Gunbuster Part 1 Episodes 1-3

Six years after the death of her father, Noriko Takaya attends an academy for Mecha pilots, hoping to continue her dream of following her father into space.  But when Humanity finds itself at war with a terrifying menace from beyond the stars, Noriko finds herself thrust into an unexpected role as the top candidate for a top secret project called Gunbuster.  As Mankind takes to space to fight this Alien menace, Noriko must face the fears of her past and present in order to fight for a better future.

Welcome, Dear Readers, to the start of our new Summer long event known as Mega Mecha Summer.  And we’re kicking it off with a gem from the late 1980s that, today, is most known for being the Directorial Debut of one Hideaki Anno, the man behind Neon Genesis Evangelion.  Unlike Eva though, Gunbuster never seems to have risen to the same levels of infamy, nor is it as widely regarded as it’s fellow 80’s mecha titans like Gundam and Macross.  Does that make Gunbuster a gem in need of reappraisal?  Well we’ll be looking at it for the next couple of weeks so lets get to Aim for the Top! Gunbuster.
 
Right off the bat, this Anime is unbelievably gorgeous and another shinning example of why Anime from the 1980s still stand the test of time from an aesthetic standpoint.  The character designs are nice.  The mecha aren’t necessarily polished but have that rough and tumble feel considering we mostly see training robots. And the space backgrounds, holy crap.  There’s so much more color and energy to the deep space setting than other Anime at the time, making the great space look more like a vast endless city than your usual sea of stars.  Probably my most favorite visual piece from this opening half is the big reveal of the Aliens who are the main antagonists of Gunbuster.  Seeing them gestate and emerge from a star have a very Disney Fantasia quality that gave me chills.  After three episodes of only hardly hearing about these things, seeing them rise from the fires of a star was downright terrifying in all the best ways. 
 
While this is his first Directorial project, you can see a lot of trademark visual and storytelling cues and tropes that Anno would later perfect in Evangelion.  There’s a lot of still frame background shots with minimal lighting and characters hidden within shadows, not often with shadowy intent mind you.  The heavy emphasis on an untrained, low on self esteem chosen one trope applies to Noriko as much as it applies to Shinji.  Instead of her father being the person pushing her to the brink for no reason, it’s her Coach, but we’ll come back to him in a minute.  There’s also a very intimate look at how the terrors of battle and conflict can affect a pilot in a very small space, particularly in one of Episode 3’s most stand out moments.  That said, Anno’s also cutting loose a bit with more comedic bits like giving Noriko and her Mecha a Rocky training montage and when Noriko, Kazumi and Jung freak out when a squad of Mechs swing past their open window hot springs while theyre all full blown naked.  See, Anno can excel at interpersonal drama but it’s nice to see him show a sense of humor here and there.
 
The one area where Gunbuster hasn’t grabbed me yet is its story.  Evangelion got right into the thick of it and gave us a bare bones reason why the Angels are so feared.  Here, we know nothing about the Aliens save for the corpse we see in Episode 2 and the birthing scene at the end of Episode 3.  We don’t know how the war with these monsters started or why they have a bone to pick with us.  They could be Outer Space predators just doing their thing and now they need to be exterminated, it’s never made clear.  We do get to see these creatures in swift action though apparently we miss an entire grander battle sequence in favor of that very well done sequence i mentioned where Noriko has her first space battle and is totally overwhelmed and cant do anything.  Speaking of, Noriko.  I like her but why is she so Enders Game level important?  A lot of that questioning can be laid at her “Coach” Ohta.  There’s got to be more to his interest in her beyond her father saving his life at the cost of his own.  And while Kazumi may very well be right that Noriko isnt ready for combat in space, we don’t get to see her and Noriko train together enough to know that for ourselves.  And yet Coach is still insistent that Noriko will get her act together and is essential to the mysterious Gunbuster project.  I’m betting this guy pulls a Gendo and turns out to be a dirty rotten bastard who wants to get revenge against Noriko’s Dad for some reason by making his daughters life a living Hell.  Either way, I don’t like the guy.
 
Right now, Gunbuster isnt exactly selling me on its Mecha Legend credentials.  Sure the Animation is flawless and Anno’s storytelling powers are on full display.  But the conflict needs greater emphasis and reasoning and so do the motivations of the characters.  Actually, we need more time with the cast outside of constant mecha battles and see more of these problems that happen off screen, more showing not telling.  Heck, the titular mecha is only in the end of the third episode and we only see its head.  Perhaps things will improve in the back half but I’m not saying this opening act isnt without its merits.  Still, will Gunbuster save the universe and its visually impressive but not so great story?  We’ll find out Next Monday with the second half of Gunbuster right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.