Title: Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn
Format: OVA
Genre: mecha, sci-fi, space opera, politics, action, military
Series Creator: Yoshiyuki Tomino
Series Director: Kazuhiro Furuhashi
Studio: Sunrise
Series length: 7 OVAs
Original Airing dates: February 20, 2010 – May 17, 2014
Reviewed format: blu-ray downloads with official subs
Synopsis:
“The series begins in U.C. 0001, at the very beginning of human space colonization, when a space colony called Laplace is destroyed during a ceremony hosted by the Federation’s Prime Minister ushering in the Universal Century dating system. The main story takes place in UC 0096, sixteen years after the end of the One Year War and three years after the events of Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack.
The story revolves around Banagher Links, a seemingly normal boy living and going to school in the space colonies. His life changes one day when he meets a girl named Audrey Burne, as the encounter brings him into contact with a new Gundam and its connections to an item called “Laplace’s Box”.”
Review:
After 4 years and 7 cinematically released OVAs, Gundam’s Universal Century (UC) latest story in it’s 35 year long saga, Gundam Unicorn, is finally at an end.
Thus leaving the question: was the financial and emotional investment worth it?
In this not so humble critic’s view it, for the most part, was. Yet that is all tempered against how much actually investment you had in the series & the Gundam franchise as a whole.
I’ve been an active consumer of Gundam anime and gunpla (Gundam models) for almost 24 years now, so my investment is pretty high (which I think I proved in my Gundam Build Fighters review from several weeks back).
Gundam Unicorn is a series for the most invested consumer, because it references events & characters from all through the previous Universal Century series (Gundam 0079, Gundam Zeta, Gundam ZZ & all the various OVAs) yet it isn’t so impenetrable that a lay viewer won’t be able to understand & appreciate it.
It has all the usual hallmarks & meta-themes that one comes to expect from the Gundam meta-universe: fast paced space action, complex characters with complex choices, not a great deal of respect for female characters, dense confusing political agendas &, of course, giant fucking robots!
Due to the odd nature of the releases of Gundam Unicorn -7 staggered releases over 4 years- I’ll be reviewing them in a slightly different fashion. That is: reviewing each ‘episode’ individually, highlighting plot & themes, before giving my usual strange, disjointed summary at the end.
So, without further adieu, here we go.
Episode 1: Day of the Unicorn
We begin at The Beginning.
Now, that isn’t some smug critic’s line, the 1st episode begins at the dawn of the Universal Century, where the Anno Domini Era becomes no more.
Humans have begun to leave a polluted Earth to set up orbital colonies at the same time all world governments have renounced sovereignty in favour of a unified government known as the Earth Federation. The colonies become like the colonies of the old Earth empires, with no self governance, controlled & exploited by the Federation.
The ceremony to mark the passing of the old calendar into the new space UC era is disrupted by a terrorist bombing, which destroys the presidential space station as well as killing off much of the government, as well as destroying their corner stone -the Universal Charter.
96 years later, one of the remnants of Neo-Zeon (AKA the Space Nazis) known as The Sleeves are on their way to the space colony Industrial 7 to acquire the series MacGuffin, Laplace’s Box, so they can battle the Federation anew. Unfortunately this leads into an ambush but we get to see a great battle between the Federation task force, Londo Bell, and The Sleeve’s uber Mobile Suit the Kshatriya.
After one very pretty battle scene, we cut to our new Fated Hero & Pilot, Banagher Links. A 16 year old engineering student who feels bored with life, despite the constant attempts of his female classmate Micott Bartsch to get his attention.
After the shuttle that was meant to take Banagher & the rest of his class back to the main part of the colony breaks down, Banagher begins to reflect on why people wage war, all whilst staring at the remains of a Zaku Mobile Suit. Our hero then spots a mysterious Mobile Suit flying off in the distance, which triggers something within him -most likely Newtype related.
Anyway, the Sleeves arrive at Industrial 7 but a mysterious girl (mysterious only if you’ve never paid attention to any previous Gundam UC series or manga) slips from their ship & proceeds to sneak around the colony. Unfortunately for her this means she ends up falling down the gravity well along the central shaft but before she goes splat, she mentally calls out for help. Naturally, Banagher hears her calls & rushes off to rescue her -which pisses of Micott, who was trying to get his attention again.
Banagher steals a construction pod & rescues the mysterious falling girl before they run out of fuel & crash safely. She proceeds to tell Banagher that she is on a desperate mission & must leave him but he, like EVER SINGLE male anime protagonist, vows to help her no matter what despite not knowing anything about her.
This is seriously something I question as a trope but is common across all media. The hero helping the female character do the strangest, most dangerous things despite having only met them. I truly long for the day where the female is revealed to be the true villain of the piece or, better yet, a man in drag who is actually the central villain.
