REVIEW: ‘Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury,’ Episode 5 – “Reflection In An Icy Eye”

Throughout its run, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury has placed its focus on Suletta Mercury (Kana Ichinose) and her rise to popularity at the Asticassia School of Technology. She’s fought in giant robot duels, become the most popular student in school, and been proposed to, twice! Now in The Witch From Mercury Episode 5, the focus shifts to her love life, as the mysterious Elan Ceres (Natsuki Hanae) wants to spend a day with her. But Elan is revealed to be hiding a few secrets of his own, and an abnormal interest in Suletta’s Aerial Gundam. This leads to a duel between Elan and Guel Jeturk (Yohei Azakami), where the full force of the former’s Mobile Suit is revealed.

As you may have guessed from the title, the episode delves deeper into Elan’s life and how he sees a kindred spirit in Suletta. Yet, over the course of the episode, the two are revealed to be drastically different. Suletta’s more in touch with her emotions, and willing to make connections with others. Elan, on the other hand, didn’t exactly have a sunny childhood and remains closed off. The difference is clearly highlighted in the vocal performances as well. Ichinose continues to play Suletta as an overly shy teenage girl, wracked with a nervous stutter. Hanae, on the other hand, delivers every one of his lines in a flat tone that will send chills down your spine.

And Elan turns out to be an absolute menace while in a mobile suit. His mobile suit, Pharact, is a sleek and speedy vehicle with weaponry that gives him more than a few edges in battle. And with its dark gray and silver color scheme, it looks like the inverse of Suletta’s Aeria, which is yet another difference between the two. Sunrise delivers the best mobile duel of the series yet, with Pharact and Guel’s new mobile suit trading blows on the dusty surface of the moon—or rather, a holographic replication of it. In one of the more visually-stunning shots, a fleet of electromagnetic drones stops Guel’s suit in its tracks. The web of lasers surrounding the suit makes it look like it’s tied up in a number of red strings.

While the action in this episode is eye-grabbing, the behind-the-scenes machinations leave more to be desired. Apart from the revelation of another Gundam and Elan’s past, most of the episode repeats things we already know. The Three Houses, the companies that control most of the operations in space, are in fierce competition. Guel has daddy issues, and Suletta’s mother is plotting. All of this has been covered before. While not every episode of a television series has to be a groundbreaking event, the narrative should at least make a few steps forward. Witch From Mercury has proven that it can balance politics and robot fights, so hopefully this is just an off episode

There’s also a lack of Miorine Rembran (Lynn) in The Witch From Mercury Episode 5. Miorine is the deuteragonist of the series, so for her to only appear in one scene in this episode was a surprise. However, it does lead to a hilarious exchange when Miorine learns that Suletta is meeting with Elan. Despite her insistence that she’s only agreed to be Suletta’s fiancee to get her father off their backs, her reaction is less like a friend and more like a jilted lover’s. And given how most anime handle the relationships between their main characters, I’m expecting to see more of this in the future.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Episode 5 introduces a new wrinkle in the form of Elan Ceres, and presents Suletta with her greatest challenge yet. The next episode will see her fight the most important duel of her life. And in this case, losing is not an option.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury is available to stream on Crunchyroll. New episodes premiere on Sundays.