When Mobile Suit Gundam: The Mercury Witch finished earlier this yearit did so by taking a step forward in the history of the franchise that few other series have had the chance to make explicit in their own history. queer love reviews. But after the parent company Bandai pushed back on what was, in the series, a textual statement, the series’ own director pushed back in turn to remind us: these women are marrieddamn it.
Hiroshi Kobayashi, a director who worked on both seasons of Mercury Witchmade the comments in a booklet included in the final volume of the Japanese Blu-ray release of the series.
Kobayashi’s comments, discussing creating the epilogue for the series’ final episode (via Automat media) explicitly describes that the events between the series’ conclusion and the epilogue see Suletta and Miorine marry. “I knew I was going to do an epilogue, but it took me a while to decide on the exact number of years that should pass in between,” Kobayashi explains. “The end itself follows (Shakespeare’s play) Stormand depicts Suletta and Miorine marrying and becoming partners.
Again, it must be said that this is very clear in the episode itself, and not in any potential interpretation of the subtext. In the epilogue, Miorine is directly referred to as a sister-in-law by Suletta’s sister Eri, and when Suletta and Miorine reunite in the final moments of the scene, shiny silver bands on their respective ring fingers are highlighted by a shimmering shine. to bring them to the attention of the public. They are intimate and close to each other in their presence, discuss their future together, and conclude the series by going to their house together. It takes a awful a lot of bad faith to misinterpret the intention of the scene.
And yet, that’s what makes Kobayashi’s comment, in an officially released product, so important, because Sunrise’s (née Bandai Namco Filmworks) owners, Bandai, have already tried to misinterpret that intention. A comment during an interview in the July 2023 issue of Gundam Ace by Suletta’s voice actress Kana Ichinose, where she referred to Suletta and Miorine as married, was removed from later prints and a digital transcription of the interview after it was released at the request of Bandai. At the time, the company described the language used as “based on speculation from Gundam Ace editor’ rather than an endorsement of the series’ own text.
“We would like you to enjoy the work leaving it to each of you who has seen the main story (of Mercury Witch),” A statement released by Bandai, apologizing for the need to correct the issue posted at the time, concluded in part. The controversy sparked a wave of negative reactions from Mercury Witch fans from Japan and around the world, who flocked to the social media hashtag “#スレミオ結婚” or “Sulemio Wedding”, referring to the name of the couple’s ship, and saw this decision as an attempt to censor any official recognition of what is, for now, GundamThe most memorable queer love story in the franchise’s four-and-a-half-decade history.
There is, somehow, still a chance that Bandai could push back on even that, simply because these comments from Kobayashi are included in the official Blu-ray release of Mercury Witch does not necessarily protect them against any modification after the fact during future printings. After all, Gundam Ace is an official license Gundam magazine, and the summer’s controversy shows that Bandai was, at least at the time, willing to submit to this type of censorship, and might be willing to do so again.
Hopefully the fact that these comments were published following this premiere Gundam Ace The controversy indicates that Bandai has actually listened to the response to its attempts to downplay what remains a historic milestone for Gundam-a moment that helped, as the company had always hoped with Mercury Witch of when it was announcedreduce the franchise to one success and notoriety It’s been a long time since we’ve seen one at home and abroad.
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