Anyway, The Sleeves arrive to collect the MacGuffin but realise the mysterious girl was actually with them, so they set off to find her. Whilst this happens, we see more political stuff & background of the mysterious Mobile Suit that Banagher saw earlier. The mysterious girl also gives Banagher an obviously false name, Audrey Burne (a reference to Audrey Hepburn & one of her films about a runaway because there was a poster that they passed). Quick fight between members of The Sleeves who are trying to take Audrey back & Banagher, followed by his school friends talking about current events. Micott sees Audrey & Banagher together & realises that she’s been totally clit-blocked.
Sexually blocking of the clit or cock variety & rejection will become a common theme with this series, as it is a common meta-theme through the entire Gundam franchise but the perceived clit-blocking & rejection in Unicorn doesn’t become as bad as it does in say Gundam Zeta -where a female pilots betrays all of the heroes because no o e would bang her.
Audrey & Banagher arrive at the Vist manner, which is stuck in Banagher’s memory for unknown reasons, where they meet Cardeas Vist, the keeper of the MacGuffin. Here Audrey rejects Banagher in order to save him but, if you’re a regular anime viewer, you know how well that works out. Despondent, our hero leaves to rejoin his classmates, while The Sleeves arrive to collect the MacGuffin.
Whilst they are informed that the MacGuffin they are to receive is actually a ‘key’ & not the MacGuffin itself, Londo Bell arrives to ambush The Sleeves, which causes their paranoid Zaku pilot to lose his shit & attacks, getting slaughtered. This causes Sleeves’ ace pilot, Marida Cruz, to launch in the Kshatriya.
As with almost all Gundam series, this brings the battle inside of the colony, which is damaged by both Marida & the Federation forces. Marida also accidentally kills most of Banagher’s classmates, save for Micott & his best friend Takuya.
Strangely this doesn’t trigger the usual psychotic rage you see in other Gundam protagonists & is never really brought up again even though it could’ve been used for development both antagonism & understand between various characters & organisations.
Anyway, Banagher abandons his two friends to go save Audrey, whilst the colony explodes around them. Whilst that’s going on, The Sleeves captain leaves Vist thinking they have ben betrayed but it was actually Vist who was betrayed by members of his own Foundation, mainly his son Alberto -who fatally wounds him.
Meanwhile, Audrey has escaped on her own & runs into Micott & Takuya -automatically triggering Micott’s clit-blocked rage but before the girl can lash out, they are almost killed by the flaming wreckage of a Mobile Suit falling on them, only to be saved by the tritagonist Riddhe Marcenas, who -naturally- becomes instantly smitten by Audrey. Taking her & the other two back to their main ship.
Whilst this is transpiring, Banagher FINALLY stumbles across the Unicorn Gundam, which has Cardeas Vist inside. After being berated by Banagher for not using the Unicorn to protect the colony, the dying Cardeas hands over the Mobile Suit to the boy, revealing (after a fashion) to actually be Benagher’s father -whom had been mentioned as abandoning him earlier in the OVA.
Now we get to see the Unicorn in action, where is flies out of the colony ready to confront the enemy, only to have the episode end as soon as he’s in space & the Unicorn begins its transformation sequence from unicorn mode into destroyer mode (which all the pretty red glowy bits!).
Now, this section was a bit long winded to get everything set up.
What the episode gets into is a brief history of everything that’s happened since the film Char’s Counterattack as well as emphasising the importance of the MacGuffin, Laplace’s Box, is the all sides involved in the military & political conflicts. It also sets up the characters & the recurring themes of them.
Like with all Gundam series, it delves heavily into the notion of children vs adult, absent parents, the horrors of war, why/how war is perpetuated as well as the difference between killing people out of revenge & our of self-defence & how in the end there isn’t much difference because it all adds to continuing hatred on all sides involved in conflict.
So, onto episode 2.
Episode 2: “The Second Coming of Char” AKA “The Red Comet”
We start with a fairly epic battle between Banagher in the awakened Unicorn and Marida in the Kshatriya. Marida has the training but Banagher has a mega psycho Mobile Suit which only wants to destroy Cyber-Newtypes -of which Marida is one.
The battle does look incredible, combining CGI and traditional animation. Despite all the speed & action involved, it’s still all clear & centred in the mise-en-scene (something Michael fucking Bay needs to learn). Fight scenes like this one are what truly make Gundam Unicorn great & stand above the other more recent series like Gundam AGE.
Anyway, semi-conscious, Banagher & the Unicorn hammer Marida’s Kshatriya until she’s forced to retreat. The Unicorn then reverts to its passive mode & is collected by the Londo Bell ship, Nahel Argama (whom long time fans will know from both Zeta & ZZ).
From there we’re pretty much left with a talkie episode (means lots of verbal, little action) but that’s all the set up the characters better as well as the political situation. Also turns out that Audrey Burne is actually Mineva Zabi, the princess of the Principality of Zeon -which would’ve been a total fucking surprise to those viewers are pretty thick.
