In the year Universal Century 0096, three years after Char Aznable's failed attempt to force human migration into space, life continues in the colonies orbiting Earth. One such colony, at Side 4, is home to Banagher Links, a 16-year-old who lives a quiet life among his classmates.
Audrey Burne, the last descendant of a great tyrannical family, takes it upon herself to steal the key to a mysterious device known as "Laplace's Box." It is said that the Box has the power to shape the course of the universe, and Audrey travels to Side 4 in an attempt to take it from its current holder and keep it from the Sleeves, the surviving remnant of Char Aznable's Neo-Zeon. In her search, she stumbles across Banagher and changes his life forever.
When Side 4 comes under the attack of the Sleeves and its prolific fighters Marida Cruz and Full Frontal, Banagher takes control of the newly built Gundam Unicorn to defend his friends and protect the fate of humankind.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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RX-0_Unicorn
“To my only desire, the beast of possibility, the symbol of hope…” – Banagher Links, Gundam Unicorn episode 1 Since the advent of the original Mobile Suit Gundam 0079, the Gundam franchise certainly has grown to become one of the most iconic shows in anime and has undoubtedly revolutionized the mecha genre itself. Now we take a look at the long-awaited, most recent addition to the Universal Century, Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn. For those who know the Gundam UC timeline it is obvious, however for the newcomers, it should be known that Gundam Unicorn, despite its name, is not to be taken lightly. For the uninformed aboutGundam history, it would be preferable, though not necessary, to watch other Gundam series in the UC timeline taking place before the date Universal Century 0096 and/or at least understand some basic terminology and history in this vast mecha universe. Summarily, Gundam Unicorn adds a final history of events to the early UC timeline masterfully concluding the first 100 years of UC. Now with everything said, we press forward to take our chance at possibility.
Story
The story opens with the creation of the Universal Century (UC) dating system itself, signifying a new era of exploration, prosperity and possibility. Now jump almost 100 years to UC 0096. Earth and space relations remain tense yet the people in space, the remaining Zeon struggle one last time for freedom after suffering many wars of defeat. A simple premise, but what exactly occurs during this period has potentially complex and profound consequences all humans living in earth and in space.
Possibility. It has been mentioned in multiplicity already but with great reason. Such a powerful yet vague word and that can sum up Gundam Unicorn concisely. Why? The answer lies in Laplace’s Box, a mysterious unknown item to all of mankind that exists, but is rumored to tip the balance of power to the Zeon. As remarked by Full Frontal himself, “Would you believe in the possibility something so ambiguous yet so powerful?” This is why the Neo Zeon rise one last time. This is why they, the spacenoids, fight for the possibility of an object no human being knows about. This is why they must find Laplace's Box in order to break free from the Earth Federation’s grip and the key to the box is none other than the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam, the beast of possibility, the symbol of hope.
The Gundam series has always focused on the philosophical and societal aspects of civilization. War, politics, human development. The Newtype myth, those held down by gravity, the harmony of human evolution. These themes are just some foundations that build the interactions in the Gundam universe albeit it wasn’t always effectively portrayed or was slightly excessive. Unicorn becomes an exception though. These themes still persist in it, and they are executed flawlessy.
For a seven episode OVA, the pacing is nearly perfect. Maybe it is because it was this long(or short) that everything fit together timingly. When it is slow it is, calculating, deliberate and methodical. Likewise, when it is fast, it is quick, action-packed and intense. The only contingency in Unicorn is that compared its original novel counterpart, some events were compressed due to the length issue, but otherwise, Unicorn still manages to deliver and deliver with an outstanding ending.
Characters
Typical with many Gundam series, characters in Unicorn are well diverse and developed. Our main protagonist is Banagher Links who finds and pilots the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam. He is your common young, naïve, idealistic protagonist, but just like all the Gundam pilots before him, we see his growth and development into a newtype, aided by friends and enemies. Aside from Banagher, Unicorn contains a multitude of other characters, old ones from previous Gundam installments that will cause a grin of nostalgia, and new ones that certainly become as memorable. Mineva Lao Zabi, Marida Cruz, Bright Noa(!!!). All of them are very unique in their own right and possibly even more enduring than Banagher himself. Of course, let us not forget Full Frontal, the masked antagonist, the leader of Neo Zeon. Certainly he is very unique. His presence and mysteriousness are what makes him so gravitating and his being as a whole is one of the most intriguing aspects of Unicorn, making him rightfully being named the “Second Coming of Char”.
Art & Design
Once again, I digress into the original Mobile Suit Gundam. In retrospect quality of animation was decent but due to budget constraints it was lacking towards the end, but it is not the same situation for Gundam Unicorn. Given it being an OVA and its lengthy release, art direction and design most definitely outdid itself. The production values are absolutely off the charts. Animation is simply one of the best out there in modern standards. In keeping with the style of the Universal Century, the universe retains the sense of pseudo-realism and scale. Old and new mobile suits alike make an appearance that will absolutely steal and capture the moment. With all its military conflicts, battles occur decisively and are executed wonderfully. Animation of the mechanics and movement are fluid while destructive battlefields are viewed from every perspective. Attention to realism and detail is nothing short of perfect.
Now one of the more disputed opinions is the use of CG at certain parts, particularly during the transformation sequence for the Gundams. However, it was probably necessary and appropriate to implement CG during these specific scenes to properly display the high level of detail in mechanical transformations while the Gundams themselves are not enacting human motions or actual movement.
While the actual mechs are amazingly crafted, likewise can be said with the character design. Reminescent of the original Gundam style, it maintains a retro design on the characters. Keeping a mix of both old and new, the character designs are distinct and retain the qualities of earlier decades with updated modern animations that show the same level of detail on characters just as with the mechs themselves.
Music
Aside from the music, it should also be noted that voice acting itself is stunning. Both subbed and dubbed both deliver without fail and because of this the characters are very approachable and can easily be resonated with.
Instaneously from the beginning, one can understand that the music is one to be remembered for Gundam. Sawano Hiroyuki has certainly outdone himself for the Unicorn soundtrack in particular even compared to his past and recent works. His music is very distinctive in its epic-like sounds and tones that effectively gives a rollercoaster sense of the moment that is occurring. Contrastingly, there are also the beautiful, memorable scenes where they become engraved in us and his music sets the tone and fortifies that. Hiroyuki has managed to give Unicorn a proper soundtrack that emotionally provokes and hypes us like no one else. That sense of longing, that feeling of hope, that chance at possibility. All those emotions are present in Sawano Hiroyuki’s Unicorn soundtrack.
Conclusion
What this is, is a closing, an ending to the last years of the first century of Universal Century and Neo Zeon’s final actions. Has Unicorn solved all the problems of earth and space? Certainly not, but its happening and conclusion has done justice to itself and the UC timeline as a whole. Unicorn takes the best from Gundam UC and refines all of it skillfully. The characters, the plot, and the mobile suits make it worthy of a being Gundam. For those who might only see this one series individually, Gundam Unicorn is still well worth its time, but more consequently, as part of the Universal Century, it is a masterpiece and an integral addition to the Gundam series.
In short, take a chance at possibility and go watch Gundam Unicorn.
josenewtype
There aren't a whole lot of proper reviews for Gundam UC on MAL, which is sort of upsetting. I'm not one to write incredibly detailed reviews because for that, just watch the damned thing. For me, this review, or rather a reflection would serve as a tool to cure my anime hangover that Gundam UC left me with. This is also for those who need proper intuition with this epic metaseries. *Spoiler Free, duh* The issue with Gundam Unicorn is that it sort of sits at a paradox. As a standalone, it's a hell of an anime; but your experience greatly depends on whether you havethe knowledge of the Universal Century (you know, Mobile Suit Gundam) to fully grasp the scope of the anime. Unicorn serves as the penultimate conclusion to the Universal Century story that started back in 1979 in the timeless tale known as Mobile Suit Gundam 0079, the OYW (one year war).
Growing up with Gundam, the story seen with my eyes absolutely differs from those who wanted to simply watch "a mecha" or "a gundam". Go find a Gainax anime or Studio Bones anime, for Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn is a direct continuation of CCA (Char's Counter Attack) rather than a new high budget Gundam project. It's not simply a Gundam... it's THE GUNDAM, and the final chapter for that matter.
