LogFAQs > #921469569

20. Gunbuster
https://cdn.myanimelist.net/images/anime/11/20857l.jpg
@tazzyboyishere

I got fairly interested in checking out more Gainax stuff after the greatness of TTGL and Eva, and Gunbuster was the natural first step. It was fairly disappointing at first, though. The first episode really shows its age (the show started in 1988), and its not super interesting in general. Thankfully, the show basically dramatically improves in quality in every single episode. The cast doesnt feel like anything special at first. Its kind of a weird mix between sports show characters and shoujo-esque romance and hot-blooded shounen antics. But thankfully, pretty much everyone gets more hot-blooded as time goes on, even the more shoujo-style characters. The first episode is basically entirely on Earth, then the cast goes into space, and I think that we dont even get to see Gunbuster in action until episode 4. The character development before this is solid and good at setting things up, but ep 4 is basically where the show gets awesome. The scale increases in every episode, starting with small-scale battles before getting up to like, galaxy-level combat (I think, cant remember exactly how the final battle worked). It also gets more science-y as it goes, with a lot of focus on time dilation. The main character, Noriko, has kind of a little sister relationship with the other MC, Kazumi, but because Gunbuster travels at near light speeds so much, Noriko stays the same age as Kazumi gets older, and oddly enough, the dynamic kind of reverses because of this. Noriko basically reminds Kazumi of all the passion that she lost as she got older, and takes charge.

The final episode is basically the entire reason this series is so high on this list. Its by far my favorite episode of any anime ever, and made me cry more than anything Ive seen (despite not being explicitly sad, really). The final battles done in a striking black and white format, and the scale of it is unmatched in most other mecha anime. Has a lot of excellent hot-blooded emotion, and feels like perfect payoff to the series. Noriko and Kazumis relationship pays off for all the drama they had earlier on, too. The episode uses a lot more of the time dilation stuff from earlier on as well, leading to the best ending of anything Ive seen. Feels really, really good. The sequel, Diebuster, shows the ending from a different perspective, and even though I knew it was coming, it still felt pretty emotional there too. So yeah, check Gunbuster out if youre a fan of TTGL or hot-blooded action or mechs or whatever. Its only 6 episodes, and while it starts slow, it builds up to something truly special. Dont watch the (bad) movie version though.
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