Diebuster

Diebuster
Nono, Lal'C, and Buster Machine Dix Neuf
トップをねらえ 2! (Aim for the Top 2!)
Genre	Adventure, comedy, mecha anime, military science fiction
Original video animation
Directed by	Kazuya Tsurumaki
Produced by	Hiroyuki Yamaga Shigeru Watanabe Shirō Sasaki Shinichiro Inoue
Written by	Yōji Enokido
Music by	Kohei Tanaka
Studio	Gainax
Licensed by	EU: Beez Entertainment NA: Discotek Media
Released	November 26, 2004 – August 25, 2006
Runtime	27-31 minutes
Episodes	6
Anime film
Gunbuster vs. Diebuster
Directed by	Kazuya Tsurumaki, Hideaki Anno
Written by	Kazuya Tsurumaki, Hideaki Anno
Studio	Gainax
Licensed by	EU: Beez Entertainment NA: Bandai Visual USA
Released	October 1, 2006
Runtime	95 minutes
Manga
Written by	Kazuya Tsurumaki
Published by	Fujimi Shobo
Magazine	Dragon Age Pure
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	2006 – 2007
Volumes	1

Diebuster, also known as Aim for the Top 2! (トップをねらえ 2!, Toppu o Nerae Tsū!) and Gunbuster 2, is a six-episode original video animation series directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki, written by Yōji Enokido and animated by Gainax. It was created to commemorate the studio's 20th anniversary in 2004, and it is a sequel to their 1988 OVA Gunbuster.

A compilation movie, titled Aim for the Top! & Aim for the Top 2! The Gattai Movie!! (トップをねらえ!&トップをねらえ2! 合体劇場版!!, Toppu o Nerae! & Toppu o Nerae 2! Gattai Gekijōban!!), that condenses Gunbuster and Diebuster into two feature-length movies, was released on October 1, 2006.

It was licensed for American release by Bandai Visual USA as Gunbuster 2. Discotek Media has since re-licensed Diebuster as Gunbuster 2: Diebuster and it was released on May 21, 2013. A manga adaptation of the series is available in Japan.

Story

Top o Nerae 2! Diebuster follows the story of Nono, a country girl who dreams of becoming a space pilot (or, to be more precise, "like Nonoriri", the meaning of which is revealed as the series progresses). While working at a bar, Nono has a chance encounter with an actual space pilot, Lal'C Melk Mark, also known as a "Topless". Nono imediately idolizes Lal'C to the point of calling her "onee-sama", or big sister. After helping Lal'C defeat a space monster, and showing incredible, inhuman strength, Nono finds herself becoming part of the elite Fraternity. This group is made up of teenage pilots called Topless, who have the ability to use their mental energy to power quasi-humanoid weapons called Buster Machines, though it is revealed that this ability is eventually lost after a certain age. The Fraternity's mission is to protect the people of the Solar System from attack by swarms of space monsters.

The series revolves around Nono's quest to become like Nonoriri, her relationship with Lal'C, and the hard work she believes she has to do to be "worthy" of Lal'C's attention. It also explores her interactions with the rest of the Idols (a group of Topless with exceptionally high kill counts), her efforts to fit in and, ultimately, the truth to her forgotten past (shortly after Nono helps Lal'C defeat a space monster, it is revealed that she is actually an android of unknown origin).

After dealing with swarms of space monsters, and the personal conflicts of the Idols themselves, the story moves on to Saturn's moon, Titan, where an ancient alien Buster Machine, also referred to as a Fluctuating Gravity Well, is said to be buried under the corpses of many space monsters who were apparently trying to keep it hidden from humanity. Many Topless pilots have gathered here, including the Serpentine Sisters, two twins who refers to this Buster Machine as an "eternal Topless" and believe it can provide them with a way to keep their Topless power past the age limit. They attempt to reawaken the eternal Topless, drawing the attention of a large mass of space monsters which invade Titan. The eternal Topless awakens and destroys a large number of space monsters with ease before turning on the Serpentine Sisters and destroying them along with more clusters of space monsters.

This so-called "eternal Topless" is revealed to be the true space monster, as Lal'C realizes when she witnesses its vicious attacks against her comrades and, horrified, asks Dix-Neuf (her Buster Machine) what this creature might be and wonders what they have been previously fighting up until now. During these events, Nono's potent powers as Buster Machine no. 7 awaken and it is revealed that she can control the previous "space monsters". Together, Nono does battle with the real space monster and is victorious.

