Suletta Mercury, the protagonist of The Witch From Mercury, has been called a lot of things. In the anime, she’s been accused of being an idiot, a witch and a sex-crazed pervert (色ボケ, iroboke). Outside of the Gundam series, she’s been called a clone, a cinnamon bun and, oddly enough, a tanuki (たぬき).
Fans of the show, especially Japanese fans, have taken to referring to Suletta as Mercury Tanuki (水星たぬき, Suisei Tanuki) or Tanuki-chan (たぬきちゃん). Keeping in line with that, there are all sorts of fan art depicting the girl as an anthropomorphized raccoon dog. As for the reason behind all this, it’s a cultural thing.
How Does Suletta Resemble a Tanuki?
In Japan, there is a typical facial expression known as the tanuki gao (たぬき顔). People with this kind of face are said to have an expression of feigned ignorance. It’s a silly face that makes them look like a fool. Naturally, it also makes them look vaguely similar to the Japanese raccoon dog.
Suletta has been likened to a tanuki because of her facial features. Tanuki gao often describes women with rounder faces and more childish features. Suletta also shares a lot of other features that liken her to a tanuki, including droopy eyes, dark skin and big eyebrows. This face combined with her foolish demeanor make her seem all too much like a tanuki.
Many Japanese fans have taken it upon themselves to complete Suletta’s look. She’ll often be given tanuki ears, a tail or both in fan art. Some fans will tackle this topic from the other end of the spectrum and draw a Tanuki with Suletta’s features. Some even joke that a tanuki is her original form. Either way, the result usually comes out looking cute and huggable.
It’s worth noting that there’s a parallel to the tanuki gao called the kitsune gao (きつね顔, lit. “fox face”). In contrast to the tanuki, kitsune are known for their narrower faces, close-set eyes, thin eyebrows, and sharper features in general. These features are considered conventionally attractive and are ascribed to foxes who have taken the form of a human female.
Fox-faced could be used to describe Suletta’s fiancé Miorine Rembran. Not only does she have these sharp features, but she also has the sharp wit commonly associated with a fox. As such, a lot of fan art of Suletta as a tanuki will also feature Mio as a kitsune. This contrast may have been a conscious choice by the character designer.
In any case, Suletta will likely continue to be called a tanuki until well after her series ends. Such is the nature of both Japanese culture and meme culture, especially Gundam meme culture. Anybody looking to draw Suletta fan art should feel free to give her as many tanuki features as they please.
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