Cellular Swimsuit Gundam’s practically 50-yr historical past exists partially down to 2 issues: creator Yoshiyuki Tomino has lengthy professed that it’s feminine followers who stored curiosity within the cancelled authentic collection robust, whereas in fact the evolution of Gunpla mannequin kits likewise helped remodel what might’ve been a one-off into an anime juggernaut. So what occurs whenever you mix the 2? An excellent yr for Gundam.
Bandai Namco launched its yearly earnings reviews for the top of FY2023, and revealed that the Gundam franchise delivered a record-high of 131.3 billion yen among the many group’s main subsidiaries—bested solely by the long-lasting Dragonball franchise, however in any other case dwarfing the remainder of the businesses’ main manufacturers, together with the likes of Ultraman, Tremendous Sentai, Kamen Rider, and extra.
It’s a excessive Gundam, already a largely common collection, has not seen in current reminiscence, and it’s one which is smart. That is the primary yr since 2016 that there was a mainline Gundam anime collection broadcasting, so curiosity within the broader collection has been bolstered—and that’s even earlier than you get to Witch From Mercury’s typically robust important reception. After which, in fact, there’s the mannequin kits, which have stored tempo with the airing of the collection with common releases, and so they’re additionally a number of the strongest mannequin kits in Gundam’s 1/144-scaled “Excessive Grade” line Bandai has ever made.
Curiosity within the collection and the standard of the fashions themselves has meant Witch From Mercury units have often offered out virtually instantly each in Japan and abroad—in an interview for Bandai’s inside publication final March, president Masaru Kawaguchi even particularly famous that the package for the collection’ first major Gundam, the Aerial, has been one among Bandai’s highest-selling mannequin kits because it launched late final yr, and has remained in excessive demand even because the collection has self has moved on to an upgraded model of the Aerial’s base design, the Aerial Rebuild, as its major mecha.
There’s loads of causes that issue into Gundam’s runaway success with Witch From Mercury, nevertheless it’s troublesome to not put a minimum of some give attention to the introduction of the franchise’s first-ever major feminine protagonist in Suletta Mercury. And to go a step additional, making a driving side of the collection’ story Suletta’s shut, romantically intertwined relationship with one other feminine character, Miorine Rembran, has garnered the collection much more curiosity because the franchise begins to discover what could possibly be one among its first main, explicitly queer relationships in its half-decade historical past.
Witch From Mercury has but to be confirmed to run greater than 24 episodes, launched throughout two seasons, the latter of which is at the moment nonetheless airing. But when it’s delivered Gundam to highs its by no means seen earlier than, there’s in all probability a very good likelihood the top of season two won’t be the final time we see Suletta, Miorine, and their buddies. Except somebody will get splatted earlier than then, in fact.
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