Universal Century 0096.
Three years after the second Neo Zeon war and the disappearance of Amuro
Ray and Char Aznable, the remnants of Neo Zeon, now known as the Sleeves, and
the Earth Federation, continue to drag out their eternal conflict. The eyes of both sides now turn to retrieving
Laplace’s Box. No one knows what it contains,
only that its secrets date back to UC0001, the birth of the Universal
Century. Two star crossed youths become
caught up in the struggle for the box: Banagher Links, secret son of one of the
Earth’s most powerful industrial entities; and Mineva Zabi, the long lost heir
to the Zabi Family and Zeon itself. With
Banagher at the controls of a specially designed Gundam Mobile Suit, he and
Mineva will seek out the box and determine which side is best suited to possess
it.
This is going to be a pretty short one today. That’s mostly because I’m not sure I can
explain why I would continue watching this or why I wouldn’t just recommend the
OVA Gundam Unicorn as the best way to enjoy this story in full.
In the history of Gundam, it’s been known for entries to receive
a set of theatrical or OVA Compilation Films following the end of their
tenure. This goes back as far as the
film trilogy that immedietly followed the original Mobile Suit Gundam series
and continues on even today as ONA series Gundam Thunderbolt and Gundam
Twilight Axis are both receiving the same treatment. Gundam Unicorn RE:0096 is kind of a step in
the reverse. Had this started out in the
22 episode format this show is set, then it would make sense to rework it into
a set of OVA compilation films. My big
question after the first couple of episodes…is why?
Gundam Unicorn was originally made up of seven, near
feature length episodes released between 2010 and 2014 (I ended up covering
them back between December 2015 and February 2016 if you’d like to go back and
take a look at those reviews). The first
couple of episodes of the RE:0096 TV edit don’t even make it through the first OVA
episode and I suspect that the rest of the series is going to be awkwardly
chopped the same way. It’s strange. Everything from the OVA is here from the
amazing animation to the mystery laden story to the characters, mecha battles,
heck the first episode of the OVA feels pretty much intact despite the
dissection. So I ask again…why not just
watch OVA Episode 1 and get the full experience there? If anything, that question nagged me the most
watching the first two episodes of this series.
There’s always a chance that more new footage could be added down the
line but what purpose would that serve? This
isn’t like watching the Madoka Magica Movies and recommending them because they
could fit 13 episodes into 2 well put together films. This is…reverse logic in my mind: cutting
down a project that already worked well enough as an event level OVA into a 22
episode TV series for the sake of…what, I ask?
As you can imagine, with that kind of a ramble, I wont be
pressing on with this series. If someone
else has seen the show, is anything even remotely different? If you have to choose between watching this
series or the OVA, go for the OVA. This
is meant to be watched the way it was originally, a set of episodes that are
long but feel large in scope and nicely paced.
You’ll probably get more mileage out of it than having to break every
thirty minutes…which I really just don’t get.
I will give some credit: the opening and ending theme songs are nice,
performed by the same group that did the themes for Aldnoah Zero (which is an
equally forgettable show btw).
Ok that’s enough of this one. And again, I’ve reviewed the full Gundam Unicorn
OVA here on the Anime Corner and ill actually link those reviews below. Check them out and see if they might be your
cup of tea. See ya next Friday for
another Gundam titled First Impression Friday as GundamCember continues.
Part 1: Episodes 1&2
Part 2: Episodes 3&4
Part 3: Episodes 5&6
Part 4: Episode 7
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