Rocket booster technology has also improved by leaps and bounds because earth's military is capable of traveling near light speed. One postulation of the theory of relativity is that as an object approaches the speed of light, time will slow down for that object and appear to speed up at its point of origin. Think of riding in a car on the highway. If a car were to be traveling at speed behind another car it will appear to someone in the car to be moving slowly; but to someone standing on the side of the road watching the approaching vehicles, they will both appear to be moving very quickly. The same idea applies in Gunbuster. Our heroines travel in space at incredible speeds, but, due to this "Rip Van Winkle" effect, months and even decades pass on earth while only hours or days pass for them.

Gunbuster seems at first like typical anime fare, but it quickly becomes evident that there is a special something about this story. To build credibility, actual scientific theories form its foundation. All Gunbuster images © Honne

So now that the formalities are out of the way, allow me to talk about the story a little. It begins with the introduction of Noriko and her father, who is an admiral in the earth's space fleet. What starts out as a cute tribute to her father turns into a sad memorial after he's killed in action while in space. Her father's death solidifies Noriko's resolve to go into space as a pilot herself. Jump to the year 2023. Noriko is a freshman at an all-girls high school that is designed to develop young women to become space pilots. At school, Noriko finds that, despite her physical aptitude, her mechanical skills are lacking. Not the most advantageous arrangement for an aspiring mech pilot. But she finds a mentor in upperclassman Kazumi (One-sama) and their coach, Coach Ohta. Eventually the three of them go into space to battle a powerful alien species that threatens to wipe out human existence. The only real defense that humanity has against these aliens is the power of the Buster Machines. After all, it would take some serious weaponry to be any good against an enemy that grows inside stars.

The writing in Gunbuster has held up well over time, even though it is almost 20 years old. The pacing of the series, however, is slightly dated.

Gunbuster has held up well over time and, although it is approaching close to 20 years in age, the writing is so good that its subject doesn't seem dated. What does slightly date this series is its pacing. The '80s gave the world parachute pants, new wave music, and the all-important montage. For those who are not in the know, a montage is a storytelling device consisting of multiple shots strung together that quickly spans a length of time. In the '80s it seemed that every movie released had to have a montage about training or getting dressed. Often big box-office movies had both. Occasionally Gunbuster suffers from the overuse of this plot device as the story tries to follow Noriko as she trains to become a better pilot. One thing that I found odd and rather funny was that most of the training in the mechs consisted of doing calisthenics while in the mech. I suppose that it is more interesting to watch robots doing jumping jacks than people sitting in simulators. Aside from these trifling complaints, Gunbuster's story is golden. Screenplay writer Toshio Okada skillfully interweaves plot elements of love, loss, and family to keep even the most cynical anime fan wanting to see what happens next. I suppose the argument could be made that it is too short and should have been longer, but that is only because the audience is left wanting more. The best special feature in this box set is a booklet that shows concept artwork as well as main character bios. And there is an episode breakdown that has commentary discussing interesting little facts and that goes behind the scenes of each episode.

The artwork for Gunbuster is totally outstanding. With almost exclusively hand-animated elements, the level of detail is mind numbing. There are some cheats but, for its time, I can't blame them. On the spaceships' panels, wires, pipes, even rivets are all drawn in. It probably took a week just to draw a single image; at 24 frames a second, the anime would never get finished before the studio went bankrupt. The figure motion studies are amazing. The character movement is so fluid and solid that I was in awe. Battle sequences are intense, with plenty of frantic tension and excellent editing. Some of the most interesting stuff happens in the cockpits. Unlike a lot of the Gundam and Macross animes where the pilot appears to be floating in a virtual environment, the Gunbuster pilots are surrounded by moving dials, gauges, and monitors. Combine that with all the flashing lights and creative use of lighting and the cockpit scenes become incredibly energetic. Be ready for a lot of fan service. There are plenty of courtesy breasts bouncing around and even a Sharon Stone leg-crossing scene in the bath. So parents should consider this fair warning.