Gunbuster! | Retcon_404

[@TeoTH80]

Seeing the ending where the earth lights up, even in a review, still makes me tear up. It's that powerful.

[@MegaMikeZero]

My guy... have you seen the end of DieBuster? 😭 Brings it all together.

[@zetaruler]

Gunbuster is an absolute classic for good reason! It's such a fun watch in a short and sweet package. The ending might be one of my favourite anime endings ever. Jamil Neate from Gundam X always reminded me of the Coach, mainly because they're both cool sunglasses wearing mentor characters with a tragic war-related past.

[@Retcon404]

So I had no idea about the ending before I watched it for this video and seeing the earth light up made me tear up. Amazing ending that honestly wraps up the entire show so nicely.

[@hitachicordoba]

@@Retcon404 Quite a different "welcome" from Earth than poor Kou Uraki got after fighting like hell to save it at the end of 0083 lol

[@oliverrichardson4429]

I watched this anime on KZbin during my lockdown at college in 2020. It was someone’s compilation movie, and it cuts out almost 2 full episodes worth of stuff, but it became one of my favorite mech stories ever. It got me back into painting again, love this show!

[@mattmaddogwheaton4724]

My favorite anime next to Armored Trooper VOTOMS, SDF Macross: Do You Remember Love and Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam/Char's Counterattack, hands down.

[@tasogarerubica]

Some of the tracks still gets me teary eyed... But what can I say, Gunbuster is an iconic OVA that established may of Gainax's own self-contained parodies like the Gainax Stance. And you also can tell that this series was a love letter from Mecha otakus and sci-fi nerds to the genre. The screen writer Okada Toshio, now a decently prominent KZbinr has a lot of interesting insider comments about the production, so if you're a fan might be a great call to look around for those.

[@RayShadow278]

Fun fact to give you some existential dread: The Welcome Home sign at the end (オカエリナサイ) is actually misspelled. The i at the end is backwards because in 12,000 years humanity doesn't really speak Japanese anymore, which means that once Noriko and Kazumi land it's highly likely that *they can't talk with anyone*

[@KevinJDildonik]

I mean there's no reason to over think it. But I imagine it's like how many people in Japan take English classes but the Engrish most Japanese people get is almost worse than not speaking English at all. The question is whether the people even resemble humans. Diebuster seems to indicate, more or less, yes.

[@shingshongshamalama]

The i is backwards because Jung Freud wrote it down wrong. Many letters in Cyrillic look like horizontally mirrored copies of other letters. Jung Freud is Russian.

[@edkwon]

Fun fact, the character of Smith Toren was named after Canadian anime super fan and professional translator Toren Smith, who was well known in thr US anime scene in the 90s

[@thesaltyweeb]

Ah man Gunbuster! I was first introduced to it via Super Robot Wars and im very grateful! But its nice seeing a review of it after all these years and as always good job man! And in the end of Gunbuster? averted thanks to Reideen, Shin Getter and Genesic Gaogaigar helping out and pulling Noriko and Kasumi out of there for the final battle!

[@kyosilver1999]

Hell ya same for me.

[@KoyomeeAraragee]

Which SRW is Gunbuster in?

[@thesaltyweeb]

@@KoyomeeAraragee from memory... F Final, Alpha Gaiden, Alpha 3, Z3 part 1 and 2 and SRW T.

[@killerb255]

@@thesaltyweebIt was in Alpha, but not Alpha Gaiden.

[@CptJistuce]

Super Robot Wars is the best when it reaches out a hand and averts these moments, even as it ignores massive scale and power differences(like, seriously, Gunbuster should be able to destroy any Gundam unit by moving through it).

[@warhawk4494]

Love this anime. I remember how lucky I was as a teen finding both vhs tapes this ova at a yard sell for 5 bucks.

[@kevinlockhart4393]

Yes dude! I'm so happy you decided to check this series out! One of my all time favorites behind Gundam!

[@Retcon404]

It was a really fun watch!

[@kevinlockhart4393]

@Retcon_404 I think what helps is the very real take on the science of light speed travel. The risks that the characters weigh every time their about to undertake a mission that involves it. It hasn't been done before or since in the same way. And the fact that you never learn about the origins of the monsters. They're just this faceless, cosmic horror that you can't help but be so freaked out by everytime you see one up close.

