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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/diebuster7_5505.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:350:''[[ClarkesThirdLaw Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from]]'' ([[AnimeThemeSong Groovin]]') ''[[{{Pun}} magic]]''.]]
3
4''Aim for the Top 2! Diebuster'' (トップをねらえ 2! Diebuster -- ''Top wo Nerae 2! Diebuster'') is a six-volume OVA that serves as a sequel to ''Anime/GunBuster'', released from 2004 to 2006 as a [[MilestoneCelebration 20th anniversary]] project for Creator/StudioGainax. With director Creator/KazuyaTsurumaki at the helm, who also directed ''Anime/{{FLCL}}'', this series could easily be described as the love-child of the two series. While its source material is very story-centric, ''[=DieBuster=]'' maintains a strong overarching story while including more action and style that would set the groundwork for ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' three years later.
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6The OVA follows Nono, a rather klutzy girl who leaves home to try and become a Space Pilot. Unfortunately for her, she ends up in a run-down cafe in the middle of nowhere. One day, a girl named Lal'C Melk Mark, of the elite Topless units, amazes Nono by saving her from some Space Pilot perverts, and she immediately idolizes her. Nono follows her back to the city, where she ends up in the cross-fire of a space monster attack. Lal'C fights in her Buster Machine, Dix-Neuf, but it is actually Nono that saves the day, sans-mecha, with the classic Inazuma Kick. The story takes off with the realization that Nono is not all that she appears.
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8The plot revolves almost entirely around character interaction, with the overarching premise of the Space Monster attack serving as a motivating factor. Nono knows she comes from a lowly background, and even with her abilities she spends much of the next few episodes trying to prove herself. Lal'C has to come to grips with being the mentor to this bubbly girl, and slowly sees her personality shift as Nono's boundless optimism has an effect on her. Tycho, another Topless pilot, not only resents the other Topless because of an unfortunate event in her past, but even has suicidal tendencies. Finally, Nicola, an older Topless, engages in a scheme to try and keep his rapidly dwindling powers, with great consequences.
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10The parallels between ''Anime/GunBuster'' and ''[=DieBuster=]'' are readily apparent. Both series focus on two girls - one, a hyperactive girl with natural talent but no actual skill; the other, a more stoic figure, a veteran of training, and the one person her compatriot idolizes. Both stories revolve around human emotion and the draining effect a drawn-out war can have on the combatants and their relationships. They both idealize the principle, common to the SuperRobot genre, that with hard work and determination, and ThePowerOfFriendship, anything is possible. Finally, they also realize, rather poignantly, that even with incredible power, [[PyrrhicVictory sacrifices must be made]]. The duology is a testament to the Mecha genre and a celebration of everything Creator/StudioGainax had done up to that point, and should definitely be watched by any anime fan.
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12''[=DieBuster=]'' was released in the US by Creator/DiscotekMedia under the name ''[=GunBuster=] 2''.
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14----
15!!Tropes appearing include, but are not limited to:
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17* AbsurdlySharpBlade: [[spoiler:Or Absurdly Sharp Buster Beam, as the case may be.]]
18* AllThereInTheManual: The series rarely stops to explain its background information. That job was given to the website so fans had something consistently updated to look at between OVA releases. Unfortunately, things like its [[http://www.top2.jp/special_gnn0503.html countless entries on the setting]] were [[Main/NoExportForYou left untranslated.]]
19* ArcWords: Nono wishes to become "a Nonoriri." [[spoiler:It's actually "like Nonoriri".]]
20** This is rather significant because [[spoiler:"Nonoriri" is a bastardization of "Noriko", the protagonist from ''Anime/GunBuster'']].
21** "[[spoiler:Welcome Bacʞ]]."
22* ArtificialHuman: [[spoiler:Nono]] is revealed to be a robot at the end of the first episode and another [[spoiler:ordinary]] one shows up as a naval advisor (this one male). Mass produced models are seen as security guards.
23* ArtisticLicensePhysics: {{Justified|Trope}} by having a very literal device called Physical Canceller.
24* AscendedFanboy: InUniverse example with Nono. She admires Noriko and wanted to become a Topless. Becomes Lal'C's best friend pretty quickly, helping her. [[spoiler: She even tried to sacrifice herself to save the Earth like Noriko did. The difference is, while Noriko survived, [[HeroicSacrifice Nono didn't have the same luck]]]].
