Nowadays it is quite common for anime or manga series to come under the radar of cancel culture and become a topic of controversy easily. Mobile Suit Gundam was one of the many anime series that were deemed controversial and had to be the victim of cancel culture because of white-washing the cast for a certain role.
The series came under the radar for the second time and was a part of controversy once again, and this time they were attacked by the fans for removing same-sex marriage representation from the anime series. This was a rather big controversy and the series and the rights holder faced a lot of backlash because of this.
Although a controversy around a sensitive topic is a common norm in the world of anime, this was still a pretty big topic of discussion as it not only involved the series but also Bandai Namco Filmworks which is a huge name in the industry.
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Mobile Suit Gundam Under Controversy For Whitewashing Cast
The Witch from Mercury is a mecha anime that centers on Suletta Mercury, a Gundam pilot who enrolled in an elite military academy for mecha pilots and mechanics. With creative influences from Shakespeare’s The Tempest and elements from the witch trials, which inform the titular Gundam technology, the anime centers on capitalism and corruption in politics.
The first episode of controversy against the series started in February when Jill Harris, a white voice actor, was chosen to play Suletta Mercury in the English dub. Given that Suletta Mercury’s father, Nadim Samaya, has Arabic, Hebrew, and Indian ancestry, it is assumed that she is of Middle Eastern or North African descent.
Thus, there was some controversy surrounding the choice of an actor who was not from those ethnic or cultural backgrounds. Many other voice actors weighed their opinions on the casting thus emphasizing the impact of the controversy on the series and Crunchyroll in particular.
Mobile Suit Gundam Under Controversy For Erasing Same-Sex Marriage Representation
Another controversy that surrounded the series and made it a victim of cancel culture was removing the queer representation from the anime. With a same-sex couple as the main pair and a relationship that deepened Suletta and Miorine to the point where the series concluded with their marriage, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury marked a significant LGBTQ+ turning point.
Regretfully, Bandai Namco, the owner of the rights to the series, chose to back out. In an interview with Kana Ichinose, who plays Suletta’s voice, for September 2023’s Gundam Ace, she mentioned that Suletta and Miorine are married. However, this information was omitted from the digital version.
Fans were even more infuriated when Bandai Namco corrected the discrepancy, claiming that the print version had erred and that Suletta and Miorine’s relationship was open to interpretation. When internet users claimed that Bandai Namco was purposefully suppressing LGBTQ relationships, the production company experienced a significant backlash.
