 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | BANDAI VISUAL | | | ▪ | ASPECT RATIO: | | 4:3 FULL FRAME | | | ▪ | AUDIO: | | JAPANESE STEREO WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | | | ▪ | RUNNING TIME: | | 180 MIN | | | ▪ | RATING: | | 16UP | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 02/20/2000 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 01/09/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | HOLLY ELLINGWOOD |
SYNOPSIS:
2015: Earth's first faster-than-light ship, the Luxion, is lost, attacked by unidentified space monsters in the Perseus Arm. Six years later, Noriko Takaya, daughter of the Luxion's commander, enters the Okinawa Girl's Space Pilot High School, vowing to be a pilot and follow her father's trail to the stars. But is she prepared for the intense training to become a member of the elite Top Squadron? Noriko's fight has just begun - and the fate of all humanity depends on her meeting the challenge!
The entire 6 episode OVA series is contained in this box set on 3 DVDs.
REVIEW:
“At all costs.” Three small words that hold the weight of not only a soul, but the survival of an entire planet. Gunbuster is a sci-fi masterpiece that works on many levels. On one hand, superficially, it is about a girl striving to become a mecha robot pilot. On a deeper level, it reveals the struggles of a girl becoming an adult, and a fight for the survival of all of humanity.
It’s hard to believe this series was encompassed in only 6 episodes, proving the efficacy and strength of the tight writing. As we are taken on Noriko’s journey, so we are immersed in an anime of surprising emotional depth and subtlety. We watch as Noriko deals with her first rivals at school, with learning responsibility, and then in space she must deal with combat, first loves, and loss. So much loss. Gunbuster, in showing us the transformation of Noriko from a klutzy earnest girl to a courageous strong adult, does so by showing us the world through her eyes. When she is overwhelmed by fear in her first sortie, we feel that rush of danger. As she feels the isolation and further loss of friends and connection to the world with the time disparities (warp speed means what was 6 months for her could be years on Earth), we feel her growing despair. When she first falls for a fellow pilot, we are charmed by her budding relationship. When she deals with the loss of friends, we feel her grief and face with her the horrors of war. Death comes sweeping in, merciless and sudden. There is a sense of reality to it that shakes off any sci-fi trappings to touch the truth of the cost of war and the depth of the loss and toll it takes. That leads to the turning point for Noriko. Will she be crushed under the weight of despair or will she rise up against the odds?
Noriko’s story is Gunbuster’s story. With it come the lives of the people around Noriko such as her friend and partner Kazumi, rival/friend Jung, and her mentor Ohta. The story makes it easy to care about these people. When they are faced with the possible, likely, annihilation of humanity, we see how the worst of times can bring out the best in people as they strive against all odds for one last desperate gambit against the unknown alien invaders. Great sacrifice makes this an emotional saga with its deft writing and strong character development. Despite the age of the anime, it has a powerful message and a timeless story with unforgettable characters.
Speaking of the age of the anime, the animation is not as dated as one might expect. The transfer to disc is excellent. The quality of the animation itself, though it certainly displays staples of the animation style common to the 1980s, is still impressive visually. It also shouldn’t be forgotten that this was the second production of a very young company at that time: Gainax. The anime company that began with the visually fantastic Wings of Honneamise had then produced this OVA series, an anime that would forever raise the bar for OVA series to come. The bold choice to have the final climatic episode done in letterbox format and with it almost entirely in black and white is effective in its visual/emotional impact. This anime also features the directorial debut of Hideaki Anno, most famous for his legendary masterpiece Neon Genesis Evangelion. Gunbuster therefore is not only an impressive anime series in its own right, but also a pivotal moment in anime history.
EXTRAS:
Bonus features are quite a few which is surprising with the age of the series. First is the box itself. The set comes in a sturdy slip case and the 3 DVDs are held in a plastic fold out that features some gorgeous art work. Specials on the disc themselves include the Gunbuster Science Lessons which are a type of omake. Next are the original Japanese promotional trailers and animation shorts featuring the Okinawa Girl's Space Pilot High School, the “Cosmic Battle” and the “Sizzler Project”. Last is a collectible booklet in English translation, exclusive to this box set. A total of 23 pages, it includes an overview of the series, character summaries with character artwork, mechanical and alien artwork with notes, and in depth episode summaries and explorations. The book’s cover is done in a nostalgic eighties style featuring a blue prismatic over and large orange lettering. The front has the English translation while the back is done in kanji.
IN SUMMARY:
Gunbuster is a timeless masterpiece. It is an anime that can be enjoyed on several levels: as a space opera filled with otaku goodness, as a sci-fi emotional epic, as a dramatic story of achieving adulthood and the realities of war, and it can be enjoyed as a fundamental moment in animation history.
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