Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury - Anime Episode Discussion

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

So Permet can randomly dissolve matter and it's everywhere. That sounds really unsafe.

Only if you have Gund & reach above PS 8 which is obviously not an everyday occurence or everyday needs. Heck, this is most likely the very first time someone went above PS 8 within the 122 years of Ad Stella history.

[Dengar]

I am going to be extremely honest.

Although the journey to get there was extremely frustrating, they did manage to bring it to a somewhat satisfying conclusion. Most of the frustrating characters were either written out or became more well rounded by the end.

I still am not quite over the fact that literally every adult in the show is upstaged by a bunch of kids. In past Gundam shows there were at the very least good supporting characters who were adults.

I'm also not really fond of the moral of "arranged marriages are ok, you can just learn to love each other later".

And you know, other people's opinions are a thing of course. And maybe they found a lot of things to like about this show, but to me, 00 it is not. Better than Age maybe.

I do wonder though if this show would be as well received had Suletta been a boy.

Also like, is this it?

Where's the other 25 episodes?

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by Dengar

I still am not quite over the fact that literally every adult in the show is upstaged by a bunch of kids. In past Gundam shows there were at the very least good supporting characters who were adults.

Don't forget that it was Kenanji who busted Shaddiq's plan after hearing the DoF kid mentioning about "prince".

Also, it was Guston who provided Suletta with Calibarn. And Belmeria has been supporting the protags since Mio bought her division from Peil. Culminating in her saving Mio's life by shooting at Prospera & the Haro sentries. And Rajan has been supporting Mio when Delling was still in a coma.

Originally Posted by Dengar

Where's the other 25 episodes?

WFM was always slated for 2 cours at most. Any future WFM project (if any) depends on what Bandai decides later.

[Dengar]

Sorry, it was meant to be rhetorical. I'm just used to Gundam shows being 50 episodes, so this one being 25 is slightly disappointing. Especially since the ending felt kind of fast paced and doesn't even solve every issue presented in the premise.

It's not big on my list of criticisms, but it's a lamentation none the less.

As for the adults you mentioned, I'm looking or something beyond 'they helped'.

[magnuskn]

Prospera was pretty competent. For weeks before the finale it was the talk of the group how much she was leading Miorine around by the nose.

[azarhal]

Originally Posted by Dengar

Where's the other 25 episodes?

Years away, if they do one. Bandrise only planned 24 episodes in their overfull pipeline and lots of people are theorizing that the SEED movie trailer release and new UC movie announcement were planned in advance to match with the end of it because they had no faith in it.

Also, a producer came out yesterday on twitter, talking about their crazy production issues and lack of time per episodes in her farewell message to the team. The last episode had 90+ animators, pure insanity for a TV show. They aren't in a position to roll into the production of an unplanned sequel without a lengthy break.

[Mad Pierrot]

I have no problems with the ending now other than Prospera. They solved most of the stuff pacifically and even got the other Elan a closing subplot. Suletta's relationship with her mother felt a bit not shown as even in the final episode. Prospera kept focusing mostly on Eri when Miorine herself said last week about how should a mother love all their daughters. Also, Miorine's dad barely got a cameo

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by Dengar

As for the adults you mentioned, I'm looking or something beyond 'they helped'.

"They helped" is pretty much what supporting characters do. That's partly why they are called "supporting characters" in the first place.

[Frontier]

I mean, Kenanji and anyone involved with the Vanadis massacre can go ahead and jump off a cliff for all I care. That the show never really addressed any of that felt like a big missed opportunity.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by Frontier

I mean, Kenanji and anyone involved with the Vanadis massacre can go ahead and jump off a cliff for all I care. That the show never really addressed any of that felt like a big missed opportunity.

At the end of the day, Kenanji & the rest of Dominicus are just soldiers. Just like the pilots who dropped the bombs on Hiroshima & Nagasaki that killed thousands of civilians.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by Obelisk ze Tormentor

At the end of the day, Kenanji & the rest of Dominicus are just soldiers. Just like the pilots who dropped the bombs on Hiroshima & Nagasaki that killed thousands of civilians.

I'd say they were even worse because there wasn't even a war going on and yet they still went on and executed a bunch of innocent people just for working on stuff their bosses didn't agree with. I don't think they deserve to be called soldiers.

Just narratively feels kind of unsatisfying that no one really confronted or addressed them for what happened when they're the main reasons this mess even started in the first place. No real self-reflection, no real discussion over it, we just kind of let it go for the sake of the happy ending I guess.

[blakstealth]

Originally Posted by Frontier

I'd say they were even worse because there wasn't even a war going on and yet they still went on and executed a bunch of innocent people just for working on stuff their bosses didn't agree with. I don't think they deserve to be called soldiers.

Just narratively feels kind of unsatisfying that no one really confronted or addressed them for what happened when they're the main reasons this mess even started in the first place. No real self-reflection, no real discussion over it, we just kind of let it go for the sake of the happy ending I guess.

Yeah, I was patiently waiting for those involved for their just desserts. Never happened.

