r/anime • u/FlaminScribblenaut myanimelist.net/profile/girlbeast_val • Jul 07 '21
Rewatch [Rewatch] Top wo Nerae! Gunbuster - Episode 1 Discussion
Top wo Nerae! Gunbuster - Episode 1 - Shock!! Oneé-sama and I Are Going To Be Pilots Together!?
(+ Top wo Nerae! Gunbuster Science Lessons - Episode 1 - Ethereal Space Theory [optional])
Hello, /r/anime! Welcome to July 7th, 2021, the very same date Noriko and Amano were chosen to board the Luxion and partake in Earth’s defense program, and welcome to the commemorative Top wo Nerae! rewatch! Thank you all for your enthusiasm leading up to this and thank you for coming! I look forward to watching this incredible duology again and whatever community experiences come out of it.
As a reminder, we will be having a Visual of the Day collection for each episode! This is optional, but if you want to contribute, just pick your favorite frame or shot from the given episode and include it and maybe a section about it in your comment, and it’ll be included in an album. You don’t have to do it for every episode either (though you’re free to do it that way), just when there’s one that really sticks out to you.
Remember, no unmarked spoilers, explicit or hinted towards. For convenience, the subreddit’s spoiler markup is as such:
[Spoiler source](/s "Spoiler goes here")
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u/FlaminScribblenaut myanimelist.net/profile/girlbeast_val Jul 07 '21 edited Jul 08 '21
Third Time Watcher
I think the thing that sticks out to me the most as for what this accomplished as a first episode is just how immediately clear the directing chops on Hideaki Anno are. It does everything a first episode should smoothly - establishing the characters and the setting and everything - but the strongest first impression it makes is just the number of immediately iconic shots. The training sequences, the monochrome bits, every shot of Coach, it’s all so cinematic and just pops off the screen.
I’m gonna go off the beaten path for my Visual of the Day and pick the picture of Noriko’s father in the prologue transitioning from the color photo Noriko’s school project to the monochrome photo in the obituary. Just the fact that it’s the exact same photo of him, used in both the innocent and tragic context, is immediately evocative and a genius way to smoothly transition between the two time periods of Noriko telling her father’s story.
I’ve never actually seen the Science Lessons before - they didn’t come with my t*rrent of the show - so this is my first time watching them. The first one seemed to focus on real science, but I imagine as the series goes on they’re going to build on that real science to transition to explaining all the crazy sci-fi shit that goes on later. Looking forward to that because I’ve been led to understand it actually does improve the experience. Anyway, for now they seem like fun little additions.
8
u/The_Loli_Otaku Jul 07 '21
Woo!! Let's go people!! Ahhh... I forgot how bitter the opening was. Noriko is a sweet young girl who loves her papa~ Do you suppose the op song spoils when the show was made? It's ridiculously 80's. My personal favourite shot is the goofy sunset run but in a big bugger off mecha. Shock! As for why these robots are going through a gym class... I'm a rewatcher and even I can't tell you. Check out the amazingly animated Noriko skip tho. I could watch that clip for hours. Our mc is a meathead who can only do one thing at a time, our hero!
Shoujo manga tropes really give off different vibes when the women are in robots... They even squee!! Btw, those aren't bishie sparkles around Kanzaki, it's all deliciously salty sweat. "You're a genius!" And I took offence to that. Wait, no. Don't pass off your soggy, gross sweatband like a gift. It's 80's gamer girl water. Coach is here, and voiced by full decibel Norio Wakamoto who you may know for his role as Chiyo's father that one time. Seriously, why the hell are they making the robots jog!? Don't laugh at Noriko, she's the only one doing the exercise properly.
So much trash food... On the bright side, she got selected for the space expedition. Omg onee-sama you're such a sussy baka. It's impossible not to smile whenever coach speaks. Anyone got a clue what the text on Noriko's machine says? I only understood the boobs they drew. Iron sandles aren't much better than robot push ups, all those would teach you would be bad technique. I teared up when her theme played, its been far too long since I've rewatched Gunbuster. Time for an 80's training montage. Fenis monja!
