Alternative TitlesEnglish: Gunbuster Synonyms: Top wo Nerae!, Aim for the Top! Japanese: トップをねらえ！
Information
Type: OVA
Episodes: 6
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Oct 7, 1988 to Jul 7, 1989
Duration:
30 min. per episode Rating:
R+ - Mild Nudity
L represents licensing company
StatisticsScore: 8.061 (scored by 10855 users)
Ranked: #4032
Popularity: #907
Members: 19,807
Favorites: 542 1 indicates a weighted score
My Info
Popular Tags
action drama mecha sci-fi |
Recommendations Submitted by Users
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Apart from both being made by GAINAX, Gunbuster shares the same similar method of using absolute force of will to save the day.
You may also find a lot of references to Gunbuster within Gurren Lagann.
HARD WORK AND GUTS!
Gainax EPIC ! Hotblood FTW
Gainax. Both have awesome action, great stories, and beautiful animation styles.
The basis for Gurren-Lagann thematic wise: humanity fighting for survival against a righteous enemy, the rise to power from a cowardly lead character and a similar brotherly relationship.
Gainax's original super robot series made many years before Gurren Lagann.
If you want to see elaborate fight scenes fueled by passion like Gurren Lagann, then Top wo Nerae delivers, but what's more important is you get a view into much of the foundation of Gurren Lagann and Gainax as a whole.
Top wo Nerae! is basically the prototype (and better version imho) of TTGR. Atmosphere, characters and overall feeling are the same. If u liked one, its a guaranteed u will like the other.
Top wo Nerae! (AKA Gunbuster) is an older Gainax anime involving giant robots and bending the laws of physics in preposterous ways. The relationship between Noriko and Kazumi is well done, and one can see how their symbiotic relationship is similar to that of Kamina and Simon in TTGL.
The style of Gunbuster may seem dated for some folks, and the first 2 or 3 episodes are a bit lacking, but the awesome factor of the ending makes up for it completely.
Gurren Lagann are inspired in Gunbuster and both are produced by gainax. Story are alike (humanity trying survive against a huge beast/monster army) and both have epic moments with great soundtrack
Gunbuster was the first Gainax mecha anime, and Gurren Lagann owes a LOT to it.
Same Epic feeling from tengen toppa gurren-lagann.Noriko starts with no confidence as simon. Also both of them are from Gainax
The same studio. The same ROW ROW FIGHT DA POWA attitude.
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I'm amazed that no one has actually made this recommendation yet.
Top wo Nerae is the Onee-chan of NGE by a good seven years. Both are works by Hideaki Anno, but NGE gets all the glory for being more recent (which is a shame in my opinion).
Top wo Nerae is a truly groundbreaking, character driven, Sci-Fi anime that is better NGE in many respects. If Top wo Nerae did not exist, then NGE may never have been made...
Both are powerful well written mech stories and Both are animated by Gainex,unlike it's later Sequel Diebuster,The first Gunbuster was more seriouse and payed more homage to Evangelion,both the first Gunbuster series and Evangelion both feature a lead who both grow from cowards to strong leads, Noriko Takaya from Gunbuster is very similar to Shinji Hikari from Evangelion,they may be crybabies at times,but they're likable and tolerable,Gunbuster is a cult classic worth checking out if you like Evangelion (Aliens,Angels, and Fanservice.....Oh my) and a bit of horror
Classic Gainax mecha anime that had a huge influence on the genre of mecha anime as we know it today.
Both are mecha-themed series created by Hideaki Anno. Though Gunbuster is seven years older, it already covers the concepts that formed the basis for NGE. Gunbuster does not delve in psychology as much as NGE, yet it tells the same coming-of-age story in which kids have to fight in real battles.
Giant super robots, massive battles against horrific enemies and unpleasable father figures! (And nudity!)
Hideki Anno created both Top wo Nerae! (Gunbuster) and Evangelion. Gunbuster is an essential for any mecha fan and a must watch for Evangelion fans because you can clearly see the prototypes for characters and ideas in Evangelion.
Coach = Gendo, Jung-Frued = Asuka, etc.
If you haven't seen Gunbuster, you can't understand what Anno is deconstrucing in Neon Genesis Evangelion.
You can easily see how NGE and TTGL grew from Top wo Nerae. It's as if a branching pathway was created by exploring the two extremes of psychological fear from piloting a giant robot and the over the top nature of the anime.
The first direction of Anno, Top wo nerae shares a lot of aspects with NGE (themes, characters, direction...), while in a denser package. A must-see for any SF anime fan (and a "watch-it-right-nao" for Anno fans).
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Gunbuster is the original pretty girls in mecha with heart wrenching emotions anime. VoaDS updates this theme to post Eva levels of teen angst. If you've seen one, you must see the other.
Somebody called Hoshi no Koe "the serious and abridged version of Gunbuster". There is more than a little truth to this sentence. Shinkai's work was done, after all, in the true Gainax style: borrow a lot of things from everyone who did mecha anime in the past 20 years and blend them into something that nobody ever managed to create. Homages to the old Gainax OVA are completely evident (the uchuu kaiju are back, the Lysithea is a polished Exelion...) and many plot points are similar. Directorial style is much influenced by the 90's Hideaki Anno.
Similar Plots and similar Pacing of Events. Plus Both involve young girls piloting Mecha!
Both about girls separated with friends by space and time. Main characters became victims of Einstein's general theory of relativity...
Similar stories where time-space distortion draws a young military girl and her classmates far apart from one another. Both deal with the uncertainty of knowing what's become of those you're separated from, and how, though living in separate worlds and aging at different rates, in the end, you're still the person your friends always knew.
Both use relativistic time dilation as a major plot device. Also, Voices of a Distant Star uses some production techniques and elements that seem to be directly influenced by Hideaki Anno.
