Sunrise hasn’t started a new Mobile Suit Gundam series in years. Not since Iron-Blooded Orphans back in 2015. For the record, Gundam Build Divers back in 2018 doesn’t count. It was more of a Gundam spin-off series than a true mainline series. Fortunately, that will all change once Sunrise finally launches The Witch from Mercury next year.
Sunrise announces the start of 3 new Gundam series coming in 2022. We have a new anime film about Cucuruz Doan’s Island, and a new TV special about Iron-Blooded Orphans. However, the really sweet bit of news comes in the form of Kidou Senshi Gundam Suisei no Majou (Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury). This will apparently be a brand new TV animation starting a new mainline story for the Gundam series.
Unfortunately, all we know about Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury is the title, and its vague release date of 2022. There’s no other official information from Sunrise yet about this new series. All we can do at the moment is speculate about what The Witch from Mercury is about, based solely on the name.
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury ~ Speculation
Technically speaking, “witch” was originally a gender-neutral term for someone who practiced witchcraft. These days though, “witch” tends to refer to female practitioners of witchcraft instead, as you can see above and in other stories like Kiki’s Delivery Service. This seems to imply that Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury will star a female Gundam pilot for once.
To date, there has been no female Gundam main character. Oh, there have been plenty of important characters that were female in the Gundam series. It’s just that none of them have ever been the main character in the way Amuro Ray (Mobile Suit Gundam) and Heero Yuy (Gundam Wing) were. If The Witch from Mercury does truly star a female main character, that will change.
However, this is just speculation until we get official confirmation from Sunrise. Take this with a grain of salt until then.
Conclusion
Sunrise officially announces, among other Gundam media, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury. This is a new mainline Gundam anime series that will make its debut sometime in 2022. We have no other official information about it. The title seems to imply that it will be the first Gundam series to feature a female main character, but take this speculation with a grain of salt until we hear back from Sunrise about this new anime.
Source: sunrise-inc.co.jp