Unicorn Wars: Dark, Brutal, and NOT for kids... 

Get 25% OFF @True Classic with promo code “steve” or by visiting trueclassictees.com/steve

When Blue Killed "Fat ass" with a rock, it was a direct refence to Abel and Cain when he too killed his brother with a rock.

I love how the Unicorns aren’t colorful and rainbow they’re kinda shadow-like and I honestly love their design

As a lover for traditional animation It’s always great to see more hand drawn animated films even if they are incredibly dark

One detail I really appreciated in the movie is that Bluey frames Tubby for wetting the bed and announces it to the whole barracks... Only to be the sole bear pissing himself when they find the missing troop. He's willing to throw his own brother under the bus if it means preserving his image.

One thing to notice in the scene where they find the butchered camp, is the monkeys in the trees. I think they were the ones to slaughter the camp, not the unicorns, in order to orchestrate renewed conflict. Neither side really wanted to upset the status quo up to this point, so it makes sense that the monkeys are the culprit. Especially considering they want to birth a new god from the aftermath of the war.

If it helps, Tubby’s name in Spanish, Gordi… it comes across as more of a term of endearment like “honey” or “sweetie” or “darling.” While it does mean something like tubby or fatty, it’s not really making a reference to weight in that case.

This movie is basically an animated Vietnam War film, but with care bears and unicorns

THIS! This is a perfect definition of "innocence shattering"! The fact that it was directed by the same person who directed Bird Boy shows that he knows definitely how to mess with other's minds of showing horrifying events in dark universes through creature that are considered otherwise innocent. I seriously went speechless only from watching the clips for the first time in SaberSpark's review. And the visuals, *oh my lord…* Spot on praise for these magnificent artists! I think this is exactly what true indie-horror is like. My biggest fear though, will be how many people will mistake it for a kids movie and give it to their pre-schoolers? I sure hope as little as possible! I prefer to NOT repeat the same mistake of Watership Down all over again…

Unicorn War is like _Happy Tree Friends_ but with a bigger budget and high quality animation. Subverted kids show never shy away on exposing disturbing content and the intense bloodshed on cutesy characters and that's what makes it effective.

I like how a lot of movies take a dark approach and tend to not have a good ending or satisfying resolution. It shows that in real life not everything has a happily ever after but also in war there are no winners.

I might be reading into it too much but when you said that Bluey decided to eat Coco the first thought that came into my mind is that there is this belief that when you eat the organ of an animal you hunted down you gain it's attributes. Maybe, since Bluey was jealous, insecure and crazy he applied the same logic to Coco and decided to eat his body to become better?

This film is absolutely genius. Showing how war, greed, brainwashing ideologies, and jealousy corrupts and destroys goodness and innocence, through the depiction of the most innocent of characters, unicorns and teddy bears, being corrupted and destroyed. And the ending where the monster becomes a human. I audibly gasped when I saw that part the first time.

Honestly I feel like Unicorn wars entire narrative is about Humanity and talking about both the positive and the negative aspects that makes a person the way they are.🤔🐱

You think the war on teddy bears and unicorns would be fun with fluffy things...but you'd be dead wrong! Also, that ending hit on a whole nother level!

It's refreshing to see that there animations studios outside the US and Japan willing to bring something different to the table! Eager to see what Vazquez will do next 🤗

Yes! Once I saw SaberSpark review this, I knew that this was definitely something that you could review. And now here we are! And like I said in SS’ video, I love it when an animated movie that looks like it could be for kids, ends up being the most graphic and non kid friendly thing imaginable! Definitely a huge finger to all the people who think that animation is “only for kids”. Also, happy Mother’s Day everyone!

This movie's story sort of puts me in mind of the game Raze's Hell, with a few key differences. Here we have cute bears going to war with unicorns after gaining sentience to try taking back the forest, while in Raze's Hell, cute creatures are brainwashed by their princess into slaughtering anything ugly and "cutifying" the unsightly, barren land surrounding their kingdom. Where the bears are pissed off for being banished from the forest by the unicorns, the Kewletts just flat-out hate ugliness and want to kill/destroy everything they find repulsive. While the wars in both Unicorn Wars and Raze's Hell serve as distractions to keep the higher-ups in power, with Raze's Hell we have the twist ending where the Princess was trying to distract everyone from seeing her own ugliness. Definitely gotta give this movie a watch soon!

