Gunbuster

Saving the Earth with hard work and guts!
A miracle will happen -- we'll make it happen!
—Noriko Takaya

A six-volume OAV from 1988, directed by Hideaki Anno, that really put Gainax on the map, and a series fondly remembered by old school otaku. While it's a bit of a rough diamond, viewers today can still see why it stood out then, where it led Gainax, and where Gainax took the ideas they started in it. It's also considered somewhat of a spiritual predecessor to Neon Genesis Evangelion and Gurren Lagann, as it contains a lot of elements that would later be used in those shows.

Gunbuster (Top o Nerae!, the Japanese title) serves notice that the show will borrow from many sources and genres. It is a mashing-together of Top Gun and a famous Tennis Manga/Anime Ace o Nerae! (Aim for the Ace!). As might be expected from this, episode 1 opens at a girls' high school that trains Humongous Mecha pilots to battle the alien monsters that destroyed the Luxion Fleet six years before.

The central character is Noriko Takaya, daughter of the admiral in command of the lost fleet and one of the newest students. Despite having plenty of motivation, she is clumsy, not terribly mature, and completely lacking in self-confidence. Like all the students, she is in awe of Onee-Sama ("Big Sister") Kazumi Amano, the star pupil of their school -- especially after she defends Noriko from a group of bullies and gives her some advice (and a headband). Unfortunately, school becomes even harder after "Coach" Ohta, their new instructor, serves up Training from Hell for everyone. Oh, and Kazumi carries a torch for him, a big one.

Noriko's life becomes harder still when "Coach", who is also the sole survivor of the Luxion fleet (Noriko's father saved his life), sees something in Noriko that no one else does. Because of this, he selects her as Kazumi's partner to graduate early and participate in a secret project -- over all the other students, and the objections of both Kazumi and Noriko. Days of bullying, several speeches, a couple of Training Montages, and one robot Cat Fight later, Noriko and "big sister" are shipping out for advanced training in earth orbit. Here they find a rival, "genius" Soviet pilot Jung Freud, who starts by challenging Kazumi to a duel, then settles into a snippy sort of friendship.

At this point a Top Gun/Sports-themed Mecha show takes a left turn into The Forever War. Admiral Takaya's flagship comes barreling through the solar system at near light-speed, and Noriko and Kazumi are chosen to intercept it. It's been years since the battle that wrecked the ship - but, thanks to time dilation, it's only been hours since then aboard the ship. Noriko runs through the ship, hoping to find her father, but jeopardizing their chances of getting off the ship in time.

That's the first two episodes. The middle two show our heroines shipping out with the fleet, tapped to try out the new "Buster Machine" giant robot. If Noriko's angst and fear doesn't derail them first.

Episode Five is Kazumi's turn to get put through the wringer. She's decided she loves "Coach" Ohta. Unfortunately, he's dying of radiation sickness, and their next mission will take them away for years of earth time. Fortunately, Noriko's grown enough of a backbone to keep her in line.

The Final episode is elegiac and deeply angst-ridden (not that the previous episodes were a barrel of laughs). In fact, it's so serious that it was animated in black and white. "Big Sis" Kazumi is now "auntie" Kazumi, teaching the children of her old classmates at her old school. She gets the call to go back into space for a final mission to destroy the aliens once and for all (using a bomb built from the planet Jupiter. Yes, you read that right). She rejoins Noriko and Jung, who have been in space all this time and have hardly aged at all. Sacrifices will be made, angst will flow, people will forget how to spell, and you'll know beyond doubt that you've seen something made by genuine fans of the genre(s).

What words can only hint at is the sheer sincerity and passion put into all these rather hoary old tropes. The plotting is not that well paced and all over the place (writer Toshio Okada has commented that he put in every idea he had). Much of the characterization is perfunctory (and the archetypes used are from another age, especially Ohta and the other military men). The science is silly and the dialog hoary, but the big moments pull you in, and the angsty ones will make you cry (the climax of episode 6 can pull tears from some of the toughest otaku). More than anything else, it showed that the team from Gainax could pull off "popular" anime (their debut work Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise had run into a buzzsaw called Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind) and that they would be a force to be reckoned with.

