The Unfortunate Failures of Gundam: The Witch from Mercury

[@BigMicahC]

I'm a big meanie. For those curious, I re-reviewed this because I despise my original review. Also, don't forget Englewood Book 2 is on Kickstarter for those who missed out on the first crowdfund! Grab it today! Only about a month to get orders in! www.kickstarter.com/projects/micahcurtis/englewood-the-born-in-blood-saga

[@ninjammer726]

please do a video essay on titanfall 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@brynertodd]

First video by tou ive watched and just from from you talking about shippers has made me subscribe!

[@divinedragon8877]

Hey Micah where's that video on the witch for mercury I can't seem to find it what happened to it?

[@DomFortress]

You helped me put into words that clarify why I too felt disappointed with this series overall. And if the original creators had just as much confidence in their execution as Prospera would with her gatling gun arm, then this series would've gave the Tanuki girl a corporate hell wherein she can rise above, instead of a half baked Ultimate Girl Utena wannabe that didn't go anywhere, not even to the carwash.

[@ljmak4102]

Your bit at the start on representation is absolutely spot on. And when people criticise (a character) that shows a slight hint of (whatever they claim it represents) with very clear and concise points as to why they feel the show/character is lacking, some people just go apeshit and call you a (whatever they come up with) AND claim due to their feelings being hurt, they are in the right for calling you slurs or whatever. What a breath of fresh air thank you for your input at the start. Regarding the series, I felt it was doomed from the very beginning. The prologue was very intriguing and I feel most people bought into the hype, me included, but ultimately the first 2 episodes could not pick up the pacing quick enough and I felt a lot of those around me gave up on the show around that time. Another series that had so much potential. Such as shame. edit: ah i was 5 mins in when i commented this you basically covered what i typed in the second paragraph lol

[@Splitz_66]

The Witch from mercury had the potential to be a "reverse zeta Gundam" where earthnoids and mercurians fights against a totalitarian spacenoid regime, but they decided to throw It away for High school drama

[@Splitz_66]

@@Peasham the way you described the Witch from mercury made It look like tankie material

[@Splitz_66]

@@Peasham You described what you wanted witch from mercury to be

[@konni0883]

@@Splitz_66 Ignore Peasham! He's a troll that only resorts to sophist contortions and pettyfogging.

[@BigMicahC]

Oh, @Peasham is a tankie. That explains a lot.

[@BioMega96]

​@@Splitz_66 what's a tankie?

[@fanusobscurus]

The single biggest issue I have with Witch is a simple one. It is BLATANTLY cut short. So much of Witch feels like a show that was written for 2 seasons, made explicitly with that in mind, and then at the halfway point was informed that they were only getting a single season, and weren't given the time to adjust.

[@ORLY911]

From what I heard before the show really became successful when it aired, Bandai got cold feet and only wanted it to be 25 episodes, thinking it was going to do poorly based off of whatever projection metrics they were using. They were obviously wrong, but it was too late and the show was already done in planning to be 25 episodes.

[@t3dweipin193]

No it was 2 season since the beginning, which is what we got, 2 season, it's the director and writer's duty to write for 2 season, what did they did? Well with how everyone seems to think that they got "cut short", it sure goes well Honestly just look at the writer portfolio, he doesn't always make good stuff

[@thomas_mafty_haha]

​@t3dweipin193 a standard Gundam 'season' is 25 eps, look at 00 and IBO, it's only with the newer ones that it got halved The final 2-3 WFM episodes do feel a lot more rushed (plot, not quality) and a lot of important setups remain unexplained/unresolved

[@t3dweipin193]

@@thomas_mafty_haha And a normal season is 13 episode, they might call it 2 cour but it's literally 2 season, literally from the start that they said they're going to experiment with WFM, hence the out of norm episode count, Oh and the unresolved plotpoint? How about spreading it throughout 2 season instead of cramping it into a single season, which is exactly what they did, cramping it into second season, oh and add a lot more shit as well they got 2 season, they fumbled it, and now people thinks it got cut short despite the fact that they didn't, it's written that way(like shit) and you all have to deal with it, no amount of "oh they rushed it" can save that mess

[@hafirenggayuda]

Yep, I felt it during climax session. Me and friend were falsely hoping "oh, they probably have third cour or something" What a sham3

[@squeaksqueakimaknight]

My problem with WfM it is doesn't read as a "Gundam anime", instrad it reads as a "sci-fi high-school girl drama anime with mecha side content".

[@Moonliightartist]

Basically "Revolutionary Girl Utena" with a Gundam.

[@solastro5595]

Yeah it felt like a sci fi high school drama.

[@Chaossiege801x]

That is so true. I literally skipped the dialog and only watched the fights

[@miawuwu2255]

The ironic thing is that 86 feels like more of a Gundam series than the actual series that bare the name Gundam on it. Between IBO and WfM, there was just little shows that could fill that mecha gap, and 86 not only just fills it, it surpassed most gundam series. Granted it was more of an VOTOMS than Gundams but the conflict feels surreal that i thought why don't WfM cover this topic instead of going to the highschool route.

[@JeffreyPiatt]

​@@Moonliightartistthe next series will actually be written by a writer from that show

[@Blue-Code]

16:22 I would like to thank you for this. A lot of GWitch fans tend to overlook on how poorly Miorine is written and how bad she treated Suletta just because they are in a gay romance. Marina and Setsuna have more chemistry than Sulleta and Miorine, even though they view each other platonically.

[@LordCornshoe]

I feel like Suletta never got a proper reckoning with her mother. Miorine just kinda smacks Prospera down and says "Stop it." and then TIMESKIP ALL WOUNDS HEALED! That shoulda been the biggest conflict resolution and it didn't even HAPPEN on screen.

[@hafirenggayuda]

The effing war just gone like afterthought

[@ONEIL311]

I was kinda hoping suletta joined her mother and became a monster

[@LanceTheAutobot]

One thing I did love was the clear difference in mech design from different companies it felt more natural

[@ReigoVassal]

I also love the main Gundam, Aerial. The design is cool and more "feminine" than other Gundam, except Nobel Gundam. Also I love the drone based mecha. The shield are made of small drones that could become a gun is really amazing design. Calibarn also have a very unique design as well. It has "witch broom", just unique never seen before design.

[@2345Z]

Suletta being the most interesting character? I thought for a while it was Guel because he had a character arc that people liked.

[@tHeWasTeDYouTh]

I was disappointed with the show because it was so different form the prologue.. but then one of the show creators on X said that once the prologue was made they changed the show from being a normal Gundam war anime to a high school anime. they said it. so I gave up on Witch from Mercury. JNTHED, the mecha designer for the Gundam Lfrith, Aerial and Calibarn really nailed it for me, love his designs.

[@wanderingbufoon]

They shoved in the High School bit. S2 was actually pretty good but I think them doing S1 plot as an afterthought spilled over to S2.

[@ednotari1345]

Frankly, I was hoping this was going to be ending up in a conflict where the big bad was the equivalent or Anaheim Electronics/the military industrial complex causing at least one big war to happen dragging in the main cast. Also for once Earth being the kicked under dog rising up against it's opressors, that could've been neat...if I'm wording this right. Either way, potentially good foundations squandered.

