Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury - PROLOGUE

This review contains spoilers for Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury but there's really not much to spoil - just watch the dang prologue

Regardless of where you fall on the "journey vs. destination" argument, the importance of beginnings can't be denied. Whether good or bad, the beginning of a story sticks with you, making it crucial in making a lasting impression. A beginning, if weak enough can cause irreparable damage to a story. It doesn't matter how much a show picks up if the beginning made its viewers mentally check out. On the other hand, someone might power through a lull middle if they're energized by a great beginning.

Some Gundam shows have solid beginnings. Take the start of the original Mobile Suit Gundam, where we see protagonist Amuro Ray's home attacked, forcing him into the Gundam to defend it. It's a decent call-to-action opening that gets the job done. One of my favorite Gundam shows, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, has an opening episode that showcases its juxtaposition of seriousness and cheesiness. It doesn't hold a candle to some of the later episodes, but it at least establishes tone well enough.

Other Gundam shows have terrible first episodes. The first proper episode of ZZ Gundam similarly establishes tone. But in doing so it completely deflates, no pops the gravitas created at the end of Zeta, leading to harsh whiplash that colors the rest of the show. Other times, executive greed tarnishes what otherwise would have been a solid start. Both Victory Gundam and the TV broadcast of Unicorn Gundam suffered from executive mandates that dictated that their titular Gundams must appear in the opening minutes of the first episode, leading to awkward sequencing.

All this is to say that in my six years of watching Gundam, I've never seen a first episode that's blown me away.

Until now.

I was already excited for Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury when it was revealed in March since it would feature the series' first female main character. But now, thanks to its prologue (which is free to watch on YouTube via Gundam's official channel here), I’m absolutely hyped. This is the best opening to a Gundam show; nothing else comes close. It's not only a shining example of how to pull off the opening to a Gundam show, nor just an anime, but the beginning of a story in general.

When it comes to speculative fiction, — science fiction in particular — successfully executing the beginning can be tricky because of the worldbuilding one has to contend with. Without taking the time needed to explain the world, audiences can become lost and disinterested. That said, if one resorts to an unnatural infodump of exposition, the audience will be similarly bored. Then there's the question of how to make it relevant — how will the writer make this new world resonate with the audience? It's all a very precarious balancing act.

Fortunately, The Witch From Mercury walks the tightrope with expert precision. The prologue takes place in a manufacturing and training facility as well as at a press release relating to the facility. This means that we're right at the heart of this world's conflict instead of primarily hearing it secondhand. What we do hear second-hand is either from a short news clip or an anecdote from a character's life. Again, this is short, which is vital, since it means we're not taken away from the present action. We don't have a narrator beginning the episode by telling us the current year or political climate because we don't need it. We are shown (not told) the bare necessities. Thanks to this, the prologue maintains a brisk pace.

We're also treated to a world that feels applicable to ours. The prologue of Witch from Mercury concerns itself with questions of transhumanism. The Gundams of this universe are derived from GUND — a prosthetic technology that’s used to help humans acclimate to the rigors of space. Since its inception back in 1979, Gundam has never shied away from exploring human evolution and how space plays a part in this — there's a reason "souls weighed down by gravity" is such a memetic term in the fandom. That said The Witch from Mercury is one of the few times (the other notable example being Gundam SEED) the series shores up the concept of transhumanism in a way that doesn't feel completely magical. Universal Century’s Newtypes may as well be force users by another name. The melding of man and machine feels more notable now than ever, especially with the advent of platforms such as Meta. The show also (kind of) introduces questions about the ethics of autonomous/remote weaponry, self-harming technology, and if there can be positive effects of arms technology.

Some of these bits of world-building are sure to be particularly interesting if you're a long-term fan of the series. The concept of interfacing with a mobile suit, and especially the fact that said interface harms the user if pushed to its limits, harkens back to Iron-Blooded Orphans' Alaya-Vijnana System and G Gundam's Mobile Trace System. The concerns about automatic weaponry also bring to mind Wing Gundam's Mobile Dolls.

The worldbuilding also feels relatable because of references to historical events. Unlike, say Evangelion, the symbolism actually seems to serve a purpose. Antagonist Delling Rembran speaks of his organization acting as a "hammer of witches," which is a reference to Malleus Maleficarum, a seminal treatise on witch hunting. It's unfortunately not only a cool historical link to the prologue's events but also relates to enduring religious dogma in our world.

Don't go thinking that the prologue only succeeds because of its handling of worldbuilding — it’s also exciting. Unlike Victory Gundam or Re:Unicorn, it feels justified in giving the Gundam a spectacular action setpiece in the first episode. We witness an all-out purge and space-based dogfight. I'm in love with the designs of all the mobile suits — they're all colorful whilst not being too toy-like. In particular, I practically drooled over the effects on the Gundams’ chest plate. It feels appropriately high-tech. I also like the white and pink design of the Lifrith. It's nice to be treated with a Gundam with more unique coloration before it's shooed away to make room for the standard, Union Jack colors all main Gundams are saddled with.

The animation is superb. It has a great sense of movement from flying to the use of the Gundam's cool funnels. The music is also great — from the first, tense techno track that opens the prologue, I knew that I'd be in for some great tunes to set the mood. The prologue mixes techno with orchestra really well. Eri's theme is a standout track — the simple yet beautiful instrumentation perfectly captures her innocence. The best track by far is the one that kicks off the final scene — that wail just smacks you and pairs perfectly with the cinematography to make the scene all the more emotional.

And that's the final bit of praise I'd like to heap on this prologue — the emotionality. Mindless action this ain't. It's absolutely brutal and my jaw stayed firmly on the ground for the second half. Bodies start hitting the ground quickly and we get a sense of how dire things are. But that's not what makes the ending so poignant — that honor goes to main character Eri and her family. Eri is just four during the events of the prologue and when her biometrics pair with the Gundam, she inadvertently uses the targeting system to kill three combatants. To her, it's just counting, something she's surely been practicing — to us, it's gut-wrenching. Later on, her father sacrifices himself by pushing his mobile suit to the limits, buying his wife and daughter time to escape. In his delirium, he begins singing "happy birthday" on the radio and Eri joins in. When his mobile suit explodes in the distance, she cheers at the firework, not knowing the significance. It's hard not to tear up during the final moments of the prologue. War is hell indeed.

As much as I loved this prologue, I'm not sure where the show's heading. With as poignant as the prologue was, I'm admittedly a bit wary of the previews of the show proper, which show off a less serious, school setting. I suppose it's at least a new setting for Gundam. I'll just have to see how it pans out. This is one of the reasons I love prologues: they can hook you in without hurting the flow of the standard beginning.

No matter how the rest of the show pans out, since it's a separate entry, I'll be able to know that the prologue was solid. Solid enough to reinvigorate my love for gunpla, solid enough to make me absolutely giddy to start watching this show when it airs in October.