But, anyway, our hero Benagher is treated suspiciously for being a teenager suddenly in control of a Gundam-type Mobile Suit. Which means people haven’t been reading their history because there’s only been like 2 non-teen Gundam pilots in the entire history of the Universal Century.
We are then introduced to Full Frontal (sans nudity), the charismatic commander of the Neo-Zeon armed forces & possible Char clone. To the point that everyone refers to him as the 2nd Coming of Char as well as the Red Comet (which long term fans knows is Char’s famous nickname).
Frontal & The Sleeves set up an ambush in order to get the MacGuffin’s key, which is the Unicorn Gundam itself, but the members of the Federation Special Forces try to use Audrey/Mineva as a hostage to bargain with. Frontal has none of it & attacks the Nahel Argama after the captain blunders, accidentally revealing their location when he ordered the main cannons fired to get rid of potentially dangerous debris around the ship.
This actually leads into really awesome battle scene that has Full Frontal in his Sinanju Mobile Suit (naturally painted red) -which does have an awesome design (see the link for pics). Riddhe & his squad engage but thoroughly have their collective arses kicked by Frontal’s superior skills, so Banagher does the usually hero thing & tries to sortie in the Unicorn. Beofre that happens, Frontal’s 2nd in command Angelo, pretty much sits in his MS masturbating over how awesome he thinks Frontal is as a pilot & leader (look up the senpai/kohai trope).
Luckily, they’ve gotten a lot smarter since Gundam Zeta & don’t let random people go out whenever they want in whatever they want. So the slimy Alberto, full of self interest, bullies his way with the crew to let Banagher fight for them.
![[D-SnF] Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn - 02 [DCE642AE].mkv_snapshot_32.34_[2011.02.14_05.27.17]](https://andthegeekshall.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/d-snf-mobile-suit-gundam-unicorn-02-dce642ae-mkv_snapshot_32-34_2011-02-14_05-27-17.png)
Again, a pretty epic fight scene in a debris field, where Banagher & Riddhe, in his damaged RGZ-95 ReZEL (which is a pretty awesome kit to build if you don’t try to transform it into vehicle mode). Banagher, firing wildly, accidentally kills Angelo’s wingman, which causes the little fruitcake to go into a rage -more so at himself for “spoiling his commander’s perfect battlefield”. Banagher & Riddhe start to get the upper hand until Marida ambushes Banagher, taking him & the Unicorn with them.
There’s an interesting exchange between Banagher & Full Frontal over notions of war, killing and idealism. Angelo naturally gets the shits over his squadmate’s death & yells at our hero before he lays the boot into him. Banagher then gets all emo over realising that he actually killed someone, so become -like most Gundam pilots- a moppy little bitch.
That’s always struck me as a bit of a hypocritical edge in the Gundam franchise. The protagonist always enters the various Gundam with the intent of killing, always in the pretext of protection or blood-fury revenge, but then they turn all emo whenever they realise that they actually killed people. I’ve spoken to people who have dealt with real soldiers & PTSD who reliably informed me that this type of disassociation between action, intent & result can actually happen with people who go to war & are confronted with the act of killing. How true Gundam is to this remains unknown to me so far.
Any-how, the next few bits with Marida & Banagher are interesting because they try to broaden the remnants of Neo-Zeon a little better. Once a mighty empire of Space Nazis, now the poorest of the poor, serving aristocratic masters like Full Frontal, all whilst cling to broken ideology & desires to avenge their broken pride. This is done by Banagher & Marida staying with The Sleeves pilot, Gilboa Sant, & discussions with Gilboa’s eldest son -who has been raised on nothing but pro-Zeon propaganda. For their parts, Gilboa treats Banagher with great kindness, where as the emotionally retarded Marida tries to justify her actions whilst not revealing that she was the one who accidentally killed all of his friends.
Whilst this is occurring, the Federation & their Vist overseers plans to get the Unicorn back so Neo-Zeon won’t be able to use the ‘key’ MacGuffin against them. Not to mention Riddhe is feeling all emo feeling betrayed over Audrey actually the figure head of his hated enemy at the same time he wants to bang her like a dunny door (to turn a phrase). Special Forces commander Daguza, who previously tried to use Audrey as a bargaining chip, suggests, to make the crew feel better about taking orders from the civilian Vist Foundation, that they should frame the liberation of the Unicorn as actually a rescue mission for Banagher. Also citing how they can do it with the limited resources that they have as well.
The episode ends with a spy dropping copies of the plans literally into Banagher’s hands (on some awesomely cool cyber-like paper, much better than the psychic brands out there) & our still emo hero lamenting that this colony he is in will turn into a battlefield just like his home did.
Episode 3: “The Ghost of Laplace”
This is a more action based episode, with an epic space battle outside of the colony of Palau, as Londo Bell attempt to rescue Banagher & the Unicorn Gundam. It all seems to go easily but who is actually using who & for what end (kinda obvious if you’ve been paying attention so far)?