[@Xeno-The-Wanderer]

Not necessarily the first time earth was the victim as G Gundam had that occur though they did not have the ability to fight back but the fighters experiencing it and meeting the locals would be able to at least help deal with those causing problems in the area

[@ednotari1345]

@@Peasham That may be, but it could've been more interesting. Either way I had gotten bored of it before the end of the first half of it. It wasn't bad necessarily in my mind, I just got no enjoyment out of it.

[@ryon5174]

One gripe I really have is how we never really see how a lot of the perpetrators don’t get punishments, especially the Peil tech hags who just snagged a vacation, or the terrorist guy on earth that attacked the Plant We also never really saw what resulted out of the decision to sell the group’s stuff to earth, nor do we see a resolution to the Earth-Space political conflict especially after what happened during Miorine’s visit Shaddiq also just got a free pass I also wish we got more of the economic tensions each company was getting through because a Gundam has appeared, and no one ever was punished for making a Gundam of their own just because they want to beat Aerial

[@ryon5174]

@@Peasham I know about the selling of the assets What I want to know is the aftermath of it towards Earth after it was established to become a wasteland - its stable sure but it would’ve been good to know where those resources went or how they’re used That and we never see the Peil tech hags get some sort of punishment We never see Shaddiq’s resolution We never see if and when the terror attack on Quetta was revealed and/or resolved We also never see what becomes of the mobile suit situation especially after the obsession with gundams in the picture, and we never see how the remaining companies of the group have extended/expanded on their technologies and whatever

[@maweitao]

Ugh... I remember the zeitgeist. Criticism was strictly forbidden over on r/Gundam, then the final episode dropped and everything changed. People were still cagey but disappointment was near universal. Despite some positives, for me WfM alternated between feeling like a slog and being incredibly frustrating. I would have been fine with all the school-based interpersonal stuff if it served as a foil to the conflict that followed. Unfortunately, despite the constant teasing none of it ever materialized. I'm left feeling like the more interesting elements only made it into the story because Bandai kept complaining the series wasn't Gundam enough. I'm also not sure why the writers thought retelling the Tempest was a good idea, but this wasn't the series for it. One last thing, am I the only one who feels like this series was trying to be the antithesis to IBO?

[@razrafz]

r/gundam was the biggest dickrider of the show and even after the ending airs trying to criticize the show ur still labelled as phobic and downvoted to hell

[@mattmaddogwheaton4724]

I actually enjoyed the love story in Gundam 08th MS myself, as well as Kamille and Fa's relationship too. I also loved Heero and Relena's relationship too. That being said, G Gundam and Gundam X have the GOAT romance stories.

[@leo11lim]

Heero releana have a crappy relationship

[@mikloridden8276]

@@leo11lim Yeah it was not healthy at all. Then again reminds me of the common relationship trope irl “girl with daddy issues ending up with renegade guy”

[@ReigoVassal]

I believe that arranged marriage could make a good story, albeit it's very difficult. This one is not that good romance. Also I still bitter about how the "splat" doesn't lead anything to the plot. It just.... exist. It become nothing. Despite it could become a great plot.

[@solastro5595]

Man Gundam seed to me felt like a teenage romance drama. Kira was cucking his friend 😮.

[@jagerzaku9160]

GARROD RAN MY GLORIOUS KING!

[@Mitheledh]

If you include the manga, Suletta isn't even the first female protagonist. Granted it was never finished, but there is this Gundam manga Ecole Du Ciel. The protagonist, and gundam pilot, is a girl named Asuna Elmarit

[@JeffreyPiatt]

She's the. First female Anime lead in a full series the last lead was in 0080 the first anniversary OVA

[@JeffreyPiatt]

Manga isn't cannon

[@mitchellalexander9162]

"The Reason that Witch From Mercury failed was essentially because Sunrise (and yes I'm aware that Sunrise has been folded into Bandai Namco now) Still chose to Screw Over the same Writer for Code Geass. The Same Mistake has been made by cutting his show short and cutting very important plot details out that enhanced the show's story that needed to be there." -Des Shinta's Multiple Part Code Geass Review Defending Witch from Mercury's stumblings as a tangent 55:11 - 1:08:29

[@Xeno-The-Wanderer]

Don’t think the guy is a good source, rarely seems to give any sources from what I’ve watched and I’ve watched at least a good 18 hours of his content. Seems to come off as very biased in his views no matter how well researched he “presents” himself to be

[@Demiurge13]

@@Xeno-The-Wanderer sounds like a propagandist

[@Xeno-The-Wanderer]

@@Demiurge13 his rants do come across that way, trying to enjoy someone talk about the subject and suddenly it becomes a rant about the industry or politics for like 5-15… 25 minutes heck maybe 30 one time where I actually stopped watching an SRW video and quit entirely and SRW doesn’t have enough discussion in video form which is the sad part

[@danielramsey6141]

@@Xeno-The-Wanderer I honestly Like Deshinta Reviews. I like In-depth he is about the material. Cause I’m also into Looking at Videos Where Studio Meddling is a thing. What’s Solid about him Doing that though, is Because he’s Pointing Out Where Bandai-Namco and Sunrise Has F***ed Up! And THEY F*** UP ALOT! The Fact that he has SO MUCH to Say about CODE GEASS Alone is both Good and Bad! As Yes, he does make Great Points and Clues us in on the Stumbling blocks of Where the Creators Fumbled! And as a Writer, I appreciate wanting to know that! But on the Bad side, he 4 Videos that Are Literally “12 HOURS LONG!!” I don’t dislike the guy for that, But Definitely have to pace myself! But due to that, Just Shows how Bandai-Namco and Sunrise often Fumbled the Ball! And it only serves to further cause further divisions with the Creator, the Fanbase, and the ruins any genuinely good content that such shows put forth. And that’s a real shame. Just look up the Director “Kaos” who Worked on Ballistics: Ecks Vs Severs! That Film Actually Could’ve Been Better had The Studio Company Behind it Not tried to Turn the Director’s original movie into The MATRIX! Look it up! The Shit That happened behind the scenes shows Why Hollywood is Crumbling!

[@Demiurge13]

@@Xeno-The-Wanderer yea, we need more srw content for sure

[@darklightimages]

This Gundam series was written as if they never really knew what they wanted to tell, story wise. It was basically a Frankenstein monster of different Gundam series mashed together. You have Gundam 00, Gundam Wing, IBO, and if I didn't know any better bits of Gundam Unicorn as well for good luck. It was so all over the place I honestly stopped watching because I didn't have a reason to watch.

[@556deltawolf]

3:05 Don't forget Karen Joshua from The 08th MS Team. Hell some episodes it felt like she was the one in charge of the team and not Shiro. XD

[@venomouslizards]

Great video. This show is what caused me to distance myself from the western Gundam community, and that sucks. The community has now been invaded by new people who only showed up for the yuri and I couldn’t criticize the show without being “homophobic or sexist.” It sucks because I love this franchise and have enjoyed community for almost a decade before this. These people don’t understand Gundam, constantly saying “Gundam has always been political and left wing (ignoring the fact that Tomino is very much right wing).” Yes, Gundam has always been political, but it has always been complex and not black and white. It has always shown how every side of a conflict has good and bad people and that all political ideologies have issues. Gundam has always been centrist, and that is how it should be. I hope the community can eventually heal, but with same people coming out saying the same things with “Requiem for Vengeance,” I don’t have much hope.

[@justsomeguywithlasereyes9920]

That blunt approach earned you a like, so keep it up bro.

