Why you should watch Gundam Unicorn [機動戦士ガンダムUCユニコーン]

Among the 45 or so Gundam franchises, there is one, less known the mainstream series, which is really worth watching: Gundam Unicorn.

Gundam Unicorn takes place in Universal Century (the official Gundam timeline, just to be clear), in UC 0096. This means 16 years after the end of the One Year War, that was the start of the whole franchise in Mobile Suit Gundam (UC 0079), and only three years after Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack. After Unicorn, we need to wait –novels apart– until Mobile Suit Gundam F91 (UC 0123; I know, it’s quite complex, and I’m not even mentioning the alternate Gundam Universes. To orientate yourself in this jungle, see my post on timelines here).

Gundam Unicorn is original in the sense that gets back to facts at the very beginning of human space colonisation (and the franchise) in UC 0001, when the space station Laplace, home of the Federation’s Premier, is destroyed by an anti-federation attack.
In 0096, Gundam pilot’s Banagher Links is approached by a mysterious girl, Audrey Burne, who talks to him about a destructive (for the Federation) device called “Laplace’s Box.”
If you consider that Audrey is, in reality, Mineva Zabi (e.g., Zion the archenemy of the Federation) and that we have none less than a Char clone (Full Frontal), well, all bets are off.

Question: Why Gundam Unicorn -the name? I mean, ok, it has a horn in front of his head, but that’s not all. When you watch the first episode, you’ll find out there’s a Renaissance-like image with a unicorn you might have seen elsewhere: it is the famous The Lady and the Unicorn, six tapestries devoted to the five senses you can admire in Paris, Musée national du Moyen Âge. In the anime, Banager even mentions the enigmatic inscription of the sixth one “À mon seul désir” (to my only desire). I don’t know you, but it got me hooked straight away.

There is another reason you may want to watch Gundam Unicorn: the new Gundam model that has now replaced the original Mobil Suit Gundam 79 in Odaiba, Tokyo, is actually a Unicorn. And it is spectacular!

Gundam Unicorn (this is the official anime website) is on Netflix now.

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