Early Thoughts on The Sorcery of Nymph Circe

Indexed: 2026-05-15

[00:00:01]So, I had the opportunity this afternoon to go and see an advanced screening of Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway: The Sorcery of Nymph Cersei. Ciri, I I really don't know how you're supposed to say it. They say Ciri in all the trailers, but it should be Cersei. Whatever. Today was the 14th of May, and the film officially comes out in theaters in North America on the 15th, so a one day event screening is not a big deal. I'll try not to be bombastic about it, but safe to say it was pretty good. That's actually me toning it down. Uh, I think this movie was [ __ ] outstanding. uh a little better than the first, but even then the first is a great movie and this one only adds to it. Of course, if you haven't seen the first movie yet, you should see that before seeing this one.

[00:00:33]And if you haven't seen this one yet, go see it if you still can, then come back as this video will have spoilers for the plot and the ending. Before I get to the movie itself, I just want to talk about the actual movie theater experience.

[00:00:44]First of all, despite it being an advanced viewing, today was the only day where the movie could be seen in Japanese with English subtitles where I live. Keep in mind, I don't live in the boonies. I live in Montreal, one of the biggest cities in Canada. And even then, this movie got absolutely zero airtime whatsoever. Only one theater was showing it, set up like Scotia Bank in the heart of the city. And again, there were only three screenings today if you wanted to see it in Japanese. I went to the first screening around 4:00, but it's a Thursday and honestly, I would have rather come in on the weekend, but it was either today or wait until the DVD comes out, and I'm a purist and I won't watch dubs unless I desperately have to.

[00:01:17]So, yeah. I don't know. I'm trying to compare this to the Chainsaw Man movie that came out recently because that one was in theaters here for more than a month. got posters, more ads, way more times, and was shown in a bunch more theaters. But I guess the audience for Gundam was different compared to Chainsaw Man. I don't know. Which I guess I can understand seeing as the showing I went to was barely half full.

[00:01:36]But then again, it was at 4:00, there was one at 7:00, and then there was another one at 9:00. So, I'm I'm the problem. I'm the problem. Whatever. All that aside, the theater experience was great. Subtitling was well done and clear, which you would expect from an official sub. The movie was very loud, not in a bad way, however. and it just really accentuated the action on the screen, which is a nice shift from the at home viewing that I'm used to. Seeing Gundam on a theater screen is a really cool experience, especially as the movies see higher and higher production values, which make them really stand out compared to the older movies. You actually get to make that comparison in this movie, which I might talk about later. If you were a fan of how the first Hathaway looked and felt, what with the weighty mobile suits and the oppressive sound design that made you feel truly immersed, you'll only get more of that in this movie. Sunrise effectively increased the quality of their animation in all fields. And while there is some weird water CGI in some scenes, most of it plays out really well, allowing for an enjoyable experience. What really sucked in this movie, however, was the lighting. Much like the first movie, a lot of the scenes take place in complete darkness, like the scenes in Owen Belly early on.

[00:02:34]The shots in the sequence are extremely hard to make out, especially in the dark theater, only becoming clear once some outside light is introduced into the scene. As I was watching it, I thought it was just an issue with the gamma on the projector at my theater, but it seems, according to Letterbox reviews, that it's not just a universal issue, but likely intentional. I can get by with darkened scenes, but half the time in that sequence, you can barely make out the face of whoever's talking, so it might have been a little too much.

[00:02:58]Moving on to what you're probably here for, the movie itself. The plot of the movie picks up right after the last one, so there's really no guesswork to be done on your part. I will say the opening minute and a half of this movie but with the hectically gruesome combat footage type shots and the final 15 minutes or so comprising Haway's traumatic battle with Lane are by far the best parts of this movie. While the rest serves to contextualize the moments which precede and supersede them.

[00:03:21]Whereas the first movie attempted to highlight why Hathaway was mafty and how the anti-federation movements on Earth started. What with the betrayal of the manhunters and the deep-seated bureaucratic corruption plaguing the Federation, whatever. Cersei decides to get more personal into why Haway devotes himself to Mafty and the anti-federationalist cause as well as the psychological toll that it takes on him. Some of the best scenes in this movie are the scenes where Haway is tormented by the ghosts of his past.

[00:03:44]Whether it be through the numerous retrospectives into his involvement with the events of Char's counterattack, which are kept in the same animation format that was used in the '90s, which was very neat, the actions he committed within, and his overwhelming attachment to Quest. Quest remains ever present in Hathaway's head throughout the movie, and we get to see the effect that she and Hathway's other ghosts, namely that of Emo Rays, have on Hathaway throughout the movie as her presence progressively worsens his mental state. Gigi also gets her fair share of development with her loyalties to the count seeing some explanation among a whole host of other things. However, not much is dulged beyond that. Her backstory continues to remain a mystery all while her new type powers peak around the corner at every opportunity. Characters like Kenneth and Lane, however, get practically no development whatsoever, leaving them in the same state that they were in after the last movie, which kind of sucks, but then again, they fill their roles as the antagonist quite well, so there's not really much to complain about there.

[00:04:35]Yeah, that's really it for this quick review. I've been really hyped for this movie since I saw the last one when it came out, and it really met my expectations, and in fact, push past what I even thought was possible. Truly, if you're going to watch this movie, watch it for Haway himself. He's such an interesting character, tormented by his past, his present duties and responsibilities, and his desires, painting a rather interesting picture of how it feels to lead a revolution and stay human at the same time. I'll most certainly be watching this when it comes out on DVD in a few months, and I might try to do some sort of character analysis on Hathway, but we'll see when it actually comes out, as Haway's story is nowhere near done yet with a third movie having already been announced. But we'll see in four years when that one actually [ __ ] comes out. Anyways, have a good one.

[00:05:16]We are not here to listen to his