The Official Gundam Unicorn Anime Thread Mk II

[Dark Duel]

No, Unicorn did.
The scene in which Banagher rescues Audrey/Mineva is a pretty obvious shoutout to Hikaru rescuing Minmay in the original SDF Macross.

[Phoenix012]

Yeah, I don't know what was up with the crowd at the Unicorn showing. The Gundam panel was today and everyone there said they loved it, so I guess that settles that.

Anyways, updates from the Bandai Entertainment panel. There was nothing really earth-shattering. As expected Bandai announced that the Blu-ray of Unicorn 2 will ship in November with the actual date still not decided. It will contain 20 minutes of bonus features in addition to the 60 minute main feature. Bandai also made several dubbing and licensing announcements, but none were mecha. For details see ANN's news article. In addition to the announcements there were some funny bits where a panel member called Mark Simmons on the phone to get him to come up with trivia questions for audience members and a competition to see who can do the best fandub of some scenes from Haruhi Suzumiya.

Much more interesting than all of that, however, was the Q&A session. Someone asked about why there's no DVD release for Unicorn, and apparently Bandai Ent was only able to obtain a Blu-Ray license, which I found kind of odd. They didn't go into any details about why some of their licenses are only for particular formats. Additionally, someone asked the usual questions about ZZ, X, MS Igloo 2, etc., and to my surprise Bandai Ent did not dodge the question (at least not in the usual fashion). They stated that while they currently have no additional announcements to make regarding any Gundam series right now, it is their intention to bring all of them stateside in due time. In addition they said one of their next priorities is to re-release the original MSG, which is of course currently out of print. Not bad.

[Nowhere Man]

Oooooookkkkkkay. So, finally got around to watching the first episode of Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn, and I've gotta say that I'm impressed. The animation is stunning. I'm gonna have to watch the episode a couple more times to figure out exactly what's going on, but this is seriously cool.

Btw, this is the most awesome depiction of Mobile Suit combat ever. For once we see more than just stick wiggling and pedal pushing in the cockpit. But that's all I'll say about mechanics here.

[Edit: realized my inquiry is probably best put in the Mechanics forum.]

[LightningCount]

HELP: I rented Unicorn #1 from PSN, and it's only allowing me to watch it subbed?! What's the deal? Are they not renting it with the English dub? (Before I bought it, they said High-Def or Standard, I picked Standard, but that shouldn't have made a difference. If it did, this is definite "fail"). My settings don't seem to be offering a dub, only subs, too for this.

EDIT: As far as I can tell, the PSN Rental Version is Sub Only. Oh, well. Anyways, I'm largely new to the Unicorn franchise. This episode was a solid (though fairly typical) U.C. production. *Not that that's really a bad thing.* In fact, I give it an A-, as it was very enjoyable. I think it fits in rather naturally between CC and F91, the animation giving cues to modern and classic with great skill. It's weird seeing post-OYW MS again after so much OYW material. The new Kshatriya MS was kind of the star of the show, IMO. This episode relied on it a good deal. The song "Mobile Suit" during the first fight as well as the title screen song are impressive works. Some of the better characters seem to be dying off early, so I'm concerned if there will be enough of a compelling cast. Marida and the captain she serves seem the best so far. I'm hoping Full Frontal won't be the be-all end-all of the series. All and all, a good and intriguing start.

[mobiusdiablo]

Okay, I haven't read the manga, so I don't know for certain, but is Banagher a Newtype or Oldtype? This might be cleared up sometime in (much) later episodes, but I read somewhere that a psychoframe grants Oldtypes some Newtype like power, like at the end of Char's Counterattack. I could be very, very wrong, so please don't smite me for my insolence, but if that is indeed the case, is Banagher a full-out Newtype, or is he just having the Unicorn's psychoframe doing all the work?

[Kratos]

Banagher is a Newtype. It's not so much about the Psychoframe stuff, but more about how he interacts with Audrey (the instant and inexplicable connection he feels to her, sensing her across great distances, etc).

[Raiden]

Not to mention Banagher also sensed the Unicorn during its Test Run in the beginning too.

[TakaTahuNuva]

Also, he is the protagonist in a Gundam show! Being a Newtype is almost a given.

[J-Lead]

This might be cleared up sometime in (much) later episodes, but I read somewhere that a psychoframe grants Oldtypes some Newtype like power,

No, the psychoframe does no such thing;

Psycho-frame
A design approach in which microscopic psycommu receiver circuits are installed throughout a mobile suit's internal frame and cockpit walls. These tiny circuits amplify and transmit a Newtype pilot's thoughtwaves, enabling the mobile suit to respond instantaneously to mental commands. While the mobile suit still requires additional hardware to complete the psycommu system, this distributed design is far more space-efficient than previous types. First introduced in the Neo Zeon mobile suit MSN-04 Sazabi, this technology is subsequently leaked to Anaheim Electronics and incorporated into the RX-93 Nu Gundam as well. [Char's Counterattack]

The EXAM System, however, does grant oldtype pilots newtype-like reflexes and powers, the only problem being it contained a human soul, which made it unstable and dangerous.

[Darkerangel]

Okay for those who do not know, then I'll just use your now name, but

did or do you think Tomino intended for Aubrey to be a Newtype? Because if I recall, in his series she showed no Newtype-like signs.

And the question became curious because I was just thinking like Marbet (V) unborn kid was showing signs, not to mention the 3 little kids in MSG showed signs at the very end.

all in all...just a thought.

[Raiden]

Actually in Zeta she did show Newtype abilities when Haman was with her. I don't recall which episode of Zeta exactly, but its also featured in the Zeta ANT movies, specifically the third one.

