The upcoming 12th episode of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch of Mercury will have a slight delay to its release on streaming services.

Although the episode will still air on Japanese TV on January 8 at 5 PM JST, the earliest streaming release date has been shifted from January 8 at 6 PM JST to January 9. The official statement blames this development on the spread of COVID-19.

The January 8 release date for Episode 12 was a result of special year-end programming on January 1. Before that, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch of Mercury aired a special program instead of its seventh episode on November 13 and delayed Episode 11 to December 25 due to the Houdou no Hi 2022 special program airing on December 18.

The mecha anime premiered on October 2 last year and is streaming internationally on Crunchyroll, Ani-One Asia’s YouTube channel, Bilibili, and the Gundam.info channel. Its Prologue prequel short was released publicly via the Gundam.info channel in September 2022. The show is airing in MBS and TBS’s revived Nichigo time slot. Although the multiple cour anime in this slot tend to have consecutive cours, The Witch from Mercury second cour will only begin in April 2023.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch of Mercury takes place in the new Ad Stella timeline and is the first Gundam anime with a female protagonist. The premise is described as:

A.S. (Ad Stella) 122―

An era when a multitude of corporations have entered space and built a huge economic system.
A lone girl from the remote planet Mercury transfers to the Asticassia School of Technology,
run by the Beneritt Group which dominates the mobile suit industry.

Her name is Suletta Mercury.
With a scarlet light burning in her pure heart,
this girl walks step by step through a new world.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury‘s main staff includes Hiroshi Kobayashi (Dragon Pilot: Hisone and Masotan, Kiznaiver) as director, Ryou Andou (Interviews with Monster Girls director) as assistant director, Ichirou Ohkouchi (Code Geass) as series composer, and illustrator Mogumo as original character designer. Marie Tagashira (Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway’s Flash character animation director), Juri Toida (Gundam Build Divers Battlogue), and Hirotoshi Takaya (Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt animation character designer) are the character designers. Bandai Namco Filmworks is the animation production company.

Meanwhile, the cast includes Kana Ichinose as Sulette Mercury, Lynn as Miorene Rembran, Youhei Azakami as Gel Jeturk, Natsuki Hanae as Elan Ceres, Makoto Furukawa as Shaddiq Zenelli, and Miyu Tomita as Chuatury Panlunch. Haruka Shiraishi is substituting for Yume Miyamoto in the role of Nika Nanaura beginning from Episode 10 due to the latter’s health.