Ralph Jenkins

I read Jeffrey Kauffman's DVD review of Gunbuster vs. Diebuster: Aim for the Top! - The Gattai at http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=35749 and I pretty much disagree with everything in the review, particularly his comments about Gunbuster's ending. The switch to black and white for the last 30 mins. of the movie (or the content from the sixth OVA) was a stylistic choice on the part of the director to give the final battle a documentary-like feel. The switch back to color (and full frame in the OVA) at the end is perfect, and it's widely considered one of the best anime endings of all time. I was also very pleased with Gunbuster's picture quality. The footage from the first four episodes was 16mm, so there isn't as much to be gained there, but once you get to the footage from episodes 5 & 6, it looks terrific. A lot more time and money went into Gunbuster's animation than the anime TV shows of the day, and it shows in the little details.

Diebuster I can take or leave, although it's a nice extra to have. It's sort of a tribute to Gunbuster by a director who was a fan of the original.

JMK

Like I said in my final thoughts, I knew going in my less than five star review would probably irk longtime fans, but there ya have it. I just find "Gunbuster" unusually dated and actually much preferred "Diebuster" when taking this in in one fell swoop.