G-Witch Episode Two Thoughts

 Thoughts and impressions of G-Witch, Episode Two.

This second episode was more mellow than the last one, but it had a lot riding from how the last one ended. How do things shake up in this dialogue-heavy follow up?

Miorine Takes the Lead

Whereas the previous episode mostly focused on Suletta, Miorine was the focus this time around, putting the conflict with her father at the center. While she mostly came across as aloof and dismissive last time, here we get to see her show more genuine concern for Suletta as well as more confidently stand up to her father. At first, I was surprised that she tried to pass off the groom thing as a joke, but it slowly dawns on her that she can’t leave Suletta behind trapped in a cell and she passes off her guaranteed chance to get home. That said, she still got to show off her fun side with her smugly commanding the clique girls to fix her home and her rage-gaming while sitting on the potty.

Even though the two clique girls briefly mention it, I really liked that Miorine decided to go back without some explicit, "Oh no, I'm acting just like my father" thing. Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but I took it as her recognizing that for all she hates about him not consulting her and using her as a pawn, she basically did the exact same thing to Suletta and was about to ditch her. Suletta also seemed to bring out more confidence in her with the “to steps forward” thing, so I hope the two of them mutually bring out the best in each other.

I also want to credit her actress Lynn, since she does a really good job at selling her surprise and frustration throughout the episode, especially the scene where she finds out her father wants to send her away from the school.

Judging that the next episode is called “Juel’s Pride,” I wonder if they’ll mostly focus the episodes on each member of the main cast, or more so between Suletta and Miorine from how they’re framed in the opening.

Suletta’s Rough First Day

Poor Suletta got almost crushed by a robot, confronted a bully clique, and got romantically bamboozled were all an episode one, and now she gets instantly arrested, interrogated, and clamped alone in a cell on her first day of school. While she stays sidelined in the cell for most of the episode and doesn’t do as much, she gets a few good moments like Elan giving her food and her crying with a mix of joy and sadness. And then on top of that, Miorine barges in and says she has to duel, or the Aerial will be destroyed. I feel like she really just needs a good hug as soon as all of this is over.

This again makes me wonder how much prep her mother and the Mercury people really gave her, especially since they had to have known that her waltzing in with something like the Gundam would draw a lot of attention. But from the way Prospera seemed prepared at the board meeting, I’m beginning to think this may be intentional and that Suletta is getting used.

A Few Visual Cracks

As someone who’s mostly watched anime before the seasonal boom, I’m not overly concerned with every episode looking like a blockbuster or obsessing over “movement,” but there were a few odd blemishes here that kinda took me out of things. The interrogation scene was the first one that stood out, as the cut from Suletta to the interrogator looked off since the background was the same and the perspective with the tablet was a bit disjointed.

While I mostly liked the scene of Elan seeing Suletta in her cell, it was a very bizarre choice to mostly hold on a still of his face for so long as she was very audibly crying. Something like that should’ve been the high dramatic point of the scene, but it’s mostly unseen. These are minor points for an overall solid episode, but I still have some concerns about how well the series will avoid further production issues.

Lady Prospera’s Big Entrance

This episode introduces Lady Prospera to the main Cathedra leadership, already adding a new player in the growing corporate space-politics games and giving Mercury a good presentation to advance their standing with the not-Gundam and drone tech. While she intentionally seems sly against the board, she also doesn’t exactly seem on Suletta’s side, since she seemed much more focused on the Aerial than anything to do with her. She also seems to have connections to Vim Jeturk, who has obvious aspirations to take out Delling.

I was hoping we get more complicated antagonist dynamics, so having her as this almost third party is very promising, and the mystery around who exactly she is working for or with can have some fun twists. The fact that Lady Prospera’s actress is the same as Elnora’s seems like they’re pointing to that as the main revelation, I kind of hope they don’t go that route, or at least have a bit more of a twist to it. Most of the touted “Char clones” across the Gundam shows aren’t really like him save having a face mask, but I hope this is a Gundam trope they’re able to do something new with.

Setting Up the Status Quo

The climax being set in the board room worked better than I had thought it would, but the important part is that it seems to be setting up a rough status quo for the remaining episodes where Suletta and the Aerial get to stay at the school, but they’ll very carefully monitor its performance and tech as she’s tested against others. This seems like a decent enough way to have the school shenanigans, giant robot fights, and corporate politics all fit together in episodes, and the threat of other companies gaining on them ensures that there’s enough stakes to push things forward. I’m not sure which of those three they’ll lean on the most for the episodes, but I hope that we get enough school events that aren’t too overshadowed by the corporate stuff.

While it’s normal for most Gundam shows to have a more connected and shifting set of first episodes, I hope they can settle into a less frenetic status quo soon enough, at least so we can get some parts more focused on the school and the other students. Most of the main student cast have been separate from each other, which makes sense story-wise, but I really want to see them all interact and bounce off each other in the school setting.

The fact that the show is doing a 13-13 episode split for now seems like it will avoid the wheel-spinning most Gundam shows run into at some point, but I also want enough time to get settled in this environment and cast without feeling like it’s barreling towards a season ending climax.

Miscellany

• Someone else pointed out to me that the space toilet has a goofy little diagram on the top right, which is both nice worldbuilding and also kinda funny.
• Now that they’re finally here, I love the opening visuals focusing on lighter school hijinks for the first part and then showing cool robot stuff near the end, as well as a lot of pretty looking cast and space shots. The closing shot of the space station also looks suitably large and well-composited as a CG model. They also really lay into the connection between Suletta and Miorine, which seems like a sign that they won’t back down on the romantic angle, but we’ll see.
• I was skeptical of the OP song from its use in the trailer, but it’s grown so much on me and is now one of my favorite Gundam openings so far. The ED song seemed a little herky-jerk, but is still solid, if a bit less catchy.
• The ending song isn’t as catchy as the opening, but the crystalline visuals are still neat, and I adore the soft sketches of the Aerial and of Suletta and Miorine.
• I imagine setting the climax in that long conference room certainly helped on the art side of things this time around.
• Elan has his own agenda different from everyone else, but he comes across creepy when he comes into Suletta's cell and talks about his interest in her, even though he gave her food. Intentional or not, I'm already worried that he might come across as a bit too unsettling for one of the main cast members.
• Nika continues to be an absolute champ. I haven’t dwelled on her scenes too much, but I like how she maintains a positive and calm attitude even when she’s had to deal with so much frustration. I hope she gets a chance to do even more.
• This is the second episode in a row that ends with Miorine leaving Suletta dumbfounded. While I know they can’t keep that up the whole series, a part of me wants to see them try.
• That post-credits teaser of the red mecha at the end looked cool enough, but I feel like it’s a bit too disconnected from everything else, like it could’ve been slotted into any episode. 

Final Thoughts

A solid build-up episode that resolves and expands some of the threads set up last episode, as well as giving Miorine a chance to shine. Though episode three will probably have to serve as the conclusion for at least the intro part, I'm hoping the show will give time for some of these plot strands to develop even more without feeling too frantic.