Aim to the Top/Gunbuster and Diebuster(RETROVIEW)

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Hi Folks....well this week I get a little nostalgic again and figure to take some time and watch some classic animes and then an idea pops to my mind. Review some classic animes of the past and not so old, some kind of Retrospective for me and talk about series I love that not everybody talks now days of them, so for my first RETROVIEW (errr....working tittle ), I decide to talk about one of my favorites Mecha animes of all times, AIM TO THE TOP!! best know as GUNBUSTER and it sequel DIEBUSTER

GUNBUSTER (1988)

So much to say about this Ova series and milestone of anime, the directorial debut of Hideaki Anno (Evangelion, Nadia and Karekano), this series was the grand daddy for both Evangelion and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and it shows, from the story, some characters arcs, and fighting sequences, the influences that those shows takes from Gunbuster is huge, yet....I don't see too many people talking about it, its not like is underrated but I don't think too many anime lovers of today even know what this series did for Gainiax and anime in general at its time. The show it divide in 6 OVA episodes, each episode run in 27-31 minutes it's relative short and easy to jump in, so let's talk about it.

The Bad......fuck you will not like it you don't like Mecha anime, that's the only bad thing I could say, so nope not bad to report here

THE GOOD

The Story: Today is very normal that some animes about giant robots focusing more in the characters conflicts and dramas, than the over the top robo battles, just Macross and Gundam probably were the exceptions at the time, but Gunbuster blew peoples mind with the amazing story and use of characters, blending perfectly action and drama, creating some of the most emotional heartfelt moments you can see in any anime, so be ready, this one will make you cry.....most likely XD. The story again very easy to follow, it centering in the near future, were humans are fighting against alien creatures called Space Monsters, humanity have done everything to stop these creatures to get and destroy Earth, The story follows Noriko Takaya, the young daughter of a famous Admiral and hero of war who perish in a battle against the Space Monsters, Noriko wants to become a pilot and go to space were her father die, and fight the Creatures, unfortunately she is not that good when it comes to pilot the Robot Machines, making her feel like a looser, she idolize Kazumi Amano the best candidate to be pilot in the academy, she even call her all the time "Onee-sama", the 2 of them are selected to be the candidates to pilot the Gunbuster Machine, the secret new weapon to fight the alien treat, despise Noriko not really be qualify for been a real pilot, something that get her immediately into trouble with all the academy and her Idol Kazumi, from that point will be Noriko proving that she deserve be consider a pilot and her fight to overcome all her fears, as well dealing with the conflict of treat that present the Space Monsters, something that make seen humanity have no chance of survival.

Slow paced Story and Character Developed: Other great detail about the show narrative is that it take it's time to build up the tension and to show you their universe and how everything operates, something that make the drama even better the moments that need it to hit, making the end results very effective, it took a lot of time to showcase the big badass mecha robot of the show, until that all the time it drive to developed the characters, although some are very simple to get behind, all the time they use to build up the story pays really great the last 3 episodes, but not think it's one of those shows that make everything boring before start shoot it the good stuffs, the journey of all 6 episodes it's really fun to watch and not boring at all......and just in case, there is some...cof, cof, good fan service moment that probably will keep your eyes open during the run, just in case  

The Animation and Battle Scenes: Damn did this one holds up pretty well, some details as you will guess will look very old in comparison of more modern anime shows, but the animation of the characters, Robots and Backgrounds it's still really impressive, I dare to say that is even better than a some of the works that Japan do it today with Mechas, there is no CGI or bullshit like that and the details and effort the animators did in this is beyond amazing, specially in the battle sequences, the characters designs were made by Haruhiko Mikimoto, but adapted for the animation by the master Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (Evangelion, FLCL, Diebuster).



The Characters: Like I said before, this was almost the test prototype of Evangelion for Anno, some of his archetype characters starts in here, like the lack of confidence of the protagonist in this case Noriko is almost the same of Shinji Ikari, the difference in my opinion that make Noriko a more likable lead is that she grows and get confident as a pilot becoming a badass with her Gunbuster machine, we have also a prototype of Asuka with Jung Freud, who is the rival of both Kazumi and Noriko, later became best friends, there is a lot of similarities but in core all are different and very likable and memorable set of characters. My favorite is defined Noriko, although she start as a crybaby, she surpass that earning the respect and admiration of the rest of the cast members, and she is very relatable, her problems are not things that any of us could say you will overcome in just a moment, making her crying scenes more understandable than some of the ones of Shinji in Evangelion.

Use of the Time Dilation to create great DRAMA: As I stay in my Interstellar review last year, this is a plot element that Gunbuster use way better, taking all the time deliver BIG, and when it HIT....it HIT HARD, I don't want to spoil, but for the ones that were emotional watching Interstellar last year and think that Christopher Nolan blew their minds....I invite you to watch this show, it will make you CRY.

The Music: I LOVE the music of this show, specially that Buster Machine March, all the themes and scores are really awesome and fit perfectly the art style of the show

THE ENDING: This anime have in my opinion of of the most sad and beautiful endings I have ever witness, not gonna spoil it for you guys but I will say this....I have watch this Ovas 4 times since I watched for the first time in my early years in College back in 2001, and every damn time, that ending make me tear up, so you have been warn

I have nothing else to say more than, this is one of my favorites works of master Hideaki Anno and Studio Gainax, so go and give it a watch if you haven't see it yet.

Ratting: 10 out of 10

Now let's check it sequel.

