Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury

Episode 5

Oh my god, Guel Jeturk cannot get a break. This episode marks his third consecutive loss; the guy has not won a single duel since this show started. It's cute to see him get up in arms about Suletta, but more than anything, it's hilarious that his role has already been reduced to a chump who exists to demonstrate how strong his opponent is.

The series is still in its character establishing phase, but the centerpiece duel this episode ups the intrigue around Aerial and the Gundams. Elan, the cool boy and Natsuki Hanae typecast, initially introduced himself in episode 2 by moodily declaring, "Falling in love is something I'll never do," before hanging out with Suletta and immediately showing interest in her. That's fitting dramatic irony for a romcom, but this episode makes clear that his real fixation is on her robot. As a genetically enhanced person, molded for the specific purpose of piloting Gundams, he understands something about the Aerial that others can't perceive—it may look and feel like a Gundam but there's something fundamentally different about its relationship with the pilot.

Even as this episode raises more questions than it answers, it goes a long way towards clarifying aspects of the setting. One of the things that initially seemed ridiculous about the plot was how, a mere decade after Gundams have been outlawed, Prospera sends her daughter to school with a Mobile Suit that so obviously functions like a Gundam. When pressed about it, all she says is, "Take my word that it's not a Gundam"—not exactly a satisfying answer. However, her knowing reaction to the Peil Technologies developer this episode makes evident that she was anticipating that the companies would investigate the GUND Format in the Aerial. Whatever she's trying to accomplish, it's not through hiding or downplaying the Aerial's capabilities. She might even be telling the truth that the Aerial isn't a Gundam in the strictest sense.

Between the amusing romcom elements in this episode and the flashy demonstration of Elan's piloting, there are other points in this episode that are worth noting. When an Earth house girl tells Suletta's fortune, she points out the existence of a sibling whom Suletta does not appear to be aware of. Is that referring to Aerial, who demonstrates sentience in the short story set between the Prologue and episode 1? There's one line from Aerial in that story that particularly stood out to me: "I want to tell you that Mother is using you as a tool for revenge. But I can't go against Mother, because she is the parent who gave birth to me." (Emphasis my own) It's natural to interpret that sentence to mean that Mother developed Aerial as a robot, but it could it refer to something more literal? Could Aerial actually be a human whose consciousness has entirely merged with the robot?

I could be reading too much into it, but either way, there's definitely something deeper going on with Aerial. Finding out the answers may be biggest reason to anticipate the inevitable duel between Elan and Suletta next episode.

Rating:

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.