Get in the Gundam Everyone, ‘The Witch from Mercury – PROLOGUE’ Dropped

When the first teaser for the latest installment of the long running franchise, Mobile Suit Gundam, was first shared five months ago, I was hooked immediately. As the gentle piano medley slowly swelled into a full-blown triumphant theme, we saw the newest face of the franchise standing in front of her Gundam. Yes, in the forty plus years the franchise has been around, this was noted as the first time a woman would be the primary protagonist. But today, we’re not here to discuss the inherent imbalance of representation in traditionally “boy spaces.” We’re here primarily to talk about the fact that we have been blessed such that on August 31st, the “Prologue” episode of the series was made available on YouTube. Somehow, despite already being excited about the series, I am currently fawning over the 24 minutes of gorgeous animation that has been presented to me, and I’m now wishing for the entirety of September to simply vanish so it can be October. The last mainline Mobile Suit Gundam Series was Iron-Blooded Orphans, which aired way back in 2015 through 2017 (which not so coincidentally also aired alongside a different Mecha anime that dealt with rising tensions between Earth and Mars with Aldnoah.Zero). And as much as the Gundam franchise is remembered for its giant robots fighting other giants, the franchise has always been anchored in deeply political roots, showing large scale conflict over limited resources between various factions with differing interests and how certain …