I like the way the gore is animated. It looks real but also doesn’t break the art style and keeps with it.

Unicorn Wars makes Birdboy look like a ray of sunshine by comparison.

One theory that I have about unicorn wars is that the final battle is a representation of the pure annihilation that comes with two superpowers, with the bears representating the hard effectivness of ww1 armies, and the unicorns representing brutal armies that rely on Cavalry like mongols.

Defiantly one of the most disturbing movies I’ve ever seen.

You should definitely do a video on Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal. It's a visual masterpiece, and is very violent. And there's barely any dialogue in the show, the story is mainly conveyed through visual storytelling.

One thing to remark is that while the movie shows religion can be used as a brainwashing tool that corrupts, it doesn't demonize it completely, or says it is entirely evil. (Spoiler alert) The priest character is actually a rather good guy, he comforts Bluey about his insecurities and, unlike the generals, he is a true believer on the holy word (AKA, that killing the unicorns is going to bring paradise to the bears). He holds the unit together and clearly cares for his flock, seen as A) he inofficiallly takes command of the unit after the sergeant cracks due to the twins deaths, and B) he sacrifices himself to make sure that Coco, Bluey and Tubby manage to escape the unicorns. So basically it is a message that there is good in religion, but it can also be twisted and corrupted, just like the bears themselves

I love how Azulin and Gordi's relationship mirrors that of Abel and Cain from the bible. A brother jealous and envious of the other, and takes out that anger by killing the other brother. And with the ending, how the monster formed into a human, I think it symbolizes all of humanity how we all have some of Azulin and Gordi in us, good and bad. Also, in the movie they mention that bears were banished from the magical forest and could never return, but we see Gordi isn't kicked out and in fact, he seems very happy to be in the forest. Kinda makes you think if the war was even needed, they could've just learned to live together. Corrupt authority and religion really hurts everyone.

While I believe the original Spanish version will always be the best way to experience this story, if there is ever an English dub in the future that brings more eyes to this film; the fan castings that come to mind for me are: 1. Yuri Lowathel as Bluey 2. Bryce Papenbrook as Gordie 3. Troy Baker as The Priest 4. Jonah Scott as Coco 5. Richard Epcar as The Sargent 6. Tara Strong as Maria

I'd still love to see you review The Long Long Holiday, a French animated series that tells the story of WWII as seen through the eyes of the local children of an German-occupied France. It's only 10 episodes long and, despite being aimed at kids, it does not in any way talk down to its audience. Like, they have to confront the realities of war, even losing loved ones. I think it's right up your alley.

At the end where the blob turns human I think it took that form due to devouring both tubby and bluey. Tubby is very empathetic, kind, and caring while bluey is very cruel, jealous, and quick to anger. Having both these positive and negative traits the blob turned into a human. since we have a wide range of emotions that are both good and bad. I’m not sure if it was clear cut and I’m just stating the obvious but I just thought it was pretty cool. That’s just my interpretation of the ending tho.

Knew this was right up your alley after Saberspark reviewed it, and I'm more than happy to see your take on this bizarrely beautiful horror.

I feel so uncomfortable being able to finally see Steve's face- It's like finding out your parents were actually Santa Claus the whole time Edit: IM NOT SAYING HE'S UGLY I JUST DIDN'T EXPECT A SUDDEN FACE REVEAL HE'S ADORABLE IMO

I hate people who says animations are only for kids

This is honestly one of my favorite animated films to have come out lately. It took me off-guard (I was expecting edgy mindless violence and was impressed by a thought provoking commentary on the horrors of war and religious corruption instead) and stuck with me. The art direction is stunning, I love how well-crafted every shot is (the raindrop you sloooowly see lead up to the corpse is brilliant, I loved that when I first saw it too), and the soundtrack is great and also not what you'd really expect. It's also so atmospheric, like you can tell the movie fully embraces what it is and it doesn't just invite you in, it pulls you whether you want to be pulled in or not, and doesn't let go until the end. Genuinely wonderful movie, it's been stuck in my brain since I saw it the other month. So glad to see you reviewed it, it deserves more recognition.

