History Anime / MobileSuitGundamTheWitchFromMercury

''Witch From Mercury'' was noted by Sunrise and the creators as being the first Gundam anime TV series to feature a LGBTQ female protagonist,[[note]]and the fourth overall, as various spin-off media such as ''Manga/MobileSuitGundamEcoleDuCiel'', ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDCE73Stargazer'' and ''Literature/MobileSuitGundamTwilightAXIS'' featured female protagonists before her. Also a few [=OVAs=] of standalone short stories featured a female protagonist for an episode.[[/note]] and the first new (non-Gunpla based) alternate universe ''Gundam'' series since 2015's ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans Iron-Blooded Orphans]]''. It is also the first mainline Gundam series to premiere in the Japanese Reiwa (2019-present) period.

''Witch From Mercury'' was noted by Sunrise and the creators as being the first Gundam anime TV series to feature a female protagonist,[[note]]and the fourth overall, as various spin-off media such as ''Manga/MobileSuitGundamEcoleDuCiel'', ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDCE73Stargazer'' and ''Literature/MobileSuitGundamTwilightAXIS'' featured female protagonists before her. Also a few [=OVAs=] of standalone short stories featured a female protagonist for an episode.[[/note]] and the first new (non-Gunpla based) alternate universe ''Gundam'' series since 2015's ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans Iron-Blooded Orphans]]''. It is also the first mainline Gundam series to premiere in the Japanese Reiwa (2019-present) period.

* TwoDVisualsThreeDEffects: ''The Witch from Mercury'' is the first full ''Gundam'' series that makes use of the occasional 3D visual for the mechs rather than traditional animation. With CGI used whenever there's a sweeping camera pan, or on the rare occasion when the mobile suits are stationary or out of focus; with the usual hand-drawn animation brought in for general movement and fight scenes. CGI is also used for any instances involving ships, Quiet Zero, or other moving transport, but is done to fit in with the background elements, while the mobile suits, Haros, and smaller vehicles are rendered out in standard CelShaded animation.

* TwoDVisualsThreeDEffects: ''The Witch from Mercury'' is the first full ''Gundam'' series that makes use of the occasional 3D visual for the mechs rather than traditional animation. The CGI is used whenever there's a sweeping camera pan, or on the rare occasion when the mobile suits are stationary or simply out of focus; with the usual hand-drawn animation brought in for general movement and fight scenes. CGI is also used for any instances involving ships or other moving transport, but is done to fit in with the background elements, while the mobile suits are rendered out in standard CelShaded animation.

* WackyMarriageProposal: Poossr Suletta ended up at the receiving end of two of these within days of each other:

* WackyMarriageProposal: Poor Suletta ended up at the receiving end of two of these within days of each other:

* PowerGlows: All of the GUND-Format equipped mobile suits have plates distributed across their frames known as Shell Units that glow whenever the system is activated.
* PowerLevels: The GUND-equipped mobile suits all have restrictions put in place known as the Permet Score to limit how exposed a pilot gets whenever the system is used but provides increased performance in exchange. At lower levels, the effects are negligible, but starting at level 3, the negative side effects start to become increasingly severe. The goal with the Lfrith was to allow for the suits' higher functions to be used without causing side effects. Aerial seems to be the culmination of such efforts, reaching Permet scores as high as 6 without Suletta even noticing. [[spoiler: Prospera's endgame involves bringing Aerial up to Permet Score 8, making her almost wholly unstoppable -- and in the end, Suletta's assistance leads them to achieve a Permet Score even higher than that, at which point Gundams begin influencing reality itself.]]

* WarForFunAndProfit: Episode 15 reveals that the Benerit Group finances the development of space through war partitioning. This term is never adequately defined in the show proper, but is implied to involve an enforced, corporate-controlled state of continuous war on Earth.

* PowerLevels: The GUND-equipped mobile suits all have restrictions put in place known as the Permet Score to limit how exposed a pilot gets whenever the system is used but provides increased performance in exchange. At lower levels, the effects are negligible, but starting at level 3, the negative side effects start to become increasingly severe. The goal with the Lfrith was to allow for the suits' higher functions to be used without causing side effects. Aerial seems to be the culmination of such efforts, reaching Permet scores as high as 6 without Suletta even noticing.