[@Iridium-77-g]

Prospera committed literal war crimes but she got absolutely no commupance. And somehow she lost the usage of her legs but Suletta is still A-OK after using so much permet even after Aerial wasn't "protecting" her anymore. Absolute garbage. But yeah, I agree that Suletta CARRIED the show in her shoulders, hard. On a re-watch, the show is terrible and the plotlines went nowhere. Without Suletta, the show would be absolute bottom tier Gundam.

[@156892]

I found it so weird in the final EP why isn't she locked up somewhere with all her limbs restricted and locked-if not actually given a death sentence.

[@Iridium-77-g]

@@156892 Apparently, because Shaddiq took the fall for everything. And everyone was 100% ok with that. Terrible writing.

[@TysonRex37]

Suletta is not A-OK. You see Suletta years later with scars and needing crutches. While being a clone of someone who fully synced with the data storm.

[@Iridium-77-g]

@@TysonRex37 Still got off easy. Prospera has to use a wheelchair. And Eri somehow lives in the little keychain. The ending is still absolute garbage and the story overall wasted its characters. The series only has 2 good things: Great animation for mecha action and Suletta as a character. Everything else sucks.

[@lostcosmonaut1000]

You wanna make a 'representational' character, write someone with complex and relatable thoughts, feelings, struggles, and ideals

[@andrewfantome4020]

It always amuses me when an attempt to create a protagonist for "modern audiences" or "representation" ends up creating a OP girlboss with "plot" bisexuality.

[@andrewfantome4020]

@@Peasham Oh my god, someone has a different opinion about the show than me! Outrageous!

[@andrewfantome4020]

@@Peasham Did you get personal so quickly? Hah, you're pathetic.

[@ReigoVassal]

Like Gotoh Hitori? Aka Bocchi the rock

[@andrewfantome4020]

@@Peasham I can totally see you trying to tie another show into this since you can't defend G-Witch directly.

[@jrhSTYLE]

I wanted a serious female gundam pilot lead so bad. I was extremely put off when I watched the prologue thinking the mom would be the pilot but realized that wasn't happening

[@andrewfantome4020]

We ended up just getting a Gundam version of the Western Mary "it's literally me" Sue. Which was only highlighted by Guell's excellent character arc. Guel was generally the poster child for many of the show's problems due to the fact that he felt superfluous here due to the quality of his writing.

[@andrewfantome4020]

@@Peasham badass and OP “I can do everything from the very beginning and no one will beat me fairly” are different things.

[@andrewfantome4020]

​@@Peasham Premise. But not un author’s trick that artificially holds the plot together and is even used as an excuse for the ending he needs. But why am I explaining anything to a ridiculously arrogant dude with the logic of “you’re not a fan/new fan if you don’t agree with me!” ? I don't need any more new arguments if you're literally saying "ha, this show's idea is bad, but there were other shows with such a bad idea"

[@Demiurge13]

@@Peasham he's a tourist, what did you expect?

[@ReigoVassal]

With mask like that, she could be a "char clone". But I guess that plan is scrapped somewhere around pilot episode and episode one. Such a wasted potential

[@KeonVioletWilkins]

By the end I just sorta said "Ill wait for the Super Robot Wars version of the story fix it. Never seen the last 2 episodes because Im sure Ill appreciate the reworked moments a lot more when Suletta probably has like Shinn Asuka and Kamille Bidan as wingmen aboard a flagship with Bright who could honestly fix a lot of characters and toxic relationships with his legendary hands.

[@keyki9832]

From what I understand from how the show starts from ep. 2 it’s trying to be a space revolutionary girl Utena, but it fails because after the gundam is introduced the enemy faction switches from wanting to control Mio to wanting the gundam. Also school wanting to produce mobile suits make no sense because who would they fight with them out the school setting? Earth was being controlled by mobile suit enforcement with no counter mobile suit production till later parts of the finale of the first season which the space faction wasn’t even aware of.

[@uchytjes10]

My problem with WfM is that it felt VERY rushed in the back half of the series. I'm almost certain the original idea was for a full second run of 24 episodes to be made after they got done with the first season and went on break, only for Execs to change plans after the end of it, forcing the team to adapt best they could. This was probably done because they wanted something relatively quick to pump out a bunch of new model kits and boost sales, hence why there are what feel like more than the usual amount of suits introduced in the series. You can't convince me that they didn't get halfway through production of S2 before they were told they needed to wrap it up in the last few episodes. The problems I don't have with the series is with any of the characters. They're honestly all set up very well and (where actually followed through with) have good character arcs. And yes, I do include the MCs and their relationship in that; I'll take an interestingly problematic relationship over a boring perfect one in media any day. Like honestly, can't think of a complaint with them beyond not having enough followthrough as a result of the aforementioned conspiracy theory. They spent the entire first season setting them all up and had it been paid off it would've been great. Shame it wasn't for most of them. The endgame of the show was also a great idea, again rushed and truncated to mediocrity. Seriously, it makes too much sense that my conspiracy theory is correct. 4:10 Unfortunately, it is actually a thing in many lesbian relationships for one of the partners to be abusive. No idea if it is more or less than the average between other types of relationships, but I do know of a few relationships in my life that are really kinda shit. Personally, I think its more down to lack of available alternatives why they end up in relationships like that, and also one of the reasons why I think people should be a lot more open about their sexuality and home life.

[@batangbatugan]

Witch from Mercury Season 1 was what got my wife interested in Gundam because she really though it was gonna be Revolutionary Gundam Suletta and the Happy Birthday episode is the one that got her hooked. Personally I was really into it because of the whole Suletta is Eri's clone and the concept of a sentient mobile suit. Too bad the show lost focus on what made it interesting and yes, the ending was really rushed. I REALLY thought Quiet Zero would be Suletta becoming one with Eri and the Permet field.

[@stephanieok5365]

Ugh that would have been a more interesting story than what got told.

[@MarvinT0606]

Off-topic but I wanna see a Gundam AU where the Char clone is the true protagonist

[@gamerdude7576]

It already exists, its a novel series written by Tomino called gaia gear, takes place UC 203.

[@draketheduelist]

Code Geass is kinda' that, except for some wrong colors. There _is_ a notable red suit. It's on his side. He doesn't ever pilot it.

[@Dyatlov_iF]

Your blunt approach to the mediocrity of this series and the vultures that surround it was quite welcoming.

[@156892]

My biggest problem was I couldn't even get myself past the big half of the series in the school. The prologue was tbh, the best thing I've seen from Gundam for... maybe a decade or more, I was super excited for what it promised. Then school.... school.... and more school... oh, and dramatic misunderstanding due to "I'm doing it for your best interest"/simply not communicating. I don't really care about romances in Gundam, just... from prior experience nothing ever really ends well for our protagonists or their loved ones, so I really dont care too much about the shipping. But tbh, seeing protag being throw aside for episodes just for a fake emotional beat that... did not end up improving her character was very... Annoying. Yes annoying, not even disappointing, because at that point I was not expecting anything satisfying. It doesn't help that the romance does not at all convince the audience of it, like it does not even try, because both are so young, and the protag's mentality so young and needy its just a car crash waiting to happen. The fact that the other party is not at all mature in any shape or form does not help either. The twists with main villain was good, in a sense, surprisingly ok villain, my only grip is that our seemingly best villain in a while did not go through with her plan, like this isn't Naruto, Gundam protags does NOT have talk-no jutsu. Stakes... its weird but I think the easy and casual topics and non-war related stakes involved in the 1st half of the series made it really hard to take any stakes in the later half seriously. The fact that our villain is alive and somehow not at all locked up is hilarious, any other gundam series she'd be locked up with her limbs shackled, if not straight up sent to a shooting range. Its worse because shippers somehow think Gundam represent them... =.= Gundam it self as a concept was born after WWII, everything about the franchise and series is about war, in every single Gundam series, romance(&their deaths) are simply a device to another's character growth. Worse still are the opportunities missed: Bob, amazing character writing, but somehow have no part at all in the later conflicts. Suletta, actually a pretty well written protagonist that deserves better friends, partners, and mentors, Gundam have always had very good mentor archetypes that dif protags run into, but sadly I dont think Suletta got any. Too much screen time were given to non-important characters that... would not have changed the story any if they weren't there, so pretty annoying, especially when I feel like there s so much I want to see of Suletta as she grows into a more independent and self-efficient character.

