Can I answer your questions about Unico? Or ones about this site? Let's find out!

Why can't I find copies of the movie? Why aren't there new copies now? Why is the movie no longer available for purchase?

LOL, the most common question I get about Unico! Well, to answer the question, the answer is rather complicated.

Unico was originally a manga (Japanese comic) drawn, written and originally created by Osamu Tezuka. This manga was serialized in the Sanrio magazine, "Ririka" and at least two of the movies based off the manga were owned and copyrighted by Sanrio back in the 70s/80s.

After Tezuka's death in 1989, the rights for the Unico title were sold back to Tezuka Osamu Productions. Since there is no American branch of Tezuka Osamu Productions, the English version of the movies (as well as the Japanese version which never made it to American audiences in the first place) are no longer available.

Finding original VHS copies of this movies is rare and new copies have never been made in the U.S. because of the licensing problem.

The pilot film and the newer film called "Saving our Fragile Earth" never came to America and were never dubbed.

Since no American company owns the rights to Unico anymore, the movies are no longer available in the U.S. Even though Sanrio owns at least a few productions rights to two of the films that were released in the U.S., they have no legal right to distribute the Unico title anymore, and they don't want to either.

Unico was available in newer copies of VHS and DVD in Japan a few years back (re-released by Tezuka Productions in cooperation with the Japanese branch of Sanrio), but Americans will probably never have that chance to get the movies again because of the licensing mess. Which is a real shame.

If Unico was licensed in America again, a lot of old fans from the 80s and 90s could buy the movie up quickly and new fans could be made. It could be a real money maker and Unico could possibly become an icon for retro fashion...the same as Hello Kitty and every other 80s cartoon. It's possible for it to be successful I would think.

I would really liked to get Unico manga translated. Afterall, other Tezuka titles such as Adolf (the manga) are being licensed and translated as well as the licenses of the anime of Mighty Atom (Astro Boy) and Jungle Emperor Leo (Kimba the White Lion) being renewed.

Who owns the copyright for Unico?

The answer is around the same lines as the answer to the previous question on this page. For one, the manga, or a least part of the manga years ago, was copyrighted by Sanrio. Unico manga was licensed and serialised in "Ririka", a Sanrio magazine. The movies' production were made with Sanrio, and the movies are partly production copyrighted to Sanrio because of that.

But, in modern day, Sanrio sold its copyright of the Unico title back to Tezuka Osamu Productions Co., Ltd. after Tezuka's death. Unico is owned entirely by Tezuka Osamu Productions Co., Ltd.

Who's the creator of Unico?

Unico was created by Japanese artist and writer, Osamu Tezuka, who's often called the "God of Manga".

Tezuka in many ways was like Japan's equivelent of Walt Disney. He was a great artist and storyteller. Probably the only thing not original about his work is that it had a large influence from American artists, especially Walt Disney (but who doesn't get their influence from something that came before?)
The Unico movies were made by Osamu Tezuka Productions and Sanrio Film.
Other creations by Tezuka are Mighty Atom (Astro Boy), Metropolis, Princess Knight, Black Jack, Dororo, and Jungle Emperor Leo (Kimba the White Lion).

Can I get a copy of the Unico movies from you?

Sorry fellow Unico Lunatics! It's not that I wouldn't make copies for you, it's just I don't have the equipment to do it.

Where can I get copies of the Unico movies, including the pilot film and the Japanese versions?

It use to be you could get copies from this site, Phoenix Anime Fan Subs, but they stopped making copies a few years back. Now you can get fan made DVDs on eBay, which I even have. So, you can get a decent fan made DVD on eBay if you bid carefully.

I want real copies of the movie! Where can I get non-fan made ones?

Heh! I would like copies like that too! All I can tell ya, if you want official copies, you'll have to try you're luck at: garage sales, old videostores, Blockbusters, and other video rental places!
You can try your luck at places like eBay when a copy becomes available occasionally, but be prepared to pay a pretty penny for an official copy! There's other people out there who want offical copies of the movies too, and they're willing to pay a lot! It's up to who wants an offical copy more! Good luck!

