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Gunbuster/Gunbuster

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Gunbuster

Gunbusterトップをねらえ!Toppu O Nerae!

Genre Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Mecha, Science fiction
OVA: Gunbuster
Directed by

Hideaki Anno

Studio

Studio Fantasia, Gainax

Licensor
No. of episodes

6

Released
  • Japan October 7, 1988
  • United States February 20, 2007 (Latest Release)
Runtime

190 Minutes

Gunbuster, known in Japan as Aim for the Top! Gunbuster (トップをねらえ!, Toppu O Nerae!) is a six episode anime OVA series created by Gainax in 1988. It was the directorial debut of Hideaki Anno, who is best known for his role as the director of Neon Genesis Evangelion. The title is a combination of the titles of classic tennis anime Aim for the Ace! and the 1986 film Top Gun. To celebrate Gainax's 20th anniversary in 2004, an official sequel to Gunbuster, Diebuster (or Gunbuster 2), was released as an OVA. The series features new characters and mecha, but retains the format and many of the concepts of the original series.

Contents

Plot

In the very near future, a race of huge, insect-like aliens is discovered traveling the galaxy. These aliens, which are known as the Uchuu Kaijuu, or Space Monsters (Note: This name is what they are referred to throughout the series), seem dedicated to the eradication of the human species as the latter takes its first steps away from the solar system, and they are getting closer and closer to Earth. Humanity has responded by developing spacegoing battleships and giant fighting robots. These robots are piloted by the best and brightest of Earth's youth, picked from training schools around the world.

The story begins in the year 2023, not long after the first battles with the aliens, and centers on young Noriko Takaya (タカヤ・ノリコ Takaya Noriko) (voice: Noriko Hidaka). Although Noriko's father was a famous admiral in the space fleet who was killed during one of the first battles of the war, her own talents as a pilot are questionable. Nonetheless, she has entered a training school on Okinawa. Through the series Noriko, joined by the beautiful and talented Kazumi Amano (アマノ・カズミ Amano Kazumi) (voice: Rei Sakuma), will fight to overcome the trauma of war, the doubts of her peers, and her own lack of confidence.

Cast

  • Noriko Takaya (タカヤ・ノリコ, Takaya Noriko) Noriko Hidaka
  • Kazumi Amano (アマノ・カズミ, Amano Kazumi) Rei Sakuma
  • Koichiro "Coach" Ohta (オオタ・コウイチロウ (コーチ), Oota Kouichirou (Kōchi)) Norio Wakamoto
  • Jung Freud (ユング・フロイト, Yungu Furoito) Maria Kawamura
  • Captain Tatsumi Tashiro (タシロ・タツミ, Tashiro Tatsumi) Tamio Ohki
  • Smith Toren (スミス・トーレン, Sumisu Tōren) Kazuki Yao

Genre

Gunbuster follows the genre of Super Robot anime, started by the Mazinger Z series. It is notable for being one of the few anime series ever, if not one of the few pieces of visual entertainment ever, to deal with the concept of time dilation in a way that even approaches realism, and indeed makes it one of its central plot elements. Though the scientific accuracy of the series is variable (it posits the invention of acceleration compensators, artificial gravity and warp drives by the year 2015) it includes many hard science fiction elements, and provides a consistent technological frame if one assumes that human technological progress has been put into overdrive in order to wage war against the aliens. Gunbuster is also notable as being a spiritual predecessor to Anno's more famous Neon Genesis Evangelion in that the themes of space opera and mecha action take somewhat of a back seat to various romances, rivalries and other relations between the main characters, made more complex by the differing speeds of their aging due to time dilation (for Noriko, the 40 year or so timespan of the major part of the series takes roughly about a year). It is also similar to the later Evangelion in that it begins as a high-school anime, with the students at Okinawa space high school for girls competing for places among the elite pilots sent to fight the space monsters. This pattern has since become somewhat of an anime cliché. Noriko also shares many personality traits with Evangelion's Shinji Ikari, particularly in her lack of confidence in herself, and Jung Freud, a Soviet pilot who befriends Noriko and Kazumi, is regarded by many fans as a prototype of Asuka Langley Sohryu, right down to her red hair and arrogant attitude.

