Can't Un-Hear It: It's not hard to easily hear Barbara Goodson as Unico, Cheryl Chase as Beezle, Robin Levenson as Katy/Chao, or Lara Cody as Piro/Marusu from the English dubs of the Unico films when reading the official English translation of the manga series. Especially Barbara Goodson's charming and cute performance as Unico with fans admitting that her take on Unico is superior to Katsua Miwa's performance from the original Japanese versions.
Cult Classic: While the series is well-known in Japan and one of Osamu Tezuka's most fondly remembered works. The Unico series has a small but very dedicated fanbase in the west (thanks to both Unico movies airing on Disney Channel during the 1980s). While the fanbase isn't as vocal as fans of Kimba, Western Unico fans actually created a successful kickstarter on getting the original manga translated in the early 2010s.
With Ringing Bell since both films contain dark subject matter, both protagonists are adorable and both were made by the same company. Helps that Barbara Goodson voices Chirin and Unico in both films.
Unico fans also shares fanbases with the Kirby fanbase (especially in Japan) due to both containing similar darker moments while both protagonists are adorable and badass. Nightmare (the Big Bad of Kirby's Adventure) even shares similarities with one of the antagonists Unico faces in the manga (and 1981 feature film). This even extendstoothervillainsKirbyfacesin the series who also shares similarities with other villains from Unico.
When Octas Inc. launched a Kickstarter on an upcoming re-imagining of the Unico series titled UNICO: AWAKENING on May 2, 2022. The kickstarter quickly reached it's goal when the project was barely a day old, with a large majority of the backers being from Americans compared to Japan and other countries. The creators of the project (Gurihiru and Samuel Sattin) even announced the manga gaining both an English and Japanese release. As part of the campaign, American cartoonists were gathered to create a series of limited edition collectibles all part of a series known as Unico: Awakening Artifacts (including an 8-page American picture book in the style of a Little Golden Book and an American made mini comic).
Ho Yay: Despite their relationship having a rocky start. Unico and Beezle/Akuma-kun's relationship with each other in both the manga and 1981 film shows that their interactions can almost border on innocently homoerotic at times.
Unico crying as he's silently watching Beezle sitting alone after initially refusing to let Beezle to borrow his horn on becoming his "True Friend". Beezle, on the other hand, gets very frustrated over his feelings toward Unico by telling himself "I hate him, but can't stop thinking about him!" due to deeply believing his role as "The Demon of Solitude".
Beezle's idea of "playing" is by roughhousing with Unico, such as treating Unico like a grown horse despite Unico not enjoying this due to his weight and getting whipped by Beezle's tail. Beezle ends up hurting himself after falling off Unico's back. When Unico notices Beezle crying, he runs up to quickly calm him down by licking him, much to Beezle's dismay, where responds by punching him.
After Beezle returns Unico's horn so Unico will regain his powers and not die in the ocean, Unico transforms into "The Mighty Unicorn" to save Beezle from drowning. He's shocked and confused when he notices Unico's different appearance. After he turns back to normal, Unico explains to him that he has the ability to transform into "The Mighty Unicorn" if someone truly loves him. He then tells Beezle "I guess you love me Beezle.", while giving him a warm smile before rewarding Beezle with his own horn due to Beezle's selfless behavior.
Incest Yay Shipping: Corn (Unico's sister) is super into him when he reunites with his family and siblings in the manga. This hasn't gone unnoticed by both Western and Japanese fans of the series where, Unico and Corn are shipped together. This even extends to Japanese merchandise by Tezuka Productions where she's seen flirting with him.◊
Launcher of a Thousand Ships: Due to his desire of spreading happiness, encouraging kindness, an endlesscraving for love, and an overall adorable personality and appearance. Unico would usually get shipped by all the friends he's made in the manga and other anime appearances (whether they're male or female) by Japanese fans of the series.
The series has gained a lot of fans from the LGBTQ community in both Japan and especially the west. Not only do its themes about love, empathy, and compassion really resonate with members of the community, but LGBT fans immediately notice some queer themes and subtext in Unico's relationships with a few of his male friends (notably with Beezle/Akuma-kun and Piro/Marusu).
Fans familiar with Piro/Marusu's appearance in Unico in the Island of Magic believe him to be non-binary since the character's gender is never mentioned in any dub of the movie, while some theorize that Piro/Marusu is trans since the character's male in the original manga despite his feminine design and appearance.
Misblamed: Some fans of the Sanrio film series blame Zephyrus/the West Wind as the main cause of Unico's tragic existence due to separating him from his friends. Ignoring the fact that Zephyrus was simply following orders from the gods (Venus in the original manga) and actually cared for Unico's well-being. There are moments in the manga where she actually gives Unico more time to help out his friends. Unico: Awakening even introduces a subplot where the West Wind is trying to break the cycle of losing his memories and disliking Venus's intense hatred at Unico.
Popular with Furries: In Japan and the West, the titular character has gained a following in the furry fandom due to his cute appearances and innocent nature.
Sweet Dreams Fuel: While the franchise carries a melancholy tone, the series mainly focuses on the importance of love, compassion, and empathy towards others. Even during sadder moments, Unico is always open to helping out others and doesn't like seeing his friends or anybody unhappy in front of him. The manga's artwork and locations is also beautifully designed and very colorful combined.
Toy Ship: In Japan and the West, Unico is mainly paired with Chao/Chow, Corn, and Piro/Marusu (Sphinx's Son/Daughter in the English dub). The manga and 1981 film adaptation even has moments of Ship Tease between Unico and Chao (Katy in the English Dub) which borders on Interspecies Romance. "Unico x Chao" and "Unico x Corn" are especially popular with longtime Tezuka fans in Japan.
A recurring theme in the franchise is the concern over pollutionand damage to the environment. The manga was released between 1976 and 1979, during a period when pollution was at its worst. During the manga's original release, air pollution, industrial waste and industrial pollution were a major concern internationally, with Tezuka being very vocal about his concerns with the environment. The increase of climate change (formerly known as "global warming") and environmental issues becoming a major discussion during the 21th Century have also made the original stories more relevant than its original Japanese release.
One of the manga's storylines is an homage to Shakespeare'sRomeo and Juliet which has a very progressive story discussing prejudice and racism since it touches on interracial relationships. It also features positive and non-stereotypical depictions of Native Americans where they're treated like ordinary people and speak normally compared to other media of the time featuring indigenous people. The chapter features Unico befriending a young indigenous boy named "Tipi" after he discovers Unico injured from a buffalo stampede. The next day, both Unico and Tipi meet a pretty white girl named Mary who quickly falls in lovewith Tipi, with Tipi asking Unico to temporarily make them adults to learn about love. However, their parents aren't comfortable about their romantic relationship, with Tipi's father initially being very prejudiced towards white people before meeting her. While Mary was initially scared of visiting Tipi's village, the majority of the tribe aren't judgemental towards her and happily welcomes her to their homes with open arms. Aware of the issues of racism and prejudice, Unico becomes concerned with the duo since they're blinded by love. Unico explains to both Tipi and Mary about the unfairness of people "Judging others by the color of their skin and race, which leads to intense hatred", and how "Prejudice and racism aren't exclusive to white people" after learning they both told their parents.
Piro/Marusu the sphinx cub is instantly mistaken as a girl due to have a much more feminine design and appearance than Unico. Not helping is that Piro's gender is left ambiguous in Unico in the Island of Magic due to the characters (including Piro) never using pronouns for him.
Tear Jerker: Unico is forced to leave the friends he made and is made to forget them when finding a new adventure. The friends he left don't forget him.
into Kemono Friends 3 as a DLC Guest Character
