Source: Ningen’s Wallpapers.

Just finished another rewatch of Top wo Nerae! 2. This show can never get boring at all. The awesome combo of moe-ness and mecha goodness of TwN! 2 is probably something to remain unreachable for a long while, a long long while. Gainax needs to make more anime as epic as TwN! 2, with no offense to all Gurren-Lagaan fans. G-L’s good, but, it’s still way out of TwN’s league yet.

Hmm.. I should really buy the Nono BOME figurine for collection’s sake. Nono is definitely one of my himegimis ;).

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

For those not in the know, Lunar has just released the final episode to TwN! 2. I’ve already blogged it , so check it out, but it’s based on the raw though.

Following that, I had an interesting discussion on IRC about how some of the stuff in TwN! 2 works which proved interesting enough that I decided to blog it out.

First off,

Why shoot Earth, instead of any of the other planets like Mars or Mercury?

First off, we have to start with what remaining planets that the Solar system currently has. In the 1st TwN, the Exelio incident cost the Solar System it’s 3 outer planets, except for Pluto, and Jupiter was used for the Black Hole Bomb. That leaves only the planets Mars, Earth, Venus and Mercury. Considering that Humanity’s last ditch attempt to destroy the gravity well was to literally ram a large mass at almost light speed to cause an enormous impact, Earth was the best candidate, as it is the largest planet amongst the four left. Plus logistics and resource-wise, it would faster to build Douze Mille on Earth as well.

Why did Nono just left without saying anything?

She decided to shoulder the burden of defending the Solar System herself. Besides, at the end of episode 05, their superiors were clearly ordering them on a suicide mission.

Why did Exelio arrive 6 months later, when it used warp? How did Lark reach Earth before Exelio arrived?

The most interesting and thought-provoking question. As established from TwN! , FTL(Faster than Light) travel causes time dilation, thus making the time passed for the user who is in FTL very very slow, but the normal world outside still experiences normal time flow. For instance, in TwN!, the Exelio battle lasted maybe about 10-15 minutes of Noriko and Kazumi’s time, but 6 months had already passed on Earth. The same thing also applies here, so the Exelio VGW(variable gravity well) actually only warped itself 10-15 minutes ago when it warped out, but 6 months had already passed in the normal time.

As for how Lark arrived before Exelio did, I assume that current human technology may have sub-light speed travel already, with speeds near the speed of light, which would of course allow them to reach Earth earlier, but without the time dilation effects, since time dilation only takes place when going above the speed of light. Mass also I think must be taken into account as well, since the Exelio VGW is extremely enormous and should suffer from some dampening.

How did Nono warp from Pluto to Titan in an instant then? She didn’t seem to suffer from time dilation then.

There are 2 ways, IMHO, to explain this, which basically deals with how “warp” could be defined as, either as FTL conventional travel, or spatial manipulation.

First of all, assuming FTL conventional travel, Nono did not warp in an instant. Most probably she reached Pluto sometime before the Titan VGW started up and was notified by the space monsters, which would have surely known that the Titan VGW is the real enemy, and thus she warped sometime before the Titan VGW attacked started.

Second, if her warp was of the spatial manipulation type or to put it in simpler terms, a teleport. It isn’t hard to think that back in the TwN! times, teleportation could have been explored, and most perhaps Nono was equiped with one, maybe experimental prototype in her. It’s also easy for her to use teleportation considering her mass and size, since the concept of teleport mainly deals with disassembling the data at the current spatial position and rewriting it simultaneously at the desired spatial postion, so it could have been done, especially since Nono has the capability of creating micro black holes and is equiped with a degeneration reactor.

Well, that’s all for now. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong and if there’s any comments/suggestions/theories/criticisms. Man… discussing this had me wikiing like mad and kept me up till 7 in morning ~.~.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

8-13-06 (8:32PM EDT)—- Gunbuster Movie Premiere
The Tokyo Anime Center will host the world premiere of Gainax’s Top O Nare Movie on October 1. The screening will occur in the facility’s Akiba 3D Theater. Nationwide distribution will follow. The official title is “Top Wo Narae 2! & Top Wo Narae! Gattai Gekijouban” (united theater version).

Darn, want to watch it :P. Although I already know it’s a recap of the both the series’ events, I’m just hoping for maybe new footage or stuff.

Also, somehow, I feel a little lacking in me right now after watching the ending…

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Truly Gainax ending… truly Gainax ending….you have been warned.

So, TwN! 2 ends with less of a bang I had expected. Following on are my summary of the events in the show, but I didn’t get half the terms, so it’s not going to be correct. Btw, the pictures are a bit shitty so blame the raw as well… Lunar better hurry up with it’s release. Need to rewatch again :P.

The episode begins with a lot of babble that essentially translate to “Oh shit! BM07 is gone and out last hope is Topless “The Star Mover” Lark”. After a last gathering of all the Topless with a picture session, the defense of Earth begins with all the forces holding out and the Buster Machines taking care of the small fry. Btw, is it me or are the small fry reminiscient of Starcraft’s Zerg Queen?

