The Aim for the Top! Gunbuster Thread v2.0

[Mercurial Morpheus]

Finally someone bumped this! I hate double posting. Yeah,you should've explained that the first episode is intentionally disarming.

I finally saw the Gunbuster film. I saw it during Yaoi Con (last weekend in October). Amusingly, even though my download wasn't done, my friend brought me a R3 copy back from his Australia trip. It's only one layer, so the double layer R2 rip I downloaded was not in vain. It's a heck of a lot sharper than the disc I own now. I also found one thing I like about Macs, no region coding on their DVD drives.

As for the film, I have mixed feelings on it. The editing was well done, but it really did make Jung a true bit character. Worse, it makes Kazumi seem like a real batty for most of it. They really shouldn't have removed her first scene.

The new sound effects are pretty good for the most part. I like that they made an obvious effort to recreate the original sound as much as possible. Some things were off, mostly overdone mechanical effects, but it's not the travesty done to The 08th MS Team.

Dub wise, it was...interesting. Rei Sakuma did well emulating her old performance. The Voice of Evil definitely drove how the time gap home, as coach now has his signature draw that he developed in the years after Gunbuster. He's at times outright Onsakumaru-ish. It still works. The real change was Noriko Hidaka. She's so much more polished now that Noriko has a much more feminine and girly voice. I sort of missed the rougher, childish, at times tomboyish voice she had. It wasn't too noticeable at times, but other (like her final "Papaaaaa!") were really different. While it's cool to see an actor take a different approach to a character, it can be a bit jarring to those heavily familiar to the original.

That said, I think my favorite altered performance was that of Captain Toshiro. He's pretty much the same throughout, but his final line was markedly different. The original sounded regretful. The new sounded like he was on the verge of tears. It works really nicely.

So all in all, it was a refreshing way to watch the film, but wish Hidaka had been a bit more true to her character, and that they hadn't butchered Kazumi and Jung's as much as they did.

A quick question as to the R2 set layout. I grabbed the first disc, which is the Gunbuster movie. I assumed that the second disc, which was also in the seven gig range, was the Diebuster movie.Deciding that, unlike Gunbuster, I couldn't watch Diebuster raw and it would be sitting on my drive for some time after further killing my ratio, I pulled the plug after about two gigs. I almost have disc three and four and can preview them in VLC. I'm grabbing them since the R1 lacks them. Disc four is the obvious extras disc. My question is about disc three.

What the hell is it?

All I'm seeing is a seventy minute version of Diebuster. The disc is the same size as four, about five gigs. They didn't put Diebuster on a later, smaller disc than Gunbuster, did they? I would assume the film would be on the larger disc. Was I wrong? If so, what's on disc two? I never previewed disc two. Is disc three an alternate version of the Diebuster film or something? This confuses the heck out of me. I can't find any info as to extra content anywhere for the four disc set.

In other news, the shirt contest is over. Did anyone other than me enter? They still haven't posted the winner yet like they said that they would. I haven't received any e-mails either, so I probably didn't win (nor did I expect too). All I can say is that if I didn't, please let the winning design be markedly better than mine. I can't have anther repeat like loosing to "Sell it with women."

For those interested, here are my entries.

Some quick facts:

Shown in order of production (though three was finished after four, maybe even five).

Made using the awesome free program The GIMP. Photoshop is great I'm sure, but overpriced and overrated.

I spent the most time on 1, 3, and 4.

The difficulty in 1 was mostly finding a decent shot of Kazumi to fit in the restraint. Then fitting the Gunbuster head in. The text was added later, making this the only Version 2.

2 is just a forum signature I use elsewhere that I made a few years ago. If I'd had the time, I might've rescaled Noriko, and added the text from the scene on the front and on back (perhaps with the shots of Ohta that accompanied it ["Don't think that the combined Gunbuster is some ordinary machine!" Back: Coach's... Coach's... Coach's heart beats within it!!!])

3 is easily the worst, as it just didn't come together as I planned. Putting the center image back together was a true nightmare. The added lightning helps. Just watch, it's be the one that wins...

