How Bad Is The "Gundam: The Witch from Mercury"?

"Gundam: The Witch from Mercury" is a Japanese mecha anime television series and the fifteenth mainline entry in Sunrise's long-running Gundam franchise. The series is directed by both Hiroshi Kobayashi and Ryō Andō and written by Ichirō Ōkouchi, and aired from October 2022 to July 2023.

It was set in a world where numerous companies have advanced into space and constitute a huge economic zone, the story concerns the Mobile Suits known as "GUND-ARMS" ("Gundams" for short), weapons that were developed out of diverted health technology "GUND" which compensates for physical disabilities caused by living in space.

The series has now ended with 24 episodes. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a disappointment overall. The writing quality declined sharply, and it did not live up to the promise shown in earlier episodes.

It is another series that started out strong during the first season but ended in a mess. The writers attempted to cram every single cool idea and theme they had into only 24 episodes. The result was predictable: plot points never followed up, character derailment, two-dimensional villain, undoing their own message, poor world-building. "Bad fanfic" is probably the most accurate description here.

Usually, there were lenty of scripts, movies and novels have entire sections and subplots removed from the first drafts. The final product will only contain a fraction of the content, but it should be the best and most relevant content. This is absolutely necessary, to maintain the pace of story progression, avoid irrelevant digressions, and finish the main plot within the allocated time (or number of pages).

With the "Gundam: The Witch From Mercury", this principle was basically ignored and every single cool idea and theme was thrown in.

Some viewers find it hard to follow, with unclear factions, ignored plot points, and a lack of character development. While it's been praised for its visual style and unique approach to Gundam, many feel it ultimately fails to deliver a satisfying or coherent story.

Most of the dropped "bombshells" were never followed up, including:

• Miorine’s mother Notrette and her reason for creating Quiet Zero: At a time when Eri/Aerial was not known to exist, how was Quiet Zero supposed to work? What was its purpose? Why would a botanist like Notrette want to create something like this? "This was Notrette’s idea" feels like it’s just to give Miorine and Delling Rembran an excuse to be involved.
• Olcott being ex-Dominicus: He then disappears from the plot entirely. No confrontation with Kenanji and Dominicus. In fact, both Dawn Of Fold and Dominicus also disappear from the plot entirely.
• Ochs Earth still operational: After dropping this significant bombshell, whether any of Prospera or Belmeria’s old comrades are still alive, is never brought up. Other than a brief reaction from Prospera/Belmeria, Ochs Earth also disappears from the plot entirely.
• Space Assembly League: Why the roundabout funding of Ochs Earth / Dawn Of Fold, if they have the military forces to confront Benerit directly?
• Shaddiq’s past: His nickname of "Prince" was before his adoption by Sarius and admission to Asticassia, not just a codename used by Dawn Of Fold. What was he doing before, and how did he get involved with Dawn Of Fold? For someone who is clearly supposed to be a Char Aznable type (scheming yet charming) he's really underdeveloped.
• Campaign for Benerit Group’s new president: A lot of things were connected to this – Miorine went back to Guel to get his support for her bid, Peil-Grassley alliance etc. This plot thread is conveniently resolved offscreen without even a voting scene. Where’s the politicking and scheming? Burion is completely absent, which is strange given their increased screen time later on.