This episode starts with the Federation forces attacking the Palau colony but cleverly separating the civilian section from the military one, the colony being built into several big space rocks & all. Just kinda confused & bothered me how blowing up connecting lines & struts wouldn’t causes significant damage to the civilian side, not to mention all the precious oxygen escaping out all big new holes everywhere.
But that’s all ignored & a flashy battle is underway because some pretty coolly designed Zeon Mobile Suits & the Federation grunts.
Before this all kicks off, Riddhe frees Audrey, saying he’ll take her to Earth so she can speak with his father -who is president of the Federation’s Colony council. As they try to escape, they get found out by Micott, who’s still seething from the clit-blocking earlier but lets them go because 1: Audrey pleaded that this is something that ONLY SHE can do to save everyone & 2: Micott wants her sexual rival gone so she can ride the soon to be rescued Banagher like he’s a pony at a rodeo. But before they escape, Riddhe feels guilty about abandoning his comrades-in-arms, so he fights Zeon for a bit before stealing a mass driver unit so he & Audrey can make it to Earth quicker than the previously planned two days.
After much battle (such explosions, wow) & faffing about, Banagher eventually makes it to the Unicorn & freedom. Until he’s blind sided by Marida in the Kshatriya but this time, using his spokey Newtype powers, realises that it’s her & has one of those weird conversations with her without having the communication systems on.
That’s another thing that’s bothered me hugely about Gundam (& mecha series in general), I can never understand how all comms systems seem to link into each other so they can talk, despite being on different sides & in otherwise non-compatible technology or how people on the opposite side of the battlefield can finish each other’s sentences. I know the trope reasons for it but the lack of logic still pisses me off enough to break the suspension of disbelief.
Any-hoo, this time our intrepid hero wins against Marida & takes her & her MS back to the Nahel Argama. We are then treated to a series of flashback to Marida’s past, her origins as a cloned soldier for the Neo-Zeon forces in Gundam ZZ, the loss of her (evil) master/controller, how she was then sold into sexual slavery, forced to endure abortions until given a hysterectomy & then eventually saved by The Sleeves captain, Zinnerman. It’s genuinely touching stuff & grants you a lot of sympathy for her & her situation -basically being a weapon not a true human being. She & Banagher talk a bit, he tries to apologise for all that’s happened to her but she tells him never to give up being who he is.
Everyone on the Nahel Argama then proceed to the location given to them by the Unicorn’s ‘key’ system, which is the remains of President Laplace’s space station -the one that was blown up in the opening of the 1st episode. Banagher goes into it with Daguza also in the cockpit so Banagher won’t do anything stupid (which means he read up on the history or Gundam pilots whilst Banagher was captured). They trigger the next stage of the MacGuffin chase -which is the speech by Laplace shortly before he was spaced by the bomb- & are then attacked by Full Frontal, whilst The Sleeves, ignoring orders, try to rescue Marida from the Nahel Argama -who is being taken back to Earth by Alberto to be reprogrammed. She wakes up & tries to get free, but a hole is blown in the side of the ship & she foolishly saves Alberto’s life -which then renders her back in custody for some unexplained reason.
After all that, things go the proverbial nipples northward when Banagher loses his shit & goes after Full Frontal, who is basically trying to trick the boy into activating the Destroyer system so the next location will be unlocked. This happens after Daguza foolishly sacrifices himself by hopping out of the Unicorn & attacking Full Frontal’s MS with a bazooka. So, another plot driven death to spur our emo hero into action (or madness).
So, Banagher goes monkey-poop trying to kill Frontal but gets caught in Earth’s gravitational pull. As he tries desperately tries to shoot Frontal down, the kindly Gilboa Sant gets in the way & gets blown up. Frontal uses the explosion to knock himself back into orbit & Banagher screams as he falls to Earth, only to be snagged by The Sleeve’s freighter before he burns up.
The episode ends with Audrey arriving at the mansion of Riddhe’s father.
Episode 4: “At the Bottom of the Gravity Well”
This episode is a good balance between talking & action, with lots of political stuff, reflections upon revenge & why people continually are unable to communicate & make themselves & others sad through negative actions. Which are all pretty par for the course in your typical mecha sci-fi series.
The episode begins with an attack on the Federation capital, Dakar, but then goes into all talkie mode for the majority of the episode.
It’s one of those eps that is common in the Gundam franchise, were two members of an opposing side try to justify their positions & philosophies to one another. In this case it’s Banagher & The Sleeves captain Zinnerman.
You see, The Sleeves rescued Banagher & now he’s gone all super emo mode again, so, in between beatings from the crew for killing Gibloa & being a whinging little bastard, Zinnerman decides to take Banagher through the desert with him.
Part of it is justified to stop the boy being a mopey little shit & the other reason is to turn him over to The Sleeves side -which is turns out has increasingly little to do with the goals of the Neo-Zeon forces & more to do with being unable to let go of old anger & feelings of injustice -when Federation soldiers killed everything in The Sleeve’s village, including Zinnerman’s wife & daughter.