[@Astronopolis]

Gunbuster was my anime awakening, it really expressed how such a complex, yet completely followable story could be told in the medium, then I saw Evangelion. Gainax without a doubt are my favorite animation studio.

[@hitachicordoba]

Gunbuster was my first anime VHS fansub purchase at Anime Expo Anaheim in the early 90s. It still stands up quite well, but I think a remake would capture the imagination of a new generation (at least the ones that still watch mecha/scifi and not just mind numbing isekai lol). The OG movie is on HiDive and GB2 is on CR. The OG OP song is the most catchy memorable 80's OPs this side of Z Gundam/Bubblegum Crisis/Megazone 23.

[@Hikariinu124]

Im typing this from the start of the video. this is my favorite anime *ever*. Full stop. It is unattainable in my eyes for any anime to ever overcome this short masterpeice. I cannot watch or think about this show without my eyes getting misty and I'm pretty sure i couldnt get thru the end of it without being a puddle on the floor. Gunbuster for life.

[@_GeneralMechanics_]

Not many sci-fi series take Time Dilation seriously with regards to space travel. Films like "Interstellar" and even more recently in "Lightyear" handled it with some sense of the human cost. Gunbuster takes the concept to its most haunting level when each mission the girls undertake, months become years away, then decades pass, and ultimately they're gone for centuries. However, the final message at the end is what makes it all seem worth it. They gave up their normal lives to give Earth a future for 12,000 years.

[@Virjunior01]

And even only partially, as Earth has had to continue fighting all the while, to the point where it took the heroins becoming LEGENDS in earth time to even preserve enough of the language and not have all of us kill each other for 12,000 years, just to say "thanks"

[@nicodalusong149]

Somebody's already said it but it's an 80s show. The good thing about Gunbuster is that it tries to explain the science jargon that it tries to stick very close to. However, later on the science used in the show is outdated. Character-wise, we see the birth of the typical gainax protagonist. Shinji and Simon are essentially refinements of Noriko who was a refinement of Amuro to some degree. We also see the birth of what is the typical plot for Gainax and Trigger mecha shows which is to start on earth and then elevate the conflict into space. For Victory Gundam, I'd like to note that the first few episodes are in a jumbled order as executive meddling was at play and forced the gundam to be shown in the first episode. It wasn't supposed to be shown until episode 2 or 3 (I think) so the story had to be changed to fit.

[@shadowofthenorthstar989]

this is one of my favorites mecha

[@saltyvanilla3304]

I watched this ova randomly when i was in school, and i loved it, in fact, i only watched TTGL because of it lol Really looking forward to next weeks video, Victory Gundam is criminally not underappreciated, and imo is one of the best Gundam series, with probably the most creative fights in the franchise

[@ChileanIggy]

I really hope you watch the sequel OVA. It's so so so good! The animation is incredible; it was GAINAX at its peak before departures began to knee-cap the studio's quality. They hit a lot of the same storybeats but with their own spin and the way it wraps everything up is really rewarding and satisfying for fans of the original.

[@CptJistuce]

I've never seen Diebuster, but I'm actually mad that it exists. That the space monsters are still a problem after Gunbuster.... it rips the rug out from under Gunbuster's ending. EVERYTHING, the loss of life, planets, centuries, 80% of the galaxy... all of it was for NOTHING. They didn't save a damned thing, and it upsets me. I'd probably have a different take on this if I'd seen Diebuster and not Gunbuster.

[@gmartuch]

the gunbuster core overload in the end is a call back to first manga Getter robo ending getter core overload,

[@BakaVHS]

I'd say that Gunbuster is definitely closer to 80s contemporary series like Z Gundam than anything from the 90s Good vid aside from this one thing which I'm assuming is an error

[@Retcon404]

oh yeah apparently my brain thought it was released in 98 when writing the script, despite seeing 1988 every time I go to watch an episode lol

[@Wizzanker]

OMG please do Diebuster! That’s one of my favorites of all time!

