Episode Review: Gundam: Witch from Mercury ep 12: Oops Gundam did it again!

Bet you didn’t see this one coming!

Should I say more? That was one hell of an ending for G-Witch.
As many things that we could talk about episode 12, it seems that nothing could compare with what happened at the end, the infamous “splat”. Therefore, I would like to give one final review for the finale of Gundam The Witch from Mercury.

Martin, that one timid boy, head of the Asticassia’s Earth House. Even though feels like incompetent compared to Nix, he was still a character that tried to do his best to balance against his worst. That final moment with Nika, holy hell, I don’t know, what will happen to our poor boy. Will Nika do the deed, will Martin be stupid enough for Nika to pull some tricks that made him believe her? Or, he understands her and tried to protect Nika? The possibilities are unlimited.

On the other hand, Shaddiq. Of all the faces that he could show, he showed that “yup, that is how it should be” face. Did he anticipate his plan to fail? He was seriously serious about executing the plan, but he also thought that it’s fine if his plan failed after all? He felt like one big final boss at the end of a series, and who could be the challenger better than his former schoolmate and best friend: Bob?

Bob. Our boy. Has he suffered enough? Definitely. Has he finally won a fight? Yes he has. And what has it cost him?
Almost everything. After continuous harassment from Gundam-type enemy, he finally triumphs in a fight (although not against another Gundam), only for the price was his father’s death, caused by his very hand. And for the top of the cherry, he finally knew his dad did care about him, only for losing him seconds later. Now, will he be detained by the Dominicus, or will he somehow join the terrorist Dawn of Fold as he has technically fought for them and also killed one of the 3 CEOs of Benerit Group. He will be found inside a Desultor, MS used by the terrorist. What lies ahead for Bob… seems dark. But just like the phrase that made him into this situation in the first place: “Move forward you earn two, run away you only earn one”, may what lies ahead of him, enough to make up for all of his suffers.

Now, the main part.

Suletta, definitely had some kind of “trigger” that allows Prospera to basically make her do everything she wants. Prospera has shown to be a master manipulator and her use of the “run away, you gain one; push forward, you gain two” has now gained a double meaning. We’ve always thought it was just an inspirational code that Suletta likes to follow thanks to helping people on Mercury, but now that seemingly innocent phrase might have taken on a new meaning – or rather, purpose. After Suletta heard the phrase, she suddenly became all genki and just head to battle like it’s just another day in the park.

And then the shocking moment came. Suletta – in an effort to protect Miorine from a mercenary – squashed that merc with Aerial’s hands, turning him into tomato paste andturning Miorine into a PTSD patient. The act wasn’t actually shocking in and of itself, but that Suletta just casually trip on a pool of blood and…human liquid and then made a joke about it. Her casual tone and smile completely turned Miorine on her head and completely took the viewers off-guard. A lovable and sometimes pitiful girl with social anxiety and all kinds of inferiority complex just became a psychopath. Ookouchi really knows how to jerk us around with his insane twist out of nowhere. Now that this season has ended in this…crazy cliffhanger, the wait for the next cour is going to maddening. I can’t wait to see how they are going to untie this amazingly ball of conspiracy that they’ve woven.

In terms of quality, this episode still maintain the great animation quality in the fight scene. The other scene is okay, nothing too amazing but definitely better compared to say IBO or Build Divers. The Aerial Rebuild debut is quite impressive, but it was undermined by the fact that it’s still in non-combat mode as well as they need to keep the terrorist and their Gundams in-tact, so the Aerial only got to wave its new fancy gun for one shot. The concept is not too unique and it make sense to be an Aerial upgrade. But the Gund-bits are getting less creative, but at least the mystery inside them still remains. It was a brief showing, so we’ll definitely see more of it in the 2nd cour (before it got replaced by a final battle version of course).

This episode 12 has been a shock to everyone watching, and I can imagine the face of the script-writer smiling devilishly that he pulled the rug from under our feet and shattered everything we’ve known since episode 1. After this, the theories about Suletta’s real identity resurfaced with all kinds of new addition and revision. Either way, we have 3 months to speculate in agony for the continuation.

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