The Official Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Anime Thread Mk I

[Ryujin]

This is probably more in line w/the M & T thread, but I have to wonder to what degree the GUND-associated systems were integrated with the Lfrith chassis. Depending on that, there could be a whole bunch of Lfrith parts circulating out there after the great Ochs Earth Clearance Sale, where EVERYTHING MUST GO (assuming they didn't just scrap it all, but that wouldn't turn up as much of a profit).

Further assuming that the Demi-Trainer's model numbers do correspond to their year of introduction, ChuChu's custom model uses a base that's more than 15 years old so it wouldn't be too far-fetched for the older stuff to be puttering about in the backwaters of Sol system (or a side-story manga).

[Kuruni]

Although Gundaminfo doesn't upload the special recap episode, Thai's localizer does.

It's pure recap without new footage or information. On the other hand, most of it is narrated by Guel's VA in humorous way (including "Who Wrote This Crap?" at the end). So iyou won'r miss anything but few chuckle.

[Mafty]

Spoiler

So it would seem Suletta goes beyond permit level, and actually bonded with the AI. That would explain why the other less empathetic pilots couldn't reach that level. That being said how much higher is Suletta's level than the other pilots?

Back to the Mercury Situation

Spoiler

How big of a scope do you think Prosperas goals are? Is she just going it alone, or is she working with locals at Mercury to lead a rebellion? The story could probably turn out either way.

As for the Lfrith models

Spoiler

The Ur resembles the Pre Production Model seen in the prolog, with some armor added. Thorne however looks color and design wise like the desert units seen during Elan's team Duel in episode 5. Does anyone think these umnits could be the prototype for the Thorn? Like Ryujin said there's probably a lot of Lfrith variants around.

[BrentD15]

Hilariously, it also essentially confirms the sheer refuge in audacity being taken by...

Spoiler

[...] Elnora Samaya AKA Prospera Mercury in her defense of Suletta and the Aerial.

Not only did she send her daughter to Asticassia for the sake of her own revenge against Delling Rembran, she was clearly counting on everyone in the Earth Sphere being a paint-drinking moron. The Aerial is literally just the Ochs Earth XGF-02 Gundam Lfrith prototype she and her daughter had escaped the Vanadis massacre in some thirteen years earlier, with some minor cosmetic alterations and a new coat of paint. The "Aerial" is more or less the Mobile Suit equivalent of those "disguise glasses" that have a fake nose and mustache attached.

"Now, this has permet readings like a Gundam and fights like a Gundam and looks exactly like the Gundam that went missing during the suppression op at Folkvangr, but it's not a Gundam... honest.

That is, indeed, hilarious.
I can't help but love it.

[Mafty]

So is this a plot hole? Or do you think there will be an in show justification later?

[Janx]

The thing I find odd with the two Lfrith models is just how little they actually resemble the original Lfrith. Aerial's pretty clearly just a modified version of the suit, but the new ones look like they've changed out every part save for maybe the shell things.

[Dark Duel]

Yeah, they really don't look anything like either the Lfrith or the Lfrith Pre-Production Type. They almost look like entirely different mobile suits, with a Gundam-type head plopped on. I'm not a fan of either one, personally.

[Mafty]

Me either. Though it is interesting to see variations on the design. The Thorn looks like a desert combat unit (though that's mainly due to the color scheme), Maybe the Ur is a full on mass produced unit.

[BrentD15]

Sadly, no new episodes until Suletta's VA gets her medical concerns treated.

[PowerdGNFlag]

Sadly, no new episodes until Suletta's VA gets her medical concerns treated.

1. No further episode delays have been announced, and
2. It's Yume Miyamoto (Nika's VA, not Suletta's) that has had to slow down on her activities, and while anime production is generally the pits, it's almost certain that they're very close to completing voice work for all the episodes for this cour (if not outright finishing it).

Not saying that the production will not run into further trouble, but right now it isn't.

[BrentD15]

Sadly, no new episodes until Suletta's VA gets her medical concerns treated.

1. No further episode delays have been announced, and
2. It's Yume Miyamoto (Nika's VA, not Suletta's) that has had to slow down on her activities, and while anime production is generally the pits, it's almost certain that they're very close to completing voice work for all the episodes for this cour (if not outright finishing it).