The basic discourse between Banagher & Zinnerman is about human empathy & the perpetuation of hatred. Which are two of the most common meta-themes in Gundam. Except they always play as a bit simplistic & hypocritical to me. Because no matter how much they try to paint them as a virtue it always feels brought down by the fact they seem like under-considered & childishly naive. It also smacks a bit of the victim mentality that is prevalent within Japanese society & well as the constant dichotomy of trying to escape their recent history at the same time being unable to come to terms with having been defeated in WW2 (especially in the fashion that they were).
You see, the Principality of Zeon -the Space Nazi- have generally stood for the older, hardline Japanese militaristic, totalitarian mentality where as the Gundam & the crew who supports it have always been the ones pushing into the future, at the same time battling the corruption & incompetence of the Federation (in the Universal Century timeline at least), who are trying to hold back the Gundam. The Feds generally represent corporate interests & the political elite but that too seems disingenuous because of Gundam’s reliance on corporate interests in order to keep going.
The other theme that they touch on which I FUCKING DESPISE is “the role of men“. Basically saying that men should take responsibility, shoulder all of the burden & shut the fuck up about it because if you turn emo, you’re not a real man. Which is actually bullshit because if you repress how & what you feel about something you get exceptionally sick & mentally distraught. Yet it is a trope that action based anime continually wants to push as reality & it is really poisonous to society -especialyl young boys who think that’s the way to act (couple with misogyny as well).
Anyway, whilst Banagher is getting over being emo, Riddhe is being emo.
He’s all pissy that Audrey is being held captive by his father because it’s more important to him, his corporation & the Federation that she doesn’t find out about the MacGuffin. So Riddhe’s father tells him the secret of the MacGuffin, which doesn’t work out well because Riddhe then goes to convince Audrey to denounce the Zabi name & marry him. When she doesn’t respond, he runs off crying like a little bitch whilst Audrey makes an escape attempt of her own.
She winds up at a dinner in the desert (where no desert was previously seen) & talks to the owner -who’s son was a Federation soldier- about how his generation made mistakes & how it’s the young who have to pay for it.
This brings out the other constant theme in the Gundam franchise -which is literally teens vs adults.
All the central protagonists are teens -usually 14 to 16- & emo as fuck! Mostly due to parental neglect (though in the case of Kamille from Zeta Gundam it’s a serious case of A Boy Named Sue syndrome) but mainly because the franchise focuses on what happens when children are burdened with the sins of the past. In this case: the legacy of war & the victim mentality that traps Japan in a negative mindset. Although that later evolved into other forms such as concern of the environment & empathy with people unlike yourselves.
Anyway, whilst all that is going down, Marida is taken to a Federation lab by Alberto -who seems to be infatuated with her- & his aunt, Martha Vist Carbine. Martha’s physical depiction is amusing because she’s give a lot of cleavage, which I think is a way to prove she’s a woman because they’ve given her a pretty mannish looking face (square jaw & all). Aunt & nephew then attempt reprogram Marida so she’ll be loyal to Alberto alone & be a pilot for a mysterious project (which wasn’t very mysterious at the time if you collected gunpla because they were hyping the kit for months before this episode was released).
Now we get into the cool action, as the remnant Zeon forces on Earth decide to go for an all out attack so The Sleeves can drop the Unicorn into the next area that activates the MacGuffin detection program.
It’s pretty cool to see all the Zeon Mobile suits flying out for battle but I found it bothersome that many had been there for well over a decade & no one had found them. More so when they were just hidden in the wreckage of Zeon structures from their previous occupation of Earth. Plus the Zeon troops were still walking around in their uniforms. I do know that this is kinda references Japanese troops who kept fighting well after the war was over but I don’t think the Federation forces are so thick to leave major Zeon machines & structures intact, especially when there are lots of people still around them in suspicious clothing.
But at any rate, they all go to attack a major Federation base after being manipulated into it by that clone bastard Full Frontal & it’s a pretty cool looking battle with lots of references to previous series. Especially with the Federation bring out a MS that hasn’t been seen since Zeta when Titans used it -which is kinda surprising it hasn’t been used since it pretty much slaughters the Zeon forces on its own.
Whilst that skirmish is going down, Neo-Zeon’s huge Mobile Armour, (Ro) Shamblo moves in to attack. Again: where & how were they hiding this unless they dropped it from space to be used. Even then, someone may have noticed. Anyway, the pilot of the massive machine is Loni, who is all pissy that her evil father was killed by the Federation, so she must kill them all. Unfortunately, the Shamblo makes her go insane due to a dodgy psycomm unite (hinted to have been made so by Full Frontal so it will go on a rampage), which makes Loni slaughter every civilian around her.
Banagher witnesses this as The Sleeves fly over in order to drop him at the activation location by the goes all anger emo & kicks 9 colours of shit out of Zinnerman because he isn’t doing anything to stop it -even though it’s just like when the Feds killed his family. It’s pretty righteous to see the two of them fight, with Banagher kicking Zinnerman sqaure in the nuts before punching him as the rest of the crew willfully do nothing to stop it.