25* AttemptedRape: [[spoiler:Nicola tries to rape Nono in episode 5.]]
26* BackStory: A few short ones. Guess [[http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/541/171top2.jpg who]] used to be a {{Meganekko}}?
27* BadassAdorable: Nono.
28* BadassArmFold: Diebuster [[spoiler:and Buster Machine No. 7]]
29* BadassLongcoat: Buster Machine No. 19, Dix-Neuf.
30* BeamSpam: The Space Force battleships in episode 2.
31* BeyondTheImpossible
32** Tycho's Quatre-Vingt-Dix can reach to trillions of degrees below absolute zero temperatures. To those familiar with the concept of absolute zero, you can't go lower than it and it's the state ''in which all motion in matter stops moving''. Yet Tycho uses this to freeze a bunch of space monsters and subsequently destroys them soon afterward with a Buster Smash.
33*** The focus for the attack also makes her [[{{Telepathy}} telepathy]] run wild, making momentary contact with a [[ChildhoodFriends childhood friend]]. [[LoveTranscendsSpacetime Years in the past on another planet]].
34** In episode 5, we find out that [[spoiler:The last space monster is trapped in a black hole, and is attempting to break out of it. Not only does it succeed despite Nono's best efforts, but it OVERCOMES the black hole in size and uses it as its POWER SOURCE. Note that the black hole is the one created in ''Anime/GunBuster'' with the self-destruction of the Excelion.]]
35** In the final battle in episode 6, [[spoiler:Lal'c and Nono not only obliterate the space monster, which had taken a planet to the face and shook it off as if nothing happened, but they also CRACK a black hole.]]
36** Summed up nicely with this line: [[spoiler:The black hole is splitting....that's not allowed in this universe..."]]
37** Makes sense for this trope to be so prominent when the [[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann anime]] that comes directly after this is the TropeNamer.
38* {{BFS}}: Buster Machine No. 27, Vingt-Sept.
39* BigDamnHeroes: The ending of episode 4.
40* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler: Nicola is revealed to be this judging from Lal'C's verbal beatdown on him in Episode 5 after his AttemptedRape of Nono.]]
41* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Nono [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices]] herself to save Earth. She never meets her idol, [[Anime/GunBuster Noriko]], who 10 years later, finally returns to Earth [[TheSlowPath after travelling through space for 12,000 years]]. Lal'C watches from a hill, remembering how much it meant to Nono.]]
42* BirdRun: Done by Nono in Episode 3.
43* BrokenPedestal: [[spoiler: Nicola to Lal'C during Episode 5.]]
44* CallingYourAttacks: INAZUMA KICK!!
45* ChekhovsGun: Lal'C complaining that it's too cold, the air is too thin and there are no seabirds is an early hint that the first episode takes place on terraformed Mars, not Earth.
46* ChekhovsSkill: In the first episode, Nono mentions, almost as a joke, that she's good at splitting things in half when she breaks a plate and an apple with absolutely no effort. This is almost immediately forgotten until [[spoiler:the fourth episode where she bisects Saturn's moon Titan and in the final episode where she uses the same power to destroy a black hole.]] The 3rd eye-patch also instantly splits in half and falls off of Nono's forehead when Lal'C applied one to see if Nono could become Topless in episode 1.
47* ComingOfAgeStory: Though the cast is on the brink of adulthood, the Topless's world is filled with numerous references to childhood. Their power involves [[RealityWarper bending the world]] to some degree and growing up means losing it, heavily coupling things with GrowingUpSucks.
48** A lot of equipment resembles toys and candy. Mostly [[WriteWhatYouKNow dated ones]]. Vingt-Sept [[PlayfulHacker hijacks]] and [[RealityWarper warps]] other machines through old RC car remotes mashed with giant speakers. Quatre-Vingt-Dix comes packaged like an action figure. The Mega Nebula colony Lal'C's team lives in is shaped like an obscure Japanese candy in its wrapping.
49** The grownups get most of the busy work and look at the Topless with envy or spite. Most notable is Casio, a depressing depiction of someone who failed to leave childhood. There's even side material of when he was the thin, crass pilot of Dix-Neuf to rub it in.
50** Dix-Neuf is decked out like a teenage ruffian [[spoiler:but sheds the frivolous decor to reveal a mature, clean-shaven appearance before [[HeroicResolve heading to his death.]]]]
