Compare:
with:
It’s a bit more than a reference, I think.
While I was watching the concluding episodes of Gurren-Lagann earlier this fall, I was struck with one impression–how incredibly similar to Gunbuster it was. It started off with me just thinking “Man, Gurren-Lagann has as good a payoff as Gunbuster did back in the day.”
That was episode 21. Needless to say, Gurren-Lagann ended up having what may be a much better, if slightly different in style, payoff than Gunbuster.
There’s a genuine basis for the comparison here, and let me explain it a bit. For one thing, the themes of both series are quite similar. In Gunbuster, you had Noriko aiming for the Top, as it were, and helping save the Earth from extermination from the Galactic Monsters, the white blood cells of the galaxy. In Gurren-Lagann, you had Simon and the Gurren-dan leading…a quest to take on the Anti-Spirals as they threatened to exterminate all human life on the planet.
Sound a bit similar to you, too?
I’m fully aware that Gainax actually made Diebuster/Gunbuster 2, but I’m firmly convinced that Gurren-Lagann is the spiritual sequel to Gunbuster. There’s a lot of similarities–Noriko and Simon are practically the same character at times, except one has breasts and the other doesn’t. As well, episode 5 of Gunbuster (you know, the one with HOMING LASER!) seems to have been directly copied for the massive battles at the end of Gurren-Lagann. The concept of a select group of people putting their lives on the line to save the Earth crops up as well.
LIke Gunbuster, which oozed with references and pastiches of even older mecha anime, Gurren-Lagann apparently evolved like this: Gainax staffers, working on planning out the new mecha show, are sitting around a table. Someone says “Hey, guys, let’s make this a show about drills!” (drills, of course, being a Man’s Romance, and a common theme in classic mecha anime). The Gainax staffers share a hearty laugh at this premise, and then sit down and get to work taking it completely seriously and thus Gurren-Lagann was born. WIth such similar initial concepts, and the ultimately strong and moving anime they ended up being despite inauspicious beginnings, it’s safe to say that Gurren-Lagann will probably be as fondly remembered in the hearts of otaku today as Gunbuster was to the otaku of the 80s.