Gundam: the Witch from Mercury is the Gayest Thing I've Seen in Years and No One Even Kissed

On July 2, 2023, I watched the gayest finale of an anime in several years. After weeks of watching mecha fights in a perpetual state of confusion, of fervently praying that no more gays die after the prologue of this show, two days ago I watched the finale of Gundam: the Witch from Mercury and became so embarrassingly emotional that I still smile spontaneously when I think about it.

(If this looks familiar, you are not imagining things, trust me. This is purposeful)

Gundam: The Witch from Mercury is a show of loss, triumph, trauma, and love. In a world where fear rules and controls, where late-stage capitalism reaches its final oligarchal form, the rebellion manifests as radical, queer love. Found families and literal gay marriage abound in a show about samurai robots fighting each other with mech swords. Yeah, it's gonna be one of those posts.

For the sake of transparency, I am the last person you should get any information on about the Gundam series. I did not follow the series before this show aired and I probably never will. The last mecha show I watched was Evangelion when someone tricked me into watching it, so that should tell you more than enough about what I know about this genre of anime. Spoilers for WfM ahead.

The anime I watch is far more specific. I tend to watch yuri anime.

For those uninitiated, yuri (also known as "shoujo-ai" and, more recently, Girls' Love) is a Japanese manga and anime genre where two girls are romantically involved at some point in the story. I say "girls" because this genre of anime does not usually acknowledge women over the age of 20.

The term "yuri" has always been contentious, primarily because, just as there is "queerbait" there is "yuribait": shows that perform romantic chemistry between two female characters only to either A) have them remain subtext (arguably, the best case scenario), B) pair one or both of them off with male characters, or C) straight-up kill them.

Now, despite the main characters, Suletta and Miorine, literally getting engaged to each other RGU-style, these three scenarios were still a dire threat at the beginning. Suletta and Miorine got engaged due to political purposes. Miorine is being pursued by at least two extremely attractive male suitors. Suletta has a thing for a character whose name very unfortunately rhymes with Elon.

However, as the show continued to air, scenario B began to look less and less likely. Miorine never once shows interest in the men pursuing her. Suletta’s tentative boyfriend is…replaced (it’s a whole thing, okay, just watch the show for context). The one male suitor who was engaged to Miorine prior moves on to Suletta who also ends up rejecting him. Twice. Suletta constantly fights to keep Miorine as her fiancee and openly dreams of wearing beautiful dresses with her on their wedding day in season 2. It’s made pretty clear that Suletta and Miorine's relationship moves beyond political or platonic boundaries.

Some might say that they are just “Gal Pals” at this point and, sadly, they have the potential to be right here. Remember when Lena Luthor from Supergirl had her whole villain origin story of literally taking over the world stem from her best friend lying to her? Or when Emma and Regina shared and fought over their son as most platonic besties do? The “Gal Palification” (yeah, I’m academizing this term now) of what are otherwise straight signifiers of romance is not uncommon in media, especially if there is a rabid queer fanbase to give execs an excuse to string along their fans. Press F to pay respects to our slain Luthor Corp and Swan Queen brethren in the chat.

What I’m getting at is that all these clear indications of romance between Miorine and Suletta can be (and have been) misinterpreted as them having a “strong female friendship”. And, again, this is a show where the C scenario is still a very possible outcome.

I didn’t dwell on this too much, but the series of Gundam can get dark as fuck. If it wasn’t clear when I talked about Ketchup-gate, this show can depict gratuitous violence and death. War crimes and child death are not uncommon in Gundam shows. Miorine and Suletta could very well die before we got to see their wedding.

And here’s the kicker: they don’t die.

In fact, a good chunk of the cast lives. Not even the main antagonists, Suletta’s mom and her already dead “sister” (again, it’s a long story), get to live! It is one of the most radically-kind endings I’ve seen in a show that started so dark. From genocide to “everybody lives”.

Was the ending clumsy and rushed? Yes, absolutely. Was the ending also revolutionary? Absolutely.

Because not only does everyone get to live, but Miorine and Suletta become cottagecore lesbians. MARRIED cottagecore lesbians.

When I say I was screaming and crying. Like, you just don’t get it, you don’t understand. This is so fucking huge. This is the gayest ending to an anime I have seen in a very long while.

Before I piss off one of the three people reading this, I would like to point out that this is all a matter of opinion. Yes, I have seen anime where the two girls declare their love for each other and kiss. I have seen two girls on top of a car burst out of a patriarchal misogynist while naked and make out as they ride into the sunset. How, you may ask, can a show get any gayer than any of those things?

Two words: domestic bliss.

I’m one of the least romantic motherfuckers you’ll ever find. I don’t believe in the institution of marriage and I would rather eat nails than live in the countryside where there are bugs that could drain me of all my lifeblood overnight. Why do these two married girls living in the cottage matter so much to me? Why do I get choked up thinking about their stupid faces when they cuddle next to each other on the gentle slope of a rolling hill, their wedding bands gleaming in the waning light of the afternoon sun?

Because it holds weight. It holds meaning. Suletta and Miorine went through so much shit together. They suffered and gained and lost and gained back. When Suletta almost dies saving her friends and you see panic shatter Miorine’s face when she sees her fiancée’s sacrifice, you know that these two have fought tooth and nail for this ending of living in the countryside with the in-laws. They fought hard to get married, to live together, to love each other freely.

Two more important things to consider is that, firstly, Gundam is a 40-year-old series where all the shows up until this point depicted a heterosexual romance. Let it sink in that a series this old and with so much cultural capital showed an apologetically queer ending for their queer female protagonists. Already, that is huge enough. Another important factor is that Japan has not even legalized gay marriage yet.

While Japan literally has whole genres like “yuri” and “yaoi” (that being Boys’ Love), their government has yet to allow two consenting adults of the same gender mato rry each other. Imagine how huge it is that a Japanese show, the latest installment in one of the oldest-running series in the country, literally said on primetime “Legalize it”.

Did Suletta and Miorine make out at the end of the show? No. But it’s one thing to show two girls kissing and dating and it’s quite another to see two girls commit themselves to each other so fully that they get married and live in the countryside while their found family regularly comes to visit.

Not only were these queer girls (women, by the end of the show) able to survive, but they were able to thrive in domestic bliss. That means something.

...I still wish I got to see the wedding though :”(