51* ColonyDrop: As a desperate measure, the humans wanted to [[spoiler:drop the entire planet Earth at the space monster, but, luckily, Nono had another solution.]]
52* ContinuityNod: Both girls make themselves [[{{Pun}} Topless]] like Noriko does during Gunbuster's final episode as bookends: Nono does it in episode 1, [[spoiler:and Lal'C does it in episode 6, after taking in a degeneracy engine.]] They both precede [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome Inazuma Kicks]].
53** What became of the flagships in ''Anime/GunBuster''.
54** Gunbuster's 5th omake explained the generations of space vessel technology. Buster Machines 1 & 2 and the Exelion were 4th gen, utilizing black holes and ether waves for warp travel. Buster Machine 3 and the Eltreum being 5th gen, rewriting physics for propulsion. A certain 6th generation interstellar cruising device [[LensmanArmsRace further refined the last one]] for [[RealityWarper wider application]].
55** The numbering of one Buster Machine and mankind's current predicament imply the little known [[CutShort manga sequel]] to Gunbuster is canon. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d by the [[WordOfGod creators]]. [[spoiler:The manga featured three new Buster Machines, bringing the number before Nono to 6. They battled an enemy [[CosmicHorrorStory more than scary]] enough to drain mankind's resources and/or frighten it into curling up in its solar system.]]
56** And, at the end... [[spoiler: WELCOME HOMЭ.]]
57* CreepyTwins: The Serpentine Twins.
58* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Nono is happy, friendly and goofy most of the time. When she ''stops'' being happy, friendly and goofy, [[spoiler:property values on [[EarthShatteringKaboom Titan]] start falling in a hurry. ]]
59* CurbStompBattle: [[spoiler:Episode 4, when the Variable Gravity Well awakens and mops the floor with the assembled Topless and their Buster Machines]]...and then again when [[spoiler:Nono merely uses it to punctuate her [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome speech]].]]
60* DistantFinale: Ten years later. There's a moment of realization about halfway through that may be the series's finest moment.
61* EarthShatteringKaboom: Occurs at the end of Episode 4.
62* EmpathicWeapon: The Buster Machines.
63* EnergyBall: Quatre-Vingt-Dix's (No. 90's) Buster Smash fires energy tennis balls from a racket!
64** In episode 4 [[spoiler:Nono uses one to warp. It's actually a micro black hole; [[FridgeLogic having no degeneracy reactor]], she creates one outside her body whenever she needs one]].
65* {{Expy}}: The two protagonists are clearly based off their precursors in ''Gunbuster''.
66** The captain in episode 2 is based off Amarao from FLCL.
67* FanService: It's Gainax. Enough said.
68* ForeShadowing: "The only thing I'm good at is splitting things". [[spoiler:She probably wasn't thinking about ''black holes''.]]
69* GenkiGirl: Nono.
70* GratuitousFrench: The Buster Machines are numbered in French, and use the Vigesimal numeric system.
71* GrowingUpSucks: The Topless lose their powers after adolescence.
72* HeroicBSOD: Everybody who isn't Nono has at least one.
73* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Nono sacrifices her life to get rid of the black hole created by the climactic battle.]]
74* HourglassPlot: Their attitudes don't shift much, but [[spoiler:Nono goes from minor curiosity allowed to tag along with Fraternity to humanity's one hope for survival as Lal'C goes from being the most elite of the elite to ''a girl with a disease'']].
75** One thing that stays consistent is Nono's [[BecomeARealBoy desire to be human]], but the reasons behind it change. At first she's CursedWithAwesome as being an advanced, durable android has the drawback of not letting her become a Topless. Later, she is [[spoiler:BlessedWithSuck as she makes the Topless obsolete, is looked at with [[GreenEyedMonster jealousy and spite]], and her responsibilities of protecting humanity drives other schisms between them. Whether it is inaccessible or she is [[PhysicalGod flung far beyond it]], she doesn't get to aim for the top like her idol.]]
76* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Nicola and Lal'C.
77* HumongousMecha: Puts Gunbuster to ''shame''.
78* IAteWhat: [[spoiler: Nicola gags when he realizes that the meat that the Serpentine Sisters had been feeding him to slow the loss of his Topless powers came from the [[EldritchAbomination Eternal Topless]].]]