DIEBUSTER (2004)

If, Gunbuster is emotion and drama, Diebuster is the opposite, been more action and fun, but still manage to give you it fair amount of good drama, memorable characters and AWESOME GIANT ROBOT BATTLES. 



Again a lot to say about this one. Created to commemorate the 20th anniversary of studio Gainax and Gunbuster, Diebuster is too damn FUN for watch, creating a beautiful world full with colorful characters, awesome backgrounds and landscapes and incredible animation, using a simple story full with good comedy, action and small doses of drama. Again the series is 6 episodes long, each episode run a time of 27 to 31 minutes, very easy to jump any day for watch.

Not bad to find here, the only that fans critique as far I heard is that this series is not better than the original.....in my opinion, that's never was the goal for this show, and still is a damn fine fun journey to watch and a faithful sequel that expanded the universe of Gunbuster, bring it fresh ideas, new style and lot of fan service moments to fans of the original Gunbuster.

THE GOOD:

The Story: Once again a perfect blend of action and drama, with more doses of comedy in the style of FLCL, and yes it's have a ton of references of FLCL because it's directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki the same man behind Furi Kuri. Again the plot is simply to follow, setting in a far away future, the story follow Nono, a very enthusiastic girl who wants to became a Topless who are the pilots of the Buster Machines, the best of their kind, sadly for Nono, became a Topless is not easy, it's nearly impossible, she can't get in and ended working as a maid in a bar in mars, but still motivated to become a space pilot, Nono meets Lal'C Melk Mark the most talented of the topless, the same day a Space Monster attacks and force Lal'C to fight the creature in an all giant mech vs monster battle caught Nono in the middle, here is were we get the reveal that Nono is not a simple girl and it's more than....."Meet the eye" . What I like about Diebuster is that jump right into the action, not like it's predecessor, Diebuster episodes are full with over the top action sequences that will make Michael Bay cum like a dozens of times, but blend that with good storytelling and a lot of colorful and memorable characters, the first episode it's one of my favorites "First episodes" in anime, it have good story, great fighting sequences, good characters and even a cool twist that the first time I watch it make me drop my jaw to the floor.

The animation and Action sequences: Now this is Gainax showing how good they are, the animation is phenomenal, using all the tools that modern anime shows use today, but in a good way, there is CGI but it's minimum and blend really well with the traditional animation, The characters designs are awesome, once again designed by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto creating some really cool and beautiful designs, specially the Buster Machines, and once again, the action sequences....are MIND BLOWING AWESOME:



The Music:....If I loved the Gunbuster OST......I FUCKING WORSHIP this one, not only brings back some of the awesome themes of the original, but also incorporate a lot of new memorable and badass tracks, that will punk you out of excited every time they played. 

Lot and lot of...Fanservice XD: Ok, you may have heard me before heavily criticize how today animes over use fan service making it the number 1 thing that a lot of people HATE of today products, almost like blaming that for the lack of quality, I never direct my criticism to the fan service as a bad thing or the mere reason of why anime today is not as good as before, because that's not the main reason of why anime is today not hitting as well as before, fan service is ALWAYS BEEN AROUND, I loved that (c'mon 99% of my stuffs are in fact fan service), I criticize the way they are using it, whenever they feel to BOMBED YOU WITH IT when is not really necessary it and in the majority of cases the story of the modern shows that overuse it are really, really, really LAME and came in second place, just for cover the lack of quality and now the industry of today use it for attract just obsess anime lovers or Otakus to buy the damn product...... both Gunbuster and Diebuster have a huge load of fan service and yet....it's actually FIT, make the scenes more fun to watch, and feel always like a cool bonus, almost organic, never getting in the way of the story, this is a good example of how you can add fan service in a show without making it the GIMMICK that sells the product, here is the story and characters what came first.....the fan service in both Ovas it's really feels like a cool addition and despise to maybe sexualize some characters....still the characters are AWESOME and you root for them due their likability and coolness personalities.

The Characters: The characters of this show are too damn likable, specially the 2 lead, Nono and Lal'C (Lark in case you are wondering how it's pronounce ), both are really cool and strong different types of female leads, Lal'C is the serious type, always in her mission on her mind and trying to be the best Topless, but still despise to try act cold to Nono at first, she ended becoming her close friend, Nono my favorite character of them all, she is so freaking ADORABLE, different to Noriko in Gunbuster, what Nono have is CONFIDENT, even when everything is against her, she never gives up and try her best, her enthusiasms is really intoxicated and you love every second of it, if I can compared Nono to other character will be Starfire of Teen Titans, they both have a lot in common.  

The ENDING: Once more......despise Diebuster is way more colorful and bright than Gunbuster the last 3 episodes hit the drama very well and by the time everything get set for the big finale, they hit every button they need to push.....and again need to warn you folks......another sad and beautiful ending, more if you watched the original Gunbuster, this one will hit you hard too......4 times I watch this show too....4 times make me tear up at the end.....damn you Gainax. 

Again a great show, I don't think is better than Gunbuster, but I love it as much, I think both shows complemented each other perfectly, were one is more sad and depressing (in the good way), the other is more happy and fun, but both have lot of care and emotion put into and both knows how to push all your buttons, once again I totally recommended it.

Ratting: 10 out of 10

If you have the free time I totally urges you to rent this of buy them in DVD or Blue Ray, or download it, but defined if you never saw or hear anything about AIM TO THE TOP.....and decide to watch it, my friend you are set up to have great time