An example, those who rate this lowly also believe Banagher Links is a whiny two-dimensional cookie-cutter protag, and that Riddhie is an emo cry baby, and Mineva Zabi is a lifeless zombie, and Full Frontal's a bad guy who has evil/bad intentions and everyone should die. Those are associations created by those who do not fully comprehend the story told.
If you haven't watch the previous TV series, and many times before for that matter, you're better off not watching it at all because it's not meant for you. This is an entirely exclusive experience, and you're not welcome to watch or rate unless your a fan of Mobile Suit Gundam... because Unicorn is simply not meant for you. If one plans to watch this improperly, you'll be taking back about a tenth of the experience (that being animation and ost), while Gundam aficionados are getting the full 100%.
On a brighter note, it's never too late to watch the classics, because you're missing out on the most important anime of a lifetime. Go back an enjoy the masterpieces that are MSG 0079, Zeta, ZZ, CCA, even the OVA's 08th MS, and 0080. Go ahead and enjoy the metaseries and immerse yourself in it's rich universe. I may have came off as pretentious or discouraging, but truth be told, it is what it is.
On a side note, don't you dare read this and think you're ready
http://kotaku.com/5987499/heres-what-youll-want-to-know-before-watching-gundam-unicorn
Oh yeah, and Art/Sound/Characters/ Enjoyment/Overall 10/10, like that matters.
Brockemsockem
Hey, Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn is finally a complete package and it's great, but who wants to read gushing? Not me, and I baselessly suspect I'm not the only one who combs through reviews for the most critical ones instead of the most adoring ones. With that said, this review will explore what makes Unicorn either worth mounting or nay, so saddle up! Let's start with disclaimers: watching previous entries in the Gundam Universal Century is optional, but it is a highly advisable option if you want to get the most out of Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn. You will be able to follow the story, butscenes will definitely be lost on you. Also, for newcomers, the ending will make your brain leak out of your britches, so prepare a fresh set.
With that out of the way, the story begins like most mecha shows in that a young boy, in this case Banager Links, lives in a nice little space colony. After everything that happens to a nice little space colony happens, he finds his way to a super, awesome prototype mobile suit, a weapon called the Unicorn Gundam. The one who possesses the Gundam has the key to Laplace's Box, a mysterious secret that has the power to turn the tide of the war. Hence, since both the Earth Federation and the remnant peoples of the outer space nation of Zeon desire Laplace's Box, Banager becomes the fulcrum of the conflict by default. What a conflict it is!
The fights and action in Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn are spectacular, making several minutes of clashes between nameless grunt mobile suits highly entertaining to watch. This is doubly true when the battles are set against the grand sound track or the commendable, if sometimes long-winded, backdrop of the philosophical character dialogue that this series loves.
However, the biggest problem with Banager Links as the protagonist---and indeed the show itself---is that he rarely involves himself in the conflict at all. It becomes obscenely common for Banager to strap himself into his machine and fly into every battle to make emotional pep talks with absolutely nothing of consequence happening as a result. He feels his way out of situations and screams his chipmunk head off about how everybody is wrong. This, of course, solves nobody's problems, fails to advance the story, and even agitates the situation, as it should. The problem is that it can quickly irritate the viewer, too. If you are a mature viewer intrigued by the war drama aspect and practical conclusions to conflict, Banager's naivety will infuriate you almost incessantly until you will have to get your enjoyment from the other characters. Finalizing on that, if you enjoy your protagonist to best opponents through strength, skill, or smarts, you'll be gravely disappointed by Banager's complete reliance on his mobile suit; it's to the point you'll be surprised the Gundam doesn't brush his teeth for him before bed.
Thankfully, the other main characters tend to make up for Banager's lack of depth. A renegade princess who actually has a goal, a desperate young soldier at odds with his station in life, and an adoptive father trying to atone with his daughter make great highlights of the show. They bring forward one of it's strongest aspects: emotion. Gundam tends to utilize emotion well, even exploiting it heavily, but this entry revels in that fact, making every main character a hook for your empathy and investigation. Side characters are a different story, though.
Sometimes, a character that another met only once conveniently becomes extremely important to them for no real reason other than presumable horniness, love at first sight, or advanced understanding; in the Gundam's Universal Century timeline, evolved humans called Newtypes are much more in-tune with those around them, as well as other dimensions. Becoming invested in someone hastily makes sense for a Newtype, but it doesn't work for the viewer, who cannot appreciate these side characters without proper development. You might be dissatisfied to hear yourself ask "who was that?" during an apparently important scene, not knowing why it was important or why they were there, no matter how keenly you were watching. It isn't too frequent, but it does happen more than once, and it doesn't so much mar the show as much as it seems like missed potential, which is a sentiment that it shares with the plot.
As everyone searches for answers to Laplace's Box, the viewer is along for the ride, but never allowed to speculate because placement and destination is ambiguous. Outside of the concept of Laplace's Box, its identity not revealed until very late in the progression; for all you know it could be slang for a part of a female's anatomy. So, make no mistake: your enjoyment of Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn mostly hinges on how willing you are to indulge in an elongated, science fiction action-movie with sappy themes. Although each of the large scale action scenes could serve as a climax, it plays out exactly like a movie with one goal and little development. If that's up your alley or if you like mechs, space, or high technology then you'll likely find the show extremely compelling. Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn is compelling, it just needed a little more to spur it ahead of its glaring character flaws.
Thank you for reading, now it's time for me to...hoof... it.
quincentuple
My view on this series basically boils down to this: many rehashed elements, not much substance. If you want to watch this just for the mecha aspect, it's pretty enjoyable due to the very high production values. If you're looking for a good story and solid characters to go along with that action, well, you might be disappointed. Unicorn builds upon previous Gundam series set in the Universal Century (UC) Timeline, so you shouldn't watch this until you've watched the UC Timeline's core content (0079, Zeta, CCA). And because Unicorn came out after those other Gundam series, I'll use some comparisons to highlight the placesI feel Unicorn went wrong. There shouldn't be any spoilers for any series in the main review, just comments on the general direction of things. However, there is a spoiler section at the end that covers some things specific to Unicorn that I felt I needed to address. Despite the issues I have with this series, I would still recommend Gundam fans to watch it, especially since my opinion seems to be of the minority. Anyway, on with the rest of the review...
Note: This review was rewritten on 2015/11/28. It contains the same arguments and opinions, but with more concise writing, hopefully.
Story:
The story of Unicorn starts off using a formula that has become very common for Gundam series. Basically, some event kicks off around the MC's home area, causing them to get pulled into a conflict. In 0079, Amuro was caught in a fight or flight situation within his home territory, and the same was true for Kira from Gundam Seed. Zeta Gundam was different in that Kamille put himself and others in harm's way due to his rebellious nature, rather than just trying to protect people. I felt this was important to bring up, because it marks the difference in the MCs of the various series. Some start off just trying to survive or do the right thing, while others are displeased with the life they have. In Unicorn, things are a little weird. The main character, Banagher, starts off a bit like Kamille, in that he makes choices that pile up, which result in him being pulled into a conflict. Although, unlike Kamille, it's almost as if Banagher's making an instinctual decision to be involved, since most of the time there's no reason for him to even care. It's like he realizes he's the main character of a show and is responsible for moving the plot forward. To make it even worse, he routinely blames other people for his continued involvement, even though he's given several chances to leave. That mentality gets old really fast.
As for the actual story-line, it follows the mystery of Laplace’s Box, which rumors say holds some great power. I really do mean rumors, since each side has almost no idea what the box is or where it's located. Yet, apparently, this rumor is important enough to basically revitalize a war over. Most of the story involves the various factions traveling place to place and fighting as some clue about the box's mystery is revealed. When the mystery behind the box is finally revealed, well, it's pretty underwhelming. It's hard to explain why I felt this way without spoiling anything, but essentially its significance is overplayed. There's some major logical missteps the writers made in trying to make the box seem important (see the spoilers sections if you want to know the specifics of what I mean). In reality, the infrastructure of where the box is located is actually more useful than the box itself. Once the box's secrets are revealed, there's some pretty important monologuing, but it's not clear whether that amounts to anything. There's basically zero conclusion to the initial premise of the story, which is, "War is bad, so stop killing each other all the time." Instead, the ending is essentially, "Alright, cool, we found it, the end." All in all, the story is a real mess that seems completely lost and ends up amounting to nothing.
