Anime: Kidou Senshi Gundam Unicorn

Review
Gundam. For many years this franchise has been the infantry of the anime industry. A collective of scy-fy shounen shows that puts colossal mecha and spaceships in wars and struggle, where a young man will rise to the ocasion and save Earth from the dreadful consequences of war. An aged formula, yes, but one that never loses its charm. The original Gundam crafted a fictional future that was simply perfect to build tales full of intrigues, combats, and dramatic moments. Not only later Gundam shows copied the formula, but nearly all shounens have a bit of Gundam in their cores.

Gundam Unicorn is Sunrise's latest entry to the franchise, using the original Universal Century (UC), the same built with the original Gundam and later improved with OVAs, Gundam Zeta, and Gundam ZZ. It depicts a world where humanity is on verge of a forced evolution, where people labeled as "Newtypes" will appear across the world, with abilities that would allow humanity to thrive on the vastness of space and join as one to reach new heights of technology and dominance. Yet, amidst this, spacenoids and earthlings fight each other over trifle issues.

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1. Perfect Production
   Gundam shows have always being on the vanguard when it comes to production. Sunrise's large budget allow the teams behind each entry to reach new levels of animation, computer graphics, and sound direction. Gundam Unicorn is a perfect example of this advanced quality. It has a sharp artwork, bright colors, a perfect mix of computer graphics and traditional art, and outstanding animation. Joining that is a sound direction filled with epic themes, smart use of background music, and a solid voice-acting. However, the most amazing achievement is making such a high-production show still leaving an classic vibe with its clever and unique character design inspired by the original 70's and 80's show. Simply put, the production of a show can't get much better than this.
   
   A Known Tale
   Gundam Unicorn's tale is quite common. Banagher Links receives the new machine and must fight against his own problems to prevent an incoming war. He joins the crew of a spaceship, meets a girl with the resolve he lacks, and ultimately learn secrets about himself and the world that can change the political structure of the present. There are a few cameos from previous UC characters, the scenario itself is not that much different from what was established in Gundam Zeta, and even the villain is basically a reicarnation of Char. It truly brings nothing new, but...
   
   it has a few dramatic moments
   Although Banagher is a crybaby that makes the latest protagonist of the franchise look far more mature, his rare glimpses of courage and some moments where he gets to pilot the Unicorn can get quite enjoyable, filled with dramatic music, a burst of power, and awesome execution. It reminds a bit of Kira's appearances in Gundam Seed Destiny or some stylish entraces in Gundam 00.
   
   yet it feel far too fantastic
   Yet, compared to most Gundam Shows, Gundam Unicorn feels a bit disjoined when it comes to the superpowers of a Newtype. The psycho-waves, the telepathy, the talking to the dead stuff, they are all far too mystic and unfit to the whole war-mecha-laser beams stuff. Not as if other Gundams didn't have that, but Gundam Unicorn starts pretty early to explore such areas, and thus can let down a bit of the "realism" the show tries to portrait when it comes to politics and warfare.
   
   Nevertheless, it is an amazing Gundam
   If Gundam Age got on your nerves, if Valvrave looked far too stupid to you, if Buddy Complex annoyed you with all the "coupling", then you will certainly find in Gundam Unicorn a true inheritor of the franchise. Its mature feel, the traditional Gundam elements, the familiar plotline, and the absurdly amazing production values makes Gundam Unicorn a safe show where you can extract anything you might expect from its name.
   

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Comments
While Gundam Unicorn is not as addicting or courageous as some previous Gundam, its safe route can certainly work in a good way when you consider all that has been released in the last years. The one-hour OVA format helps to immerse you in the setting, the stunning animation is boosted with a character style we typically don't see in shows these days, the sound direction contributes greatly to the dramatic battles, and finally the plotline and the narrative never gets boring or confusing unless you are completely oblivious to the events of the original Gundam and Gundam Zeta.

A solid entry for the franchise and a clear example of how a Gundam show should be made. We can only hope Sunrise do no more Gundam Ages, Valvraves, or Buddy Complex after finishing this.

There are two different ways for someone to enjoy Unicorn. The first is to expect to watch mecha porn; meaning to see some amazing production values regarding giant robots. And indeed, this anime has the best overall artwork and animation in any other Gundam to date. It just looks plain awesome. The second way is through nostalgia, as we are taken back to the first and best of all timelines, that of the Universal Century. We get to see lots of familiar characters and cameos of areas and older models, so unlike most side stories you are truly made to believe this is a sequel.

Sadly this is as far as the good reasons go, since most of everything else is either a rehash of earlier Gundam shows, or it is a bad addition altogether. I mean I liked how all of a sudden the world federation is proven to be founded on staged terrorist attacks so the populace will turn to it for protection but that is something that was already shown in other universes as well, such as Wing and 00. I disliked a lot how all of a sudden the conflict gained pitiful objectives, such as finding a princess or a super magic cube. It used to be a lot more strategic and grand scaled in earlier titles.

As far as action goes, it is surely spectacular with the use of the budget. There is a sort of choreography in all the battles and the various special attacks make them further exciting. For the same reason of course you are distracted from the story and the characters, since the action gets most of the focus. And it also feels a lot closer to the super robots genre that the real robots one, which feels almost like a betrayal. UC pilots so far were using their skills and occasionally taped into their Newtype telepathy. They were surely not betting all their money on magic technology, such as a shield that deflects lasers, or a magic cube that can alter humanity.

The above has the result of making most of the plot to feel like a line of randomly generated minor missions than a clear thought out masterplan. It’s as if they are attacking places at random and hope for something more interesting to pop up. Also, the story played all its cards in the first 3 OVAs. It didn’t need to be any longer than that, since it was just going in circles thereon.

The character interaction is good for allowing each major character to grow by talking with others. At the same time it will feel like they want to solve all of life’s mysteries by chatting with the enemy during a battle where they are trying to kill each other. And damn, how many times did scorn enemies meet in a friendly matter only to start shooting at each other a few minutes later? I also didn’t like the new protagonist; he looks and acts like Camille from Zeta (which is bad) who finds it really hard to decide if he wants to fight or not (which is good). Yet the story ends and I have nothing to remember him for other than being two things I have seen elsewhere already.

In all it is a very good war drama/action title but surely goes way too easy with its plot, lasts far longer than it needs to, and doesn’t try to offer something new.