Unico
| Unico | |
The cover for Unico volume 1 from the Osamu Tezuka Manga Complete Works edition.
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ユニコ (Yuniko) |
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| Genre | Fantasy, Comedy |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Osamu Tezuka |
| Published by | Sanrio |
| Demographic | Shōjo |
| Magazine | Ririka |
| Original run | November 1976 – March 1979 |
| Volumes | 2 |
| Anime film | |
| Unico: Black Cloud and White Feather | |
| Directed by | Toshio Hirata |
| Produced by | Shintaro Tsuji |
| Written by | Masaki Tsuji |
| Studio | Tezuka Productions |
| Released | April 5, 1979 (Japan) |
| Runtime | 25 minutes |
| Anime film | |
| The Fantastic Adventures of Unico | |
| Directed by | Toshio Hirata |
| Produced by |
Masao Maruyama Tsunemasa Hatano |
| Written by | Masaki Tsuji |
| Music by | Masahiko Sato |
| Studio | Madhouse |
| Licensed by | |
| Released | March 14, 1981 (Japan) May 12, 1983 (USA) |
| Runtime | 90 minutes |
| Anime film | |
| Unico in the Island of Magic | |
| Directed by | Moribi Murano |
| Produced by |
Masao Maruyama Tsunemasa Hatano |
| Written by | Masaki Tsuji |
| Music by | Nozomi Aoki |
| Studio | Madhouse |
| Licensed by | |
| Released | July 16, 1983 (Japan) November 10, 1983 (USA) |
| Runtime | 90 minutes |
Unico (ユニコ Yuniko?) is a manga and anime character by Osamu Tezuka. Unico is a baby unicorn with white fur, a pink mane, and little cinnamon bun-shaped ears, who was born with the very special gift of making all living creatures lighthearted and happy.
His friends in the various manga and anime incarnations of his story include Beezle, the young Devil of Solitude from Scottish Mythology (part of Celtic Mythology); Chao (or "Katy" in the English anime), a naive little kitty who longs to be a human girl, and to learn magic from a real witch; a spunky little Sphinx (in the second film), and a warm-hearted human girl named Cheri.
Unico's way of bringing happiness to others gets him into trouble with the gods, who believe that only they should have the ability to control others' emotions. The gods send the West Wind to banish Unico to the Hill of Oblivion, but the West Wind takes pity on Unico and declines to follow the gods' commands. The gods are furious when they learn of the West Wind's defiance, and send the Night Wind to capture Unico. To protect Unico from the gods and the Night Wind, the West Wind must continually transport the little unicorn from place to place. Whenever the gods discover Unico's whereabouts, the West Wind appears to spirit him away once again, often without getting to say goodbye to any of the friends he has made - and without any memory of those friends, as Unico's memory is wiped clean each time.
In the 1979 film, Unico was a pet to Psyche, the most beautiful girl in the mortal world and he brought her eternal happiness. But the goddess Venus was jealous and angry at Psyche for being more beautiful than her and kidnaps Unico to make the girl unhappy. Venus orders the West Wind to take Unico away where he would be cursed to wander alone and forget everything he remembers.
Unico appeared in several comic strips by Tezuka, with an ecological message. Tezuka's original manga was serialized in Sanrio's "Ririka" (Lyrica) magazine from 1976 to 1979, and was re-published by Shogakukan in 1984 in a learning magazine for children.
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