Design notes

  1. Much of the final battle sequence is not animated but a series of images portraying tableaux of events during the battle.
  2. The entire final episode is monochrome except for the very end. Unusually, this was achieved by executing the artwork in shades of grey, rather than shooting color animation using black and white film.
  3. The characters were originally designed by Haruhiko Mikimoto, who also did likewise on The Super Dimension Fortress Macross and on the following year's Gundam 0080. The series is also notable for being the first anime to introduce jiggling breasts as a form of fan service, which led to such movement being sometimes called the "Gainax bounce", this subsequently led to the fan nickname "BustGunner".

Science lessons

The science lessons are short "omake" bonus features originally present on the first two volumes. Each short lasts around two minutes, and stars super deformed versions of Noriko, Kazumi and the Coach explaining the various scientific aspects of the series. Each lesson is a mix of science and science fiction. Although only four "lessons" were produced during the series' original run, another two episodes (for episodes 5 and 6) were later produced for the Japan-only Laserdisc collection. They also appear on subsequent DVD releases in Japan and North America.

  • Science Lesson 1: The Theory of Ether Space
Noriko and Kazumi discuss the discoveries by Tannhauser allowing for faster-than-light travel.
  • Science Lesson 2: Starbows and the Rip van Winkle Effect
Noriko, Kazumi and Coach discuss time dilation effects.
  • Science Lesson 3: Faster-than-light (c-plus) Travel All About Warp
More Tannhauser Gate space warp theory, increasing the Schwartzchild radius to achieve warp.
  • Science Lesson 4: The Evil Space Monsters
Discusses the enemy space creatures encountered in the series.
  • Science Lesson 4+1: The History of Spaceships
Noriko and Kazumi discuss the history of space travel from the earliest manned rocket to their most advanced ships.
  • Science Lesson 5: Final Chapter: The True Solar System
Noriko and Kazumi discuss the solar system as it pertains to the Gunbuster universe.

Releases

The series was originally released in Japan over three volumes on VHS videocassette, with two episodes per volume. It was then released on three laserdiscs wih a later boxset containing two new science episodes. Eventually, it was released on DVD. In 2004, a remastered four disc set was released with dramatically improved image, and new extras such as three short animations and an unmatted version of episode 6.

The series was first released in English in North America starting in March 1990 on video by U.S. Renditions as their first release. It was only released in the original Japanese language audio track and featured some rather loose English subtitles, especially on the first volume. It was later re-released verbatim in 1996 on VHS by Manga Entertainment after U.S. Renditions ceased operations.

The series was released in English on a single DVD in the United Kingdom by Kiseki Films, but this release suffered from poor video quality and inconsistent subtitles. It was also criticized for lack of advertised extras and the editing of a scene with full-frontal nudity.[1]

On November 24, 2006, Bandai Visual USA released a limited, regionless reprint of the 2004 R2 remastered set exclusively at Kinokuniya Bookstores [2]. The set lacked any translation and was an exact 1:1 copy of the R2. The set was marketed to die-hard fans of the show, and was meant to cease distribution upon the R1 release. As of August 2007, six months after officially going off sale, the set can still be purchased at Kinokuniya.

On February 20, 2007, Bandai Visual USA officially released the remastered R1 DVD box set under their Honneamise label, with the series spanned over three discs like the R2 and R0. However, the set lacked the forth disc of the previous R0, which contained the unmatted episode six, along with other period extras. Unlike the R0, which is completely intact, this set, while visually uncut, has a piece of background music in episode one replaced by the producers[3] due possibly to its similarity to Vangelis' Film score|score for the film Chariots of Fire.