* WarForFunAndProfit: Episode 15 reveals that the Benerit Group finances the development of space through war partitioning.

** [[spoiler:Nika leaves prison after serving her sentence for being complicit in Shaddiq's crimes, and is greeted by her friends from Earth House. Nika has also recieved certification for a job, and her friends tell her that Chuchu is working in space with Rouji]].

** What was the source of Eri's perfect synchronization with data storms? [[spoiler:Suletta proves that genetics are only ''part'' of the answer, leaving it a mystery as to what other factor was involved.]]

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** [[spoiler:Miorine and Suletta have gotten married. Miorine is working to help Earthians affected by the Quinnharbor attacks with the assistance of the former members of Grassley House, while Suletta recovers from piloting Calibarn alongside her mother in the countryside, expressing an interest in building a school on Earth. Ericht, meanwhile, had gotten transferred into Suletta's keychain, from where she nags her sister and sister-in-law]].
** [[spoiler:Shaddiq remains in prison and is about to stand trial for his actions on Plant Quetta, having [[TheScapegoat also taken responsibility for Quiet Zero despite having no role in it]]]].

** [[spoiler:The four Peil [=CEOs=] are in a retirement home after losing all their assets thanks to Miorine dissolving the Benerit Group. Meanwhile, the other former members of the Benerit Group, such as Delling and Sarius, are facing public hearings for the Quinharbor and Quiet Zero attacks, and it's shown that the surviving families are still angry at them. Sabina notes that there's a possibility for Spacians to get back the Benerit Group's assets from Earth, but Miorine accepts that possibility while insisting that they have to continue doing what they can in spite of that possibility]].

* DisappearsIntoLight: [[spoiler:After having created an enormous data storm that could reach the Space Assembly League's laser cannon, the four Gundam's responsible, Calibarn, Aerial, Pharact and Schwarzette as well as the entirety of Quiet Zero all suffer a breakdown on the molecular level that results in them vanishing into little motes of light with nothing left after they are gone]].

** [[spoiler:Miorine and Suletta have gotten married, Miorine working to help Earthians affected by the Quinnharbor attacks with the assistance of the former members of Grassley House, while Suletta recovers from piloting Calibarn alongside her mother in the countryside, expressing an interest in building a school on Earth. Ericht, meanwhile, had gotten transferred into Suletta's keychain, from where she nags her sister and sister-in-law]].

** [[spoiler:The four Peil [=CEOs=] are in a retirement home after losing all their assets thanks to Miorine dissolving the Benerit Group. Meanwhile, the other former members of the Benerit Group such as Delling and Sarius are facing public hearings for the Quinnharbor and Quiet Zero attacks where the surviving families are still angry at them. Sabina notes that there's a possibility for the Spacian to get back the assets from Earth again]].

** [[spoiler:The four Peil [=CEOs=] are in a retirement home after losing all their assets thanks to Miorine dissolving the Benerit Group. Meanwhile, the other former members of the Benerit Group such as Delling and Sarius are fielding public hearings for the Quinnharbor and Quiet Zero attacks]].

* BookEnds: The first and last episode of the first season end [[spoiler:with a shot of the Aerial kneeling. However, Miorine's attitude towards Suletta is completely reversed between the two.]]

* LighterAndSofter: Subverted. After a prologue episode that was just as dark as you'd expect from a ''Gundam'' series proper, the first season brings up a high school drama show with mechas and some corporate shenanigans involved, with mentions of armed conflict being demoted to the background of the setting. Then the audience is reminded that ''Witch from Mercury'' is a ''Gundam'' show by way [[spoiler:of the death of a major character in Episode 6, followed by a terrorist attack at the end of the season that brings the background conflict to the foreground and leads to the heroine murdering a terrorist in a very bloody way.]]

* RomanticFakeRealTurn: Suletta and Miorine's relationship as groom and bride is initially transactional, with Suletta agreeing to it to make up for messing up Miorine's escape and Miorine seeing Suletta as a convenient shield to keep away suitors while she plots her next escape. [[spoiler:By the time they are meant to get married, Suletta fully embraces the idea and Miorine visibly struggles to carry out her plan to [[BreakHisHeartToSaveHim drive Suletta away for her own good]] when she hears how enthusiastic Suletta is about their wedding.]]

* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler:By episode 6, the show kills off Elan #4 despite being promoted as one of the main characters. However, this is subverted as the show goes on when despite killing off some of the major characters such as Vim Jeturk, Sophie, Feng Jun, and Norea, none of the main cast died and all of them managed to make it out alive in the ending.]]

* BookEnds: The first and last episode of the first cour end [[spoiler:with a shot of the Aerial kneeling. However, Miorine's attitude towards Suletta is the complete opposite between the two.]]

* CerebusSyndrome: Apart from the Prologue, the series starts as a fairly lighthearted high school series with a sci-fi spin with some darker underpinnings sprinkled about. In the second cour, those dark themes break to the surface and the high school events become more and more sporadic as the familiar Gundam trappings take center stage.

* CosmicDeadline: It has been noted that the show moved at a very slow pace during the first cour before then shifting to a breakneck pace during the second with a lot of plot points being resolved very quickly and concepts ending up underexplained.

** In the last episode of the first cour, [[spoiler:Sophie destroys part of the external wall of Plant Quetta while fighting a Mobile Suit without knowing her target, Delling, was on the other side. Sophie and the rest of Dawn of Fold would later leave the place when reinforcements arrive, declaring their mission to be a failure, unawares that they did, in fact, seriously wound Delling.]]

* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:Most of the main cast survive the encounter with SAL after Miorine dissolved the Benerit Group, giving all their assets to the Earthian corporations, with Quiet Zero and the Gundams disintegrated in the data storm. In the 3-year time skip, most of the characters are living in peace as they rebuild. Even Shaddiq, who is in prison for his crimes, is satisfied with the outcome all thanks to Miorine, and accepts being the scapegoat for Quiet Zero so that Elnora can live freely with her family]].

* FourLinesAllWaiting: The series has a large cast, split into several factions. The Benerit Group, the largest organization in the setting, is made of many companies, each with their own agenda and plans to advance it, and Asticassia students are similarly split into factions based on their parent companies. And there are still other organizations that join the plot later on, like Dawn of Fold and the Space Assembly League. As a result, episodes of the second cour, which happen after the plot becomes more serious, frequently jump through a dozen of different characters and places, as each side starts moving to fulfill their goals.

* LighterAndSofter: Subverted. After a prologue episode that was just as dark as you'd expect from a ''Gundam'' series proper, the first season brings up a high school drama show with mechas and some corporate shenanigans involved, with mentions of armed conflict being demoted to the background of the setting. Then the audience is reminded that ''Witch from Mercury'' is a ''Gundam'' show by way [[spoiler:of the death of a major character in Episode 6, followed by a terrorist attack at the end of the cour that brings the background conflict to the foreground and leads to the heroine murdering a terrorist in a very bloody way.]]

** The Gundam Aerial reappears in the last 2 episodes of first season/cour, now repaired and upgraded into Gundam Aerial Rebuild after being heavily damaged in the team duel against Shaddiq's team.

** Near the end of the second cour, [[spoiler:when the Aerial/Ericht goes with Prospera in Quiet Zero, Suletta gains the Gundam Calibarn to take on her mother and sister]].

* SequelEscalation: While the 1st cour focuses on the dueling matches and school life with the space politics on the side, Episodes 11 and 12 slowly move the story out of the school and into the bigger setting where the situation on Earth is shown which includes the involvement of the terrorist group. In the 2nd cour, while the story goes back into the school setting, some of the characters are more involved with space politics with the growing Earthian-Spacian conflict affecting the school and the number of life-or-death battles increases.

* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: The series finale shows the fate of the characters three years after the end of the story.
** [[spoiler:Miorine and Suletta have gotten married. Miorine and the former Grassley House members are working together to help the Earthians affected by the Quinnharbor attacks. Suletta has decided to to build a school on Earth, taking care of her mother as she's recovering from piloting the Calibarn. Ericht, meanwhile, had gotten transferred into Suletta's keychain, from where she nags her sister and sister-in-law]].
** [[spoiler:Shaddiq remains in prison and is about to stand trial for his actions on Plant Quetta, but [[TheScapegoat he also took responsibility for Quiet Zero despite having no role in it]]]].
** [[spoiler:Elan #5 travels around the world, looking for the lake that Norea sketched on her notebook as he bemoans not hearing from her where it actually is]].
** [[spoiler:Nika leaves prison after serving her sentence for being complicit with Shaddiq's crimes, and is greeted by her friends from Earth House. Nika has also recieved certification for a job, and her friends tell her that Chuchu is working in space with Rouji]].
** [[spoiler:Guel is working together with Secelia and the real Elan Ceres in restoring the Jeturk Heavy Machinery, keeping Asticassia open, and hiring more people to work with the members of the Jeturk House. Petra is undergoing rehabilitation with prosthetic GUND legs while being supported by Lauda]].
** [[spoiler:The four Peil [=CEOs=] are in a retirement home after losing all their assets from Miorine dissolving the Benerit Group. Meanwhile, the other former members of the Benerit Group such as Delling and Sarius are in a public hearing for the Quinnharbor and Quiet Zero attacks]].

* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: The series finale shows the fate of the characters:
** [[spoiler:Miorine and Suletta are indeed married. Miorine and the former Grassley House members are working together to help out the Earthians affected by the Quinnharbor attacks. Suletta decides to build a school on Earth while taking care of her mother. Ericth is transferred from Aerial to Suletta's keychain where she nags her sister and sister-in-law]].
** [[spoiler:Shaddiq remains in prison and is currently on trial for his actions on Plant Quetta but [[TheScapegoat he also took responsibility for Quiet Zero despite having no role in it]]]].
** [[spoiler:Elan#5 travels around the world, looking for the place that Norea sketched on her notebook and bemoaning that she should have name the location]].
** [[spoiler:Nika leaves prison after serving her sentence for being complicit with Shaddiq's crimes. She's greeted by her friends from the Earth House who told her that Chuchu is working in space with Rouji]].
** [[spoiler:Guel is working together with Secelia and the real Elan Ceres in restoring the Jeturk Heavy Machinery, keeping Asticassia open, and hiring more people to work with the members of the Jeturk House. Petra is undergoing rehabilitation with the GUND legs while being supported by Lauda]].
** [[spoiler:The four Peil [=CEOs=] are in a retirement home after having lost all of their assets when Miorine dissolves the Benerit Group. Meanwhile, the other former members of the Benerit Group such as Deiling and Sarius are in a public hearing for the Quinnharbor and Quiet Zero attacks]].

* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler:By episode 6, the show kills off Elan #4 despite being promoted as one of the main characters. However, this is subverted as the show goes on when despite killing some of the major characters such as Vim Jeturk, Sophie, Feng Jun, and Norea, none of the main cast died and all of them managed to make it out alive in the ending.]]

** [[spoiler:Miorine and Suletta are indeed married. Miorine and the former Grassley House members are working together to help out the Earthians affected by the Quinnharbor attacks. Suletta decides to build a school on Earth while taking care of her mother]].
** [[spoiler:Shaddiq remains in prison and is currently on trial for his actions on Plant Quetta but he also took responsibility for Quiet Zero despite having no role in it]].
** [[spoiler:Elan#5 travels around the world, looking for the place that Norea sketched on her notebook and bemoaning that she should name the location]].
** [[spoiler:Nika leaves prison after serving her sentence for being complicit with Shaddiq's crimes. She's greeted by her friends from the Earth House]].
** [[spoiler:Guel is working together with Secelia and the real Elan Ceres in restoring the Jeturk Heavy Machinery, keeping Asticassia open, and hiring more people to with the members of the Jeturk House]].
** [[spoiler:The four Peil [=CEOs=] are in a retirement home after having lost all of their assets when Miorine dissolves the Benerit Group. Meanwhile, the other members of the group, Deiling and Sarius, are in a public hearing for the Quinnharbor and Quiet Zero attacks]].

** [[spoiler:Miorine and Suletta are indeed married. Miorine, together with the former Grassley House members, are working to help out the Earthians. Suletta decides to build a school on Earth while taking care of her mother]].

** [[spoiler:Guel is working together with Secelia and the real Elan Ceres in keeping Asticassia open and hiring more people]].