Unico: Awakening (Volume 1): An Original Manga (1)

This was amazing for a reboot, my childhood was rebuilt and I am excited to see how the story goes. Unico was a childhood stable and to see a new story and have him back is exactly what I needed in my life.

Unico still has the magic of heart we all loved about him. This story is just like his first movie but without Beezel. It tells how Unico makes friends and helps them find happiness without knowing it. Meanwhile, West Wind (Zephyr) proves what a good friend she is by finding a way for Unico to regain his memories. The story has themes of heart, friendship, courage, and determination.

A Magical Fantasy that is a Manga adventure! A wholesome experience with beautiful artwork that you cannot put down. All I can say is Wow!

As somebody who grew up on the Unico Film series (The Fantastic Adventures of Unico and Unico in the Island of Magic) by Sanrio, Tezuka Productions, and Madhouse made between 1981 and 1983. I became super fond of Tezuka's Unico causing me to get my copy of the original Unico manga by Osamu Tezuka that gained an official English translation in 2012 (via Kickstarter) for the 2022 Christmas Season. The Unico series has since became my all-time favorite creation by the late great Osamu Tezuka (referred as "The God of Manga") causing me to hope Unico would someday get a reboot similar to Astro Boy, Princess Knight, Black Jack and other characters. The themes and messages of Unico is just as relevant and important as it was during its original release between 1976-1979. Unico has also gave me strong vibes to The Last Unicorn with a mixture of Disney Animated Films during the Classic Era (specifically 1937 and the 1950s) which Tezuka was a huge fan of. The Unico Series genuinely felt like Tezuka's huge love letter to Walt Disney and Classic Disney Movies.Well that day has finally came! Now that I finally got my copy of Volume 1 recently, I will proudly say that Unico: Awakening is off to a spectacular start! To avoid spoilers, all I got to say is that Samuel Sattin (a manga scholar and huge fan of Osamu Tezuka) and the Japanese art duo Gurihiru are spot on when it comes to perfectly capturing the spirit of Unico while modernizing it but still remains timeless like the original incarnation. It even maintains the dark and sad aspects of the original incarnation but makes the Unico Universe feel much larger than the original manga and on part with the Sanrio Film Adaptations and the 1979 pilot "Unico: Black Cloud and White Feathers". There are moments in the Volume 1 where I genuinely teared up and this is coming from a 27 (soon 28) year old men!Unlike the 2009 Astro Boy Movie where it was made for American Audiences and felt was too Americanized. The Unico Manga (aka OEL Manga) Reboot series is an American/Japanese collaborative effort and actually feels like Tezuka himself has never left. Tezuka is even posthumously credited as the manga's co-writers. Fitting since Osamu Tezuka actually created Unico the Unicorn during his trip to Los Angeles, California (which as mentioned in the Foreward Page for the English translation of the original manga) in June 1976 with the manga series starting November 1976 on Sanrio's Lyrica Magazine withe magazine itself actually aiming for a Western Audience but never got brought over.Been following the lead up to Unico: Awakening's release since it begun as a Kickstarter campaign in Spring 2022 from Tezuka Productions and Octas Inc. Not only was the Kickstarter quickly funded when it barely turned 24 hours old, but a majority of backers to fully fund Unico: Awakening was from American fans due to Unico having a very dedicated cult following in the United States thanks to the film adaptations frequently airing on Disney Channel (then "The Disney Channel") during the mid to late 1980s. Who knew that the Kickstarter campaign would become so successful that it would catch the attention of Scholastic. Now that the Unico Reboot is published by Scholastic/Graphix, Unico will finally get a proper reintroduction to a new generation of children across the globe (especially with manga becoming popular in the West in recent years).This new incarnation of Unico has tons of potential to become an animated series on par with the 2003 Astro Boy Anime (highly recommend the Japanese version). Unico: Awakening made me fall in love with Unico and his friends again the same way I did after first seeing "The Fantastic Adventures of Unico" and "Unico in the Island of Magic" and the original manga. Looking forward to the next volume on June 2025 and future volumes. Especially the Guidebook and Worldbuilding books for Unico: Awakening arriving sometime in the future. Like the original incarnation, Unico: Awakening isn't afraid of getting very thought-provoking with a majority coming from the titular young unicorn protagonist. Unico himself is very emotionally mature for a young foal and speaks some hard truths about life and humanity at times which I deeply admire.To conclude my review, in recent interviews Samuel Sattin did to promote the release of Volume 1 of Unico: Awakening made in late July and early August 2024. He mentioned that Rumiko Tezuka (Osamu Tezuka's eldest daughter) has voiced her strong approval on Unico: Awakening since she managed to get a glimpse of the first volume recently. Not only did she love it by saying that "The person who would have loved the series the most is her own father.". But Rumiko actually written an Open Letter (which hasn't gone public yet as of this review) expressing her love and approval on Unico: Awakening and important Unico has become which Sattin was the only person able to read it. That alone should tell you that Unico: Awakening and future volumes is in good hands! Hope somebody manages to give a copy of Unico: Awakening to Barbara Goodson (Unico's English voice actress from the film series) because Unico is my favorite voice acting role from Goodson which I still hear while reading Volume 1.I proudly give Unico: Awakening 5 Stars! I just recommend Unico: Awakening to my old Elementary School Principal who's looking forward to checking it out. Unico is the perfect gateway for those that are unfamiliar with Manga but something that's actually appropriate for both children and adults. :)

How exciting to see this in the stores 😊 I watched the Unico movie/anime when I was little and I'm so happy it's getting revamped into a new manga series.The art style looks great and its even colored inside! It's listed for ages 8-12, so I will need to see how this holds my children's interest. So far so good 👍I'm seeing some familiar characters, which is nice, Katy is now Chloe but seems to be the same. Hoping we get to see Beezle.

Gusto leído " único awakening" con infantil, gracias muchas

Alles gut 👍