Gundam Show Thread - MSG thru Witch from Mercury

[Big s]

Looks like the prologue video I saw was pulled. I was checking my video history and it’s gone now. I can’t find it on the search either. I think the English subtitle version is out really soon.

from what I gather the girl’s parents try an escape with the prototype for the main gundam and the mom drags her along for the ride. But there were no subtitles, so I’m just guessing that’s her mom and her dad was in a different mobile suit to help with the escape. For a series , it has a high quality look and the little prologue gives a reason why they probably call her a witch

[Big s]

Looks like it debuts at Comic-Con this weekend in English. I don’t know if that means it will be available to see anywhere else like YouTube 

[azrael]

1 hour ago, Big s said:

Looks like it debuts at Comic-Con this weekend in English. I don’t know if that means it will be available to see anywhere else like YouTube 

Comic-Con is next week (July 21-24). The Prologue episode premiered in Yokohama yesterday (today in the West) at the Gundam Factory. The Prologue episode's SDCC premiere will be on July 21 at 12:30PM (PST) in Room 6A.  Series premiere will be in October.

[Big s]

2 hours ago, azrael said:

Comic-Con is next week (July 21-24). The Prologue episode premiered in Yokohama yesterday (today in the West) at the Gundam Factory. The Prologue episode's SDCC premiere will be on July 21 at 12:30PM (PST) in Room 6A.  Series premiere will be in October.

For some reason I thought the comic con was this weekend.

[Hikuro]

So I just watched the origins version of Episode 15, and honestly thought it was pretty boring. It was cool seeing some of the GM Color schemes out there. Pretty much was about it. 

[tekering]

On 7/18/2022 at 6:58 AM, Hikuro said:

I just watched the origins version of Episode 15

Hikuro refers to Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan's Island, the new film by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko (who also directed The Origin).  It makes a few minor changes to UC continuity, introducing Sleggar Law to the White Base crew long before his appearance in the TV series:

...and gives him a previously unseen early-type GM, too.

He deploys atop Sayla's Core Booster (replacing the G-Fighter from the TV series).

Also new to the scenario are The Southern Cross, an elite squad of Zaku II (High-Mobility type) pilots.

Personally, I thought the film was excellent, greatly expanding the scale and scope of the original episode without adversely affecting the larger Gundam story.  It's a little slow getting started -- and there are entirely too many crying kids -- but the combat sequences are thrilling, the animation is spectacular, and the orchestral score is a great mix of original series motifs and new themes (including an '80s-style electric guitar riff when Amuro's RX-78 makes its triumphant return).  It's been very well-received here in Japan, and I hope its success paves the way for further UC productions.

[davidwhangchoi]

 

[lechuck]

If you haven't seen it, then now is your chance.

https://www.gundamkitscollection.com/2022/08/the-witch-from-mercury-will-be.html

[Big s]

I hear this will have English subtitles. I can finally know what they’re saying beyond the most depressing rendition of happy birthday.

[azrael]

Looks like it will go live on 8/31. 1 day earlier than announced.

 

[no3Ljm]

22 minutes ago, azrael said:

Looks like it will go live on 8/31.

I've seen it. And it moved me. Good prologue episode.  

[Test_Pilot_2]

Really enjoyed the prologue. Plenty of Gundam derivatives to go around, but still good. I like the deeper-dive into the man-machine interfaces and the expansion on the space-based population's challenges.

Don't want to spoil anything for others so keeping mum.

[electric indigo]

That was not bad at all! I like the world introduction, and the production is top notch.

[mikeszekely]

I didn't care for it. Mechanical designs have been going downhill for years. I'll reserve my complaints about the plot until I see more, but for now I'll just say that the villain's actions are so disproportional to their stated motivation that they're probably the most cartoonishly evil a Gundam villain has been. I've been hearing in some circles about how emotional the prologue is, but the whole setup just stuck me as too outlandish for me to actually be emotionally invested.

Edited September 1, 2022 by mikeszekely

[Big s]

It was great to finally see it in English. It makes more sense to understand what’s going on. I find the concept very interesting and hope it pays off. When I watched it a while back I had no idea what the background stuff was about and very curious about this overall idea.

[General Rasp]

I watched the prologue episode yesterday and loved it! There was a lot of new ideas that they haven't done before, like the GUND system starting with prosthetics, then being bought and moved to weapon application. The mobile suit designs were a good mixed between more traditional with the LF-03 to Reconguista-ish designs. Those suits definitely seemed like a refined version of Reconguista. The story was interesting and the writers did some good world building. Hopefully the main series has the same stellar animation as the prologue. 

[lechuck]

A solid and enjoyable prologue episode that had good pacing with solid world exposition and setup for the rest of the show.

I look forward to more and hope the quality stays the same.

