Episode Review: Gundam: Witch from Mercury ep 2 - A New Challenger

“This isn’t Yuri! Because I said so!”
That’s where you’re wrong, Delling!

Witch from Mercury surprised us with a 2nd episode full of drama and a brilliant setup for not one, but TWO conflicts: the Gundam duel and…the shipping war! Suletta and Aerial became the hot topic at school, catching the attention of everyone, including some very powerful people.

“How the hell can Aerial be able to be used while the Cathedra treaty is still in power?” Well, now we get why. Aerial is not a Gundam – or at least that was what Lady Prospera said. Bandai has tricked us… Jokes aside, with how the visual from the Opening depicts not one but two supposed villains, I’m sure Aerial is still a Gundam, but with enhanced technology so that it does not cause a data storm, or because it has an AI to share the burden with the pilot. This is probably the 2nd time a mobile suit’s “Gundam status” has been debated on screen, as previous series doesn’t really make any effort to deny that something is a Gundam due to its tech (other series just have disguises).

I will say, that Sunrise really wants to reveal the identity of Lady Prospera as much as they want to hide it. Like, come on, with that much evidences (not to mention the Yurikago no Hoshi short novel), it is too obvious, but then, it also could be a red herring. It could be someone else with a voice-changer. No matter the fact, her seiyuu nailed the mysterious aura for this kind of character, especially for a Char clone. Her confident aura when straight-out lying is really iconic of “the man who never betray anyone”.

Speaking of which, if Lady Prospera truly is “her”, then why the hell does she wants to spread the technology to the Benerit Group? Unless she has some cards to play, or this is a trap that she made, Delling actually had an appropriate decision – however much of a dictator he was, even though this became a meme to the fandom. Although Mr. Delling is basically a carbon copy of Charles vi Britannia without the big-brain (well not yet).

On that note, we can tick the “discrimination” box for our Gundam bingo. The social rift between “Earthians” and “Spacians” is very deep, with Earth being the backwater underdeveloped side this time. The holy land isn’t held in high prestige anymore. So far, we’ve seen some typical bullying and whatnot, but bigger trouble might start brewing if an external force intervene.

On that note, Delling’s daughter is also quite a Lelouch. On Miorine side, that girl sure has something special. She has a good motivation (although a bit cliche), and the energy to back it up. There were some hesitation in her, but at the end, she pulled the trigger all the same, and being a daughter of such a power-drunk old man as well, her willingness to rebel is very respectable. Imagine Nunnally rising up instead of Lelouch. But then, she has yet became a fully grown adult in mind, so with her being in debt with the chubby lady, I fear that this would backstab her someday. Hopefully, that just me thinking too much.

Suletta, poor girl. Someone gives her a hug pleases. This sweet girl did not deserve to go through that ordeal, locked inside a cell and was hungry until she got something to eat from Celan. And somehow through all of that she was thrown into a fight yet again (by her fiance no less). My spirit animal, hang on there sweetie! Our smol Tanuki is now being used as a champion by Miorine as well as a tool for revenge by her mother, I wonder if she will one day find something to stand up for herself. Looking forward to it.

Now, Guel’s side is actually quite interesting. Not the egoistical, prideful prick, but rather someone who recognize that his failure isn’t just his own. He surely understand what this mean for his father’s company and reputation. But the anime has yet revealing all the cards it has, so I will wait until the next episode for this guy. Still, I hope that he will get a better treatment, and not turn into some typical angsty bocchan.

Elan, not so much I could say, but have to wait for his own arc. “I can’t love anyone, definitely”, I want to see the reason why he said that, what is the cause, and how he would progress with that kind of setup. The same with Shaddiq as well. All I could say, is that this male trio is having potential to become great characters.

Next episode: Guel true potential has finally come with a true red Mobile Suit?

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