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!