7.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
The year is U.C. 0096. Three years have passed since the end of the Second Neo Zeon War. It is said that the Vist Foundation manipulates the Earth Federation and Anaheim Electronics from behind the scenes...
Starring: Kôki Uchiyama, Ayumi Fujimura, Shūichi Ikeda, Yûko Kaida, Hiro ShimonoForeign | 100% |
Anime | 98% |
Action | 40% |
Sci-Fi | 36% |
War | 9% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Japanese: LPCM 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
Japanese: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English: LPCM 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English
Blu-ray Disc
Four-disc set (4 BDs)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
The famous old adage goes “mighty oaks from tiny acorns grow”, and there’s perhaps no better example, at least in the wild and wooly world of
anime, than Mobile Suit Gundam, an almost insanely wide ranging and successful franchise that nonetheless began under less than
auspicious circumstances. The first (of many) Mobile Suit Gundam outings began airing in Japan in 1979, but this arguably
overconvoluted mecha offering wasn’t exactly met with either critical or general audience acclaim, and in fact its first (and only) season
was cut short by several episodes due to less than thrilling ratings. It’s kind of interesting to put what happened next into the context of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, then still relatively
recent and certainly still a major cultural phenomenon. While there are certainly subtextual tethers between the two science fiction creations, at
least in broad general terms of epic battles taking place in outer space, what may really tie the two franchises together is a little thing called
merchandising. As has been rather entertainingly documented in any number of books and/or articles, 20th Century Fox was so gun shy about
releasing product tie-ins to their releases, after the debacle that was
Doctor Dolittle, that they pretty much said to George Lucas, “Yeah, sure, go ahead — make some toys.” The rest, as they say, is
history, as Mr. Lucas’ bank account may provide evidence of, but something at least a little similar happened when Gundam toys were released in
the wake of the first series and kind of unexpectedly took off in the marketplace. That success, coupled with some at least decent returns on
feature films culled from the original series, has led to an almost incredible outpouring of Gundam related properties, including anime (a
brief listing is below), manga, videogames and (of course) lots of merchandising tie-ins. Mobile Suit Gundam UC Unicorn follows
in
what is by now a rather long list of Gundam productions. In an indication of just how mighty this particular oak has become, here’s a
partial list of various Gundam entries (with links leading to domestic Blu-ray releases where available, and with only the first
volumes of multi-volume releases shown):
Mobile Suit Gundam I
Mobile Suit Gundam Movie Trilogy
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam: Part 1
Collection
Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ: Collection 1
Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket
Mobile Suit
Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory - Complete Collection
Mobile Suit V Gundam: Collection 1
Mobile Fighter G Gundam
Mobile Suit Gundam Wing
After War Gundam X
Turn A Gundam: Collection 1
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED
SD Gundam Force
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny
Mobile Suit Gundam 00
Mobile Suit Gundam AGE
Mobile Suit Gundam
Iron-Blooded Orphans: Season 1 Part 1
Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn Collection is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Sunrise and Right Stuf with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Dustin gave the first volume released as a standalone several years ago absolutely top marks in the video category, but perhaps having to squeeze two episodes and supplements on to one disc presented some compression challenges this time around, since I noticed pretty prevalent banding (Bandaiing? — sorry, couldn't resist) in virtually every episode (even the seventh, which is on its own disc). It's especially noticeable in effects sequences where, for example, a brightly burning sun will emerge from behind a space object and suddenly light fills the frame. It tends to be more noticeable in the outer space material, perhaps because of the prevalence of largely black backgrounds, but the more eagle eyed viewer will also spot it, perhaps not to such a noticeable level, in sequences where things are more uniformly bright. With that arguably minor annoyance aside, this is, as Dustin mentioned in his review of the first volume, a really beautifully bright and well saturated presentation, one that offers a sumptuous accounting of the series' often extremely vivid palette. Line detail also is sharp and precise. The effects work is generally decent, and there's little softness in some of the more complex renderings.
Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn Collection features LPCM 5.1 and 2.0 mixes in Japanese and English, replacing the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and 2.0 mixes that Dustin assessed in his review of the first volume (kind of weirdly, this is the first screener of Unicorn that Right Stuf deigned to send to me, so I can't state authoritatively if subsequent standalone volumes also had Dolby TrueHD audio or something else). In toggling between the English and Japanese versions, I noticed no discernable difference in general amplitude or the prioritization of the mixes in terms of dialogue, effects and score. As should be expected from a mecha outing, the surround track offers a glut of well placed effects in the many battle sequences, and there is agreeably forceful LFE when things like thrusters are engaged. Dialogue is always rendered cleanly and is generally well prioritized, only occasionally tending to get slightly buried in some of the more boisterous sequences. For the record, the discs have been authored so that no subtitles are accessible if the English language track is played.
Unlike some of the standalone volumes previously released, Sunrise and Right Stuf have provided supplements on this release.
Disc 1
- Character Highlights: Banagher Links (1080p; 3:14)
- Character Highlights: Audrey Burne (1080p; 1:23)
- MS Highlights: Unicorn Gundam (1080p; 1:16)
- MS Highlights: Kshitriya (1080p; 1:01)
- Character Highlights: Daguza Mackle (1080p; 1:36)
- Character Highlights: Riddhe Marsenas (1080p; 1:55)
- MS & Character Highlights: Shambio and Loni Garvey (1080p; 2:51)
- MS & Character Highlights: Sinanju and Full Frontal (1080p; 2:39)
- MS Highlights: Zeon Remnants (1080p; 2:22)
- MS & Character Highlights: Unicorn Gundam & Banagher Links (1080p; 1:39)
- MS & Character Highlights: Banshee & Marida Cruz (1080p; 1:49)
- Character Highlights: Nahel Argama's Crew (1080p; 1:42)
- MS & Character Highlights: Rozen Zulu and Angelo Sauper (1080p; 1:29)
I'm sure some wag out there might be saying, "If you've seen one Mobile Suit Gundam, you've seen them all," and I'm not sure I'd be that prone to quibble with that assessment. This iteration has a wealth of interesting characters, and also provides a bit of "history" in terms of how the whole Universal Century stratagem even began, but in other ways it's a bit of a slog, or at least may seem so for those unwilling to wade through impenetrable terminology challenges. Aside from some recurring issues with banding, this set offers excellent technical merits, and the supplements, while generally on the short side, are enjoyable. Recommended.
2010
2010
2011
2011
2012
2013
2014
劇場版 機動戦士ガンダム00 -A Wakening of the Trailblazer-
2010
機動戦士ガンダム0083 ―ジオンの残光―
1992
1991-1992
機動戦士ガンダム 逆襲のシャア
1988
∀ガンダム
1999-2000
機動戦士Ζガンダム / Kidō Senshi Z Gundam
1985-1986
Part 2 / Episodes 5-6 / 機動戦士ガンダム THE ORIGIN
2015-2018
機動戦士ガンダム サンダーボルト DECEMBER SKY
2016
機動戦士ガンダム
1979
機動戦士ガンダムZZ
1986
Special Build Disc
2013
新機動戦記ガンダムW Endless Waltz / Includes Movie & OVA versions as well as "Operation Meteor"
1998
includes Movie: Miller's Report / 機動戦士ガンダム 第08MS小隊 & ミラーズ・リポート
1996-2013
機動戦士ガンダムF91
1991
ガンダム Gのレコンギスタ
2014-2015
2017
2015-2016
新機動戦記ガンダムW / New Mobile Report Gundam Wing
1995-1996
機動戦士ガンダム0080 ポケットの中の戦争 / Kidō Senshi Gundam 0080: Pocket no Naka no Sensō
1989
機動戦士ガンダ / Kido Senshi Gundam 1
1981