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NEWS: Bandai Visual to Release "Gunbuster 2"


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Sam Murai



Joined: 01 Dec 2006
Posts: 1051
PostPosted: Sun Jan 28, 2007 10:04 pm Reply with quote
HellKorn wrote:
Diebuster is alienating to fans of the original series because, as you pointed it, its visually different. It's honestly to be expected though. Old school art and animation is what makes up Gunbuster, obviously, and to see something that more closely resembles FLCL can be a bit of a put-off.


As understandable as it was that some fans were put off from the different style and animation, it makes perfect sense. The "old school" art of Gunbuster was more en vogue in the 80s, just as how the FLCL-ish style is typical of that of modern anime. Also, the difference is more believable when you take in consideration that spoiler[Diebuster takes place millenia after its predecessor. It wouldn't be too believable if things looked similar to what happened all the way back then. With such a gap in time, it would be expected for things to have such a drastic visual departure.]
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Chrno2



Joined: 28 May 2004
Posts: 6172
Location: USA
PostPosted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 12:24 pm Reply with quote
HellKorn wrote:


Quote:
Well, y'know 'Gainax' has to have some obligatory "fanservice". They wouldn't be 'Gainax' without it. They built their fame on it.


Oh, I'm not saying that I didn't find it amusing Wink but rather that it's hypocritical when people complain about the fanservice in Diebuster, yet ignore the various scenes, particularly the spoiler[bath scene with Noriko, Kazumi, and Jung,] where fanservice was abundant in Gunbuster.


Hahahaha!! yeah, how could we not forget that. Jiggling Jung. I with 'Gainax', you gotta have at least one bath scene. Of course with 'GB2' it's going to just get crazy now. I'll have to see it for myself. Considering the whole deal "topless". Hahahaha!!! And who went topless first ep.? Hahahahahaha!!! Ah well. But that's what 'Gainax' does. They drag you in and make you wonder what the hell? And then kick you in the ass saying, LOOK it's not what you think. Then you're enjoying it. So I'm going to check this out very soon. Wink

Iwatch2muchanime wrote:
Ya, I was talking about DBZ. They called themselves the Z-figthers, what was it, like once and that was it. But it stuck.


Oh, that's what you meant. I must have missed that one.
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TranceLimit174



Joined: 21 Jul 2004
Posts: 960
PostPosted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 1:49 am Reply with quote
Interesting criticisms, and this is the first time I've heard them. I will admit that I too was put off by Diebuster's different style, however I expected it so it didn't throw me off too much. My main issue with Diebuster is that it wasn't until the final scene that it felt like a sequel. In all honesty after the first episode and the disappointment that was episode 4 spoiler[(the mention of Noriko that was never explained and another key disappointment I'll get to in a minute)] I viewed Gunbuster 2 as completely independent work with no relation to the original whatsoever. And it's probably a good thing that I did because through that lens the series is tolerable. All of the homage scenes come off as the creators suddenly remembering that this is a sequel so they gotta make those connections.

I had a hard time getting into this series. With no previous knowledge of the story (I had no idea when the story was supposed to take place which is actually a good piece of information) I kept asking myself "where does this fit?" Diebuster was plauged by the inherent flaw of sequels, which is that they are unfairly judged due to attachments to characters/events from the previous seires. Sequel characters can't be overshadowed by the original cast (if they wish to be accepted), which is hard to do. Unfortunatley Nono and the fellow Topless were unable to shake the question of "Just where is Noriko and Kazumi? What's the connection?" Up until the very end the connections were loose at best which I found incredibly annoying.

One thing that really put me off was the amount of Buster Machines. Granted it's logical that there would be more, but that fact really downplays them. Especially considering no mech outside of Deux Nuf really recieves enough screentime to develop an attachment. And as a follow up, it was pretty obvious that these machines just HAD to surpass the Gunbuster in terms of sheer power. Given how impressive that mecha is on it's own, of course to keep fans on their toes they had to make these mecha even more powerful. This was too glaring, and because of that any feat that I would probably think of as being pretty awesome came off as being downright ridiculous spoiler[(Deux Nuf's planet chunking for example)] and these displays of power lacked the charm of the original in my opinion.

This is what really killed me. I was so excited when I got to episode 4, because this being a sequel and all and me assuming certain events would play out similarly, I took the episode as being the debut of the Diebuster. I was hoping spoiler[that the Diebuster would be some awesome revamp of Gunbuster's design. I wanted it to have a debut that would make my jaw drop and then have me search for some sort of merchandise that I could display on my shelf (high expectations I know, but Gunbuster did it so I expected something similar out of it's sequel). But what do we get instead? We don't get a new mecha design oh no (I'm sorry but the Buster Machines just did not cut it), instead we find out that Nono herself is a Buster Machine and Diebuster itself (an assumption of course as that isn't stated). That has got to be one of the largest disappointments I have ever recieved from a series.]

The other part that bothered me about the series was that one of the things Gunbuster prided itself on was it's strict following of physics to make it "hard science fiction". To put it simply, Diebuster seemed to just throw this out the window.

Even at the end of it all, we don't even get to see spoiler[Noriko and Kazumi redesigned to fit the chosen art style. It was kind of a cop out. It's things like that that I think should be in such a series to create both connectivity and fan service. Just seeing a hollow scene rehash or that Inazuma Kick from the first episode doesn't cut it.] I will say that I got teary eyed at the end, but that wasn't because of Diebuster's merits. Rather, it was remembering the emotions I felt when I saw the original's ending.

As I said, stand alone Diebuster's an alright OVA that's very nice to look at. As a sequel to Gunbuster it's awful.
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jgreen



Joined: 14 Mar 2005
Posts: 1325
Location: St. Louis, MO
PostPosted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 4:31 pm Reply with quote
HellKorn wrote:

As for why a lot of fans who've watched both heavily criticize the sequel... well, the visuals aside, they generally write it off as being "too silly" and having "too much fanservice," which is laughable considering that the first couple of episodes in Gunbuster were essentially parodying shoujo anime and spoiler[the bath scene has to be one of the most blatant and "unneeded" fanservice moments in anime.]


It may be blatant and unneeded, but it's nowhere near as blatant or unneeded as the very similar yet far more egregious equivalent in Plastic Little.
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mrgazpacho



Joined: 14 Jan 2002
Posts: 316
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 7:43 am Reply with quote
TranceLimit174 wrote:
Even at the end of it all, we don't even get to see ...


I haven't seen Diebuster, but I know what you are getting at - that is a reference to one of the most famous scenes in all anime history. Altering it, even for "artistic compatibility", would have been inviting certain death (or at least a good tongue-lashing Laughing ) from fans worldwide...
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TranceLimit174



Joined: 21 Jul 2004
Posts: 960
PostPosted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 8:06 pm Reply with quote
mrgazpacho wrote:
TranceLimit174 wrote:
Even at the end of it all, we don't even get to see ...


I haven't seen Diebuster, but I know what you are getting at - that is a reference to one of the most famous scenes in all anime history. Altering it, even for "artistic compatibility", would have been inviting certain death (or at least a good tongue-lashing Laughing ) from fans worldwide...


How so? If anything it would have at least hammered down the connection. Not only that but I'm sure it would evoke some major nostalgia. It'd just be nice to see them again. At least there's always SRW for that.
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