FLCL Shoekaze

It’s been ten years since an event gave Masaki Ofuji the ability to see creatures from another reality.  When an unpredictable girl named Harumi Oraisho drags him to the top of a mysterious tower, Masaki’s life gets a lot more complicated than he wished.  Now Masaki finds himself with an entire worlds power at his fingertips.  One girl wants him to unleash it.  Another with a history with this kind of crazy wants to save the world.  Which destiny will Masaki choose and what new wonders or disasters will it bring?

FLCL Grunge might not have been the prettiest bulb in the FLCL collection nor did it have a complete story by the end.  But its still miles better than the three episode slough I just had to go through called FLCL Shoekaze.  Even if the season does give us a fully fresh new OST from The Pillows and returns the visuals to their proper 2D state, everything else about Shoekaze is boring from the get go, gets irritating the more it goes on and by the end, when the near end of the world apocalypse is on screen, I wont lie, I was looking up videos I’ve watched on YouTube dozens of times to make myself feel better.  This ones bad, even by bad sequel/prequel standards (yes this is another prequel to the first series). 
 

T5W#454-Top 5 Suletta Mercury Moments from The Witch from Mercury

Part of the reason Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury has struck such a cord with non Mecha fans along with longtime Gundam mainstays is its main characters: Suletta Mercury and Mirorine Renbram.  And while Miroine deserves a list of her own, today we’re here to talk about G Witch’s adorable Tanuki Girl.  Suletta has arguably one of the most dramatic, tragic and full of jaw dropping moments of any Gundam pilot in the entire franchise, and that’s saying a lot when she stands alongside child soldiers, assassins and a bevy of youth with emotional issues.  She’s had a lot of highs and lows and most of them worthy of mention and honoring.  So as we close out my month long contribution to Gundam’s 45^th Anniversary (ignoring we’re spending the last two weeks with FLCL sequels), today’s Top 5 Wendesday goes out to my Top 5 Suletta Mercury Moments from The Witch from Mercury.

FLCL Grunge

In the town of Okura, a sea of trash drowns the hopes of tomorrow for the youth of today.  For three friends, hope is a distant illusion.  Until one day when a beautiful wild girl named Haruko Haruhara bursts into their lives.  Suddenly, chaos envelops their lives and one by one, Shin, Shonari and Orinoko begin to discover hope amongst the ruins.  Here’s hoping their newfound happiness isnt trampled in Haruko’s neverending quest to attain the power of the being known as Atamusk.

Do we need a sequel to FLCL?  No.  No we do not.  I knew this the moment the original series ended and I have never once wanted to know what came next, what came before or anything in between.  To me, FLCL is perfect.  It’s everything Anime does best and then some and has long been my all time favorite Anime.  So, does it need a sequel?  No.  Sadly, we’ve gotten a few haven’t we.  And despite my more generous reviews of them back in 2018, I hated FLCL Progressive and FLCL Alternative, maybe the latter more than the former.  Neither had any of the spontaneity, soul or whimsical magic of the original, instead opting for more serious character studies that didn’t work or came up short.  That was the concenus amongst many fans of the original but it looks like Adult Swim cant just leave well enough alone.  Hence we in 2023 we got not only one but TWO back to back prequels (I think), which we’ll be looking at over the next two weeks here at the Anime Corner.  First up is FLCL Grunge. 
 

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury Part 6 Episodes 21-24

The full scope of Prospera’s Quiet Zero Initiative is revealed and all of mankind is at risk just to satisfy her revenge.  Determined to stop her mother and save her friends, Suletta boards an experimental Gundam and heads into battle.  Suletta and Miroine must confront the sins of their families past and find a way to heal the wounds without losing anyone.  But can Suletta break free from her mothers control and can she bring herself to do battle with the Mobile Suit that is actually her long lost sister, Eri?

One of the reasons I held off on reviewing G Witch for so long (besides the obvious April being Gundam’s birthday), was because I wasn’t sure how long the series was going to be.  Sure all of the Build Fighters and Build Divers series have been 26 episodes but those are spin offs aimed at a different audience.  Typical/traditional Gundam series tend to clock in between 43-50 episodes (and no Reconguista in G isnt an exception, it’s an abomination).  So I wasn’t sure that the end of Season Two of G Witch would be the end, even if things seemed to be heading in that direction. Was 24 episodes adequate time to pull off a complete story when most Gundam entries need (and sometimes benefit from) double the time?  Turns out that’s a bit of a double edged sword.  The Series Finale is fine if a bit rushed and leaves a lot of areas for expansion untouched.  It also decides to wrap itself up surprisingly nicely, so much so it leaves me a little irked.  What do I mean by that?  Let’s break it all down.
 