[@scythedd7]

I feel like I'm losing my mind every time you say it's a 90s OVA. It came out in the 80s and is one of the pinnacles of that decade! You even state the year it came out in your intro lol

[@Retcon404]

to be fair I was watching Victory Gundam while writing the script and I think it turned my brain to mush.

[@scythedd7]

@@Retcon404 while I liked Victory, it's definitely a draining experience, so that's understandable

[@centradragon]

I was in a crowd at the end of Otakon 2004, and a vendor tossed a random VHS at me - it just so happened to be Gunbuster. I guess they didn't want to travel home with bulky VHS tapes, and luckily it ended up being a great OVA. It did, however, take me awhile to track down the remaining episodes. The internet was kind of a slog back then, and it's not like Suncoast sold affordable VHS tapes. ;(

[@waxitron9181]

OH HELL YEAH GUNBUSTER!

[@trazyntheinfinite9895]

"I mean what are we gonna do against monsters from Space from the Center of the Galaxy? Blow up the Center?" *EVERYONE IN THE ROOM*

[@CptJistuce]

Look, if the galaxy didn't want to be destroyed, maybe it shouldn't have started birthing space monsters.

[@TheUnrealjester]

Yooo gunbusters? That's some vintage good shit. Fine choice my dude

[@zongolo7465]

gunbuster is my favorite show of gainax, i started obviously for evangelion, but this one grab me hard, i showed a some friend how like hard science and like it, and the main battle and exceleion march , both are common in my playlists.

[@Atsuraelu]

Fucking loved Top Wo Nerae!. Nice to see it isn't completely forgotten.

[@logiticalresponse9574]

I made it here the "end card" i am currently bingeing (spelling) all your vids and i really hope you cover more of the less talked about anime . There is definitely a lack of quality analysis on these . Thanks

[@primusvsunicron1]

Actually this an 80s OVA (Anno worked on this while working as an animator on CCA)

[@Retcon404]

Welp, I dunno how I thought it was 98 instead of 88. Thanks man gonna add that to the description before the comments are only this hahahha.

[@Magnero]

If anyone remembers Mass Effect 2, I think this star hatchery idea was going to factor into ME3. Some pretty obvious hints were dropped in ME2 but they switched writers between games.

[@trazyntheinfinite9895]

Nono, they fired the writer and hired a monkey

[@MrDecelles]

The last episode was the best. Storyboards felt great and I was crying during that last battle.

[@lazydroidproductions1087]

Apparently the last episode cost more because it was in black and white. It wasn’t a cost-cutting measure, it was just because they thought it would be badass

[@Retcon404]

they were right it was badass

[@normsmith4858]

Gunbuster and Pat labor are my two-time favorite animes of all time. You can never go wrong.

[@greycat111]

Gunbuster had one of the mecha animation ive ever seen, especially the last three episodes. The aim for the top song in ep five still gets me hyped!

[@lowertoaster9718]

You're doing a great job with these videos 👍

[@mattmaddogwheaton4724]

BTW, you should also do a review of Vision of Escaflowne as it's one of if not THE best mecha anime of the 90s (and THE best isekai anime next to Aura Battler Dunbine too no doubt)

[@Retcon404]

I've had Escaflowne on my watchlist for some time!

[@nicodalusong149]

Oh yes, Dunbine being the first isekai on tv and Escaflowne being one of the solid must watch anime of the 90s.

[@Sevarrius]

Just commenting to say that I second this. Escaflowne is still possibly my personal favourite anime of all time and is certainly one of the best anime of the 90's. There is nowhere near enough coverage or recognition of it and I know I'd love a video analysis of it.

[@brianng8350]

Oh, this brings back memories…. This is one of few early OVA that was licensed in the US by Books Nippon and US Renditions. But it was so expensive for VHS, maybe $35 (I think?) back when comics were like $.75 or $1.25 each? Back in the days, there was only pirated bootleg VHS of animation shows and OVA… Of course, the biggest thing about Gunbuster is that the character designs were done by the same person as Macross, Haruhiko Mikimoto. Love his art!