In 2004, Gainax released a sequel series, Diebuster, as its 15th anniversary project. The two series have converging endings. This was released in R1 as Gunbuster 2.

Tropes used in Gunbuster include:
  • All Your Base Are Belong to Us: Episode 4, especially with the scenes of the Exelion's interior being destroyed as the battle continues.
  • And Knowing Is Half the Battle: The science lessons for each episode.
  • An Axe to Grind: Gunbuster was originally set to dual-wield these, ala Getter Dragon, but they didn't make the cut. They were later added in Super Robot Wars though, with Ryoma himself teaching Noriko how to use them.
    • They can actually be seen during Gunbuster's combination sequence, packed inside the mech's shoulders.
  • Anime Accent Absence: Jung speaks regular Japanese, she's just really snarky.
  • Ascended Fangirl: Noriko's subtly implied to be one in the series proper; in the science bonus shorts, it's played up for comedy. [1]
  • Author Appeal: We have a character named Jung Freud. And you say the director went through therapy? Who'd have thunk it?
  • Badass Arm-Fold: So associated with this trope that the gesture in question is commonly referred to as the "Gunbuster Pose" by anime fans.
    • Alternately, the more concise "Busterpose/Busterposing".
    • And in Japan, the Gainastance.
  • Beam Spam: HOOMING! REEIIIZZAAAAA!
  • Bittersweet Ending: On the one hand, the fact that they are recognized after TWELVE THOUSAND YEARS, that humanity still remembers their sacrifice and welcomes them back, makes some viewers baww like a baby. On the other hand, the fact that twelve thousand years have passed means that all of their loved ones are dead.... that's pretty much the definition of a Bittersweet Ending.
  • Break the Cutie: Poor Noriko pretty much goes through hell and back directly due to her insecurity and codependency issues before finally shaping up and becoming a Hot-Blooded badass. Kazumi doesn't exactly get off easy in Episode 5, either.
  • Calling Your Attacks: Yes, it's mentioned elsewhere, but it needs its own entry, seeing as Noriko is the GODDESS of attack-calling.
  • Caped Mecha (Bustaa Shieldo!)
  • Casual Danger Dialogue: When the Gunbuster is about to get crushed between two... big... alien things in Episode 5 and the Buster Beam just bounces off the hulls of each inflicting no damage, Noriko's and Kazumi's response is basically along the lines of "Hm? Oh, that's neat. Not too shabby, giant alien things. 'Course, we're still ten zillion times more badass than you. Gonna crush you now, mkay?"
  • Cool Big Sis: Kazumi is the very model.
  • Combining Mecha: The titular Gunbuster is the combined form of the first two Buster Machines. Noriko tops, while Kazumi's on the bottom.
  • Creator Provincialism: As may be expected from a series created in the halcyon days of the late '80s, Gunbuster paints a picture of a world dominated by Japan. It's governed by a Japanese Empire ruling from Tokyo, protected by a very Japanese Imperial Navy. According to the backstory, Japan bought Hawaii from a declining USA in a very different economy. 12 years later during World War III, the US attempts to take Hawaii back. However America's continuing collapse allows a more militant Japan to confiscate its space program and technology, soon using it to force the rest of the world under its emperor.
    • Honestly though, all of anime in a general sense is this...from A Certain Point Of View.
      • Here however, it seems shown that the Empire of Japan is in control, if not makes up, most of the human race, with other nations being in part Japanese colonies.
  • Curb Stomp Battle: A lone Gunbuster versus enough space aliens to span the diameter of Pluto's orbit? Yeah.... the aliens don't stand a chance.
  • The Danza: Noriko Takaya, voiced by Noriko Hidaka.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: Kashiwara and Jung, although they were evenly matched.
  • Deliberately Monochrome: Episode six, to emphasize the serious drama.
    • Especially notable in that it was animated in monochrome on color film, which cost the studio a bundle.
  • Distant Finale: WAY distant.