Four was the simplest. It's in the longest time slot as it just took awhile to cut Noriko and the Gunbuster out. If I'd had the latest GIMP, it would've been done in half the time. The crest was a tiny web find, scaled up, painted out to remove artifacting, then filtered with canvas pattern, then oilify.

I had to make 5 twice, as The GIMP crashed while making it. It was a simple design though. The coach shot is a layer of two frames to pump up the lens flare.

6 was put together in about 40 minutes as a rush job, but I'm still pretty happy with it. I'm not too fond of the slogan, but couldn't think of anything else, and they milk the heck out of it, so I thought it couldn't hurt. I should've made the black highlight yellow though like the real logo, maybe. I just had to use the Science Episodes somehow. I love the back.

7 was put together in less than ten minutes and submitted at the last moment. It was my sister's idea (the whole Brady Bunch thing). Credit goes to Noriko Takaya's site for most of the screen shots on it (only the Gunbuster was captured by me, left over from 3). For a rush job, think it came out really well.

I made them all over the course of a few days, with most of the work on the last day. I blame a cold, and convention, and a Disneyland trip for the delays (1 was started during said trip).

I'm sure the Japanese logo will be replaced with the lame US one if used at all.

Anyone is free to make any of these shirts. Just give credit if ever necessary and at least send me a heads up if not an image of the finished product.

Edited November 20, 2007 by Mercurial Morpheus

[Noriko Takaya]

Hey there! It's been a long while since I have posted anything on these boards, but I just wanted to let you know I got my copy of the Gunbuster vs Diebuster Aim for the Top! The GATTAI!! Movie today and I'm pretty excited about it. Yeah, I know I'm not that big a fan of Diebuster, but the cards which came with the set are great. New artwork for my site! And I like the little figurines too!

[Keith]

Hey there! It's been a long while since I have posted anything on these boards, but I just wanted to let you know I got my copy of the Gunbuster vs Diebuster Aim for the Top! The GATTAI!! Movie today and I'm pretty excited about it. Yeah, I know I'm not that big a fan of Diebuster, but the cards which came with the set are great. New artwork for my site! And I like the little figurines too!

My only gripe with the Gattai movie is that most of the good fanservicy parts have been snipped. But Gunbuster remains Gunbuster

[lord_breetai]

Finally someone bumped this! I hate double posting. Yeah,you should've explained that the first episode is intentionally disarming.

I tried to.

Edited November 24, 2007 by lord_breetai

[akt_m]

Too bad i can't participate this contest, i'm not an U.S resident

[Mercurial Morpheus]

Well, it's long over anyway. Besides, the people running it seem even less interested in the shirt designs than any one here. No one cares.

[Keith]

I care...I just didn't notice you posted them

I know it's newer art, but my favorite is the 4th on the top row. Though I'd easily buy any of them, provided they sell 2-3X sizes. BTW, any word on who won?

[lord_breetai]

The real change was Noriko Hidaka. She's so much more polished now that Noriko has a much more feminine and girly voice. I sort of missed the rougher, childish, at times tomboyish voice she had. It wasn't too noticeable at times, but other (like her final "Papaaaaa!") were really different. While it's cool to see an actor take a different approach to a character, it can be a bit jarring to those heavily familiar to the original.

I havn't bought the Gattai movie yet, but I can imagine, Noriko Hidaka is also one of the main voice actors in Sakura Taisen (voicing Erica Fontaine) and even though I had seen the Seiyuu's name in both places I didn't make the connection till just recently because they sound like two different people even in interviews. It's kind of shocking. I wasn't planning on getting the movie, but now I want to.

BTW I like the shirt concepts but your images are kinda pixelated or is that just me?

Edited November 25, 2007 by lord_breetai

[Mercurial Morpheus]

How do you miss a monster post like that?

I like 4 a lot myself. I know what you mean about the modern art too. So much of it seems horribly off-model. This was one I liked. The emblem came out much better than I expected.

As for winning, still no word. Dot-anime.us is down for the holiday. Hopefully on Monday they'll know. Leave it to BV to miss the date, and not even mention when or why.

