TOP WO NERAE! GUNBUSTER

DESCRIPTION

CAST

OVA ActionTop wo Nerae 2! DIEBUSTER
SPECIAL MechaGunbuster Renewal EX
SPECIAL ComedyTop wo Nerae! Gunbuster! Science Lesson
MOVIE ActionTop wo Nerae! & Top wo Nerae 2! Gattai Movie!!
MANGA AdventureComic Gunbuster
MANGA ActionTop wo Nerae! GunBuster
MANGA ActionTop wo Nerae! NEXT GENERATION: Hakkutsu Senkan-hen

REVIEWS

• 

  planetJane

  85/100
  The weathered rock of Gainax, still standing strong.

  Spoilers below.

  ---

  "As long as you live, tomorrow will come."

  Gunbuster is both the last relic of another era and the progenitor of an entire lineage of anime that draw from it to this day (Neon Genesis Evangelion, its own sequel Diebuster, and Gurren Lagann being just the most famous of these). It's not an anime with much company in that regard. Usually, singular works of media like this either begin a new period for their medium or bring one to a close. Gunbuster manages to do both, and in a way, actually watching the thing makes that all the more surprising, this is after all the trial-by-fire of an at the time unknown Studio Gainax (and, bless them, their forgotten collaborators at Studio Fantasia), as well as the show whose gratuitous partial nudity infamously inspired the term "gainaxing".

  But make no mistake; Gunbuster is an etched-in-the-tablets classic, perhaps even more influential--if less loudly so--than its angstier nephew Neon Genesis Evangelion, and with the cynical eyes of the 21st century it can be a little hard to see why (I suspect that this may be a part of why its sequel Diebuster was made in the first place). Gunbuster begins as a mecha-themed parody of Aim For The Ace!, moves through a pastiche of The Forever War, and ends with a black and white, esoteric, theme-lead ending to rival A Space Odyssey. Not much out there covers this much tonal and narrative ground in such a short time. Yet, in what is both the OVA's greatest strength and its biggest, most glaring flaw, Gunbuster does not do much deep-delving as far as character goes. Gunbuster is a story told in broad strokes, in shadows, and in part by implication. Noriko is a rock-solid protagonist, but at the same time her actual personality is broadly-defined enough that it has inspired Shinji, Nono, and Simon The Digger, characters different enough in outlook and traits that aside from all largely coming from the same company's works, you'd be hard-pressed to find much in common between any of them. Character development (for Noriko and everyone else) is brisk, broad, and straightforward. Noriko starts out as kind of a wimp but by the end of the story is brave enough to sacrifice ever seeing anyone on Earth ever again for the sake of the human race. Her partner Kazumi starts out as cold and distant but by the end of the series is close enough to Noriko that she makes that sacrifice with her, this sort of thing.

  Gunbuster is very consistent on one point though, and that is its theme, which is so blunt that it might be better described as a moral; you can't save the world without sacrifice. Over Gunbuster's three hour runtime, our heroines save the human race multiple times, and at each turn they are asked to give more, which they do. Relationships are shed like a winter coat--Noriko's best friend ages into an old woman in her absence, her first crush is a casualty, on Kazumi's side her affection with their mentor the Coach grows into a romance that she too is forced to leave behind. Both of them lose a close friend at the series' end as the (ridiculously named) character of Jung Freud makes her exit, and then finally the both of them leave all they've ever known behind, flung 12,000 years into the future by time dilation, with only each other for company.

  Hideaki Anno was not yet the mastermind behind Neon Genesis Evangelion when he directed Gunbuster, and while his touches are obvious with a closer examination, on first watch especially Gunbuster has a sort of grandiose anonymity to it. Less like something that was made and more like something that coalesced out of the memories of otaku who watched and loved reams of super robot and sentai shows throughout the 70s and 80s, but we have to be careful to not remove the artists from their art, because looked at with a more thoughtful eye the seeds of what would make Evangelion what it was were planted here in the show's darker moments, especially the second half, as the unusual-for-the-genre hard sci-fi elements set in and become a vehicle for genuine tragedy. That love is still there, but filtered through a very adult worldweariness.