[@Stop_Gooning]

The only Gundam romance I care about is the blonde guy and the muscle chick from Stardust Memories lmao

[@draketheduelist]

The Seed comparison is odd for me. While I loathe Seed, and yet I'm not terribly sold on G-Witch, it seems to me like G-Witch is like a bizarro Seed. The main pilot of G-Witch starts the show bizarrely enigmatic, out of focus, and armed with a stupidly OP beam spammer who wins all her fights without breaking a sweat, only to have that machine incapacitated and gets saddled with a technically humbler machine about three quarters into the show as aspects of who she is as a character _finally_ start to settle in. This is as opposed to Seed, which starts relatively well in the Strike episodes, especially regarding Kira's more understandable disdain with the mess he'd gotten himself into, which then goes downhill fast when Kira "steals" the Freedom and beam spams his way through every fight and becomes a completely inert non-character who always wins. And it doesn't stop there. In G-Witch, the redhead is an incredibly sweet dark-skinned foreigner with plenty of hands-on technical experience who stays a virgin and survives the show. ...Seed has Flay. While I personally like Flay more (or what Flay should have been if Seed had a single functional character arc), that's more due to my own preference for and fascination with _absurdly_ flawed characters, especially when the character in question actually has some self-awareness in this area. Think of it like rooting for a moral underdog. You want to see them change and grow, ideally keeping the best aspects of their old life with a reorientation towards nobler goals. (See also Kazami from Build Divers ReRise.) Suletta, on the other hand, doesn't need to change a bit. She very clearly is who she is, and the only thing the show needs to do is open the damn box so we can see who she is for ourselves. (See also _May_ from Build Divers ReRise.) She tomato-pastes a guy with a mobile suit without a second thought. Something's clearly going on in that noggin. Perhaps this has more to do with completely unrelated pieces of media, but when all this was being set up, my thought was less intrigue and more "I'm gonna' be so pissed when this doesn't go anywhere...", as I have seen too many mystery boxes open to reveal jack all. This mystery paradoxically made Suletta a lot more boring in my estimation, particularly early on, as I was psyching myself up for her to be utterly devoid of substance in the end. It would be _neat_ if nice things happened to the nice person, but ngl, I secretly wanted to see the tanuki get kicked down a flight of stairs. (As a reminder, it wasn't Flay being the Cosmic Era's chew toy that I had a problem with. It was that she wanted to make amends and got cut off at the pass that bothered me.) Fortunately (for me, if not Suletta), as I eluded to, this impromptu downstairs somersault actually kinda' happens. When Suletta loses the Aerial (in a scene symbolic of childbirth, no less), she gets forced to actually start making decisions for herself. For the whole show, Aerial had been bailing Suletta out in increasingly BS fashion, but also served as her most stalwart friend and confidant. Having to not just fight _without_ Aerial but _against_ Aerial forced Suletta to start trusting herself and becoming her own person, making her own judgment calls. She had to be convinced to fight when it was clear that she was the only one skilled enough to keep up with Aerial, and just barely at that. Suletta got confronted with the notion that her lifelong friend and technically older sister was on the wrong side, and she was the only one who could do anything about it. ...Not unlike Kira's earliest fights with Athrun, come to think of it. Bizarro Seed strikes (ha) again. On the topic of my preference for the absurdly flawed, Guel was by far my favorite character. He certainly had his ups and downs in terms of how G-Witch used him, largely due to the completely ass pacing of the earlier portions of the show. For the big scary bully to come around and actually fight alongside Suletta at the end is precisely what I'm talking about. (I could've taken or left him proposing to Suletta.) The Darilbalde fight in particular was a great early moment of him choosing to stand on his own two feet instead of having a super-suit bail him out... unlike what Suletta was doing. Of course he got walloped again (MC-chan gotta' MC-chan), but of all the Aerial's nonsensical squash matches (Pharact deserved better), this one definitely stung the most. Guel's impact on Season 1 and dubious promises of G-Witch getting back into Gundam proper territory were the only things getting me through the first season. And while I praised Guel joining Suletta for the final battle, the specific details of what he did in that fight were lacking. I did not give an iota of a crap about Guel's opponent in that fight. I barely remember who Guel fought or about what, which isn't groovy. All told, G-Witch was definitely a not-for-me series in every sense. It didn't so much offend my intelligence, like Seed or Wing. The high school screwing around is just not my cup of tea, but I can imagine respecting someone for whom it is. Prospera is such a paint-by-numbers Char Clone, neither reaching the heights of a McGillis Fareed or Full Frontal, nor being a Rau Le Creuset or Mr. Bushido. If one were just getting into Gundam and Prospera was your first Char Clone, you've at least gotten the jist of what the archetype is and why it's so beloved. G-Witch was an attempt to draw in a radically different kind of audience, and managed to do so without being _painfully_ condescending or idiotic. If you want to dive into Gundam for the first time and get soaked head to toe in uncompromised complexity, 00 is that way. Or, if you want the best of the best of the best and don't care how much of your free time has to die in the process, the UC is down the hall. But if you're looking for a more modern-weeb-friendly setting that will gradually ease you into more typical Gundam fare, try G-Witch.

[@JeffreyPiatt]

They frogot to tell Gundam info EN they tweeted a congratulations to there marriage after the episode.

[@kobiashi15]

I will stand by my love for G-Gundam until the day I leave this planet. Every time you mention it in a video that isn’t about the show its self brings a smile to my face.

[@edisonuy7707]

Well said. On that note, the only thing I like with WFM are the MS designs.

[@sickosl1me]

I was planning to watch this show awhile back since my friend who wasnt even into gundam watched season 1 and told me its great. Me being lazy and binging Patlabor pushed it into my to watch list, I was still pretty confident that it could be good since I heard so much praise from it online. Fast forward to now and I discover how the show truly is and how (as always) politics and shippers came in to ruin the fun. Idk if I should even watch it anymore because I really dont want it to be a waste of time

[@Xeno-The-Wanderer]

If you don’t mind a bad second half, the first half is a pretty good first quarter of a gundam series and the prologue is generally well received for the most part even those who dislike G Witch as a product enjoy the prologue… unfortunate that the rest fumbled the beginning’s good/decent settup

[@Demiurge13]

it's what always happens when tourists and fake fans infiltrate and want to coopt something

[@bubbasbigblast8563]

Gundam school in a Super Serious Setting was always going to be an uphill battle, but man, they did not make writing out of that hole any easier for themselves with the not-romance.

