| Canty |
03-09-2006 06:57 PM |
Thanks to Leah Holmes' welcome re-clarification of the do's and don'ts of discussing anime as yet unavailable in the West - and for those who haven't yet read the announcement, please do so - I now feel at liberty to mention a series that I've been waiting an age for and am entirely the opposite of let down by: Gunbuster 2, also known as DieBuster or by its proper J-title, Top o Nerae! [Aim for the Top!] 2.
This is the 'sequel' to the legendary 1988 OVA directed by the pre-Evangelion Hideaki Anno and produced by Studio Gainax, a series that set the standard for marrying exciting spaceborne drama with heartbreaking emotional content and storytelling innovation. Now Gainax have decided to celebrate their 20th anniversary (in late 2004, when this series was made :? ) with an official follow-up and it's glorious. You might imagine that a series that knowingly pastiched and mingled elements from two decades of one studio's previous successful shows (the original Top o Nerae!, Evangelion, His and Her Circumstances, FLCL to name a few) would turn out to be a self-congratulatory exercise in futility, but Gunbuster 2 is so *joycore* in both its fannish pandering and the actual execution that it overcomes all the obstacles it sets itself. Character and mecha design, story, music, action, characterisation and dialogue - all come together to form something quite wonderful. I love it! Gush, gush.
(This was not a paid endorsement.)
|