Is the West Wind's name really Zephyrus in Japanese?

Actually, I'm not sure of that. I don't think so. She is called Nishikaze in Japanese which means West Wind. I call her Zephyrus, because that's obviously who she is.
In the original story of Unico in the manga and the pilot film, Unico is banished by the Greek goddess of love and beauty, Venus, because of the jealousy she has for Psyche, Unico's beautiful owner (She banishes Unico, because she blames him as a source of good luck for Psyche, who distracts Venus's son Cupid from harming Psyche, and he ends up piercing himself with love arrows and falling in love with Psyche). Zephyrus is the Greek name for the west wind. And since Venus is a Greek goddess and Psyche is in Greece, you can assume that West Wind's name is probably the Greek name for the west wind, Zephyrus (or Zephyr). So that makes sense, right?

UPDATE: According to the official site for Tezuka Osamu Productions Co., West Wind's name IS Zephyrus in the original Japanese, at least in the manga. Either that or Tezuka Osamu Productions Co. website has a Japanese to English translator engine that is precise enough to get that right, but most of the English there doesn't make sense and translations can be messed up (for example, Beezel whose Japanese name is Akuma, which means devil, is translated as Satan on the page. I don't quite see Beezel as a Satan).

Where is the character Unico originally from?

Unicorns didn't originate from Greek mythology, if I remember right, but pegasus (winged horses) did.
In the manga and pilot film Unico obviously came somewhere from Greece or a neighboring country of Greek mythology because the story of Unico is fitted into the Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche (explained in the question above). Unico obviously was at least raised, if not also born, in Greece.
As for the anime, even in "Fantastic Adventures of Unico", even though Unico story of banishment is different, in which he was banished by the gods and not Venus, he's obviously still in Greece. The forest he lives in with his mother doesn't necessarily suggest that, but the clothes and architecture of the humans he's around are all Greek.

Just was the heck is Baron DeGhost?

No one seems to know what Baron DeGhost is. It can't be decided if he is a vampire, a demon or a strange combination of both. Since no one knows what exactly he was going to do to Katy (Chao) in the movie, and he never had the chance to do anything, we don't know what he was.

One would assume he was a vampire by his elegance and possesive ways, and maybe more, because of his demonic form at the end of the movie.

However, he originally was just a human in the manga, and they made him into a vampire/demon for the movie for an exciting battle at the end.
In the manga it looks like Baron DeGhost is just a lord (human), not a vampire, a demon or whatever. He was just a baron, besides the fact that he was an insane hunter though. In the manga he is enchanted by Katy, (Katy changes into a human and then changes back to a cat everyday, her gift from Unico.) and when he finds out she's really a cat (which is bad because he hates cats and likes shooting any animal) it's up to Unico and the animals of the forest to save her.

If any, what are all of the various names for "The Night Wind"?

The story of Unico fits into Greek Mythology, and the West Wind is called Zephyrus at least in the manga. But it seems that she is called West Wind in the movies instead of Zephyrus. In Japan, West Wind is called Nishikaze, which means west wind, nishi meaning "west", kaze meaning "wind".
So, as far as I know there is no other names for Night Wind, since I don't know of any Greek equivelent. As for her original Japanese name, I looked up in my Japanese dictionary and my best guess is that it's Yorukaze, yoru meaning "night" and kaze meaning "wind" of course. Don't quote me on this, I don't know for sure.

Is there any Unico dvds?

Yes, at least there are Japanese ones (so there is no dvd with the English version of Unico). The dvds seemed to have been released by Sanrio, even though they do not hold the right to Unico anymore, but they did produce the movies, thus released them again on video and now dvd. They might not be in print anymore. If you do try to purchase them, make sure you have a dvd player that can play region 2 dvds!

Other than that, you can get a fan made DVD on eBay, but it would be just the dub (and the Japanese would be just in Japanese with no subtitles).