79* IdiotHair: Nono has an ''epic'' ahoge. (It only gets more so when she's in [[spoiler:Buster Machine 7 mode, with her using it as a way to do gestures while doing the [[BadassArmfold Gunbuster pose]]!]].)
80* InformedAbility: The cast has had traits including their hobbies and favorite foods listed online since the series began. Some, like Lal'C's love of cocoa and Nicola's action figure collection, would appear in side material. Why Nono likes Japanese food would come up in the main series. It's still played for laughs on the side, since she does not know [[AmnesiacDissonance or remember]] how [[GratuitousJapanese any of it works]], making it a [[CloudCuckooLander strange hobby]].
81* ItMakesSenseInContext: The term Topless sounds rather suggestive, but it does make a degree of sense. The powers disappear when someone reaches the peak of their growth, and the [[LostInTranslation Japanese phrase]] for 'expire' works as a pun for 'reaching the top.' When [[spoiler:Lal'C reaches hers, she overcomes the devastation to bring back the original's theme of actually [[TitleDrop aiming for the top]].]]
82* LatexSpaceSuit: Averted for most vacuum workers, but played pretty straight for the Topless.
83* LegendaryInTheSequel: [[spoiler:The mystery behind the term "Nonoriri" is that Nono is referring to Noriko from ''Anime/GunBuster'', the legendary hero from centuries before.]]
84* LittleMissBadass: Nono sees herself as one, befitting her wish to be like "Nonoriri".
85* LookWhatICanDoNow: [[spoiler:Nono as Buster Machine No. 7]].
86%% * LostInTranslation: Several jokes and references to the original got lost. This might border on a [[BlindIdiotTranslation bad translation]].
87* LostTechnology: Warp technology was purposefully suppressed thousands of years before, when humanity stopped trying to explore the galaxy. Then, of course, there's [[spoiler:Nono]].
88* MacrossMissileMassacre
89* MassOhCrap: ''Three in a row'' in episode 4. First when [[spoiler:the Titan Variable Gravity Well starts annihilating the Space Monsters in orbit]]... then when [[spoiler:it shoots '''through the planet''' to hit those in orbit over the other side]]... and finally when [[spoiler:it starts indiscriminately killing the Topless as well]].
90* MoreDakka: One of the Topless Buster Machines has that as a basic weapon
91* MeaningfulName: Nono, which has the same root as her ambition, "Nonoriri" It also sounds a bit like [[spoiler:[[SevenIsNana Nana]]]].
92** Also a LineOfSightName: sort of. Nono is the named after the first things she said when she was found by an asteroid prospector: No no ri ri. [[spoiler:Well, actually "No...no...ri...ri...'''ko'''."]]
93** The Topless struggling with running out of time are named after watches. [[spoiler:''Casio'', Captain ''Hattori Seiko'', Nicola ''Vacheron Constantin'', ''Jaeger [=LeCoultre=]'', and ''Piaget''.]] The luxury brands also point to their higher social status.
94* MythologyGag: The music-box tune that plays when Lal'C tells Nono about birds is "Active Heart", the opening theme from the original ''Anime/GunBuster''. Nono hums the same song when she discovers the skeleton of Buster Machine Vingt-Dix.
95* NippleAndDimed: When Nono takes the name TOPLESS too literally.
96* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler:Nono, per word of god. She went [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence "beyond time"]] and may return some day. The vision she shares with Lal'C before she vanishes might or might not be a memory from their future reunion.]]
97* OhCrap: Lal'C's reaction when Dix-Neuf tells her [[spoiler:what the Titan Variable Gravity Well [[EldritchAbomination really is]]]].
98-->"...eh? A... 'real' [[spoiler:Space Monster]]?! Then what the hell have we been fighting all this time?!"
99* OneeSama: Lal'C's position with Nono.
100* PassingTheTorch: With a side of {{Meta}}. [[spoiler:Nono is the SupportingProtagonist for most of the series until she becomes the [[BigGood strongest of the good guys]]. But she is elevated to a [[PhysicalGod godly status]] very different from her own [[TheHero ideal]]. She ends up leaving the battlefield ''and'' her role. Lal'C is grudgingly stuck as the protagonist in the last episode as she takes up the role Nono always wanted.]]
101* ThePowerOfFriendship: The eventual resolution to the series.
102* RammingAlwaysWorks: They try to pull this off with [[spoiler:''the planet Earth'']].