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Another 1980s series which has a similar romanticized, upbeat, and theatrical feel to this space military drama about young adults trying to make sense of the situation (and themselves) as they face an overwhelmingly unknown enemy.
They're both about the struggle of humanity against overwhelmingly strong outer enemy and makes you proud of being Earthling.
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In both, school girls are trained to be mecha pilots and face an alien enemy army.
This show reminded me a lot of Gunbuster. The aliens are similar, and the fanservice is integrated into mech battles.
However, Total Eclipse is more gruelsome and graphic, and doesn't have the super robot feel good elements nearly as much
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Nothing alike story-wise, but these girls get shit done through hard work and guts! You may also see similarities between the Sora/Layla and Noriko/Kazumi dynamics.
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both Gundam 00 The Movie and Gunbuster has similar plot
aliens, endless number of sharp-shaped aliens, earth army vs aliens in space
and somehow have a similar ending
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This recommendation seems like it makes no sense, but there is logic behind it. If you're one of the people who really enjoyed Gunbuster's high-school/boot-camp arc, and for reasons other than the bath scene, then you'd probably enjoy Starship Troopers.
It dedicates a good 5 episodes to Johnny Rico's training in power armour piloting, and plays out remarkably close to the book.
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Gutsy/hot chicks fighting with Mecha.
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Gunbuster is the more depthful series by a mile but both have parallels of a bright mecha future turned dark and then turned bright again. (Not in lighting but in optimism/pessimism levels)
Compared to most recommendations though, watching one or the other will tone down your liking for the other series because of the quality of the events. Because of this I recommend watching Gunbuster first as Shin Getter Robo is the more forgiveable series to hate.
(Forgiveable as in even if you don't like the series because it doesn't meet the standards set by the previous series, you could still gleam enough enjoyment from it because of the addition of an iconic Super Robot series)
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Space time plays in both anime a big role !
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From an era were CUDDLY girls were innocent but are tough as nails, AND THATS WHY they are worty in these anime as the main persona! with all the sugarcoating and all :)
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Like Top wo Nerae, Suisei no Gargantia features great space battles in mecha robots against aliens.
The abilities of the mecha robots are also similar to the ones in Top wo Nerae.
The aliens are of almost the same appearance as the ones in Top wo Nerae withe their flower like look.
SnG seems to have take great influence from TwN.
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The Legend of Black Heaven => Top wo Nerae.
If you liked how the spaceship battles and spacial issues were handled in The Legend of The Black Heaven, there's a probability you'll like Top wo Nerae. Though this one hasn't a outstanding Hard Rock soundtrack, the plot is awesome.
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Ace wo Nerae! (Aim for the Ace!) heavily inspired the idea behind Top wo Nerae (Aim for the Top!) It's near enough the exact same thing; but Aim for the Ace is about Tennis, not giant mechs fighting aliens. Hell, just look at the names!
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Both series feature a war being fought for humanity, Melody of Oblivion after the war is over, and Gunbuster as the war is being fought. Gunbuster has superior animation, characters, and story to Melody of Oblivion though.
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Both have powerful stories about the human power to survive, as well as to show how small they are to wield such power.
Inspiring and enjoyable, each are rather bold sci-fi made at times where such sci-fi was warmly welcomed.
Age rating aside, both are similar because of their ability to downplay the existence of humans... but also show how resilient they are too.
Shingu is a kids' show, has more episodes, and has a little more world development. It's intensity is also lower, but it's interest factor is not.
Gunbuster is both a pander, tribute, and an expansion to it's target audience. It makes use of it's episodes more, and has a more embracing ending, but it's range to entertain is quite limited too.
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Despite being extremely different, both stories of Gunbuster and LoGH take epic proportions, almost involving universe's fate.
Also there're some time skip in both anime.
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Classic mecha anime, the kind of series any fan of the genre should have on their "must watch" list.
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Both series have a plot where a female nobody trains to become a mecha pilot, all the while fighting off an enemy. Both have common themes and there's even a Gunbuster parody in Xenoglossia.
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In both anime there is a klutz good for nothing girl who wants to go to space, and they both work hard to get over their weekness and be as good as the person they admire.
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The main character Aim For The Top! is the female version of Kamille in Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. If you liked Zeta Gundam, then Aim For The Top! is a must watch. Both anime series are classics and a blast from the past. The two mecha series rare based on coming of age stories and the people they meet along during their journeys.
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If you enjoyed Aim For The Top! and similar classic anime series from the 80's that involve mecha with a good story line, then Escaflowne is a must watch.
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Considering 'Aim for the Ace!' inspired Gunbuster, it's shocking that there's NO recommendation for the original TV series or this - its movie adaptation.
If you exchanged mecha with tennis, they are so similar that you'd feel like you've watched one already when you watch the second of the two; no matter the viewing order.
There's the instructor who says very little and picks a nobody, ignoring the arguments of the elites; there's the hard-working heroine who overcomes everything by enduring and never giving up; and there's the super-elite, naturally talented rival who, initially, is dismissive of the heroine. Even teamwork between the hard-working rookie and her skilled rival plays an important role in both stories.
In short: no matter if you like sports or mecha titles, you'll like one if you like the other. It's that simple.
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Both are old-school mecha anime. Although they both show their age, they also both remain very watchable even now and are rightly hailed as classics.
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Both have the element of intergalactic battle and use light speed theory as a key element.
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Both have a similar story. Initially only girls piloting robots and both has a person who is admired for his talents.
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Both involve human's battle for survival vs. space monsters. (although the humans in HA don't battle exclusively with space monsters) In both series, the key to victory lies in the hands of a super being/robot. Both feature battles on an epic scale. however, Heroic Age is a more action driven anime, where Top wo Nerae is more of a character driven drama.
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