Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch of Mercury, the first season of which aired in October 2022, will be watched by many Gundam fans, as well as those who are watching Gundam for the first time. The second season will begin airing in April 2023. The first season was set at Asticasia Technical College, a special school that has not appeared in previous Gundam series, where students learn piloting, mechanics, and business strategy, and the story was mainly about school life. The Witch of Mercury does not have an original work, so I am very excited to see how the second season will unfold. Before watching the second season, I would like to look back on some of the famous scenes from the first season.
Sletta and the Road to Aerial
Let's start with the first episode. The first episode begins with the main character, Sletta Mercury, transferring from Mercury to Asticasia Technical College, run by the Benerit Group, the largest conglomerate in the mobile suit industry. The story begins when he saves Miorine Rembrand, the only daughter of Benerit Group's president, Dering Rembrand, who was trying to escape to Earth on the day of his transfer, mistaking her for a drifter.
Holder's fiancee
At the school, there is a battle using mobile suits called a duel, which takes precedence over everything else, and there is a rule that President Deling has decided that the winner, the "Holder", will be given his daughter, Miorine, as his fiancee. Even though he is a dictator, he is a terrible father to treat his daughter as a prize, and as a result, his daughter is treated like a trophy at the school.
Duel! Sletta vs Guell
The current Holder is Guell Jetark, the heir of Jetark, one of the three major companies in the Benerit Group. Guell appeared as a typical confident heir, but his behavior is the same, and as the Holder = the number one pilot in the school, he can do whatever he wants. Such Guell also says to Miorine that you and the company are mine. In response, Sletta demands that Miorine apologize, and they end up dueling.
Gundam Aerial
On the day of the duel, Miorine appeared in front of Dilanza in the Aerial. Miorine decided to settle her own fight and set out in the Aerial. There is no way that Miorine, who is in the Business Strategy Department, can operate a mobile suit and has no way to defeat Guell's Dilanza. Then Sletta appears and gets in the Aerial. Sletta gets angry that the Aerial was brought up, and Miorine says, "What's a mobile suit?", but Sletta replies, "They're my family, who I grew up with," and then says to Miorine...
My mother used to say, "If you run away, you get one, if you move forward, you get two. If you run away, you get something, but if you move forward, you get something, even if you don't win. Experience, pride... and trust!
Just as she said, the Aerial and Sletta confront Dylanza. Sletta fires the gambit "Escutcheon" at Dylanza, who attacks. Dylanza is cut to pieces without being able to do anything, and everyone is amazed at the sight of the Gundam Aerial.
Miorine confronts her arrogant father, President Deling
Sleta won the duel, but Aerial was suspected of using a Gundam that used the banned witch technology GUND format. Sleta was arrested and Miorine was expelled by her father. A hearing was then held about Aerial.
The Inquisition with the Aerial Disposal
It's called an inquisition in name only, but it's actually a meeting to denounce Aerial as a Gundam. Sletta's mother Prospera testifies that Aerial is not a Gundam, but in the end, with a single word from the dictator, President Deling, Aerial is disposed of and Sletta is expelled. Miorine appears and expresses her anger to her father, President Deling, but Deling tries to eliminate Miorine. At that time, Miorine remembered the words "If we go forward, there will be two..." and challenged her father to a duel, but Deling would not take her seriously. Then Miorine said...
I'm telling you I'll fight by the rules you set, so you should at least stick to what you set, you're an adult!
At that time, Glenn's father, Vim Jetak, who was being tempted by Prospera, also spoke up, and as a result, a rematch between Sletta and Guell was decided. His words at the Inquisition, when he told the dictator, "Don't change the rules you set yourself after the fact, you dumbass old fool!" also caused quite a stir.
A sudden confession of love! ?
A rematch has been decided between Sletta and Guell, but Guell's father must win for the sake of his reputation. He intervenes in the duel by sending in Darryl Valide, who is equipped with a will-expanding AI, and spraying water to treat heat exhaust, putting Aerial at a disadvantage. Meanwhile, the duel between Sletta and Guell has begun.
Jetark's Will vs. Aerial
At first, Sletta was fighting with an advantage, but he was put in a difficult position due to the water spraying of the heat dissipation treatment. Meanwhile, Guel's pride was shattered when he saw Darilvalde acting automatically with the will expansion AI, and his will was not needed. Meanwhile, Miorine eliminated Guel's friends who were dissipating the heat and stopped the water spraying. Sletta and Aerial launched a fierce counterattack and cornered Darilvalde. Guel destroyed the will expansion AI and chose to fight with his own will, and faced Aerial, but he was defeated by a step short. As Guell stood there defeated, Sletta said, "I underestimated you. You were very strong," and offered him her hand. Hearing this, Guell took Sletta's hand, knelt down, and said...
Sletta Mercury, marry me.
The sudden proposal was surprising, and Sletta's response was, "Heh...". I think that's a natural reaction. It's a bit awkward to be proposed to by someone who is an egocentric character and told Miorine that she was his. However, in the main story, Guell's true character begins to emerge from around this point, so I'm looking forward to seeing how things develop from here.
What you're carrying!
In the world of Mercury Witch, the development of the space industry has created a social structure in which Spaceians (space immigrants) exploit the labor and taxes of Earthians (Earth residents), and this structure is reflected directly in Asticasia Technical College. Earthian Chuachuri Panranch (nicknamed Chuchu) is the only pilot student in the Earth dormitory at the academy, and she is working hard, carrying the expectations of her family and friends who sent her to the academy.
