Like the Olympics or the crowning of a new British monarch, a new animated Gundam series isn’t something you see all too often. After a seven-year gap, Mobile Suit Gundam returned in 2023 with The Witch from Mercury, the fifteenth mainline entry in the franchise. If you missed it, you can now check out a pretty great Gundam show when it heads to Blu-ray, as both seasons are available to preorder now on the Crunchyroll Store ahead of their September 10 release. You can even save 25% on your preorders right now.
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury Blu-ray release
Set outside of the Universal Century timeline, The Witch from Mercury takes place in the new “Ad Stella” continuity, creating a fresh start for this series. Like the best Gundam series, the show is more focused on the people inside of the mighty mecha mobile suits–although the sequences featuring them are rad–and how war has no winners, only victims. While some of the plot beats are familiar, this time the conflicts are waged between corporations, space-dwelling colonists, and earthbound inhabitants.
The idea of mobile suits is also unique in this Gundam series, and the cast of characters that inhabit this world to some heartbreaking drama. You’ve got Shakespearian tragedies, slick animation, anti-capitalist themes, and giant robots, what’s not to love?
As an added bonus, the steelbook cases and disc art are really nice. Season 1 of The Witch from Mercury features Suletta Mercury on the cover alongside her Gundam, while Season 2 has Miorine Rembran next to a mobile suit. Both seasons are a little threadbare when it comes to extras, as they only have promo videos and clean credit sequences, and each release has 13 episodes spread across two discs.
For a few more Gundam Blu-rays, you can also check out these deals on previous series at Amazon. Iron-Blooded Orphans tackles the concept of child soldiers forced to pilot mobile suits as they fight for their freedom, and The 08th MS Team follows a ragtag Gundam support crew as they struggle to survive in a brutal tale of jungle warfare.