[@flamestoyershadowkill]

Taking elements from ff8 would probably be the wiser option. A military school designed to train super soldiers from youth and have it focus on how the youth react the escalating conflict in the missions they go on.

[@bismarkeugen6881]

My biggest thing was missed potential. Everything felt truncated, with underdeveloped plotlines, and interesting mech designs that never seem to get enough time. One thing I feel would have been interesting was the mention of the Drone War and the general idea of AI-run funnels, which would have been interesting to see more of. Generally it feels like it was supposed to be multiple seasons and that they had more ideas than they knew what to do with.

[@DurtyDan]

Shippers ruin everything. Looking at you, RWBY

[@MechasterReal]

Where’d shippers come in?

[@DurtyDan]

@@MechasterReal pretty much from day 1, but they really started getting bad after Tumblr breached containment

[@MechasterReal]

@@DurtyDan shippers didn’t try to change anything Suletta and Mio were an official couple

[@DurtyDan]

@@MechasterReal I thought you were talking about RWBY. Shippers just made G-Witch annoying to talk about.

[@colin8696908]

their romance makes sense though, cus of the whole toxic EX tag team battle.

[@VengeanceMkII]

Well you pretty much nailed my gripes with this show. They pulled too many good ideas and stumbled around not getting anything done. I just felt intense disappointment, really. Ideas that were interesting and could have gone somewhere went completely unexplored.

[@andrewfantome4020]

Because in most cases, these ideas were added only for the appearance of depth and interest, and not for actual development.

[@alexkogan9755]

That seems to be a recurring problem with a lot of Gundam shows. Feels like Gundam Seed all over again because of that.

[@herooflight7931]

I'm a huge fan of gundam But even i'm glad I didn't wish my time on this show.

[@preventer333]

Wanted to believe in this series. At the end of season one, it ended on such a high cliffhanger to the point, I thought to myself, '2 seasons are not gonna be enough'. I was thinking that perhaps this will go up to 4th season, but I hoped too much. This the most incomplete Gundam series by far, right after Iron Blooded Orphans. Seems like Bandai and Sunrise are trying out something new, I get it, but they both completely misses out what the Gundam series are known to be and trying to fill the missing aspects of what makes Gundam series a Gundam series with gimmicks. It's not like I didn't enjoy WfM nor IBO, but they are lacking. World building is also left incomplete. I only wish Bandai and Sunrise would take it more seriously and invest more, so better flowing storytelling can be achieved. I wish they stop retconning the already completed series (Gundam Wing, cough cough) and focus onward with one damn good projects, one at a time. Addition: I completely forgot. Bandai was really really recklessly trying to push the AMAIM Warrior at the Borderline at the same time and diverted all the production resources and gunpla production to that series and ended up with trash anime and unsold plastic kits. I do believe that AMAIM Warrior at the Borderline production had at least influenced the failures of Witch from Mercury.

[@jdelgado243]

ok. so im not crazy then bc this is all EXACTLY what i was thinking. G-witch had so much potential, great designs and art. So many new ideas, and they couldnt stick the landing. goddamn landing.

[@agustinportillo1213]

The sheer amount of takeout deaths in that series just pissed me off after a certain point. The show was trying so hard to pull at the heartstrings but could never commit to whatever point it was trying to make. - oh, Guel reaches the end of his arc and dies like his father at some odd peace with himself…nah, fuck you they saved him - Oh shit they shot Prospera, mirroring her analogy of “if I didn’t kill them I couldn’t save you.”…nah, fuck you it was only her mask that broke. - Suletta reaches the climax and sets herself on committing the ultimate sacrifice for all the friends and family she loves, leaving those left with something to think about…nah, fuck you she’s alive and so is her sister. It felt like watching Star Wars 9 all over again, flashing lights with a hollow feeling ending.

[@darkkira1332]

Tried to wait for this anime finish so I can binge watch it but after all the said issues above, I had to drop it. Sure the mech designs are nice but man the story is just awful. The interesting plot of reverse earthnoid and spacenoids issue was such a waste. The fact that they focused more on the poorly written Teenage romance drama really made me disappointed. Shippers and Yuri shippers having meltdowns when bandai said the whole Yuri marriage isn't canon was just beautiful. That said, didn't Tomino himself said he didn't like the show...kinda tells volumes.

[@MST545]

My thing with WFM is the show doesn't know what it wanted to do and I have an inkling of a feeling that it was supposed to be a 2-season or at the very least, have double the episodes. Can't even think of a Gundam that had no fewer than at least 32 episodes outside of Stardust Memory but Stardust Memory kept it's pace

[@McGruder25]

The fact ambivalence towards "representation" is considered "bigoted" or "woke" depending on who you talk to is a sad statement on the modern discourse. Otherwise, Witch from Mercury was just ok to me. Nowhere near bad, but far from great.

[@Demiurge13]

that's because the entertainment industries so messed it up, they have only themselves to blame

[@mysetlist2118]

The problem with witch from mercury is there was no gundam in gundam because Ariel is an EVA LOL. At least Suletta was ok in getting in the giant robot.

[@SPAMRAAM_GOAT]

Be a chad, do victory.

[@BigMicahC]

It's gonna be done at some point, I promise.

[@SPAMRAAM_GOAT]

@@BigMicahC Legend

[@Xeno-The-Wanderer]

@@BigMicahCbetter get ready to stand up then ahahah

[@warwicka8407]

Oh yeah, and beam saber doesnt have gender, and age of consent btw 😂

[@Janx14]

Its sad the school setting had such a focus. The corporate conflict and the flipping of the earth v space dynamic was a really big breath of fresh air from the more WW2 or War of Independance vibes the series usually has, or even the mob story of IBO. The heavier usage of remote weapons out the gate was also really neat. A women-led, lesbian romance series could have been fine, but it feels weird they weren't willing to take her seriously. Also yeah, Miorine is horrible. Every OP/Ed you'd see them together looking cute, or even in the promotional stuff. Then in show she'd just come off as abusive.

[@arandomelite5448]

Yeah, Witch from Mercurys main problem was it felt less like gundam more like high school anime with giant robot side content. Like everything is sidelined for the high school drama part of the show, which is the most boring. I get the high school anime trope is popular for a reason, but a this show drags it out for so long that by the end, when they finally get away from the school, the series is almost done. Second is the characters they dont feel as interesting as gundam characters from the past, like lockon stratos, zacks marquies, char aznable, akihero, all these side characters were memorable and had their own interesting storys built into the plot where all side characters from witch fall flat and feel sidelined to the 2 main character romance. what little interesting ideas the show has like the pharact gundam pilot or pink haired dude feel underused since we gotta do the school plot and these ideas are too interesting. Finally the mobile suits feel like zeta gundam in the worst way, with dozens of suits in a blink and youll miss it scene solely designed to sell models without thought of future epicness, for example the cool white bug suit has only the beginning episode to shine, and while a purple varient shows up it feels like a waste of mobile suit design.

[@wanderingbufoon]

They messed up S1. I'm glad they addressed it head on and actually shed some light as to why it was bad. For those who don't know, they last minute changed the story and plugged in the horrible fiasco that was S1. They never really planned for the academy thing and so the events and whatever else came with it were rushed and an afterthought. I was glad they were upfront with it.

[@doctoranimationda5491]

One small addition. After the show finished some writers did come out and say that initially the show was supposed to have been that sci fi cyberpunk like show about earth and space conflict with the student cast being stuck in the middle. But as production was as started and first few Ep’s got made by the first writer it kind off fucked the show and the set up and it became a production mess. Sadly can’t find those tweets but they are somewhere .