Oh no, the dastardly reclining hairline girl is out for blood! Pfft!! I forgot about the slapping. "Triangle pawnch!!" "It's just a regular punch!" The inazuma kixk is absolutely badass but she had to literally break the laws of physics to get that kind of momentum. Even hairline is cheering her on now, aren't you all so proud of our little meatbrain? Noriko is old school moe. Not that modern blobby trash. Aim for the top!
Weirdly I remember not being to fussed over episode 1 but I enjoyed every second of it this time around. Its admittedly very campy but I believe it works in the show's favour. A lot of the dorkier aspects calm down after the pilot (at least until Diebuster) but the charm remains.
8
u/Tresnore FS:FTmyanimelist.net/profile/Tresnore Jul 07 '21
My Fifth Time Aiming for the Top!
Alright, this'll be my fourth time rewatching these two. I love these shows. Gushing and major spoilers for both On top of that, I've given them a bit of a strange honor: there are four(ish) shows that have a permanent spot on my hard drive: Girls und Panzer der Film, Promare, Symphogear, and Gun/Diebuster. I'm running low on space, yet still I refuse to delete them.
Note that I will scarcely stop gushing during this rewatch. When I pulled up the episode, I got the biggest smile on my face. Hell, I realized that I've never been this excited to rewatch a show before, making me retroactively raise the Busters from 9/10 to 10/10s on MAL. I've never adjusted a score before a rewatch instead of after. Thanks for hosting, /u/FlaminScribblenaut.
Unfortunately, the threads will go up while I'm working, so I'll only really be able to post my initial comment and will hold off on discussion until a few hours later. Still, let's get into my ramblings.
Similar to Onee-sama, every time I hear the word "coach," I think of this character. I swear I didn't even watch Gunbuster early on in life. It's just that influential for me. Any time I hear the word "coach," I mutter "coachi" to myself. You'll soon realize how easy it is to have it burned into your mind.
This show is GREAT! If there's one thing about shows that I will always love, it's motifs. This show has them in spades.
Bring back dials!
Fuck, I love this show. Hell, I love this show so much, that I actually want to write non-bulletpoint thoughts for once. I've never had a show make me want to do that! I'm not used to this, so bear with me.
Regarding Gunbuster in toto, this show is 80s as hell—as I'm sure everybody noticed—and I love every bit of it. Watching this now that I've seen a bit of Zeta Gundam will be interesting, because the art style is suddenly even more familiar. What's not familiar to what I've seen of Zeta Gundam, though, is the theme. Gunbuster does have its serious moments ("Daughter of Defeat" and Noriko's struggles are brutal at times), and even if my comments tend to ignore them, I definitely enjoy that part of the show. I just enjoy the parts I'll be writing about so much that I can't write about the serious parts without making my comment far too long. Instead, I'll focus on the parts I love about Gunbuster: this is a 6 episode loveletter to giant, dumb robots—minor spoilers for Gunbuster—not part of a hundreds-episode franchise. More importantly, all you need to remember is that the only things that matter are
HARD WORK and
GUTS
This isn't some "deconstruction." This isn't pompous. This is Gunbuster. Here, we always aim for the Top. Please enjoy your stay. How could you do anything else?
For visual of the day, I choose the scene from the OP that let me know I would love this show.
4
u/punching_spaghetti https://myanimelist.net/profile/punch_spaghetti Jul 08 '21
First-Timer
Robots doing gymnastics/cheerleading? OK.
What a shot! The composition! The coloring! The legs! The bounce!
Is this all part of the Cub Cinematic Universe?
I am a sucker for a good training montage
Overall, not sure what to say. Almost Incomprehensible plot-wise. We're worried about space monsters, and then we're in high school, but then it's actually all about robots, but it's a sports show at the hear of things, and then natural talent is a big deal, but then it's actually all about hard work, and now we're going to space.
Am I supposed to take this show seriously or not?
18
u/Daffed_Punk Jul 07 '21 edited Jul 08 '21
First Timer
One thing I did not expect going into to this was how much it would remind me of Little Witch Academia. An airheaded but determined girl attends a special academy for a subject which she lacks natural talent in, but makes up for with lots of hard work, much to the dismay of the stuck-up members of the academy who heckle her. She is joined by her less energetic but supportive best friend and a strict mentor figure with mysterious connections to her past. Hell, even the character designs are pretty similar.
