Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury
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The American Average
 Posts: 644 Location: Jehuty |
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Gundam tries different things all the time. We just got a bunch of those gunpla video game build divers and tri-fighters and all that. First one was awesome then all boring from there. Gundam has a standard theme that fans expect to have In it stray too far and it’s off putting. It’s like Star Wars, having Jedi and no lightsabers is just wrong for many fans. Some may like it but not everyone will like that creative choice. As for “stop watching” let him, let people hate watch what they want to watch. You know the meme of the guy yelling “stop enjoying this!” Same can be said for “stop hating on this!” for example my favorite gundam is Turn A, and someone was hating on it I’d go on with my day cause it’s just their opinion. As for this show, I’m liking it so far but it feels a little aimless but it is only episode 3 and it’s going to be many episodes so I’m looking forward to the next episodes |
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Thesarum
Posts: 402 |
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This show is a real opinion divider isn't it? Strong feels on both sides.
Personally, I'm enjoying it. I like Suletta, she's awkward, stubborn, talented, shy, and determined. And currently hopelessly at the mercy of forces she's oblivious to. Which is where Miorine comes in of course. Once Miorine gets past her (understandable) obsession with being entirely independent, those two are going to make a pretty formidable team. At some point their respective family histories will come out I guess, and hopefully the partnership can survive that. Miorine seems to hold no loyalty for her father of course, and Suletta doesn't seem like the kind of girl who subscribes to "the sins of the father". But it certainly runs the risk of going all Romeo and Juliet (or insert your favorite alternative Shakespearean tragedy about ill fated lovers here. He wrote a few.) and ending badly for everyone. The couple of big fights we've had so far have looked great. Aerial looks great in motion, kinetic, weighty, powerful. |
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One-Eye
 Posts: 2261 |
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I guess I'm going to be in the unpopular opinion position.
So people were going its Utena x Gundam! Which quickly got my attention, because that sounds like a show I want to watch. But then I actually watched the first 2 episodes. Yes so far it looks good. Yes, so far we are attending a school (in space) where students are having duels to settle disputes or even win the hand of "the bride". Ok, but that's not quite enough. Putting a few Utena strokes on this canvas doesn't really make for a comparison and runs the risk of just being a gimmick. I'd still be onboard with continuing to watch the show, but I'm having some issues with Suletta Mercury, our titular Witch. Shyness, social anxiety disorder, awkwardness, grew up in a bubble with zero human contact? I'm fine with any of that or all of that, but this is like taking all those aspects and dialing it up to 11, while at the same time trying to make the anime girl cute. I'm not sure the show is taking those potential issues seriously, since they also seem to be trying to present it as cute qualities. Oh, look she can barely get a word out that's cute right? No it looks painful. Oh look she practically has the mind of an infant and has a wishlist that includes eating lunch with friends. Again, not finding it cute kind of sad actually. Unfortunately, so far I have found her presentation by the creators to be annoying not sympathetic nor endearing. It also feels overall a little dumbed down? Is this what they meant about making it accessible to younger audiences? Ouch. At least it seems they are trying something a little different? I'm willing to give the show another 1-2 eps but if this goes on as it is I may not be able to watch it. Plus she's got some weird spots on her head that I guess are eyebrows? I keep wanting to get a handkerchief and wipe her face clean of spots. |
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MagicianMan
Posts: 120 |
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I love that Miorine pilots like a drunk june bug. Full speed ahead and bouncing off everything between her and her destination.
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secondkas
 Posts: 95 |
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This season is so packed with good anime but G-Witch is what I look forward to watching every week.
But as much enjoyment as I’m having now, the standard 50+ episodes of every version of this franchise and the unpredictability of its storyline is causing me worry, because everything could derail very quickly. There are three things I dread would happen because it has a heavily female-forward cast: 1. It would turn full Utena and become so esoteric and abstract there’s no longer a clear narration. 2. It would have a lot of male fanservice; at some point they will form an idol group and give a performance. 3. It would turn dark and some will achieve “character development” by getting…assaulted. I actually don’t mind 1 and 2 much because they could still turn out well depending on the execution. But if 3 happens I might drop it abruptly, I can’t deal with that trope anymore. And I’m surprised that there’s discourse how this is a bad Gundam because it’s somehow straying too far from what Gundam is expected to be when I personally do not see a consistent approach to the franchise aside from some unifying themes. In the end, if the show-runners’ goal is to entice a new generation of audience, they are being successful so far. Hopefully it finds its balance in making every audience group happy but if the older ones are turned off, the good news is the Gundam they’ve grown to love will not stop existing because of G-Witch. |
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catstigereye
Posts: 341 |
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The subtitles were so broken as to make it unwatchable! No thanks!
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kotomikun
Posts: 1205 |
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And then another person comes along and says "hey, stop telling them not to hatewatch this!" And then a fourth person shows up to write this post telling the third person to stop. And then...
