The last major anime series from the Gundam franchise is the infamous second season of Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans that ended back in 2017. Sure, there were various Gundam-related shows that aired after that, such as numerous U.C. Gundam OVAs and movies, like Twilight Axis and Hathaway, and several Build Divers series.
However, none of them are major series by any means. Because a major Gundam series will have enough material to cover at least a 26-episodes worth of content. The majority of them, such as Gundam Wings, Gundam 00, Gundam Seed, and the aforementioned Iron-Blooded Orphan, even have 50+ episodes per series. That is why it is safe to say that the fans have been starving for something new. Thankfully, 2022 is the year when we finally get what we’ve been waiting for. Because Sunrise, the company behind the Gundam franchise, has announced that there will be a new major series this year. It’s called Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury. And here’s everything that you need to know about it.
The Production Staff
Let’s begin with the people who work hard on creating this anime, particularly the director, the screenwriter, and the art director. The director for The Witch From Mercury is Hiroshi Kobayashi. He has worked as director for Kiznaiver and the new Spriggan ONA. He has also worked as episode director for lots of popular titles, such as Kill la Kill, Tiger & Bunny, and Yozakura Quartet.
Next up is the screenwriter, Ichiro Okouchi. He is pretty much a superstar in the world of anime. He was the main writer for highly popular series like Devilman Crybaby, Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, and Berserk: The Golden Arc trilogy, among other things. As for mecha anime, he was the original creator of Code Geass, and he was also part of the team that wrote the Turn A Gundam movies, Eureka Seven, Valvrave the Liberator, and RahXephon, just to name a few.
Last but not least is the art director, Ayumi Sato. Just like the other people in the team, she has quite a stellar resume as well. Her past works as an art director include Blast of Tempest, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Eureka Seven Ao, Gundam Build Fighters, Gundam Reconguista in G, and so many others. So as you can see, based on what they’ve done in the past, we can safely say that the new Gundam series is in the right hands.
The Story
The creator of The Witch from Mercury has been quite secretive with the details of the story. However, there are several important things that we do know about this new Gundam. The first one is the fact that just like the Iron-Blooded Orphan before it, The Witch from Mercury will also be set in its original timeline, rather than the usual Universal Century Timeline.
The official website of The Witch from Mercury stated that the story will take place in A.S. (Ad Stella) 122. A time when numerous giant corporations have ventured into space and built an enormous economic system. This is also the first Gundam series that will feature a female main character. Her name is Suletta Mercury, a lone girl from the remote planet of Mercury. The story will focus on her time as a second-year student in the piloting department of Asticassia School of Technology.
The Characters
Just like with any other anime, although we don't have many details about the story, we do know something about the characters that will appear in the series. The first one is obviously the aforementioned main character, Suletta Mercury. She is said to be a rather timid girl who has problems communicating with others. She will be the pilot of Gundam Aerial that was developed on Mercury.
There’s also Miorine Rembran, an honor student who is also the daughter of the president of one of the biggest corporations in the universe. Furthermore, the series will also feature characters from different distinguished Houses. There’s Guel Jeturk from the Jeturk House, and the heir to the Jeturk Heavy Machinery. Elan Ceres from the Peil House, and the best pilot of the Peil Technologies. He is the pilot of Gundam Pharact.
The Mobile Suits
Just like with the characters, we also get the chance to see some mobile suits from the series. There are several Gundams, and non-Gundam mobile suits available in the official website of the anime. Some are bulky, while others are quite slim. For this section, however, let’s focus our attention on the main Gundam of The Witch From Mercury, the Gundam Aerial. Long-time fans of the franchise have noted that this new Gundam seems like the culmination of different main Gundams from the previous series.
The overall slim-profile of the mobile suits, and the stern face along with the sharp v fins is a reminiscence of Exia and Quanta from Gundam 00. The slim waist and the high heels are similar to Barbatos from Iron-Blooded Orphan, although not as extreme. The muted blue color and the overall colorway is also similar to the G-Self from Gundam Reconguista in G.
The air vents that can be seen in various places of the body, particularly in the back side, are just like the one from Turn A Gundam. Last but not least, in the teaser video that has been published on YouTube, we can see that Gundam Aerial will also have some kind of red psycho-frame feature in its chest, just like the Unicorn Gundam. Aerial seems to be on the path to become one of the coolest Gundam ever.
Release Date
Now we finally come to the most important part of this article. When can we see this new Gundam? Well, Sunrise has stated that the official release date will be October 2022. It is unclear how many episodes will be in this series, but based on previous experience with a major release like this, we can expect at least 24 or 26 episodes per season.
Furthermore, although The Witch from Mercury is scheduled to be released in Fall 2022, a prologue episode was released this Summer and screened in Japan on July 14 at the Gundam Factory Yokohama.