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Gunbuster, known in Japan as Aim for the Top!, is a Japanese original video animation (OVA) series produced by Bandai Visual, Victor Entertainment, and Gainax. It was released from October 1988 to July 1989. It was the directorial debut of Hideaki Anno, best known as the creator and director of Neon Genesis Evangelion. The title is a combination of the titles of classic tennis manga and anime Aim for the Ace! and hit action drama film Top Gun, whose plots inspired Gunbusters.
The series focuses on a teenage girl named Noriko Takaya, who grows to be a master mecha pilot alongside her senior and inspiration, Kazumi Amano, and helps defend Earth from large extraterrestrials called . To celebrate Gainax's 20th anniversary, a sequel to Gunbuster, Diebuster (or Gunbuster 2), was released as an OVA. The sequel features new characters and mecha but retains the format and many of the concepts of the original series.
The anime has had several releases on home video since it was first released. It received an English Dubbing in 2022. It has also had soundtrack albums, a manga series, and merchandise such as toys, , and video games. Characters and technology appeared in crossover video games such as games in the Super Robot Wars series and two Neon Genesis Evangelion video games. It received mostly positive reviews and won the Seiun Award for Best Dramatic Presentation in 1990.
Noriko, Kazumi, and Ohta meet Captain Tatsumi Tashiro and Soviet pilot Jung Freud. Kazumi and Jung duel with each other until the duo and Noriko find the remains of a space monster, triggering memories of Noriko's father's death. When the Silver Star detects an unidentified object speeding near Neptune's orbit, Ohta has Noriko and Kazumi investigate the object, later discovered to be Luxion, as part of their sub-light-speed training. Noriko unsuccessfully tries to search for her father. She, Ohta, and Kazumi return to the Silver Star, with six months having passed in the space battleship Exelions Time dilation, and its construction having just been finished.
On the Exelion, Noriko meets American pilot Smith Toren and develops feelings for him. Noriko pairs up with Smith on her first battle against space monsters after Kazumi dissolves their partnership out of fear for Noriko's safety. Smith is killed, and Noriko feels bad for being unable to help him. She begs Ohta to train her further to prove herself to Kazumi.
Jung challenges Noriko to a duel, but Noriko breaks down when space reminds her of Smith's death. On the Exelion fleet's way back to Earth, space monsters attack it. Tashiro orders the Exelion to perform a kamikaze run on the enemy flagship, but Noriko launches in the uncompleted Gunbuster to deal with the alien threat. Noriko single-handedly destroys the flagship, allowing the Exelion to return to Earth.
Ten years pass, Noriko and Kazumi graduate high school, and the Top Squadron disbands. Ohta sends Noriko and Kazumi to escort the decommissioned Exelion to the center of the space monsters' gathering and detonate its degeneracy reactor. Kazumi breaks down, as Ohta has been diagnosed with space radiation syndrome and has less than six months to live. Noriko and Kazumi combine their ships to form Gunbuster to protect the Exelion from oncoming attacks. They retreat before the Exelion explodes, creating a black hole that takes out the entire space monster army and parts of the Solar System. Gunbuster returns to Earth more than six months later, and Kazumi discovers that Ohta is still alive.
Sixteen years later, Kazumi pays her respects to Ohta after he dies. She goes to Hawaii to see an officer for Project Carneades. She warps to Sagittarius A* to rendezvous with the Eltreum fleet to deliver Buster Machine 3, which is the planet Jupiter compressed into a bomb powerful enough to destroy the space monsters' star system. The fleet and Gunbuster protect the bomb from waves of space monster fleets. The bomb is activated, but fails to detonate, as heavy damage during the battle reduced its energy output to 98%. Noriko and Kazumi go into the bomb and use Gunbuster's main degeneracy reactor to trigger its detonation. The Eltreum fleet warps back to Earth, leaving Gunbuster behind as it outruns the bomb's massive explosion. Gunbuster escapes the black hole and returns to the Solar System on July 6, 14,292. Noriko and Kazumi see that the Earth is dark, but a light pattern appears, saying: Okaerinasai. Noriko and Kazumi eject from Gunbuster and fall back onto Earth.