Lord knows how big the shirts will be. If they let me choose (assuming of course), I'll probably get 2xls, since I like my shirts big, and I have friends that need such a size.

As for the pixalation, if you're talking the shirt outline, it's because it was greatly upscaled. I know the emblem on the first shirt could use some smoothing. I'll do so if I wind up having the shirt made myself. Other than that, they look fine to me.

[crasis]

Gotta say, I'm a big fan of the 4th shirt design as well (though I would love to see the graphic scaled down to a smaller size and centered in the chest area, as I just tend to prefer less overpowering shirt graphics). I'd even love a poster/wallscroll of said design. Great job!

[Fortress_Maximus]

Gotta say, I'm a big fan of the 4th shirt design as well (though I would love to see the graphic scaled down to a smaller size and centered in the chest area, as I just tend to prefer less overpowering shirt graphics). I'd even love a poster/wallscroll of said design. Great job!

Totally agree. If it is huge like the test image I'd pass but a smaller less overpowering graphic is nice. Over all nice work.

[Keith]

Small my ass. This is Gunbuster, it needs to be as big as possible! Either a full front, or a full back graphic!!

[Mercurial Morpheus]

Glad someone agrees with me. One could make it smaller, but it would require shifting to emblem to better balance it.

These are concepts anyway. The final designs will probably be much different. How much you want to bet that the logo gets replaced with the new english one, if used at all?

Like before, if I lose, I just hope the winning design kicks ass, so I don't have to feel bad about it.

Still no one knows the R2 film layout?

Edited November 26, 2007 by Mercurial Morpheus

[Keith]

Disc 1 was the standard TV version of Gunbuster, Disc 2 is the widescreen enhanced version of Gunbuster (the fullscreen parts are pre-framed so that those with widescreen TV's can more easily zoom in for the proper ratio), disc 3 is Diebuster, & Disc 4 has the extra interviews & radio drama.

[Mercurial Morpheus]

Ah, thanks Keith. Looks like I got Diebuster anyway than.

[Fort Max]

Great shirts MM, No. 2 is really cool and I'd buy it but No, 4 is just pure win!

These really kick the crap out iof the simple shilloutte shirt that was on HLJ a while back.

[Mercurial Morpheus]

A month later, and still nothing. They've pretty much forgotten about it. Did anyone else send for their Noriko/Nono Holiday greetings card? If they send it as quickly as my survey gift, I should get it around February.

On an old note, can someone confirm for me that the sfx are indeed missing from the altered scene, leaving just music and dialog? Someone on Wikipedia changed my entry about it, claiming they were there. I seem to remember them being absent at the showing (though I was pulled so far out of it to notice), and Keith did mention they were gone. I think he was confused by the presence of dialog. I want to make sure before undoing it. Heck, a Youtube clip would help.

[Keith]

The SFX was definately abscent. It made the scene a bit disturbing, aside from the music change. Here's hoping that if there's a blue-ray release, it will be proper.

I sent in for the holiday card too, though they did claim it would arrive during this season, so we'll see. The T-shirt contest disappearance is bizarre, have you tried writing into dot-anime directly?

[Mercurial Morpheus]

I figured as much. Shame it's my word against a guy claiming to have checked the R1. He must be confused. I'll re-add my text.

I've been tempted to write Dot-anime.us about it. If I do, I'll write from a different e-mail.

Edit applied. I wound up reworking it into a new section.

AICN has an interesting article on the movie set. I don't read the site, but he makes many valid points on the film that I myself had regarding the editing.

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/34936

Edited December 14, 2007 by Mercurial Morpheus

[TheLoneWolf]

You're referring to the training montage, right? The original SFX is missing and has been replaced with new (different) SFX.

[Spatula]

Good sirs, I have finished rewatching the Gunbuster 1 series on DVD, the ones from Bandai Visual / Honneamise (bought them for a super cheap price $32 from Best Buy, after they screwed up with the pricing tee hee), and I must first of all, say how much of an experience it is to rewatch it again, especially during the first time, I found myself getting too caught on to the technicalities of time dilation, and struggled to focus more on the character building. In merely six 30 some minute episodes, I've grown to appreciate Noriko and Amano’s struggles, with episode 5 easily bringing me down to almost tears.