[@MrJargonite]

in supplementary material it is stated that the space monsters respond to the degeneracy engines used by human spacecraft and the Gunbuster, which is essentially the core of space flight. The moment that humanity harnessed the power to spread across the stars, the galactic immune system detected that ability as a threat. Interesting stuff, and like much of what was in the series you end up only getting a partial explanation within the OVA itself. I would have loved at least two more episodes, for Smith to have had more screen time before dying, and for the extra world building such as the newly discovered planets in the solar system to have had an actual introduction

[@Riceball01]

Gunbuster has always been and still is one of my absolute favorite animes. I absolutely love everything about it, particularly the character designs, I feel that they're some of Mikimoto's best work ever. If I'm ever lucky enough to go to a con where Mikimoto makes an appearance, I'd ask him for a sketch of Amano, my favorite character in Gunbuster and my favorite character that he's designed. As far as a dub goes, this series doesn't need a dub, it's just fine subbed and I feel that a dub wouldn't do it justice. I'm not sure that there are any American/English Speaking voice actors who could scream and yell as well as the originals or at least pull it off in a convincing manner. Speaking of screaming and yelling. Anyone else ever get the impression that Gunbuster (the mech) is at partially fueled by psychic power? It always seemed the louder and more forceful Noriko screamed out an attack's name, the more powerful that attack would be. Yes, I realize that it was just an anime trope, but it was used so often in this OVA it sometimes really felt like that was what was happening.

[@ashharkausar413]

I watched this show about 10 years ago and thought it was dope.

[@shaider1982]

9:43 It sort of like all of those wormhole explanations in different media with the folded paper that is pierced by a pencil.

[@KevinJDildonik]

Watching Diebuster now. It's super weird, but hits some of the same emotional notes as Gunbuster once you get past the initial zaniness. It's weird that Diebuster was a 20th anniversary project, so the animation is ridiculously good, but only low-def copies are available in most places. Basically imagine Gunbuster and FLCL had a baby. And it was downloaded over a dial-up modem. I like it so far. Brace for Gainax End.

[@kinoko5566]

I never watched this series but it sounds a lot like Stephen Baxters Xeelee series, fighting aliens living in black holes and stars being used as incubators for other aliens.

[@Riiludragon]

Gunbuster is waayyy better than evangelion, cant believe people prefer evangelion to gunbuster

[@soggy_auggy7191]

dang I've heard of gunbuster but i've never seen a video about it before. It looks really interesting, definitely gotta check it out!

[@lucasbechtol4126]

An English dub was actually released in May of last year. I don't see when this came out beyond "one year ago," but it was also announced in 2021.

[@RykerDavis123]

I watched this for the first time recently. It was so good. And i really related to noriko. I deal with the self doubt and depression in a lot of the same ways

[@reijiminato8762]

Gubuster = Top Gun meets Super Sentai/Power Rangers

[@dombombed]

Loving this content! Could you maybe do one on The Big O?

[@cbh148]

0:03 Song? Also, really enjoyed the vid. I didn't appreciate Gunbuster enough when I watched it years ago and I'm going to rewatch thanks to seeing this analysis/review.

[@pgassler424]

I haven't watched the series but from the review this seems like Ender's Game as an 80's mecha anime.

[@DAGerhin]

the insanity of the BM #3 is remarkable, humanity used 3 planets of the solar system to build it

[@DominusNox106]

If you like the light speed dilation aspect of this read "The Forever War"

[@Thex-W.I.T.C.H.-xMaster]

7:27... yep...

[@UVAmatsuo]

I was not a fan of DiBuster but at least it's ending is the Original Buster landing on Earth.

[@Osric44]

In the end, the “Welcome Back” sign, the last letter is written backwards, indicating that whatever civilization is left is only mimicking a bygone language…

[@pseudopulk3478]

didn't Jung use to write it backwards?

[@micluc97]

I wonder if they took inspiration the effects of time dilation from The Forever War by Joe Haldeman. It’s a good read of that sort of story interests you.

[@duffer3062]

Highly recommend checking out Aim for the Ace!/Ace wo Nerae (1973) which is where part of the Aim for the Top!/Top wo Nerae name comes from. The first episode of Gunbuster is the way it is because it's a parody. Coach/Onee san/Reiko/Noriko(sort of) are all ripoffs of that show in the best way.

[@Shizn0id]

now do one for the sequel top wo nerae 2 Diebuster

[@Vipernash]

Great Work!!!