T5W#453-Top 5 TM Revolution Songs from Gundam Seed

Whether you love it or hate it (personally I love it), JPop was a huge part of Gundam entrance into the new millennium with Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny.  Plenty would accuse the series of focusing more on promoting musical artists more than making a good series but many more adore the incredibly catchy opening and ending themes and insert songs from Lacus Clyne and Meer Campbell.  One important artist closely associated with this era of Gundam is Takanori Ishikawa, better known by his stage name T.M. Revolution.  TM’s voice is the first everyone heard when Seed debuted in 2002 and beyond theme music, he also leant his voice to a couple of characters in both Seed and Seed Destiny.  In this weeks Top 5 Wednesday, we’re continuing our Gundam Anniversary Month with a selection of the best tracks this awesome dude contributed to the long and illustrious line of Gundam Opening and Ending Themes (Inserts too).  There are my Top 5 TM Revolution Songs from Gundam Seed.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury Part 5 Episodes 17-20

A series of heartbreaking betrayals leaves Suletta without a Gundam and without Miorine.  All of this plays right into the hands of her mother, Prosepera, who travels to Earth with the Aerial to begin the Quiet Zero initiative. With the world on fire and space about to become even more dangerous, Miroine struggles to repair the damage while Suletta confronts her own identity and everything she’s lost in order to move forward, with or without Aerial.

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for the cast of G Witch, along comes this penultimate set of episodes to say “yeah hold my beer”.  It wasn’t even the fact that Suletta found herself at rock bottom.  As the series heads into its finale, the stakes have never felt higher and all the plans within plans against double crosses, betrayals and secret agendas are building towards a need for some serious payback for all the death and damage left in their wake.  Several moments in this set were hard to watch.  But then again that’s what Gundam does best: showing that war is Hell and the thirst for power within always leads to tragedy…and how those who stand against such ambitions give us the most hope.
 

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury Part 4 Episodes 13-16

Two weeks after the Plant Quetta incident, much has changed.  With her father incapacitated, Miorine struggles to run the Benerit Group in his absence. On Earth, Guel seeks atonement for an unforgivable sin amongst the ruins.  Meanwhile, Suletta continues to rack up victories with a new and improved Aerial and ponders why Miorine is keeping her.  But uncertainty becomes chaos when the Witches from Earth infiltrate Astacassia.  In a place where matters are settled by duels, the students of this peaceful school are about to be exposed to the horrors of war first hand

Well after that huge stinger of a cliffhanger, G Witch isnt wasting anytime is it? Practically striking while the iron is hot, the start of the shows Second Season upped the ante on all fronts from the intensity of the battles to the weight of the latest round of gut wrenching revelations. It doesn’t land wins on every front but that isnt stopping The Witch from Mercury from continuing to etch its place into Gundam history.  Let’s get into it, shall we?
 

T5W#452-Top 5 Alternate Universe Gundam Sequels I’d Like to See

This past weekend the Gundam World got a major announcement for the 45^th anniversary of the franchise.  Not only did we get official word of a brand new entry in the Mobile Fighter G Gundam universe, there was also added news that new projects were in the works for Mobile Suit Gundam Wing and After War Gundam X.  Needless to say, this is kind of a big deal.  After all, it was 30 years ago that G Gundam took Gundam into the realm of the Multiverse beyond the Universal Century.  It’s only right that with Gundam SEED and Gundam 00 getting sequels that these titans of the franchise from the 90s get the same kind of love.  Since we only have an announcement and no titles or ideas (save for one I’ll talk about), today’s Gundam Centric Top 5 Wednesday will be looking at my choices for the Top 5 Alternate Universe Gundam Sequels I’d Like to See. 

 

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury Part 3 Episodes 9-12

While things seem to be going well for Suletta and Miorine’s Gund-Arm Company, the Benerit Group’s warring factions begin to grow weary of Delling Renbram’s tyrannical and seek to eliminate him.  Everything comes to a head at Plant Quetta, where Suletta is given the controls of an improved Gundam Aerial.    Plant Quetta is where history will change for the better…and the worse for all present. It is here where she will cross swords with the bloodthirsty “Witches from Earth” and make a split second decision that could destroy her growing romance with Miorine forever.

