Following the formation of Gund-Arm Inc., Miorine has decided to make Earth House her company’s headquarters and she recruits everyone at Earth House as employees. Involving the members of Earth House is perhaps done by necessity. The show has to give them something to do. It is nevertheless funny to think that Miorine chooses them because she honestly has no one else to turn to.
Given Earth House’s involvement, this episode is so far the most attention Witch from Mercury has given to any of its members besides maybe Nika and ChuChu. I appreciate that any effort is being made at all to flesh them out but so far, everyone has pretty simple characterization. For example, Ojelo (KENN) likes money…that’s it. That said, these guys do collectively provide some interesting input into Miorine’s startup, particularly her vision for the company. The most obvious thing to do with a Gundam company would be to sell Gundams as weapons. Having grown up in a war torn Earth however, almost everyone in Earth House takes issue with selling weapons of war, especially if they’re purchased by Spacians.
While trying to solidify her company goal and get Earth House on board, Miorine looks into GUND. This leads her into consulting with Prospera and Belmeria, the latter of whom has transferred from Peil to Gund-Arm. I’m very curious if Belmeria will bring up Peil’s use of enhanced humans. That could put her in a lot of trouble if Peil finds out but it could also be a vital piece of information for Miorine. As for Prospera, she appears to be pretty cooperative as she provides Miorine with all of the data Shin Sei has on the Aerial. But knowing her, I’m convinced she’s still withholding something. After all, she did keep secrets regarding the mobile suit to just everyone, including her own daughter. Also, I’m kind of surprised how quickly Suletta gets over the truth regarding the Aerial. Considering her reaction at the end of the last episode, I figured that’d last longer.
Eventually, Miorine stumbles upon a promotional video featuring Cardo Nabo (Miyuki Ichijo), Vanadis’ leading researcher for GUND technology. A blink and you miss it sort of moment in this scene is Suletta not recognizing Nabo in the video. That’s strange given that in prologue, Eri has clearly met Nabo before. Anyway, having learned that GUND was originally meant for medical applications, Miorine proposes to Suletta and Earth House that they use this as the angle for her company. I like that the show brings this bit of lore again. In the prologue, it was kind of a throwaway detail so seeing it factor into the present-day story with the main characters is neat. Now, whether or not we’ll actually see the tech actually be used for medical purposes is a whole other matter. This is an action anime with giant robots. It’s not like the characters aren’t going to make and use those.
If Miorine and co. are committing to less violent use of Gundams, it isn’t happening for the time being. Throughout the episode, Shaddiq tries to buy Gund-Arm and provide it with the resources it needs to thrive. This is somewhat surprising given that Shaddiq’s orders are to prevent Gundams from becoming a thing but it’s also not unrealistic that he wouldn’t see eye to eye on this with his father. Miorine declines all of Shaddiq’s offers, leading the latter to pull some strings to prevent Gund-Arm Inc. from happening as a student startup in Asticassia. With the application stalled, Shaddiq intends on challenging Suletta to a duel with ownership of the Aerial and any related technology as his wager.
I kind of figured that Shaddiq would be the next rival character. The show has been hinting at a big role for him for some time and with Guel homeless and Elan-04 dead, he was likely going to be a challenger sooner or later. I’m very curious as to how good he is as a mobile suit pilot. Shaddiq has yet to fight onscreen but given some dialogue and his status as a company heir, I imagine he’s quite strong. An interesting detail briefly shown in the episode is Sarius shipping anti-Gundam weaponry. This admittedly creates a confusing implication on the threat level of Gundams. Like, if there’s already weapons that can counter a Gundam’s strength, should anyone really be that afraid of them? Putting that aside, I’m curious if Shaddiq will resort to them and if they would pose any real challenge to Suletta and the Aerial.
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