Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury

Episode 6

I saw it coming, but not this soon, darn it! Elan was sprouting death flags the moment this show revealed that he was artificially enhanced to use the GUND format. This episode lays on the pathos thick; we see the face of the man he was made to resemble, and it's cruel and sneering. The Elan we know is a person without an identity of his own, to be disposed of as soon as he has outlived his usefulness. And of course it happens the moment he makes his first friend in Suletta.

By the end of his tragically short life, Elan's love-hate relationship with Suletta is all too clear. The Gundam was the source of his complex. He was initially kind to Suletta because he thought she was also groomed to pilot Gundams, but when he learned that she wasn't just a slave to the machine, he felt betrayed. When she asked him his birthday, he thought she was rubbing his lack of personhood in his face. Only at the end does he recall that there was once someone in his life who would celebrate his birthday, even if he no longer remembers who that was. The tragedy is that he was only able to come to this realization by losing to Suletta in a duel, but that loss also marked him as a defect in the eyes of Peil Technologies.

Dramatic irony is used here to great effect by upping the emotional stakes while deferring the fallout. The Elan we know is dead, but he'll be replaced and no one will spot the difference. Suletta ends the episode with a beam on her face as she awaits a meeting with her new friend, but the next time she meets a boy with Elan's face, their relationship will be back to zero. Even if she doesn't learn what actually happened to him behind the scenes, she's going to be hurt emotionally by how he acts. A silent injustice perceived by no one but the audience hits harder than a bitter but openly accepted truth. This might be the first time I've felt genuine anger at the status quo presented in this series.

In the meantime, the intrigue continues to build. A key moment from the battle was when the Aerial manifested silhouettes of Eri from the Prologue episode, accompanied by her laughing voice. This lends credence to the theory that the two are intimately connected, which would mean that... Suletta isn't actually an older Eri using a different name? Whatever the answer is, I have a feeling it's going to be convoluted.

Also, in an episode full of hard-hitting emotions, I got a laugh when, after being disowned by his father because of his constant losses, Guel is next shown camping in a forest. They couldn't spare him a dorm room? Or maybe that's just his pride talking, and he's determined to prove himself without any family support. Either way, it's hilarious and I wish that kid all the best.

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Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.