I'm gonna start suggesting Night on the Galactic Railroad more because it's a visually stunning surreal animated Japanese film about death and cats I'm determined to get this film more attention, like it's on RU-vid for free)

Dang this film is tragic and brutal. But I can also say this is some gorgeous animation and I can tell the folks put a lot of effort in this. And finally good lord! blue bear seems to be a little bit of a sociopath to put it politely what with him killing both his mom and brother out of jealous spite when they both seemed like they were pretty sweet and chill folk....like boy you be messed up like a bad rotten egg.

i love how he starts to show his face more also hes the best reviewer

Bluey was the embodiment of evil. Honestly being this deceptive, spiteful and without any genuine humanity must be a mental disorder of sorts. Even the generals are better because they just want to be in position of power. Bluey is like, I hate my brother because mother "loves him more" even though she wanted to connect with him. At some point she even says that there is "something wrong" with Bluey. Also, the drive for power his father gave him imo plays a minor role and he is driven primarily by hatred that he is just creating and sustaining himself in his mind.

Always a joy to see traditional and masterful animation in an era of CG / Digital saturation. Sure I love all animation but I'll never turn away something wonderful such as this!

I imagine the only kid who’d be happy to see this are Stewie and the crowd that’s into mascot horror.

I had watched this a few days ago, and I fell in love with the art of this movie. I hadn’t had any prior knowledge of Alberto’s works and now I can say that he’s one of my favorite artists. I don’t know why this doesn’t have much awards, it’s production is beautiful. The voice acting, the art direction, and the soundtrack is just so beautiful.

The raindrop scene reminds us of the one in Bambi. We believe it’s when they’re singing about spring showers. But the raindrops hitting the leaves are a precursor to the music.

to be honest i hadnt heard of this until u reviewed it

After reading Zombies vs. Unicorns way too long ago, nothing shocks me anymore with the violence unicorns are capable of (plus Cabin in the Woods had a unicorn going Michael Myers on a few people...)

After everything Bluey has done nothing was more satisfying then his death, Someone try to tell me wrong

While I see the ending being very bleak and sad I do see it has hope in the long run and epilouge way as this was meant to be telling origins of humans this means all humans are born with Blueys/Azulins indomitable Wrath but also Tubbys/Gordis indomitable compassion in equal amount. Which is why humans will do the best and worst things to each other.

This movie is definitely a thought provoker; the ending scene where the creature consumed both Bluey and Gordy and transformed into a human made me remember the concept “the duality of man,“ how humanity is capable of doing both great good, and great evil simultaneously. It takes a while for the idea to really settle in but I think it creates an ambiguous ending wear (as the story would have it) “now that God has returned both beautiful and immortal” the god/human can now command the land with both compassion and violence in his soul; granting them the knowledge to lead a world better than the one they inherited. Like I said, it definitely takes a while for this idea to sinking after watching the movie, but I’d say that’s a compliment to unicorn Wars, it makes you think long after the credits

1-Did anyone else get the vibe they implied the bears and unicorns war lead to humans being created or have I finally gone crazy? 2-in a weird way Bluey did empathize with his dad. Yes I believe he was in fact a monster from day one but he’s held onto what his dad told him about being the best because his dad couldn’t hold onto his own marriage. That can say he did understand what his father was going through. Also just to be safe I’m open to fact checks from the movie.

I saw this one on the big screen at a film festival in Brussels. There was an introduction by one of the people in charge of the animation too. Amazing stuff.

I think the ending implies that the age of anthro animals has ended and the dawn of man begins, since the final scene is a human like figure leading a group of primates. Though, I kinda wished it ended with Bluey and all the other bears getting wiped out but Tubby survives and goes on to live a happy life with that young unicorn, all whilst thinking about his brother and how things could've been different

Now I really wanna hear you talk about Made In Abyss. It is my absolute favourite dark story of all time because despite its horrific imagery and themes, it's just so beautiful. Also, they never outright say it, but I'm pretty sure it has religious connotations.