This seems pretty far off-topic since, at least so far, the bad guys' capitalism is more of a metaphor for patriarchy and oppressive parenting than a direct criticism of economic systems. But the main thing this post reminds me of is that old meme from Foghorn Leghorn(?) cartoons, where he insisted on calling the American Civil War the "war between the states." ...I guess it shouldn't be surprising this show has spawned new and creative forms of controversy, due to the melding of an ancient mecha franchise with a specific cult-classic yuri. It feels odd, though, since outside of the characters' genders and the references that would fly over the heads of anyone who's never heard of Utena, it's a pretty standard storyline so far. Hero's hometown is destroyed by villains, they grow up and go to Anime School For Cool People, where they display great battle prowess and quickly acquire many love interests. Apparently, the finer details like the MC being a girl, probably being gay, definitely having extreme social anxiety, and generalized anti-capitalism still carry a lot of weight. Those things did convince me to watch and enjoy a Gundam anime for the first time, after all. I dunno about calling it "G-Witch," though. Sounds like either innuendo or "gee whiz." Maybe just Mercury? GWM? |
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Nyren
Posts: 702 |
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I feel conflicted with this series. As a longtime Gundam fan I can't say I'm particularly interested in this high school setting. We have the Build spin-offs for that sort of thing. That's supposed to be the stuff for newer generations to latch onto and then branch out from there. As far as this goes the mecha designs are cool, Aerial has grown on me since it's initial reveal.
The reviewer says no one could have predicted how this would go, but from the moment I read the plot synopsis and character descriptions months ago I got the general gist of what they were likely to do. Being the first mainline female protagonist is a big deal, but there was no way they were going to stop there. It felt obvious to me that a yuri pairing was likely as that would be the fastest way to sort of sweeten that deal. The first female protagonist... AND SHE'S A LESBIAN?! The way they were billed in the character reveals suggested as much to me and I was right. Does it bother me? I feel like they probably shouldn't have gone on all in, and the writing has been very cheeky like it was deliberately taunting the people who won't like it, but I do appreciate they got it moving right off the bat. No beating around the bush, and it's not even technically an official romantic couple, they're engaged for plot reasons and nothing is saying they HAVE to ultimately fall in love for real and actually go through with it. Granted, people might accuse them of baiting and being cowards if they don't, so I feel they will. I also predicted that the main character would have more than one suitor, arranged marriages don't seem like they'd be all that foreign an idea in this world. Children are treated like pawns. And the more powerful one becomes, the more valuable they become to their greedy self-serving parents. The Shin Sei Development Company that Suletta's mother now runs is a no-name backwater company, and yet they have the Aerial which is practically the most powerful and advanced mobile suit on the market right now, and it's just technically a prototype to boot. Beyond that though Guel has now confessed his feelings, Elan is a mystery but he may too go that route, and Shadiq has been tasked with researching Suletta and in the process he too may become a suitor. It's gonna become some kind of otome series at this rate with multiple male routes and one female route, with a possible secret harem route that lets you get everyone. Point is we're technically four episodes in and so far they've honestly been more predictable than not, at least to me, and Suletta as a character isn't particularly interesting and Miorine's attitude, while understandable, is a bit unbearable to me. If anything Aerial is the most interesting character. If viewers haven't figured it out yet, especially after watching the Prologue, Aerial isn't just a Mobile Suit based on GUND technology, it's a damned sentient AI. It can only communicate in beeps, basically giving Suletta "Yes" or "No" answers, but the short story featured on the shows website, when translated, is shown to be entirely from Aerial's perspective and a peek inside its mind. Suletta is it's sister, Elnora/Prospero is its mother, and it doesn't wish to go against mothers wishes, but it would for Sulettta's sake. It knows all about Prospero's plans to use Suletta to infiltrate the academy with a Gundam, win the duels to marry Miorine and usurp the Beneritt Group from within and destroy all that Delling Rembran has worked to build, all for vengeance against him after what he did in Prologue. But Aerial cannot speak, it cannot tell Suletta what it knows, it wants Suletta to not care what their mother wants and run away from it all to do what she wants to do, but if what Suletta wants is ultimately what mother wants, Aerial will do everything it can to make it happen. Also, Suletta keeps referring to Aerial as a "she", but Aerial itself actually identifies more as a "he" or at least an "it". If anything Aerial is probably the most tragic character in this story because it is forced to effectively be a silent observer, forced to know all but unable to change anything. Forced to watch. I feel that eventually it will get a voice and may even work against Suletta to keep her safe. |
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MagicPolly
 Posts: 1577 |
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They were broken on one platform for a few hours and are perfectly fine on gundam.info, your loss if you won't watch it |
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Zetabag
 Posts: 205 |
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Long time Gundam viewer here
While I haven't fallen in love with show, I have thoroughly enjoyed the three episodes we have gotten so far. Both Suletta and Mio are likeable characters, and watching their interactions with each has been fun so far. Suletta's extreme social awkwardness is more cute and adorable than annoying and grating, though i hope she starts to calm do a little bit so she doesn't wear out her welcome. Surprisingly, I think I like Mio a little more. She may suck at piloting the gundam, but I like her confidence and how proactive she has been so far. So far I don't really have an issue with the school setting, in fact one of my favorite anime series is Full Metal Panic which managed to integrate the two genres (high school and Mecha) rather well, so I'm interested to see Gundam's take on the high school setting. That being said, without additional context, I do have to admit that the whole idea of teenagers being allowed to duel with giant robots is at the very least a little silly and I can understand why that might put off some people. But atm im willing to suspend my disbelief and roll with it. Really digging the corporate politics. While politics is hardly new to gundam, its usually the politics of governments we see, so this is a welcome treat. I hope we soon get a decent idea of what society and human civilization is like outside the walls of the school and the corporate boardroom. So far all we really know is that Earthians (man that's gonna take awhile to get used to) are at the bottom of the pecking order. If nothing else the school setting should provide an easy way for the writers to exposition for this timeline/universe. As for the Mechs Really like the design of the Ariel, wish its gunpla wasn't sold out or jacked up in price everywhere 
Not a fan of Guel's custom Dilanza, but i do like the Darilbalde. I'll wait until we see the other mobile suits in action before commenting on them. One thing I hope is that the show will allow more of its mobile suits (especially the grunt designs) to stick around longer than a few episodes and therefore grow on me. This is a problem that a lot of designs from IBO had. |
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Soul_Punisher
Posts: 66 |
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Already better than Iron BORING Orphans.
