Gunbuster Anime Review

Quick Review

• Reviewer: Marc
• Review Date: 2005-11-15 (updated 2010-11-20)
• 4 stars out of 5 (?)

Gunbuster is an unusual but impressive anime classic. It is often overlooked in favor of Gainax's later Evangelion, for which Gunbuster served as something of the prototype. It starts out as a mostly-silly parody of girl's sports anime, but develops into so much more that it is worth seeing through to the end. If you look past the unevenness, melodrama, and occasional experimental failure, the characters are emotionally involving, the story is exciting and substantial, the attention to sci-fi detail is commendable, and the whole thing just works as both entertainment and sly war drama.

Those who can't stomach shoujo-like style should probably stay away, but it is a must-see for both mecha anime fans and anyone who can appreciate a creative twist on a classic genre.

Read the full-length review...

Full Review

• Reviewer: Marc
• Review Date: 2005-11-15 (updated 2010-11-20)
• 4 stars out of 5 (?)

At first glance, Gunbuster looks like just another giant-robot war story--a bunch of good-looking kids piloting fancy mechs, fighting aliens, and coming of age, all against the backdrop of a huge-scale war for the survival of mankind. In fact, it is almost exactly that, but as the story progresses it moves from a semi-parody of girls' sports anime to an increasingly introspective war drama, becoming something more in the process. By putting an affecting shoujo-esque spin on the genre and adding several creative twists, Gunbuster rises above its formula roots to become an often forgotten anime classic.

Gunbuster is an early production by Gainax, of particular interest since it in some ways served as the prototype for the famed studio's other series that re-envisions the kids-piloting-giant-robots genre, Evangelion. While Evangelion is far more cerebral and experimental on the whole, Gunbuster also muses briefly on dissociation and, among other things, features an entire black-and-white episode. They both share a basic premise featuring a desperate battle with monstrous, ill-understood alien invaders, as well as a sense of frightening scale in the huge mecha and vast man-made constructs. Gunbuster is most definitely not Evangelion in the aggregate, but it is an interesting series entirely on its own.

Among Gunbuster's oddest features, and probably one reason it's not better known, is how hugely inconsistent it is. The first two episodes are something of a bounce-heavy parody (Gunbuster may actually deserve credit for the premiere of the "Gainax Bounce") of the classic tennis drama "Aim for the Ace!" with robot war replacing tennis. Though amusing and scattered with hints at something more involved, they have "babes-in-space epic" written all over them, and if you stopped then, you'd walk away thinking that's all there was to the series.

I have heard that Gunbuster was originally intended as a simple parody and switched gears mid-production. Whatever the reason, it changes dramatically as the story progresses, taking on a melancholy, artistic tone near the end. Unlike some mood-switching series, something about Gunbuster makes this swing welcome, so long as you're willing to roll with it. In a way, the first couple of relatively silly episodes actually heighten the impact of the later ones--you've adjusted to fun and childish humor, accentuating the loss of innocence. The questionable start (or dramatic conclusion) may be more difficult for others to forgive, but the series as a whole manages to come together surprisingly well.

The most obvious of the things differentiating Gunbuster from its robot-war kin is its shoujo-like flavor, perhaps due in part to the style of the series it initially references. The emphasis is on characterization, relationships, and personal drama (and trauma) instead of battles and big, shiny robots. Though this largely works to its advantage, it does tend to get overdramatic (read: soap-operatic) at times, and the early part is particularly sappy.

Gunbuster does have plenty of action for the mecha fan, but the high-school-age soldiers spend more time waiting and worrying than fighting, and the focus is on the lives of the pilots between battles and the effects the war has on them. In spite of the unnecessary emphasis on the heroics of the main character and occasional flashy mecha battle, the picture of war painted is not an overly sanitized one. The fight feels desperate more than heroic, difficult choices are made, and when tragedy strikes, it often does so without fanfare. Among the best moments is a subtly powerful scene that exchanges the theatrics that usually accompany the death of a character for nothing more than sudden radio silence, leaving the heroine alone and helpless in space. It follows through as she wanders through a ship bathed in post-battle hush, hoping in vain to find someone who isn't there.

