What are you Watching?

[llj]

The Fate series and the Shana series are shows that you watch when you have nothing better to do. Fate/Stay might have surprised me in being a little more substantial than I was expecting, but at the end of the day, it's still about a bunch of stereotypical characters running through a ridiculously video gamey narrative. I'm 4 episodes into Shana II and I'm already reminded of all the stuff that annoyed the hell out of me in season 1. I may not even want to finish season 2.


Project A-Ko is an animator's anime. It's what happens when you get some of the most talented animators in the industry and let them go wild. Really fun to watch. It's a shame that no film prints are seemingly left to restore. They've basically been using old laserdisc materials for the subsequent DVD releases. Sometimes Japan does a poor job of maintaining their old films. It's atrocious that one of the most successful anime films of all time doesn't have an existing film print left. Maybe some selfish otaku has a 35 mm print stashed away somewhere, but until someone out there agrees to let a personal copy go, we're left with 3rd or 4th generation source material. The Discotek is the best DVD version out there I supposed, but it's been DNR'd to the nth degree. Some of the more subtle linework has been lost, and colors seem to bleed.

I popped Gunbuster 2 into my ol' DVD player last night. The first episode is very silly. Visually, it's quite beautiful at times, but we're starting at an even sillier beginning than Gunbuster 1's. Very cartoony looking animation and lots of visual gags, like FLCL. Still, it's got a plucky go-getter heroine, an aloof veteran "older sister" and a giant robot battle at the end. It's goofy, but the basic skeleton is still there when it comes to having most of the classic Gunbuster elements. Curious to see how it all plays out.

[greg]

My daughter has pinkeye, so I had to take the day off. I just finished watching the Crusher Joe movie. It's pretty awesome, over 2 hours long. It's great space opera sci fi action. They just don't make anime like this anymore.

It's fun seeing the Dirty Pair cameo at the drive-in movie theater. The art designer for Crusher Joe also did the designs for Gundam and the Dirty Pair novels. The DP that appear at the movie at the drive-in is the DP from the novels, not the anime TV series. They even use the "bloody card" weapon from the novels.

[_D_]

Starting on the "D" section of the DVD ripping project. There might be something in here for me to watch at long last like Deathnote the series or DBGT or even the DBZ movies.

[llj]

Finished Diebuster/Gunbuster 2. First off, those people online who are claiming that it isn't a sequel to Gunbuster or that it is only a "spiritual" successor to Gunbuster are WRONG. It IS a sequel to Gunbuster through and through. It takes place in the same world...although the connections to the original Gunbuster aren't apparent until the final two episodes. And the final scene in the last episode would have no meaning to you if you've never seen the original Gunbuster.

But is it good? Well...it's a mixed bag. First off, this show is one of the prettiest OVAs ever made. The animation and color design...eye popping stuff. But the story lacks suspense and the emotional moments aren't as well-earned as the original Gunbuster. They try to create a sisterly relationship here similar to Noriko and Kazumi's...but it just doesn't work. There's not a whole lot of development here. When the tears are flowing in the last episode, you're more likely to go "huh?" than tear up because the show doesn't devote a whole lot of time towards developing the girls' relationship. In fact, they spend most of the story in individual scenes rather than together. The Jung Freud stand-in seemed tacked on. I remember by the end of Gunbuster, you got a sense that these three girls had gotten very tight by episode 6, so when Noriko and Kazumi prepare to sacrifice themselves for humanity by potentially flinging themselves thousands of years into the future, you feel Freud's pain when she realizes she won't see them ever again. No such moment exists in Gunbuster 2.

The pacing and passage of time feels off too. Gunbuster 1 was the same number of episodes--six--but it feels like a pretty large story was told, akin to a short novel. Gunbuster 2 is more like reading a 30 page comic book despite being the same overall length as Gunbuster 1. It feels like a lot less happens overall, and the Big Finale literally seems to come out of nowhere. There's no suspense, no build up to the "big" moments. They just happen, and all the eye candy and grandiose animation work can't disguise the fact that there's not enough to be emotionally invested in these moments. Yes, the final episode DOES have touching moments, but they're built on the backbone of referencing and connecting to the the original Gunbuster, rather than the show's own strengths.

One other thing-- you can see the seeds of Gurren Lagann in Gunbuster 2's big finale. But even Gurren Lagann had more emotional heft because you're fully invested in the fates of the characters after 26 episodes or so. The big moments are built up better in GL so that they don't seem as "random"...they're more like an escalating series of "How can we top THIS?" In Gunbuster 2, characters start moving planets and ripping open black holes almost casually and without build up.

Still, despite all the gripes, I do think it's worth a watch for fans of the original Gunbuster. It's like a Robert Rodriguez movie--fun, well made, but generally unsubstantial and full of empty calories. You watch the thing and enjoy the visual spectacle but forget it the moment you pop it out of your DVD player.