Characters:
Overall, there's the same standard affair of characters as nearly every other entry in the UC timeline. I found this boring since the presence of some characters felt forced and only done to appeal to fans. Also, many characters have either no character development or very erratic changes in personality. I've already gone into a bit of detail about the MC and his actions in the beginning, but in terms of the entire series, he has almost no character development. As stated earlier, he likes to blame others for his problems. Kamille from Zeta did this, but it was a bit more reasonable since people were doing some pretty nasty things. Most importantly, Kamille's complaining decreases over time and he becomes a person of action. Banagher, however, complains all the way from episode 1 to episode 7. In the end, he never seems to reach any real resolution with the actions he made, the actions of others, or why the whole mess started in the first place. Ultimately, he fulfills the strategic role of a Gundam pilot and not much else.
As for side characters, many of them also exhibit no character development. Now, character development is not always needed to make for a good show (see Baccano!), but there's a disturbing amount of still characters in Unicorn. Although, there was one character that seemed like they were trying to make up for this void by flipping personalities every couple of episodes. These changes came across as extreme and unsubstantiated reactions whenever they occurred. It was kind of like, "Oh, I guess that happened." So, again, like the story, the characters are a mess.
Combat:
This might seems like a strange category, but due to the core of the Gundam franchise being about mechas blowing each other up (IMO), I figured it was important to discuss this in detail. While past Gundam series have always had a decent case of what I'll call Dragonball Z Syndrome (i.e. talking in the middle of a fight), Unicorn has a near terminal case. The flow of combat is constantly interrupted by impromptu conversations held between pilots, even when they are enemies with each other. Although I'd make the argument that past series would be better if the flow wasn't interrupted as much as it was, it never got to the point where I was actively groaning that I hope they start fighting again.
In regards to combat strategy, this series basically has none. In past series, whatever factions the MCs belonged to would come up with strategies to win the battle. In other words, there was a good sense that these were somewhat realistic, strategic military battles. Unicorn's battles feel like poorly thought out skirmishes where each side hopes that their fighters are stronger than the fighters on the other side. This is a little bit understandable since the scale of the conflict in Unicorn is smaller than the earlier series, but still, the faction leaders could at least put a little bit more effort into their combat plans.
In regards to the individual battles throughout the series, very few people are shown using any basic strategies. Mostly they rely on magical shields and flying pod lasers to fight and defend. I think a character used an asteroid as cover once in the entire series. It's really disappointing to see this as Gundam has a history of pilots making the best use of their environment in order to win. Instead the pilots use their mobile suits as nothing more than amplifiers for their pre-existing special abilities. This is a problem I've had with other Gundam series as well, where it feels more like a super-robot show rather than a real-robot show, but Unicorn is one of the worst offenders yet.
Expanding a bit more on the pilots' abilities, people like Amuro and Kamille were decent pilots when they started out, but they weren't great. They basically had to rely on their natural talent, their usually OP mobile suit, and the support of other characters to get them through a battle. As time went on, they became very good pilots, and combined with their other abilities, they became extremely effective in battle. In Unicorn, this isn't what happens. Banagher can immediately pilot his mobile suit extremely well and there's almost no development in his fighting ability. So not only did the writers forget to develop his actual character, but they forgot to develop his physical and mental attributes as well!
Art/Sound:
Generally speaking, it's all very good. The animation looks great, with the mobile suits being particularly well-done. The sound effects and BGM are also great. The art quality is basically the only thing that saved this series for me. So even though I found everything else sub-par, the battles are still fun to watch.
Voice Acting:
I watched the English dubbed version and the voice acting was quite good. Everyone's voices seemed to match up with their intended characters, and the performances themselves always matched up to what was happening on screen. In other words, no complaints here.
Conclusion:
As a whole, Unicorn really disappointed me. The visuals combined with it being set in the UC Timeline made me hope they would be doing something interesting. Instead, it was just a compilation of poorly re-imagined characters, the inclusion of elements that dragged past series down, and generally poor writing all-around.
Spoiler Stuff :
Seriously, don't read any of this unless you've seen the whole series.
(***Spoilers***)
New-Type Stuff:
This connects to the disruption of combat mentioned above. While many other Gundam series have had the same out of body things occur during fights, none of them seemed to break up the action like Unicorn did for me. Also, very few people express shock when it happens. I know we’ve seen it before in past series, and that the universe is probably used to new-types by now. But, I still think communicating telepathically or spiritually with another person would freak most people out.
Banagher’s First Kill:
Banagher doesn’t know he has killed someone until he is told after the fact. He expresses shock, but then gets over it by the end of the scene. It seems kind of strange that it isn't ever brought up again in any detail given how much he complains about killing in general throughout the rest of the series.
Laplace’s Box:
The location where it is found is actually more useful than the box itself, since the location has infrastructure that allows Mineva to talk to all of humanity at once in an attempt to change their mind on how to govern space people. Yet, there's no indication of whether it worked. There isn't even a single scene of the general public watching her broadcast. The two ship captains are also seen clearly ignoring what she is saying as they discuss getting drinks together. It's strange that the whole series revolves around each faction arguing about what the future should look like, and then no one listens when someone lectures them about it. Also, the extra article in the founding principles only holds importance if people want it to. The current government can just say, "We didn’t sign that into law." Not to mention people have never operated under the belief something like that was ever true, so why should it hold so much weight all of a sudden? If something like that was important enough to the general public, they would have made it a law already. Clearly a large portion of people just flat out disagree that the space-noids should have more self-control, so it's not like some 100 year old slab is going to change their mind. The only truth is the one people choose to accept.
IAmAHero
So for me this was really hard to watch as I am a HUGE Gundam fan, most specifically of the UC timeline, which for some reason this takes place in. Why was it hard to watch? Well It completely mutilates the message of UC as a whole and tries to make Zeon, the bad guys since the first series who have done some REALLY bad stuff, seem like good guys and that every atrocity they committed was justified and okay. Aside from UC this just in general sends really mixed signals in terms of motivations and what is even happening. I'll include a spoiler sectionat the end after my overall to go more in depth to what I meant at some points as it's hard to describe why I disliked this some things without spoilers. If something I say seems vague it's probably because I'm trying to refrain from spoilers, so assume I explain it there.
Story: 1
Easily my least favorite thing about Unicorn was the story. Concerning the story I really have not much to say because aside from it being what I disliked the most, it's also one of the weakest things about this show in my opinion. The show honestly has fan fiction tier writing at some points. First off, I have no idea why they decided to shove this right in between CCA and F91 and put it so close to CCA while leaving it really far from F91. Secondly, the attempted justifications of Zeon and trying to make them look like good guys makes absolutely no sense in UC due to every series before it (the original, Zeta, ZZ, and CCA) all portraying Zeon as terrible people. Also another thing that really dragged this down a ton for me was a lot of plot conveniences, ESPECIALLY in the last episode. Another thing is that it never portrays the overlying "war is bad" theme in every series before it, instead it just gives off more of a "I need to stop war because I don't like it" feel. Aside from a story that tried way to hard to be complex which ultimately made it confusing, the ending was god awful and atrocious.
Art: 6
I will give Unicorn props here for the art being pretty good, especially the animation. I would rate it a bit higher if it didn't start to rely on CG more and more as the series went on, with some fights even being mostly CG. I do give major props to Unicorn for the fight scenes in episode 4, they were extremely well done and had little CG from what I remember. As for mech designs, as I guess that can be included in this, I for the most part did not like them with a few exceptions, those being the Neo Zeong, Unicorn (when in attack mode, normal mode looks horrible), Banshee/Banshee Norn (ditto of Unicorn side note), Zeta Plus (got like 10 seconds of screen time in episode 7 but I still liked it), and the ReZel. Honestly the mech designs were pretty ugly or just look upgraded versions of older suits. I'll only cover the mains as mook suits are pointless to get into. The Sinanju, didn't quite like this one much as it looked weird and was just basically a buffed Sazabi, the Sazabi being infinitely cooler than it. The Kshatriya, just looked like a mega buffed Zaku; it was alright. Rozen Zulu, I just didn't like this one, dunno why.
Sound: 5
Don't have much to say here. The soundtrack was alright and did it's job. No one song really stuck out to me and it just in general seemed kind of average. Sound design was alright, nothing to really comment on.
