Anime: Top o Nerae 2!

The original Gunbuster has some flaws but the "sequel" only makes them worse while taking away the good things about the original. Animation is great (though after TTGL, FLCL, and Kill La Kill I'd say it's getting old) but the rest is largely relegated to supporting the empty visuals. There is barely substance to any of the characters and the main goal when designing them seemed to be making them cute and moe. References to the original are spread throughout but they are tasteless and hollow. The organization is even called Topless because don't you get it? it's funny and the audience gets to see anime boobs.

Nono left her mountain home to pursue her dream of becoming a space pilot, and a Nonoriri (a term she invented herself. In her mind, it's synonymous with "hero"). She's just a waitress though, and has no experience with anything related to space piloting. Still, she believes that with guts and hard work, she'll be able to accomplish her dreams. She meets Lark, the cream of the crop in the world of space pilots, at the bar she works in. Nono excitedly follows the nonchalant Lark in hopes of gaining membership into Lark's space pilot organization.

Diebuster doesn't really require you to watch gunbuster, as the beginning lets you get into it without any knowledge of the previous installment. I never saw the original before my first viewing of Diebuster. Watching the first does simplify somethings. The backstory will be a lot more solid in your own mind, and the references to the characters of the first will actually make sense.

The animation bears a lot of resemblence to FLCL, but it does take a que or two from 80's mecha anime, particularly in the explosion animations. Animation wise, it's like a bigger, badder, and more intricate FLCL. The action scenes are longer, have more wacky moves, and there are also some pretty weird physical anomalies that have interesting animations. The character models seem to look cleaner than FLCL also.

Diebuster has a high quality orchestral soundtrack that is always matched well with the scenes. The openings and endings are a kind of guilty pleasure for me. The upbeat, kiddy j-pop is catchy, and fits very well considering the characters and atmosphere. These light hearted songs always capture the mood of the episode's beginning and end, as they almost always start and finish on happy notes. The orchestral BGM's are remixes of tracks from the old Gunbuster, but if no one told me, I probably wouldn't have noticed as they do sound rather different. The tracks accommodate a wide range of emotions, and as mentioned before, they are matched well with the drama in the scenes they are used in.

The first few minutes of Diebuster reminds me of Kumo no Muko or a miyazaki film. It does a great job introducing and immidiately attaching the audience to Nono, the protagonist. From this intro alone, the viewer picks up an endearing sense of youth, adventure, and your typical anime "kawaii"-ness (thankfully though, the cuteness factor is used in moderation). It's quite a remarkable introduction, but it is betrayed a little by how the story unfolds. Considering that this is Gunbuster, and not Kiki's Delivery Service, the plot inevitably takes a mecha turn. The whole sci fi, humanity's greatest threat gig really dominates the story. The characters and their connections end up being a little simple and underdeveloped, which is the exact opposite of what you would expect from the small intro in the first episode. Objectively though, as a mecha/sci-fi anime, it does well enough in this department.

Nono and Lark give the series a shojou childishness, which directly contradicts the ecchi and occasional gore. Nono is bubbly, a bit dumb, sensitive at times, but usually, she is determined and hard to phase. She's like a mix between Naruto, Sailor moon and Ryusuna from Grenadier. She's a pretty simple character, but she's well balanced enough in her elements so that she doesn't use either corny one liners like "All we can do is our best!" or bubbly cuteness to the point where you would slap your forehead in disgust. She is one of the few bubbly or "always do your best" characters that don't incite the aforementioned reaction from me.

Lark is a calm and cool character, but she has an air of immaturity and neediness when you explore her more. She's pretty interesting, but that second layer isn't too well developed, and it rarely sees the light of day.

Casio and Chiko are the only other two members of the cast that have any semblance of focus, and their "deep seeded issues" are actually quite moving, if a bit childish in the case of Chiko.

This whole series is a bit of a guilty pleasure. How dorky is "BUSTER....BEAMMMMMMM!!!!!" The ecchi and shojouness contribute as well. If you can giggle at its dorkyness, find the ecchi funny, which it usually is, and just ignore the social guilt of watching something so girly, you'll find that all of these aspects lend to its charm. If you're one who blushes easily, do take care to watch Diebuster alone.

only saw the first episode so far, but it got me near the same feeling I had when I first saw FLCL!
Eagerly awaiting part two. If you like over the top stuff like FLCL, Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Shamploo then you are deffinetly going to love this! Fast and slick animations, story so far basic but that doesnt say anything yet, it has the potential to grow to a big climax. Sound is good, does its job well, clear and well chosen music and soundeffects, good voiceacting so far I can tell (I dont speak a word of japanese). I liked the little wordjokes tho, so either the translation is good or they made them up themselves. anyway, just check it, its only 6 eps in total, so its not something you have to DL forever to get them all. Enjoy