Not saying that the production will not run into further trouble, but right now it isn't.

Thanks for the correction.

[Ryujin]

Suletta finally gets a chance to shine outside of Aerial, but

Spoiler

NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!

[Underrated GM Custom]

A lot of good tension in this episode, but I found the investment incubator to be a bit silly.

Spoiler

Looks like the writers finally addressed the Pharact is a Gundam issue, but it still doesn't answer why Delling turned a blind eye to it since they were gung-ho to go after the Aerial.

The business plan that resolves all their current problems and promises bioethics and some other buzzwords seemed a bit too much like a writer's hand wave. I guess they don't plan on getting too gritty with the corporate part of this show, we'll see where it goes from here.

[Kuruni]

Spoiler

Prospera outright said it now. Vanadis Incident, the Prologue, happened 21 years ago. So I guess it either involve unfounded assumptions, or none of the staff can do basic math , although I would rather wait and see how they will explain it. She also use prural "daughters" (musume-tachi) when thank Mirione, which clearly mean both Aerial and Suletta (not that it mean much since Cardo did called Lfrith a child of everyone).

The first episode without Guel. So Vim make a fool of himself in his son's place.

Look like Nika also has a skeleton in her closet, damn.

We also finally see a hint of Delling's depth, albeit nothing much yet.

Sulette's latest "Eh?" is far less comical than prior.

Spoiler

I wonder how much of Elan is an act.

[Underrated GM Custom]

Spoiler

I was surprised by Delling's change of heart and also a bit disappointed since it didn't really feel earned. One thing I've been noticing with the writing in WfM so far is that they tend to deflate the tension before the episode even finishes. There was a lot of great tension in early scenes with Nika, Miorine, Prospera, and the Elan double but by the time we get near the episode a solution is whipped up and all the tension is gone. I'm surprised they don't let it linger or carry over more in the episodes to keep people on the edge of the seat.

[Seto Kaiba]

After a bye week and an unnecessary recap episode, Sunrise stumbles back onto the field with another weak offering.

Spoiler

Ep7 opens on a secret, closed room meeting between the CEOs of the top three Benerit Group corporations: Grassley Defense Systems, Peil Technologies, and Jeturk Heavy Machinery. The co-CEOs of Peil Technologies have apparently just been confronted about the Pharacy by Grassley's CEO Sarius Zeneri and Jeturk CEO Wim Jeturk and they own up to it. The Pharact is a GUND-ARM. Somehow, despite having now lost some serious prestige in three separate one-sided defeats by Mobile Suits illegally using GUND Format technology, Wim Jeturk doesn't immediately turn around to out one of his most bitter rivals for development and possession of banned GUND Format technology. Somehow, Sarious Zeneri also doesn't out his rival to his boss, Delling Rembran.

How in the nine hells has the Pharact's true nature been uncovered by Wim Jeturk and Sarius Zenari without having become known to Cathedral and Delling Rembran? Seriously.

And everyone - including Wim Jeturk - just agrees to take Peil's illegal activity in stride to see what Delling will do, despite the fact that Peil's cheating has had significant costs to their own bottom line?

Oh boy, Doormat-kun and her Domme are going to a fancy party for no real reason other than to stalk Elan. The "incubation" party is the unholy love child of a silent auction and a crowdfunding campaign in the form of a black tie event. The feeling that the writers are scrambling to find something their younger target audience will actually relate to intensifies a fair bit throughout this sequence.

Spoiler

Suletta and Miorine actually bump into Prospera during the party, which leads to Prospera almost fangirling over Miorine's hatred of her own father. Prospera points out Miorine's hypocrisy in refusing to acknowledge Delling as her father and yet taking gratuitous advantage of his position's power and authority to basically do whatever the hell she wants and mocks her for it a bit.

They're really trying hard to find some way to make Suletta appealing... but it seems like all they can come up with for Doormat-kun is "dojikko moe".

