Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury‒ Chapter 9

Overall, the extent to which this show ship teased the Major Still an interesting male role for Suletta or Miorine, considering the two are engaged. But the teasing is all; the story nips in the bud the possibility of any actual mutual relationship. Shaddiq wasn’t physically wiped out like Elan was, but his story of a lost chance with Miorine was still somewhat sad. The episode title, “Not Just a Childhood Friend, But Not True Love” sums it up perfectly. Mind you, I’m glad his plan didn’t work out, but his failure is still bittersweet. This episode strikes the perfect balance between sympathizing with the loser and making it clear that he doesn’t deserve to win.

Shaddiq with the earth after the shit with Elan a few episodes ago The Game House feels like the show has succeeded — though not necessarily badly. I expected this storyline to drag on longer, but everything was neatly resolved during the duel in one episode. Shaddiq’s team found a weakness in the GUND format, but Suletta eliminated it with the force of friendship. These are all predictable things. But the show is still in the pipeline, and with Shaddiq’s introduction now fully completed, I expect more complicated plot twists to start to emerge. We still don’t know what form Nika’s betrayal will take, though this group fight is clearly the moment it happens. In that sense, this episode was one big fake that led to the inevitable midseason cliffhanger.

Visually, character animations still struggle, but short mecha works well. While the plot pacing is predictable this time around, I like the group duel setup because it allows for a wider variety of mobile suits and supporting characters to see the action. When Renee got into a fight with Lilique for “stealing” her, she immediately won me over ‘s substitute boyfriend, Chu Chu’s domineering is as lovely as ever. The duel only really feels banal at its climax, when a cornered Suletta quickly finds her resolve. The faltering character animation fails to sell her tension in the crucial moments leading up to the turn, suggesting that an effective robot war requires more than good robot animation.

Overall, it was a good episode, But it is the weakest duel. I’m still enjoying the ride, but now that the main character introductions are done, I’d love to see the show go beyond dueling and become the primary means of conflict resolution. We’ve seen all of the mech’s abilities; now let’s look at the consequences. There’s only so much this series can do to herald before audiences start to grow impatient with the payoff.

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Currently streaming on Crunchyroll.