  But it's not just that, really. Because Gunbuster does end, in its own way, on a happy note. A bittersweet ending that is less bitter than it might first appear. Our heroes arrive back to earth, twelve thousand years after their departure, and for a moment, they are greeted with a dark ball of rock, an earth that appears lifeless. Then, just as they begin to mourn humanity, lights flip on, slowly at first and then more quickly, forming a pattern--the distorted words "WELCOME HOMЭ"--revealing that their sacrifices haven't been for nothing.

  That ray of light to puncture what would've been a truly bleak ending is what makes Gunbuster work. There were darker dusks and brighter dawns on the horizon for Studio Gainax and the hordes of successors and imitators their work would spawn, but much of it ultimately traces back here; Noriko and Kazumi, in what remains of the combined Gunbuster, being hailed as heroes by their beloved planet and knowing it was all, in a sense, worth it.

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• 

  PlatinuMan

  60/100
  A short gem that showcases the talents of early Gainax

  Gunbuster is a sci-fi/mecha title by Studio Gainax and directed by Hideaki Anno. It’s a futuristic title initially set in the year 2023, where high school age students are enrolled in training camps to learn how to pilot fighting robots. The reason? A swarm of alien creatures determined to eradicate humanity is heading towards Earth. Among the students enrolled in the Okinawa training facility are Noriko Takaya, a girl who lost her father in a space battle against these creatures a few years prior, and Kazumi Amano, a top-of-class mech fighter that sports a mature personality. The series focuses on these two as they aim to enter the Top Squadron, a space center where the best candidates from each school are sent to fight against the incoming alien force. Furthermore, the training coach at Okinawa, Kouichirou Oota, has his sights on the two girls to be part of the Gunbuster mech, a robot being developed to be the most powerful tool that the human race has to defeat the alien threat!

  The plot to Gunbuster isn’t anything that will surprise a viewer. The show has its sci-fi jargon and giant robots, as we follow Noriko as she rises the ranks of robot klutz to space fighting master. In between these moments is where Gunbuster shines. The show laces themes of trust, overcoming fear and, most importantly, the passage of time within its episodes. Hideaki Anno’s style seems to focus in more on the emotions of Noriko and Amano, trying to get the audience in sync with their ecstatic highs and crushing lows. Watching Noriko train herself to be a better fighter in Episode 1, growing above the cruel scorn and actions of her classmates, is a good example of this. Later in the series, Amano and Noriko have to rise above personal events for humanity’s tomorrow. Love and loss need to take a balance to what’s at stake. One could call it a bit dramatic at times, but I never got the feeling that Anno and the writing staff put in a breakdown for the sake of it. It’s the way of seeing the complete picture of Noriko and Amano. If Noriko were bubbly and naïve while Amano remained her mature (albeit slightly judgmental) aura, we’d really only see one side to the story. Anno’s later project, the controversial Neon Genesis Evangelion, would push these emotional concepts to a histrionic extreme – for now, it serves as a bit of grounding to characters that wish to soar beyond the stars.

  Anno also seems to put a few references to things he was interested in into the show to make it feel a bit more personal. Is it a coincidence that Noriko Takaya shares the same name with her voice actor Noriko Hidaka? What about Jung Freud’s name, which evokes famous psychoanalysts Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud? With these personal “easter eggs” placed in the show, Gunbuster was more like Anno’s short passion project than a mecha show.

  Though a passion project can make for an interesting watch, there lies the main problem with Gunbuster – its running time. With only 6 episodes, Anno struggles to find a balance between what he wants to say and the main story of the show. As a result, these elements get rushed. Some moments that were supposed to be endearing never really made a full impact with me. Take a look, for instance, at Commander Oota’s motivational speeches to Noriko – they have a rushed delivery, compacting a lot of “believe in yourself” speech into a short time span. Some characters like Jung Freud, despite being a “main” character, are more of an acquaintance than someone I could really connect with the main cast. I appreciate the show for what it did in its timespan, but at the same time, 1 or 2 more episodes (or, at the least, a Director’s Cut) could’ve fully unlocked what the show wants to get across.