Afterwards, it is also revealed that the space monsters being fought by the Topless up to this point were merely first-generation alternate Buster Machines, used to protect the human race from the true space monsters in earlier generations as a Solar Defense Force. Thousands of years ago, after a tiresome war with the true space monsters, again referred to as Fluctuating Gravity Wells, humanity grew weary and sealed away warp technology, locking themselves in the Solar System. Over time, the defensive Buster Machines multiplied and evolved on their own, ironically resembling the original space monsters that they defended humanity from. They started attacking human space because they identified the Topless with the same energy as the true space monsters. Realizing this, the human government quickly decommissions the Topless, considering their abilities an illness that must be treated, and plans to make peaceful negotiations with the space monsters. Lal'C and the other Topless are forced to wear a helmet that prevents them from unleashing their powers while they wait to be treated.

Using Nono as an emissary to the space monsters, a fleet of human ships, Lal'C aboard with them, travel to their nest which surrounds a black hole, created a long time ago by the ship Exelion in order to destroy the Fluctuating Gravity Wells that were heading to invade Earth. They discover that a very large FGW had survived and has been trying to escape the black hole, while the space monsters have kept it in check all this time. As the fleet arrives, the FGW breaks free of its prison, revealing that it is using the black hole as an energy source and plans to warp to Earth to destroy humanity. Nono, Buster Machine #7, fights the FGW with the space monsters but it deflects all their attacks. She goes to Lal'C and unlocks the helmet on her head, allowing her to summon Dix Neuf. Piloting her Buster Machine, Lal'C summons Jupiter 2 (the remnant core of Jupiter after humanity used the rest of it to create the Exelion black hole) and crashes it directly onto the FGW, though it deflects that as well. The only option left is to have Nono enter Jupiter 2 and turn it into a black hole, destroying the FGW along with Nono herself. Lal'C prepares to go along with Nono on this suicide mission, but Nono rejects the plan and suddenly departs along with the space monsters. The FGW also successfully warps away, heading towards Earth.

Several months pass, during which humanity observes that all the space monsters coalesced into a humanoid form before vanishing from the Solar System. With Buster Machine 7 and the Solar Defence Force gone, humanity decides to use Earth as a weapon to destroy the final FGW to ensure their survival. They plan to have Lal'C, now known as the "mover of planets" to pilot the newest and largest Buster Machine ever built, Douze Mille, in order to enact this plan. During this time, Lal'C delves into Nono's past, meeting the elderly man who found her inside a comet and hearing about how she idolizes "Nonoriri", which is revealed to actually be Noriko, a hero from the original war a long time ago. As Earth is evacuated, Lal'C takes a group photo with her fellow Topless, during which one of them points out that she has a fever, a sign that she will soon lose her Topless abilities due to age.

The FGW emerges from warp, even larger than it was before. Lal'C pilots Dix Neuv, which in turn pilots Douze Mille, and accelerates the Earth towards the FGW. Suddenly, Nono appears alongside Douze Mille as an equally giant Buster Machine known as DieBuster. She attempts to stop Lal'C from ramming the Earth into the FGW. Frustrated at Nono for leaving them and admitting that she wanted to be equal friends with Nono rather than an idol, Lal'C transforms Douze Mille into humanoid form and batters DieBuster in a fit of rage, telling her not to mess with humanity's plan. Just as she is about to land a finishing blow, Lal'C's Topless powers suddenly expire, leaving both Douze Mille and Dix Neuv powerless. DieBuster stops the Earth and heads off to fight the FGW alone.

Despite her powers, the FGW still deflects her attacks and damages DieBuster severely. Lal'C senses that Nono is in trouble and heads towards Dix Neuv's true cockpit in his brain. Dix Neuv moves on his own to take out the horn in his right eye, which was both blocking the way for Lal'C and sealing some of his powers. Lal'C reaches the cockpit and activates Dix Neuv's true form. She coaxes Nono to come out of the disintegrating DieBuster and fight with her. With the two girls together once more, and Dix Neuf's new powers, they defeat the final FGW with a Double Inazuma Kick.

However, in doing so, they crack the black hole that powered the FGW, threatening to cause a Big Bang that would destroy everything. Nono uses her powers to disrupt space-time and surround the black hole. In this warped space, Nono and Lal'C share one last moment together as friends. Nono repeats the promise that they would both visit Lal'C's home on Earth and see skylarks. Nono gives Lal'C a piece of her generator, or singularity, in the form of an origami crane, before using the remnants of DieBuster to warp the black hole and herself away from Earth. Dix Neuf saves Lal'C, and brings her back to civilization, where she weeps at the death of Nono.

