blueshsh

[blueshsh]

Honestly I’ve had so many thoughts on this because like I *get* wanting more from the main couple in the second season but I think people throw away just how much they loved each other just because there was no “shippable” moments in season 2 that you could conveniently put into a 10 minute youtube video. I get the disappointment. Really, I do, I would’ve loved to see them be more outwardly expressive of it but you would be fucking blinder than bats if you didn’t pick up the fact that they were always thinking about each other. Miorine did everything she did in the second season to keep Suletta safe. She found strength in Suletta and she keeps going because of Suletta and it all comes down to Suletta, Suletta, Suletta for her. What would she do? Is she safe? Is it worth it? Everything was about her. And Suletta was always thinking about Miorine, too, and I have an entire reddit post about why their relationship was so important to the show. I think what frustrates me about this criticism is that it’s a symptom of only seeing shit that is ever romance-focused. These characters aren’t spelling out the fact that they are miserable because they aren’t with each other, so to a collective mass who has only ever been hit with mediocre heterosexual fluff (always in your face, always loud, to the point where the characters do not even function outside of their own romantic relationships), Suletta and Miorine’s quiet yearning feels…disappointing. But this was never a romance show to begin with, and it would be a huge disservice if these characters were never explored outside of their own romance, and idc what anyone says, season 2 was *good* damnit (It could be better, I didn’t like all the ways it handled it’s themes) but it treated it’s characters with a depth that people don’t give a shit about because it wasn’t in your face. The same way people thought Guel’s character arc was better than either Miorine’s and Suletta’s because he went from obnoxious evil oppressive asshole to hey he doesn’t support the orphan machine anymore!!!

this kind of got off topic I’m so sorry OP it’s late I should be in bed I’m sorry.

While I'm on a roll, I'm going to go off on a little bit of a personal rant (continuing something I mentioned earlier), that's been on my mind due to some comments I've seen made about G-Witch and Sulemio in recent days. I normally try to avoid writing rants like this but this one has been grinding my gears a bit.

Yes, in the grand scheme of queer media, Sulemio's relationship can definitely come across as underwhelming. No one would deny that you can't get more explicitly and textually queer stories out there, especially by queer creators. But that absolutely ignores some of the circumstances surrounding the show.

First, it's been made pretty obvious by now that the staff wasn't allowed to be very explicit in their depiction of Suletta & Miorine's relationship. The company that censored an interview and released a tone-dear statement that their relationship should be "up to interpretation" because a VA said they were married obviously wasn't going to be cool with Suletta and Miorine kissing, saying I love you and getting married on screen. They would've put their foot down well before we got to the ending. And even then the staff did enough to make Suletta & Miorine explicitly married by the end of the show. They found ways around whatever limitations Bandai put into place to try and make Sulemio subtext, and made them a canon couple within the show itself. I get tired of people saying the show didn't explicitly and textually confirm their relationship and marriage because it does, just in a roundabout way via the "sister-in-law" line because they couldn't do it in a straightforward manner.

Seriously, by all accounts, it's not like the people making this show wanted to end Sulemio with "just handholding" and half-assed the relationship, they wanted to do more but couldn't. Just look at how some of the staff members depicted them in the artbook once they were off Bandai's leash: with multiple wedding pictures.

Second, it's actually a big deal that they ended the show married, even if they had to do it in a roundabout way. Yes, the yuri genre is generally going to have more explicit lesbian relationships than what we got with Sulemio, but the yuri genre isn't exactly mainstream. Dedicated yuri anime isn't airing in primetime and ending with the main couple married, it's usually late-night, niche and usually only gets one season that introduces the couple, maybe gives you a kiss, but forces you to finish the story through the LN/Manga. Mobile Suit Gundam is a popular, mainstream multi-media franchise that has been running for 44 years, and G-Witch was airing on prime time. The fact that a mainstream franchise like Gundam aired an anime series that was centered around a queer woman and a sapphic relationship that ended with the couple married is huge, especially considering the legal status of same-sex marriage in Japan. Niche yuri anime airing in the middle of the night can probably get away with a lot more gay content than a mainstream franchise airing in primetime can, especially when the franchise is owned by a bunch of old, conservative dudes.

As an anime fan, it's amazing to see a mainstream animated series like The Witch From Mercury focused around a queer woman and a sapphic relationship (and make it TEXTUAL, not relying on subtext to carry it), especially a series not specifically adapted from a yuri LN/Manga. And as a lesbian and a long time Gundam fan, seeing a major franchise I love like Gundam, that has always been dominated by male characters, air a series focused around a queer female MC and her relationship with another woman is a much bigger deal to me than a lot of random yuri series would ever be.

Reducing Sulemio to comparisons between other queer media or yuri series and how it's "inferior" to those because it lacked certain elements ignores and disregards the unique challenges and situation of The Witch From Mercury, and the way the staff fought to overcome those issues to deliver an explicit sapphic story ending in a married couple.