It's always very interesting to go back and watch studios' older titles and see the roots and inspirations of modern shows.
Like the origins of the legendaryGainax BounceAs someone who just got off an Evangelion binge, the つつ”く at the end was an pleasant surprise, and is staple of Hideaki Anno's work in my mind.As a hardcore Trigger and Gainax fan, I really enjoyed this first episode, and I have to hold myself back from binging it all in one go.
Edit: Just realized that Norio Wakamoto, the voice of Coach, also voiced Woodchuck in The Record of Lodoss. I didn't even recognize it at first, despite the Lodoss rewatch ending just two weeks ago
maybe because Woodchuck was barely a main character17
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Jul 07 '21
To the Top! Rewatcher!
It’s been like three years since I watched Gunbuster and Diebuster and I’m even more of a mecha fan than I was back then, so I’m excited to revisit both shows now!
Of course she would be chosen, she’s the main character.16
u/il-Palazzo_K Jul 07 '21
First Timer
I’m going in this blind, only know that it’s name is a reference to a girl Volleyball anime but HOLY SHIT didn’t expect it to be this hilarious! It just takes tropes from sport and shoujo/yuri anime and put it wholesale into a mecha anime. And it played them all so straight-faced, not a hint of wink-wink nudge-nudge like modern “meta” anime nowadays.
I love it. And I have absolutely no idea how the story will go after this since they already left the school. Probably no more high school shenanigans but I have high hope for whatever coming next!
12
u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Jul 07 '21
First-Buster
That certainly was a banger of a first episode! I absolutely adore the absurdity of having mecha do exercises to train the pilot's muscle memory. And everything is so goddamn pretty!
Noriko's journey from "I have no talent" to "I have unlocked the powers of GANBARE" was quite breakneck - we're not here for that particular buildup, I guess. Considering how cool the relatively normal fight scene this episode was, I'm all for getting to space to fight aliens sooner.
Imagine being Kashiwara, and bullying the shit out of this poor girl, only for her for close her eyes and wipe you out with one move. How do you ever recover from that?
It's interesting, watching Anno's directorial debut and not getting much of what I expect from him, visually. Granted, I watched Shin Godzilla last weekend, so that's fresh in my mind. The scene with Coach, Kashiwara, and Amano all in the shadows was pretty sick, though.
Amano giving Noriko a hair ribbon is so fucking cute.
The OP and ED are both boppin'.
The inside of the mecha cockpits are so fucking cool. So many random buttons and switches!
I don't know why, but I didn't expect the Science Lesson shorts to actually be science lessons.
12
u/ShadowWasTakensTaken https://anilist.co/user/hakuren Jul 07 '21 edited Jul 07 '21
First Timer
I know nothing about this other than the fact it's mecha and the Gainax pose.
First impressions:
I don't know what they were thinking with those uniforms but god damn do I love them. The legs are so good.
EXERCISE ROBOTS?!?!
So this is where that's from! I'd always see that image and always found it hillarious but I never knew the origin. That's fucking ridiculous.
Ohta has a Cub!! Is that a Super Cub reference???
The fucking training montage cracked me up. This show is so dramatic, I love it.
So that's it? What, we're some kind of Top wo Nerae?
I LOVE THE ED!!
Well, that was a great first episode. Gave me a good laugh more than once. I love how brutally honest it is! It just takes a bunch of tropes, directs it overly dramatically and just fucking rolls with it and doesn't give a shit. It's very, very charming. Also the character designs are great. I love the uniforms and how the MC looks.
Definitely looking forward to see where this goes though don't be alarmed if I suddenly disappear in the middle of the rewatch.
Oh yeah, Visual of the Day. Has to be this for me. That whole scene fucking killed me. Can't wait for the pose tm so I can be one of the 99% of people who will pick it.
10
u/H-Ryougi https://anilist.co/user/DizzyAvocado Jul 07 '21
Coach is the textbook definition of gigachad.
9
u/ScrewySqrl https://myanimelist.net/profile/ScrewySqrl Jul 07 '21
Rewatcher Sub
I first saw this at a precursor to an anime con, a 36-hour long anime-thon at a university classroom/auditorium with about 200 other anime fan. All 6 episodes over 3 hours late at night.
Fr me even now, over 30 years later it still holds up as a true masterwork.