Ten years later, Lal'C becomes an environmentalist and her Topless comrades have moved on from their previous life. She travels to a hilltop in the Okinawan coastline, musing about Nono before the city's lights shuts off. She stares in the starry sky, and it is revealed all along that Nono and Lal'C's timeline is the setting of the last episode of the first Gunbuster OVA. The two pilots, Noriko and Kazumi, descend from the remnants of the first ever Buster Machine, and Lal'C vows to tell Noriko about Nono's life and her sacrifice.

Characters

Nono (ノノ)

Voiced by: Yukari Fukui

Hailing from a rural community in the Martian countryside, Nono is a simple and clumsy girl with a big dream: she wants to be a space pilot. And not just any space pilot, but one to rival "Nonoriri". Of course, dreaming of being a pilot and actually becoming one are two entirely different things, as she soon finds out upon reaching the city. Even after landing a somewhat dead-end job as a waitress in one of the city's bars, Nono stubbornly holds on to her ideals, despite the chiding of her boss and the bar's regular patrons. However, her persistence pays off when she encounters a real space pilot in the person of Lal'C Melk Mark, member of the elite Fraternity and current pilot of Buster Machine Dix-Neuf. It is through Lal'C (whom she impulsively dubs her onee-sama, or big sister) that Nono finally finds the means to make her dreams a reality.

Possessing a bubbly personality and a near-endless supply of optimism, Nono seems to be a normal, if clumsy, country girl. However, Nono is anything but normal; in fact, she is not even human, but an android, who cannot quite remember the reason why she was built (though much of her past is revealed later in the series). She idolizes Lal'C, despite the fact that the latter seems to regard her with mild annoyance, and will do anything to please her.

Nono has trace recorded history of Takaya Noriko and Amano Kazumi (The pilots of Buster Machines 1 and 2) in her memory. The very person she Idolizes and wants to become is Takaya Noriko. Due to her damaged memory, Nono cannot remember Noriko's actual name and thus pronounces it Nonoriri. Nono's memory of Amano Kazumi is referenced when she calls Lal'C Onee-sama and when Nono makes origami cranes. The final reference to Top o Nerae! from Nono's memory is the catch phrase that she has memorized, "With guts, and effort," spoken in Japanese. Nono sacrifices her life in the last episode by using her generator and the remaining artificial Buster machines to seemingly warp a fatal black hole left in the wake of her climactic battle with Lal'C and the final Space Monster, leaving her legacy in a form of a badly done origami crane.

Lal'C Mellk Mal

Voiced by: Maaya Sakamoto

The current holder of the top kill score among Topless pilots, Lal'C, along with fellow pilots Nicola and Tycho, is part of the so-called 'Idol' group (pilots with exceptionally high kill rates). She is also the current pilot of Buster Machine Dix-Neuf, the oldest buster machine still in operation. Nicknamed 'princess' by her teammates, Lal'C is outwardly cool and self-confident—traits that draw Nono's admiration for her, much to her initial annoyance. It is Lal'C who helps induct Nono (with some indirect assistance from Nicola) into the Fraternity as an 'auxiliary member', despite the fact that Nono manifests none of the traits associated with being a Topless.

While initially bothered by Nono's hero-worship of her, Lal'C quickly gets used to her company, to the point where she can talk about things she would not normally tell anyone. She senses some potential in Nono, and admires the girl's never-give-up attitude a little (though she might act otherwise), but doubts if guts and perseverance alone can make the girl's dreams come true.

In the epilogue, she is one of the many inhabitants of earth to welcome Noriko Takaya and Kazumi Amano and presumably passes Nono's legacy and gift to Noriko.

Nicola Vacheron (ニコラス・バセロン)

Voiced by: Mitsuo Iwata

The only male Topless on the 'Idol' team, Nicola is the pilot of Buster Machine Vingt-Sept and, before Lal'C's inclusion into the ranks of the Topless, was considered one of the most powerful Topless of his generation. He is Lal'C's inspiration (in as much as Lal'C is Nono's inspiration), and seems to have a relationship with her, though it is debatable whether it is of a romantic nature or not. He is interested in Nono and sees potential in her to be a Buster Machine pilot, despite the fact that Nono has never manifested any kind of Topless reaction (something that, according to their minder Casio, may not be possible in artificial beings), and secretly helps Nono join the Fraternity under the premise of being an 'auxiliary' member.

