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Gunbuster is based on the OVA ‘Gunbuster’ anime series. The piece is approximately 6” tall. Like the mech the figure is mostly gray with orange-yellow highlights. The ‘bot is very different from Gundam pieces in that it is mostly cylindrical rather then rectangular in form. It has a large barrel chest, arms, legs, two huge cone-shaped shoulder-pads, and two rocket-boosters on the back. The sculpting is accurate to the anime series. Like the Gao Gai Gar figure (link) the figure has some rather off-the-wall articulation but serves well to duplicate a number of cool poses.
The figure comes with a stand, a few alternate hands, and a ‘star burst’ effect that can be placed on GB’s foot to duplicate an ‘explosion’ while kicking.
Meat and Potatoes; 5.0
Perks; 3.5
Homer Facor; 5.0
And then there are the crossover series that mix both, like ‘Gunbuster’. The miniseries followed the exploits of a number of mech pilots facing an invading army of aliens. Naturally the best way to fight the things is with giant robots. The realism comes in two forms. First MOST of the mech designs have a more military, manufactured look. Second time-distortion due to faster-then-light travel is used throughout the story. I stress MOST mechs because what makes this a super-robot series is Gunbuster. The thing is as tall as the Tokyo Tower, splits into a pair of mega-powerful fighter craft, and has a ton o’ butt-kicking weapons, which naturally you gotta scream out to activate. Hey, if you had an attack like the ‘Super Lightening Kick’ you wouldn’t just wanna toggle some buttons for it!
There have been a few products to make their way to this side of the US from this anime series, but I always hoped for more. Hey, it’s a giant robot that kicks ass, there’s GOTTA be more cool stuff! Ok, so having a fully transforming chogokin would be really expensive, but there has to be something posable to play with... er, I mean to pose for display. Yeah, that’s it.
Well after a lot of waiting Kaiyodo has answered my prayers and the prayers of giant robot fans and anime geeks everywhere with this figure. Is it the perfect version of Gunbuster? Unfortunately no, but it’s pretty dang cool just the same.
Meat and potatoes are a lot like the Gao Gai Gar (link) figure; not Gundam-level detail, but very solid just the same. The basic panel lines and vents are recreated here, but you won’t see fine details like rivets or anything. The paint job is also equally simple but clean. Gunbuster wasn’t the most colorful thing in the anime series, so that’s not surprising. The articulation is also just left of center on the figure. Most of the joints on the figure are cut along a bias rather then perpendicular to the limbs, so you get some rather odd movement. However, once you get the hang of where things move, there is a lot of posing options available. Some are very dynamic and great for display.
The perks are a bit disappointing, though. Yes, the figure comes with multiple hands, a neat display stand, ant the ‘star-burst’ effect, but I hoped for more. Granted, Gunbuster wasn’t armed to the teeth with melee weapons in the OVA. However, a few things could have been thrown in like the ‘Buster Shield’ and maybe spare arms and legs to duplicate the ‘Buster Super Collider’.
Homer factor is high just the same. Hey, it’s Kaiyodo doing a super-robot. What’s not to like?
The final call is there really isn’t much bad about the figure. Ok, it’s a bit skimpy on the extras. However the figure itself is well done and with the littler perks it does come with the figure over-all is fun to have. And the fact that it’s an import for under $20 is a nice catch. Woohoo!