Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Anime Review
The final episode for Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury has arrived. After weeks of episodes which I dedicated myself to watching, it’s time for my review of the series as a whole. So how does G-Witch fare?
I’ll declare this right at the start, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury is the best Gundam series I’ve ever seen. No other Gundam series has ever kept me so interested and fascinated as I was in the duration of G-Witch’s airing.
The series does this even from its Prologue episode. Establishing a world and characters that set the stage for an eventful and unpredictable main series. It was a thrilling ride going week to week wondering what the series would unravel. And unravel it did, with some jaw dropping moments that magnified the intrigue. There’s a reason I looked forward to every Sunday as the series went on. Something I’ll miss with its conclusion.
G-Witch’s story is the most unique I’ve seen in the Gundam franchise. It does touch topics that other Gundam series do such as war, ethics and injustice. But G-Witch changes it up by taking up a much different angle by being a school-life series. It’s popular to compare G-Witch to Revolutionary Girl Utena, and it’s fitting comparison especially when it comes to the LGBT+ themes.
Which is another way G-Witch is groundbreaking for the Gundam franchise. Aside from Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans, there hasn’t been another Gundam series I can think of that has ever highlighted or included such themes in its story. Perhaps is a sign of changing and progressing times but nonetheless it’s a huge step forward that I’m more than satisfied to see. I look forward to more in future Gundam series.
The main character Suletta Mercury has become my all time favorite Gundam protagonist. She starts out as a relatable and lovable character, jittery from social anxiety and naivety. While she never loses her charm, Suletta does develop into a decisive, and determined protagonist.
What is most groundbreaking of all with Suletta is that she’s the first ever main protagonist in a Gundam series. It was something that drew me into the G-Witch in the first place. How would it be pulled off after a long lineage of male protagonists. To my satisfaction it couldn’t have been done better.
A character highlight I want to point out is Prospera Mercury. The “Char Clone” of the series, she goes hands down as the best character in G-Witch. A twisted and complex mix of vengeful and caring, as the series progressed I could only love Prospera more and more. It came to the point where it was difficult to simply classify her as a “Char Clone” and instead see her as a whole different class of character.
Speaking of characters, if you enjoy a deep cast of them, G-Witch delivers in the best way. Just about every character gets their moment. While I felt certain characters could have been better fleshed out, I still find the overall cast to be the strongest of any Gundam series. It really says something when it’s hard to hate any character in a series. Gundam has a verified track record of providing me characters to hate, some being protagonists even (Shinn Asuka, for example). At the end of Witch From Mercury, I can’t say that I actually hate a character. There were some I thought I would, but as the series went along, my expectations proved wrong.
Animation wise, Witch From Mercury is a visual spectacle. It never lets up in the aspect with dazzling battle scenes and even well animated comical scenes. The mecha in the series are all well-designed and awesome to see in action. I bought a Gunpla Kit of the main Gundam of the series, Aerial as soon as I saw it on the shelves in Target on a random day just because of how awesome it was in the anime.
Music and soundtrack wise, G-Witch is outstanding. The main theme “The Witch From Mercury,” alone speaks to just how good the soundtrack is. Add in the opening and ending themes for both seasons and the G-Witch OST may be the best I’ve heard from any mecha series (yes, maybe even better than Macross Frontier). Season two’s ending theme and animation “Red:birthmark” in particular is one of the greatest of all time.
One criticism that I do have is that the series could have use a couple more episodes to stretch things out a little more. That goes into the issue of 12-episode seasons which has plagued modern day anime series which I could write an entire article about. Nonetheless, considering how much was squeezed into the last few episodes, G-Witch would have benefited from having a couple more to play with. It’s the flaw that unfortunately holds G-Witch back from being a total masterpiece. Personally, with how much I enjoyed the series I would have gone even as far as a third season.
In conclusion, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury stands now as the greatest Gundam series I’ve ever watched. It just misses the mark of being a masterpiece. But it is a series I highly recommend for anyone to watch. It’ll be quite boring to not have something to look forward to seeing every Sunday now because of how entertaining G-Witch was.
RATING: 4.5/5
