How Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Makes Anime History
"Mobile Suit Gundam" has had the kind of shelf life that most anime properties can only dream of. First premiering all the way back in 1979, the franchise is still going strong today with new series, remakes, and feature film adaptations of its source material. Part of this success might be because the hit shonen series is one of the few anime not based on a manga — meaning viewers couldn't get ahead of the story by going to the source.
Set in an alternate reality, "Mobile Suit Gundam" sees the Earth Federation at war with The Principality of Zeon. As the two sides vie for power and influence, robotic battle suits called Gundams begin to turn the tide and become pivotal in the conflict. While there have been a combined amount of nearly 50 films and series in the franchise (via CBR), there's one thing that sets the latest effort, "Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury," apart from all the rest.
The Witch from Mercury features the first female protagonist
"Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury" will be the first anime in the long-running "Mobile Suit Gundam" series to feature a female protagonist (via Crunchyroll). As mentioned above, the series has been around for over 40 years and has gone through countless iterations, making it particularly surprising that the franchise has gone this long without a woman as the central character. Part of this is no doubt due to the fact that shonen anime are targeted mainly at young men, meaning most protagonists are also young men.
Either way, "Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury" will follow Suletta Mercury (Kana Ichinose) as she transfers to the Asticassia School of Technology. The school is run by the Beneritt Group, a company that has a stranglehold on the Gundam development industry. Likely this will lead to conflicts of interest, since the company that owns the school will be making business decisions that Suletta can't morally support — even though she is a student.
Regardless, "Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury" will be airing on Crunchyroll throughout the fall anime season and will hopefully give female fans of the franchise a central character that they can finally relate to.