Review: Gunbuster

Paul

Paul

Ghost of Animes
Administrator
Martin Butler has penned his thoughts on GAINAX's vintage (but often cited as a classic) anime OAV series Gunbuster. Gunbuster has had a UK DVD release (courtesy of Kiseki Films) but it apparently leaves a lot to be desired in terms of both audio and picture quality.<ul><span class=menu>"The character designs are likeable and the animation is of good quality for its age; the use of colour is one striking aspect. The final episode is filmed in black and white, which only adds to the emotional impact (or it could be due to Gainax's notorious habit of cutting corners to keep production costs down)."</span></ul><a href="http://www.animeuknews.net/viewreview.php?showreview=105">Read full review</a>.
 
I love GunBuster. Haven't watched it in ages, but might make a point of it tonight.

Regarding the black-and-white last epsiode, that's allegedly an homage to Japanese WWII movies (of which Hideaki Anno is a big fan), rather than a cost-saving effort.

And on the subject of an ADV/MVM re-release, I've heard that Manga Ent actually have the rights, but they don't seem to be in any hurry to reissue this one. Possibly some weird copyright issues in the way, or they could just be lazy.
 
I still have my original videos :D
I loved Kiseki, they were the first company to release anime in it's original form, Japanese language with subtitles!! and I think Plastic Little was the first one I owned!!
I think the problem with people today is they expect too much from a release just because it's on a DVD!
 
Miaka-chan said:
I loved Kiseki, they were the first company to release anime in it's original form, Japanese language with subtitles!!
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So how come some of there stuff is dub only then, hmm?
 
IanC said:
Miaka-chan said:
I loved Kiseki, they were the first company to release anime in it's original form, Japanese language with subtitles!!
Click to expand...
So how come some of there stuff is dub only then, hmm?
Click to expand...

If we're talking about the VHS days, companies would release both versions seperately. I remember having to check the back of the boxes to make sure what language I was getting.

With regards to Gunbuster, I've heard nothing but praise so this one is definently on my list.

Has anyone seen "Macross: Do you remember love?", this is another supposed classic stuck in license hell. Another one I'm eager to see too.
 
IanC said:
Miaka-chan said:
I loved Kiseki, they were the first company to release anime in it's original form, Japanese language with subtitles!!
Click to expand...
So how come some of there stuff is dub only then, hmm?
Click to expand...
I'm talking as far back as the late 1980's when the only stuff you could buy on VHS was dubs, there was no subtitled alternative for a long time!
Kiseki were the first people to release it subtitled and when did I say they never released a dub :? I think you've been spoiled with DVDs for too long :wink:

@Paul: Macross; Do you Remember Love is my favourite Macross, even though it wasn't very long, I just love that one :D (Still got my original video of that as well - classic!!).
 
I have to say that Gunbuster is very definitely a classic animé, but the current DVD release leaves a lot to be desired. The transfer is from a video (in one scene, you can literally see a tracking error go up the screen. I almost forgot I was watching a DVD), hard matted subs, and several scenes were cut differently.

But I still love the show. It starts off as being just another minor mecha animé spoof and by the sixth episode has progressed on to be something wholey more epic in scope.

Now if only we could get a decent release...
 
i wasn't sure whether i was judging the vid/sound quality too harshly, but six eps on one disc is good value for money either way! ;)
 
yeah, just the one disc with six eps on it. i've heard about a 'Gunbuster II' but i'm not sure if it's even out in Japan yet.
 
thanks. i actually sent the first, slightly shorter draft to Paul by mistake but didn't realise until i checked it here and wondered where the extra bits were. oh well. as for the sequel, i wasn't sure how good it was going to be. picking up a series fifteen or so years after its original release and probably not being able to use the same production team never sounded like a good idea to me.
 
Concrete badger said:
thanks. i actually sent the first, slightly shorter draft to Paul by mistake but didn't realise until i checked it here and wondered where the extra bits were. oh well.
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Sorry, it's actually my fault. I posted the review when at work and ran into a whole load of problems with my web-mail and MS Word so I picked up the older version. I've just re-posted your newer draft, so if anyone is interested, check it out.

With regards to Gunbuster 2, I saw the first episode on fansub too and I wasn't particularly impressed, but as Martin says in his review, the original Gunbuster starts out as a generic fan-servicey anime but develops into something more- I'm hoping the same thing will happen with GB2 as well.
 
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