Ranked #67

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn

The latest animation production in the Gundam metaseries, MS Gundam Unicorn is adapted from a light novel with the same title. Although most of the newer Gundam production is set in an alternate universe, this time Sunrise decided to return to the Universal Century timeline, set in UC 0096, 3 years after Char's Counterattack and 27 years before F91. Planned to be a 6 episodes OVA, this OVA will take approximately 3 years to finish. But for me, the wait is worth it, since based on the 1st episode, the series will be an excellent one.

Story: 8
The story takes off from after Char's Counterattack. Many cliched plot are used, but they are played very well to create an enjoyable plot. Since the story is a continuation of the first 4 Gundam animes, it is advisable to watch those first (namely, Mobile Suit Gundam, Zeta Gundam, Gundam ZZ. and Char's Counterattack.) Else there may many aspect of the stories and concepts that you don't understand. I give an 8 based on the first episode only, so it might change as new episodes came out.

Art: 10
Too bad the maximum is 10. I'd like to give more, but oh well. Animation is the best I've ever seen in an anime. Battles are done fluidly, good character design and mecha design. One thing that I like is the cel-shading, the mechas are done using 3D CG, but the cel-shading is done beautifully to make them not look 3D anymore; they really look like hand drawn. Though it still retains a bit of the 3D CG feel, it's still the best cel-shading I've seen so far, gives more of an anime feel than a real 3D CG, like in Macross for example.

Sound: 10
I got addicted to the soundtrack of the first battle right off the bat. Not only that, the whole episode is accompanied by good soundtracks. They really fit the scene well. SFX is also good, even in scenes where there's a lot of SFX played, each one is defined pretty well without becoming a mess. Voice acting has no problem either, no annoying voice acting present for me, like those annoying overly shy girl's voice which is present in many animes.

Character: 8
Still the first episode,so I can't give much comments, but as far as I see, they got a solid start. Some characters are from the previous series, which adds to the reason why you should watch the previous series before watching this.

Enjoyment: 10
Very enjoyable. I really enjoy as the story unfolds to reveal more conflicts. The first episode gets more and more interesting as you watch. The battle is also top-notch, it's really rare to see a 'nameless pilot in a grunt unit' possess so much skill and put up such a good fight against the 'named pilot in a non-grunt unit'.

Miscellaneous things:
-It's a Gundam series set in UC timeline so it has to be good. Well, that's just my very biased opinion so don't mind it.
-Funnels. Who doesn't like funnels? This has the best animation of funnel attack I've ever seen.

Overall: 10
Perfect score, since to me this is an outstanding anime. It's got good story, good art, good soundtracks and SFX, good characters, and very enjoyable. Although, this anime is more oriented toward Universal Century Gundam fans rather than the newer Gundam fans. I think maybe because lately there's been a lot of people who voiced dislike towards the newer Gundam series, so Sunrise decided to animate this series.
All in all, a good watch, though the wait is very long, 6 months per episode, but it's worth the wait. read more

Dubbed as "Vanilla Gundam" for its shift to elaborate upon the old gundam series, this OVA will not disappoint. Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn, is a OVA series set three years after the events of Char's counter attack. That being said, Gundam Unicorn is a separate story adapted from a light novel series, though i believe is canon thus the need to at least read up on the gundam series beforehand is probably advisable. Though you could get through the series without a single clue, i feel that some of experience would be lost.

Story - 8
Like all Gundam series i have watched, most explore a lot of themes ranging from environmental issues to human rights. Usually, the protagonist gets to wield some epic gundam of some sorts and the plot takes of from there. Gundam Unicorn is no exception, but you really can't blame the series, since most mecha animes are like that. However this is no reason to skip the series since, the premise shows some real promise, albeit slightly cliche (at the moment of writing this). Since, only one episode has been released, my rating of 8 is rather an estimation of things to come (and also looking back at the prequels which had a solid plot), and right now I'm certainly looking forward to what happens next.

Animation - over 9000?
Yes, the quality IS over 9000. There is really no words to describe the quality of the animation. Every mecha ranging from the classic zaku's to the epic gundam's are detailed to perfection, and their designs are magnificent. Action scenes are plentiful and the quality is very smooth and a joy to gawk at.Camera angles are dynamic, and are always varied especially the action sequences.
Merit should be given to the studio for portraying the characters in a "old school" way, similar to that of Chars Counter Attack albeit more detailed. Shading in every scene is detailed nicely and the backdrops are very nice. For an OVA series that is going to take three years to finish, you would expect nothing less.

Sound - 8
I'm no expert at sound or voice acting besides the fact that if they don't sound annoying then its good. Well I can't really judge the VA's, but from my "expertise" they seem all fine and don't sound forced at all. Scripting for the OVA is good and matches the atmosphere and universe well.
As for background music, i didn't really notice it since i couldn't pick much from the background scores. Usually, music is an integral part of movies, shows and games as it adds to the experience and helps the audience immerse themselves. Since i couldn't really hear anything defining, then i can only say that the soundtrack seems "meh". (as of the first episode anyways)
That's not to say however that the sound is average in this series; the sound effects ranging from explosions to that familiar whoosh are all executed perfectly and are believable.
What I'm really exited about however, is the DVD/bluray release of the first OVA which will contain (from what i hear anyways) English audio and subs from 5 different languages. Because the cast is very diverse I'm very interested to how the OVA will execute the voice acting.



After watching the first episode I was really dumbfounded by the pure epicness of the episode. From every aspect, the OVA has done significantly well and from my personal predictions, it will only get better. Whilst the series will take three years to finish, I am certainly willing to wait because the series has so much to offer. This is truly a top notch anime that fans and non fans alike will enjoy though the wait till the next episode will anal anyone.


NOTE - I will be updating this as the newer episodes gets released and when i get my hands on the DVD/Bluray release. oh and get this in HD since only the animation can truly be appreciated there. read more