Holy crap I cant believe what I just watched.  Few moments in Gundam have made me virtually gasp so hard I stopped breathing.  But whoa, I mean WHOA!!!! That just freaking happened.  It’s such a moment that it casts a moon sized shadow over everything else that went down in this mid series set, save maybe for one very tender moment between Suletta and Miorine, if only because of how big of an impact THAT moment had on it afterwards.  Still, overall this is a set of episodes that elevates The Witch from Mercury to the upper echelon ranks of the franchise.  It’s too early to say whether or not it’ll match the greats like 0079, 0080 or 08^th MS Team but still, this show has already had my interest, now it’s captured it and isnt letting it go until the end.  Alright, enough being vague, let’s get into what went down and how it blew my mind.
 

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury Part 2 Episodes 5-8

Suletta has certainly made a splash in her short time at Astacassia.  She is in possession of a forbidden Mobile Suit, the Gundam Aeriel.  And she’s become the intended Groom for the beautiful Miorine Rembran.  All eyes fall on this shy and timid girl from Mercury and her powerful Mobile Suit and some are determined to get their hands on both, by any means necessary.  To protect her Groom to be, Miroine takes a gamble on a bold declaration to her father and the rest of the Benerit Group.  Meanwhile, Suletta’s mother, Prospera Mercury, watches with great interest as her own plans begin to fall into place.

Even though it’s straying away from its more traditional storytelling structure, I’ve gotta give it to The Witch from Mercury, it’s fascinating as Hell.  Sure it has the cute leads and the kick ass Mobile Suit battles and they work as well as ever for Gundam.  However, much of the best moments and world building occurred off the battlefield, or rather they took place on a far different battlefield than the one Gundam is used to showing.  It’s all shaping up to make this one of the best Alternate Universe Gundam series in a good while.  Let’s get into the shows sophomore set of episodes.
 

T5W#451-Top 5 Moments from Mobile Suit Gundam

This Saturday marks the official 45^th birthday of the Anime that changed Mecha Anime forever.  First aired on April 6, 1979, the Mobile Suit Gundam series became revolutionary for being the first Anime to feature Giant Robots used not to defend Earth from an Alien invasion but instead in a bloody civil war between the Earth and Human Space Colonies.  While not a mega hit when it first aired, subsequent reruns bolstered its popularity and ensured Gundam wasn’t just a one off.  For all the successes that have followed from Zeta Gundam to Gundam Wing to The Witch from Mercury, none of this would be possible without the wins scored by the title that started it all.  Seeing as how we’ve finally kicked off reviews of The Witch from Mercury, we’re paying homage to Yoshiyuki Tomino’s legendary epic on Top 5 Wednesday today with my Top 5 Moments from Mobile Suit Gundam

 

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury Part 1 Episodes 0-4

It is the year 122 of the Ad Stella Calendar.  A young girl from the planet Mercury, Suletta, has come to the Astacassia School of Technology to begin her education in Mobile Suit Piloting.  Here, she meets Miorine Rembran, an heiress determined to travel to the Earth.  Mirone becomes Suletta’s guide to the cutthroat and dangerous world of Astacassia, where the offspring of leaders of Megacorporations fight to uphold the legacies of their families and their own honor.  In a world where only the strong survive, the seemingly meek Suletta brings with her the Aeriel, a Mobile Suit whose power quickly catches the eye of everyone in and outside of Astacassia.  For this Mobile Suit bears a resemblance to a weapon long ago banned and outlawed, a Mobile Suit called “Gundam”.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury is a big deal for the Gundam franchise for a number of reasons.  For one, this is the first true to form original Gundam series (not a Compilation Series or Build Divers sequel) since 2015’s Iron Blooded Orphans.  It’s also the first ever story to have a female lead character at the forefront.  As we’ll get into, there’s more to the uniqueness of G Witch but those first two aspects are definite cause for piquing interest, more so when it comes to Suletta and her being positioned with a beautiful love interest in Miorine.  Heck, I’ve been excited to get to this one for a while myself.  I had originally planned to look at G Witch first in November 2023 after it had finished its original airing, then moved it to January 2024 before finally settling on now because it’s April, Gundam’s Birthday, and it’s the 45^th Anniversary of the entire franchsie.  So, enough gabbing.  It’s finally time for the Gundam Anime Corner to tackle as Peter Cullen said about Gundam Wing on Toonami, “a new chapter in one of greatest Anime sagas of all time,” Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury.