Destroy All Podcasts DX Episode 133 - Aim for the Top! Gunbuster: The Movie

I have no complaints. Great show about a great OVA. I have the DVD for the full six episodes. Paid the full price ($65) and don't regret. Of course that was the ONLY Bandai Visual released anime I got from them.

Do you have a list as to what Gainax shows you're going to discuss?

Gunbuster probably has my favorite bittersweet ending, at least as far as anime goes. Yes, there are certainly better ones elsewhere (and for superior shows overall), but I personally like this one the most.

It managed to portray a convincing sense of sacrifice and loss without being utterly hopeless and depressing.

I wouldn't know about the movie, though I'm guessing most of it works out just fine, but the OVA series as a whole definitely pulled off an unlikely combination of derivative cheesiness and surprisingly effective character drama.

The fanservice? Meh, I can take it or leave it.

Anyway, you guys had a rather thorough discussion and it was nice to hear about the Aim for the Ace similarities. I was aware of the connections but haven't really had the chance to confirm them myself.

As for the use of black and white footage...I didn't mind it at all, even without being aware of what was being referenced. At the very least, I thought it made for a nice contrast when the color finally came back at the end.

. . .i dunno i just like robots!

I watched this during the 1-3am anime on the Sci-fi channel here in the UK times and I have to say the ending is one of them which has stuck with me because it is memorable. It is the sort of ending which makes you want to think about humanity on a whole and makes you imagine that it isn't actually all that bad.

I don't know if you knew this but in the Gunbuster verse, Japan won WWII. I think the booklet that came with DVD said that (may have been mentioned in the anime).

Excellent podcast! I haven't seen GUNBUSTER since I saw it 'raw' shortly after its original release, but it really impressed me. Once again, PodcastDX motivates me to go out an watch (or re-watch) something!

Good work, gang. I'm looking forward to the rest of your Gainax retrospective.

So other than being in 1080p, there's no real reason to see the movie version if you already seen the OVA?

There IS a torrent out there that has all six episodes when it was broadcasted in HD on the BS-i channel.

In a recent interview, the director admits that the time dilation plot has an autobiographical aspect - it's a metaphor for the otaku's increasing alienation from mainstream society.

The otaku watches his classmates getting married and becoming respectable salarymen, while he is stuck in adolescence ('stunted growth', as the podcast points out). It is only by venturing further and further into his obsession (i.e. making a hit anime) that he achieves happiness.

Thanks for making a smart and witty podcast on a pop culture classic.

This is one of those I should've seen a long time ago but never got around to doing so. I may have to check it out real soon! Aside from the DVD release by Bandai Visual's short lived US subsidiary, there had been the previous VHS releases by US Renditions (an early release too for March 1990 when the series was still fresh in people's minds) and Manga Video in the 90's if one had to go with that format.

It is a classic to be sure, but its parody of the giant robot genre causes "Aim for the Top!" to have some very over the top moments as well. Such as the robot larger than a spaceship having a cape it pulls out of nowhere. That silliness somewhat decreased my enjoyment of it.