I watched it in two sittings; from 4:00 pm o 6:00 pm MST for episodes 1 to 4 December 18, 2007, and 1:30 am to 2:30 am MST December 19, 2007. In other words, I’ve finished watching this approximately 15 minutes ago.

I don’t know why, but this time around, it was far more easier to really appreciate much more of the ending, and found it more satisfying this time around than the first time.

I’m going on a wing here and assuming all who have posted here have seen it, so the following is obviously a discussion of the ending – hence spoilers.

SPOILERS BEGIN

***In episode 2, we see Noriko and Amano using borrowed rocket boosters from one of the capital ships to investigate the mysterious object in warp speed – or light speed, please feel to correct my potentially incorrect scientific nomenclature. Noriko jumps onto the Luxion traveling in warp space, meaning perhaps a minute there in warp time is 3 months time on earth, which is understandable and comprehensible. She sees the chronometer and it indicates 2 days after the first space battle which then young Ota escapes into the last escape pod, leaving Admiral Takaya. When Admiral Takaya returns to the bridge, did he engage warp speed and then was vaporized by the aliens, leaving the rest of the Luxion intact, therefore the momentum as well as the engines would remain intact for 2 days worth of time warp, equaling approximately 7 years of earth time, only for his daughter to discover the ship? How does 12 seconds extra warp time equate to approximately 6 months overshot of Noriko’s/Jung’s birthday while they had 10 minutes to complete their assignment and return in approximately 2 weeks (as Jung said they would return just in time for the birthday celebration) should the mission have been a success without Noriko’s sidetrack?

If 12 seconds were to equate 6 months, we could say 12 seconds of warp time is 15,778,463 seconds of earth time ( 6 months). Again, please correct me if I’m wrong. More on this later.

***In episode 5, we see that perhaps, I can’t recall very well since its 3 am of this writing, that 10 years have elapsed since the events of episode 4 and Noriko on constant guard and service duty onboard the Exelion hence her non aging as its only 4 months for her – which is now put out of main service yielding to the new Eltreum. Amano is probably still roughly the same age from the time of episode 4 to 5, since she was serving mainly along side Noriko.

***Who did you feel more sorry for, Toren Smith or Linda (episode 4) in regards to their deaths? I actually felt quite sad for Linda. Despite my multiple rewatchings of far more ghastly animated works (Urotsukidoji Parts I to V – German version), my heart goes out to Linda, despite her lack of any meaningful screen time compared to Toren. Maybe we didn’t see how Smith died, or the immediate consequences, as compared to getting your space machine’s life, along with your own life, squished into scrap metal. It brings back bad memories of Kaori getting squished by Tetsuo’s two fat lipids during his uncontrolled mutation - ala Otomo’s Akira. RIP both Smith and Linda (and all the 20,000 plus ships destroyed in episode 6).

***Futhermore, is there a timeline for the Gunbuster 1 events?

For example, 2015 A.D. Luxion is destroyed – Noriko turns 8 years old

2021 A.D. Noriko begins training at the Okinawa Girls School

perhaps a few months after that (4 months according to Noriko’s thoughts of how short her training was before entering the space program)

2021 + 7 months for the Exelion to be completed (actually around 2022)…

2022ish – the two pair fight the first major wave of alien ships in episode 4

2032 – 10 years of earth time or 4 months of warp space time serving on board the Exelion.

2048 – 15 years since Amano and Coach Otas reunion, making her about um, 33 something? She was in high school when she left to the space force, meaning she shouldn’t be more than 18 years old at that time. Kazumi Ota, now a Lieutenant Colonel, is the new coach and such, obviously spent her time on earth training her new troops. Indeed it was a joyful reunion since 15 years elapsed from Episode 5 to 6 between Noriko and Kazumi.

***Lastly, how long did the Gunbuster travel from its final mission back to Earth equating to 12,000 years of Earth time.

Using the mathematics provided stated above earlier and reiterated again:

“If 12 seconds were to equate 6 months, we could say 12 seconds of warp time is 15,778,463 seconds of earth time ( 6 months).