[@BigMicahC]

If that's the case it definitely shows.

[@Xeno-The-Wanderer]

I recall mention there was no thought to having a school initially but it came about after the prologue was made

[@doctoranimationda5491]

@@Xeno-The-Wanderer yep. Exactly that sadly I lost the Twitter link to that account that said it.

[@Xeno-The-Wanderer]

@@doctoranimationda5491 I believe I found it as a commented on at least A post talking about it mentioning that the School concept wasn’t initially part of the setting

[@doctoranimationda5491]

@@Xeno-The-Wanderer if you can please send me the name of that account or post it would be great.

[@cyberneticxylem9614]

Honestly... when I watched it i thought it was pretty good. At least until I analyzed the writing anyway. Then it all fell apart bit by bit. Real talk, this felt like it was trying to be Armored Core but Gundam + Little Witch Academia. Especially with the Earth becoming difficult to live on and the Corporations being hostile/rivals with each other.

[@leonardojuan92]

To me the witch of Mercury was a series that tries to be many things (manly Gundam, FullMetal Panic, and a yuri series) but failed because of the pacing and the rush ending. I feel if they give the series a little more time to develop and editing some scene, the witch of Mercury could’ve been a fantastic series. But instead it became above average at best.

[@flamestoyershadowkill]

And also shifting writers

[@hafirenggayuda]

I do feel, at least in first season, writer knew what they doing. Second season gone sprinting, and fumbled in the climax

[@wargames2195]

Based Bamco telling the lesbo relationship ain't canon.

[@j00bs]

There are countless ways they could pull off female lead franchise but this execution of Lesbian Gundam was utter trash

[@Triggermappy]

I'm really a UC fan, Zeta's my favorite, but personally I enjoyed GWitch. But I do wish they just made a new UC series rather than make more alternate timelines.

[@arivibin3318]

I both agree and disagree and I pretty much also fall into your same story, just Unicorn is my favorite as it's what I started with

[@ORLY911]

problem with uc is two things, theres not much more to tell with the OYW and middle period points of the timeline, and late UC is such a landmine thanks to financial failures of f91 and Victory Bandai is just too skiddish to go beyond Hathaway at this point. As much as people want to see Crossbone adapted into an anime that'll only happen if they reboot the f91 story.

[@Stop_Gooning]

Same but 0083: Stardust Memories

[@tahirahmad9645]

I would like to see the uc timeline in regards to when Judau went with colonists to the Centauri system.

[@Zeiss120]

Agreed with everything. I don't know if this show with 30-52 EPi would have been any better seeing how much the 2nd season they fumbled it. Also I didn't care for any of the mecha design on this show, I found most of them to be ugly besides the spare few like the Gundvolva and Chuchu's Demi Barding. But I look at Ariel and think its a good looking suit till the bug like eye, and wide hips/waste and just kind of go wtf...

[@starbound100]

I think they WANTED to tell a story more similar to your "what if" proposition, but were less uninspired and more scared of how this "new" fandom would react. Plus, recent Bandai affirmations confirm to me that the weirdos you were talking about are close to the helm of Bandai, so they probably got pressure from up above as well. I think this is very much a "corporate vs creative" situation, while trying to avoid the landmknes that led to the RWBY and MHA fandom situations.

[@MRIlls]

When a gundam fan with Eyes and good taste reviews WFM. Well said.

[@jagerzaku9160]

Fantastic video! Subbed for more Gundam! EDIT 4:25 LMFAOOOOO YOU HAVE WON MY SUB

[@ONEIL311]

I actually thought the whole relationship in this show was supposed to blow up from the beginning cause it was a arranged marriage... The protagonist was supposed to lose it becomes deranged and absolute monster that’s killings millions, blows up a colony and she has no problem with it. That’s what I thought season 1 and it’s ending was pointing at.

[@Crim-kun]

never thought I would jumpscared by tos violation prompt

[@MadCapybaraRX]

It was good tasting some freshness from an almost half-a-century-old franchise like Gundam. Bandai-Namco can't keep bloating UC and CE timelines forever to justify selling new Gunpla and merch after all. Despite its downs, I think the show fulfilled an important goal: appeal to a younger audience. A long-lived franchise like Gundam needs new blood in order to keep being relevant. Old fan's loyalty and cash is good but they don't live forever after all. Before the show aired, producer Takuya Okamoto said in an interview he was worried teens were not interested in Gundam because they think it is old people stuff (and therefore cringe/uncool). That explains decisions like the teen-romance-drama and school setting. War and politics-heavy plots can be quite boring even for old timers like me and doesn't connect at all with the younglings so they tried to balance out things with relatable stuff for them. I was already prepared for those before watching episode 1 so it was not a shock nor a disappointment for me because I already understood the motivations behind. I hope the producers after working on WfM know better than ever what works and what does not work well with a younger target audience when more Gundam-ish classic plot and world setting is involved (not doing what AGE did was a good start already). At least now they are less insecure about putting a female protagonist on a Gundam TV show instead of only risking such "audacious" move on side-story and spin-off material. I think WfM was balancing teen-romance-drama and world-geopolitics fairly well on season 1 but then tumbled on its feet. I could feel that in season 2's fast-in-a-bad-way pacing. It was a shame some MSs didn't got proper screen time (look what they did to mah boi Schwarzette). Gundam animation is made to sell merch and gunpla after all. At least I liked most of the kid characters. And that comes from someone who finds most kids in Gundam quite annoying. I still have hope tho. I hope Gundam keeps going on for another 50 years and Beyond The Time.

[@brendancoulter5761]

If it were not for the lesbian tease, no one would care about this show at all. Not exactly the best way to build interest in a series about giant robot fights.

[@jolmor7654]

I agree that this anime had a lot to offer but it was wasted to please shippers. When I saw the prologue and saw the whole transhumanism theme, it blew my mind. I imagined that we would have something like a cyberpunk gundam, but it wasn't like that in the end, and that theme is very interesting and something barely touched upon the franchise.

[@colin8696908]

This was basically just Disney high school musical gundam edition, with one of the most toxic fanbases out there.

[@Blue-Code]

I'd argue Iron Blooded Orphans fans are worse because of "Barbatos can beat anything" mantra.

[@ParagonGoetia]

@@Blue-Code Nice seeing the people that literally motivated the community enough to get a spin off appear and complain now that they basically made that happen by forcing that conversation. Most VS posts are not even made by the IBO community, they answer to it but thats just bait. I mean you all annoyed the community and creatives so much, the units can now take on kaiju sized mass produced machines of death, so congrats.

[@Blue-Code]

@@ParagonGoetia I don't make polls on which Gundam wins for rage bait or join discussions and debates (unless some idiot decided to attack me for having an opinion) on which AU Gundam can solo.

[@ParagonGoetia]

@@Blue-Code that doesnt change the fact you probably fed that bait, to which the IBO community having the strenght that it does, tends to come out of it the loudest. The fact director Nagai commited to Urdr because of how these same people tried to in a way bastardize his work, should tell you what the actual situation is like. Yall are reaping what you sow for the past 5 years and now with the spin off being lenghty and coming next year, its blowing up as having made a group of early teens, by demographic, now young adults look for payback.

