The Kshatriya will haunt your dreams

Gundam Unicorn, the first entry in the Universal Century timeline in forever, is beyond solid- it's showing great promise. I can't think of any issues I had with the first episode other than the gigantic, yawning gulf of time between this release and the next; apparently we won't be picking up on the 2nd episode of 6 until this Fall. Then again, if it gets us this kind of quality, it's worth it. A few notes:

- Banagher Links: I haven't seen a Gundam protagonist like this in a while. Granted, that has to do a lot with still not having seen 00, but he's not your typical Gundam hero just yet. He's not overly angsty, he's not emotionless, and he's not constantly getting slapped, likely because of the first two points I just made. Granted, we're only an episode in, and I've already got the feeling in my bones that he's going to have the nearly-universal "crying in his bed" moment soon, but for now, he's the best main I've seen since Garrod Ran.

- Mecha Designs: Granted, part of the charm here is the crisp hi-def visuals, but they're pretty awesome and not incredibly ludicrous for being machines of death. The Kshatriya is ridiculous on paper (including its call sign, NZ-666) but it ends up coming off as legit scary; there's some 20-odd funnels coming at ya, and Marida Cruz does a hell of a job in matching the cold demeanor of the machine.

- Historical elements: I swear, if that's not Bernie's Zaku in the museum, I'll be shocked. Also, it was nice hearing the history report for Anaheim not mention Operation Stardust, the Grypps conflict, the Titans, etc. Looks like the federation still has its share of lying assholes.

- The score for the anime is AWESOME.

All in all, I'd recommend it- it's a great start, and so far, it's worth the purchase.