The Official Gundam Unicorn Anime Thread Mk IV

[Amadi Akintunde]

Plus fodder for more model kits but

Spoiler

that was still a great ep. The battle was awesome and Banagher's interactions with Capt. Zimmerman were great too. Overall I think it was pretty balanced, showing that the Zeon remnants are still stuck in the past, fighting a 16-year-old war and the Federation is as corrupt as ever. Loni was your tragic Gundam character for this ep and now a black Gundam has shown up. That's never a good thing. There is one thing I have to call foul on though. What the heck is up with Riddhe and his sudden attraction to Audrey/Mineva? That sure came out of left field...

If I remember correctly, Riddhe intends to use their familial statuses as some political leverage of sorts. Change the way of the world.

[Arbiter GUNDAM]

Spoiler

Yeah but the way he says it it sounds like he's confessing his undying love or something.

[Admiral Larsen]

First of all I have to say, damm you idiot Banagher. Thank the great maker Rhidde was there. I truly hope that Banagher gets himself together and doesn't turn into another Kira "Jesus" Yamato. I was starting to like the Unicorn Gundam's pilot.

At the end, Rhidde has every right to be enraged as hell.

[Arbiter GUNDAM]

Aw come one,

Spoiler

Banagher was about to make the killshot when he had an inconvenient Newtype moment.

I also have a theory about Zeon that I would like to share with you guys tomorrow.

Lastly a question: Assuming Amuro had survived the end of CCA, what do you think he would think about everything that's going on in Unicorn? Remember we're talking about CCA Amuro here...

[sweet-d]

it's up on psn right now

[EscapeArtist]

I'd figure Amuro would side with the Federation and keep the status quo, destroying the box or keeping it hidden. That people would kill each other for a 100 year old secret would probably piss off Amuro royally. And if the box can destroy the Federation as rumored, it would cause immense chaos.

Riddhe did seem like he sincerely wanted to marry Audrey. It seems that Riddhe's main flaw is how impulsive he is- his father even laments that attribute in this episode. We first saw it when he sprang Audrey from the brig, and this episode we see him make the impromptu proposal. I also think that Riddhe was supposed to be menacing in that last scene, but I can't fault him at all for anything he did there.

[ydawg314]

The action in the ova was really good but

Spoiler

I feel like the battle could have been done slightly better. The byalant was sick but considering the fact that none of the EF forces were making it, it kicked way to much ass. It almost appeared like the feds had no chance at all if not for the one byalant and its pilot. They made it look like it single-handedly turned the tide. The could have made the battle be a little bit more balanced especially since there were so many ms attacking. I also wished we could have gotten a little but more from the jestas.

I also didnt care for

Spoiler

the unicorn getting gundam 00 Q treatment. It could and should have kicked a lot of ass or at least have broken pieces off the shamblo

[DuelGundam2099]

Although I haven't seen the new episode yet I did see a clip on YouTube of

Spoiler

Byarlant putting the beat down on everyone.

This music seems fitting for it.

[Jak Crow]

I've gotten real sick of the "supernatural" nature of the psyco-com. Just shoot at each other and be done with it.

[Arbiter GUNDAM]

Aw come on you don't like Gundam Jedi?

[Kratos]

The problem with that is it ends in Newtypes being cut altogether, and this has led to their current state in the storytelling :emotionally unstable teenage space psychics. I really like that Unicorn is at least trying to give them some grounded context by giving them a definition, rather than either presenting them without explaining them or cutting them completely. They had to be actually addressed at some point.

[NastyNate]

Plus fodder for more model kits but

Spoiler

that was still a great ep. The battle was awesome and Banagher's interactions with Capt. Zimmerman were great too. Overall I think it was pretty balanced, showing that the Zeon remnants are still stuck in the past, fighting a 16-year-old war and the Federation is as corrupt as ever. Loni was your tragic Gundam character for this ep and now a black Gundam has shown up. That's never a good thing. There is one thing I have to call foul on though. What the heck is up with Riddhe and his sudden attraction to Audrey/Mineva? That sure came out of left field...

To your question I think the reason is

Spoiler

Just like with Cagali in Gundam seed. He might not like her in that way but he is so afraid of another war and wants there to be peace so bad that he will marry this girl to make peace. Because really if you think about the aer to the zabi family and a son of a high ranking feddy pollitition would end the conflict for a while.

[flamingtroll]

I dislike how they basically replaced Dakar with Torrington.

