or slight spoiler or way back and before evangelion be make and before hideaki anno be an idol and household name for many anime fan and and before gainax have reach the status of fanfavorite and gunbuster be make . with only wing of honneamise make by gainax at that time and and the famous otakon short or course and gunbuster have some tough act to follow up . it do not make it easy on itself by pick out a genre that be already do countless time before and space opera . luckily and gainax decide to put it out a a six part oav ( direct to video ) series . this allow the series to have a big scope than would have be possible if it be make into a film . this also prevent it from become too boring and overly long and with lot of pointless battle and filler along the way . besides that and they make some effort to stay clear from the tested space opera mechanic use in macross or gundam and and many other popular space opera . for one and the show start out pretty light and with noriko in the okinawa high school for mechapiloting . noriko be the daughter of a respected ship commander who die in battle and when she be still a little kid . this make her life at the academy quite hard and a some of her fellow classmate start to suspect that noriko be favor by the professor . the first episode be pretty much a comedy drama and with a very tight focus on the character and setting of the school . thing quickly change when the threat of an alien invasion be announce and and noriko and kazumi ( best girl in class ) be choose to help the assembled fleet out . the middle bulk of gunbuster leave our female lead in space and focusing on both personal drama and action . a couple more character be introduce and and part of noriko past be drag up again . besides that and the alien threat become more imminent every minute and and the gunbuster and mankind final hope and be present . smart a writer okada be and he incorporate the principle of time dilation and to spice thing up a bit . in short and time move slower for those who travel at the speed of light . this mean that noriko can be part of a war that take almost a century to complete . also the dramatic aspect of this be accentuate and when noriko see her friend again on her return to base and who have age considerably more than her . the science might not be perfect and but it present in a pretty believable way and with even some sd science theatre short in between the episode and where noriko and kazumi and their coach give a short description of the scientific principle use in the series . the animation and for a series make in the 80 and be definitely good . the design be retro 80 style of course and but it have it charm . animation be fluent enough and the character design be nice and although the costume do betraysome of the fanservice fascination gainax will later exploit to the full . the mechas throughout the show be pretty cool too and with the gunbuster a the ultimate killing machine and strong and vast . the last episode be entirely do in black and white . while it generally believe ( but not confirm ) that this be do for budget reason and it lend a whole different atmosphere to the series and which be suit perfectly for the latter part . the music be very typical space opera fair . too bombastic in place and very generic and and definitely not worth buying . it do fit the series for the most part and but it can become quite annoy at time . tanaka be not really a famous composer and and the only other respectable series he work on be dragon half . if you think 80 anime music and you will know what to expect . a the series progress and the focus slowly shift from drama to space opera to epic battle and but in such a way the viewer will hardly notice this . step by step the drama will be tone down and and the battle will take the front row . neither aspect be ever leave completely out though . with the last episode in sight and noriko and crew be fight for the further existence of human kind and and with the last battle in sight and certain question be present to the audience and concern to position of the human race in the galaxy and and how far it can go to guarantee self preservation . while they be never answer later on and they still present some interesting food for thought . the last episode be very epic and with a nice and but quite predictable end and though not all ending should contain numerous outlandish twist of course . again and it fit the series . gunbuster may sound like your average space opera anime at first and with alien invasion and huge battle and and some personal drama and and for the big part and it be . but it be do exceptionally well for a change . instead of go for a steady mix of former element and six episode long and gunbuster present u a change from small scale drama to large scale epic heroism . along the way we meet with some various interesting and well flesh out character and which mutual relationship change heavily due to the time dilation phenomenon . the show be very tightly write and although it do tend to slip up at some point . overly dramatic occurrence and too cheesy mecha attack could have be easily avoid . overall and the trip gunbuster take you on be a very relaxed and sometimes sad and sometimes heroic one . it might not have shatter the boundary and limit of the space opera genre and but at least it bend them a little . highly enjoyable anime classic and but not without flaw . or .