103* RealityWarper: All major combatants, to a mild degree. Used to [[HandWave "explain"]] the RuleOfCool in battles.
104** Aside from functioning as a generator, the [[PsychicPowers Topless' abilities]] let them [[AllThereInTheManual distort the laws of physics]]. It is dangerous and unpredictable, [[AllThereInTheManual even to the user]], to the point of needing to be sealed for daily life. The reaction of the Buster Corps implies [[spoiler:the real Space Monsters themselves have such abilities]].
105** [[spoiler:[[SuperPrototype Buster Machine 7]]]] is a relic from the old LensmanArmsRace, able to rewrite nearby matter and physics to the point of creating and controlling micro black holes. Effective range prevents it from being used directly on something the size of a Space Monster, however. Someone ''clearly'' forgot to tell Nono.
106* RedBaron: Lal'C, the "Curve Breaker". [[spoiler:And later, the "Mover of Planets".]]
107* RidiculouslyHumanRobot [[RobotGirl Girl]] - Nono, who doesn't display a single remotely "robotic" characteristic until the end of Episode 4. On the other hand she [[BatmanCanBreatheInSpace can breathe in space]] and [[ConvectionSchmonvection not suffer burns]] from a rocket blasting off. Then there's the mechanical light in her eyes when she [[spoiler:unknowingly commands the first monster to take her out to space.]]
108* RoseHairedSweetie: Nono fits the bill perfectly as a bright and cheery NiceGirl with long pink hair.
109* SceneryPorn: The backgrounds tend to be scenic, detailed, brightly colored, or some combination of these.
110* SelfParody: A drama CD track gathers up the voice actors from ''[=DieBuster=]'' and ''Anime/GunBuster'' to have them make a mock trailer for a {{troperrific}}, FakeCrossOver of the two. Or [[TheyPlottedAPerfectlyGoodWaste at least the audio of it]]. Narrated by [[Creator/NorioWakamoto Coach]]. Rather than be faithful to either, it brings in things like the unimplemented Buster Homerun and [[EnsembleDarkhorse made up kaiju]] on the old ''Anime/GunBuster'' soundtrack cover with [[AffectionateParody even more ridiculous]] [[CallingYourAttacks shouted attacks]]. Sure, we got the movie that showed the [[AdaptationDistillation distilled versions]] side by side, but imagine if they made this [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin literal]] ''[=GunBuster=]'' vs ''[=DieBuster=]'' instead.
111** Creator/MaayaSakamoto refuses to do character songs. So when Nono giddily plays ''Fly High'' to do a karaoke duet with Lal'C, she grumpily refuses to sing her side the entire time.
112* SerialEscalation: Every episode goes for bigger fights with bigger stakes than the one before.
113* ShoutOut: Gainax loves to self reference. Being a 20th Anniversary MilestoneCelebration, this works even more.
114** Dix-Neuf's old war wounds parallel the [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Eva-01]]'s major injuries. [[spoiler:Spike through the right eye going out the back of the head from Sachiel, lost left arm complete with grafted replacement from Zeruel. While not an injury Dix-Neuf replaces his Collapsing Generator by tearing it out of another and absorbing it into himself, like an S2 Organ.]]
115*** There's one to ''End of Evangelion'' in the final episode, [[spoiler:When Lal'C and Nono are pulled into the Singularity. Nono takes Lal'C's hand and shoves it through her right breast, a la Gendo starting Instrumentality with Rei. Luckily, nobody turns into Tang; it's a gift of Nono's singularity, in the form of a paper crane.]]
116** Many elements from Anime/{{FLCL}} show up again.
117*** Aside from the surface resemblance to Kitsurubami, Lal'C has the power to transport objects using her head much like the N.O. Channel. By episode 5 she can [[spoiler:grab entire heavenly bodies as Atomsk was rumored to.]]
118*** The above mentioned expy of Amarao.
119*** Lal'C's CoolBike is reminiscent of Haruko's Vespa. The similar riding clothes help too. There's a scene in episode 5 where it won't start, which is straight out of the ending credits.
120*** The Fraternity may very well be the same mysterious organization from FLCL.
121*** The first episode features Nono's clothes getting caught on a HumongousMecha and dragged into the middle of a giant robot fight due to it. The same thing happens to Naota in FLCL's first episode, but he doesn't get dragged into orbit.
122*** The Topless are so-named because their [[AllThereInTheManual brains disappear from this reality while using their abilities]]. So it basically is the N.O. Channel ability spread to the rest of humanity.