[kndy]

I re-watched Project A-ko and Black Magic M-66 recently since I bought the new releases for them.

Black Magic M-66 is great mainly for how effectively it portrays the creepy, unstoppable killer robots. Their inhuman movements are so well choreographed! This OAV is short with a very simple plot, which some people don't have the sense to realize is a good thing. I talked a couple non-anime fans into watching it with me, and their main problem with it was "why would the guy who built the robots program them to kill his granddaughter?"

I think that "Black Magic M-66" needs to be redone...mainly because Shirow has always said it was his first film and it's the first film where he learned he pissed off his staff because he didn't have experience in the animation industry at the time. He learned a big lesson from making it but learned through the process of how anime and its staff work. I think if given the opportunity, it would be interesting of how he would redo it.

Currently watching "Another"....Man that horror anime is creepy!

[greg]

Thanks, Ilj. Everything I read about Gunbuster 2 from respectable sources tells me that the show is not worth a purchase. It seems that Gunbuster 2 is just a product of the current generation of anime, fluff over substance, and it fails to grasp what is truly great about anime (or how great anime used to be).

[SignOfZeta]

Thanks, Ilj. Everything I read about Gunbuster 2 from respectable sources tells me that the show is not worth a purchase. It seems that Gunbuster 2 is just a product of the current generation of anime, fluff over substance, and it fails to grasp what is truly great about anime (or how great anime used to be).

As a HUGE fan of Aim for the Top, and a true hater of modern anime, I have to disagree. Daibuster is no Gunbuster, but it's very good. It does have cheesecake...but the cheesecake in Gunbuster was pretty heavy too, for 1988 anyway.

My daughter has pinkeye, so I had to take the day off. I just finished watching the Crusher Joe movie. It's pretty awesome, over 2 hours long. It's great space opera sci fi action. They just don't make anime like this anymore.

It's fun seeing the Dirty Pair cameo at the drive-in movie theater. The art designer for Crusher Joe also did the designs for Gundam and the Dirty Pair novels. The DP that appear at the movie at the drive-in is the DP from the novels, not the anime TV series. They even use the "bloody card" weapon from the novels.

At the time this movie was made there was no Dirty Pair anime. That's why it's the novel version.

[llj]

As a HUGE fan of Aim for the Top, and a true hater of modern anime, I have to disagree. Daibuster is no Gunbuster, but it's very good. It does have cheesecake...but the cheesecake in Gunbuster was pretty heavy too, for 1988 anyway.

Yeah, it's definitely worth a watch. I did dwell on the bad more than the good in my post, but it's not like it's horrible or anything. If this were the 80s, I'd put it on par with Hades Project Zeorymer...just a fine blast of genre fun, but not a classic. I mean, Gunbuster 1 is not something that is easy to top, being one of the pivotal works of anime and all. These are large shoes to fill.

But I wouldn't say Diebuster/Gunbuster 2 has any more "cheesecake" than Gunbuster 1--in fact, it probably has less. Off hand, I can maybe only count 1 or 2 scenes in the whole series that really had full frontal nudity. My main criticism was more in the narrative construction and pacing of the series. It just doesn't have as good a grasp of tension and build up, and relies more on flash and SFX to "sell" its big moments. The last episode is basically a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes, but it can't disguise the fact that the emotional moments in the show aren't as well earned as it could have been.

As for whether or not it's worth a purchase...I think if you're a budding animator, it is. There's no doubt that this is a nice lesson on how to have fun animating character movement and playing with colors. But for fans of Gunbuster 1, I'd be cautious and say rent it first. But if you can get the whole series for about $15-$20, sure why not? Some places are selling the Discotek DVD at that price.

For the record, I think Gurren Lagann perfected what Gunbuster 2 tried to do. It takes the technical strengths of Gunbuster 2 but leads up to its "big" moments in a much more satisfying way--they don't show their cards all at once. I know a lot of people here slagged Gurren Lagann...but if you can take GL for what it tries to do, it's very, very good. Probably Gainax's best anime since His and Her Circumstances. At least in my opinion.

[Animusubi]

I feel like I'm really picky. I can't watch Diebuster. But I really can't take the over the topness of the animation in FLCL, TTGL or Diebuster. I liked it with KareKano and Panty & Stocking, but I don't like it for everything. I know it's partly because of You Yoshinari, who I do like quite alot. Just I dunno...hard for me to get into those series.

[llj]

I totally get it. For a long time I didn't like "cartoony" over the top looking anime either, if it can be called that. I was really into the more hyper-realistic look of anime for many years, like the kind Yoshiaki Kawajiri was ushering in during the late 80s. But I think if anime gets stuck in a certain visual mode for too long, it can get stale. You gotta let animators go wild sometimes and have fun doing their thing. Take Project A-Ko. I certainly wouldn't have wanted every 80s anime to look and animate like Project A-Ko, but I'm glad someone out there did it.