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The Mobile Suits known as ‘Gund-Arms’ (Gundams for short) are weapons developed out of health technology called ‘Gund’, a brain-computer interface which was created to compensate for physical disabilities caused by living in space. It allows the human nervous system to control artificial organs and limbs. It was then used by the military to increase pilot performance but its use led to many pilots being injured or killed. As a result, the GUND was banned. The term ‘witch’ in the series comes from the fact that most of the people on the team at one of the research institutes targeted for destruction by the so-called Mobile Suit Development Council, were women. Their research facility, under an institute called Vanadis, was destroyed and everyone was killed except for two people, a mobile suit test pilot and her daughter. All those involved in the GUND were ostracized.
Twenty-one years after the incident, a young girl named Suletta Mercury transfers to a school of technology that is run by a megacorporation called Benerit. There she meets Miorine Rembran who is trying to escape from the control of her father who runs the company. She’s engaged to be married to a mobile suit pilot named Guel who is another key character in the series. The main point of focus is the relationship between Suletta and Miorine, the two female protagonists. There is a web novel that goes with the series. It links the prologue episode with the main series. There is also a graphic novel in a magazine that adapts this web novel into something lighter for readers. There is also a side manga and Gunpla figure.
This video by Youtube user TrentinArt explores the user's favorite part of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury (2022) -- the relationship between protagonists Suletta and Miorine. It is an example of material produced by fans that can be used together with scholarship in art historical research on anime. The video explores the controversy the relationship provoked among anime and Gundam fans around the series. The debate regarded the lack of a kiss between the two characters. Many fans felt the two were in a romantic relationship that they wanted to see concretized in a kiss between them.
Through formal and iconographic analysis of the series focused on interactions between the characters, this fan's video takes the position that the history of the series shows it was not necessary for the two characters to kiss for there to be a romance between them.
After you have watched the analysis, you can decide if you would like to watch a whole episode. TrentinArt suggests watching Episode 11, an episode of focus in their analysis.
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Recent Mobile Suit Gundam
This chapter introduces Mobile Suit Gundam with a recent series, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury (2022), the first of Japan’s Reiwa era. The Witch from Mercury is also the first Gundam series to feature a female protagonist. It is inspired by Shakespeare’s play The Tempest (1610-1611) with elements from witch trials. It is the fifteenth mainline entry in the Sunrise entertainment company's long-running Gundam franchise. Aired from 2022 to 2023, it was directed by Hiroshi Kobayashi and Ryo Ando and written by Ichiro Okouchi.Socio-Historical Context for the Reiwa Era
The Reiwa era began with Emperor Akihito abdicating the throne and his eldest son Naruhito ascending to power. The original Mobile Suit Gundam series dates to 1979 to 1981 during the Heisei era discussed in the previous chapter. In 2014, at the end of the Heisei era, Article 9 of Japan's new constitution (established after World War II in the Shōwa era) was reinterpreted, This took place under the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Article 9 allows Japan to engage in "collective self-defense," meaning that it can now use force to defend an ally under attack, according to its Ministry of Defense. Thousands protested outside parliament concerned that Article 9 can lead to the country's remilitarization. Since Gundam is a series renowned for its anti-war themes, fans have been watching its messaging closely.Background and Plot
In The Witch from Mercury, humanity has advanced into space in the Ad Stella (AS) timeline and there is a conflict between inhabitants of space colonies (Spacians) and the Earth-born (Earthians). There is economic inequality between them due to a material called Permet which is mined because of its information-linking properties. Permet can be mixed with other materials and has been used for development of the Mobile Suits that are at the center of Gundam. Megacorporations controlling Permet are causing the social political divide between space colonies and Earth. These companies created a large economic zone in space around Permet.The Mobile Suits known as ‘Gund-Arms’ (Gundams for short) are weapons developed out of health technology called ‘Gund’, a brain-computer interface which was created to compensate for physical disabilities caused by living in space. It allows the human nervous system to control artificial organs and limbs. It was then used by the military to increase pilot performance but its use led to many pilots being injured or killed. As a result, the GUND was banned. The term ‘witch’ in the series comes from the fact that most of the people on the team at one of the research institutes targeted for destruction by the so-called Mobile Suit Development Council, were women. Their research facility, under an institute called Vanadis, was destroyed and everyone was killed except for two people, a mobile suit test pilot and her daughter. All those involved in the GUND were ostracized.
Twenty-one years after the incident, a young girl named Suletta Mercury transfers to a school of technology that is run by a megacorporation called Benerit. There she meets Miorine Rembran who is trying to escape from the control of her father who runs the company. She’s engaged to be married to a mobile suit pilot named Guel who is another key character in the series. The main point of focus is the relationship between Suletta and Miorine, the two female protagonists. There is a web novel that goes with the series. It links the prologue episode with the main series. There is also a graphic novel in a magazine that adapts this web novel into something lighter for readers. There is also a side manga and Gunpla figure.
Fandom & Thematic Analysis of The Witch from Mercury
The study of fandom and the products of fandom is an interesting way into anime art. It is, in fact, a way to approach introduction to anime and can be used together with the study of related scholarship by academic experts. It offers fascinating insight into the cultures and social realities that develop around anime art.This video by Youtube user TrentinArt explores the user's favorite part of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury (2022) -- the relationship between protagonists Suletta and Miorine. It is an example of material produced by fans that can be used together with scholarship in art historical research on anime. The video explores the controversy the relationship provoked among anime and Gundam fans around the series. The debate regarded the lack of a kiss between the two characters. Many fans felt the two were in a romantic relationship that they wanted to see concretized in a kiss between them.
Through formal and iconographic analysis of the series focused on interactions between the characters, this fan's video takes the position that the history of the series shows it was not necessary for the two characters to kiss for there to be a romance between them.
After you have watched the analysis, you can decide if you would like to watch a whole episode. TrentinArt suggests watching Episode 11, an episode of focus in their analysis.