Character: 3
The characters almost tied with story for my least favorite thing, except I actually liked a very few amount of characters whereas with story I completely hated it. I'll go in order of most hated to most liked when I'm talking about them.
Angelo - Seriously? Someone thought he was a good character? I hated Angelo. There is absolutely nothing redeeming about him. Aside from being the most annoying character in the show, the amount of things he actually does is very low so he really has no reason to exist.
Banagher - Worst MC in UC. Aside from completely irrational decisions that are just really annoying in general, and I'm pretty sure his brain is 100% empty because of how incompetent he is until the plot needed him not to be, and then he became jesus in a giant mech. How incompetent he was at times was extremely enraging. Being able to never shut up about "Audrey" was annoying as hell too. It seemed like he was playing a game of "How many times can I switch allegiances in one show?". I really hate him all in all.
Riddhe - GOD. I hate him with all my heart. He was alright in the beginning and seemed like a cool dude but I slowly started hate him more and more as he became more and more off an ass as the series went on and how he was in the end was fucking awful.
Full Frontal - Yada yada Char rehash yada yada. At least come up with an original villain. It literally just took Char, made his 50x less badass and charismatic, gave him long hair, and made his logic 50x dumber than Char. I really felt nothing from him and Banagher's "rivalry" if it was even supposed to be one. The reason Char and Amuro worked is because they were both interesting and fleshed out characters, key word being INTERESTING. Neither Banagher nor Full Frontal were interesting to me and felt like Unicorn was just trying to do something that actually worked before.
Now onto some I liked or thought were tolerable, gonna switch and go most liked to least liked here. Don't have very much to say here though.
Zinnerman - He was a bro and a total badass. Easily my favorite character in this show. His relationship with Marida was handled alright so props to the writers for that.
Marida - I liked Marida. She was written decently. Don't much else to say to be honest.
Audrey, or should I say Mineva (which any person that had watched Zeta or ZZ could tell from a mile away so that build up made no sense) - She was alright and I found the one scene where she completely disassembled Cha- I mean Full Frontal's logic and idea hilarious.
Enjoyment: 2
This show was a chore for me to watch. Not only did the 1 hour episodes make it hard to sit around for, it overall just bored me. My memory of this is somewhat hazy of this despite having watched this in a little over a week, because I honestly just stop focusing at times due to how boring it was. I often had to rewind to read a line I missed because I wasn't focusing due to how bored I was. The only reason this gets a 2 instead of a 1 is some of the fights scenes were really entertaining and the soundtrack was nice despite sounding somewhat average. Not only did this show bore me to tears though, but also insulted my intelligence as a UC Gundam fan by the aforementioned attempt to justify Zeon and just overall a very poor and forced feeling entry that adds nothing to UC and fails to be an homage if that's what it was going for.
Overall: 3
God this show was a chore and one of the worst Gundam series I've seen yet. This show was absolutely atrocious and I never want to watch it again. Aside from terrible characters and story the way the show is presented to the viewer is done very poorly as it is filled with exposition dumps from what I recall, which just confused the hell out of me; there's a fine line between complex and confusing and I don't think Unicorn understands that as it seems to confuse the two. This show's writing honestly feels fan fiction tier, which it practically is already. It shouldn't even be canon since it adds nothing at all to UC as a whole. Honestly if you are looking to get into UC Gundam skip this show when you get to it, the only reason you should watch it is cool fights and decent music. This show honestly could have worked if they changed a few things, changed the name of the series and tweaked the story a bit, but since it has the title of Mobile Suit Gundam on I can't cut it slack. If you're done here, thanks for reading my review and let me know what you thought of it, I'm just starting to do reviews so I would really appreciate constructive criticism. Below here are spoilers so unless you want to know them or have seen the show, beware.
-----------------------------SPOILERS BELOW HERE-------------------------------
Now for the spoilers I couldn't get into above. I'm not gonna categorize this so it might not have much flow, so apologies in advance. First off let me get to the worst part of this show as a whole, the ending. How did they perfectly pull off the barrier to block Gryps 2 without anyone doing it before and no one knowing anything about how it worked or what it did? Now some other questions. How exactly does one invoke the Unicorn Awakened? Why does Riddhe change back to the side of the Nahel Argama in a split second? He went from being totally edgy to new bestie in under a second? Dude what happened to hating newtypes, now you're helping one? That's another thing; Riddhe. him suddenly becoming edgy because muh waifu was really dumb and he just turned into an even worse character. That sudden snap back to being perfectly normal and nice because the plot needed him to was also just absolutely terrible. All these tie into the plot conveniences I was talking about earlier with a few things I'm probably forgetting because my brain is trying to erase this trash from my mind. Now, Laplace's Box. Did it really need to exist? It adds nothing to UC at all or even the show itself because you don't even see how the people react to it. Also what really sucks is the amount of character death in this show, which is astonishingly low, which is also unusual for a UC series. Also, can we all just take a moment to let how completely stupid and absurd ACTUALLY LITERAL UNIRONIC TIME TRAVEL is? How? Why? I thought this was UC, how the fuck does time travel even happen? How did that even work? Unironic time travel is where this show's fan fiction tier writing really shows itself. And my last point, Loni Garvey. Another place where the fan fiction tier writing shows. First her backstory about her parents just serves to demonize the EFF in a really bad attempt to make Zeon look good. Also Banagher not wanting to shoot a girl he met like a day or two beforehand who was literally mass murdering innocent civilians and was now trying to kill him was extremely infuriating. By the way, saying "We just wanted autonomy and for all spacenoids to be free!" doesn't justify starting a war that killed half the human race and multiple dropping of things on earth. Well, now that's out of the way, I have nothing left to say. I assume you read the second to last sentence in the paragraph above, so there's no need to repeat it. Thanks for reading!
ggultra2764
Gundam Unicorn is one of the more recent additions to have been made in the Gundam franchise, this being the first installment taking place in the Universal Century timeline since Victory Gundam's airing over 20 years ago. Taking place years after the events of Char's Counterattack, Unicorn features several factions in conflict with one another to gain possession of a mysterious item called Laplace's Box that is said to hold enough power as such that it can shake up the power structure between Federation and Neo Zeon forces. This conflict has our teenage leads, Banagher Links and Audrey Burne, caught up in the mess asBanagher becomes the unwilling pilot of a new powerful Gundam unit called the RX-0 Unicorn that is a key element of obtaining Laplace's Box and Audrey's ties to influential leaders in the Zabi family are seen as something that the factions wish to exploit for their personal gain.
What makes Unicorn stick out compared to many Gundam titles is the tight and complex story it is able to tell within its 7-episode OVA run. Many Gundam titles are notable for having 50+ episode runs to tell their stories of conflict between opposing factions yet Unicorn is able to pull the same thing off in much shorter time. Within this time, you are able to get complex story development and character depth as Unicorn delves into the personal ideologies, back story and goals that drive the factions and many of the major characters seen throughout the course of this series. The various ideologies seen through characters such as Neo-Zeon leader Full Frontal, Federation lieutenant Riddhe Marcenas and former Zeon soldier Suberoa Zinnerman serve to conflict with the idealistic beliefs that Banagher has that are pushed to their breaking point as he confronts the realities concerning the tensions between the Earth Federation, Neo-Zeon and other organizations trying to obtain or seal any details concerning Laplace's Box. The fact such complicated storytelling conveying the normal themes you would expect from a Gundam title is able to be told within a quarter of the time of many past Gundam titles is an impressive feat from Sunrise.
This being said though, Unicorn is still another entry in the Gundam franchise that revolves around a young and idealistic teenage lead being given a powerful mecha to make use of in a heated battle between factions. It still carries a few of the Gundam franchise's notable weaknesses with its male lead being overly preachy at points with the ideals he expresses and the Unicorn is overpowered as such where it is never seriously challenged in many battles that it fights in, which kills much of the suspense one would hope to get out of fearing if Banagher will prevail or not. The Newtype power is also used in some moments of deus ex machina later in the anime's run when Banagher does find himself seriously challenged in the final conflicts of the series. The ending is still mostly satisfying with what is revealed about Laplace's Box and some ideological clashes during the finale, but the use of Newtype power to create sudden power upgrades is still a lazy way of resolving story conflict.
