MISC. MANGA, *Unico: Awakening

So confident was Scholastic in this Americanized reimagining of Osamu Tezuka's Unico manga that they rolled out the cash for a full-animated trailer, the publisher's Graphix line of graphic novels for youngsters took the first volume of this ongoing franchise very seriously. The original manga was created by the God of Manga back in the mid-70s and received two hit anime movies released through Sanrio. Scholastic wanted to do a modern-day adaptation of the hit manga, so writer Samuel Sattin who had penned the Cartoon Saloon's graphic novels based on their animated films, and artist Gurihiru who drew the Avatar comic book sequels got together to make the new project which was initially financed through a Kickstarter campaign. Unico: Awakening is a colorful romp that covers the origin of the little unicorn and his first story arc.

If you've seen The Fantastic Adventures Of Unico, then you basically get the same tale here minus the segment where a little demon is part of the show. Unico is born from a unicorn that was just birthed by a space anomaly, and the adorable little equine becomes so adored by mortals that it starts to rile up the envy of the goddess Venus who bids the elemental Zephyrus to take the one-horned critter to the Hill of Oblivion for banishment. Zephyrus instead takes pity on Unico and continuously takes him from one part of space and time to another to hide him. Venus hears about this and sends her minion Night Wind to fetch Unico, so Zephyrus fights back by getting the last of a batch of magic flowers to free Unico from Venus' grasp which leaves the goddess in a weakened state plotting revenge. During all this, Unico is helping a cat become human to act as the stand-in daughter for a lonely old woman which ends in an epic fantasy battle right out of a JRPG with a giant monster.

Unico: Awakening is set to have a follow-up coming out soon titled Unico: Hunted which continues the reboot story, although whether or not there is going to be any other volumes after that is yet to be seen. This first graphic novel does have stunning visuals and dynamic color reaching back to the retro designs that made Osamu Tezuka an international icon. The book is very kid-friendly and enjoyable for all ages, even though there are some scary visual, especially the Lovecraftian final boss that an adult form Unico must battle which includes getting one of his wings get torn off. Scholastic's take on an anime classic is a welcome addition today's market which is so determined of bringing people from the real world into a fantasy realm instead of the other way around where mythical creatures roam the mortal plane.