Aim for the Top! Gunbuster

Name(s): Aim for the Top! Gunbuster / Top wo Nerae! Gunbuster /トップをねらえ！ GunBuster
Format: Original video animation [OVA] (6 26-minute episodes)
Studio(s): Gainax

Well, it took me a little over six months but I finally started and finished one of the mecha genre’s most beloved classics. I wish I could blame space-time dilation because it sounds as if I was forcing myself to get through something I didn’t really like. That couldn’t be further from the truth though, because despite my being easily distracted I was immediately captured by Gunbuster again as I resumed it, and I have no objection to its status in anime pantheon.

Noriko Takaya is a young girl enrolled in a high school meant to train future pilots of space mecha, designed to combat an alien menace creatively dubbed by Earth as the “Space Monsters.” Noriko’s inherited her father’s interest in space, as he was a renowned admiral who went missing after one of the first encounters with the Space Monsters.

Despite wanting to honor his legacy, Noriko shows poor talent as a pilot and is routinely mocked by her classmates. A shipmate of Noriko’s father, Kouichirou Ohta, happens to be the coach of Noriko’s school and heavily pushes her, sensing that she recognizes the importance of hard effort over natural talent as he does. Though Noriko has a long way to go her attitude earns her the favor of both her coach and superior pilot role model, Kazumi Amano.

To everyone’s surprise, Noriko is one of the two pilots chosen from her school to continue training in space within the proximity of the Space Monsters themselves. From here on, Noriko’s goal to also be chosen as the pilot of Earth’s in-developing ultimate weapon, Gunbuster, coincides with Earth coming up with their last lines of defense against the imposing Space Monsters.

It’s well known that Gunbuster‘s central theme is personal growth. Hideaki Anno drew inspiration from sports anime pushing a positive work ethic over common shonen tropes of the time where the protagonist would succeed due to natural talent, some sort of prophecy, a special weapon, or something else beyond his control.

Though Noriko is lucky to have her coach and senpai recognize her effort, the truth is none of it would’ve happened if she didn’t put it in. If a victory is overcoming something, then any victory would be far more affirming by succeeding through perseverance rather than privilege. Though Gunbuster encouraged other anime to use several of its own ideas as tropes, I still much prefer these motivational kind of stories to “superhero” ones where we’re practically told to not take action unless there’s reason enough to think it’ll work.

Though a super robot anime, Gunbuster focuses little on action compared to Noriko’s volatile mental state and the drama causing it. There’s a ton of whining and angst coming from her that might turn anyone off, but obviously it aims to turn itself around. Side characters are only lightly developed by comparison, but Amano makes a great foil to Noriko from beginning to end and their badass coach Ohta is the sort any anime fan goes for. Even when the titular Gunbuster is formed, it pays off in some very flashy action sequences, but it’s a small portion of any of the 30-minute episodes it’s in.

Haruhiko Mikimoto of Macross fame handles the character designs for Gunbuster, and the art stays true to his beautiful style. Gunbuster is all around one of the best looking anime I’ve ever seen. In an incredibly rare scenario, the frame rate is smooth, the picture is clear, and it’s from the era of hand-drawn animation, which gives it a crisp, organic look where every color pops like foliage over a garden of polished, painted backgrounds.

The last episode of Gunbuster is controversial for the director’s choice to have it be done entirely in black and white. In addition, it’s the only widescreen episode and these in combination with the heavier emphasis on an orchestral score give it a finale not unlike 2001: A Space Odyssey that establishes itself as not only the final episode, but an overwhelming event all of its own. While the episode being in black and white sacrifices one of the greatest aspects of the OVA, it leaves a distinct impression by doing so.

Gunbuster‘s plot and characters are old hat by now, but its sense of scale is rarely matched and justifies it standing the test of time. The superb animation quality and art puts it on a pedestal that can’t be matched through simple emulation of its tropes, and it takes a theatrical stage to properly house an event so important to mankind. A simple story that still carries an important message, and it’s rarely ever as immediate as it is here.

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Aim for the Top! Science Lesson

AKA: Top wo Nerae! Kagaku Kouza / Aim for the Top! Science Lesson / Gunbuster! Science Course / Top wo Nerae! Kagakukouza / トップをねらえ！科学講座
Format: Special (6 2-minute episodes)
Studio(s): Gainax

These short episodes came with the original Gunbuster releases and star Amano and Noriko as they educate the viewer on the science and history of their universe. Episodes are devoted to the science behind warping, the Space Monsters, and other topics with the average two-minute running time utilized well. The scientific explanations can get surprisingly dense, but following them isn’t exactly rewarding, as some (or all) of what it says is going to be fictional.

Still, the care that has gone into these explanations is admirable and makes the Gunbuster world more respectable. Hideaki Anno would go on to combine grounded sci-fi and the supernatural in Neon Genesis Evangelion. These shorts didn’t make me like Gunbuster any more than I did before but they’re certainly worth a watch and have a few silly moments.