Visually, Unicorn is easily one of the best-looking entries to have come out of the Gundam franchise to date mixing around CG and hand-drawn animation to depict settings both in space and on Earth. There is vivid color and plenty of detail to convey the various settings seen throughout the series such as space colonies, spaceships and cities or military bases on Earth. Mecha designs retain many of the standard gimmicks you would find from a Gundam title with design aesthetics being similar to Gundam and mook enemy units from past titles, though the design of the Unicorn in its normal state is a unique one that sticks out from many Gundam units from past titles. The animation here is very fluid, with mobile suits and battleships naturally moving about as they clash with one another during heated battle scenes without any noticeable animation shortcuts, errors or loss of detail. CG animation does get employed during some of the Newtype or Unicorn unit gimmickry that gets shown off such as the Unicorn employing its NT-D System or mental communication between Newtypes which is mostly integrated with the hand-drawn animation, but has its moments where it can stick out like a sore thumb.
Despite a few issues, Gundam Unicorn is easily among the best offerings I've seen for the Gundam franchise thus far as it is able to smoothly tell a typical UC Gundam story in a fraction of the time that many of its past offerings could convey. It does require one to have familiarity to many aspects of its themes from earlier installments of the franchise that get mentioned. But if you have seen your fair share of Gundam titles from the Universal Century timeline, you shouldn't miss out on this latest offering.
Versace420
I just had to write a review since I saw so many people praising this series. Honestly it had so much potential, Unicorn has some of the coolest Mobile Suit designs in the Gundam franchise, the art was amazing and there were many (cool looking) characters introduced. But I really can not relate to the characters since their actions dont make much sense to me. Same with the story, why is everybody so hyped about the box? Even when you find out whats inside (the only thing I was hoping for, to give this story a clever twist or something) is completely underwhelming. To me the script feltextremely forced and there was little to no character development that could make any character likeable. Also the emotional scenes felt repetitive and ... why are so many characters related to each other? The writers made it a little bit easy for themselves.
Sometimes this series was hard to watch because of all the nonsense which made me sleepy, but it also has a few decent moments.
In the end I feel like this whole series is just introduced to justify the release of a new line of gunpla plastic figures (I had the same feeling with the new gundam IBO-series).
And I love the figures! So thanks for that. I am just trying to forget where they come from.
Emperor_Wolfgang
Having marathoned several Gundam shows, starting with the Gundam 0079 movie trilogy and making my way to Wing, as well as having watched 08th MS Team, other Gundam nerd friends of mine convinced me to watch Unicorn. Going into it, I had an understanding that it was a highly regarded entry in the series, that was well animated and tied deeply into the narratives of the UC shows. You can see from many of the other reviews here that a perfect 10 is a quite common rating. For myself, though, Unicorn turned out to be an exercise in disappointment and exasperation. Step one, we'll get theextraneous elements out of the way. Unicorn is indeed well animated, in fact that's the primary redeeming factor of the OVA for me, between the MS fights, loving character animation, colorful palettes, and so on. Sound is fine.
Narratively, Unicorn blows. As the earliest episodes dragged on, it rapidly became clear that the main characters were going to be boring vapid regurgitations of the age-old Gundam philosophical arguments, with no augmentation other than filtering it through the perspective of 2010s anime tropes. To be fair, it doesn't exactly reek of trite, shitty anime tropes in the way that Code Geass does, but it still mostly spins its wheels with surface-level pseudophilosohpy in much the same way as any given pretentious high school anime would.
Banagher endlessly grated on my nerves with his inexplicable obsession over a girl he met once, and particularly his insistence on calling her by a fake name that she came up with to deceive him. Ditto towards her, Mineva doesn't really provide a compelling Zeon-perspective, and I ended up being driven up a wall by her continued Mary Sue-ish self-importance black hole swirling around her.
Side characters vary significantly in quality, my favorite characters were in the side cast, but it also contains verifiably some of the worst characters in the franchise. Blondie Ace-man, whose name I know but don't care to repeat, was impressively hilarious in his arc, culminating as it did with him huffing copium after getting cucked into unconsciousness. Neo-Char, ironically, is a literal regurgitation, and ultimately seems to exist so that people could point and say "Hey, it's that Char guy, I wonder what he's doing here.". Also, having a major character whose existence is rooted in ZZ is a major faux pas by any measure.
The plot too is weak and only gets weaker. Starting off, it was completely ill-advised to base the driving plot around a mystical world-changing MacGuffin. Going on, there's a prominent Zeon bias throughout the series, both in the MS fights and in the narrative perspective, which seems to ring of real life Japanese revisionism about Imperial Japan: that is to say, sure, good guys both sides, but there's far too much praise being lavished on Zeon and their history for my taste, compared to the show's opinion on the Federation. Stupid love-triangle nonsense and touchy-feely newtypery that exceeds the most excessive moments of Zeta serve to fully remove any investment I could've had in the show. Finally, the most spoilery elements of the plot are by far the worst, with the final episode essentially feeling like a multi-hour slog of utter wasteful nonsense.
Basically, I'm pretty disappointed. While, by virtue of its earlier episodes, Unicorn never sinks to the level of ZZ, Wing, or 0083, I can not say that I enjoyed my overall watching experience, and I'll certainly remember Unicorn for all of its worst elements.
Hectotane
Maybe it's because I watched Wing first. AND I have an issue against "whiners." I thought Victory Gundam was THE PINNACLE of anything Gundam, Turn-A and Double Zeta were pretty good, and Mitsuo Fukuda and his wife needed to be kicked out into the streets... for even thinking that they actually reach Yoshiyuki Tomino status with Seed & Destiny. Fukuda's works had nearly killed Gundam for me. 00 tried it's best but fell on it's face. No. If anyone wanted anything Gundam done right, you go back to the old professionals. And what they came up with is a Unicorn. Bancolding$ (Bandai Namco Holdings Sunrise)basically took Double Zeta's "good parts" (the Puru clone and her MS), gave it Single Zeta's "cruel reality" and "whining-yet-useful protagonist," and used the animation from Char's Counter. It's a collection of "Gundam cliche's" and "reminiscing of the good-ol' days" that would usually kill those with lesser respect for history.
And I gotta say... It's holding up pretty well. The MS fights were able to drown out the speeches, the characters are easy to recognize and not lost in sea of "who's who." Is Bancolding$'s "Char" the "Marvel's Wolverine of Gundam" (wanting to co-star in EVERY ONE OF THEM)?
[Updated 10/18/2014]
All in all; it's kinda sad. Seeing all these great and awesome mobile suits appear from out of the woodworks; only to mow each other down and then be slaughtered by the Gundam or some other lead mobile suit. "Such is war" would be the excuse.
This OVA series, though... It got me to start buying HGUC and MG mobile suits again. There's a story I've been wanting to write forever.
Let people brag about how title X is gonna "save anime." Can it make you cry for one-eyed machines (that're created by space-nazies to kill others and cause more tears)?
sh0ckra
STORY: Weight of 33% at 4.0/5 The story of Gundam Unicorn takes place in the same timeline as most of the first Gundam shows, including the first gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam, Zeta Gundam, Gundam ZZ, Gundam 0080, and Victory Gundam. In fact, Unicorn takes place 3 years after what unfolded in Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack but 27 years before Mobile Suit Gundam F91. Unicorn tells the story of a young boy named Banagher who meets a mysterious girl named Audrey. Although he leads a somewhat normal and average life, Banagher gets pulled into the pursuit of the greatest key to changing the world known asLaplace's Box. Because of this unknown factor's importance, many factions are also searching to become the first to find out where and what exactly this Laplace's Box is.
Now, Gundam Unicorn follows the same formula as more recent Gundam shows with a youth being pulled into becoming a Gundam pilot for a certain cause or reason. And although the story will feel reminiscent to other gundam plots, the story feels unique in its own way and is still very enjoyable.
At the same time, things get emotional and fundamental ethical questions are asked on what is right or wrong. Each story segment or arc is very strong, gaining momentum from the previous one to the next to come to a satisfying conclusion near the end. The story makes you think all while presenting it in a wonderful package.
However, the story is in no way perfect. To fully grasp what exactly is going on and to savor the full experience, watching the older Gundam series that Unicorn ties into is a necessity. In fact, the anime makes both cameos and important references to Mobile Suit Gundam, Zeta Gundam, Gundam ZZ, and Char's Counterattack and while it isn't necessary to have seen all of them to understand what is going on, it is definitely recommended.