The ending to this film feels... weird. The monster is shown as appearing in a church first, trying to eat Maria, and at the end it appears after Bluey has eaten Maria. It makes me wonder... okay, bear with me: unicorns are one of the symbols of magic in pop-culture. There are a few different animals that, if you see in a movie or anywhere, you think "yeah, something magical is going on here". Teddy bears on the other hands are typically seen as something childish, for kids. Something innocent and harmless. So, it makes me wonder if a theme of the ending is that the death of magic, and the twisting of innocence into cruelty and madness, is what makes up Man.

I bought this movie on Amazon and I pre-ordered the Blu-ray, finding something that I can become obsessed with is an amazing feeling, even with the incredibly dark subject matter. I've forced all my friends to watch it and they all "liked" it

Never heard of this one before but from the opening bit it looks like a fun family friendly time!

What I like about Unicorn Wars is that, despite it having violence, gore, and nudity, they're not exclusively used as shock value all the time as a way to emphasize it as an "adult" film - it also shows it's maturity based on the themes it portrays. ^^

It’s also interesting how the characters of Bluey and Tubby are similar to the Biblical figures of Cain and Abel, where one brother slaughter to other one due to jealousy and is then punished by God.

Interesting fact is Tubby's name properly in Spanish is Gordi which while literally means Chubby seems like it can also be used in like diminuative way as if to call someone darling or honey. So kinda gives a double meaning His mother using it in a loving manner but clearly when his brother uses his name it more in a cruel unloving way i guess

Cool that you didn't spoil Azulin's face in the thumbnail, unlike Saberspark.

My mom had the idea of cartoons only being for children, since I want to branch in the animation industry I had to change her mind. What I did is to show her some of the most brutal animated shows.

Now I’m waiting for him to review Disney’s hunchback of Notre Dame. Because it’s a dark and mature story about social acceptance, human rights, and lust. Not surprising the fact that is based by Victor Hugo’s novel of the same name. In Steve’s voice:“Ya know, a kids film!”

I was terrified first time I saw this movie, but I've never felt such genuine potty for the characters and what they go through 🥺 War is such a gruesome, disgusting concept... And this film truly showcases it's horrors

I forgot that Steve isn't the embodiment of his avatar and he has a physical form 😂 Aloha from Hawaii. If you get the chance, please check out Paprika!

Bluey becoming sans was something nobody could have predicted

With this movie, you could get a lot of milage out of that Muriel ''Oh my!'' clip.

8:26 Then you'd probably love Heike Monogatari (The Heike Story) - an anime web series that's based on true events with some supernatural stuff flung into it. It does stuff like that a few times, and the series overall is amazing imo.

This film reminds me of just human nature. Where higher beings capable of great emotions. Drown themselves of what society wants them to be and what they instinctively are. War really brings it out and such war films bring such spectrum of emotions.

I asked you to review this film years ago. Thank you for giving Alberto the recognition he deserves.

This is so sad. On alot of levels. That scene with the mother and father holding the babie boys, aw. It makes me sad knowing what happens and the internal struggles.

Love the fact that Vazquez is representing more of the darker part of European animation not seen in some decades. Hope blacksad gets animated one day. One question, about unicorn wars is what about the bears living I guess in the normal population not part of the military, they're still alive?

I am a 39y old woman and i will happily admit i probably watch more animation now then as a kid. Probably because it wasn't until my 20s that i found my love for anime. I watch quite a different mix too. More kids stuff because my youngest is 3y all the way to definitely made for adults. So im definitely going to need to find this.

I like that this is a dark take on a cute and cuddly environment where the horrific elements actually ADD to the tone. It's not just some half-assed creepypasta where the gore and death is just there for shock value. It truly captures the terrifying themes of war, insanity, broken families, and a brainwashed society destroying themselves.

I wish this movie was a two-parter. These characters were really interesting and could have used a lot more time to be fleshed out.

I’ve been rewatching a lot of your videos lately. No one else does it quite like you. Cant get enough.