Whilst it is common for anime released in North America to come with an English-dubbed audio track, no English-language audio track has been released. In an interview with Anime on DVD, Jonathan Clements stated that "the Music & Effects track has been lost, and an English dub would need to be reconstructed from the ground up".[4] However, in 2006, a theatrical version of Gunbuster was released in Japan featuring a 5.1 soundtrack, containing new sound effects, the original score and re-recorded dialogue by the original Japanese voice actors. The feature-length film is an abridged version of the original OVA, and uses the same animated footage as the original. This film (along with the theatrical version of Diebuster, which was released theatrically as a double feature with the Gunbuster theatrical edition) has been licensed for North American distribution by Bandai Visual.[5]

Trivia

  • Within the Super Robot Wars series of games, the Uchuu Kaijuu are called STMC, an abbreviation for "Space Terrible Monster Crowd." While this term is not used in the OVA, it appears in reference to the original Uchuu Kaijuu in Diebuster.
  • Gunbuster was originally going to be a TV series but was shortened into OVA format, the TV series concept was recreated in the PS2 video game, which let the player play through all the episodes (including the re-cap episode). Though several episodes may be skipped on any gameplay mission if the player does not meet certain objectives or uncover the correct information when talking to the characters; in this case a cartoon with the Coach yelling at Noriko and a staticy TV appears (done in the science classroom style).
  • The character of Smith Toren is actually named for a real person, Toren Smith. He also provided the voice of an anonymous bridge operator during one episode of the OVA. He was once the owner of Studio Proteus, which has now been absorbed by the publishing company Dark Horse Comics.
  • The main title of Gunbuster, Top wo Nerae! (Aim for the Top!), is a humorous reference to the film Top Gun and the 1970's anime series Ace wo Nerae! (Aim for the Ace!). Gunbuster's plot is heavily influenced by the series.
  • The character of Jung-Freud was named after two famed psychologists: Carl Jung of Switzerland, and Sigmund Freud of Austria.
  • In episode five, the small ship seen floating over the hull of the decommissioned Exelion is the one used in the 20th Century-Fox movie Fantastic Voyage.
  • The use of the Tannhauser Gate, or starbow as it's more commonly called, created by the fictitious Dr. Tannhauser as explained in the first of the science lessons, is a direct reference to a remark made by the Nexus-6 replicant Roy Batty at the end of the film Blade Runner.
  • The head of the Sizzler combat robot is based off of the evil bird-like monsters Gyaos as seen in the Gamera movies.
  • Noriko Takaya is a fan of anime, including My Neighbor Totoro, Space Battleship Yamato, Sailor Moon and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, as evidenced by posters in her quarters and references in the final science lesson. She's also a fan of heavy metal, discovered through the same references.
  • Writer Rick Sternbach of Star Trek: The Next Generation is such a professed fan of Aim for the Top! that he created a race of sentient whales which served aboard all Galaxy-Class vessels. They were known as Takaya's Whales (Orcinus orca takayai), named for Gunbuster's lead female character, Noriko Takaya. Sternbach apparently liked the idea of sentient whales and porpoises used aboard the Exelion in episode six of Gunbuster. While never officially written into an episode due to budgetary constraints, they are hinted at in the episode Yesterday's Enterprise when an intercom call was heard asking Dr. Joshua Kim to report to Cetacean Ops. It should also be known that Sternbach also references the Exelion in the TNG Technical Manual in the compound excelion-infused carbonitrium.
  • The Sizzler mecha was named after a toy car made by Mattel for the Japanese market.
  • Hiroyuki Yamaga, who is one of the uncredited writers of Aim for the Top! and who became the president of Gainax, is mentioned by name in the science lessons as an author of a fan letter.