[kuroyanagi]

The Vanadis massacre is really my #1 stickler with this series after it ended (#2 being Nortrette ending up this Ikari Yui-type empty character who existed only to fuel certain characters' motivation/facilitate key plot points and #3 is Olcott/the entirety of the Earth episode and how irrelevant it ended up being).

I think they could still save it by having an extra OVA/alternate prologue that shows the buildup to the incident with more focus on the Earth Union and Beneritt. Retcon it so that the responsibility for carrying out the attack is taken off Delling (onto someone who is dead by the end of the show, preferably). Show us Nortrette researching Quiet Zero, tie it in somehow with the Vanadis research. Throw in some subplot about Olcott being disgusted by the whole operation to give his character at least a speck of relevancy. Otherwise, if it's really all Delling's fault, then it's way to awkward for Suletta and Miorine to get married and never bring up that time your dad killed my dad.

Anyway, this is the one series where I'm really wondering about what was going behind the scenes. You really got to notice that there were interviews by the director and producer published in the early days of broadcast, but by the time the 2nd season came by, those dried up and were completely replaced by seiyuu radios etc. And then there's that tweet by Tagashira Marie (character designer) saying "thank you to all staff involved... except those 2 or 3 of you"... Here's hoping we do get to hear from the director someday what was the original plan for all those plot points that were never allowed to develop properly.

[azarhal]

Originally Posted by kuroyanagi

then it's way to awkward for Suletta and Miorine to get married and never bring up that time your dad killed my dad.

3 years were skipped where they probably told each others a lots of stuff and it's not like Suletta knew Nadim.

I find it less awkward than trying to explain how her sister is now living inside of a keychain instead of a giant robot...

Originally Posted by kuroyanagi

Anyway, this is the one series where I'm really wondering about what was going behind the scenes. You really got to notice that there were interviews by the director and producer published in the early days of broadcast...

According to a producer, they had 2 to 4 weeks to make each episodes since the first one, that's like half the usual time. So whatever problem they had, it started early and crunched their production.

As for the unused plot points, half of that is just Okouchi being Okouchi, another half might have been left as possible sequel material. They can easily bring back Naji/Olcott in a sequel that focus more on Earth for example.

Also, Ur was still functional the last time we saw it and Thorn just had a hole where the cockpit was and neither were shown to be turned into space dust...

[Dengar]

Originally Posted by Obelisk ze Tormentor

"They helped" is pretty much what supporting characters do. That's partly why they are called "supporting characters" in the first place.

Sure you can argue semantics all you want but that changes neither the facts nor how I feel about them.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by Dengar

Sure you can argue semantics all you want but that changes neither the facts nor how I feel about them.

The way you worded it is just weird. You act like this show has no "supporting characters who were adults" (your own words) like in past Gundam shows when I showed you that it does.

You're complaining that adult "supporting characters" are only helping/supporting the teenage protags. That's like complaining that sugar is sweet. Like, gee, what did you expect?

Even the chad Schwarz Bruder helped & supported Domon in G. The charismatic genius Treize, Lady Une, Sally & Noin ended up supporting the 5 Gundam protags in Wing. The cool Jamil supported Garrod & Tifa in X. The fatherly Zinnerman supported Banagher in Unicorn. Murrue & Mu supported Kira & co in SEED. etc. They are capable adult supporting characters who support the protags just like Belmeria, Feng, Kenanji, Rajan & Guston in WFM. That's the facts.

[fukarming]

I think the no. 1 baffling bit is Delling - how can he suffer no consequences when he murders the innocents in the prologue - it is like today we announce no more genetic designer babies, and the armies march into universities/research facilities and killing all researchers who have been working on that? Though Okuchi is well known for having a weird moral compass - I am still mad about Ougi living a good life after 15 years. At least Delling still needs to answer some stuff happening and not become president and marry a hot wife and having a kid.

[Alchemist007]

There were some neat parts but it seemed a little too unfocused in regards to some conflicts, particularly the earth people. The committee of witch women also just sort of got away.

7/10

[azarhal]

Originally Posted by fukarming

I think the no. 1 baffling bit is Delling - how can he suffer no consequences when he murders the innocents in the prologue - it is like today we announce no more genetic designer babies, and the armies march into universities/research facilities and killing all researchers who have been working on that? Though Okuchi is well known for having a weird moral compass - I am still mad about Ougi living a good life after 15 years. At least Delling still needs to answer some stuff happening and not become president and marry a hot wife and having a kid.

It's quite similar to real life where people in charge and/or with a lots of money get away doing crimes.

But here his own daughter destroyed his big military complex conglomerate by giving the pieces to the very people he's been oppressing. It's actually more karmic as punishment than jail. Even if it might not last.

[FlareKnight]

The behind the scenes troubles just make the quality of the show all the more impressive. It still isn't a Gundam show that I'll rate super highly, but it was competently made. Credit to them for pulling that off. They had half the usual amount of episodes for a Gundam show and sounds like they had half the amount of time to get things done. It's impressive that the show didn't have more issues.

The issue with aftermath does pile up the more you think about it. So many that committed horrible acts ended up with little to no punishment over it. But hey, Nika got in her jail time so it's all good I guess .