Is Mobile Suit Gundam : The Witch From Mercury about the drive for personal retaliation through themedium of elephantine automaton ? Yes . Is it about the sexuality moral force of blank space exploration defined by political economy over surroundings ? Yes . Is itabout outer space lesbians ? Hopefully , yes . But right now , it ’s also about an anti - capitalistic queen smacking the soul mighty out of rich jerks .
This week ’s episode ofThe Witch From Mercury , “ Unseen Trap , ” peels a bit away from the Utena - esque politics of duelling at its fancy school for mech navigate corporate scion ( the poof vibraphone between Suletta and her newly acquired fiance Miorine , blessedly , remain ) to smoothen a spotlight on the world the Asticassia School of Technology is set its students for in a mode we ’ve yet to really see in the show yet .
This is driven not by Mobile Suit combat , as the series has been so far , but a much largely conflict between “ Earthians”—natives of humanity ’s homeworld — and “ Spacians”—people who are bear and live in humanity ’s nascent space colonies . Although it ’s been there in tad ( much of Suletta ’s hostility from her fellow students is labor by the fact as someone from Mercury , home to a humble grouping of miners evoke precious resources in life-threatening , debilitating conditions , is seen as a “ nation bumpkin ) , “ Unseen Trap ” makes this far more denotative on both the macro plate of the man beyond Asticassia and on the micro - scale divisions between the wealthy person and have - nots of the student body .
Screenshot: Crunchyroll
We see it first at the school , where a student training examination in Asticassia ’s “ Demi - Trainer ” suit sees Chuatury Panlunch ( one of Sulleta ’s few likely allies at the school ) fail when her mech ’s viewscreen tv camera is subvert with time - delayed spray . Chuatury , known dear ( despite her abrasive position ) as Chuchu , is reveal to be the head of Asticassia ’s Earth House , one of many factions among the school ’s students that are otherwise reign by groups formed around the companies that fund and control the schoolhouse , and the scions of those companies . When Suletta , herself a Spacian — ostracise by her fellow students after her surprising defeat of top duelist Guel Jeturk not once , but twice — total to Earth House to look for teammates to help oneself her enter in her own pilot exam , we discover that Chuchu ’s wild antagonism towards Spacians is due to the horrendous ways she and other Earthians in smart set are looked down upon .
Chuchu and other Earthians are treated by the Spacians that have rick the solar system into an economical powerhouse as disposable labor , unworthy of inherit the lavish attempt of space colonisation , efforts only made because of Earthian labor . We see it at Earth House in Asticassia , where the Earthian students are given a course - down repair shed to compensate their suits and live in , rather than the munificent environs where we concisely see other pupil . We see it in the intelligence reports flashing across their television , showing mobile courting from some of the most powerful society in the Benerit Group that controls Asticassia engaging in a violent crackdown on Earthian workers dissent Labour irreverence done in the name of Spacian working capital .
dissever this large sociopolitical conflict into Earth vs. the Colonies is no stranger to Gundam — that ’s long been a theme heart to the franchise — but arrive at it explicitly about the evil of capitalist economy , and beyond it the layer of class conflict , is something the franchise has otherwise leave behind on the thematic outskirts , instead of making it as textually denotative as we see here .
Screenshot: Crunchyroll
All this coalescesin the most brutal of acts of violence in Witch From Mercury so far . When the same Spacian girls who sabotaged Chuchu ’s Demi - Trainer utilize the same trick on Suletta during their re - interrogation — not because Suletta is just a “ bumpkin ” from Mercury , but because she ’s deigned to associate with Earth House — Chuchu look on in fury as Suletta slowly separate down , attempting to operate through her suit being blinded before she sob her marrow out to Miorine over her comms . comment the two girls are watch out their joke from afar and joyously cackle , Chuchu jump out of her own Demi - Trainer , races up to them , and , well …
It ’s roughshod . That girl ’s body just flop , like she ’s gotten a mental Blue Screen of Death from a single strike . The fight between Chuchu and the second female child is equally as fell , catch Suletta in the cross - fire in a horrible punch , and finally leading to Chuchu and Suletta bonding , but also in both of them needing to take their piloting exams again .
It ’s unbelievable that a serial publication that has so far given us some excellent , strong action setting — one that extrapolate the violence enacted upon the humanoid forms of its mecha to its larger themes of abuse , or as in this same episode the horror of seeing those mecha turned upon human targets — is able to show off its most brutal action yet in a single punch , from one young girl to another , echo the vehemence of Witch From Mercury ’s larger course of instruction conflict .
Screenshot: Crunchyroll
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