  • Drill Sergeant Nasty: "Coach" Ohta.
  • Earthshattering Kaboom: Jupiter Shattering.
  • Eternal Japanese: Averted in the final scene. 12000 years later, "WELCOME HOME" is written awkwardly in katakana with the last character backwards. The present inhabitants of Earth were clumsily mimicking the pilots' bygone language.
  • Eva Fins: The Titular Gunbuster's twin rocket boosters.
    • They also serve as a Stealth Pun whenever the Gunbuster crosses its arms. When two fires combine to make a flame...
      • They also appear to serve something of a practical purpose - the Evafins can combine to form a shell over the head like a bullet, allowing the Gunbuster to pierce through objects like a rocket. This is used towards the end of the final episode.
  • Expy: The Space Monsters get one in the form of The Gohma.
  • Exty Years From Now: Averted.
  • Fan Service: By modern standards, Gunbuster contains a strong amount of Fan Service. The bath scene in Episode Two is particularly notable. For the time? Well, let's just say that it's the Trope Namer for Gainaxing. And many fans refer to Jung as "Juggs"... Hell, some people like to refer to the series itself as "Bustgunner."
  • Final Solution: It has been speculated that the space monsters are the galaxy's antibodies, and they're out to cleanse it of the human disease. And seeing this as the case, humanity must annihilate the alien threat for them to live on.
  • Foe-Tossing Charge ("Super..." "...Inazuma..." "...KIIIIIIICK!")
  • Gainaxing: The shot that started it all.
    • Ironically, the breast physics in this anime are realistic when compared to later Gainax series like Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, which take their breast physics to ridiculous extremes.
  • Genocide Dilemma: One has questioned that if the galaxy is a living being and the space monsters are its antibodies, is it right for mankind to kill the galaxy to destroy the space monsters hell-bent on wiping out the "human disease".
  • Genre Shift: Sports anime spoof to Top Gun to The Forever War.
  • Godzilla Threshold: It's us or them, so why not destroy the core of the galaxy? Luckily, there is No Endor Holocaust.
  • Gratuitous English: File under Calling Your Attacks. "Homingu Reiza!!!" "BUSTAAAA!! MISAIRU!! "Ride on, ride on..."
  • Heroic BSOD: Noriko during the fourth episode. Kazumi also gets one in the fifth episode, and at the worse possible time.
  • She's Back: When Kazumi breaks down in episode 5, Noriko gives her a short speech that falls somewhere in-between What the Hell, Hero? and Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!. After a moment, her eyes take on a steely gaze and she says, Noriko... let's combine! Cue Curb Stomp Battle.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: In the final episode, Noriko prepares to use her Buster Machine's engine to start the Black Hole Bomb, knowing that she'll die, being unable to escape. Subverted when Kazumi combines their Buster Machines so that they'll have two engines, therefore still being able to leave. And then Double Subverted when it takes them 12,000 years to get home, meaning that everyone they know is by now quite long dead...
  • Hey, It's That Voice!: It's Akane Tendo and "Big Sister" Shampoo.
  • Homage: Dozens, maybe hundreds. Including many shows and stories long forgotten.
  • Guilt-Free Extermination War: The space monsters are seen as the galaxy's "immune system" that in turn sees humanity as a disease that must be wiped out. And with that knowledge, the humans know that there is no other choice but to wipe out the aliens for them to survive.
  • Hot-Blooded: Noriko Takaya may have been one of the first true examples of a female Hot-Blooded protagonist in giant robot history.
  • Humans Are Special: Inverted (probably, since this is just speculation made by human scientists) in the sense that the alien monsters are like the galaxy's antibodies, and they see humans as bacteria with no good purpose at all, and must be eliminated.
  • Humongous Mecha: The "Buster Machines". In fact, the main mech is one of the largest of the genre at 250m tall, and the largest at the time of its release.
