In an age when non-anime action cartoons can feel rare, and good non-anime action cartoons can feel even rarer, it’s hard to ignore one new passion project from a legend of the American industry. From legendary cartoon creator Genndy Tartakovsky,Unicorn: Warriors Eternalis an event animated series that is running on both the regular hours of [adult swim] as well as regular showings on [as]’sanime-centric action block, Toonami.
With the show having serialized elements and an overarching action focus, something likeUnicornis a rare occurrence in the current era of television animation. And with the series having launched late last week, [adult swim] has gone the extra mile of letting fans catch up with the first episode on YouTube for free.
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Unicorn: Warriors Eternalis set in an alternate-history action seriesset in a steampunk-esqueLondon. Focusing on the unexpected reincarnations of powerful warriors, the series will focus on a serialized mystery in which the different heroes discover their own pasts and how they intersect with their current mission to stop a fantastical threat. The main cast of characters takes eclectic inspiration, with a sorceress, an elf-warrior, a monk, and even a steam-powered robot. The show’s been hotly anticipated by the animation community since the first teasers aired at last year’s international Annecy Animation Festival, and [adult swim]/Cartoon Network president Michael Ouweleen has wasted no enthusiasm in hailing the project as “an event-level series.”
From his time shaping some of the most beloved 90s Cartoon Network shows (The Powerpuff Girls,Dexter’s Laboratory) to creating some of the biggest action cartoons of the past two decades for the same network (Samurai Jack’s four Cartoon Network seasons and its 2017 revival finale on [adult swim], his other ongoing [adult swim] seriesPrimal, and the cult-classic 2010 seriesSym-Bionic Titan), Genndy Tartakovsky’s many years of influence on American animation in general and WBD’s animation slate in particular are almost impossible to overstate.
Tartakovsky’s influences forUnicornare wide and varied, using genres that intersect with steampunk sci-fi and fantasy, along with art style inspirations ranging everywhere from the golden-age theatrical animation of Disney and Fleischer to theclassic manga of Osamu Tezuka. There are a lot of inspirations and influences to juggle here, but it’s hard to think of a more qualified creator than Tartakovsky to pull it off with style.
The first two episodes ofUnicornaired in the early-morning hours of [adult swim] on May 5. However, some of the biggest shares of the audience are expected to come from its prominent placement in the Saturday night Toonami block, beginning on the evening of Saturday, May 6. After the initial two-episode premiere, weekly episodes will be releasing on both [adult swim]’s Thursday-night premieres and reran on Toonami’s primetime. For streaming, episodes will be debuting shortly after their initial premiere onHBO Max, soon set to be rebranded as Max.
In addition to its live premiere broadcasts and next-day streaming, [adult swim] has even put the first episode of the series up onYouTube, completely free and no login required. The strategy of full YouTube releases for pilot episodes has (thankfully for fans) gotten increasingly popular in recent years, and the Warner Bros.-Discovery executives know that this can be one of the best ways to capture potential fans for a project like this. Rapidly approaching a million views on YouTube, it’s plain to see that Unicorn is already capable of drawing an audience. While audiences will have to wait to see how all of the turns in his newest story unfold, it’s clear to see that Genndy Tartakovsky’s newest project is as popular as ever.
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