Unfortunately Banagher’s turn at kicking arse is short lived as he returns to emo mode to try to talk Loni out of killing everyone. Riddhe, having been assigned to an Earth based squad at the behest of his father, joins the fray & keeps trying to convince Banagher to kill Loni. After some psychic Newtype type spiritual conversation, Banagher realises that Loni is too far trapped by hate (more so after Riddhe shot at her just as she was ready to get out of her machine) but he can’t bring himself to kill her. So Riddhe steals his gun & does the deed. As he points the gun at the Unicorn’s head, ordering Banagher to surrender, a mysterious (see 5 paragraphs up) black Unicorn drops form sky, ending the episode.
Episode 5: “The Black Unicorn”
This episode opens with the Black Unicorn (AKA The Banshee) being dropped from near orbit onto the battle scene that we saw in the previous episode. It then transforms into Destroyer Mode & fights off Riddhe’s damaged Delta before knocking Banagher out by smashing the Unicorn into the ground. Banagher then wakes up with the Feds trying to open his cockpit (a common happening for him by this stage) & sees that Marida is the pilot of the Banshee (dun-dun-daaaaaah!).
More talking this episode, as man-like Martha tries to force Audrey into making Banagher give them the next location (because the boy locked up the system so no one else could access it) -which our princess naturally refuses. Bright Noa, who has 3 series worth of experience dealing with emo Gundam pilots (read: slapping them like little bitches) talks to Banagher in order to convince the boy that he should do what he feels is right before he goes to make a deal that The Sleeves can rescue Audrey & take the Unicorn away from the Vist & the Feds. To do this they use original series character, Kai Shiden, and Zeta alumni Beltorchika Irma -thus bringing in more past UC timeline connections.
Before the transfer, Banagher tries to convince Marida of her real identity (well, the preferred one as Marida, since she’s a psychic clone & all). This continues into the transfer as well, with Riddhe & the Tri-Star (not the same as was killed in the original Gundam series) along with Marida in the Banshee. The Sleeves’ freighter create a diversion for Zinnerman to sneak aboard but that means Banagher has to fight Marida so she won’t kill him. This battle causes a psychic backlash that begins to breakdown Marida’s reprogramming but also makes her go nuts.
During this fight, Riddhe goes all crazy emo & tries to steal Audrey. Saying she can’t fix the world but he can still protect her. She basically kicks him to the curb as Zinnerman comes in to rescue her but an accidental shot from the Banshee makes another MS crash into Vist’s carrier hanger, scattering everyone. Riddhe stupidly tries to plead with Audrey again but she shows him she’d rather die than be with him, but dropping out of the back of the plane. She psychically calls out to Banagher, who rescues her & drops her onto The Sleeves freighter before going back for Marida.
After a brief bout of Gundam on Gundam action, Marida loses it when Riddhe, now in super-hyper-mega emo mode, tries to shot her with his Delta Plus MS. She thinks it’s a Gundam & smashes it apart. Riddhe survives & points out that she’s actually the one in the Gundam, which causes her the break down. Two bits of illogic in this scene. 1: how’d she hear him during the battle? & 2: how’d she not know she was in a Gundam -her programmed enemy- when it says it on the screen in front of her? No matter, as her breakdown coupled with Zinnerman’s appearance makes the Banshee stop & her to fall into Zinnerman’s arms. After they leave, Riddhe, still in super-mega-hyper angry emo mode lumbers towards the prone Banshee, glaring at it as he mutters “Guuuuundaaaaamuuuu!”
The Unicorn links up with The Sleeves & they try to make it into orbit to join with the Nahel Argama but they can’t get into the position needed. In an act of possibly dodgy physics, the Unicorn & 2 Zaku push the freighter from behind as the Nahel Argama fires a rocket controlled docking cable down. The Unicorn catches it & uses it’s now happy green Newtype power to generate what’s pretty much a “love field” to allow the freighter to escape Earth’s atmosphere.
Unfortunate for them, they’re ambushed by the Federation’s latest flagship, which wants to destroy everyone who knows about the MacGuffin -the Nahel Argama & crew included. The Unicorn is tired after using it’s “love field” (happens to all us blokes when under pressure) but Full Frontal & Angelo come to save the day/further their agenda in what is actually a fairly kick arse space battle that ends this episode.
Episode 6: “Two Worlds, Two Tomorrows” AKA “The Sky and the Stars”
This originally was meant to be the final episode for the Unicorn OVAs but they discovered halfway through production that they needed another episode to get everything out there. Plus they had more than a few more gunpla kits that they needed to sell, so they crammed them all into the 7th episode.