Spoiler

Suletta meets the real Elan Ceres, who is failing utterly to act like Enhanced Person No.4 but Suletta is too dim-witted to notice anything off about him. She's SO dim-witted that she allows herself to be manipulated into Peil Technologies outing the Aerial as a Gundam.

In the space future, we will not have OSHA. Who designs a stage like this, where there are just tiny tiny discs barely big enough to stand on that go fifty, sixty feet into the air?

Spoiler

Peil Technologies confesses publicly that the Pharact was a Gundam, though they throw the lead developer under a bus and claim they had learned it from the Dueling Committee and an auditor attached to their corporation. In an obviously choreographed move, Jeturk confronts them on the Pharact's breach of the Cathedra Agreement and they pledge to dismantle the Pharact and dissolve the team that created it. They both call on Shin Sei to dismantle the Aerial and dissolve the team that developed it. Somehow, they just let Miorine elbow her way in AGAIN and propose a new company that will merge Shin Sei and Peil's GUND Format developments in a way that complies with the Cathedra Agreement's bioethical guidelines with a funding goal of twice what Peil stands to lose by dissolving its dev team.

I wonder if this is in yen or in something like dollars... if so, we're talking about Peil losing either ~855 million dollars or 120 billion. Either way, Miorine waltzing onto the stage, demanding permission to violate regulatory guidelines, and asking for an eye-poppingly huge sum of either 1.71 billion or 240 billion depending on whether it's yen or USD is pretty silly on the face of it.

Spoiler

It's nice to see that, at least initially, reality ensues and she gets NO funding because, as Delling points it out, she has no credibiliy to speak of.
Talk about ridiculous, that she asks DELLING to invest in the development of a GUND-ARM. Even worse, he agrees after just a few seconds despite a vehement opposition to everything GUND Format weapons stand for. This leads to the project getting funded within seconds, despite having no prior agreement with Shin Sei or Peil Technologies on any kind of collaboration and everyone being averse to the idea of a GUND-ARM. Somehow, despite having no buy-in from any of the involved parties and a regulatory bureau that exists specifically to prevent what they intend to do, they got funded to develop a GUND-ARM on a moment's notice with no resources, premises, or plan.

This is, IMO, some of the worst writing the Gundam franchise has ever produced. There doesn't seem to be any actual connection between the actions of the characters and the events occurring around them. Characters with convictions so deeply-held that they were willing to kill to enforce them go against those convictions on a moment's notice and for no real reason. Hundreds of Benerit Group members suddenly go against twenty years of fearmongering about GUND-ARMs on the say-so of a teenager with no business experience who is literally handwriting her presentation as she speaks.

[Mafty]

Spoiler

The show does seem to have an issue with solving one issue, yet bringing up another one. Nobody can seem to decide whether Gundam's are illegal or not, as their stridency on the issue seems to waver depending on the episode. Even Delling seems to be inconsistent on his goals, as he goes from blowing up an entire asteroid base for using a GUND ARM systems to bankrolling his daughter’s company because she stood up for herself. It is unbelievable and rather out of character for Delling.

Spoiler

I wonder if they are trying to make the character more sympathetic, if so Dellings lost pretty much all sympathy for his early actions, so making him supportive now, doesn't really work (Kind of like how in Pacific Rim Uprising Liwen Shao went from a one note corrupt corporate executive who didn't care about anyone (to the point of exploiting the death of a war hero), to suddenly being selfless and fighting Kaiju to save humanity). Just randomly having somebody switch personality traits doesn't work, there needs to be a bit more depth to the character.

Spoiler

That being said however the plot thread of Miorine founding her own company, is rather unexpected, so I guess we'll see where it goes from there. Plus even if it was oddly written, it was kind of neat to see Miorine actually getting more independent in her goals, instead of just lashing out and running away. Though I don't exactly agree with Prospera in Miorine being spoiled and hypocritical, As Miorine did face constant neglect and bullying at the school.

On another note

Spoiler

Will war break out? It mostly seems to be corporate politics at the moment, but who knows where the story will end up

[Ryujin]

Not surprised at all by the reactions of some viewers.

