UC 0096. Three
years after Char’s rebellion, the remnants of Zeon, now known as the Sleeves,
are preparing for their last gamble for independence. Legend speaks of Laplace’s Box. No one knows what this box is or what its
exact contents are. Two things are
known: first, it’s mystery dates back as far as UC 0001, the beginning of the
Universal Century Calendar; and second, it has the power to change the balance
of power in space forever. A race is on
to retrieve this item. On one side, the
Sleeves. On the other the Earth
Federation under pressure from the mysterious Vist Foundation. In the middle, two young wayward souls:
Banagher Links and Audrey Byrne, and the key to finding the box: a special one
of a kind mobile suit: The RX-0 Unicorn Gundam.
The giant robot that changed the genre forever is
back. Once again, the Mobile Suit Gundam
franchise returns to the Universal Century where it all began. This is a brand new story set in the 30 year
gap between Gundam: Char’s Counterattack and Gundam F91. That’s a good swath of history to insert a
new story. But Unicorn goes for big
right off the bat, giving us not just any mystery. This is directly related to the origin of the
Universal Century, a period thus far unexplored in Gundam. That’s the clincher right there.
I don’t know how many times I’m going to ask it during
the course of these reviews…so I’ll just get it out of the way. In the immortal words of Brad Pitt from the
movie Seven, “WHAT’S IN THE BOX? COME
ON, WHAT’S IN THE BOOOOOOOOOOX? WHAT’S
IN THE F***ING BOX?” Ok, done. The secret of Laplace’s Box is hyped up a lot
and I mean a lot, especially in the first episode. Those of you expecting a lot of Gundam
centered action right off the bat may be a little disappointed as we don’t see
much of the Unicorn save for one minor test run and it’s full blown, amazing
appearance at the end. Episode 1 is all
about set up, reestablishing this universe while catching us up to speed on
what’s happened since Char’s Counterattack.
It’s almost funny hearing Banagher’s classmates talk about Zaku’s from
the one year war. To them, these are
just stories in history and none can ever expect the hell the Box mystery is
about to rain down upon them. The box’s
contents are so important, what little that’s left of Zeon is ready to go to
war again…must be big. For long time
fans of the Universal Century, it’s great to see a welcome return and advancement
of the era. For newcomers, you may not
get all the answers you want about the world.
But there’s enough to keep you interested.
In our cast of characters, we’ve got three that need
definite mentioning. First off is our Gundam
Pilot, Banagher Links. He reminds me a
lot of Gundam youth of the past. His
thoughts on the horror of war and the stupidity of adults makes him a hybrid of
Gundam protagonists Amuro Ray, Kamille Bidan and Judo Ashita. Where he suddenly loses me is after meeting
Audrey, er Mineva Zabi. Yeah she’s a
pretty big surprise for the story. The
last we saw the little Zabi princess was back during Zeta Gundam (if she was in
ZZ please correct me). This girl has
gone through all kinds of rough times bouncing back and forth between failed
Zeon campaigns over the years. Still,
Mineva gives off that nice idealistic vibe that could be beneficial to
Zeon. Banagher helps her think a bit
clearer about actions that might seem suicidal.
But Banagher’s instant and blind loyalty to Mineva never clicks with
me. I don’t know, it’s just not the most
convincing of arguments coming from Banagher that he’s talked with Mineva for
five seconds and immediately wants to stay with her forever. Hearing him beg her to tell him she needs him
took Banagher down several pegs. As for
our series “Char Clone”, I’m not too sold on Full Frontal being anything other
than that. He even accepts that he runs
with the “Second Coming of Char Aznable” moniker to give hope to Zeon. I’m sure more will be learned in later
episodes. For me though, no one will
ever match Char’s character in the Gundam franchise, though Zechs from Gundam Wing
is a personal fav. And to be honest,
Frontal’s subordinate, Angelo, treating the masked captain as a God isn’t doing
him any favors. What is it with blind
followings in this story?
There are side characters littered everywhere and they
all leave a great, or not so great, mark on the story so far. Zeon freighter Captain Zimmerman could turn
out to be the Rambal Ral of this series and that’s never a bad thing. His beautiful pilot, Marida, is one helluva
pilot…and Gundam hater apparently based on her rage fit when the Unicorn went
into NTD mode. The command crew of the
Nahel Argama is a lot of fun. Captain
Otto might be one of my favorite Captains in the Gundam Franchise. His frustration at everything is
understandable and I loved he needed to leave a terrible briefing to vent in
the elevator. Daguza of the black ops
(?) ECOAS team seemed pretty cool.
Characters who didn’t leave the best impression? Alberto has potential when he mortally wounds
Cardeas Vist in the first episode but is reduced to a whining suit that you
have no problem blotting from your mind.
Also, there’s Riddhe, who seems to suffer from the same “Mineva
Infulence” that Banagher suffers from.
At first he’s happy go lucky.
Then he gets mad cause Mineva is Zeon.
THEN he decides to break her out and take her to Earth…im so
confused.
Yeah the characters may be all over the map. The OVA production quality is all here and on
point though. This is no doubt how
Gundam was always meant to be seen, a beautiful fusion of hand drawn and
computer animation that blends great.
And what of the title Unicorn itself?
Well it’s regular design is unique, much like the Turn A Gundam and it’s
“Gundam Moustache”. But when it
transforms into it’s NTD mode and looks more like a traditional Gundam? Damn it’s a think of beauty and a beast in
combat. Can’t lie though, I also use it
as my Gundam of choice in Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3 and I can make that baby
dance.
The first episode offers backstory and build up before
the second episode gets right into the action first with story second. That’s really not a bad start to a new Gundam
series. And because this is an OVA, time
isn’t really against it. The hour long
run times on each episode do quite a service to flesh everything out. There are a lot of kinks to be worked out,
especially with the bouncing loyalties and mindset of Banager and Riddhe. Gundam is still back, still flying, and still
better looking than ever. It’s a shame
we gotta leave it at the halfway point next week. Will it make for a good end of the year, mid
series cliffhanger? You’ll know when I do. See you next week everyone and have a Happy
Holiday.
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