Anyway, we pick up with a brief recap of the Unicorn’s & The Sleeves’ escape from Earth, the ambush & the intervention of Full Frontal (nudity) and Angelo -now in a shiny new Mobile Suit (which has high heels for some reasons. They also call it ‘rose’ coloured, despite being purple, must be a Japanese thing). The battle from the end of ep 5 is extended somewhat here, allowing Frontal & Angelo to show off more, plus good to fill screening time with flashy explosions & physics defining mecha antics. Good to have this up front because after this point the episode gets to be full of a whole lotta talking.
So! Much! Talking!
Confusing talking!
With stuff that comes out of nowhere!
But before that, we get to see the tensions between the Londo Bell crew & the Neo-Zeon troops now on the Nahel Argama. Basically, the Zeon want to hijack the ship once they have the last set of MacGuffin coordinates but the Nahel Argama already suspect this, so are preparing for a fight. Add to this Micott is still seething over being clit-blocked 4 episodes back so she’s ready to kick Audrey’s arse!
Due to all this tension, Audrey finally demands that Full Frontal explain his plans & what do we get: fucking Star Wars!
No! Not the good ones!
Not a fucking epic Mobile Suit Deathstar (they’ve done that several times already) but the bullshit from the 1st prsequel that made no sense!
Yes! That’s right! The economic blockage stuff!
The clone of the greatest leader & MS pilot Zeon has & he wants to cut the Earth out of trade agreements!
That’s some serious let down bullshit right there!
It genuinely confused me the 1st time I watched it & pissed me off the 2nd.
It just seems like meaningless talk to pad out the episode.
Trying to spare Banagher, Audrey stupidly gives Full Frontal Economic Sanctions the final location of the MacGuffin, which in now way means that the Federation crew are in anyway expendable now. Not at all.
So, naturally, after Full Frontal goes back to his own vessel to gloat over his new uber-mecha, the Neo-Zeon troops try to take over the ship but the Special Forces commandos were waiting for them to do that & kick the shite out of them. Pretty boy kohai Angelo naturally escapes & tries to destroy the ship from within with his Mobile Suit. Banagher tries to stop him but Frontal made a sneak visit back, pinning down as he tries to convince him to join him. Yeah, masky, that’s really going to work.
Luckily Marida & Audrey come to the rescue in the slightly rebuilt Kshatriya (am guessing they needed to sell more but slightly different kits for the OCD collectors). Unfortunately Zinnerman is still undecided about his loyalties but Marida calling him ‘father’ allows him to grant her the permission to kick their superior officers arses. Will have to remember that trick next time I’m not allowed to get into a fight.
Now the race is on to the magically MacGuffin! With Martha from Vist wanting to blow everyone up!
What can stop our intrepid heroes?
Why, a mega-butthurt Mobile Suit pilot in the form of Riddhe, who’s still pissed at the emotional curbstomp that audrey gave him in the previous episode. He’s racing towards the Nahel Argama in an upgraded Banshee (again: because they wanted to see more gunpla) but he faces an upgrades Unicorn (see the last set of brackets) as we head into a cliff hanger!
Episode 7: “Over the Rainbow”
Finally at the ending ep!
Cripes! It’s taken longer to write out this bloody thing then it did to watch all 7 OVAs.
But we’re straight into the action as Riddhe in the Banshee Norn battles Banagher in the Unicorn Full Armour (because Full Armour Gundams are a recurring theme & means you can sell the same kit with add-ons for an insanely jacked up price) as the Federation mooks take on the Neo-Zeon mooks. But The Sleeves, in a move that will surprise no one watching, have switched sides & added patches of orange paint to their Zakus -which is a little useless since they are tiny areas painted & would be hard for a Fed pilot to tell the difference in a panic.
But that doesn’t matter as Banagher & Riddhe have another comms off debate, with Riddhe letting his emo butthurt get the better of him, as Full Frontal & the rest of Neo-Zeon get closer to Industrial 7 (the place we basically started at & home of the 1 true MacGuffin!) while Martha forces the Earth Federation, mainly Riddhe’s father, to use their super weapon -which is a left over from Zeta Gundam that no one thought to get rid off after all that previously went pear-shaped.
We go from some amazing fight scene to more emotion talking between Riddhe & Banagher. The former saying that he hates all Gundams & Newtypes because they stole Audrey from him (yep, mega-emo butthurt right here, ladies & gentlemen!). Banagher then drops the bombshell on Riddhe that he is –gasp– a Newtype in a Gundam! Shock horror! Seriously, that was really stupid yet a trope that such series always do. “But you are the thing that you hate! How will you cope with the dichotomy?”.
Marida heads out in her MS to keep Riddhe busy as Banagher heads to the MacGuffin. Naturally, he then gets trapped by Angelo as Marida struggles to keep Riddhe in check as his Newtype powers fully bloom & he starts to hear the thoughts & prayers of his friends & former crewmates, which naturally makes him go nuts. So much so he blows a whole right through Marida & her Mobile Suit.
I can’t honestly tell you how much this pissed me off.