[Darkerangel]

Actually in Zeta she did show Newtype abilities when Haman was with her. I don't recall which episode of Zeta exactly, but its also featured in the Zeta ANT movies, specifically the third one.

Really? Well damn, where was I lol.

[Kratos]

The impression I always got from the entire Newtype philosophy was that anybody living in space would eventually develop Newtype powers, as they're just the human body adjusting to cope with the new frontier of space.

[Dark Duel]

That seems to have been the basic principal at the heart of Zeon Deikum's ideal as outlined by Cardeas Vist in episode 1 - though the term "Newtype", as Cardeas so eloquently explained (and as Birgit and Zabine in F91 illustrate) devolved to the point where it became synonymous with "ace pilot", or someone who had natural piloting ability.

[Kratos]

Right, but my point was just that if Deikun is to be believed, of COURSE Mineva/Audrey is a Newtype; she was born and lives in space. That's the only prerequisite.

[TakaTahuNuva]

Right, but my point was just that if Deikun is to be believed, of COURSE Mineva/Audrey is a Newtype; she was born and lives in space. That's the only prerequisite.

So you're saying that every single Zeon pilot Amuro killed was a Newtype? And Amuro himself wasn't one, since he wasn't born in space?

[toysdream]

The impression I always got from the entire Newtype philosophy was that anybody living in space would eventually develop Newtype powers, as they're just the human body adjusting to cope with the new frontier of space.

I don't think that was ever a guarantee. Deikun predicted that, over time, humanity as a whole would develop new powers as a result of living in space, but based on what we've been told in the animation and novels and whatnot, he didn't make any predictions about the timeframe or how the process would work on an individual level.

As for the idea that every person who lives in space is guaranteed to become a Newtype, I don't think this has ever been proposed in the Gundam series, and it's very clearly not the case.

Meanwhile, in Char's Counterattack, Hathaway proposes another version of the Newtype theory: these new abilities are needed to keep families in contact even when they're physically split between Earth and space. In this version, it's not even necessary for particular individuals to live in space in order to become Newtypes, as long as somebody they care about is in space. There's more discussion of this in this thread.

-- Mark

[Darkerangel]

The impression I always got from the entire Newtype philosophy was that anybody living in space would eventually develop Newtype powers, as they're just the human body adjusting to cope with the new frontier of space.

I don't think that was ever a guarantee. Deikun predicted that, over time, humanity as a whole would develop new powers as a result of living in space, but based on what we've been told in the animation and novels and whatnot, he didn't make any predictions about the timeframe or how the process would work on an individual level.

As for the idea that every person who lives in space is guaranteed to become a Newtype, I don't think this has ever been proposed in the Gundam series, and it's very clearly not the case.

Meanwhile, in Char's Counterattack, Hathaway proposes another version of the Newtype theory: these new abilities are needed to keep families in contact even when they're physically split between Earth and space. In this version, it's not even necessary for particular individuals to live in space in order to become Newtypes, as long as somebody they care about is in space. There's more discussion of this in this thread.

-- Mark

That version actually for some reason makes sense to me. It just reminded me of when Kamile and Haman established a Newtype connection for the first time.

Anyways wasn't it Char that said that Humanity is...uhh...bound by Earth's gravity and once that is removed only then can Humanity truly evolve? So if Aubrey lived in space most of her live then she wouldn't be as bound.

[toysdream]

Anyways wasn't it Char that said that Humanity is...uhh...bound by Earth's gravity and once that is removed only then can Humanity truly evolve? So if Aubrey lived in space most of her live then she wouldn't be as bound.

On the other hand, in Zeta Gundam, Char encourages Kamille to spend time on Earth because these new experiences will help his development as a Newtype. (Also discussed in the above-mentioned thread.)

In Char's Counterattack, he offers a lot of different reasons for freezing the Earth, and it's true that one of these is the notion that humanity will be able to develop after its ties to Earth are severed. But most of his arguments seem to be either ecological ("we must stop polluting the Earth") or political ("the people on Earth shouldn't rule the colonies"), or simple bloody-mindedness ("I hate those Earthnoids so much, I have to punish them!"). Given his comments to Kamille in Zeta, I think it's more likely that he sees rendering Earth uninhabitable as a necessary evil; it would be nice if we could keep it around and visit it every now and then, but the people who live there are rotten, and this is why we can't have nice things.

-- Mark

[Kenji]

The impression I always got from the entire Newtype philosophy was that anybody living in space would eventually develop Newtype powers, as they're just the human body adjusting to cope with the new frontier of space.

The impression I've been getting throughout the UC is that everybody has theories of what a Newtype is or how they come about, but nobody really knows. This includes Zeon Deikun. The whole point of his Newtype theory was to give the forced émigrés hope for the future, that there was something better in space that would replace the homeland they couldn't go back to. This also gave him a lot of political clout among the colonists, so (like any politician) this casts a cloud of doubt over the sincerity of his words.

Of course, then psychics actually started showing up and Kishiria Zabi took notice. These psychic ace pilots, who bear very little resemblance to Deikun's theories, got the word "Newtype" hung on them for the sake of explanation and politics. The Newtype Corps served the purpose of messianic justification for the Zabi Family's policies: See, Zeon Deikun was right and we are the evolutionary next step.

However, "Newtype" is really just a name for a bundle of unexplained phenomena. Gundam X goes so far as to outright state that what got termed "Newtypes" were really just a string of nearly unrelated mutants. I've heard that Crossbone Gundam also goes in this direction, but the only evidence I've ever seen of that is Tobias declaring that there's no difference between him and normal people... which, I would think, more demonstrates his personal feelings than any widescale repudiation of the Newtype concept.

Certainly, Tomino's works since 1979 have shown him increasingly shying away from the idea that more Newtypes would equal less war, or that there's any real fruit to be borne from that messianic hope.