Spoiler

The fight with Shambloo's impact was severely lessen dramatically when they fought in the "suburbs" of Torrington. They basically had to retcon a town beside the backwater military base just so Shambloo can trample through it. It's just non-sense.I was thoroughly disappointed by how they changed the story and Dakar was more or less THE high point in the entire story. They could have also included one of the scene where a GM III pilot tries to sacrifice himself telling others to blow his disabled GM III in the path of Shambloo to stop it advancing. Loni's change was also problematic. There simply isn't enough interaction between her and Banagher. The lack of actual combat between unicorn and Shambloo was pretty bad as well. Not liking their crazy newtype blast field either , even though I know they are just setting it up so things that happen later seems more natural. It just seems unnecessary at this point. It also misleads people into thinking that it was something generated by them on their will, rather than resonating psychoframes

That said some other parts were better. I especially liked their recreation of Zinnerman' s and Banagher's desert trip. That was an important part of the story

[balofo]

Expecting nice story telling from glorified toy commercials? Also since the start we knew there'd be only 6 60 minutes OVAS to cover the 10 novel volumes. Just enjoy the mecha porn and be happy

[ShadowCell]

Wow, how standards have fallen.

[flamingtroll]

Expecting nice story telling from glorified toy commercials? Also since the start we knew there'd be only 6 60 minutes OVAS to cover the 10 novel volumes. Just enjoy the mecha porn and be happy

That's the thing. I thought it was the wrong choice. They should have replaced Torrington with Dakar . The only reason I can see is that seems is that it's easier to animate rocks and flat grounds. The Torrington part really has little importance in the story other than showcasing the Zeon rebels, it makes no difference where they strike. They could have done so with Dakar just as well. But dramatically it would be better.

[VentZX]

Wow, how standards have fallen.

For myself, going into the episode, I don't have the same qualms some seem to have over changes made to a novel I, and likely they've, never read. Brief summaries on the internet don't count.

In any case,

Spoiler

I quite liked the episode for what it was. The mecha porn was a big part of it, but the quieter moments involving Bright, the walk through the desert, Audrey's brief escape, Ridhe's turmoil over his family's secret, and Marida being forced to face her past were the real standouts. I was also REALLY happy about how Banagher was not only able to spout idealism, but have the balls to back it up when it came down to it. I'm of course talking about the beat down on the Garanciere's bridge.

The showdown between the Unicorn and Shamblo was about what I expected, after so many spoilers, but I'm glad it was Ridhe who pulled the trigger and not Banagher. I'm sure that will be a point of contention between the two at some point down the line, and I'm eager to see the Banshee and its new toys in action come next episode.

[Kratos]

Expecting nice story telling from glorified toy commercials? Also since the start we knew there'd be only 6 60 minutes OVAS to cover the 10 novel volumes. Just enjoy the mecha porn and be happy

Except the storytelling in Unicorn has been fine. maybe not perfect, from the perspective of those who read the novel first, but thus is the curse of any adaptation. Such a cynical perspective isn't even a necessary, much less productive, way to look at this.

[DuelGundam2099]

On the other hand since Unicorn had it's first episode released I have seen a load of people more or less treating it like the coming of the Messiah; with that said the flaws were eventually going to take notice and when they do (did?) said people express their anguish. In other words don't hold something to such a high standard because when you do you make the flaws a bigger deal than they should be.

[Kratos]

Just watched the episode.

Spoiler

Its biggest flaw was that it felt rushed, primarily in its moments of character development. The beginning bits went by in a flash: important moments for Riddhe, Mineva, Loni, and others were just sped through, and felt underdeveloped rather than tightly paced. The Loni bits in particular hurt the otherwise fantastic later portions, which relied heavily on her as a character. It felt like they invested a lot of the emotional impact of the story on her, despite giving her an incredibly brief introduction and spending next to no time getting to know her. I also felt the arrival of the Banshee came out of nowhere; I realize now that it was probably sent to reclaim the Unicorn, but its arrival after the resolution of the battle made it seem like an afterthought.

That said, I enjoyed the rest of the episode greatly. I especially liked Banagher's anguish at the need to kill Loni. Some people have complained that he's becoming too "Kira", and while that may or may not be true in his characterisation, it feels almost like a subversion in the way that his high-minded ideals are completely crushed by the reality of the battlefield. The desert trek was great. I want to watch it again to get a greater sense of things; like most episodes, there's quite a bit packed into its 60 minutes.

As for the replacement of Dakar with Torrington: I won't comment on its comparative effectiveness, having never read the novels, but I see why they used Torrington like they did. The site of the Colony Drop as the next point on the La+ program's little quest makes plenty of sense, and I guess the production team wanted to work with that.