I have the Witch from Mercury episode reviews slated for any days off outside of the weekend so it’s taken me a while to continue the show and I apologize for that.
Real quick: I have recently watched a couple of episodes of Revolutionary Girl Utena, which is apparently an influence on Witch from Mercury. AWJ pointed out the similarity in a comment and I remembered hearing Utena is an influence for Revue Starlight (a show that I love and need to finish covering in episode reviews) so I got curious. I don’t know when I’ll finish Utena so I don’t plan on extensively comparing it and Witch from Mercury but I do see the similarities between at least the first episodes from both shows. I don’t know if that necessarily justifies some stuff that I find odd in Witch from Mercury‘s first episode but I at least know where the show got the ideas from.
So two episodes in and already, someone objects to the wedding. I’m kidding here, even though the wedding is technically in jeopardy right now. Naturally, seeing as the Aerial “may or may not” be a Gundam, the mobile suit gets confiscated and Suletta gets confined. Cathedra then launches an investigation on both the Aerial and its manufacturer, Shin Sei Development Corporation. Already, people are calling Suletta a “witch”. Obviously, that’s a bit of a title drop on the show’s part. It’s a pretty apt term when I think about it. It sort of demonizes Suletta for her use of the forbidden GUND Format. No one appears to be able to identify any GUND technology within the Aerial and Suletta is apparently ignorant about this aspect of her Mobile Suit so she gets stuck in prison until the end of the episode. She does get a visit from Elan Ceres (Natsuki Hanae), the head of the Peil House. For whatever reason, Elan is curious about Suletta.
Most of the episode follows Miorine. To her frustration, Delling plans on transferring her out of Asticassia and nullifying the duel between Suletta and Guel. Even though Miorine doesn’t want to be in the school and she dislikes being a prize for the duels, she’d rather have her father stick to the rules that he established as opposed to turning on a dime. While sulking, Miorine is approached by Feng Jung (Akeno Watanabe), a smuggler she hired for her escape attempt in Episode 1. The smuggler offers to still take Miorine to Earth. It’s implied that Feng Jung wants Miorine to be in her debt down the line but it is pretty amusing that she’s still honoring the deal. What great customer service!
Parallel to this, we see the Cathedra question Prospera (Mamiko Noto), the CEO of Shin Sei. Given that it’s the same voice actor and the fact that Prospera has a prosthetic arm, it’s safe to assume that she is actually Elnora under a new identity. I’m curious what happened to Prospera’s face as she’s apparently gotten it replaced with a robotic implant. Prospera claims she got her prosthetics due to injuries she got in Mercury’s harsh environment but we know that’s false since she’s had an arm long before she fled to the planet. As extreme as this sounds, it’s possible that Prospera willingly got her face changed to better conceal her identity.
Considering that people immediately suspected the Aerial to be a Gundam, I’m not too surprised that Prospera doesn’t have a strong claim that it isn’t one. Her best argument is that the Aerial doesn’t strain the pilot like the old Vanadis Gundams did but we also know that Suletta has a high aptitude for GUND so she’s unlikely to exhibit any strain. Plus, it’s entirely possible that Prospera and Shin Sei worked out the kinks on GUND so that people can’t easily suspect or identity the tech. Suffice to say, Delling is unconvinced and he decides to have the Aerial scrapped.
Coincidentally, Miorine intrudes on the hearing to give her father a piece of her mind. Delling proves to be a stubborn old man, being adamant that Miorine should just do as he says, but his daughter perseveres and challenges him to a duel. If she wins, Delling must back off and keep her in Asticassia while as well as drop charges against Suletta. Evidently, Miorine decides not to flee to Earth and I’m a bit curious as to why she does that. It makes sense since Delling can easily get his daughter deported but negotiating with him would be also be more trouble than it’s worth so I imagine fleeing to Earth is the less headache inducing route to take. My best guess is that Miorine wants more control over her life and she thinks her best shot at it is playing Delling by his own rules. It’s possible that she also wants to help Suletta. She does owe her after all and she even recalls some words from Suletta when she stands up to Delling. Still, it’s hard to say since they’ve only just met.
Technically, Delling is under no obligation to go along with Miorine’s demand but things don’t go his way when Vim suddenly suggests that they let the Aerial remain at Asticassia so that the Benerit Group can see what it can do and gauge if it might be useful for their business. It’s implied that Prospera is strongarming him to do this. I’m guessing she has proof of Vim’s assassination plot against Delling. That said, I can see this move benefitting Vim as creating tech that surpasses the Aerial’s would be great for his company. Regardless, Vim’s suggestion divides the Benerit Group on what they should with the Aerial so Delling has no choice but to accept the duel.
Obviously, Miorine chooses Suletta to represent her for the duel. I’m guessing Guel will be representing Delling or the Benerit Group as a whole. That would be funny considering that it’s Vim’s fault that Benerit is now divided over the Aerial but I suppose Guel fits the bill since he undoubtedly has beef against Suletta now. It probably works out for Guel anyway. When Vim informs him that the last duel’s results will be ignored, Guel doesn’t seem too happy with the news. Even though it benefits him, I take it that Guel would rather win for real.
I imagine that Suletta is going to win the duel. Otherwise, we’d have no plot. Really, what interests me is the aftermath. Suletta has caused quite the stir with the Aerial and people are calling her a witch. Even without that stigma, Shin Sei is apparently one of the less prestigious manufacturers so Suletta also doesn’t have much of a social status in that regard. There is also some tensions between spacians and planetary folk. Combined with Suletta’s own case of social anxiety, all signs are pointing towards her becoming every bully’s next favorite target.
Watch Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury on Crunchyroll
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