One of Gunbuster's most unique twists is that the young people out fighting the war spend a lot of time at near-light speeds, causing them to return to Earth years younger than their non-combat peers. This increasing alienation serves as an unusual allegory of the distance that develops between those who fight and those who stay home, as well as creating some intriguing situations of its own.

The relativistic time dilation effect is one of the many realistic touches that make Gunbuster more believable than it otherwise would be, moving it from simple space opera into actual science fiction. It goes so far as to put little SD-style "science lessons" at the end of several episodes explaining everything from warp gates to the scale of the enemy aliens. This is not to say that the science is flawless, but it is generally sound (or does a good job of pretending to be), and is definitely a step above most anime.

Gunbuster rounds out its thematic trifecta of emotion and science by addressing some interesting philosophical issues late in the series. In contrast to the blunt style of Evangelion, questions about the cost of survival and human evolution are raised subtly, without bogging down the story or mucking up the plot to get there. It also doesn't answer any of the questions it asks--the plot continues on and the viewer is left to decide whether the choices made are right or wrong, leaving propaganda and moralizing out of the picture. Having mentioned Evangelion, it's also worth noting that Gunbuster does not go haywire at the end; the final episode is willfully artistic, but coherent and satisfying.

As you might expect from Gainax, technically Gunbuster holds up with the best of them. The chubby, classic character designs by Haruhiko Mikimoto (of Macross fame) are attractive if almost too cute for the subject matter at times, and the animation is very smooth. The mechanical design is top-notch: The Gunbuster itself is a decent-looking old-fashioned mech, and the attention to scientific detail is carried through into the design of almost all the hardware--cool and believably functional. I love the Gunbuster's cockpit in particular--it's about the only mech cockpit design I've ever seen that would actually work.

As you might also expect from Gainax, Gunbuster hits some more creative (and experimental) notes late in the series. Most are successful: The black-and-white final episode has a stark beauty to it, and I found the climactic battle--stills set to classical music--visually and aurally impressive rather than seeming like a budget-induced cop-out. The most obvious failure is some wincingly bad silliness in the Gunbuster's abilities right in the middle of otherwise serious battles--I realize it's an homage to classic mecha action shows, but I honestly wonder who okayed the ridiculous idea of a giant laser-reflective cape.

Speaking of homages, in addition to the Aim For The Ace parody at the beginning and ongoing nods and references in the backgrounds, the final episode is essentially filmed as a classic WWII movie. From the black and white, widescreen cinematography, to displaying the names of a number of unimportant political characters, to an informative screen of text giving the final casualty count for the grand battle, the entire thing is a nearly spot-on recreation of a '50s-era docu-drama. It's an unusual effect, to be sure, but it works surprisingly well with the heavy subject matter.

In addition to the orchestral climax, many of the series' musical themes are reminiscent of well-known classical works. The opening and end themes are classic anime cuteness more fitting of the lighter initial episodes, but both are catchy and the end theme is infectiously peppy. The Japanese acting is a little broad, but effective--the powerfully emotional scenes, in particular, are forceful and affecting.

Gunbuster is an unusual but impressive piece of anime. It starts out generic and silly, but develops into so much more that it is worth seeing through to the end. If you look past the unevenness, melodrama, and occasional experimental failure, the characters are emotionally involving, the story is exciting and substantial, the attention to sci-fi detail is commendable, and the whole thing just works. Those who can't stomach shoujo-like style should probably stay away, but it is a must-see for both mecha anime fans and anyone who can appreciate a creative twist on a classic genre.

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Related Recommendations

The giant robot war story has a lot in common with most of the various Gundam series, and the same with an edge of shoujo style has a lot in common with most of the Macross series. Evangelion borrowed several of the concepts from this, although the result is mostly quite different, and the spectacular short Voices of a Distant Star owes its entire concept to Gunbuster despite a heavier mood.