Another thing is with the anime itself. Because of its limitations being the mere 7 episodes, even if they are an hour long each, Unicorn was forced to make some cuts here and there and this caused some bizarre transitions but also made events unfold too quickly and characters develop too abruptly. But, with all that said, Unicorn has a solid storyline, wonderful animations and likeable characters.
CHARACTERS: Weight of 33% at 3.9/5
Like any and every other Gundam show, Unicorn has a large assortment of characters while each being interesting and entertaining to watch. And even though there are many factions trying to achieve their own respective agendas, one cannot simply sit down and firmly say who is right or wrong.
Banagher Links is the main protagonist of the series and he's similar to many other typical anime male protagonists. He has a very kind heart even towards people that could be considered his enemies and tries his best to not resort to violence to solve problems. At the same time, his naïve nature sometimes comes back to bite him yet he always gives his one-hundred percent. But he begins the anime as one of those characters that try to run away from reality, wishing to end his suffering while not knowing what consequences would come from that. Eventually, he sees that running away is no longer an option and that's when he truly becomes a good character.
Audrey is the main female protagonist of the series and Banagher's love interest. Unlike stereotypical female characters, Audrey is very strong and surprisingly resourceful. At the same time, she has a very good understanding of the world and sees the bigger picture. And even though she might seem like a burden sometimes, she ends up carrying her own weight and is a very well-written character to say the least.
The rest of the cast are all very good considering the rather small size of the series. There is enough content and development to make all of these characters interesting in their own right. At the same time, maybe also because of the rather small size of the series, there was always enough but never more.
AESTHETICS: Weight of 30% at 4.7/5
Gundam Unicorn was beautiful to watch and listen. The people behind it really pulled out all the stops to make Unicorn what it was and it's easy to see this with what we got. The animation was both pretty and fluid while the music was epic and grandiose. And while it is somewhat sad to have not been able to get an opening for the series, any self-respecting person would be more than satisfied.
One thing that might tick some off would definitely be the character designs. Maybe because of SEED, 00 or AGE, people have come to expect more quote-unquote anime-ish faces from Gundam, but I found that the character designs were a sign of respect to its origins and we should really appreciate what was done.
Again, the multiple sound effects were realistic and the art was stunning, which we could really see during the fight scenes which are both magnificent and stunning. And even though sometimes the anime felt retro, it still wasn't anything less than glorious.
MECHS: Weight of 3% at 4.2/5
Of course, no review on a gundam show would be complete without a look at the mobile suits that appeared during the series.
The poster gundam RX-0 Unicorn Gundam was beautiful to watch in action. And while I personally liked its standard form better, because it lookedz like a rhinoceros, the destroy mode was pretty with the red lines.
The Banshee was a little more than a black version of the Unicorn though I wished they called it the Tricorn, but whatever. I also liked its standard form better but it's still a beauty in either forms.
The Sinanju, the spiritual successor to the Sazabi looked amazing with the red body and black and gold details making it look like royalty.
Finally, the Rozen Zulu and the Kshatriya both deserve a mention though the Rozen looked like it had high heels on.
FINAL VERDICT: Overall score of 85.68%
Unicorn was a lot more than metallic my little ponies. It presented both a thought-provoking story and an interesting arrangement of characters all while maintaining a high standard for both visual and auditory presentation. And it should really be watched considering how short it was, even if you haven't watched the older gundam shows.
Uutama
Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn is by far one of the best sequels that anime could ask for. It takes everything that made the original Gundam trilogy so great and turns it up to eleven. It is fueled by the will to fight for what is right in the world rather than siding with one particular faction over the other. It is about the internal conflict of the main character rather than the overcoming the villain's forces to ultimately obtain peace. It is the same Gundam that you know and love, but it seems to have grown up remarkably well into a fully shaped adult. Banagher Linksis a kid who is nothing more than your ordinary student attending boring classes. He's quiet and reserved, but he deeply cares for his friends. One day, he feels something pulling him to save a girl floating outside of his school's ship, rushes out to save her, and begins his long journey of preventing war and protecting the information about Laplace's box. It turns out that war is brewing, and the only way to stop it is to listen to his pure-hearted instincts. All he has other than himself is the Gundam and the girl who calls herself Audrey Burne. Between Full Frontal, the man who is famed to be the second coming of Char, and the seemingly corrupt ideals of the Federation, who can Banagher really trust? In order to save humanity, he has to believe in “possibility” to make peace, and he has to do it with little to no help. Banagher is constantly engaged in both a metaphysical and real battle with himself, the Federation, and the Neo Zeon forces. Who is his enemy? Is the Federation just, or are they corrupt? Is Zeon trustworthy, or are they just as bad as history has made them out to be? All of these important questions are floating around in the head of one young boy.
Can Banagher Links and Audrey Burne unite the hearts of the Earth Federation and Zeon and live a peaceful life?
Plot: 8/10
Aside from the previously mentioned synopsis I gave above, I believe it is important to note one more important piece of information: Unicorn takes place during the Universal Century, and requires knowledge of at least the history surrounding what happens in Mobile Suit Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam Zeta, Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ, and Char's Counterattack. The ideology and politics go far and wide to the point where if you aren't following along, you're bound to get lost. It's deep, complex, and will absolutely take you for a ride if you are willing to understand it.
What is there is absolutely incredible and thought-provoking, but the lack of accessibility can make it hard to approach Unicorn as a beginner to the series. Even so, on its own it can still make for a very emotional and inspiring experience.
Characters: 9/10
First thing's first, Banagher Links is a very easy character to sympathize with. While he may not have any major powers or exciting backstories that many other popular characters have, he is very relatable. If you've ever been in a bad situation with no clue what to do, you will feel every ounce of pain and hardship that Banagher has to endure. You can really feel the struggle of what it's like to be in a war that seemingly can't be stopped. It's hard not to want to run away from your intense emotions and insecurities, but he knows that he has to keep going. He knows that this is war, and he might be one of the only people who can stop it from happening. This is easily one of the biggest parts of Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn for me. The feeling of what it's like to be in war, and how pointless and immature it seems to not get along with one another. Personally, Banagher reminded me of myself, and in a lot of ways it might seem biased, but I could truly feel his emotions on a remarkably high level.
Audrey, while similar to Banagher, has a cold and independent personality. She doesn't want to be helped, and she feels that all responsibility lies upon her shoulders. She is quite remarkable in how she views the world and makes a great companion character to our main hero.
Full Frontal, the leader of the Neo Zeon forces, takes the role of Char Aznable and proclaims himself to be “the second coming” in order to make his people feel that they can trust him. While this may be the case, it is easy to see that his ideals stray a bit far from the mark that our favorite antagonist from the past once had. Whether his goal is just or not, he keeps up a good facade and remains to be somewhat likable in the same way that Char was, despite his differences. He also has a really cool mech, so that's a bonus.
The two main forces of the series are the Earth Federation and the Neo Zeon, and this time around neither of the two are obviously good or bad. Unicorn really makes you question which of the two factions are the one that will come on top, but it's more than just two factions that you have to think about. The real viewpoint that it tries to focus on instead is based on who is involved as an individual and why they are fighting. We get to see Captain Bright Noa return and make us proud, but there are also new characters such as Zinnerman and Marida who really make you feel for and sympathize with the people of Zeon. Unicorn makes it blatantly obvious that there is no real enemy, and that everyone has a heart, and that is incredible.
Art: 9/10
Artistically speaking, Gundam rarely disappoints; this time around it's even better than usual. The designs of the ships and the mechs are by far my favorite out of the entire series so far. Every mobile suit is incredibly detailed, and even the mass produced units are seemingly in an attempt to take the spotlight on their very own. With the great use of color included, everything pops out vibrantly and keeps your attention with ease.
Every frame is smoothly animated, and while there may be some instances of still frames and camera panning, they are very rare and there is a lot of effort in making everything seem very real and life-like.
The battle animation takes absolutely no short-cuts and stays fresh even when they could have made it easier on themselves and reused assets to save time. Whether or not the budget on this project was high, it surely comes off like it was. Excellent quality, overall.
Sound: 9/10
Never have I been entranced so deeply in the score of this franchise before. Every note is thematic and fits the bill in such a profound and heroic way. The music never fails to feel strong and emotional, and always manages to be placed in just the right moment to sweep your legs away from under you. I felt that I was really able to connect with the pieces from every episode, and it absolutely made me feel incredible.