This movie and Chirin's Bell are so deep animated films. I adore Unicorn Wars for how dark it gets while having Stuning Animation.

The war of My Little Pony and Care Bears has begun! And let me tell you, it's a bloody one indeed!

The animation alone for this film makes me wanna watch it. It's so goddamned beautiful.

The fact I was anticipating this movie and knowing that STEVE WOULD REVIEW IT, finally I get to watch

Haven't watched this film yet, but it definitely looks more interesthing than I originally thought, which was that it was just an edgy bloody film like happy tree friends, but it's nice to see how it also use its more adult rating to talk about more serious and dark topics. It's also refreshing to see any animated film that comes from any other places that isn't the United States And btw the name of the director is pronounced like "bázkez" (I made an effort to represent for the people who do not speak spanish how it would be pronounced) without pronouncing the u 1:31 XD los patrocinó Movistar, eso no lo esperaba

0:01 I hate it when animal characters have human feet

I saw this at the animation festival in Manchester and I was absolutely amazed, I loved this film and loved how well animated and written it was- Also a whole row of animation students - including myself - gasped loudly in the cinema when the bears said “I love you brother.”

12:42 If you look closely, you can see the monkeys near the human mimic it. Just like that diagram of the old ( and outdated) piece of human evolution.

Steve, please review “An American Tail”, which I think is right up your ally. It’s a dark & emotional story that features a vulnerable mouse child separated from his family & almost loses them forever. It would really fit the bill for you as it was directed by Don Bluth, who also directed “The Secret of NIMH”, which you already reviewed. PLEASE, STEVE! 😊

This film was beautiful.

Got to be the most heartwarming version of the care Bears on Opposite Day 🤣🤣🤣

i like to think the ending when the man is made represents the good bad and ugly sides or in this case naive (tubby) , innocent (unicorn) , and bad (bluey) sides of humans

Colombiano aqui! Es muy refrescante ver peliculas en mi lenguage recibir tanta atencion!

absolutely blindsided by the face reveal after seeing the eddsworld-esque avatar for so long, for some reason i'm always surprised when youtubers do a face reveal and they actually look good, no homo

I like that when bluey's wounds demorphed like a mouth

Steve I'm SO happy you made a video on this I couldn't get this movie off my mind since a week ago having first seen it this was awesome!!

If you go out into the woods today...The teddybears are having their genocide.

I have a suggestion for something to review, It's an episode from the Halo Legends anime called "The Duel", it has an amazing and incredibly unique animation style that stands out from the rest of the episodes of the anime.

I actually watched it today. What a piece of Art. It's sort of like a WW1/Vietnam War movie but it's something much more than that.

You had me at "🦄 ". But the minute you started describing all that sick shit, my dude, I was all in!!!

I went to see Unicorn wars in the theatre with friends specifically because of your bird boy review. And I don't regret it one bit. It was really nice to see your review pop up ! This film is definitely the weirdest one I ever watched, and also probably the goriest, but it was really interesting, and my friends (learning 2D animation) and I found the artstyle stunning. I hadn't thought about it, but it does indeed remind me a bit of ghibli's princess mononoke.

Steve is way more good looking than i expected

Oh I remember asking for this! I'm glad you made a video on this!

6:44 how can I relate to this so goddamn much?

Yes I wanted you to review it so thank you

Ngl bro, it just feels like misery porn. Maybe it’s different actually watching the movie but from this recap it just feels like a regular “war is bad and pointless” message with the shock value of cute animals as a gimmick to draw you in. What did seeing his little bear shlong really add? Like i said maybe it just what i see from the recap but honestly feels just grim dark for the sense of being grim dark so people will watch it.

The cute anthro style with the corrupt religious and eldritch themes remind me of _Cult of the Lamb_

I like how the entire story of tubby and bluey and the ending of it is just one big reference to the story of Cain and Abel.

For what you've told, Bluey reminds me a lot of Max from "Camp Camp". They both have a shitty past, they're both affected by it, but while Bluey chooses to follow his emotions blindly, Max little by little starts realizing that he's not a bad kid, he just grew up in a very shitty environment. It truly is a case of both sides of the same coin.