Tag Archives: Unico

Unico in the Island of Magic Review

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Unico has returned for some more hype. At this point you know the drill with the character and this one isn’t really trying to change up the formula. Unico is brought to a new land where he has to solve some problems and once again awaken his ultimate form. The movie does give us better animation and strong effects this time though so I definitely appreciate that. It’s what I would consider to be a pretty low key movie but one that does have some good action.

The movie starts with Unico being dumped into an island that is about to be under attack by a mad wizard. This guy is turning everyone into toys and Unico barely manages to escape him. It turns out that his sister is a girl named Sheri who has been waiting for him to come back home but something changed him. The wizard Tolby now works for a real demonic spellcastor named Kuruku. This guy has abilities that can barely even be comprehended and so he is always causing mayhem. Can Unico and Sheri put an end to this?

First thing I have to give the film credit for are the designs. Kuruku actually looks rather frightening for a kids film. He is constantly changing shapes and dashing through the air. His energy blasts have the potential to take out any opponent in an instant because of how his matter manipulation works. He is also not someone that can really be reasoned with because he doesn’t care at all about humans. There is no heart to be swayed and so Unico must adopt more violent methods with this guy. It made for a really good climax.

Unfortunately, Tolby looks pretty bad in comparison. He has a more convoluted plan about working for Kuruku and turning everyone into toys so he could learn how to turn them all back. The plan doesn’t really make any sense as it relies on a whole lot of things that just aren’t likely to happen. Tolby should have been teaming up with the heroes from the start in order to stop him. You’ll have a lot of questions on exactly how they met and how Tolby went down this path so quickly but even to the end he just doesn’t do a good job of seeing the big picture.

Tolby is also not particularly good at aiming and so he tends to lose in each of his fights. I did really like the character design though. It really stands out and he definitely looks fancy in that outfit. As a character he really needed more work. He gets a sidekick cat for most of the movie who can be fun though. This cat likes listening to his music and is also a scaredy cat so he will change sides at the drop of a hat. Not someone that you can depend on at all. I was expecting him to turn out to be super heroic by the end but his character doesn’t really change much. I guess Unico can’t win everyone over.

As for Unico, he doesn’t look very good for most of the film but that is to be expected when there is constant amnesia. No matter how much Unico may improve in one adventure, all of the character development is removed by the next. So as a result Unico always has the same character arc of learning how to use his powers and gaining more confidence. That happens here as well and it’s just a really tough road to get to that point. If anything, Unico showing off crazy levels of power at the end can be annoying because then you feel like he should have been doing that the whole time. So in a way it just flips the situation.

The film is definitely aimed a bit younger so at times it might feel a little bit boring. Also every character is constantly yelling, it’s a very loud film. I know some people accuse shows like Black Clover of having a bunch of that, but this movie tops that with ease. Trust me, it can get a little grating after a while and things really have to be spelled out for you. It’s why I was glad that we did have some action scenes later on since those really helped to make the whole film feel more like an event. The film was really not scared to have some scary imagery with the fights as well.

There’s one toy that goes around chomping anyone in its path and actually comes across as real intimidating. Kuruku naturally fits that bill as well and so that is something that does set it aside from the average kid’s adventure. Also as far as kids go, I guess Sheri wasn’t bad. She was rather proactive and kept on going on her quest to save the day. Even being willing to leave Unico behind so that he wouldn’t be in danger. It didn’t work but it’s the thought that counts. We also have a cat who’s related to the Sphinx to help out but she didn’t actually do much. You were waiting for her big moment the whole film and it never came. I liked her enthusiasm as she was always ready to fight but that’s about all that I can say for her.

Overall, If you’ve seen other Unico films then you know what to expect with this one. It’s got more danger than the others but at its core this is a film about friendship and how Unico helps to restore the bonds between people. Unico is someone who is always ready to help out but takes a whole lot of pushing in order to actually begin fighting. The film may not be long but it can feel long as the dialogue isn’t always super interesting so how much you enjoy the film may actually come down to the animation and fights. If that ends up being the case, I dare say that you’ll be in fine hands. The animation has aged really well and just the novelty from that can really help to boost this one up. I’d recommend it if you’re up for a nice story about a little unicorn.

Overall 6/10

The Fantastic Adventures of Unico Review

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It’s time for the return of Unico in another big adventure. This time we have a feature length movie so there is more time for things to happen but unfortunately I dare say that it was weaker than the pilot. The longer runtime means there is more time for everyone to gang up on Unico and the poor lead just ends up looking like a doormat. We desperately needed a scene where Unico fights back and shows them all what kind of power he has. Meanwhile I dare say that the film actually feels rather dragged out at times so it’s not like the pacing was incredible ither. Yeah this one definitely had some issues.