1 second of warp time is 1,314,872 seconds earth time

1 year of earth time = 31 556 926 seconds of earth time

12,000 years of earth time = 3.786 X 10^11 seconds of earth time

3.786 X 10^11 of earth time / (1,312,872 seconds of earth time to 1 second of warp time)

In other words 3.786 X 10^11 seconds / 1,312,872 seconds =288438.71 seconds of warp time

288438.71 / 60 seconds to a minute = 4807minutes  80 hours  3.33 days.

Hmm, 3 days of warp time for 12,000 years.

Yet, 2 days of warp time onboard the Luxion for 7 years.

Someone correct me here. ;_______;

And I love how Capital Tashiro hears Noriko’s want for a welcome back, and Earth holds its promise 12 milleniums later.

END SPOILERS

Mind you, I’ve been on quite a slew of mecha related shows including Gundam 08th MS team and 0080 War in the Pocket, so Gunbuster would somehow flow naturally, as I just felt like in a mood for it again. It should be noted that character designer Haruhiko Mikimoto, worked on both the Gunbuster project as well as 0080’s characters, as well as - you guessed it - Super Dimensional Fortress Macross.

I should also get around to buying Diebuster when it’s a thinpak – no way I’m paying $20 for only 2 episodes times 3 DVDS. Sorry, I liked Diebuster, but not at the $60 range.

[wolfx]

I won't go into the mathematics of time dilation since the numbers you provided made me go dizzy. I'm sure someone can explain better but i'll try.

In Gunbuster there's 2 types of faster than light (FTL) travel which is the normal one, with the use of kinetic acceleration/propulsion (like boosters or being blasted out of the blastzone of a black hole). Another is by the use of WARP, which Gunbuster explains some mumbo jumbo about Tannhauser Gates and Vanishing Motors.

Main differences:

-Normal requires much more earth time the longer you stay in warp-space. WARP takes a considerably less earth time to get from one place to another since it bends space/time after all. There's your difference between Excellion and the boosters/warp-less Gunbuster.

-You need a vanishing reactor to engage WARP travel. For normal, you just need some powerful rockets.

About your 10 minutes vs 12 seconds and their glaring differences in earth time, remember that the 10 minutes includes the time taken for them to accelerate to the Luxion's position so they'd be at different degrees of time dilation right up till the Luxion. Also consider that the Luxion is still accelerating to infinity so the longer you stay ON the Luxion (which is going faster and faster), the bigger the difference between warp time and earth time. The concept here is simple. The faster you are going, the faster time passes.

And as for how long the gunbuster is drifting before they reached earth....anyone's guess. Probably just a few hours. But they were from the galactic center and the blast was so great that they were propelled all the way back to earth. Going by that speed, its no surprise that 12,000 years have passed in that short amount of time they were in the Gunbuster.

[Spatula]

Main differences:

-Normal requires much more earth time the longer you stay in warp-space. WARP takes a considerably less earth time to get from one place to another since it bends space/time after all. There's your difference between Excellion and the boosters/warp-less Gunbuster.

-You need a vanishing reactor to engage WARP travel. For normal, you just need some powerful rockets.

I see. This would explain how Tashiro and his fleet can return to earth within their own life spans (let assume they get back while Takami is still alive - Kimiko's daughter) since the Eltreum has warp drives, I think.

Seeing Gunbuster in such a damaged state with probably minimal propulsion for vector adjustments to blast them in a proper trajectory back to the Earth does make sense now, a bit, I guess, despite where the BH bomb being some 250 million light years away,

LOL, I just found out Rei Sakuma is the same seiyuu for Amano as she is for Nina Purpleton in Stardust Memories. Man, I hated Purpleton so much, XD. Aina for the win.

[Keith]

Going through my mail earlier this evening, I relized that I actually god my Gunbuster/Diebuster christmas card from BV last week. Looks like they mailed it on the 12th.

[Mercurial Morpheus]

Yeah, I got mine shortly there after. I'd have mentioned it sooner, but I've been having a trying time following the recent passing of my Grandmother (mere hours after the editing of the Gunbuster wiki as outlined above). Things are just starting to get back on track.

