For those of you who have at least experienced experience as veterans who regularly watch the Gundam series, you know very well that the series always carries male protagonists with quite heavy political themes. However, it seems that such thinking has begun to change since Gundam The Witch From Mercury was released and has succeeded in attracting many new fans.Through his recent interview on the site Exsang Executive Producer – Naohiro Ogata revealed that the Gundam The Witch From Mercury has succeeded in bringing many new fans to watch the Gundam series which has been considered only for people who are old.
Ogata-san says that his ‘biggest goal’ is to attract new fans who have never seen ‘Gundam’ before. The Witch from Mercury is the first Gundam series to feature a female protagonist and take on new challenges.
“We have carefully created this series as the ‘Gundam’ series, incorporating good elements from the previous ‘Gundam’ series, while thinking of ways to attract new fans. By portraying and expressing the drama of the characters appropriately, we increase empathy. We want young people to think of it as their own ‘Gundam’. It is clearly seen in the anime. I feel that the director, scriptwriter and other staff have done a great job.”
“Earlier works in the Gundam series have also had an audience with young women, but I feel that The Witch from Mercury is the one that gets the most support from this audience, in part because it depicts women’s activities on the front lines. When I attended an anime event in New York a few days ago, I was excited to hear the reaction from those who are looking forward to what the future holds for the series.”
“Tomino-san also describes women as being more and more active in this generation, and this is something that has been done as a matter of course. What are ‘Gundams’? It’s hard to define what a “Gundam” is, but in the past, various generations have created masterpieces while facing challenges in their own time. This definition is broad enough to cover the new challenges of the younger generation.
I think that’s the strength of the Gundam series. Tomino-san, who created the original series, was a man who lived 20 or 30 years earlier than us. Every day, I also feel that my life experience is still not enough to understand all of his works..”
Gundam The Witch From Mercury does have a different approach by bringing a female protagonist as the main basis of the storyline. Of course with a little spice *yuri bait*. Besides that, the political storyline is also easier to digest without throwing away the essence of what Gundam is, it’s not surprising that the series has succeeded in attracting the attention of non-fans.