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.
The start of this set was the first time in a while that
G Witch decided to pump the breaks and let everyone breathe for a second.
Astacassia was in ruins.
Miorine was dealing with a ton of unnecessary
guilt.
And Suletta was settling into her
new Prospera free way of thinking (mostly).
It says a lot about how far Suletta has come that she spearheads the
recovery efforts at Astacassia and shares her complete origin story with all of
Earth House and Elan 5.
Her mother
might’ve abandoned her and her Gundam pushed her away.
But Suletta has a pretty dedicated and loving
family of her own now, one that doesn’t hesitate to follow her into her final
battle.
But, of course, Suletta couldn’t
go anywhere without Miroine and their reunion was incredibly beautiful.
Hearing Miroine voice her own self doubt
(when really nothing about what happened on Earth was her fault) was her rock
bottom.
But Suletta’s been there too
recently and she returned to her love to assure her that whatever came next,
they’d do it together.
The moment where
their hands touched and intertwined said it all, they’re not letting go ever
again.
After several episodes and hard
hitting violence and carnage, this kind of relief was way overdue.
Now look, I get why Prospera/Elnora is so pissed off and at
the end of the day, she wants to give her 60 foot tall daughter a chance to
live again.
That said, she still went
full on crazy with her plans to basically wipe Earth and Space clean of
undesierables so her Gundam could have room to run around.
Prospera has a ton of blood on her hands and
Quiet Zero was basically her mix of Skynet and an giant EMP.
With the ability to take control of anything
with a Permit Score Connection, which ranges from Mobile Suits to Battleships,
Prospera could wipe out everything and anything she wanted with that deluded
smile on her face.
The Quiet Zero reveal
with that chilling organ score gave us plenty of final boss vibes.
Just how the heck was Suletta going to get
through this one?
The Battle of Quiet Zero was a fun battle but though the
stakes were high, it lacked a lot of the intensity of everything that’s come
before it.
Besides Suletta almost dying,
the closest we came to an actual casualty was Guel and I’ll admit, it would
have been a shame because he’s one of my favorite characters, but I could’ve
seen him not making it, maybe sacrificing himself for Suletta.
Instead though, Guel had to deal with an ill
timed tempertantrum from his younger brother, Lauda.
I haven’t talked much about Lauda because
he’s just an annoying tool.
The fact
that he would choose now of all times when the whole of Earth is at stake to
take his anger out on his brother for the death of their Dad was infuriating.
It did provide a good chance to see Guel’s
character arc concluded but he got a last minute save and didn’t end up
dying.
Again I’m torn.
I love Guel and I love how far he’s come in
this show.
But his life being spared
also assured me of one thing, there wasn’t going to be a Zeta or Victory Gundam
sized kill count in this finale.
As for Prospera, I’m truly surprised she got off
scot-free.
I fully expected her to
totally lose it when Suletta completed her character evolution by refusing to
plug Eri back into Quiet Zero.
I could
have also seen Prospera boarding a Mobile Suit and going full on insane trying
to complete her plans for Eri.
Instead,
we saw a Permit Score Newtype experience.
In other words, when Suletta surpassed a certain level, the resulting
Data Storm allowed every character long gone since way back in the Prologue return
to talk Prospera down, including Eri.
Maybe I’m just too hyper focused on all the bad Prospera has done and
think her justifications are no excuses.
Maybe if she were locked up alongside Shaddiq I could have been fully
satisfied.
But idk, seeing her get to
live out her days with Suletta, Miroine and digitized Eri (just roll with it)
feels like too good a reward for her.
So let’s move into the very end of The Witch from
Mercury…Happy Endings for everyone.
No
one died at Quiet Zero.
The Bene
Gesserit of Piel lost everything when Miorine’s back up plan to dissolve
Benerit came into play.
Elan 5 gets to
travel across Earth.
Nika serves her
time and rejoins Earth House.
Guel’s
running Jetuk with the real Elan, who made sure to keep Astacassia open.
Shaddiq’s in jail.
We already talked about Prospera’s fate.
Eri’s been given a digitized vocal form.
And, of course, since they both survived
Quiet Zero, Suletta and Miorine are officially married.
Now, all of this does sound nice, maybe a
little too much so for Gundam.
This is
probably the happiest, nearly bloodless ending since Gundam Wing.
My problem?
The last few minutes of the final episode show all of this after a three
year time jump.
Personally I feel robbed
of being able to see more of Suletta and Miorine having an actual romance.
Who made the proposal?
How was the wedding?
What other adventures have they been up to
since Quiet Zero?
After so much time
with these two, we deserve some kind of bonus OVA showing some of this and not
just checking off boxes before rolling the end credits.
It’s crazy how I’ve talked all about the character stuff
but have mentioned little about the action.
Like I said, the Battle of Quiet Zero was fun and gorgeously
animated.
Suletta facing off against the
Aerial was the biggest highlight. I wish there was a bit more color and
personality to the Calabarn she was given to pilot but Suletta made that thing
move like crazy to avoid all of the beam spamming while carrying a really big
gun.
Like I said though, after some
bloody and brutal battles since Plant Quetta, the final fight feels a bit
underwhelming and full of one too many Deus Ex Machina moments, including
Suletta summoning every Gundam in the area to help shut down a Super
Laser.
Granted I say this knowing how many
times Setsuna F Seiei and the Gundam 00 Raiser did the same in Gundam 00 and
the 00 Movie.
That show maintained a
consistent quality in its fights through its finale though.
I guess what I’m saying is, the action in the
final episodes played it a little too safe.
Alright, now onto the big question: What are my Final
Thoughts on Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury?
There are storylines that needed further
exploration, specifically everything happening on Earth.
With most of the action taking place in space
amidst a sea of industry politics and back stabbings, Earth feels like an after
thought, not just in the general scheme of the world of G Witch but also by the
writers too.
And as I’ve made clear, the
finale has its problems from a lack of concern for the main cast to a rushed
epilogue.
All of that said, G Witch is a
crazy addictive ride to enjoy.
The
twists and turns and action keep coming full throttle and each episode ending
leaves you wanting more.
The changes to
the Gundam formula are smart and succeed on many levels from the change of
rival factions to the school duels with Mobile Suits.
As the first true female lead of a Gundam
Series, Suletta Mercury undergoes one of the hardest journeys of any Gundam
protagonist.
But for every mistake she
makes, it makes her wins all the more joyful.
As her equally competent co-lead, Miorine owns every scene she’s in
whether she’s being a total boss or being Suletta’s better half.
And while she’s as crazy as they come,
Prospera is certainly a presence as the shows Char Clone, oozing so much menace
behind her kind and occasionally sultry voice (and a cool mask too).
I can see why this show has caught on with
non mecha fans.
It’s a bold new entry
for the Gundam franchise and also serves as one of the better entry points to
the world of Gundam.
The ending could
have been longer but with stunning animation, cool Mobile Suits and a pair of
immensely likeable leads, this is one series that remolds certain Gundam series
tropes into their own thing and comes out strong as heck, flaws and all.
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury gets an 8.5/10
Next Week, we’re back to one review every Monday (until
our Extended Summer Series Review in July) and we’re closing out April with
back to back reviews of the newest (and hopefully last) seasons of FLCL,
starting with
FLCL: Grunge right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.
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