Osamu Tezuka is known in Japan as Manga no Kamisama, or the God of Manga, for a reason. He has written works in every genre, for every age, seemingly for every mood or situation one can find oneself in. I have personally read very little Tezuka that I was not instantly engrossed with. Unfortunately, Unico is one such book.

Unico is a book intended for children. It is short and simple, full of moral lessons and a surprising amount of heartbreak. It is one of Tezuka’s more cartoony books, with plenty of small gags and a focus on the cutesy. It is not, in any way, a bad book, but it does not contain the charm and depth that is normally found in Tezuka’s work. Each of the nine chapters stands alone, and I often found myself bored with them. All the stories were quite cute, but they were also extremely repetitive and shallow.

The biggest problem I had was not with the story, but the printing. Words were often somewhat buried into the center of the book, making me have to crack the spine much further than should have been necessary. The layout, though, is otherwise clever and very different from what one normally sees in any sort of graphic novel. This being said, I was also extremely disappointed in the end, or lack thereof, of the book. One more chapter would have closed the story up nicely, making a far more satisfying work.

Unico is a tad boring and rather shallow. It is not a perfect representation of Tezuka’s genius. It is, however, a wonderful book for children or for someone looking for something a little lighter. A good introduction for younger audiences to Tezuka’s work.

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