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eyeresist wrote:

But I'm much more interested in Princess Jellyfish. I really hope there is a DVD release of this. Hopefully it is a better contribution to the Real Girl genre than the frankly not-good Girls High.

The Girls High manga, High School Girls, is very good; it's much better than the anime series.

The "D Level" (ranking?) otaku girls in Girls High are a lot like the Princess Jellyfish nerds in outward appearance.

Princess jellyfish is a very refreshing take on female otaku. The secondary characters are kinda one-note jokes, but It's a lot more human view of women than the million or so all-girl shows.

grooven wrote:

neocloud9 wrote:

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My Little Pony fans might (like myself) be wondering at this point if “unicorn” is just some kind of a codeword, or if unicorns appear in this show.

MY LITTLE PONY, REPRESENT. *fistbump*

(Though, to be perfectly honest, I'm more of a pegasus fan...)

I collect them ^-^ any other collectors around?

*waves hand wildly* Hi there fellow collector! Very Happy

nightjuan wrote:

While your views are quite interesting to read through, it would be advisable if you were a little more careful with those spoilers for unaired episodes, in spite of how minor they appear to be on the surface.

My bad, I wrote that in kind of a hurry last night.

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It's certainly addressing those issues but I don't think that's meant to be a complete explanation, even from a purely in-universe perspective, instead of just an informed interpretation that mostly incorporates preexisting notions.

Agreed, though it's actually quite rare for OAV's to even touch on these subjects, other than to have the occasional Zeon ace scream "SIEG ZEON!" with religious fervour. Gundam Unicorn has devoted a surprising amount of time of exploring concepts like Zeonism, newtypes, and usually in a fairly interesting way. There have even been some new revelations, such as the explanation that spacenoids lack suffrage in episode 2.

Compare this to say, Chars Counterattack, where characters ocassionally scream about evils of the earth sphere, but we never get a true political conversation.

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spoiler[Also, if they're really going to bring "islamism" into the story as you've suggested that seems remarkably stereotypical and potentially tasteless]

Potentially, but it's certainly new for UC Gundam, and fits in thematically with Marida's speech in episode 2, and it's certainly relevant for current times.

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conspiracies involving the likes of Anaheim and other parties aren't exactly a new subject.

Agreed, but I think Full Frontal's conversation in Ep 2 is significant, in being far more politically minded than the usual Zeon speeches, and it'll be interesting to see how they handle some of the stuff about Riddhe's earth elite father as the story progresses.

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Leaving any future developments aside...I'd say you're making a hasty generalization here, considering barely a couple of scenes would qualify as such. Most of the combat is far better choreographed and animated than usual but otherwise not necessarily novel in terms of traditional mecha action.

Ah yes, my bad. I do think however that the style and tactics are of the ECOAS are meant to parallel modern day US military tactics. This is maybe more obvious in the novel version of ep three [spoiler]with the flashback in-which Daguza has to infiltrate a Zeon-sympathising refugee colony].

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Unicorn is clearly a wonderful tribute to past Gundam works but I find it rather difficult to believe that Sunrise has any real intention of finally giving the UC setting a rest once and for all.

Me neither, but I think that was the authors intention. Remebembering that when the novel was written, there hadn't been a UC tv-series for more than a decade, and series like Seed were becoming incredibly popular with the younger generation, Unicorn feels like a last-hurrah for Zeon and early UC in general. Obviously there's Laplaces Box itself, and the constant reminder that it will bring about a new world, but also the conversation with between Audrey and Riddhe in episode two, where she claims that the actions of the sleeves are the last straw for the federation putting up with Neo-Zeon.

In a way the Unicorn itself embodies this, not only is it a powerfull mobile suit, as revelead in the third episode spoiler[the NDT system literally tracks down and murder newtypes, with rage. I.E., it destroys not only Neo-Zeon, but eradicates Newtypes, the very foundation of their ideology.]