Spacian harassment
ChuChu is harassed by Spacians during a training exercise in which she has to avoid simulated mines. The main camera of the training MS is sprayed with a "delayed occlusion spray," which suddenly blocks her vision and causes her to fail the training. As for Sletta, she didn't even know that she needed a spotter and mechanic to support her, so she couldn't even take the training and failed.
Sletta takes on invisible landmines
With Miorine's help, Sletta decided to retake the test, but while she was doing well in the practical exam, the main camera on her mobile suit went black. The Spatian, who had harassed Chuchu last time, now targeted Sletta. Even though he lost his sight, Sletta kept trying again and again, but finally his heart broke. When Sletta said, "I want to go home," Miorine encouraged him, saying, "Even though everyone on Mercury sent you off and gave you a charm, you can give up now!" and Sletta set off to try again.
Two people carrying a burden.
ChuChu, who hated Sletta and Spatian, heard the exchange and saw Sletta and herself, and what she saw was the Spatian who had harassed Sletta and laughed at him. The words that Chuchu said after punching the laughing Spatian were...
Don't get in the way if you don't have anyone's feelings on your back!!
In the end, the re-examination was canceled and Sletta and Chuchu had to take the exam again, but the distance between them was reduced. After that, Sletta was taken care of at the Earth Dormitory.
Sad Gundam Pilot
Elan Ceres is a pilot for Pale Corporation, which develops Gundam, but he is actually a so-called enhanced human (enhanced person) who has been enhanced to withstand the GUND format. During the upgrade, he lost all his memories and was used as a test subject, and he hates Gundam as a "curse to him". He was ordered by Pale Corporation to investigate the Aerial, and thinking that Sletta was also an enhanced human who rode a Gundam, he contacted her and won her heart.
Enhanced human riding the Aerial
Elan made a date with Sletta and succeeded in riding the Aerial, but Sletta was jealous and rejected him because he was different from the enhanced human, as the Aerial did not give him the unpleasant sensation of the GUND format. He then challenged Sletta to a duel. Perhaps he felt betrayed by Sletta, who was in a completely different situation even though they were both piloting the same Gundam.
Gundam vs Gundam
The Gundam showdown between Farakt, piloted by Elan, and Aerial begins, with Farakt, who is superior in mobility to Aerial, attacking. Farakt corners Aerial with the gambit "Koraki," while Aerial fights back with "Escutcheon." In the midst of a back-and-forth battle, "Koraki" catches Aerial. Elan was sure of victory, but when the Aerial glowed red, the Falact was forced to stop. At that moment, Elan saw someone in the light. At that moment, Falact was cut into pieces by "Escutcheon".
Unfortunate Enhanced Person
In the cockpit of the wrecked Falact, Elan remembered a woman, his mother celebrating his birthday.
I see, that's what it was...
Elan's memories of the past came back to him. Many enhanced humans have appeared in the Gundam series so far, but Elan, who was not involved in the war but instead served as a student at the school and was destined to be an enhanced human for Pale's Gundam development, is an enhanced human that has never been seen in the Gundam series so far. At the end, it was an impressive scene to see Elan smile calmly as he remembered his family celebrating his birthday.
Miorine's true feelings for Sleta
In episode 10, Sleta loses track of where he is. He feels that Miorine doesn't need him, and he tries desperately to help everyone, but everything he does ends up being in vain, and he believes that no one needs him. She turned to her mother, Prospera. She barricaded herself in the bathroom and told her how she felt over the phone. Prospera told Sletta to come and see her and Aerial. Just as she said she would come and see them right away, someone knocked on the bathroom door.
Sletta and Miorine
It was Miorine who knocked on the door, and she had been listening to the conversation. Sletta ran away, but Miorine chased after Sletta and finally caught her. Sletta, who has become servile, begins to talk to Miorine about his failures and his feelings of servility. Miorine says to Sletta, "What happened to the usual one? If you move forward, there will be two!"
What are Miorine's true feelings...?
In response to those words, Sletta answers that he can't do it. And he says, "I'm always afraid to move forward, so I always try my best to chant. People like you don't understand." Hearing those words, Miorine tells Sletta, "Don't try to understand me without my permission," and tells him her feelings. Up until now, her father had decided everything for her and she wanted to run away to Earth, how Sletta had become her groom, how she had foolishly said "If we go forward, we'll get two," how she had to start a company, how she bowed her head and ran the company despite her father's constant nagging. And then she confessed her true feelings to Sletta.
You're the one who doesn't understand, I'm saying it's a good thing! It's thanks to you that I don't have to run away.
So don't run away from me. If you have something to say, just say it, and just keep going like you always do.
Just tell me that you'll leave it to me.
For the first time, she confessed her feelings for Sletta that she hadn't been able to say until now. Miorine hugged Sletta and buried her face in his chest, and it was a scene that showed a more honest side of her than she had ever shown before.
Summary of famous scenes from the first season
This is a summary of the first season, but there are many scenes from the first half. The story is set in a school for the first time in the Gundam series, and I think the development is a little different from the usual Gundam, which made the impression stronger. On the other hand, the second half gradually became the usual Gundam world, and although there were some strong scenes, they may not have been introduced as famous scenes. Thank you for reading to the end.