Beside the score, the voices and added effects were more than serviceable. The emotion that you feel from Banagher's voice is deep and inspiring, and the rest of the cast manage to hold themselves fairly high all the rest. There may have been a few voices that I didn't particularly find amazing, but they still managed to fit in well and were done well enough for me not to notice any major faults.
Overall: 9/10
All in all, Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn is by far one of my favorite shows in the entirety of the franchise, and possibly in all of anime in itself. The story is moving and inspiring, without ever losing its pace. The characters are remarkable and emotional, all holding their differences in values and coming together to teach a very important lesson about humanity. The artistic design is stunning, and the music is almost addicting in nature as its power to draw you in has the ability to inspire you for the rest of the day.
There may be a bit of history to it, but it's worth every minute of your time to seek out and explore. The lack of accessibility to new viewers is a bit of a problem, but even so, I can without a doubt recommend that you watch this series. If you have ever felt like the world we live in is in need of a great change, don't pass up this moment to feel inspired. Go for it, and believe in the god we call “possibility.”
genesic123
Now that Gundam Unicorn is over I can finally give a proper review on it. This show does not have character development,but has a good plot to make it an above average anime. Banager,the main is like Kira from gundam seed,always wanting to stop fighting and crying even when the situation does not call for it.A chosen one from the onset,he at least does have a useful role as a protector and does not have as much of the gary stu complex as much as Kria. Ther animation is awesome.the mecha fights are cool and well choreographed,and unlike anime like Madoka aren't pointless trippy rides that add nothingto the story.
The show is about finding the laplace box,a treasure that could change humanity and the unicorn gundam is the key to unlocking it.It could end the war between newtypes and the normal human.I was disappointed by its reveal cause it is comething that any government with common scene could have done easily,but it did its job decently.
It still has the trope of the power of understanding is a superpower that could wipe out the baddie in an instant.but at least that are meaningful protecting scenes and people butting heads unlike 00 where it was just a deus ex machina and merely saying that understanding is a magic power of everybody agreeing with each other.
The dialogue can get too draggy at times,they talk about war in general which sometimes irrelevant to the situation at hand.Makes it "deep" though.
Liked the father figure subplot .
Riddee was a bad villan.he randomly helped a girl and betraying his forces like nothing and came back to the good side like nothing.No proper foreshadowing and buildup
The awkward scene transistions.Zeon princess in a diner.Nuff said.
At least this is one of the few series that actually deserves its "Gundam" title.
Zoranagi
Gundam Unicorn is peak Military focused Gundam. The story has the least dumb moments and shitty romance and if you know gundam you know that gundam is full of shitty romance. The guy who came up with the english names for the people in this show should be given a raise. I have never laughed as much as i have at the name Full Frontal. It is the greatest name in all of Gundam. There are more Mobile suits in this show than there are types of ships in the Navy. Holy shit its gonna cost me so much money to buy all the Unicorn Gunpla.Ple Twelve is the best female gundam character in the series by far as most of them have just been foil to the more interesting male characters. I am not ashamed to say that if Ple Twelve was real i would simp for her harder than a twitch mod.
The OST in this show is a step above even the best OSTs from other gundam series. but what i really want to talk about is the sound design. Whenever the Unicorn or the Banshee fire their beam magnums it sounds 20,000 oprhans being incinerated by a high-powered lazer. I wish my piss could sound like that irl.
earl_of_sandvich
Possible spoilers. A lot of space opera war dramas start like this: "We don't remember exactly why war broke out, or where diplomacy failed, but we're at war with this other power..." (It's enough of a thing that The World God Only Knows poked fun at it). For Universal Century (UC) Gundam, we have some sort of a timeline of the events leading up to the 0079 conflict, but it was always some sort of backstory or a website feature. For quite some time, new UC shows would get placed farther and farther into the future, so we would have "Newtypes" but little connection to theirorigins in the first Gundam. Other UC Gundams showed us that while Zeon was ruthless and well deserving of their fearsome reputation, the Federation was at least as bad, using their power and ubiquity to force everyone to their will. We had a pretty good idea of what caused the former, but not so much the latter. Gundam Unicorn sought to tie up that plot thread at both ends, and I have to say, the light novel author(s) wrote a gem of a story.
Getting to that sublime moment in the finale could feel like a quagmire (giggity), especially in episodes 2 and 3. But as the show itself mentions, it's as though we, through Banagher, are given a tour of the turning points in the Universal Century, all the slaughter and ruin brought by decades of conflict. This is a good refresher for fans of the franchise, and a decent primer for those who haven't seen all of the UC shows up to Char's Counterattack.
In the years leading up to UC, Sunrise experimented with 3D animation. One recap film of Mobile Suit Gundam featured a full 3D sequence as the intro, and then there's the excellent Gundam Evolve miniseries which featured every series except Turn A, GX, UC shows after ZZ... By the time Unicorn came on the scene, Sunrise had mastered the art of using 3D models for combat scenes, and at the same time blending them in so that they didn't scream "3D MODEL HERE!!". The fight scenes are a joy to watch, because by this time productions know that you don't get an epic combat scene by flooding the screen with lasers (I'm looking at you, Macross F). Watching a single mobile suit humiliate a battle carrier and her entire mobile suit complement is the very thing that evokes "Mad skillz". Another advantage of 3D is being able to control the lighting to an incredible degree, and one of the motifs of this production is light: Red light for destruction, madness, and death; green light for warmth, transcendence, and life. The NT-D-equipped Gundams are mechs that have to be mastered, and you see when the pilots master them when the lights within change. This is a fantastic visual touch that doesn't need narration by bit characters (or in Tomino's case, word salad) to get the point across.
The vocal/orchestral theme of the Unicorn Gundam so evoked "epic win" (so much win, in fact, her airbags went off), many Japanese comedy or reality shows borrow or steal it when someone pulls off something amazing on screen. The soundtrack otherwise does a very good job of evoking the right atmosphere at the right moments, akin to Eureka Seven in this regard. Another major theme of the soundtrack is "RE: I AM" by Aimer, performed as the ending theme to episode 6. In the finale, the composer arranges the opening bars of the song for violins to accompany a major scene, and when the pivotal moment happens that turns a bitter enemy into a friend again, the horns explode with the refrain. Who says Gundam doesn't make you emotional in a good way?
If there's any flaw that might be raised, it's probably the characters. "Full Frontal"'s naming once again demonstrates the lack of command Japanese people have over English slang (No snickering in the back, there!), and his design reminded me of a RCMP officer (Hey! I said no mounting jokes!) with an epic blonde mullet or maybe a blonde J.S. Bach wig. Nah, I'm mostly kidding. It helped that Shuuichi Ikeda, the iconic voice behind Char Aznable, was his voice actor. In terms of visual design, the characters are very well done. Full Frontal's sidekick... reminded me of the Frost brothers, only less Machiavellian. Cold, ruthless, and yet incredibly cliche, no sense of strategy (because FF is the brains of the operation), and directed to sound far whinier than Banagher ever was. Stop ranting, you sound like a 3-year-old with a damn silver spoon.
I can understand if people think Banagher is a weakling/wuss/whiny/etc., as though every civilian who realizes after combat that he's taken loved ones from their families forever, then shrugs it off like Mr. Macho Man. I think he's not quite that bad, I mean, a true wuss wouldn't stick himself in front of a massive weapon about to fire, and the fact that he emotionally wrestles with the aftermath of combat outwardly is a greater sign of mental health than someone who bottles it all up only to shoot himself years later. But I do think that he broods just a touch too long, it's also healthy to be able to move on.
Audrey/Mineva... I'm struggling to come to a decision here. At times she's a damsel in distress (often a willing one), and yet there are more than a few situations where she can easily escape (episode 1 shows that her evasion skills are the biggest reason why she's never captured until later in the series) but for some reason doesn't do so. She's written as a strong girl, and yet has scenes where she doubts her path. If the show hewed closer to the "lady and the unicorn" motif, maybe we would've seen something a bit more cohesive? To be sure, she's complex, she's human, and she has responsibilities thrust upon her that few can ever shoulder. My critical mind thinks the writing, casting, and direction are outstanding here, and yet, something tells me maybe there could've been something more.