Not because a favoured character died but because Gundam has this annoying history of killing off female characters so they can transcend with their spirit & offer some sort of protection to our hero. Every bloody series in the Universal Century timeline has done it at some point (usually in the last two episodes) & it’s always strong female characters (who they always force to make the tea for some reason). It’s a trope that I find both maddening & pointless! Mecha anime producers & writers need to evolve beyond it & find a better way to let the protagonist feel a surge brought on by a failing to protect & a need to never let it happen again!
Anyway, Marida dies & transcends reality in her pure energy Newtype form, warning everyone about the giant space laser that the Federation has pointed at them before saying goodbye to Zinnerman. This also gives Banagher’s Newtype powers a massive surge, so he breaks out of Angelo’s laser cage & smashes him good! Before heading to get Audrey so they can go to Industrial 7 together.
Now we have a whole heap of talking as the MacGuffin is revealed & it is -to my mind- utterly bloody pointless. It is literally a few words & something that was revealed in the first few minutes of episode 1. Because I’d figured out what it was, I was monstrously let down by the reveal & why everyone was fighting over it, why the Federation feared it & how it somehow connected up to the whole One Year War from the original Gundam series.
Anyway, the boring MacGuffin talk is broken by the arrival of Complete Starkers & his new shiny uber-mecha, which goes & tentacle rapes all the MS that attack it. Taking them over & making them kill each other. It’s pretty full on. Riddhe watches on, now having switched back to Banagher’s side because he killed Marida (a fact no one really mentions again).
After a bit of verbal between the keeper of the MacGuffin, Frontal & Audrey/Banagher, we get a pretty cool fight scene as all the newly awaken mecha show their stuff.
Then it goes really 2001: A Space Odyssey as the Psycomm systems of Frontal’s MS & the Unicorn interlock & send them hurtling through time & space! Well, hurtling through many previous events in the Universal Century timeline, most of them focussed on the original series. It’s really weird & trippy; fully out there. So much so that Full Frontal takes them both to the End of Time (not to be confused for the End of Time in Doctor Who), where Frontal goes all nihilist, talking about how no matter what humans do, it will al end in nothing. This makes Banagher break through the emo barrier to awaken the power of his heart (all he needed was Earth, Wind, Fire & Water so he could’ve summoned Gundam Captain Planet), sending them back to the present & summoning the Newtype spirits of the real Char & his long dead lover, Lalah, to whisk Full Frontal’s soul away. Making his two Mobile Suits crumble away as Banagher is awakened by Riddhe, saying that they need to save everyone from the giant space laser. Nice touch after this point, with the spirits of Char, Lalah & Amuro (whose fate was unknown) are seen heading into the depths of space, with Char saying that the future is for the young (repeating the common theme of the Gundam franchise).
Back on Earth, Captain Bright Nao is trying to convince the Federation leaders & Martha not to fire the giant space laser, with Alberto, broken by feeling the death of Marida (whom he seemed to love but is never explained) saying they should give up. But Audrey starts a broadcast to the entire Earth, revealing the secret of the MacGuffin & why it is important that it should be shared with the world. This causes Riddhe’s father to fire the laser but Alberto, at the last minute, tells him that Riddhe is the Banshee’s pilot & is going to die.
Now, time for the usual Gundam super powered space magic, as Banagher & Riddhe use the Newtype powers of their two Unicorns to stop the beam. With Riddhe activating his happy green particle power & Banagher turning his Unicorn into a giant glowing mecha Christmas tree. Very strange design choice. Unfortunately this makes everyone think that he died but the power of his Unicorn allows Audrey’s message to be broadcast to everyone across the world. Meaning that the Vist foundation has lost its power & Martha is arrested for all the shit she stirred throughout the series.
That still doesn’t stop the Federation from wanting to kill people, sending squads of MS’ to fight. To which the Unicorn responds by flying towards them & throwing out psychic energy that stops them & turns them into receivers for Audrey’s message for some weird reason. Weirder still is Riddhe trying to get Banagher to awaken as human & come back to everyone. Claiming that if he doesn’t he won’t have anyone to steal Audrey away from. Talk about a fucking creep!
Anyway, it all ends in a shower of Newtype energy as the projections of Audrey & Banagher embrace in the depths of space & the future is left open. Unless you watched the Gundam F91 film set 27 years after Unicorn & didn’t hear the announcement of the entire new Gundam series set in the era after Universal Century.
Anyway, that’s the end of my all too epic review of this all too epic series.
Gundam Unicorn is my favourite of the Universal Century timeline series because it lacks the stupid, whiny characters of the other 3 main series & has incredible battle scenes & pretty boss mecha design.
Watching it does me that you have to know what’s come before but you can just watch the movies (edited from the individual series) to see all the key moments & not deal with so much bullshit that the 3 original series was famous for.
At any rate, Gundam Unicorn is very much a series worth watching for it’s visual style & decent (by Gundam standards) story. Also good to watch now because you don’t have to wait months for the next episode, like I did before this weekend past.
And The Geek Shall (Inherit the Earth) 