Anime Top wo Nerae! Gunbuster 1 & 2

[Dagger]

Well, I tried to find earlier threads but couldn't dig up any. Let me know if you come across one.

I watched Gunbuster 1 earlier today. What an experience. It was the right choice to sit down and see it all at once--I don't think I could've stopped if I wanted to, anyway. If I can say it after one viewing, this is almost certainly my favorite Hideaki Anno & Gainax anime. I'd put Nadia ahead of it, were it not for the island episodes. But that's another matter.

I know there are a bunch of stories surrounding Gunbuster's production... that seems to be true for a lot of Gainax anime, heh. It makes me wonder to what extent they made the story up--or changed their minds about it--as they went along.

The theme of distance in both space & time reminded me of Voices of a Distant Star (it should probably be the other way around, no?). It's done so powerfully, especially in the final two episodes. The first episode gave me the sense that I was starting a regular twenty-four or twenty-six episode series, but Gunbuster covers an amazing amount of ground, considering its length. And its relative compactness makes it more potent and epic.

I've heard a lot about how different Gunbuster 2 is. I don't think that'll be too much of a problem for me, since I'm prepared for it (I'll try to catch up with the first four episodes tomorrow). Kunihiko Ikuhara directed episode 2, so that's an extra incentive.

~Dagger~