Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Will Explore Mercury in Real Life

By Evan Valentine

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury is preparing to end its second season next month. Suletta Mercury's adventure has become one of the biggest in the mech franchise's history, and the recent announcement from JAXA, The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, proves it. Both JAXA and the European Space Agency have teamed up with the Gundam series for a real-life expedition to explore the planet Mercury, looking to learn more about the world that helped name Gundam's latest protagonist.

This isn't the first time that JAXA has teamed up with the Gundam franchise, as the space exploration agency took the opportunity during the 2020 Olympics to launch Gunplas into outer space. JAXA had also teamed up with the anime franchise, One Piece, in the past, though this did not include firing off any Straw Hat Pirates into space. The collaboration saw creator Eiichiro Oda creating new art that placed Monkey D. Luffy into a space suit that was used by the Japanese organization. Based on the popularity of these initiatives, the worlds of anime and JAXA might crossover more in the future.

The JAXA From Mercury

JAXA shared new details about the collaboration thanks to its Official Twitter Account. The collaboration also brings in voice actors Kana Ichinose and Lynn who are best known for voicing Suletta Mercury and Miorine Rembran respectively. The probe that is being implemented for this new collaboration is even called "Mio" in honor of the Gundam supporting character.

Here's how The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency describes the mission that is employing the Gundam series to explore Mercury, "BepiColombo is an international mission comprised of two spacecraft riding together to Mercury to orbit and to study the planet from unique vantage points. The European Space Agency (ESA) provided one orbiter. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) supplied the second orbiter. BepiColombo launched in October 2018 and is scheduled to begin orbiting Mercury in 2025. ESA's Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) will study the planet's surface and interior."

At present, Bandai Namco Filmworks has yet to confirm whether The Witch From Mercury will have a third season. The popularity of Suletta Mercury certainly lends credence to an argument that the anime adaptation might continue, especially as the Gundam Aerial has become a top seller for the company when it comes to Gundam Plastic Models, aka Gunplas. 

What anime franchise deserves to break through the atmosphere? Do you think that the Witch From Mercury will return for a third season? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of Gundam. 

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