This work starts as a parody at the core, but later, the story has serious content, (2011). 9784862487728 ISBN 9784862487728 getting concepts from Joe Haldeman's science fiction novel The Forever War, actively inserting time dilation. The sixth and last episode is shot in black-and-white and has the last scene show minimal coloring. In the remastered version, that part is black-and-white. Regarding planning for the last step, Anno and Okada said, "If that is it, it is good".
The characters' names come from staff members and people with whom Gainax was closely involved. The protagonist Noriko Takaya is named after this work's art staff member . Koichiro Ohta is named after Toshio Okada's friend and manga artist Nao Minda's real name.
The feeling of the world aging faster than Noriko instills a sense of loss. In Gunbuster, when a character approaches the speed of light in space, time slows down for that character. Aspirations and relationships become lost because of the priority to rescue humanity in space. Most science fiction stories do not address this problem, and Gunbuster shows the consequences of this dilemma.
The importance of hard work and will resonates in Gunbuster, as it starts with this theme and continues throughout the series. Although Noriko makes mistakes in the series, she deals with the weight of the consequences of these mistakes, along with the weight of trauma, in her interactions with other characters and grows as a character. Because of how rigorously Ohta trains Noriko, she grows into a master pilot.
The second soundtrack album, Aim for the Top! Ultra Sound Collection: The World of Kohei Tanaka, was released on March 21, 1990. It features more of Tanaka's score for all six episodes, plus the image song "Fly! Gunbuster" by Kazuki Yao, one radio drama, and the symphonic suite "Symphonic Poem Gunbuster". Like the first soundtrack, this album was reissued on December 18, 1996.
A box set titled Top wo Nerae! Kyōsōran was released on August 24, 1994. The three-disc set compiles the first two soundtracks and adds more background music and dialogue tracks, as well as new songs and karaoke tracks.
FlyingDog released the soundtrack Aim for the Top! Music Collection on March 26, 2013, exclusively on music download and streaming media platforms. The album compiles the first two soundtracks, omitting the opening and ending themes, radio dramas, and character voice clips.
In 2006, a theatrical version of Gunbuster was released in Japan, featuring a Surround sound soundtrack containing new sound effects, the original score, and re-recorded dialogue by the original Japanese voice actors. The feature-length film is an abridged version of the original OVA series, using the same animated footage as the original. It was released as a double feature with a condensed version of Diebuster as Toppu wo Nerae! & Toppu wo Nerae 2! Gattai Gekijōban!!.
Bandai Visual released a Blu-ray set of the OVA series with extras. It was released in Japan on February 24, 2012, in regular and complete limited edition sets. Both sets feature the newly re-recorded 5.1 audio (that was used for the theatrical compilation), along with the original 2.0 mix, remastered video, a brand new short, audio commentary, video shorts, and a 16-page booklet. The complete edition also included a bonus disc, full of production materials, previously unseen video footage, and a 100-page booklet.
Gunbuster: The Movie was released on Blu-ray in the U.S. by Honneamise. It was initially released on DVD as the box set Gunbuster vs. Diebuster: Aim for the Top! The GATTAI!! Movie. Following the liquidation of Bandai Visual USA and Bandai Entertainment's acquisition of the Honneamise label, a high-definition Blu-ray version was released in November 2008 by Bandai Entertainment. Maiden Japan later licensed Gunbuster: The Movie on Blu-ray and DVD on May 17, 2016. It was re-released by Sentai Filmworks on September 13, 2022.
In an interview with Anime on DVD, Jonathan Clements stated that "the Music & Effects track has been lost, and an would need to be reconstructed from the ground up". Discotek Media released Gunbuster on Blu-ray on May 30, 2023, with a dub produced by Sound Cadence Studios, marking the first time the OVA series was dubbed in English.
Gunbuster: The Movie was released on Blu-ray by Beez Entertainment in the United Kingdom in 2008. Anime Limited released the OVA series on Blu-ray in August 2023 in two editions: standard Blu-ray and Collector's Edition; the latter includes a 48-page art book and a double-sided A3 poster. The Blu-ray includes Discotek Media's English dub.