[@Blue-Code]

@@ParagonGoetia it also dosent change the fact that there are IBO fans like Forest Diego, also made and created those VS discussions. I agree with you that other Gundam communities mostly start IBO VS debates just for rage bait, but don't pretend that IBO fans are blameless and didn't fall into the rabbit hole as well, both sides are at fault as much as Zeon and the Earth Federation did a lot of wrong. Also I'm not surprised that IBO got bastardized by a lot of people. If Nagai and his writing team handled Season 2 properly then that wouldn't have happened.

[@tonyplays8083]

I actually liked WFM, but I was so dissatisfied by the ending that I ended up reading a fanfic to get the proper fix I was looking for. “The Witch from Mercury and The Druid of Harmony.” I really am so astonished when fanfic authors that understand the series will do better than a whole team of writers and directors.

[@Xeno-The-Wanderer]

So how does it go about things in terms of how it relates to the story, divergence? Side story kinda? Full on rewrite?

[@tonyplays8083]

@@Xeno-The-Wanderer I would say that while it does follow the story. There are a lot of divisions within the plot, characters, and politics that come into play. Likewise, there is a lot of breathing room that the fic has and it takes its time with introducing new/oc characters and improving the original characters. It is very advanced for a fanfic. Characters like Cecilia actually serve a purpose, and certain segments that are brought of within this video of shortcomings the anime has have been fixed or improved upon within this story. It is obvious who Suletta is going to end up with, there is more of a focus on the politics while blending in the school life, and it follows the dark tone of Gundam UC.

[@Xeno-The-Wanderer]

@@tonyplays8083 I’ll have to keep the name in mind then, thanks

[@MrDarksol]

I actually came across the fan fiction in question myself and I agree it is leagues better than the actual show. While I do have my complaints about specific things as I am currently within 45 chapters right now, I won't deny that the things that the story does, I'm still mad that the anime never really was able to do. Like it made me like Suletta, I can understand Miorine, Guel is getting more of a focus and most of the side characters are way better.

[@enricopaolocoronado2511]

The only positives for me were the mechanical designs and the OSTs. The actual storyline was just disappointing. Honestly expected some corporate dystopia and I instead got a highschool drama story.

[@FoxFlare]

OMG that bit around 4 min had me absolutely rolling on the floor lmao

[@trail-wolf4x4]

What's probably the worst thing to me is I was more interested in the backstory of the crazy girl then the main protag and deurotag. As characters i felt they were flat and even at the conclusion was like "okay they did the plot so what"

[@anthonyjordanmoviesandmore2470]

I'm going to go ahead and say it if you need to see yourself represented to enjoy a piece of media then you're a narcissist

[@THF117]

Me and my gundam circle were really hyped for a cyberpunk like series but we just kept getting school drama. My personal issue would be they wasted any point of it being a school with the lack of world building. But yes the second season dropping the ball it did without being able to shift from the pure school drama hurt, we basically just got a repeat of the school being wrecked so fem kamille could eject herself out of the show.

[@hashimalz]

Most people that like this show because of the GL. When i commented about how it wasn’t well executed including the romance on r/gundam and i guess OP hated my comment lol

[@rphl-v3k]

Reddit is the worst place for Gundam stuff...they love their arranged girl marriage more than anything there

[@hashimalz]

@@rphl-v3k i agree tbh. I still stand by my word and say i don’t like this show One of my friends watched it claiming she was excited to meet the lesbians and me was omg that’s lame. And whenever she asks me about my opinion about the first episodes my respond was it doesn’t feel like Gundam and she was like ok grandpa Funny i know

[@rphl-v3k]

​​@@hashimalz Damn, sorry you have that friend 😅 I get that tastes differ...however, Witch is at best a mediocre show and does not really deserve the name "Gundam" attached to it. But it attracted a crowd and I hope they will go away soon. I'd rather deal with IBO fans than Witch ones 😅

[@hashimalz]

@@rphl-v3k thank you but it’s funny, i don’t mean to call her out but you know as someone who liked Gundam with Wing since i was 8 and consumed few other (i love gundam but i still haven’t watch everything but i will) I found Mercury strays away from Gundam message that the series tries to convey, but you know opinions. I am for instance still think 00 season two is really good but i understand why people not hold it high as the first season.

[@nanotsuki]

i feel this show has material to go to multiple season but they cut it short, a lot of the things in the anime just feel incomplete for me

[@katelawyer3689]

Now that we know this show’s quality was desecrated because of being developed at the same time as another Gundam show all this makes so much more sense. At least the upcoming show in all its badly named existence has a solid shot at being good. So hey here’s to evangelion Gundam in all its glory.

[@tribacioustee2846]

12:31 Funny you say that, since Code Geass season 2 destroys the escalation that season 1 had built up by resetting the status quo. This mistake doesn't seem out of character of him

[@leeellis784]

No issue with the whole video but regarding the Zeitgeist part, didn't you do a previous video called "The Witch from Mercury ended as a woke, rushed mess"? I noticed it's unlisted. I'm just wondering if you changed your mind on certain things about the show? I still think it's mid and should've gone all the way the main character's relationship. I also like the mech designs.

[@Anonemanon]

I think 00 handles the idea of diversity perfectly. It predicted the way a lot of current events have played out, and it treats each culture with respect, but doesn’t sugar coat their flaws. The narrative of a guerillla soldier healing himself and forming connections with people of all the different economic blocks is really sick. The way people handle identity now is annoying, superficiality has killed creativity

[@KapayaSiame]

I was still interested in where it would go. It was a good show overall. My issues were with its plot and some characters. The pacing of the plot was unusual. It goes from absolutely barreling through the story to extremely slow at a drop of a hat. Space outside the school and Benerit Group felt underdeveloped .The geopolitics and corporate conflict was mediocre to me . Some characters are just there to fill space and don’t have much of a personality like Shaddiq’s harem and even some of Earth House. I swear some of them look the same. Characters like El0n and Kenanji( the guy that killed Eri’s dad) just exist and don’t really do anything because the show doesn’t know what to do with them which is another issue it has. Shaddiq’s plan was pretty underwhelming. It felt like MUH BAEL 2.0 and sullied his character. While it’s still a good show , it’s just not for me. I’m definitely not part of its target audience.

[@TheDrKuro]

Overall great review! Lately I've been watching mech series and reviews of them to get more ideas to write my own series, your videos and analysis have gave many insights.

[@MasterSwo-MK]

Meh, it wasn't great, but I've seen way, way worse. G Recon and AGE being the bigger examples, and do I even need to mention Metaverse?

[@Demiurge13]

g reco wasn't that bad, but age yea i'll give you that one

[@ReigoVassal]

G recon is bad because of rushed plot that goes too fast without time to flesh out the story. If it has better pacing then it would be good.

[@MasterSwo-MK]

@@ReigoVassal Not only that, the lack of straight forward exposition actually HURTS the show over all because it mean important information tends to be missed or forgotten, leading things to come off as out right confusing. Add the fact that a lot of characters jump ship and change factions at the drop of a hat with little if any explanation(that makes sense anyway), said factions are poorly defined and blend together to much and most characters range from bland and forgettable to annoying as hell to just plain unlikable... yeah. G-Recon had WAAAAY more problems then just pacing.

[@ReigoVassal]

@@MasterSwo-MK that's falls to "rushed" category. The jumping faction needs to be fleshed out. Not everything need to be exposition dump

[@MasterSwo-MK]

@@ReigoVassal No, but it shouldn't have been a flippant conversation between side characters that was blink and you miss it either.

