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At this point, it is now clear that Witch From Mercury will not follow the footsteps of its predecessors, at least for the time being. While previous series focus on war and violence, WfM takes us into the world of mega corporations and industries.

And this episode tackled that, while adding some much needed character development for Miorine. Ever since the first episode, she has been reduced to a supporting character, so it is refreshing to finally see her back in the spotlight.


The Incubation Party

Episode 7 gave us some interesting worldbuilding that tied seamlessly to the plot. The first few minutes deal with the aftermath of last episode’s tragic ending, and as expected, Fake Elan never got to meet Suletta anymore. Indeed, we can sadly presume that he is dead, perhaps worse, and there is little chance that we and Suletta would see him.

Nevertheless, Suletta’s main positive trait is her stubbornness, and while Miorine finds it annoying, her affection for her groom is strong—strong enough to let her attend an incubation party for the largest companies in space, where Elan will surely appear.

Suletta, all grown up and pretty

There are some interesting scenes here, both sweet and intriguing. Shaddiq, for the first time, got an increased screen time rather than being a mere observer, and it seems he and Nika shared some kind of relationship. Meanwhile, Suletta was finally reunited with Elan, or rather, the real one.

Shaddiq and Nika

Their interaction is sweet and bittersweet at the same. It is obvious to us viewers that this Elan is vastly different than his doppelgänger; he is cool, suave, and silver-tongued. But despite this, Suletta remains oblivious, thinking that Elan has simply started to open up to her.

The Real Elan

Shadiqq has also started to view Suletta differently, especially after her fight with Elan. Unsurprisingly, Guel is not invited to the party, though it would have certainly add another flavor to this episode if he was.

In any case, the most interesting character interaction is between Miorine and her future mother-in-law, Prospera. Suletta’s mother somehow gave off that antagonistic vibe toward Miorine, and we’ve probably seen a hint of her true personality behind her figurative mask. Nonetheless, her observations and opinion of Miorine were accurate, and it obviously affected the daughter of her sworn enemy.

Prospera giving her future in-law some much needed advice

But the thing is, we know that Miorine needed to hear these words. In fact, this was the catalyst that sets her on a path that we viewers never saw coming.


It is a Gundam!

With the reveal that the Pharact is another Gundam, it was no surprise that other people would jump at the opportunity and use it to further their own agenda.

Enter the Jeturk family, whose reputation has been tarnished ever since Suletta arrived at the school. Vim, Guel’s father, was particularly vindictive toward the Mercurian, and it was here that we got to see how far he would go for vengeance.

Interestingly, the executives of Peil Technologies are willing to work with him just so they could get away with building a Gundam, even without Elan’s knowledge. And the way they set the trap for Suletta spoke much about Vim’s cunning mind: by fully revealing that Aerial is a Gundam.

In hindsight, this is only to be expected after the duel, but it was really frustrating to see an innocent like Suletta being caught in Vim’s vindictiveness, especially when Suletta had finally overcame her shyness, at least for a while. And at first, there’s that dread that she would lose this battle.

Suletta in the spotlight

Thankfully, her bride was there to save the day.


A New Company

Miorine was arguably the highlight of the second half of this episode. All throughout the series, we saw her having this sense of pride and a touch of arrogance, though those flaws were obscured by her more positive traits.

But in this episode, we saw a new side of her that was born from her conversation with Prospera: humility. And maybe it’s been there before and it just needed a catalyst, but regardless, her character further developed here.

As the daughter of a business magnate, Miorine naturally knew the ins and outs of the corporate world, as hinted at the start of this episode. And here we finally saw her using that knowledge to help Suletta while proving to her father that she is a very capable individual.

By purchasing Peil Technologies and Shin Sei’s development teams, and merging them into a new company: Gund-Arm Inc. A company that will focus on developing and researching the GUND Format while still ensuring safety.

Sadly, the business world is not easy to navigate. Investors, obviously, are far too careful and wary, especially for a tech involving huge risks. But for Suletta, Miorine finally did what she needed to do. That is, shed her pride and ask her father to invest in her start up company.

And the scene speaks for itself while giving us insight on Delling’s character. While he indeed hated the GUND Format, and Gundams in general, he is still a businessman. He is still a father as well, and despite his warning, he sees the determination in Miorine, and maybe even the potential in her business, to give a small investment in her company.

As expected, this is just the start, and the other investors soon follow the example.

The birth of a new company

Conclusion

This episode focused more on character interactions and character development, which was a nice change of pace from episode 6’s dark and somber mood. But more than that, we can already see a bit of the path the show is heading to, at least for this cour. Of course, this is still Gundam, so we should expect some clever and unexpected twists lurking around the corner, especially now that Aerial is revealed to be a Gundam to the world.

Episode score: 8/10

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