In terms of scope and the stakes involved, Unicorn honestly feels more like a conclusion of UC to me than Chars Counterattack.

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They may have moved their weekly TV productions into the realm of alternate universes years ago but I don't see how Unicorn's success would suggest Sunrise will refrain from making more and more OVAs aimed at exactly the same target audience. Not that this is a bad thing, mind you, since despite my qualms I'm also a part of it.

My hope is the success of Unicorn could lead to some other, more daring sidestories to get given a similar treatment. I'd love to see Hathaways Flash done by the same production, and Gundam Sentinel, while somewhat of a run-of-the-mill Gundam novel could make an interesting movie if done right.

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As a huge Gundam fan, I'd be interested if you might mention a few of the particular scenes that jarred you for the sake of discussion.

To name one, there's a particularly dramatic scene in the third episode, when spoiler[Daguza goes out guns blazing] Banagher goes into a fit of rage and attacks FF. I was kinda pulled out of this scene when as this happens, speed-lines run across the screen as a reference to a scene from the original series. While that technique fits in with the rough animation style of the original series, in something like Unicorn it just felt out of place.

The animation is beautiful, especially the backgrounds which are incredibly detailed and lively, as Erin mentioned. Amazing animation is nothing new to Gundam however, and personally in terms of mecha I prefer the less fluid, but more detailed and worn down looks of the mobile suits in OAV's such as 0083 and 0080. Sometimes the mobile suits in Unicorn look a little too gleaming and sterile to me, like Gunpla floating in space rather than weapons of war.

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My hope is the success of Unicorn could lead to some other, more daring sidestories to get given a similar treatment. I'd love to see Hathaways Flash done by the same production, and Gundam Sentinel, while somewhat of a run-of-the-mill Gundam novel could make an interesting movie if done right.

I really wouldn't like to see Hathaway's Flash all that much since it's alternate U.C. history which would actually nullify things seen in Unicorn, F91, Crossbone Gundam, and Victory.

I would say Crossbone Gundam might be fun but more difficult due to the somewhat silly designs here and there.

Sentinel, on the otherhand, would be glorious. The basic premise behind Gundam Sentinel is "Oy! Remember how mobile suits are designed to be moving weapons platforms for murdering people? Look at this!" and it does it beautifully.

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To name one, there's a particularly dramatic scene in the third episode, when spoiler[Daguza goes out guns blazing] Banagher goes into a fit of rage and attacks FF. I was kinda pulled out of this scene when as this happens, speed-lines run across the screen as a reference to a scene from the original series. While that technique fits in with the rough animation style of the original series, in something like Unicorn it just felt out of place.

I'll have to consult the episode again because this doesn't ring a bell to me (been 2 years since I've seen the original so that doesn't really help).

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The animation is beautiful, especially the backgrounds which are incredibly detailed and lively, as Erin mentioned. Amazing animation is nothing new to Gundam however, and personally in terms of mecha I prefer the less fluid, but more detailed and worn down looks of the mobile suits in OAV's such as 0083 and 0080. Sometimes the mobile suits in Unicorn look a little too gleaming and sterile to me, like Gunpla floating in space rather than weapons of war.

I'd personally say the nice look of MS in Unicorn has a little more to do with the fact that animation has become so nice. In Unicorn, especially, they do a great job of showing how the Neo-Zeon military simply uses anything they can their hands on for the most part - hence why you see barely any of the newer Geara Zulus and a lot more of the suits used from the first two Neo-Zeon wars (hell, even some Dra-C's developed by remnants between the OYW and the Delaz Conflict).

On the otherhand, they clearly show the financial backing that Londo Bell gets seeing as they come literally lose 13/14 of their mobile suits before the Palau attack and then simply get re-equipped with costly prototypes (the Delta Plus), extremely advanced special forces MS (Lotos and ECOAS Jegans), and generally high performance mass-produced units (Stark Jegans and ReZels). I was particularly proud of them slipping the Prototype Stark Jegan in there as well. I know it also serves to give them an extra model kit, of course, but it also shows that, even for Londo Bell and all its money, they kind of had to take what they could get for their operation.

