Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury

 Years after the events that transpired in the prologue, the new Gundam series kicks off at last.

While I liked Build Fighters, this is the first "true" Gundam series in a long time.

Going now by the name of Suletta Mercury, the little girl from the prologue is now a teen and enters the Asticassia School of Technology, ran by the Beneritt Group responsible for the destruction of her homebase.  While Gundam are declared illegal, she does have her own with her, the Aerial.

She interferes in a student squabble, and as a result a duel has been challenged, with Miorine taking control of the Aerial to face her bully, Guel.  But while he is the best fighter in school, she manages to overcome him with the power of the suit and Suletta taking control of it, fighting for her new friend.  As she decimates the opponent though, she is arrested and an investigation is installed to see if she is a Witch and uses an illegal Gundam.

Due to politics, the duel has to be redone, but her opponent chooses to fight fair and not with the assistance system his father installed.  Never the less, Guel Jeturk still looses to her, but feels good about the way it happened, and it means she won't be expelled for breaching the rules of the first confrontation by stepping in.  But she remains an outsider, struggling with the discriminations at school, even though she overcomes the obstacles put in front of her.

It seems though that the strange Lady Prospera is none other then her mother, while a fellow student, Elan, harnesses the energies released by a Gundam in his body.  Suletta is asked out on a date with him, and she agrees.  But when Elan is allowed inside the Aerial, the power, called Permet, isn`t responding.  Guel, who is actually jealous, and Elan engage in a duel, Elan using his Gundam soundly trashing Guel.  As a result, he and Suletta will now engage in a duel between Gundams.  It turns out Elan has a surrogate clone, who does the fighting but is at his limit of surviving them.  In a tight spot, the Aerial suddenly releases a pulse shutting down the enemy before decimating the opponent's suit.  She learns about Elan, singing his happy birthday as his clone is incinerated while she waits to meet him...

 

During a new companies funding event, she is exposed as piloting a supposed Gundam, which is forbidden by law.  But her friend Miorine steps in, and manages to convince her father to invest in her project of Gund-Arm, and preventing the Aerial from being dismantled on misinterpretations.  But Suletta's mom later confesses to them that Aerial is indeed an Gundam. Miorine recruits the rest of their classmates to become employees in her newly founded company as such.

 

They work out their business plan, and learns the truth about how the Witches came into being, deciding to go for the route of the original medical implentations of GUND technology. One of the class, Shaddiq, wants to rewrite the rules of start up's to make it convenient for both him as Miorine, whom he has set his sights on for marriage.  Suletta tries to convince Guel to join their team for the duel as well, but he holds off the offer.  The superior skills of Shaddiq's team quickly take out the supporting suits, putting the pressure on the Aerial.  Using an anti-gundam weapon they put the Aerial out of power, making Suletta rely on her own skill in the duel.  Aerial reawakens, and together they decimate the opossing team.

Shaddiq goes further though, wanting a mercenary group to attack and take out his boss Delling.  In the meantime, the politics behind the corporate facades keep turning.  Suletta starts doubting everything though, even her friends, and looks for comfort with her mother.  Miorine however tells her she is having the wrong ideas and that she is putting herself down for nothing, and how much Suletta means to her.

The terrorists attack a Plant base, making use of two Lfirth gundam, the model Aerial is seemingly based on, but also where Miorine and her group is currently located.  Suletta sorties in the Aerial, taking the battle to the so called "Witches from Earth" as the plant is being attacked.  In the confussion of the battle, Guel kills his dad, while Miorine's is heavenly injured.  The students are saved by Nika sending out the Earth callsign to the attackers, but one of her classmates saw it... and Suletta's saving of Miorine doesn't have the required effect.

After some lighter hearted Gundam series with the builds, it's good to have a true Gundam franchise piece again, with politics and a strong story.  A Cour 2 is going to be released later in 2023, and I look forward to that in the hopes of finally finding out the secret behind the Aerial.  Might the fan theorie prove through that Suletta is not the child of the pilot, but that that child is actual the "spirit" of Aerial and Suletta is her sibling?  Now THAT would make it one of the deepest series in the franchise, even after child soldiers in IBO and 00 or the likes!