The story begins with the gods being super petty once again. They don’t like how Unico makes people happy since that should be their job. They fear that Unico’s presence will make their own unnecessary. Initially they think about murdering Unico but are persuaded to instead banish him into the dark realms of the world where nobody else exist. One of the wind spirits instead takes Unico to a place that is still empty but not as desolate, underestimating that a devil named Beezle lives there. Unico decides that the two of them will be friends but Beezle is a tough customer. Will they actually get along? Additionally the second half of the film brings in a cat named Chao who gets mixed up with an evil Baron and an old lady so Unico may be needed here.

I would say one of the problems here is how long is takes for Unico to get along with Beezle. You get what the story is going for with how Beezle will initially put up a fight and cause a whole ruckus but eventually sees the light. It’s a rather standard character arc but not a bad one. The problem is in how long it takes. Unico puts in a whole lot of work over and over again in order to reach Beezle and yet the guy is still trying to stab Unico and throwing him to his doom even near the end.

The film overplays its hand here to the point where Beezle isn’t even remotely likable. It also ends up hurting Unico because he puts up with way too much. There is a big difference between trying to be a nice person and just getting taken advantage of. Unico should not have give Beezle his horn even for a day. That should have been a boundary that Beezle should have had to respect. If the film had done that, it would have showed that Unico had a proper backbone instead of just giving in to whatever Beezle wanted.

It’s also obvious that using his abilities too much would alert the gods but Unico never even thinks about that. Pretty big thing to forget about right? I know Unico is essentially just a little kid so he doesn’t fully know what’s going on but that’s no excuse not to have some basic defenses up and try to keep a low profile. Even when Unico is kidnapped by the wind spirit again at the end, he only makes some half hearted attempts to break free.

So I was definitely not a real Unico fan here. He needs to spend a lot of time working on being a tougher character who doesn’t let anyone push him around. If he can pull that off then I will absolutely gain a lot of respect for him. Meanwhile Beezle is a lost cause like I said before. The fact that he initially wasn’t going to save Unico from drowning is really bad. Yes, Beezle is a kid as well who doesn’t really understand things but this falls more into the realm of common sense.

The character arc itself isn’t a problem, but it’s how long this drags out. That was the real offender here and why I was glad to get a new plot later on. When Chao shows up, we see how she is very carefree and happy. She sings to herself while floating down the river and is just having a grand ole time. When she gets to turn into a human girl thanks to Unico, this goes to her head immediately and she becomes snobby. Another classic character arc but it isn’t dragged out nearly as much so I didn’t mind Chao.

She was a bit too gullible in listening to an obviously shady baron who wasn’t even hiding his nefarious intentions but maybe I’ll cut her a bit of slack since she used to be a cat. This also did lead to getting a fight scene later on so I can appreciate that. Either way this plot was far more interesting than what had been going on in the first half with Beezle.

As for the Baron, it was nice to have a central villain who was actually at the forefront and not just hiding in the arena of the gods. His swordplay wasn’t bad and he definitely gave Unico a good match. I would like to see more action of course but this was good enough for now. It’s clear that the series is big on getting in some good morales at the end of the stories and so any action we get is a bonus. The point is more about Unico helping everyone to become better characters and there’s nothing wrong with that. How effective the character development is will be completely dependent on the pacing at the end of the day. Keep that in check and the rest will follow. The movie is definitely aimed at a pretty young audience though so it makes sense that they would want to keep this basic.

The animation is definitely dated but not bad or anything like that. It’s not meant to be a particularly high budget production or anything like that but still gets the heart of it across. You will also see a cameo from another character in the background at one point which was cool. The soundtrack is more on the weaker side though. Definitely no tunes that will really catch your eye or anything like that. Maybe I should say catch your ear. Ah well, Unico might do better next time.

Overall, Unico didn’t really succeed on this adventure. It definitely straddles the line of being boring at times when the pacing is at its slowest. It’s not a bad film by any means but I don’t think the average viewer is going to get a ton of enjoyment out of it. Unico really needed to be a whole lot bolder in its approach. Throw in some more high stakes or if it can’t due to the target audience, maybe it should have been shorter. That’s always a back handed complement but if you don’t have a ton of story lined up for the film, you don’t need the extra time. Shave off 20 minutes and the film would probably flow a lot more organically. As it stands, I would recommend watching the pilot over this one.

Overall 5/10