G-Witch Episode 5 Thoughts

Thoughts and impressions on G-Witch, Episode 5.

This time, the focus switches to Elan as we finally learn what his deal is, as well as more scheming from Prospera and fun moments with the main cast.

Elan Is So Messed Up

The biggest development of the episode is the reveal that Elan is some kind of enhanced human engineered by the Pell company to pilot GUND tech. After he realizes that Suletta and the Aerial aren’t affected by the Permet the same way he is, he makes a very sharp turn against her and ends up becoming the main antagonistic force in the rest of the episode. This contextualizes why he was trying to get closer to Suletta as well as why he came across as very distant and almost creepy with how he was observing her. Knowing that he’s an almost literal lab tool of Pell makes him wanting to find someone else like him a bit more understandable, though not wholly sympathetic given how off-kilter and cruel he was to her.

While he’s still following Pell’s orders, probably because they hold some key to actually keeping him alive, he seems indifferent to their orders at best and still has enough of a personal angle that I can see him openly defying them in the future if it means him trying to lift his “curse.” It’s also noteworthy that he’s the only one of the main five who doesn’t have any familial connection at all. Given how hostile he became to Suletta and his new goal of stealing her Gundam through the duel, I don’t think it’s likely that he’ll join with her anytime soon. In that sense, I thought it was good to see Suletta fail at softening someone over for once so far even if the episode doesn’t explore than angle as much in the second half.

On a minor note, I’m still unsure if Elan is an artificial/cloned human, or if he just an enhanced human who got a personality/mind configuration. He implies that he doesn’t really have a birthday, and his comment asking Suletta “borrowed the face of another as well” makes me suspect he’s a lab-grown human, but it’s still unclear considering that the tech in the Prologue was mostly around enhancements.  I’ve noticed that tons of Japanese translated shows are very sloppy with distinguishing things like cyborgs, artificial humans, or enhanced humans, so I don’t know if this is intentional ambiguity or just imprecision with CR’s subs.

Suletta’s Date Time

Suletta got to check off another goal on her wish list, even if the result wasn’t what she was hoping for. Aside from the harsh ending, her meeting with Elan was going well enough beforehand, as she got to open up a bit more to someone else outside of Miorine and mostly kept herself together, although Elan giving her a creepy stare understandably sent her into a funny panic. We also got to see her finally relax with more members of the Earth House, and she already seems to acclimate quickly.

She also makes another call back to her mother where she asks for guidance regarding her planned date and gets reassured by her. They both still share the strongest parental bond so far, again reinforcing the move forward philosophy and showing Suletta much more at ease in a conversation. She chooses to take the phone call inside the Aerial, which also reinforces her personal connection to it as the place she feels most comfortable. It’s still a relief that Prospera does care about Suletta and is genuinely kind with her, but I’m still waiting for the inevitable either betrayal or moment where Suletta distrusts her over all the scheming that’s gone on behind her.

 Curiously, she says that she was told her father died when she was young, which confirms that she isn’t aware of the full details of the station attack. Whether that means she doesn’t know anything about it or was only selectively mislead is yet to be seen. Another notable thing is that, when asked by Elan, she considers the Aerial a close friend first before she calls is “almost” like family to her. Considering that she also didn’t refer to the Aerial as her sister in the fortune-telling scene earlier, I wonder if that’s more so due to her shyness about thinking it’s a family member or if the attachment isn’t quite as deep.

Also, I like that she’s almost completely unafraid of Guel at this point and both stands up to him trying to keep Elan away on her behalf and corrects directly with a look of annoyance when he says that the Three Branches are her enemies. She still isn’t too assertive in some of these personal situations, but she’s also grown a lot from how she handled them in the initial episode.

Guel the White Knight

Guell is still far from getting redeemed, but already he shows that he has some lingering concerns for Suletta despite his attempts to backpedal after his humiliating duel loss to her. As soon as he realized she was with Elan, he instantly dropped his gym workout and sped off to her rescue without hesitating. He even seemed almost ready to kill Elan once he saw how hurt Suletta was. Some of that could still be some lingering jealously, but this is also the first time he shows compassion for someone besides his brother. Even when Suletta corrects his attempt to defend her in the duel meeting, he doesn’t lash out and just takes it. It’s gradual, but he is showing more heroic qualities.

Too bad for him that he just keeps getting outclassed by all the new tech flying around in the duels. He tried his best against Elan, but it seems he can’t compete the GUND tech that he and Suletta used. I wonder if this may lead him towards getting the modifications to his body to use it, but it seems like he’ll try to stick with his natural skill given his feelings in episode three. Either way, while his defeats make sense and fulfill a reasonable narrative purpose, I’m almost feeling bad for that fact that he keeps on losing.

Even before his loss, I also like the implication that most of the school kids, like the Earth House girls, think Elan is just a cool stoic loner, but all of the company-involved people like Guel and Miorine know there's something worse to it. He didn’t seem to disdain Elan quite as much before now, but that’s probably because his behavior didn’t affect him or anyone he cared about too much before now.

Prospera the Player

Prospera was up to yet more scheming, and she either has some kind of leverage or history with Pell as well as Jeturk given how she met with the Pell scientist lady near the end. She is slowly assembling a network of companies that could stand up to Delling’s control of Cathedra, although whether this is for simple revenge or something more is still unknown. Regardless, she apparently has a history with the scientist, though whether this is from the station or her time on Mercury is uncertain since I didn’t recognize her as someone from the Prologue. This plus the scenes with Pell were very well-integrated into the plot of the episode, providing a few more revelations about the ongoing tech developments and how the students, even when they think they’re independent, are still playing into the hands of the adults.

