Representation, Homophobia and Censorship: Gundam Ace Magazine’s Mishandling of The Witch from Mercury Finale
This post contains spoilers for the finale of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury (G-Witch).
Suletta Mercury and Miorine Rembran are married at the end of G-Witch. This is an incontrovertable fact. It is canon. It is completely unambiguous.
In a conversation with Suletta’s sister, Eri, Miorine is referred to as being Eri’s “sister-in-law.” When Miorine and Suletta meet in the post-timeskip montage, they are both wearing conspicuous wedding rings. In the official Asticassia Radio Committee podcast, the voice actors for Suletta (Kana Ichinose), Miorine (Lynn) and Elnora Samaya/Prospera Mercury (Mamiko Noto), all discuss the ending scenes and how happy they are for the married couple.
Gundam Ace magazine, published by Kadokawa, has been a companion to the Mobile Suit Gundam fandom for over two decades. Its most recent quarterly issue (№253) advertised an interview with the cast and when it released in print on 26th July 2023, an interview with Ichinose read (translated):
I also liked the epilogue scene where Miorine puts her head on Suletta’s shoulder. After three years, they seem much closer, and to see them married like that really touched my heart.
Fans rejoiced, as throughout the series, there has been an undercurrent of distrust in the show’s creators that at the last minute the same-sex relationship set up throughout the entire run may have been sabotaged. Combined with a small subset of the supposed fandom who speculated or made fantasy straight romantic pairings for both of the leading characters. This was final proof (if it were needed) of Suletta and Miorine’s married status and vocal support for that relationship from the relevant cast member. The hashtag “スレミオ結婚” (SuleMio Marriage) trended in Japan for most of the day.
Joy, however, quickly turned to disappointment, and then outright anger a couple of days later, when an update to ebook versions of the magazine was pushed out by the publisher. This had a new version of the interview, with one major change; the kanji for “marriage” had been excised:
As of the time of writing, no explanation or statement as to the reason for this change has been issued by Gundam Ace, nor by Kadokawa, the publisher. No statement been made by Bandai or Sunrise, either (the owners of the Gundam brand and animators of the series, respectively). There was speculation from some early commenters that this was carried out to avoid reprisals by censors in other nations or jurisdictions, but this is, and I need to emphasise, completely unsubstantiated.
It is a common trope to blame overseas censors when plenty of queerphobic censorship exists at home. At this moment in Japan, there is a concerted push towards recognition of equal marriage, but this is still not national policy, and there are plenty of vocal opponents, both religious groups and allies in the governing LDP. This is not dissimilar from the United States and other Global North countries, where there is plenty of home-grown moral panic when media features prominent gay, trans or other marginalised characters in a positive light.
As a disclaimer at this point, I am straight. I have a fairly relaxed opinion on my personal experience of gender, but most people would refer to me by he/him or they/them pronouns. I’m happy with any, but I’m aware of how I present. I’m in my early-40s and I grew up in the United Kingdom. When I talk about this, I don’t have much skin in the game, as it were, and I would urge folks to seek out the extensive commentary on this issue by LGBTQ+ fans.
When I was growing up, in my childhood, teens and early-20s, there was a piece of legislation that was known as “Section 28,” specifically Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1986, introduced by Thatcher’s goverment.
This stated that local authorities:
“shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality” or “promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship”
A maintained school, in this context, is a state-run school, which at the time the act was in force covered the significant majority of schools in the United Kingdom. The statements are broadly-worded, with the intention creating a “chilling effect” such that there could be essentially no discussion of anything other than heterosexuality or heterosexual relationships as part of any educational material. Similarly, it would make it extremely challenging for staff to support LGBTQ+ students. Notably, no prosecutions ever took place under the act, but it had the desired effect societally. Demonisation of LGBTQ+ people (particularly gay men) was commonplace and in the case of schools, students and teachers remained closeted for their own safety. A study by Anglia Ruskin University of LGBTQ+ teachers working during the period before the act was repealed (2000 in Scotland, 2003 in England & Wales) found that only 20% were out during this period, compared to 90% afterwards.
When I left school to attend university, I met and spent time with several openly gay people for pretty much first time in my life. As I came back home for university holidays, several of my former schoolfriends were in gay relationships or starting to explore aspects of themselves that they had been forced to suppress, at the cost of their own happiness and fulfilment, for years.
In the two decades since the repeal of Section 28 in the UK, there is a plethora of youth-focused media content including LGBTQ+ characters, sexual health teaching that comprehensively covers a range of experiences, and demographic data reflects a burgeoning population of out young LGBTQ+ people, compared to my generation. This doesn’t mean that there’s a “social contagion” or “peer pressure” to have a non-straight, non-cis identity, just that the societal conditions and acceptance are there to support LGBTQ+ people, something that must never be rolled back on.
Representation is important, and if a creator puts out a show that reflects people’s own feelings about themselves, their sexuality and the expression thereof, then it can become an important moral support. As a nominally straight person, those relationships are over-represented in the media that I’ve consumed. For someone that isn’t, what can seem like a silly “robots and feelings” show to many, G-Witch might be the first piece of media that they have consumed that they see the kind of feelings they might be having, the sexuality they want to express, openly appearing on screen. Similarly, aggressions like the censorship in the electronic edition of Gundam Ace №253, are going to be much more hurtful.
I made some comments calling this out as things were blowing up, and a handful of people came into my mentions, asking why I was making such a big deal out of this? While I perhaps shouldn’t give credence to online trolls, this is why I care so much. The creators of The Witch from Mercury decided at the outset to tell a gay love story with robots. They were so successful in this regard that Gundam had the most profitable year in the history of the franchise. The new generation of young fans will not stand for censorship and casual homophobia, nor should they.
It has been very pleasing to see international condemnation of Gundam Ace Magazine and their publisher, Kadokawa, for the cowardly editing choices. If you do have the energy, I will post some links below as to where people internationally can give feedback to their Public Relations team. Similarly, I hope that higher-ups at Bandai/Sunrise will come forward to defend the artistic choices of their creative team, and it is not unreasonable to challenge them to do so.
The key thing to remember in all of this, though, is that the broadcast version of the finale is unambiguous about the final destination of Suletta and Miorine’s relationship. They are very happily married, accepted by all their family and friends. This cannot be taken from them as characters, from the creative team that brought them to life, nor from you, or I, the fans of this show.
Links to send robust critique of Gundam Ace №253 censorship to:
Twitter: @gundam_ace1 @kadokawa_pr @kadokawa_san
Kadokawa International Public Relations Email: ip-MD-PR@ml.kadokawa.jp
Folks in Japan can use the following webform: help.kadokawa.co.jp/hc/ja
Corrections note: A couple of minor changes for clarity and grammar were made 29/07/2023 at 21:25 UTC+1
