Gundam Unicorn pretty much owns and I don’t even understand like half of it yet
It’s been tough for a Gundam fan lately. Unless you are particularly fond of the alternate universe offerings that have more or less defined Gundam for the past ten years, there’s been nothing much us devotees to the original series can really sink our teeth into and appreciate beyond some manga in GundamAce that I can’t read, and some neat model kits I don’t have time to build. Oh, maybe we can sink our teeth into Ring of Gundam. Or at least try.
But you know, we have nothing to worry about now. Gundam Unicorn is here. And it’s tasty.
I don’t even understand what’s going on beyond the basics so far! Big Japanese words go straight over my head. But that doesn’t matter. The punch that this first episode packs obliterates any language barrier one may have. This shit is a spectacle. I am not afraid to say that it is in fact what Gundam fans have for ages been longing for.
Let’s be honest UC fans–ever since First we’ve had to live with compromise. First Gundam is dated, but we can appreciate its raw spirit despite its sometimes poor production. Zeta Gundam is great, but it takes some time to get on its feet. Even when it comes to big-budget affairs like Char’s Counterattack or 0083, we kind of let the story side of those works slide a bit since they look so damn pretty. No one can agree on 08th MS Team. I guess 0080 is good, but I haven’t seen it in so long that I don’t even get the hamburger joke people always make. What I’m getting at is that this first episode of Unicorn can be enjoyed completely without compromise. The animation is slick, the plot is engaging, and the characters so far seem great.
Gundam Unicorn is clearly a reply to years of fan prayer. The First Gundam movies are amazing–there’s no question about that–but in the end it is a cartoon made to (initially) sell simplistic toys to children, and this simplicity is reflected in the look of the animation. However, because of First’s very realistic approach to war, it established this mindset in UC fans everywhere that the UC universe concerned itself with real, gritty war, even if it doesn’t really look like it. It’s serious stuff. It has gravity to it. Even if Char does pilot a bright pink Zaku. Excuse me, red.
As I mentioned before, previous big-budget Gundam series which have tried desperately to answer the cries of fans gave it the good ol’ college try–came out pretty great–but no one can agree on which one is good. I’m really jumping the gun here, but I have a feeling Unicorn will be universally embraced.
This first episode is a perfect mix of classic and modern. There are some traditional Gundam tropes sprinkled throughout, as well as some typically ridiculous scenes that can only really happen in a Gundam series. But they’re pulled off with high levels of class. Alongside these scenes is a developing plot that I already find engaging, despite not fully understanding it. This too is of course handled with the same amount of class. The whole episode in general has a very serious streak, and evokes an epic tone skilfully.
As I alluded to before, the animation is more or less phenomenal. There is some dodgy 3D work at times, but for the most part this is film-caliber stuff. Characters make pronounced and full movements, the camera isn’t afraid to move around, and the world is convincingly alive and breathing. Mobile suit battles aren’t simple exchanges of beam spam. This is a show in which 30 seconds are spent on a Zaku making a suicide run at an enemy suit while the various pieces of its frame slowly come apart due to being nearly destroyed moments earlier. This is a show in which fights have actual choreography. Suits move around, dodge, and fire with intention. Nothing looks stiff. Background music that fits like a glove doesn’t really hurt things, either.
The character designs are a breath of fresh air. Yasuhiko Yoshikazu is one of my most favourite artists of all time, and seeing his designs come to life by way of anime designer Takahashi Kumiko fills me wholly with joy. Specifically the girls. Maybe I just like poofy hair or something, but these girls are hot. Well, Gundam girls always have been, but in a time when anime has more or less perfected the art of making girls look really cute, the girls in Unicorn shine bright. There’s this scene where one of the main girls, Audrey, eats a hotdog. She blushes at the end. It’s pretty moe.
Well, that ended on a perverted note! Anyway, all I’m saying is that Gundam Unicorn is what a lot of us have been waiting for. If further episodes can somehow find a way to top this one, we’ll be looking at the greatest Gundam show ever made.
Marida is pretty fucking moe and she pilots the best mobile suit.
(Long time lurker, first time commenter here. Hello!)
After watching it, even though I could barely understand things, the first thing that came to mind was “This is what Gundam should be.” It kind of saddens me that this is only going to be a six episode OVA. They could stretch it to 13.. I guess the best thing to hope for right now is that they manage to maintain this level of quality to the end.
Another notable thing would be the airbags. And the fact that some kind of lock exists on the Gundam. :D
re: skyfish
Episode 1 is 57 minutes. If all of the other 5 episodes are similar length, this is about the same length as 12 episodes.
I still can’t believed Unicorn has been animated. I’ve been following ever since the rumors and I’m really happy this came out well. I can’t wait to hear Shuichi Ikeda’s voice in the following episodes.
Personally, I liked 00, (I know, I know), but you know what? Unicorn showed how you start a Gundam series right. I’ll agree with that it’s a Gundam fan’s Gundam series, but even then, I think it’s highly accesible to a modern anime fan with likeable characters. And even though it’s playing with classical Gundam tropes such as “Boy fall into dad’s mecha” and “Random Colony attack”, it uses them in a way that’s kinda fresh for Gundam.
So as much as I thought 00 was a step up from Destiny’s shitiness, Unicorn is so much better. I must buy the Blue-Ray and can’t wait for episode 2 like 6 months from now. (Damn you high quality animation!)
Also, I’ll second the whole Mineva…I mean Audrey…eating a hotdog thing.
And not to spam, but it’s nice to finally have a series that all the MS are designed by someone as consistently awesome as Hajime Katoki. And to have battles where all the cool features of each mech are used, rather than the cheapest to animate being used as stock over and over again.
I wonder who’s gonna voice Bright now… I hear he had a bit of a role in the novel, maybe they’re gonna omit him or maybe at least a silent cameo.
They can always recast him.
The airbags are so sexy.
Thanks for the clean up by the way, WAH.
Personally, I don’t think they’ll recast Bright. For one thing they’ve resisted the urge to recast him in any recent Gundam games, and since this OVA is being made for the hardcore UC crowd, I’m sure they’d realize there would be some backlash over any recasting of his character. I’m fairly certain they’d rather give him a silent cameo and keep making mention of him doing stuff off screen than risk any bad publicity.
Well I just can’t wait for the next episode, I think it’s gonna come out around fall this year. I can’t wait to see the smexy Sinanju and Char…err…I mean Full Frontal.