Monday, December 21, 2015

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn Part 1-Episode 1 & 2


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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