Gunbuster/Diebuster

Just watched Gunbuster and Diebuster back to back with a friend. Was wondering what tropers thought of the two.

I have to agree with my friend that Gunbuster is certainly important from a historical standpoint. It introduces the themes of finding purpose in yourself and others when dealing with a harsh, uncaring or even outright hostile universe; themes that would be further expanding upon in the 90's and further deconstructed in Anno's later work with NGE.

That being said I personally found the series to be merely good, and honestly wasn't that emotionally invested in it. There are definitely a lot of moments that work there emotionally, but I really never was pulled that much into it. The mechas themselves were just okay for the most part to me, neither overly stupid or especially Real Robot, but just unmemorable for the most part. And the character drama, while definitely setting the groundwork for what was to come, seems more evolutionary than revolutionary when compared to say Mobile Suit Gundam. I definitely don't regret watching it but it just wasn't that superlative to me at least.

Diebuster, on the otherhand, was fucking adorable to me. I can certainly see why fans of the original would be really Ruined FOREVER about it, as someone who loves stuff like TTGL, FLCL and Rebuild, this thing was just amazing. Nono and Lark were just so adorable together, and the setting was just more energetic and engaging even though its all moving a bit too fast to digest whats happening. It just... really wormed its way into my heart in a way Gunbuster just didn't. Trying to say which one is objectively 'Better' would like trying to compare Gundam to TTGL, but to me Diebuster was definitely the one that left the most impact on me.

edited 5th Dec '11 1:44:34 PM by Scherzo09

Gunbuster is awesome.

Diebuster is poorly written crap with an annoying protagonist with an annoying voice shitty FLCL-esque style shitty mecha designs hurr durr -5 trillion degrees cold ice in space herp derp hard work and guts screw that I'm a super robot born to be awesome except I keep talking about hard work and guts lol random rape out of nowhere Diebuster more like Shitbuster amirite cancer killing anime.

edited 5th Dec '11 1:54:00 PM by Excelion

I'll give you that the rape thing was pretty forced, mainly because Nikalos had just been mainly setdressing throughout the show, but it wasn't bad enough to ruin the awesome expereince of it all.

Lol, nope.

If anything, I kinda wish Diebuster was a 12 episode animu like Madoka; given more time to set things up. Though I could go either way on the issue.

Also I kinda call bullshit on the last episode of Gunbuster being animated in Black and White to "enhance the drama". Its pretty obvious that Anno ran over budget, not gonna lie.

It actually costed more money for the black and white animation than for the colored stuff.

Yeah I read that on the Trope page, but I think they might have just had a surplus of color film to use on hand for it. The tone of the episode really doesn't change enough to warrant it going B&W, at least in my opinion, and a lot of the battle was still images and a chart showing the losses the fleet suffered that day.

Edit: Eh, apparently I'm wrong about it being money based. I don't really think the effect works on me to be honest, though, since everything is still framed as if it was in color.

edited 5th Dec '11 8:17:54 PM by Scherzo09

I kind of liked the black and white effect, but that's just me.

You know, while I really liked Gunbuster a lot, Diebuster seemed to lack a certain... something. I can't even really explain what I don't like about it, I feel like I should enjoy it, but I don't. It's kind of odd.

let's not forget that Gunbuster will be out in Blu-Ray next year,it's gonna be gorgeous(they already did with the Movie Edition,and even re-recorded all the voices,but this time they will release the unedited OV As in HD)

Well its definitely different. Honestly its rather understandable why fans of the original would be turned off by the show from the very first scene. I dunno how I'd feel if I were an uber Gunbuster fan coming into it; I dunno if I'd be upset if say a UC Gundam sequel was done in this style. But to me for how different it is in tone and setting, it shares many of the themes of Gunbuster and in my opinion realizes them better. Just emotionally resonated with me more. Plus the ending of Diebuster made Gunbuster's ending even better, imo.

Unrelated, but does anyone else get the feeling that Gunbuster/Diebuster is set in an Alternate History AU where Japan won World War II and conquered the world? Would explain all the Zeerust, why government stuff is referred to as Imperial, and why their capital is named Lunar Tokyo.

edited 6th Dec '11 10:17:07 AM by Scherzo09

and why we still have Soviet Union around...

...Gunbuster was made in 1988, three years before the USSR collapsed. Ever hear of The Great Politics Messup?

edited 7th Dec '11 6:10:22 PM by Scherzo09

I wonder how much Norio Wakamoto's voice had aged.

Rape is always handled with good taste in anime and never used in an exploitative way.

Well, isn't that the way it is in all media? Its one of those Oscar Bait things in America. I agree that absolutely nothing of value would be lost if it were cut, since the character kinda just set dressing for most of the show, and just felt forced to add to the Cerberus Syndrome of what was going on.

edited 8th Dec '11 8:10:58 AM by Scherzo09

I don't consider either superior. I believe they're two excellent versions of two very different approaches to mecha shows. Gunbuster is way more old-school and classic styled, whereas Diebuster, despite being very much a spiritual successor, is just more modern styled, with more action and style. I will say that I feel Gunbuster pulls off the deadly serious stuff better, though. In terms off sheer awesomeness, however, the climaxes to episode 4 and 6 of Diebuster are just amazing.

Well just personally, Diebuster's 'serious' moments, while lacking the grit so to speak of Gunbuster's, just were more emotionally impactful to me. Its true that just as in the case of NGE and Ro E, Diebuster simply could not exist without the former as a precondition, and also like NGE and Rebuild watching Gunbuster before Diebuster definitely gives a greater context for whats going on. I just feel that I just got a lot more out of Diebuster than I did of Gunbuster.

That being said, I totally imagined this playing at the end of Gunbuster:

[

W3LCOM3 HOM3!

;-;

On that note this also reminded me of the end:

Massive bump:

I love this theme, both vocal and non vocal: The Diebuster version isn't all that bad either.

In the middle of rewatching Diebuster for Christmas (It's a tradition for me and a friend); man it's as great as ever.

May I ask a question? I understand Diebuster is something of a Contested Sequel, but would anyone say that it has been Vindicated by History as the predecessor to Gurren Lagann?

I dunno, I think it's sadly been mostly forgotten. And that wouldn't win over the people who went "FLCL!? In my Mecha!? GTFO" anyways.

roll eyes