Picture session.

As it turns out, the main plan to wipe out the Space Monster is to use Dix-Neuf to ram Earth, yes, you got it right, EARTH, right in to the monster in the hope (I think) of destroying it all together.

Weapon Earth.

However, the plan is disrupted by BM07 who appears suddenly in her full Diebuster splendour….

Suprise, suprise…

Taa ta ta tata ta tata taa…..(the Buster Machine BGM)

Diebuster appears.

… who proceeds to stop the Earth battering ram.

Lark is frustrated by Nono’s action of stopping her and her desertation and lashes out her anger and sadness to Nono while she stops Earth. Lark’s Buster Machine suddenly stops and it turns out her Topless power has been depleted. Nono proceeds to attack the Space Monster with a Super Inazuma Kick and Buster Beam but fails. The Space Monster proceeds to attack Earth and Nono defends Earth with her Diebuster, while Lark and the rest of the humans watch hopelessly on.

Diebuster attacks….

… but fails..

Lark decides to use the final weapon on her Buster Machine, which turns out to be equiped with the original engines of the Buster Machines. After a change of clothes to the uniform that Noriko used to wear, she unleashes the seal on her engine.

Fanservice time!

Buster Machine 19 sanjou!!

After a round of the infamous “Doryoku to konjou!!” speech to Nono, who bursts out of her Diebuster shell, both of them deal the Space Monster a Double Super Inazuma Kick which finally destroys the Space Monster. However, it leaves a black hole which threatens to go Big Bang (don’t ask me why) and it seems all hope is lost when 2 enormous hands appear and grab the Black Hole, while Nono and Lark have their last conversation in a style reminiscient of Eva’s (I didn’t get anything here), thereafter which Nono disappears together with the Black Hole, thus saving the Solar System.

Reminds you of Eva doesn’t it…

The solar system is saved!

Finally, time jumps to 10 years later and an older Lark climbs up a hill, while conversing with Chika, in preparation to welcome back Noriko and Kazumi to Earth. The End, or more like Gainax End.

Chika 10 years later.

Welcoming the heroes of of past.

And there we have it, the ending of Top wo Nerae! 2. Personally, IMO, there was a bit too much EVA-ist influence into it that I did not like that kinda really detracts from the feel of the show. But overall, it has been a fun and exciting ride for me and quite a chance to sample on Gainax’s better qualities such as overexaggeration on a planetary scale and dramatic build up. If only they could improve their endings a wee bit and have a lesser dependency on Eva for their work :P. And it couldn’t hurt to show at least some shots of Noriko and Kazumi for us :P.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Trailer for Hellsing Ultimate II, Make A Raid available on streaming video here, while preview for Top wo Nerae II 06 can be downloaded here.

HARII HARII HARII!!!!

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Not more than a few days back when the subbed Top wo Nerae! 2 05 was released, I was checking out for their site for the release date for 06, only to be disappointed for the utter lack of news.

But only today, they have just announced the release date for the last episode, on the 25th of August. Oh… how I await with joy. Still a full 3 months away, but at least now I have a date to expect :). Wonder how will Gainax end this and judging from the teasers on the site, looks like there will be a lot of unexpected events in store for us.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Remember kids, do not attempt to throw planets around, unless you have a Buster Machine along with you to clean up your mess.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Holy shit, I say…. pure holy shit…..

I have to admire the way that Gainax can sooo stretch logic, yet make it so dramatically believable. Suspension of belief is really required on this episode.

Highlights:

- Explanation on the “Uchuu Kaijuu” being really the defenders of the solar system and confirming a lot of speculation
- Nono almost getting… err…. raped(?) by that guy(forgot his name).
- The procession of about a billion or so “Uchuu Kaijuu” following Nono’s commands.
- The idioticness of the captain to go disturb Nono thus causing the Space Monster to appear.
- Nono saving Lark, telling her of the story of someone she admired(speculated to be Noriko) and then inviting her to fly.
- Lark, using her Exotic Manuever to grab a *planet* and then *throwing* it to the Space Monster.
- The final scene, where Nono, supposedly lets the Space Monster warp away, and prisons Lark with the space fleet that followed her, using the “Uchuu Kaijuu”.

I’d better not wait too long for the 6th episode……. the excitement is killing me…. Hey! I regained some of my fanboyism :).

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

From Gainax’s Top wo Nerae! 2 site, the release date of Top wo Nerae! 2 Vol.5 has been announced to be on the 24th of March. New character descriptions and mecha designs are on the site too.

New characters seem to include a guy who’s a homage to the first Top wo Nerae Excelion’s Captain, a slippery looking Topless and Raraku seems to be restrained. New mecha’s include Buster Machines 35 and 62 \0/. I need more Nono~~~.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.