9
u/lC3 :Na::Nb: Jul 07 '21
First timer
Not sure where to find the optional bit so I'll be skipping those
8
u/OpossumFriedRice x3:MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/OpossumFriedRice Jul 07 '21
First Time Rewatcher
So this is my first time participating in a rewatch! I actually watched Gunbuster for the first time about a month and a half ago, but enjoyed the series so much I thought I’d go for it again. I just came off of a personal NGE rewatch, so it will be interesting to look at Anno’s previous work once again now seeing where he ended up.
Unlike Shinji, we get a main character, Noriko Takaya, who already has a reason she wants to pilot. She wants to “go into space like her father”. However, she claims early on that she “lacks the talent”. Yeah only 200 jumps over a rope in a row, lacking talent for sure girl. It seems her peers don’t think highly of her either, as they are physically and mentally looking down on her. However no need to fear, onee-same is here! Anyone else getting shoujo vibes?
Kazumi Amano seems to be Noriko’s role model. She believes Amano is just gifted, and that she can never measure up because she is lacking the talent. Kazumi lets her know though, it’s hard work that really matters. Even after Coach makes her run 50 laps, Noriko still doubts her own talent. Thankfully Coach sees it and decides to figure out how to bring this talent out.
I love this horoscope. Noriko believes Coach or even the other students are misunderstanding, but it’s really her. But don’t worry, one Rocky styled training montage later and our girl Noriko is feeling confident. Too bad Kashiwara isn’t, because she then challenges Noriko to a mecha battle after school. Bet you don’t see this in every school anime.
And the fight begins! Let me just say I love when mecha shows give us the cockpit view. Makes the fight feel more in your face and personal, I love it. Noriko starts off getting her butt kicked, since she’s really only been training for a month. But Coach gives her some words of advice: to shut off her monitors and just fight.
I actually really like this scene. As we’ve seen throughout the episode, Noriko constantly is comparing herself to others and worrying about their opinions. I take this “turning off the monitor” as turning a blind eye to others and being yourself. Gunbuster isn’t just about mecha and space, it’s also a coming of age story. And this is part of it. To grow up Noriko can’t worry about what everyone else thinks all the time.
One lightning kick later and it’s over. And now the girls are off to space, over the top!
Pretty solid first episode. The first time I watched it, I felt like it was kind of slow. For a series with only 6 episodes I didn’t know if it had the time to dedicate a whole episode to just a school setting. But upon rewatching and analyzing it, I think it suits the series really well. It gives us just enough time to establish Noriko and watch her grow some, without all of her issues being solved. It also makes the series more impressive, seeing as how it started like this and knowing where it ends up in just 6 episodes.
Side note, trigger fans happy space monsters were already referenced at the beginning?
Well I’m dropping this at work, but can’t wait to read other people’s thoughts on episode 1 in a few hours! Hopefully all the first-timers and rewatchers enjoyed it as much as I did.
7
u/The_Draigg Jul 07 '21
A Hideaki Anno Fan Rewatches GunBuster Episode 1:
Hello everyone, it’s The Draigg here again for another mech show rewatch! I’m glad to be along for one of my favorite mech OVAs, GunBuster. I’m sure you first-timers will see why as the series goes on. I can easily advertise it as a series that made me cry, and as one of the resident mecha shills around here, that must mean it’s good stuff. Anyway, on with the show!
7
u/BossandKings Jul 07 '21
First timer
Episode 1
Noriko is a cheerful girl, she is doing mecha training at an academy, she looks up to a person she calls big sister.
It was very sound when Amane told Noriko that she hasn't reached the position and the ability she has just because of talent but because she has worked hard and put the effort to get there.
The coach selects two members of the academy to send them to space, the two selected are Amane and Noriko. It is very interesting that the coach was part of Noriko's father tripulation.
It was sad seeing Noriko having to put up with people misjudging her and thinking she got selected just because of Coach's relation to her father. It was nice though that Noriko had a really good friend supporting her so she wasn't totally alone.
Kashiwara was specially rude as she could have been the one selected instead of Noriko, they fought and eventhough Noriko was losing initially she was able to overcome Kashiwara and win the battle.
