Hate won: Gundam disables comments due to toxicity

Sometimes the community itself is to blame for losing nice things. If you recently tried to interact with the official account of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury (better known in these parts as Gundam: Suisei no Majo), you likely ran straight into a wall. The team behind the franchise has just confirmed that they have completely disabled replies on their posts due to an uncontrollable wave of harassment and hate speech.

The ghost of censorship and toxicity

It is no secret to anyone that the anime's social media accounts had already been dealing with a fairly heavy atmosphere. This chaos has deep roots, tracing back to that infamous magazine interview where the marriage between Suletta Mercury and Miorine was mentioned, only for the top brass at Bandai Namco to awkwardly backtrack by calling it "editorial speculation." Since then, the fandom has become a constant war zone. Although the series' team issued several warnings asking for respect to maintain a friendly space, the toxicity and insults simply did not stop, forcing them to take this extreme measure.

The irony of a story about respect

It is quite sad and even ironic that this is happening to a franchise that specifically tries to deliver a positive message. The series isn't just about piloting giant robots; it brings tough topics to the table regarding politics, family, and how to overcome systemic discrimination. Now, because of a few users who don't know how to behave online, the true fans who just wanted to celebrate their favorite characters' achievements are paying the price, unable to interact or show their direct support to the creators.

Do you think turning off the comments was the best decision to stop the haters, or should the official account have handled it differently?