  • Improbable Weapon User: In SRW a3 at least. The Mecha takes out a giant metal baseball bat, charges up a ball of energy, and SLUGS the damn thing at it's target. BADASS!
  • In Space Everyone Can See Your Face: Almost justified by using fish-bowl helmets with forward-facing lights mounted on top. This gives their bodies a realistic amount of shadow, but their faces are fully visible.
  • Ineffectual Loner: Jung Freud.
  • Info Dump
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Jung.
  • Keep Circulating the Tapes: May no longer be available in Japan for the time being due to a drug scandal involving the OP singer, Noriko Sakai.
  • Large Ham: Coach Ohta in the science lessons.
  • Lensman Arms Race: We begin with not especially radical vessels capable of accelerating to a fraction of c and of using a fairly sci-fi standard method of FTL travel via wormhole, and robots only a few stories tall. Then we get seven mile long battleship-carriers, aliens who eat suns to reproduce, a robot bigger than the Eiffel Tower which is capable of killing thousands of alien ships in a single attack, using the aforementioned battleship as a bomb that creates a black hole to kill an alien fleet eighty astronomical units in size, a new battleship ten times the size of the old one, and capping off with using the planet Jupiter as the core of a Black Hole Bomb the size of the moon to destroy the center of the galaxy and wipe out all the aliens forever. Even with relativity, on Earth all of this takes place in a timeframe of about fourty years. On the alien side, we go from small skirmish fleets to the aforementioned eighty AU Earth attack force to a fleet in the Galactic Core of easily ten billion creatures. It gets so ridiculous (and awesome) that the characters even lampshade the fact toward the end.
  • Macross Missile Massacre (BUSTAAAA MISSAIRU!)
  • Motion Capture Mecha: All the mecha in the series; Gunbuster itself is the "Kung-Fu Robo" variation of the trope.
  • Named After Somebody Famous: Jung Freud, named after psychologists Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud.
  • Nipple-and-Dimed: Averted!
  • Norio Wakamoto: Coach Ohta.
  • Omniscient Morality License: Say what you will, but Ohta still bets the fate of humanity on little more than his gut feeling about the daughter of the man who saved his life.
  • Plot-Relevant Age-Up: Or non-age-up as the case may be.
  • Ramming Always Works: Inverted In Episode 4 the Excelion fleet is nearly destroyed. Capitain Tashiro decides as a last ditch resort to ram the Excelion into the enemy flag ship. When the Buster Machine is finally activated Noriko is castigated that it isn't complete. She responds that she'll ram it if she has to. In the end the enemy flag ship ends up ramming Noriko and is destroyed as Noriko has it where she wants it.
    • Averted in the final battle also The enemy fleet send a fleet in to ram the blackhole bomb, initially it doesn't work as the sheilds hold, but eventually the enemy suicide attacks are so large that the shield fails setting up the final twist to the Bittersweet Ending.
  • Redshirt Army: All the other battlesuits? And the fleet? And the 50 mile long flagship with a team of psychics and genius dolphins that can rewrite the laws of physics? Windowdressing.
  • Rule of Cool: Anno has said he was more concerned with how scenes worked out for drama and excitement than trying to be realistic.
  • Rule of Drama: The only time actual science is invoked is when it can raise the angst quotient.
  • Sapient Cetaceans:
    • The final episode shows an Orca amongst a ship's crew.
    • The Eltreum uses cyborg dolphins for navigation, though only one is briefly shown.
  • Schizo-Tech: Displays, uniforms, and other random tidbits are designed to be retro despite technology reaching insane levels. It does come down to hot-bloodedly battling kaiju while shouting a lot, after all.
  • Science Marches On: In the show, the Solar System has several planets beyond the orbit of Pluto, including one that is called Jupiter 2. Sol is also part of a binary system, with the other star, Nemesis, being half a lightyear away.