Any one gotten the Wave Noriko yet, assuming it's out? Maybe I'll see it at ALA.

[lord_breetai]

And as for how long the gunbuster is drifting before they reached earth....anyone's guess. Probably just a few hours. But they were from the galactic center and the blast was so great that they were propelled all the way back to earth. Going by that speed, its no surprise that 12,000 years have passed in that short amount of time they were in the Gunbuster.

If you beat the Gunbuster game with Jung as your partner... Noriko and Jung spend the time before they reach earth playing Chess on the Gunbuster's computer... if it would help I'll replay to the end of the game and tell you how many chess matches they played ;p.

IIRC it was a lot, and Noriko lost every one.

[danth]

Hey guys,

I haven't seen Gunbuster yet (or bought the DVDs) after many years of wanting to see it, because the R1 is defiled (episode 1 music edit & cruddy audio re-encode) and the R0 was not subtitled. There's still no good solution, but I figured I might as well get the R0 and then just add subs on my own somehow. Of course, now the R0 is unavailable. I called Kinokuniya and this really cool employee is going to see if he can get an R0 for me. If that doesn't work, at least I can get the R1, flawed as it is, relatively cheaply. Hell, maybe I can buy just the first R2 DVD, rip it, add the subtitles to it, and use DVDs 2&3 from the R1 set as-is.

I'm not sure what will happen, but I really want to watch Gunbuster, and I don't want to buy the tainted R1.

So, uh...does anyone know where I can still score the R0 release?

Edited January 16, 2008 by danth

[Mercurial Morpheus]

Good question. I don't know which Kinokuniya you went too, but I know the SF one had dozens of them a few months back. Other than that, your best option is the KAA rip. They fixed the sound there.

In other news, two months and still nothing on that contest.

[Keith]

Damn BV teasing us with promises of Gunbuster shirts, and then just ripping them away, like Noriko ripping away the Gunbusters chest plate!

[Mercurial Morpheus]

I'm sure they'll announce them eventually. Though it irks me that they stated an exact date and didn't pay off. That, and no response to my e-mail. Unless it's in one of their blogs.

I know the FLCL announcement was late, but this is nuts.

[danth]

Hey Mercurial, is that KAA rip a DVD-quality downloadable?

Also, I might be able to get the R0 version if one of you guys can get me the UPC. It's not the same as the R2 UPC is it? My only other option is to try to get the R2 used off Yahoo Japan. And I really want the remastered set. Are the single R2 discs remastered as well?

Edited January 23, 2008 by danth

[akt_m]

I wish i could find the PS2 game, too bad no one shares it...

[wolfx]

I gave up playing the pS2 game. Its a really bad game, despite me being a GB fan. But it seems some people here have perservered and finished the game with multiple endings. After a few days collecting different kinds of RX-9s with limited gameplay, i gave up. I didn't even get the Gunbuster

[Mercurial Morpheus]

Hey Mercurial, is that KAA rip a DVD-quality downloadable?

Yep. A search for Kick Ass Anime should turn them up. I don't know how well the set is seeded though. It's on the Box though, and well seeded there. So that's the better option.

Also, I might be able to get the R0 version if one of you guys can get me the UPC. It's not the same as the R2 UPC is it?

No, it's not the same. Unfortunately, the reason for this is because to has no UPC (at least not one printed on the packaging). As a one store exclusive, it probably didn't need one.

Are the single R2 discs remastered as well?

As far as I know, it was only released as a set.

[danth]

Yep. A search for Kick Ass Anime should turn them up. I don't know how well the set is seeded though. It's on the Box though, and well seeded there. So that's the better option.

Sweet, thanks!

No, it's not the same. Unfortunately, the reason for this is because to has no UPC (at least not one printed on the packaging). As a one store exclusive, it probably didn't need one.

Ahh, crap. Oh well, thanks for telling me...I'll stop searching the internet for that UPC now.

As far as I know, it was only released as a set.

These are the singles I'm asking about, but I don't think they're remastered.

Amazon Japan Link 1

Amazon Japan Link 2

Amazon Japan Link 3