  • In episode five, the Eltreum is seen being constructed from an orbital gantry resembling a large sprue tree, such as those used by plastic model producers. This was an inside joke as Gainax used to co-produce high quality resin garage kits along with model producers General Products before absorbing the company in 1990.
  • All of the named moves and weapons used by the RX-7 Machine Weapons and the Gunbuster itself are pastiches on simliar things from noted science-fiction series such as Ultraman and Gundam.
  • Amano Kazumi is the maiden name of Okada Kazuma, the wife of Okada Toshio, one of the founders of Gainax and its first president. She also worked on the show.
  • On the original video release of episode 1, Noriko's training montage was accompanied by music composer Kohei Tanaka's rendition of a piece inspired by Vangelis' theme from Chariots of Fire. Due to possible copyright issues, this piece of background music was removed and another substituted for the North American DVD release. There was a bit of a controversy regarding this change, due to lack of info as to why, along with no official announcement made until after a fan discovery. It was later discovered that this act of sound manipulation also may have had an adverse effect on the overall audio quality of episode 1, causing the track to sound somewhat "muffled" in comparison to the Japanese release's audio, probably due to some kind of audio noise reduction process.
  • In episode 1, in the scene where Noriko, Kazumi and Coach board a Japan Airlines shuttle, you can see billboards in the background that say "Anno" (in reference to director Hideaki Anno) and GAINAX (the production company behind the series).
  • On the final chapter of the New Science Lesson, "The True Solar System", as Noriko recites the planets of the Solar System, planets Mercury to Jupiter are accompanied by her cosplaying as a Sailor Senshi (from Sailor Moon) representing each planet. For Earth, she cosplays as Tuxedo Mask. (Only the Guardian Senshi or "Inner Senshi" are featured, as the Outer Senshi (Sailor Saturn, Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune and Sailor Pluto) had not yet been introduced in the Sailor Moon series; hence Noriko's clueless look while reciting the planets beyond Jupiter). When Coach appears and gives his usual lecture, Noriko cosplays as Sailor Moon and declares herself the "Pretty Soldier of Hard Work and Guts."
  • The "New Science Lesson" clips mark the directorial debut of Kazuya Tsurumaki, who went on to direct FLCL, The End of Evangelion and Diebuster.
  • All the characters are named in some part for members of the production staff, with the exception of Jung Freud.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Steven Hiu. Gunbuster DVD Review. Anime on DVD. Retrieved on 2007-05-30.
  2. ↑ GUNBUSTER Official Site (2006-11-24). Retrieved on 2007-08-28. “Exclusive! Authentic!! And collectible!!! Gunbuster straight from 2004 release! Heck, it seems Gunbuster made it through Rip van Winkle effect! (@_@) But why did it end up arriving in the US now? (Was it supposed to land on Feb. 20?!) Hrm, it decided to land now because it wanted to announce that a very special re-issue of the Japanese Gunbuster Remastered Edition box set is now on sale for the die-hard US fans! This remastered edition was originally sold in Japan for one year only in 2004 and is currently no longer available anywhere in the world…except for the US! Now, here comes the important part. Everything but region code is exactly the same as the one sold in Japan. Even the booklet is all in Japanese. Where to get it? At Kinokuniya! Limited quantities though, the Kinokuniya Book stores in the U.S. (and also through Kinokuniya online ordering) are selling the edition! If you are Gunbuster collector, this is another one you should add to your collection! (^_-)-☆”
  3. ↑ GUNBUSTER Official Site (2007-02-01). Retrieved on 2007-04-22. “The original producers of “Gunbuster” decided to change less than two minutes of music in the first episode. This change was made by the producers with the full consent of the director and composer.”
  4. ↑ Jonathan Clements Interview, Part 3. Anime on DVD (2005-02-04). Retrieved on 2007-04-22.
  5. ↑ Template:Cite news

External links

Official

Encyclopedic

Fan sites

Video Games

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GenreAdventure  +, Comedy  +, Drama  +, Mecha  +, and Science fiction  +
Series nameGunbuster  +