123** A notable non-Gainax reference involves [[spoiler:Nono slicing Titan in half with her Buster Beam]], similar to episode 38 of ''Anime/SpaceRunawayIdeon''.
124* SkyscraperMessages: [[spoiler:The entire ''planet'' is shut down then lit up to give our heroines a warm welcome back after ''ten thousand'' years.]]
125%% * SpaceOpera
126* StandardSnippet: Before battles a mash-up of "Music/AlsoSprachZarathustra" and the tune played in ''Anime/GunBuster'' in those scenes is played.
127* SuperPrototype: Each Buster Machine is unique and powerful, but [[spoiler:Buster Machine 7]] stands out as the oldest and most powerful in this series. The previous model [[CutShort lost in series mythos]] may have been even stronger.
128** Subverted in the last episode. [[spoiler: Nono's full complete form struggles to even injure the final Space Monster. Then, Lal'C implants a new engine into Dix-Neuf, revealing its [[SuperMode true form]], Buster Machine #19. While the scene suggests that it's Nono and Lal'C working together that defeats the Space Monster, Nono was unable to scratch it only moments before. This suggests that Buster Machine #19 is so powerful that it defeated the Space Monster in a single attack, showing that it's a vast improvement over Buster Machine #7.]]
129* SuperRobot: Buster Machines are now semi-mass-produced, and No. 7's final form is an extreme instance of this trope.
130* TechnicolorEyes: Nono has starburst-shaped pupils, [[spoiler:possibly hinting at her non-human nature.]]
131* TheFuture: [[spoiler:About ''12,000 years'' after the events of ''[=GunBuster=]''. The endings line up, though.]]
132* TheReveal: In addition to the Wham below...what does "Nonoriri" actually mean? [[spoiler:Try "who"]]: [[spoiler:Noriko Takaya herself]].
133** The final scenes of the anime reveal that this entire ordeal [[spoiler: took place before the end of the original [=GunBuster=], and ends at the same moment too]].
134* TheSingularity: [[spoiler:Back in Gunbuster. Nowadays, the solar system is backwater and doesn't even know it. Or just why it's even isolated from the rest of the galaxy. It does not help that its AI defense system was lost due to a slight malfunction. Some of it might be due to the previous generation honestly thinking the information [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow should not be passed on]].]]
135* TitleDrop: In the final episode. [[spoiler:Except the title mecha doesn't [[CurbStompBattle succeed at]] [[MoodWhiplash what it was meant for]]]].
136* UnrealisticBlackHole: Containing a monster? Being split in half? But hey, at least they admit that the laws of physics are being thrown out the window.
137* WhamLine: At the end of the last episode, Lal'C is talking as if to Nono, only to say that she's been looking forward to that night, and how she's looking forward to meeting someone, before she drops the line that reveals exactly '''''what''''' night it is...
138--> '''''Lal'C:''''' "''After all, the legendary girl you always looked up to, Nonoriri is coming home'' '''''tonight.'''''"
139* WhamEpisode: Episode 4 turns ''everything'' on its head. The Topless [[spoiler:are actually the first stage of humanity's evolution into Space Monsters]]. The Space Monsters [[spoiler:or what were thought to be Space Monsters are actually the ''good guys'', an automated defense system currently lacking their central control unit that mistook the Topless for Space Monsters]]. The Variable Gravity Well [[spoiler:is actually a ''real'' Space Monster, i.e. from ''[=GunBuster=]'', and is ''comically'' out of the Topless Fraternity's league]]. And Nono [[spoiler:is not just some android -- she's Buster Machine No. 7, ''the most powerful fighting machine in existence'']].
140** The Space Monster in the first episode was [[spoiler:obeying Nono when she shouted she would [[BluntMetaphorsTrauma go out into space]].]]
141* YouDontLookLikeYou: The Space Monsters now sport a sleeker, techno-organic design aesthetic compared to the grotesque, wholly organic one they had in ''[=GunBuster=]''. While this could be explained by the general [[ArtShiftedSequel change in art style]], it's actually [[JustifiedTrope justified]] InUniverse by the fact that [[spoiler: those so-call "Space Monsters" are actually units of the Buster Legion]]. The [[spoiler: ''actual'']] Space Monsters resemble the ''[=GunBuster=]'' ones far more closely.

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