The characters of Marida and Zinnerman are probably the best in the show. Heroic, tragic, complex, loving, tough, these are some of the best-written characters in all of anime. And they're not the only ones who get their own heroic stories: the CO of the Nahel Argama begins as a disillusioned Fed officer, but his big scene in episode 6 sent goosebumps and chills down my back. It's a sharper and more dramatic turn than the Izumo CO in Eureka Seven, but this show only has 7 episodes (well, more like 15 in TV anime size) compared to 50. And Alberto "fat weasel" Vist? He has his big moment in the finale, standing up to his aunt as Bright Noa stood up to the Federation President. It's a token resistance, but it and other moments before show you that he's not without honor and compassion.
This is a must-watch for fans of Gundam, fans of giant robots, and fans of space opera, and it's a pinnacle of achievement that Sunrise has yet to match with subsequent Gundam productions.
Manthors
[3rd Edit] Here is an unpopular opinion (partially). I had high hopes for Unicorn, but... They were only partially satiated. As the most expensive Gundam series of them all, you expect some things to be held as the primary objective, but Unicorn only gives you half of that and is mostly the character`s fault. You can still enjoy the good parts, and some things are really good if you take the UC story as a whole. It is a nice show, with amazing mechas and an overall enjoyable story, but I`ll explain what you might not like. Story: It is a nice addition to the seriesand to the UC, since it fills many gaps, and provides some extra layers of political intrigue and conclusions to the UC. My problems with the story are more focused on how the characters react to the events and how the main events are explained and shaped. A lot of the events are forced by an idiotic reaction from the character part, so you must be prepared for a good political background and a good war story, but with mediocre character decisions. For me, this is a major red flag. Important events should be a force on their own, not something triggered by some immature twat. Let me make an analogy for you: imagine you are watching LOTR, but the ring is not lost because Isildur was attacked on his way home from Mordor and lost the ring. Imagine that he lost the ring because he sneezed. Or imagine that Frodo does not want to carry the Ring to Mordor because he wants to bring peace to Middle Earth. Imagine he wants to take the Ring because he wants to impress some hobbit chick back in the Shire. That's how I felt multiple times during this series.
The characters' decisions are so lame sometimes that accepting their choices it's like swallowing a block of ice and then saying you are ok. Great events are shaped by the character's absurdly dumb decisions. The motive is crucial to a story, and Unicorn fails miserably in terms of motivation. Only ONE character has a TRUE motivation, the others are just lost in the chaos of their own immature emotions.
Nevertheless, the story is more fitting for people who know the UC story, otherwise, you will get pretty lost. The romantic side of this series is complete garbage, and I am being nice here. The romantic side should be done like in SEED (Kira and Lacus), or similar to Iron-Blooded Orphans (Mika and Atra), or the 8th MS Team (Shiro and Aina). Here, it looks ridiculous, out of place, and has no rhythm.
Art and Sound: Superb. This is the highest production cost of all Gundam, so you won't be disappointed with the artwork and OST.
Characters: Terrible. There are actually only some secondary characters that are really good. Some of the main antagonists too. Audrey is the best character, which I was happy about because she showed great potential as one of the main characters in Zeta Gundam. She is mature and interesting. There is a mysterious aura about her, and she is a true politician. Good stuff. But be prepared for one of the worst Gundam protagonists of all time: Banagher Links. The bane of the mecha pilots' pride, the pinnacle of dumb motives, the apotheosis of annoyance (just below Shinn Asuka from Seed Destiny, of course). Banagher alone has the power to downgrade the entire series. You have no idea where his allegiances are, he is a complete dumb f*** that is more concerned with his conscience and a platonic love than doing something really useful. And it gets worse when Riddhe Marcenas joins the party. Riddhe has no control over himself, and no logical course of action. I have no idea how Riddhe turned into a pilot. How he graduated from the military academy is beyond me. These two main pilots completely disrupt the series to a fault. Riddhe and Banagher fight for the dumbest reason they could find amidst the war. Terrible choice of a script for them. They don`t even fit into the world of Unicorn Gundam. It's like watching Berserker, but instead of Guts, the protagonist is Yamcha from DBZ.
Mechas: Well, here you won`t be disappointed! Unicorn and Banshee are amazing mobile suits. The fights are awesome, and their Psyco Frames are a wonder to look at, something that was, actually, inspired by Gundam F91. Building the Unicorn gunpla was super fun for me, reflecting the intricate designs you see in the anime. Sinaju, your classic Zaku villain, is also the most beautiful Zaku of the franchise (followed closely by the Psyko Zaku in Thunderbolt).
Overall: You will have good moments with Unicorn. The story is good if you are familiar with the UC, and the fights are really nice. They explain some political aspects never explained before that provide an interesting depth to the UC. The mechas are amazing and the art and sound are as well. Just be prepared to deal with awful mecha pilots, terribly developed, only possessing half of their brains. Try to focus on the other good characters, such as Audrey, but try to forget that Banagher and Riddhe exist.
WedgedPenguin
It's peak, and introduced me to Gundam. I stumbled upon this on Netflix a few years back, and I chose to give it a try over Iron-Blooded Orphans, an alternate universe gundam series on Netflix. I didn't know what I was getting into, and it's a well-known thing that Unicorn is one of the more difficult Gundam series due to it's plethora of references and callbacks. I still believe wholeheartedly that this is a fantastic series that is both a love-letter to the UC fans who've seen every series in the timeline, and a intro point for new fans that showcases just how good theseries is. While a lot of those references and callbacks won't make sense to a first-time watcher, the intrigue it builds helped me get into the Gundam Universe.
11/10 in my books, and certainly my favourite Gundam series i've seen.
bashfoal
The story is carried almost entirely by everybody scrambling to find A Thing. This Thing is defined only by it's supposed ability to be very powerful/effective, but not HOW it is. After the fourth episode I'd completely lost interest in what any of the characters wanted and considered just looking up the ending and not finishing it. Maybe I'm not enough of a Gundam fan to appreciate excessive whining and ineffective protagonists. I watched this to hopefully feel a desire to get more into the Gundam universe and watch some of the longer series, and this failed to ignite any interest for me. The character and mechadesigns did not disappoint, and I was pleasantly surprised that each episode was so well-animated, but these were the only positive qualities I found in the series. The show is only seven episodes long, and given the tremendous lack of development in any particular character, I feel the story could have been accomplished in half the run time easily.
It's unfortunate that such a good-looking show couldn't manage to keep me interested in the characters situations. I recognized Bright, and that briefly sparked my interest, but he's barely set dressing in the show. It's almost as if he's there to remind me I'm watching Gundam, when the Unicorn's face is being covered up by it's... other face.
I keep having curiosity about the Gundam series, so hopefully when the dull taste of this leaves me I'll try another angle at the franchise. Unicorn itself is just such an unfortunate waste of resources. If it had just told an interesting story or had characters to care about it would have easily been a new favorite for me.
It really just feels like an elaborate portfolio piece. I'd love to see more work by the animators.
Prorogon
Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn is an excellent celebration of the Universal Century timeline of the Gundam franchise. This is both its greatest strength, but also its greatest weakness as it means you will have to go through nearly 200 episodes of dated Gundam animation to fully enjoy this lightning in a bottle ride. This OVA series takes place 3 years after Char's Counterattack and ties up a few loose ends with mostly new faces. There are some old characters you will be happy to see again such as Noa Bright and Mineva Zabi but don't expect this to be "The OG Gundam crew returns" or anythinglike that.
The story itself isn't necessarily all that original for a Gundam series, but it does execute its premise extremely well with an incredibly satisfying conclusion. The characters are also very likable with exception of a certain obnoxious ensign.
Overall Gundam Unicorn is an incredibly enjoyable series with a good story, relatable characters, amazing music and art and a great conclusion to the Universal Century of Gundam which is only bogged down by the requirement of previous Gundam knowledge.
haipaomutsu
i was never a fan of mech type anime or anything related to mechs, in fact i was a hater but after watching this i was moved and feel like spending thousands on figurines. it is trulty amazing anime with alot of charecter depth and i really enjoyed the dubbed version. some parts may have been slightly corny but it made sense with the powers and everything. its not one of those animes wich hase alot of unessesairy scenes, in fact i think all the scenes in this anime are relevant to the ending. i havent watched anime in a few years but this one moved me almostas much as bleach moved me.
truly, and i cant streach this enough it is truly a work of art.
thank you Harutoshi Fukui for this amazing masterpiece.
