In the era of Ad Stella, Humanity has begun pushing into
space, expanding its reach to the stars.
On her fourth birthday, Ericht Samaya watches her parents continue to
work on a bold new Gundam that will open the doors to new possibilities for
mankind. However, Gundams are viewed as
monsters for the effects they have on the humans piloting them. A secret order is given the end Gundam
development and a brutal purge begins.
Eri and her family are caught in the crossfire and during a desperate
escape, young Eri doesn’t realize that the key to activating the true potential
of her parents Gundam, lies in her own two hands.
This past summer I looked at the last two major TV
entries: Reconguista in G and Iron Blooded Orphans and they couldn’t be more
different from one another.
IBO ended up
being ok, passable at best due to a shoddy second half while Reconguista in G
did the impossible and dethroned Gundam Seed Destiny as my most loathed entry
in the entire Gundam franchise.
From
what couple of trailers of The Witch from Mercury I’ve glimpsed, I’ve had some
doubts because I wasn’t too sold on the animation and it kind of felt like
another Reconguista in G waiting to happen, centering on an academy for Mobile
Suit pilots.
The last thing I wanted to
see was another show about kids playing war without any real stakes or likeable
characters.
Thankfully, With just a
little over a month to go before the series officially begins, Sunrise has
released a Prologue episode for the next chapter of the Gundam franchise-Mobile
Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury.
And
if the series continues with this level of awesome intensity, I think it’ll be
well worth the seven year wait since IBO for another proper Gundam TV Series.
The Prologue centers on the tragic origins of who I
assume will be our titular “Witch from Mercury”, Ericht “Eri” Samaya, soon to
be Suletta Mercury.
This is probably one
of the darkest origin stories for a Gundam protagonist in a while.
At only four years old, the adorable Eri
really doesn’t fully comprehend what’s going on when her home is brutally
attacked and her parents risk everything to protect her and the Gundam that
will change the future of mankind.
Seeing Eri get excited over seeing Mobile Suits explode like candles,
not realizing she’s the one causing said explosions…and yes that means the four
year old is sort of piloting the Gundam (it’s complicated)…is probably one of
the best driven home images of Gundam’s core message, “War is Hell.”
And it’s sad when a child so young gets
excited over it.
It makes me wonder just
what Eri will be like in the main series as Suletta.
Will she realize what happened on her fourth
birthday and will it drive her to take revenge?
Sure beats kids trying to one up each other in school that’s for sure.
The Witch from Mercury seems to lean more towards the
Mobile Suit handling systems in the vein of the Alaya-Vijnana from Iron Blooded
Orphans, with a hint of Pacific Rim.
Special augmentations are needed in order to pilot Gundams in this
universe and the strain, if pushed too far, can result in death.
We learn that originally these systems were
meant to aid in helping amputees adjust to their new lives in space.
But, since this is Gundam, military
applications were found.
Now it seems
that the main conflict of the series is going to revolve around the discussion
over the uses of Gundams in battle.
There
are several sides with several ambitious plans that will overlap and collide
and collide they do as one scheming jerk by the name of Delling Renbram is the
one who authorizes the slaughter of the factory where Eri lives.
I’ll admit, it was kind of hard to follow
without proper background on the era like most Gundam shows do but I imagine
that will all be cleared up when the series begins proper in October.
Lastly, the Mobile Suits.
The Gundam Lfirth and it’s two prototype brethren look pretty freaking
cool to me.
Because theyre still
unfinished suits, they all bear a sort of skeletal design but that never
detracts from how awesome they are in battle.
The Lfirth looks like it has funnels that can convert to turrets and
even a shield…again all while a little four year old points at dots on a screen
unaware that she’s issuing target commands.
There’s also the Beguir-Beu, which could be seen as a “Gundam Destroyer.”
Not only does it look like an Ace’s end boss
Mobile Suit design, it also comes equipped with a system that can shut down a
pilots connection with their Gundam, rendering them helpless in battle.
Honestly I don’t know if we’ll see either of
these suits again in the main series, though I think the Lfirth will evolve
into the Gundam Aeriel we’ve seen advertised.
Still, theyre a nice appetizer for things to come.
And after suffering through Gundams with bug
eyes and Mobile Suits that look like 50’s style toy robots, its nice to see
proper Gundam mecha again.
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury got a solid
Prologue that was a true return to form for Gundam…not that it ever lost it,
IBO was fine enough but G Reco was such a disaster.
There’s cute family moments mixed in with
political drama and epic Mobile Suit action that results in a ton of bloody
chaos and properly sets the stage for things to come.
For a show I expected to be about kids trying
to one up each other in Mobile Suits like theyre in a Ninja Academy, I did not
expect this Prologue to be so dark and heavy hitting.
I can only imagine just what kind of effect
this will all have on Eri in the main series and it completely destroys my
initial conceptions of what to expect going forward.
October is already going to be a heavy month
of Premieres and I’ll be looking at them in November after I’ve had time to
process them all.
Should I do a proper
First Impression of the first episode of the series?
Hmmm…I just might have to because Gundam is
back and I cant wait to see it week after week again.
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