[Big s]

I really do find the concept very interesting after another rewatch. I hope it’s not like unicorn, where you think there’s gonna be something amazing only to end up wondering why anybody cared about this stupid thing enough to start another war

[davidwhangchoi]

this a good anime?

[azrael]

27 minutes ago, davidwhangchoi said:

this a good anime?

Based on 1 prologue episode? Hard to say. It was a good episode. Series? We’ll find out.

[roboemo]

So Gundam getting ideas from Expanse?
Like space dwellers having bone and muscle disease due to zero gravity?

[Big s]

2 hours ago, davidwhangchoi said:

this a good anime?

Definitely promising. It’s got some real potential, but I’d say watch the prologue and see if it’s something that sounds like it would interest you to continue 

[mikeszekely]

Don't get me wrong, the idea that humans would utilize technology to overcome the fact that our bodies are not suited to living in space is a realistic concept well worth exploring in a Gundam story.  I'm also fine with the idea that human-machine interfaces behind such technology could be applicable to Mobile Suits, and that some use of that technology in Mobile Suits could be harmful to the pilots, and that an organization like Cathedra would be formed to oppose either using the tech in Mobile Suits or even using the tech at all.

Where they lost me, though, is the notion that Cathedra is so opposed to using Gundams because they might kill the pilots that they attack the Vanadis Institute and definitely kill the pilots.  Like, I really hope that when the show begins properly that Cathedra's motivations are better fleshed out so that the attack on the Vanadis Institute makes even a small amount of logical sense from at least their POV.  While there have definitely been characters who are villains, and who have manipulated factions to be the bad guys, traditionally there's usually a bit more moral ambiguity with good and bad on both sides of the conflicts in Gundam, but so far Cathedra is so cartoonishly bad that the guy giving the speech during the attack could have been twirling a mustache while doing so.

[davidwhangchoi]

2 hours ago, azrael said:

Based on 1 prologue episode? Hard to say. It was a good episode. Series? We’ll find out.

i'm excited for a new gundam but hoping it will be better than IBO

24 minutes ago, Big s said:

Definitely promising. It’s got some real potential, but I’d say watch the prologue and see if it’s something that sounds like it would interest you to continue 

i think i skipped the latest 00 movie that came out on the gundaminfo channel. i lost interest after 5 mins.

Hathaway flash was interesting though

Hoping I get through this one.

[Big s]

3 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Don't get me wrong, the idea that humans would utilize technology to overcome the fact that our bodies are not suited to living in space is a realistic concept well worth exploring in a Gundam story.  I'm also fine with the idea that human-machine interfaces behind such technology could be applicable to Mobile Suits, and that some use of that technology in Mobile Suits could be harmful to the pilots, and that an organization like Cathedra would be formed to oppose either using the tech in Mobile Suits or even using the tech at all.

Where they lost me, though, is the notion that Cathedra is so opposed to using Gundams because they might kill the pilots that they attack the Vanadis Institute and definitely kill the pilots.  Like, I really hope that when the show begins properly that Cathedra's motivations are better fleshed out so that the attack on the Vanadis Institute makes even a small amount of logical sense from at least their POV.  While there have definitely been characters who are villains, and who have manipulated factions to be the bad guys, traditionally there's usually a bit more moral ambiguity with good and bad on both sides of the conflicts in Gundam, but so far Cathedra is so cartoonishly bad that the guy giving the speech during the attack could have been twirling a mustache while doing so.

I’m pretty sure there’s a different motivation for their actions. I think it’s one of those cases where the bad guys needed an excuse to attack, but I guess we’ll find out soon.

[no3Ljm]

 

[VF-1A Cannon Fodder]

Check your local theaters (US and Canada)

https://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2022/09/09/crunchyroll-to-bring-mobile-suit-gundam-cucuruz-doans-island-anime-film-to-theaters-in-september

Edited September 14, 2022 by VF-1A Cannon Fodder

[kajnrig]

Watched the prologue and first episode today. Honestly, what hooked me was the vague murmurings of a whisper of a promise of the yuriest Gundam yuri to ever yuri.

The prologue gave me huge Stargazer vibes, except it was cramming an already lean-as-can-be 45-minute script into less than half that time. Things were happening too fast to be very emotionally affecting. It felt almost clinical, watching it.

The first episode proper is one heck of a mood swing: From typical Gundam sanctimony to bubble-gum moe space high school anime. You can feel the not insignificant influence of a certain Macross 25th anniversary TV show here... as well as Revolutionary Girl Utena, unexpectedly enough. The pacing continued to leave little room to breathe, and at the very end of the episode the show suddenly introduced yuri rom-com and battle high school to the dozen spinning plates it's already having trouble balancing.