  The animation for Gunbuster is very good. It has a few moments of repeated animation, but for the most part conveys a scene and its emotions well. Gainax wasn’t the powerhouse studio it would become, so the amount of effort put into the action scenes can sometimes be astounding. The anime has a look that’s definitely of its time (the girls’ outfits being leotards being one example), but it again reflects a certain level of personal investment the staff at Gainax put into it. Call the costumes and bath scenes lecherous, but they seem more like the animators having fun than trying to make a full-blown ecchi title. The one complaint I have has to do with Noriko’s eye design, which isn’t so much round as amorphous. Though the level of detail found in the eyes are good, the look of them feels a bit off. This is more of a personal complaint than a problem – I’m not too accustomed with the look. The soundtrack is what seals the deal for Gunbuster making its full impact. Kouhei Tonaka, the man behind the music of Gunbuster, blends together a mix of 80’s pop music clichés with dramatic strings to create the emotional drive for key scenes in the show. The training montage, for instance, has a Chariots of Fire sounding piece accompanying it while battle scenes mix in horns with a piano backing to give a sense of power with poignancy – an orchestra of emotion in a small package. It is definitely one of the anime’s highlights. The OP and ED follow suit with a cute 80’s pop sound, perfect for the show’s time. The V.A.’s were hand-in-glove for their roles and the voices matched the look and tone the characters set out.

  Overall, I give Gunbuster a 6.0 out of ten. It’s not perfect, but I don’t think it really strove out to be. It’s a show made by fans of the genre for fans of the genre. This level of honesty in popular anime isn’t always seen and I can appreciate it when I see it. If you’re a fan of Neon Genesis Evangelion or character-focused shows, you’ll find a lot to love here. Sci-fi enthusiasts may also enjoy it for the time/space dialogue present within the show. Those who think Gunbuster is just a prototype for Evangelion may just change their minds upon viewing it.

  Do you like or dislike this anime? If you haven't watched it, are you encouraged to watch it or not? Leave a comment on my profile telling me what you think of the anime and/or my review.

  Thanks for reading and have a blessed day!

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• 

  ThyMrMan

  60/100
  Building blocks of a great show, just lacking in time to develop them.

  I would have to say that Gunbusters has the building blocks necessary to make a very good character driven mech show. It is something that really wanted to do more than it had the episodes to do, and therefor suffers a fair bit. Character development that had major effects on motivations and repercussions on characters, gets shoved into a 20 minute period that you end up not really caring about. While the story itself is fairly basic and easy to understand, overcome personal challenges and pilot big mech to defeat aliens while suffering at points along the way and in the end win the war.

  The characters are the largest casualties of the short 6 episode run time Gunbusters was given. Character arcs and development end up being forced into 10-20 minute segments in an episode. And feels really awkward at times with how quickly characters change in their beliefs and grow. You end up with characters like Smith, who gets 1 episode and has repercussions for another episode. But during this time I kept getting the idea that Noriko and Smith were supposed to have spend weeks together and even might have developed some feelings for each other, but that was never shown or given any time. Or Jung, who goes from somebody who dislikes Noriko and Kazumi and has this rivalry with them at the beginning of the episode, to having a decent friendly relationship with them by the end of the episode. But then will suddenly have moments when the rivalry shows up again randomly, for seemingly no reason for one scene. And then goes back to being good friends and hanging out with them, it just makes her character feel very disjointed. At one point it seemed like they wanted a conflict to develop between Kazumi and Noriko over how much time Noriko was spending with Coach, based around Kazumi being jealous of how attention Coach has always given Noriko. But it lasted about 10 minutes and was resolved without any issue.

  I did like the artwork and animation throughout the show, and thought it looked pretty good. At times you could see the shots they reused from other episodes, or issues were they forgot to finish drawing a scene. But never once did I think it looked bad, it just looked fairly good. Episode 6 also had a rather unique style that got used so they could finish the show the way they wanted to. When it kinda turned into a slideshow of single shots of various fights and events occurring throughout the final push, and did a really good job of showing the fight without actually animating everything.

  The story I feel wasn't all that special, but was good enough for the time given. The new pilot Noriko with a famous dad, who isn't that good a piloting. Improves over the course of the show to become better, being driven at times by revenge and also a wish to stop the enemy and saving everybody on Earth. While improving she gets assistance from the various characters, and finally grows enough to be able to pilot the ultimate mech that gets used to save the day. The enemy they are fighting never really gets developed in any way, it is just a mindless enemy they are trying to defeat before it gets to Earth.

  By the end I enjoyed my time with it, but am left wishing it had more time to tell it's story. Because 6 episodes just wasn't enough to tell the full story them wanted to and develop these characters in the meaningful ways they wanted to. But I would still say go ahead and watch it if you feel like watching an old decent mech show.

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