  • Shout-Out: One scene in Episode 5 with Noriko in her room is full of these, including posters for Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and My Neighbor Totoro and a Van Halen calender.
    • During one of the Science Lesson episodes, Coach tells Noriko to name off all of the planets in the solar system, which she does while instantly cosplaying as each corresponding Sailor Moon character.
    • As is usual for Gainax, Gunbuster carries a fair number of references to Getter Robo. The titular mech owes a few design cues to the Getter Dragon from Getter Robo G; the legs and chest are extremely similar in design, the Buster Beam fires from the mech's head, much like the Dragon's Getter Beam (the other Getter machines had their beams fire from the stomach) and, as mentioned above, the Gunbuster was initially meant to dual-wield Axes similarly to the Dragon. Moreover, the way Gunbuster removes its Degeneracy reactor to kickstart the Jupiter Bomb is heavily inspired by Musashi's legendary sacrifice in the original Getter manga.
  • Serial Escalation: In-between and after her occasional breaks, each of Noriko's battles is more awesome than the last. Except episode 3.
  • Space Elevator: Space cable-cars in episode six.
  • Starfish Aliens / Eldritch Abomination: The spacemonsters are among the biggest echinoderm/Giger-inspired horrors in fiction.
  • Super Prototype: The Sizzler mechas are based on the titular mecha, and are noticeably less powerful.
    • Discussed in one of the Science Lessons, where someone claims that Super Prototype is just a fictional trope, and the Sizzlers are only smaller because of their more modern, efficient miniaturization. He goes on to say that a feature that saved Noriko's life is a silly expense necessitated only by the Gunbuster's outmoded design, and the Sizzlers got rid of it.
  • Super Robot: The Gunbuster
  • Super Robot Wars: F/Final. Alpha and Alpha 3 use it as a cornerstone of the plot.
  • Tannhauser Gate: Mentioned as being involved in the series' FTL Travel during one of the Infodumps.
  • Theme Music Power-Up: Used at least twice, though played differently each time. In episode 4, the OP music doesn't start playing until immediately after Noriko takes out the alien 'command ship' by being rammed and then surviving, and the music then continues for the rest of the episode. Then, in episode 5, once Noriko and Kazumi's halves of Gunbuster combine, we get a proper Theme Music Power-Up... except that it's not the series's OP, which didn't play at all in the episode.
  • Theme Naming: In this case Shout-Out. Smith Toren is named (in reversed order) after the founder of manga translation company "Studio Proteus", back before he was famous (the anime version has more hair). Coach Ohta, or "Koichi Ohta", was probably named for Koichi Ohata, who worked as a mecha designer on this OVA. According to the other wiki, several characters - Noriko and Kazumi among them - were named for members of the production staff.
    • The Space Monsters are named after more obscure Kaiju.
  • Time Skip: Multiple times.
  • Time Dilation
  • Took a Level in Badass: Compare the Noriko Takaya of episode 1 with the Noriko Takaya of episodes 4 and 5, and you'll see that she went and pulled a Simon. Or rather, Simon would pull a Noriko 20 years later.
  • Training from Hell
  • Training Montage: One early fan Gag Dub (Robotech III "Not Necessarily the Sentinels") even set it to the trope-naming music.
  • Wave Motion Gun. BUSTAAA BEEEAAAMMM!
  • World Of Cardboard Monologue: While in the combined Gunbuster in episode 5, Kazumi gives a short inner monologue about how she'll fight for the last six months, because that's the only way she can live in the same timeframe as the dying Coach Ohta.
  • You Are Not Alone: From the sixth episode, in a situation eerily similar to a comparable scene in The Abyss, which was released the following year.
  • Zeerust
  • Zen Survivor: Coach is a textbook example.
  1. ↑ She's basically the runner-up poster girl for this, second only to Ryusei Date from Super Robot Wars. This makes for some amusing conversation when they meet in the game.
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