[@RedwolfDogrocket]

She comes back to M12 in the 40k universe Is this the golden age or the age of the men of Iron? That would be a cruel ending!

[@RykerDavis123]

As of 2023 there's a dub and the dub is great

[@guitargodthor2]

I dont remember if i watched it so I'm going to binge it later.

[@gicz9419]

My top 5 Mecha Gunbusters😊

[@mrelba9176]

Man...This show absolutely kills me.

[@Undone545]

Me listening to this review: wait its only six episodes

[@RelativelyBest]

Honestly, I've never liked time dilation as a plot device. Fortunately it's nowhere near this bad in real life: Even if traveling at an insane 95% of the speed of light you will only perceive time about three times faster than a stationary observer, and the increase is exponential as well so at lower fractions of C you may not even notice it much. Also, if they went faster then light they should actually start going _backwards_ in time.

[@CptJistuce]

FTL in Gunbuster is achieved through the old standby of travelling through hyperspace(or whatever you wanna call it), so they sidestep time dilation. And .... yeah, the sublight speeds get pretty high. Speeds in excess of 0.9c are not uncommon. The mass-produced "Sizzler" mechs used in the final episode are stated to have a max speed of 0.91c, and a "normal" speed of 0.64c. We can't back-calculate Gunbuster's speed in the finale because we don't actually know how far their return trip was. We just know the trip took 12,000 years Earth-time, and was survivably short for the pilots of Gunbuster.

[@drunkenmaster8511]

i hope you make a vid on Tekkaman Blade

[@broodo1]

I made it to the end 👌

[@McGomezAddams]

Spine chilling ending

[@JVision1]

Guys it actually got an English dub

[@zeehero7280]

80s fiction is funny because they think there will still be a soviet union in the future lol.

[@tylermorgan5230]

Now that a strong woman is done take note hollywood

[@martyden9006]

Strong women are not a monolith, it can be done in alot of variations.

[@tylermorgan5230]

@@martyden9006 facts

[@MetalFalcon99]

No way there's a pilot with the American flag on his machine

[@mrfatalis]

Uuwaaaaaaahhh!

[@dnaseb9214]

Whats a "OVA" ?

[@CptJistuce]

Original Video Animation. Also rendered as OAV, which stands for the same words in a different order. As the name implies, it is animation that was released straight to home video, as opposed to broadcast on television first. Basically the anime equivalent of a direct-to-video movie, only without the baggage that entails(OVAs from the golden era often had lavishly high budgets).

[@020baby]

song playing at 3:48 ?

[@Dadstired]

V-ASH... ASH sorry i heard vosh and got triggered lol

[@Kevin-cw8of]

do betterman

[@Thex-W.I.T.C.H.-xMaster]

Anime girls.... interesting....

[@gokugoma3258]

Gunbuster wasn't 90s it came out in 1988 thru 1989

[@CeddyFeldmann]

オ　カ　エ　リ　ナ　サ　イ

[@DrRESHES]

That's an incorrect starting point. Like everyone knows that this one, Top o Nerae!, started after Ace o Nerae!. gosh. get it together lol. it's like the same genre.

[@Retcon404]

Not everyone knows that, cause I didn't lol

[@Kusanagikaiser999]

I absolutely LOVE Gunbuster, Top wo Nerae both series are some of the absolute best mecha animes I have seen along Gundam Wing and Evangelion and Tengen Toppa, and kinda the grandpa(ma) of Eva and Gurren Lagann, I didn't have any idea of Gainax still looking to do a Gunbuster 3, although we are in 2023 and no trailer or real confirmation other than a few interviews, Gainax have been pretty much in coma for so long so, it might never happen.....but finger cross I HOPE IT DOES. ...........also why now days anime fans NEED some sort of disclaimer when nudity is involve, for real if you like ANIME and have a problem with nudity and ecchii.....you kinda choose very POORLY to say you like anime, jezzz this twitter generation have ruin all thing fun.

[@Neasyorc]

Love your stuff dude! You should do a patreon. Your stuff deserves more attention.

[@ms-07b3goufcustom9]

Oh damn ,it's haman karm

[@Retcon404]

Haman Karn if you adjust the color on your TV slightly