social hierarchies, and cohorts through her eyes. The exposition for these parts in the first couple of episodes is woven neatly into dialogue and visual storytelling to keep you engaged. The less successful parts are the over-scripted political rhetoric, the conversations between the Mobile Suit Development Council and the many corporations within the Benerit Group faction—that run the Asticassia School. There's Grassley Defense Systems, Jeturk Heavy Machinery, Peil Technologies, Shin Sei Development Corporation, and more for anyone keeping track. Angsty bureaucrats deliver exposition; they lack character development or unique traits. Suletta's mother and Miorine's father play a significant role behind the scenes at the school. Suletta's relationship with her mother brings some genuine pathos to her character, especially towards the end of the cour. The megacorporation drama serves as a b-plot to the students' A plot. It's a lot to keep track of unless you're very engaged with the story and enjoy seeing ultra-wealthy people yell at one another. It would be best to watch the prologue to understand what's happening.

The animation in G-Witch is of high quality, barely noticeable CGI, with good use of color and lighting to create a believable futuristic setting. The character designs are refreshingly unique, beyond just hair color. The action scenes are well-choreographed, and although less plentiful in the second half, they're consistently well-animated. Hopefully the final episode's consistent action sets a new tone for part 2. The voice acting is also solid, with the two leads delivering the most convincing performances possible. Orchestral background music during the action scenes enhances them significantly. I can't say the same for the opening, which is overly auto-tuned like a bad remix and barely fits the visuals.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury certainly is an entry in the Gundam franchise. Around the second half of this cour, the pacing slows, and dry dialogue replaces mobile suit fights. It's exhausting in the company arc when the anime abandons logic and transitions into slice-of-life—like sci-fi Shirobako with wealthy capitalists in space. By the end, there's just enough queerbait and explosive set pieces to reel in more viewers for the second cour. The animation and visual design are good despite the story. The themes of friendship, sacrifice, and patriarchy are straightforward, and the second cour may subvert the generic setup. At the moment, there's not enough here worth recommending to anyone but diehard Gundam fans.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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