Considered 'old' among the current Topless (as he is nearing late adolescence), Nicola is already having a hard time manifesting the Exotic Maneuvers needed to power his machine. As such, he seems to secretly be seeking a way to extend his 'tenure' as a Topless, to the point of joining the Serpentine Twin's inner circle and acting as their watcher over Nono's activities.

He ultimately loses his ability to pilot the Buster machine and attempts to sexually assault Nono under the belief that she is close enough to a Buster Machine. He soon becomes a lieutenant in the empire. His fate in the final episode is unknown.

Tycho Science

Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro

The final member of the 'Idol' team, Tycho is brash, impulsive, and utterly determined (at least in the beginning) to best Lal'C's longstanding kill record, seeing it as a chance to wipe the normally smug look off the face of the teacher's pet(another of Lal'C's nicknames among the members of the Fraternity). She has a low opinion of Topless in general (despite the fact that she's a Topless herself) due to an event in her childhood where—in spite of her powers—she was unable to cure the illness of a close friend, and is annoyed by Nono's constant attempts to prove herself worthy to become a Buster Machine pilot. Ironically, it is Nono who later helps her change her way of thinking for the better. While it isn't outwardly implied, the two become friends, though not on the same level as Nono and Lal'C.

Initially Tycho pilots the Buster Machine No.66: Soixante-Six, but it is destroyed when (against her initial orders) she uses it to impulsively attack the Jupiter Express (a massive swarm of space monsters that roamed the space between Jupiter and Saturn). After a period of self-doubt, she is able to awaken Buster Machine Quatre-Vingt-Dix, and it remains her machine for the rest of the series.

In the epilogue, Tycho becomes an emissary of Earth and travels to various systems with the corps. She wasn't present during the homecoming of Noriko and Kazumi.

Casio Takashiro (カシオ・タカシロウ)

Voiced by: Takumi Yamazaki

The only adult member of the 'Idol' team, Casio is their guardian, technician, and confidant rolled into one. A former Topless himself (he was a pilot of Dix-Neuf before Lal'C joined the Fraternity), Casio possesses an intimate understanding of the workings of the Buster Machines, as well as the people forced to pilot them. That is part of why he was one of the first to express his doubts on Nicola's assertion that Nono had the potential to become a pilot. However, despite his initial misgivings, he joins Lal'C in welcoming Nono into their 'team'.

Despite being a lech and a joker, Casio can be surprisingly serious when the situation merits it. He secretly yearns to pilot a Buster Machine again, but is resigned to the fact that he can only be near them, due to his advanced age. He is aware of the shady activities of the Serpentine Twins, but not the exact details of their little 'project'. Casio's fate at the end of the series is unknown, but presumably remains an engineer in the empire.

The Serpentine Sisters

Voiced by: Sanae Kobayashi and Yuki Matsuoka

Two highly mysterious members of Topless, the Serpentine Sisters are the oldest living Topless. They plan to awaken something inside the moon Titan that will give them the secret to eternal Topless powers, and are revealed to actually consume its meat in order to prolong their powers until they can awaken the 'fluctuating gravity well', as they call it. Their true motivation for needing these powers is the fact that without them, they might lose their close connection.

Episode list

Template:Japanese episode listTemplate:Japanese episode listTemplate:Japanese episode listTemplate:Japanese episode listTemplate:Japanese episode listTemplate:Japanese episode list

No.	Title	Original airdate

Music and theme songs

The music was composed and conducted by Kōhei Tanaka, the composer of Gunbuster.

Opening Theme

• "Groovin' Magic", by ROUND TABLE feat. Nino

Ending Theme

• "Hoshikuzu Namida" (Stardust Tears), by ACKO

External links

• Template:Ja icon Official Top o Nerae 2! website
• Template:Ja icon Gainax Top o Nerae 2! website
• Template:Ja icon Top o Nerae 2! & Top o Nerae! Gattai Gekijouban movie website
• Template:Ja icon Top o Nerae 2! Webnovel
• Diebuster (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Template:Ja icon DIEBUSTER WEB RADIO TOP! LESS (onsen(音泉)2005.10.4- DJ:Mitsuo Iwata(Nichola), Yukari Fukui(Nono))
• Official Gunbuster 2 website