She also refers to Elan as another witch, which not only suggests that she lied to Suletta about her not being one, but that the GUND technology is being developed by both Shin Sei and Pell if not other companies. This still doesn’t answer the extent to which Suletta was modified, but the GUND tech is still operating in the shadows for now and is still scorned based on the meeting with Delling in episode two. Considering how much of a stink Cathedra made about the Aerial using GUND technology then, I’m surprised the duel here went on for a while considering Elan used tech so obvious that Prospera could recognize it, which I hope the next episode will address.

Another Duel

Due to Guel’s interference, we get a matchup between him and Elan, who gets the chance to test out the Pharact for the Pell corporation. The duel was mostly fine, but it was easily the least engaging of the ones presented so far. Gundam shows often have some of their space battles feeling more weightless and much less tangible. Despite having the moon as a battle arena, this fell into a couple of those same pitfalls with both MS mostly just zipping around each other. Elan mostly stuck to taking potshots at Guel from a distance while gliding through the air, and even the bits with the static electricity didn’t ultimately affect things all that much. Still, Guel got some inventive uses with his axe and showed a bit more tactical thinking even if he still came up short.

I think the duel’s pacing in the episode was a bit off considering that it’s mostly focused on Guel against Elan without much comment from Suletta until the ending. Despite the wager made, it lacks the same tangible stakes that the prior two duels had even if we’re still rooting for Guel and Suletta by extension. There’s a couple of pauses for some of the dueling committee people to explain some tactics, but I feel like that time could’ve been better spent with the Earth Group reacting more, considering Suletta is focused for most of the first half but then doesn’t have as much to do in the second until the duel is over.

While it worked to set up Suletta having to face off Elan, I’m also more confused as to how the rules of duel wagering work. Guel wagers Elan to never interact with Suletta again, which she rightfully calls out as not his call to make, but all Shaddiq says is that she can challenge that result by dueling him. Elan also saying his stake is that if he wins, Suletta duels him, also seems like an odd thing to allow if her only way of getting out is for her to duel, so Elan would get his wish either way. Then again, the unsaid part of the whole thing is that they’re treating Suletta like the wager object, which is funny in a dark way but also seems like an odd allowance under the dueling rules. How does someone reject just getting caught in the middle of these things, if they can at all?

I’m also slightly concerned that the duels could intrude on the show as it goes along. So far, they’ve managed to give them enough stakes, and setting up Suletta against Elan for the next one also ties in directly with the company plotline. I appreciate show has eschewed the more low-stakes weekly skirmishes that sometimes dragged some of the other Gundam shows down and allowed for more character moments in the episodes. However, the amount of mechs that still haven’t showed up despite their sale listings makes me wary that they’ll shoehorn in some duels in worse spots going forwards.

Miscellany

• I’m surprised the two Jeturk posse girls still stick with Guel considering how quickly he embarrassed himself to the entire school twice now, but I’m all for having two bumbling mischievous sidekicks. Their nervous reaction to him hearing the news about the date was amusing.
• The opening mecha duel was also okay, but that dust was sure covering up a lot of the less smooth moments. It was at least refreshing to see a different colored environment in the arena, even if it was brown. I’m also kinda hoping they have some wild sci-fi or fantastical one stored in there, just for fun. If the show’s premise lets them have a full changing battle arena, why not go all out with it?
• Was kinda hoping for more slumber party shenanigans with Suletta Earth house, but it was at least nice for Suletta to finally relax with other people presides Miorine.
• Chu-Chu calling Miorine too mean-spirited is quite something considering she’s so dismissive of almost everything about the school, especially the duels. I almost want to see them directly interact more and see who can get more pissed at the world.
• I guess Miorine just gets to hang out with the Earth House as Suletta’s tentative groom, although she didn’t join them for the little slumber party discussion.
• Also, I was not expecting Miorine to say something as dark as “don’t you dare go all Romeo and Juliet on me!” to Suletta. Again, her concerns are laced with some jealousy but still end up being mostly proven right in the end. Her also blazing in on the scooter and doing a 360 was also strangely amusing.
• Elan is reading The World as Will and Representation before his date with Suletta. That seems like a way too specific book to just be a throwaway joke, but it’s also darkly funny considering how he perceives his own existence as a person.
• I’ve seen some comparisons to Elan as a cyber-newtype, so I hope the show can explore enough new angles of this kind of made-for-piloting enhancement that won’t tread on old ground.
• Nika didn’t have as much to do this time, but she did get a good moment where she looked starstruck by the Aerial. The Earth House supporting cast also were also enjoyable, from the one guy making horrific bets on the duels to the pigtailed girl trying to press Suletta on her romantic interests.
• Confused Suletta Ending Count: 4.5. While no flabbergasted reaction this time, she still got some shock when Elan said he’d take the Aerial if she loses.
• NEW! Guel Getting Jobbed Count: 3. I wonder how many losses it will take before everyone at the school starts roasting him.

Final Thoughts

A decent episode advancing both the corporate plotline and furthering the characters at the school, though not quite as solid as the previous ones. Aside from a mostly unremarkable mecha battle that felt a bit misplaced, Elan taking a more antagonistic role was a surprise development, and the other members of the cast are taking fun turns. While I have some concerns about how the show will place its future battles, the corporate politics has remained remarkably non-intrusive and even complementary with the rest of the school narrative, with the stakes ramping up even more.