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kgw
 Posts: 1061 Location: Spain, EU |
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I am baffled about Suletta's mother
spoiler[She has beside her Lady Próspera's mask, so she's her, but she doesn't have the same face as in the prologue. So unless we accept a heavy plastic surgery, she's not the same woman. But both characters have the same voice actress?] Also, I wonder if they are terrible at disguising: Shin-Sei (new life/star) corporation with a masked CEO -apparently from nowhere- and no engineering experience, but they manage to built a NOT-Gundam. And apparently, nobody is able to recognize the MS or the girl from 10 years ago. Either that, or all it is according to keikaku. 
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MagicianMan
Posts: 120 |
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spoiler[ We've already been shown that people can have a pretty significant part of their body replaced with cyberware. It's not hard to believe that she got more chromed up in order to chase her revenge.] I don't think the people in power in the Earthsphere are able to have as much oversight over the Mercury colony as they'd like due to how far away it is. It probably takes months at a significant cost, and not insignificant risk, just to get there. I imagine Mercury can more or less report what it wants and no one in power will know different as long as it's filling its mining quotas and not rocking the boat. People are starting to investigate it now because they did just rock the boat, but those same limitations mean that Lady Prospera has time to work before the big wigs figure things out. People did immediately recognize Aerial as a Gundam when they saw it fight. I don't think they are really convinced that it's not. They're just tolerating it for now because the majority were convinced to wait and see how they might be able to profit off it. Put another way, Aerial is bait to draw in the people Prospera wants to destroy. There's also no way for them to know who was piloting the Gundam in the past so there was no immediate reason for them to suspect Suletta before she brought her Gundam to class. |
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JohnRhogan
Posts: 164 |
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I'm liking G-Witch so far, mostly because of the mobile suit animation. There was a BD special that introduces this animation style. Suletta's bumpkin way of speaking is kinda cute, cause she's not real comfortable talking to people, other than her mom. I deduced Lady Prospera's identity after her appearance, after remembering the events of the prologue. I still can't she's voiced by Mamiko Noto. I didn't recognize her.
I can't wait to hopefully find out what happened to the Lfrith from the Prologue, and the Ariel's abilities. |
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db999
Posts: 299 |
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I'm thinking the exact same thing. With regards to this, I think it’s implied that things are going exactly as Lady Prospera had planned. I’m positive she knew exactly what would happen when she sent Suletta to the school with Ariel because in the second episode she doesn’t at all act like someone who is being put on the back foot due to the revelation of the Gundam but as someone confident that everything is going exactly according to her plan. In fact, it’s everyone else who’s put on the back foot by everything going on, because while they were all unaware Suletta’s Mom had likely been in the planning stage for her revenge for years. One of the things I like about the series is that it's confident in the story it’s telling and it doesn’t waste time, or insult the intelligence, of the audience. In a lesser series after episode 1 we’d go into the school and establish all of the characters and their relationship to Suletta, probably have a few duels, and only then after several episodes would the powers at be finally wisen up as to what’s going on. However, the writers realize that the audience would likely get fed up, or start questioning why none of the adults are taking action so they immediately go to the fallout of the events of the first episode and make a situation where Suletta can stay at the school. It also doesn’t drag out the mystery spoiler[of who Lady Prospera is by revealing almost immediately in episode 3 that she is in fact exactly who everyone watching guessed it was, Suletta’s mother] In a lesser series, it would drag out the mystery even though it’s obvious to everyone watching what’s going on. It also has some really smart writing in establishing the hierarchy of the school in episode 2, and in adding depth to our villain of episode 1 Guel by showing his father being abusive to him and not trusting in his abilities in order to have us sympathize with the character. If it can keep up this plot momentum for the rest of the shire is think this could be one of the strongest Gundam’s |
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