On September 13, 2022, Sentai Filmworks re-issued the blu-ray of Gunbuster: the Movie having previously been released back in 2016 under Sector 23’s Maiden Japan banner. While this looks to be the same disc as the previous release but with updated cover art, I still tip my hat to Sentai Filmworks in keeping a seminal Gainax production in print and available for old fans to relive and new fans to experience for the first time.

Norika Takaya is a klutzy young space cadet whose father sacrificed himself to defend Earth from alien invaders. After a coach at the school takes an interest in her, she begins to focus her efforts to improve, modeled on the top student in her school Kazumi Amano, who grows to become both her biggest rival and closest friend over the course of the story. Before long Norika and Kazumi are chosen to pilot the ultimate weapon of humanity Gunbuster to protect Earth, and thus begins one of the most epic and touching stories in anime history.

Gunbuster began life as a three-volume OVA series with each volume containing two episodes (I actually still have the original English language VHS releases in this format) and then was later packaged into a 95-minute film and released theatrically. This release represents the theatrical film and not the OVA series which to date has only been released as a blu-ray by Bandai themselves back in 2008 and is which is now out of print and very expensive. while I think it’d be great to get the 6-part OVA back in print for fans, I think for those unfamiliar with Gunbuster, this film version works just fine in conveying the scope and power of the story. While the mecha design is cool and the space battles are well-executed, what really makes Gunbuster work is its attention to character development throughout the runtime and the fascinating time dilation aspects of the plot that often get overlooked or ignored in other science fiction stories. The aging of people on Earth while Norika is off fighting wars and not aging nearly as rapidly becomes a central point of the film to use as an emotional focal point. It adds a resonance to Norika’s interactions with those on Earth and strengthens her bond with Kazumi which allows her to truly develop as a character. What’s even more remarkable about Gunbuster is how mature the storytelling and directing is given that it is legendary director Hideaki Anno (of Neon Genesis Evangelion)’s first real directing job (with really just a live action Ultraman fan film to his credit before this). It also marks an early use of Gainax creating an artistic set piece out of what was most likely budget limitations with the big final act of Gunbuster presented in black & white with the major climactic space battle done almost as a slide show to a lovely classical score. Some may criticize it as pretentious, but I believe that it’s elements like this that have set Gainax as a studio apart from many of their contemporaries over the years.

So being originally an OVA from 1988, expectations were adjusted appropriately going in in terms of how it was going to look. But in general, the picture quality is very clean with a healthy amount of grain that doesn’t feel overdone. The picture does come across a little soft at times, but I believe that’s more a symptom of the source itself as many anime from the ’80s had a similar look to them. The audio comes in a nice 5.1 surround mix that particularly sparks during the battles as one would expect. For extras, we actually get a couple of very good ones. Probably the most significant is a feature length audio commentary with several members of the original Japanese voice cast (subtitled). It’s full of nice reminiscences from the various members but is fairly light on more of the backend technical aspects of the production, as one would expect. It would’ve been great to hear from Hideaki Anno himself, particularly on the motivations around the art design of the climax but still, it’s a nice extra for sure. Another solid inclusion is a 26-minute interview with some of the original Japanese cast & crew, taken during a session of them getting back together to re-record the audio tracks for the film version (which I didn’t realize they even did before watching this). There’s a little overlap here with some of the conversations on the commentary, but there are also some anecdotes specific to this featurette too. Very nice extra! And of course since it’s Sentai, we’ve got the requisite random trailers for other Sentai releases too.

Unless you’re a diehard Gunbuster fan who either already has the 2008 OVA set or is willing to pay the $200 its going for on the secondhand market, this release of the theatrical version of Gunbuster is certainly recommended for fans of sci-fi/mecha anime with emotional depth or if you just want to experience an influential touchpoint in the history of anime. Maybe if this sells well enough, Sentai will put out the full OVA series as well.