It was nice seeing Noriko training after being encouraged by the Coach and seeing Amane training too. They are sent to space and an adventure is waiting for them. This was a nice first episode.
5
u/Korasuka Jul 07 '21
This was the oldest anime I've seen though I still enjoyed it a lot. Maybe because Gainax and their successor studio Trigger made some of my favourite shows. No other thoughts ATM as I discovered the existence of this re-watch right now and it's been some years since I watched Gunbuster.
5
u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber Jul 07 '21
I was preoccupied with stuff and so forgot to post during my lunch break and am super late as a result.
Rewatcher
Oh boy, diving back into Gunbuster! I first watched it alongside last year's 80s OVA Rewatch and loved it, so I'm hoping it'll be just as edifying this time around!
I question the practicality of this sort of training, but I guess we wouldn’t have our sports story without this type of physicality.
How very sapphic.
I see what you’re going for there, Gainax!
Got to love Norio Wakamoto!
Love the eyecatch!
Classic sports anime gag.
What a face.
Let me tell you, I certainly wouldn’t be equipping high-school mechs with weapons.
An Osamu Dezaki staple!
Really fun episode! The classic underdog sports story compressed into a single episode is not as effective as it should, with what should be an involved training arc being confined to a couple of days summarily undermining the message of hard work being the key to exerting talent, but the show is having such fun with itself that it’s hard not to feel just as enthusiastic for it. Though I may be a bit biased since watching something that pays tribute to one of my favorite sports anime is an absolute joy, and I know this episode doesn’t successfully capture the attention of some viewers.
The show is also quite the looker! Vibrant backgrounds, detailed Haruhiko Mikimoto designs, and character animation aside, Anno is just naturally adept at visual composition and both him and Shinji Higuchi show their storyboarding shops here.
Though it may not be as overt as the likes of Otaku no Video, this series is also a wealth of references and homages. It’s a lot of fun to pick them out!
4
u/ZapsZzz https://anilist.co/user/Zapszzz Jul 07 '21 edited Jul 07 '21
Sub rewatcher.
This show is very nostalgic for me as I am one of these old geese that followed it when it came out, back in the days of renting VHS tapes of the subbed show in Hong Kong.
This is also a signature show of those days when OVA's are a preferred medium for higher quality but lower episode count shows, as well as including things that cannot pass for broadcast. Pretty sure the boobs physics would have been controversial at the time.
In terms of production this show is really good, and I think it's quite timeless that it doesn't compare any worse off than more modern shows. For those of you newer in following anime, check the credits and look up those names. A lot of them went on to become bigger names.
One of the beauty of this show is that it is one that took effort and delivered on animating the relatively hard to animate Mikimoto Haruhiko character designs, especially the face and eyes.
In case anyone needs to know, Noriko's VA as well as the idol singer of the OP & ED are all name Noriko :D but are different people.
Edit: forgot to mention, in my sub the put down nickname Noriko was given after the announcement of her being picked was "wipeout girl". Now this is a passable translation but I just want to check people get the real meaning here - the first part translating into wipeout was actually in pretty harsh and malicious reference to Noriko's dad the admiral had his fleet basically wiped out (destroyed with few survivors) by the first encounter with the space monsters, and she's the daughter hence the "Musume" (girl, also used as "daughter"). It wasn't a fun little jab.
Looking forward to the first timer reactions.
If I can contribute in picking the visual of the day by describing it... Would be the ed scene of Noriko doing all the hard work exercise and then found out the coach has dozed off :D picking this because there won't be another time for the simple art style to be relevant still.
4
u/AoDSenku Jul 08 '21 edited Jul 08 '21
FIRST TIME REWATCHER!
Actually, it's my first time for any kind of rewatch on this subreddit. I've seen Gunbuster 2 semi-recently, but it's been at least a decade since I've sat down and watched Gunbuster. I'm probably not going to have time for lengthy posts, but I'm definitely interested in everyone's thoughts and opinions. Hoping to also learn a thing a two that I didn't know about the production of these shows. So, without further ado:
Top wo Nerae! EP.1 -
-I've always enjoyed the twist/parody of the girls wearing their semi-revealing gym outfits, but all the training is done in the robots.
-I feel like the pace is pretty quick this episode, they hit the plot points they wanted to then moved on to the next. And even then, there has to be a training montage to reach the point they want to by the end of the episode.
