Post by ravenwithoutcause on Mar 14, 2005 13:17:32 GMT -5
Top wo Nerae 2 is about Nono, who has a dream of one day becoming a space pilot (and also becoming ⿿Nononigi⿿, whatever the heck that is), and runs away from home, hoping to fulfill her dream. She tries working at a diner, but her bizarre ability to split things in half ensures that she⿿ll be working for at least 6 months without pay. Just when it looks like she⿿ll be spending her life as a wage slave at the mercy of perverted customers, she meets Princess Lark. Nono becomes completely enamored with Lark from the moment Lark whips off her head sticker thing and busts out a ghostly mech arm to deal with the lecherous customers harassing Nono. It seems that Lark is one of an elite squad of pilots known as TOPLESS that deals with space monsters. Nono declares that Lark is her Onee-sama and proclaims her dream to become Nononigi, but Lark tells her that the squad only takes pilots that are TOPLESS. That⿿s when a giant alien space bug lands and begins to wreck havok (looks like Chiko the talking cat was right).
Lark summons her giant Buster Machine (named Dix-Neuf), and begins to wale on the monster. However, it appears to be a new type, and Lark has a bit of trouble with it. Meanwhile, Nono gets mixed up in the fray as she tries to rescue the owner of the diner. Just when things look hopeless, Nono⿿s power awakens, and she is able to save the owner. The insect decides to take the fight to space, and drags Nono along with Dix-Neuf in close pursuit. Seeing Nono⿿s charred body causes Lark to go berserk, but before she can throw a punch at the monster, her Buster Machine hesitates (it sees Nono twitching). Finally, Nono regains conciousness and decides to bring out her inner power. Unfortunately, Nono misunderstands Lark⿿s previous comment about being one of the TOPLESS and actually rips off her top, before landing a super-duper powerful kick that cracks the bug⿿s exoskeleton. Lark wastes no time in blasting the weak point on the monster, and it⿿s a headshot for the win!
Yet another excellent 6 episode Gainax OVA, Top wo Nerae! 2 feels like some kind of perfect amalgamation of Evangelion and FLCL. Sadamoto⿿s fingerprints are all over the art design, and I loved it. The best part is that I don⿿t have to worry about Gainax running out of money and totally screwing up something great; their recent foray into 6 episode OVA⿿s really seems to be working well for them. In addition to the great art, and high production values, the ED is excellent. This one looks pretty good so far, and even the fact that Nono refers to herself in the third person can⿿t dampen my enthusiasm. As an offhand note, I never did see the original Gunbusters that was released in the late 80⿿s, and I think it⿿s looking a little too old skool for me to want to go back and check it out.
Lark summons her giant Buster Machine (named Dix-Neuf), and begins to wale on the monster. However, it appears to be a new type, and Lark has a bit of trouble with it. Meanwhile, Nono gets mixed up in the fray as she tries to rescue the owner of the diner. Just when things look hopeless, Nono⿿s power awakens, and she is able to save the owner. The insect decides to take the fight to space, and drags Nono along with Dix-Neuf in close pursuit. Seeing Nono⿿s charred body causes Lark to go berserk, but before she can throw a punch at the monster, her Buster Machine hesitates (it sees Nono twitching). Finally, Nono regains conciousness and decides to bring out her inner power. Unfortunately, Nono misunderstands Lark⿿s previous comment about being one of the TOPLESS and actually rips off her top, before landing a super-duper powerful kick that cracks the bug⿿s exoskeleton. Lark wastes no time in blasting the weak point on the monster, and it⿿s a headshot for the win!
Yet another excellent 6 episode Gainax OVA, Top wo Nerae! 2 feels like some kind of perfect amalgamation of Evangelion and FLCL. Sadamoto⿿s fingerprints are all over the art design, and I loved it. The best part is that I don⿿t have to worry about Gainax running out of money and totally screwing up something great; their recent foray into 6 episode OVA⿿s really seems to be working well for them. In addition to the great art, and high production values, the ED is excellent. This one looks pretty good so far, and even the fact that Nono refers to herself in the third person can⿿t dampen my enthusiasm. As an offhand note, I never did see the original Gunbusters that was released in the late 80⿿s, and I think it⿿s looking a little too old skool for me to want to go back and check it out.