Production values are high, and combat animation is beautiful, even if the show doesn't really do anything new with it. You've got your beam rifles, your sabers, your remote-controlled Bits and tracking missiles, and they're all used and shot and framed pretty much exactly how you'd expect them to be. Honestly, not a lot about the show has hooked me so far. The MC is adorable, but I don't think my desire to see her succeed in life will sustain my interest in the long run. But we'll see. Let's give it a few more episodes to really get a solid idea what we're working with and where we're going.

[Hikuro]

Yeah it does have huge stargazer vibes but the Yuri on it isn't as strong as what you would think after Episode 2's release last night. But we do get a masked character which is kind of the first in a while, and I'm not counting all the Build Fighter related content as that's more "Cosplay" than purpose. Still though, I'm curious to see how this series is gonna progress. 

[lechuck]

If anyone wants to follow this latest Gundam show, you might want to keep an eye on GundamInfo Youtube channel. They will be streaming it regularly from 9 October, but seems to be region locked a the moment.

https://www.gundamkitscollection.com/2022/10/gundam-info-will-now-stream-witch-from.html

[kajnrig]

7 hours ago, Hikuro said:

But we do get a masked character which is kind of the first in a while 

I like that finally one of these shows has posited a plausible reason for why the mask. Tying it into cybernetics as a consequence of Mercurian living is very smart, though I suspect that that's just a cover and it'll turn out the mask is really just a funky fashion choice as it is in any other Gundam.

That aside, the second episode doesn't really move the barometer in any direction. Still touching on some of the same ideas as RGU. I have some ideas of where certain characters are going; it'll be interesting to see if they have the guts like RGU did to really go places, or if Gundam being Gundam will force them to play it safe. Next episode.

[kajnrig]

Is anyone else watching this show? I'd have expected more engagement from this crowd...

 

But maybe there's a reason for that. Four episodes in like I said I would do at minimum, and I think that might be it for me. Maybe give it ONE more episode this weekend, but barring some massive upswing in quality I don't see me continuing past that. As always seems to be the case, Gundam shows strive to tackle ideas that they ultimately can't because they have to sacrifice too much to the altar of... well, Gundam. The franchise is just too mainstream for its own good; every transgressive idea has to be pared back and neutered so that the show can be marketed and merchandised.

I can see what Witch from Mercury wants to be about, and how it might be infinitely more able to be about that if it didn't also have to be about Gundam mecha doing Gundam mecha things while Gundam characters talk in Gundam character ways about Gundam politics in a Gundam world...

[General Rasp]

I have really been enjoying the show. The dialogue between the characters has been fantastic and the studio has put nuance in the conversations. Just little phrases here and there that I have really enjoyed. This last episode has revealed the current setting outside of the school and there is a lot Sunrise can dive into. 

Spoiler

I like that they reversed the usual Gundam dynamic, with space having most of the power and using Earth as labor resources. On top of that the corporations have the power and not governments waring with each other. It is a nice change and still feels like a Gundam story.

They are also laser focused on developing the characters and the relationships between each other. I find that has been the main focus for the series so far, and (guessing) will be the focus for most of the first 12 episodes. I don't see them leaving the school until episode 10-12. If they don't leave the school at all I feel Sunrise is missing out on some rich storyline that they started setting up in episode four. 

[seti88]

On 10/25/2022 at 2:27 PM, kajnrig said:

Is anyone else watching this show? I'd have expected more engagement from this crowd...

 

But maybe there's a reason for that. Four episodes in like I said I would do at minimum, and I think that might be it for me. Maybe give it ONE more episode this weekend, but barring some massive upswing in quality I don't see me continuing past that. As always seems to be the case, Gundam shows strive to tackle ideas that they ultimately can't because they have to sacrifice too much to the altar of... well, Gundam. The franchise is just too mainstream for its own good; every transgressive idea has to be pared back and neutered so that the show can be marketed and merchandised.

I can see what Witch from Mercury wants to be about, and how it might be infinitely more able to be about that if it didn't also have to be about Gundam mecha doing Gundam mecha things while Gundam characters talk in Gundam character ways about Gundam politics in a Gundam world...

I didnt quite know that it started showing till today...... And that also only cos i read a small comment abt episode 3?4? online.

Only finished watching the prologue! 

Am catching it on gundaminfo in case anyone is wondering where its showing...i thk crunchyroll is also carrying it?

[General Rasp]

2 minutes ago, seti88 said:

I didnt quite know that it started showing till today...... And that also only cos i read a small comment abt episode 3?4? online.

Only finished watching the prologue! 

Am catching it on gundaminfo in case anyone is wondering where its showing...i thk crunchyroll is also carrying it?

Yep, if you are in the US Crunchyroll is airing it. New episodes come out Sunday morning.