[@miawuwu2255]

My personal way of knowing how to know a Gundam series worth investing? Put Celestial Being into equation. Put their armed intervention in every conflict that every universe has (i.e Quiet Zero, Bloody Valentine, Operation Meteor, McGillis Incident, etc). If they could stop that conflict within 2-3 episodes, that series probably sucks. Of course that didn't applied to the earth-vagan wars that happens in AGE but some people do like the conflict tbh.

[@BigMicahC]

Interesting metric.

[@professormeme2457]

Let’s be honest here: they had WAY too much material for just 25 episodes. Cutting out certain characters and plotlines would’ve reduced the amount of content needed to flesh things out. It also would’ve put primary focus on the overarching conflict pertaining to Prospera. The show needed a full rewrite, or at least another year in development before releasing. Cut out half of Earth house, remove the Dawn of Fold barring Sophie and Norea, instead have them be Earthian mercenaries disguised as school delinquents hired by Shaddiq to attack Plant Quatta. Have the show entirely set in space, so you can fully flesh out the world above Earth, letting any side material like Vanadis heart tell stories set on Earth. And finally, put more emphasis on the SCHOOL. If you’re not gonna use the focal point of this show, why even bother having at all? Give us time to spend with the characters, let them have some chemistry together. Let us as the audience see them as characters whom we either love or hate. Bottom line, this show had all the time it needed. It just wasted it all on pointless crap that’d be removed after the first draft.

[@HYDEinallcaps]

The Witch From Mercury was a complete embarrassment of a show that would have rightfully bombed if we weren't becoming more and more anti-male with every passing year.

[@superspicysoysauce8231]

Witch From Mercury but the show didn't happened in Mercury. ?????

[@samadams2203]

The world building and setting were great. The animation was good, Suletta as an MC was good. Everything else just failed. I know Gundam is space opera and not just mecha battles in space, but there was far too little combat or focus on the overarching plot, with too much highschool slice of life. Wasted opportunities.

[@michaelmartin7425]

WfM had an amazing first impression, then did nothing for the rest of the series. I wanted to like it, but unfortunately it was boring. Which is arguably a worse sin than being bad (like age) or confusing (like G recco)

[@mitchellalexander9162]

3:40 You know I'm surprised that that sign didn't come up in the Cosmic Era or Anno Domini's Timelines for Gundam. It feels like it would be right at home there -literally in Shinn's case sort of-

[@kennyhammons]

It missed the mark of what gundam series should be.

[@Alpha_Digamma]

The prologue was false advertisement. Basically nothing it set up was paid off in the actual show. And the epilogue with its "the status quo post ante bellum will be reinstated after some time so nothing will change for society" was the final nail in the coffin for me. What was the point of the show? I didn't find one.

[@aidenb7444]

Your video here, having reminded me of my own watch through of the series, inspired me to tackle the idea of doing a retake on the whole show. Combining elements the show did well and some new ideas that I myself had regarding it before actually sitting down to watch it. Trimming the near obesity-tier fat the show has, focusing more on the corporate and political aspects of the show, and making the series as a whole something great! Yeah I’ll have to throw out certain things that made it popular but I’m trading that for an overall better story that uses the concepts the show tried to use in a better way. It’s still in the planning stage but it’ll be called The Witch from Mercury - Retake

[@arominized]

if they kept it simple as "Utena in Space", dollar bills be rollin' home. i kid, ofc.

[@VoidTemplar]

at least the model kits were pretty good. Still waiting for more 00 content after the seed hype XD

[@rayzimmermin]

considering lesbian relationships actually have a higher rate of DV then hetero or gay relationships the fact Miorine is abusive makes it more realistic

[@Beysportz]

Series felt rushed, some characters were underdeveloped, the mc is insanely op and used beam funnels/jamming system from the very start of the show. The Mobile Suits were interesting but we never really get to see other students fight. Overall this series has been a massive waste of potential & was cut way too short.

[@zmysteryman]

I loved it my only problem was i felt they had too many idea to tell but didnt build the story long enough. 00 is good as they allowed the story to be fleshed out in 24 episode as well as giving character time to develop. In wfm in ep 22/23 the companies apperently have a space lazer for some reason which was never broughten up and felt it came out of left field.

[@chemccord]

I think the biggest issue with representation is that ppl who get to see folks who vaguely match their appearance don’t care and others who want hyper specific representation are too loud. What your avg person is actually asking for is say, if your story takes place in setting that do not require monochromatic races then just throw some diversity in there. Sci fi in America has a weird tendency to default to certain things then over correct in the wrong ways. Unfortunately the topic was taken over by again, ppl that don’t even care about the series to begin with. Now with gundam as a long term fan I have wondered where the black characters were because it isn’t a story that’s strictly Japanese nationality people but learning about how and who the Japanese learned to draw black people from I kinda gave up on it. However alternate universes tend to have the most exaggerated non nationality characters so that’s also a bad taking point. I do wish we could have more stories without so much poor discourse but again, flames are being fueled by folks with politics on both sides in a never ending and stupid culture war

[@Super_Voyager]

YES! God, i was sick with everyone glazing this show, the ending, the characters, worldbuilding... it was the biggest pile of dogshit i've ever seen. the only times i was interested was when battles had actual consequences, such as people dying.

[@ORLY911]

This series i always end up feeling bitter about everytime I think about it. It had so much potential, it was all right there. Squandered in the second half of the second season. It would've been so much more if they gave it more episodes, gave its setting more depth, its characters more time to grow, and the audience time to breath. The ending/epilogue went so fast I had to rewatch it a couple times to understand what even just happened.

[@Skritz-mt9zb]

The only reason I kept watching it is I thought it was going somewhere. They wanted this show to be zoomer's intro to Gundam and I thought all of the show up until the last few episodes (where I found out it was just ending there) was going for a slow burn on setting up a more 'proper' Gundam conflict that would also fit into the themes of coming of age: -I thought Prospera was going to be the 'disc one final boss'. She gets defeated, but the ensuing chaos and damage her revenge quest creates turns the delicate web of corporate politics on its head and creates a ripple effect of chaos. The villain is defeated yet all hell break loose. -Guel and Miorine take over their parents job as respective CEO and whatnot....and now their arc in season 2 is coming to term with the fact that, for all their naive childish rebellious side, they still ended up in the same place as their old man. They try to balance their responsabilities with trying to make the world a better place/help the rest of the cast that is fighting in their mechs from behind the scenes. -Suletta has to come to term she was never really a 'person' so far but just a cloned puppet of her mom. Thus Suletta being a wet fart of a character who does nothing get recontextualized and she has to deal with all of this and grow as a person. -Delling come back...and is the new bad guy, because its what the prologue had set him up to be. Now I don't really know wtf his plan would have been or what he would have done, but now Season 2 would have seen a reversal with Miorine being the one dealing with her father being the antagonist, much like how for Suletta it was her mother. That's where I thought this show was going, but nope. It just...ended. In a wet fart. There was potential for a meaningful story with theme there and it was all fucking wasted for a bullshit rushed ending where things just happen for no reason.

[@Kazrel]

It had so much potential but none of the time to actually go into it so all it's points just feel half assed by the end. I watched the entire show with my partner as her first Gundam and it was interesting to see how she reacted to the ending, saying how glad she was that everyone got their happy ending, and I think for alot of the people it was probably the same. But for me I couldn't help but feel absolutely dissatisfied with the ending.