In 2010, Kadokawa Shoten published a new manga adaptation of Gunbuster, with artwork by Kabocha. The manga ran for five volumes, with the final volume released three years later.
In November 2006, Bandai released a large die-cast toy replica of Gunbuster under the Soul of Chogokin line. Just like in episode five of the series, the toy is a combination of Buster Machines 1 and 2. It includes an array of weapons that were used in both the anime and radio drama, as well as a miniature of Kazumi's RX-7 Machine Weapon and a display stand designed to resemble a launchpad. Also included are accessories that can be used to replicate the final scene in episode 6, where Gunbuster removes its degeneracy generator core from its chest. The toy was re-released in September 2015 as "GX-34R Gunbuster (Buster Alloy Color Ver.)", featuring a dark blue metallic finish. Two years earlier, Bandai released a smaller, more affordable Gunbuster figure under the Super Robot Chogokin line. Despite lacking the transformation feature of the Soul of Chogokin toy, this figure features extreme poseability and comes with two Buster Home Runs and parts for the Double Buster Collider, as well as the power generator core parts. A Tamashii Web exclusive Doryoku to Konjō no Busō Setto, released in July 2013, included the Buster Shield, Buster Missile arms, two Buster Tomahawks, and effect parts for the Buster Colliders and Super Inazuma Kick.
Studio HalfEye also released a transformable replica of Gunbuster in 2006. In contrast to Bandai's die-cast toy, this figure is made of resin plastic and is priced higher.
Hong Kong–based toy company CCS Toys released a premium Gunbuster figure in February 2024 under the Mortal Mind line to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the OVA series.
Figures of Noriko have also been manufactured. Yellow Submarine (a division of Takara) released a poseable doll, while Kotobukiya and Kaiyodo sold non-poseable figures. Bandai had a limited-edition Noriko & Nono figure set bundled with the North America and Japan DVD release of Gunbuster vs. Diebuster Aim for the Top! The GATTAI!! Movie. Good Smile Company released a Nendoroid figure of Noriko in June 2024.
In November 2021, Bandai released a Gunbuster kit from their Shokugan Modeling Project (SMP) Alternative Destiny line. Three months later, an online-exclusive expansion kit called the Infinito Sūpā Inazuma Kikku Setto was released, featuring additional weapons and accessories.
Kaiyodo released a Gunbuster model kit in November 2023. The kit includes figurines of Noriko and Kazumi.
In February 2025, Good Smile Company released the Moderoid Miniature Combining & Transforming Gunbuster model kit. At 115 mm in height, it is the smallest Gunbuster figure to fully transform into Buster Machines 1 and 2 without removing or changing parts. Bandai will release a new Gunbuster kit from their SMP line in August 2025. Like the Moderoid Miniature Gunbuster, this kit features perfect transformation. An expansion kit will also be released exclusively on the Premium Bandai website, featuring parts to make the kit anime-accurate and all of Gunbuster's weapons and accessories.
In March 2010, Heiwa Corporation released the pachinko game CR Top wo Nerae!
Cybernetic Hi-School, the third installment of Gainax's eroge strip-quiz video game series for the PC-9801 and MSX, focused on characters from Gunbuster.
The characters also appear in the Gainax video games and .
A writer for Anime News Network favored the anime's appearance and stated that frames avoided being reused. That writer also praised the detail in the animation of the mecha, the lighting, the particle effects, and the characters. Jason Huff of The Anime Review praised the animation of Gunbuster and Haruhiko Mikimoto's designs, but he remarked that the moments of nudity, although not sexual in any context, were unnecessary. He also said that female characters have their bodies "strictly obeying the laws of physics" and that it could potentially turn some people away from a show that celebrates women. A writer for THEM Anime Reviews remarked that despite the last episode being in black and white, the animation quality increased near the end of the series.
In 1990, Gunbuster won the Seiun Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.
In a collaboration with Ikemen Gallery, D-Boys's Kenki Yamaguchi cosplayed as Ohta.
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