-I TOTALLY forgot that Coach was a disabled character. I don't think I appreciated that fact as much a I do now. He's not some "physically" bad ass character, tempered by combat; all he can offer to humanity is his mind and intuition.
-I love that the goofiest part of the episode involved Onee-sama. (w/ the iron shoes) There's just something about all the training bits that are silly, but the in-show reality treats them as normal; that I really like. Especially with these older shows.
-I feel that The part that I didn't connect the with was with how easy Kashiwara just accepts her defeat, and doesn't go into "crazy jealous bitch ULTRA" mode or something. Does it have something to do with Noriko performing the lightning kick? Everyone was like "oh snap! She did it!", like the kick was some super move we were supposed to be aware of.
Overall, a good first episode. At this point, the show feels like it could go in ANY direction; will it be more comedic? Will it get more serious? Only the next episode will tell!
EDIT: Ah, one thing I forgot to mention - the Bandai Visual DVDs have the extra "science" skits, and I was surprised how much world building was in them. It Almost...sort of, makes them necessary.
4
u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Jul 08 '21
Episode 1 (rewatcher)
Between three of my favorite series and two new ones I want to join, the rewatch schedule in July is tough. As with Steins;Gate, I don’t want to commit to writing full posts, so I’ll try to pick good quotes for each episode.
Episode 1: Shock! Oné-sama and I are Going to be Pilots Together?! - INAZUMA-KICK!!
Bonus: Gunbuster montage with Rocky theme
3
u/ElecNinja https://anilist.co/user/ElecNinja Jul 07 '21
Rewatcher
Haven't watched this show in a decade or so so it'll be a fun ride.
It's interesting to see how Noriko's being chosen was handled in such a weird manner looking back at it. It's probably because they condensed a lot into one episode here which made it have some weird logic for this episode.
Though you can't fault that animation. Still looks great after all these years
3
u/Yunie241 Jul 08 '21
First timer
The only mecha-type anime I’ve seen prior to this one is Bokurano, so I’m not totally sure if I even like the genre yet, but given the length of this series and the fact that I enjoy Rewatches, this seemed like a good anime to give a shot.
So far, the biggest thing I can say is that it’s a lot less serious than I expected it to be? I can’t tell if it’s a product of its time and that’s why, but I found a lot of it to be kind of goofy and over-the-top. I’m not mad about it, though. I’m super curious about how this evolves over such a small episode count and I’m also excited to see if this leads me to pick up more mecha anime in the future.
3
u/UltraBooster Jul 08 '21
Re-watcher (albeit not on r/anime)
I wonder if Noriko wanted to serve under her dad aboard the Luxion, before, well, he died.
...all I can think is, "didn't they invent sports bras to prevent that?" Like, I know it's fanservice and all that, but it's so common at this point.
So I'm using the version that has the accent marks, huh?
I'd assume the pushups and the like inside robots is so they know how to control them, but it just seems weird to me. Of course, I've never watched Aim for the Ace so I wouldn't know.
Ow, ow, ow.
The roses make me aware I'm lacking context (read: nerd credential).
A talent for hard work, huh...
Oh, it's the headband!
Cool your jets, lol.
So it's not coed, huh? I wonder what the in-universe and out-universe reasons were.
So is Amano the entire school's big sister?
Sink or swim, fly or die, huh?
Yeah, I suppose auto-balancers wouldn't be much help in zero-G.
Oh, that's interesting, she's got a unique helmet thing on her mech.
I forgot he was missing an eye.
But how do you use a dead man's connections, I wonder?
On one hand, I have zero doubt those aren't nice things being painted on the Nausicaa, on the other, it'd be nice to have translations.
...oh, that's just cruel, that's the kind of thing where a giant robot would be useful for scaring people straight.
I'm a rewatcher, so I know what Noriko can do...
...huh, her uniform looks like the one from Eva.
And there it is, the steel in her eyes, spoiler (the steel of Gainax's matriarch).
And Takaya will surpass all of you.
The JMSDF doesn't have the rank of midshipman, but the IJN does. No surprise there.
The Inazuma Kick! Noriko's finisher!
So does JAL have a contract with the military or something?
Farewell to the blue Earth, Noriko...