I personally think that

Spoiler

Prospera's initial objective with sending in Suletta & Aerial was simply to get Delling's attention & secure a meeting with him. Whatever her plan was, it was flexible enough to account for friction in the Clausewitzian sense--in this case, Suletta immediately encountering Miorine & possibly setting things in motion a bit prematurely. Of course, the problem with this hypothesis is Prospera's knownledge of Vim's bombing attempt, unless she had also taken action to neutralize it upon receiving the intel. That Godoy fellow looked like a tough customer.

So, to wit:
-- All her plan needed to get rolling was Aerial's capabilities catching everyone's attention after Suletta inevitably blunders into a duel.
-- A very public inquiry is held, because it's Delling rolling in full force.
-- Prospera banks on this as an opportunity to confront Delling & a captive audience with a convincing example of not-lethal not-Gund tech.
-- ???? (confidential, closed-door meeting between the two? Prospera's a good judge of character & appears to have an excellent intelligence network + possibly knowledge about some personally defining incident in Delling's past that she can leverage? More defining than ordering the massacre of an entire station, anyways.)
-- Afterwards, Prospera having cryptic convos about flushing out GUND-using witches & Zenelli noting that Delling seems to be more lenient in his attitude towards GUND tech.

It can be inferred that Something happened to Delling between ep.2 & ep.7, such that it bothers Zenelli to the extent of conspiring with his rivals, who also stand to gain in their own fashion. Note that Delling was about to take some action, paralleling Vim in ep.2, when Miorine barged in, and Zenelli clearly took great interest this time in what Delling's response may have been.

Afterwards, there's Prospera's seemingly nonchalant behavior to all this--she may have Helium-3 for blood, or it's possible that none of it really mattered since it's all just incidental to whatever her plan(s) is. She implies she got what she came for even before the party started, and felt confident enough that no harm would come to Aerial come what may, thanks to previous arrangements.

Anyways, I think it's premature to pass judgment on Delling; a lot could've happened in 2 decades -- or 2 weeks.

Also have to wonder if it was the Mirasoul flight unit or something else that put Nika on the spot, and has Prospera ever intentionally crushed anyone's hand while shaking it?

[Underrated GM Custom]

In the space future, we will not have OSHA. Who designs a stage like this, where there are just tiny tiny discs barely big enough to stand on that go fifty, sixty feet into the air?

I had the same thought when the platform went up. Space OSHA must have been gutted in the corporate future of Ad Stella

Spoiler

Peil technologies plan to dissolve their development team and the Pharact in order to take down the Aerial bothered me as well. It requires the viewer to believe that simply firing some engineering staff who created a highly illegal taboo machine is all that's required, where previously we've seen an entire company gunned down for even working on it. Something as simple as "sorry, we'll fire the team" just seems really pithy, the writers didn't even bother to mention regulatory issues, violating treaties etc.

Also have to wonder if it was the Mirasoul flight unit or something else that put Nika on the spot, and has Prospera ever intentionally crushed anyone's hand while shaking it?

My read on the Nika / Shaddiq situation was that

Spoiler

Shaddiq helped her obtain parts for that space backpack and in exchange Nika is providing something in return to Shaddiq's company. Perhaps combat data or something else.

[Seto Kaiba]

Spoiler

Really, this series is just a mess.

Delling's wildly out-of-character reaction to the reveal that Peil Technologies were sheltering a witch and developing GUND-ARMs and that the Aerial is a GUND-ARM after all is problematic, but the key takeaway for the episode is actually before the opening credits.

One of the Peil Technologies co-CEOs implies that all three of the Benerit Group's main Mobile Suit manufacturers - Grassley Defense Systems, Jeturk Heavy Machinery, and Peil Technologies - covertly experiment with the prohibited GUND Format. None of them want to run afoul of Delling Rembran's Cathedral goon squad the way the Vanadis Institute did at their incitement, so they're keeping a close eye on how Delling reacts to the news that Peil's Pharact was an illegal GUND-ARM to see if they'll be able to quietly scrap those programs and write off the loss or if they'll have to be afraid that there will be a house call by Cathedral's special forces.

None of them seem to have expected the completely BS turn of events at the end of the episode, where Delling agreed to permit Shin Sei and Peil to collaborate on the development of a "safe" version of GUND Format technology.