Review: The Fantastic Adventures of Unico

Unico is a character created by Osamu Tezuka (best known for creating Astroboy) back in the 70's. In 1981, Sanrio partnered with Tezuka to create the animated film The Fantastic Adventures of Unico.

The story of course follows the titular Unico, a young unicorn born with the ability to spread joy anywhere he goes. The Gods were displeased that the power to sway peoples emotions didn't belong solely to them anymore, and banished Unico from his home. A Goddess called the West Wind was sent to take him to the edge of the universe where he would never be found, but out of sympathy for Unico she hid him on a faraway island instead. The story then stays in a bit of a loop of Unico making friends in his hiding spot, being found by the Gods, and the West Wind taking him away without a goodbye to hide him again.

Going into this movie having only minimal knowledge of the main character, I was under the impression it was a feelgood movie. I was originally planning to watch it as a palette cleanser after a different Sanrio film called Chirin No Suzu, or Ringing Bell. This one is notorious for being the darkest story ever produced by the company. I ended up watching Unico on its own with a friend, and honestly I'm very glad that's what I did.

This movie is devastating.

The animation, storytelling, voice acting (at least in the original), backgrounds, and score are all gorgeous. Don't get me wrong on that. It is by no means a low quality film or a bad movie in any way. 

But it's so incredibly tragic. 

There's approximately five minutes at the very beginning where Unico is happy and safe. After this, he is immediately thrown into one horrifying situation after another, and once he finally finds comfort in his surroundings, he's whisked away without being allowed so much as a goodbye. It plays with your emotions in an unsatisfying and painful way, if I had seen this as a child it certainly would have left me in (even more) tears.

The imagery as well is downright terrifying at times, not even considering the deeper implications beneath the surface. It feels in a similar vein to The Last Unicorn to me, if you've seen it. Thinking on it now, a lot of early 80's animated movies are pretty scary when you're able to comprehend what's going on.

All in all I recommend it. Despite everything it's a fun time, especially with friends. The visuals are beautiful, and the story is guaranteed to stick with you. I had a really good time watching it, and I don't think Unico will leave my mind any time soon.