Summary
- Suletta and Miorine's relationship in Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch of Mercury was a refreshing and praised portrayal of a same-sex couple in mainstream anime.
- The Blu-ray edition of the series confirms that Suletta and Miorine end up getting married and living happily ever after.
- Bandai Namco initially tried to downplay the relationship, but the director's confirmation puts to rest fans' concerns and solidifies the positive portrayal of Suletta and Miorine's romance.
One of the reasons Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch of Mercury was so popular during its run was the refreshing take it took on its lead protagonist, Suletta Mercury. Not only was she female - a first in Gundam history - but she was also involved in a same-sex relationship with the primary ing character, Miorine Rembran - another Gundam first. In the series' second half, however, the Suletta-Miorine relationship was drastically downplayed and replaced by other sub-plots in the story. As a result, the series' ending left fans to wonder if Suletta and Miorine were still a couple, and if they were able to live happily ever after.
That question has finally been answered. In a special message from the anime's director that is included with the Blu-ray edition of the series, Hiroshi Kobayashi affirms that several years after the final scenes in the series, Suletta and Miorine finally end up getting married. Gundam superfan @gundampixel, posted an image of Kobayashi's note to his X, formerly Twitter, .
The Blu-ray edition also includes a number of pictures that unequivocally confirm that Suletta and Miorine are romantic partners and do indeed get married and live happily ever after. As some fans pointed out, the Blue-ray edition even added a wedding ring to Suletta's finger in one of the final scenes.
Gundam Fans Can Finally Celebrate Suletta And Miorine's Relationship
Initially, Suletta and Miroine's relationship was not necessarily going to be romantic. In the story, the top student at the Gundam pilot training school Suletta was enrolled in was also given the pleasure of marrying the daughter of the school's director - Delling Rembran. Rembran saw this rule as a way of controlling his daughter and bringing in a top Gundam pilot under his influence. Initially, the top student was a boy, Guel Jeturk, but after his defeat, Suletta became Miorine's fiancé. Having a male or female marriage partner was not considered controversial in the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the school - even though Suletta, who grew up on Mercury, did not know it was a possibility.
At first, their relationship was anything but romantic. Miorine saw Suletta as a "country bumpkin" and a complete nuisance. Suletta, on the other hand, who had never had a romantic relationship of any kind, was not sure what love was. However, there was a chemistry between the two that ultimately blossomed into a tense but strong romance. Indeed, Suletta, who originally wanted to find a boyfriend, did not let that stop her from falling in love with a woman. The same is true for Miorine, who clearly had a boyfriend previously, but nevertheless fell for Suletta. The relationship was depicted so well in the series that it even attracted praise from the Gundam anime community for taking a risk and succeeding at creating a positive same-sex couple in mainstream anime.
Bandai Namco Had Issues With Suletta and Miorine's Same-Sex Relationship
Despite the centrality of the relationship to the story and Gundam fandom's positive embrace of it, the Suletta - Miorine match did not please higher-ups in Bandai Namco - the toy and game giant largely responsible for producing Gundam anime content. Indeed, despite the obvious fact that Suletta and Miorine have romantic feelings towards one another, are a couple, and even discuss getting married, Bandai Namco did all that they could to cut out or mute any references to their romance. It even went as far as to say that the relation was "up to interpretation".
Naturally, this was confusing to viewers who believed that Suletta and Miorine were a couple but never saw clear evidence of it in the series' final episodes. Kobayashi's confirmation that Suletta and Miorine did get married after the series' finale puts to rest one of the few complaints fans had about one of the best anime series of 2023 and one of the best Mobile Suit Gundam series in the franchise.
Source: @gundampixel