Thank you for your review of Kuragehime-- people have recommended it to me before but I never checked it out, and your review reminded me that it's supposed to be worthwhile. I watched the first couple of eps last night, and loved them!

amagee wrote:

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My hope is the success of Unicorn could lead to some other, more daring sidestories to get given a similar treatment. I'd love to see Hathaways Flash done by the same production, and Gundam Sentinel, while somewhat of a run-of-the-mill Gundam novel could make an interesting movie if done right.

I really wouldn't like to see Hathaway's Flash all that much since it's alternate U.C. history which would actually nullify things seen in Unicorn

Only if it was an EXACT remake. Other than a few minor stuff, it fits into canon quite well. Especially considering ECOAS are the villains in HF, so it could be adapted to be something of a sequel to Unicorn.

IAmZim wrote:

amagee wrote:

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My hope is the success of Unicorn could lead to some other, more daring sidestories to get given a similar treatment. I'd love to see Hathaways Flash done by the same production, and Gundam Sentinel, while somewhat of a run-of-the-mill Gundam novel could make an interesting movie if done right.

I really wouldn't like to see Hathaway's Flash all that much since it's alternate U.C. history which would actually nullify things seen in Unicorn

Only if it was an EXACT remake. Other than a few minor stuff, it fits into canon quite well. Especially considering ECOAS are the villains in HF, so it could be adapted to be something of a sequel to Unicorn.

It'd have to be a pretty significant re-write. You'd have to completely replace Hathaway's reason for joining Mafty, remove much of the technology seen on the titular mobile suits (generally comes to early), and re-do everything mecha wise since HF stuff goes the opposite direction of strict canon in regards to MS shrinking trends.

I think HF would be better suited to a good quality release in English. That's my take but knowing the cost-effectivenss of U.C. stuff in general, its quite unlikely.

Minor correction/nitpick:
"Lawful Stupid" describes a character who's so rigid and unswerving in devotion to The Law that he ends up doing things that are certainly not good and arguably evil. This type of character treats all violations of The Law, however minor, as hideous crimes on par with genocide and is prepared to Smite Evil on anyone who jaywalks, shoplifts, or even passes a bribe to an official in the name of achieving a noble goal--even if that person is a fellow party member. To the Lawful Stupid character, the smallest subterfuge is anathema, using stealth tactics is shockingly dishonorable, and declining to confront evil immediately and openly is an act of supreme evil itself.

I haven't seen Sacred Blacksmith, but the protagonist sounds more in line with the lesser-known "Stupid Good"--a character who believes that everyone, including baby-eating monsters from beyond time and space, is basically good and deserves to be given a second (and third, fourth, etc.) chance. Stupid Good characters always abhor violence and may even stand between their companions and the Big Bad so those nasty ol' PCs don't hurt the poor, defenseless demon lord.

The More You Know... brought to you by the Nerd Council.

IAmZim wrote:

In terms of scope and the stakes involved, Unicorn honestly feels more like a conclusion of UC to me than Chars Counterattack.

I think the continued fighting in Unicorn proves that the only way for the Federation vs Zeon war to end would be for one side to commit genocide against the other. What has all these wars done except for drastically lowering the population of the solar system? Neither side ever seems to change.

I've seen about half of Kuragehime so far, and I like it, but I'm not so sure about its message on appearance. It probably helps to be stylish, but it won't magically make city hall listen. More effective would be to demonstrate that the politicians could be thrown out in the next election or face a lawsuit or unrest, and even that won't stop them if they are dead-set in favor of a project. In Kuragehime, it also doesn't help their case that they have so much trouble talking to non-otaku.

Remember, you watched half of the show. That's all I'll say.

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