2015 A.D. Perseus Arm, Milky Way Galaxy
(12,000 parsecs from Earth)
The fourth wave of enemy photon torpedoes is approaching!
ETA, 20 seconds!
Full speed evasive maneuvers, on the double!
Full speed evasive maneuvers!
Abandon ship!
We are abandoning ship.
Repeat, abandon ship!
One more!
We've got room for one more!
You said you had room for one more?
Yes, sir!
Then get him on board!
No, Admiral! You must!
You fool, get out of here!
But, sir!
Listen! You're too young to die!
You have to live... You've got a mission ahead of you!
"Daddy, make sure to come home for my 8th birthday!"
My dear Noriko...
Forgive me.
From behind you, I run up the hill road
anata no ushiro kara sakamichi kakete yuku
Outrunning the burning sunshine
kogeru you na hizashi wo oinuite
With huge bounds, when I catch up to your back
ookiku hazunderu senaka ni oitsuku to
I feel your body heat
anata no taion ga tsutawaru wa
Every time I cut through the wind, it feels so good
kaze wo kiru tabi kimochi yokutte
My heart swells
mune ga fukuramu
And my hopes are high
nozomi wa takaku
I want us to be wrapped up, unconstrainedly
tsutsumaretai nobiyaka ni ne
Together
futari no mama
The distance is approaching zero
kyori wa ZERO ni natteku
Episode 2 「Daring! The Girl Genius Challenger!!」
In 15 minutes the ship will arrive at Space Station One...
the Silver Star.
Please refrain from smoking.
Your stewardess on this flight was Natsuko Ohara...
and your pilot was Fujio Murakami.
Ah... Oné-sama.
Good morning.
That is the Exelion, a cutting-edge space battleship.
It's smaller than I expected.
Don't look away!
No, sir!
Listen, in the vacuum of space...
your sense of distance and size can grow distorted.
Be sure to keep that in mind.
Right, sir!
Hm?
That's a Soviet machine.
Welcome to Silver Star.
I'm the Exelion's new captain, Tatsumi Tashiro.
This is Jung Freud, from Moon Base.
She's a genius in space combat.
I believe you've heard of her?
Yes, sir, I'm aware of who she is.
Allow me to introduce Kazumi Amano and Noriko Takaya.
The best Japan has to offer.
Do try to get along.
How do you do.
Is this your first time in space?
No, I've been here three times before on vacation.
I see. You should be fine, then.
Can you hear me in the back?
Your soon-to-be new home, the space battleship Exelion...
is currently under construction at a very rapid pace.
We expect to have it fully equipped by the end of February...
whereupon we will launch a full-scale attack on the space monsters.
At that point, you will all become full-fledged members of the Top Squadron.
If we lose this battle...
mankind will have no future.
You have 7 months until then. Use that time wisely and train yourselves.
First off, you'll have to get the hang of movement in space.
Go to the moon, orbit it once, then return here.
Don't forget to stay in pairs.
Near the moon, you will experience strong acceleration.
Don't let it throw you.
First group, move out!
Noriko, here we go!
Roger!
Distance, 270.
That should be good enough, right?
Yes.
Fixing position.
Switch off your markers, both of you.
What are you trying to do?
I challenge you to a fight!
Oné-sama!
Linda's carrying our dummy markers ahead. Hers, too.
So, you've got everything taken care of!
I could take you both at once...
since you've no real space experience.
No need to worry about that.
Oné-sama!
Here I go!
Giacobinid Meteoric Attack!
So, just what I'd expect of the Rose Queen.
Not bad at all!
Just be careful.
Every rose has its thorns.
Where are you, Oné-sama?
"Sekiun style..."
"Omni-directional defense, slanted aim stance."
Perfect defense, no opening given...
But! If you won't give me one, I'll just make one myself!
Ready to yield?
Oh, I don't know about that.
Lightning... Reversal...
KICK!!!
You're pretty good, Genius.
Of course I am, they don't call me that for nothing.
Oné-sama!
What's wrong? Are you done already?
Hold on a minute.
What is all this?
Where did she go?
What?
It's a space monster's corpse...
In a place like this...?
My Dad...
He was... killed by this?
By such a creature?
Dad!
Noriko...
Dad...
Welcome home, Daddy!
You remembered my birthday!
Of course. You've turned 6 years old today, Noriko.
Your Daddy came home at the speed of light.
Going AWOL during a training exercise.
Entering a military facility without authorization.
Interfering with a top secret enemy artifact.
Any one of these should get you both confined to the brig!
But we can't train you if you're in jail.
I've asked the Captain to keep this incident quiet.
But listen, you're both on probation.
One more screw-up like that...
and you'll go straight to the brig.
Understood?
Yes, sir!
When I was a child...
my father was always in space.
Even when he came to Earth, he hardly ever came home.
But he'd always come home once a year...
just for my birthday.
And he would say to me...
"Happy birthday, Noriko."
He'd always go straight back to work after that, though...
Anyway, I'm so relieved.
It wouldn't matter for me...
but if you got thrown in jail...
it'd be such a huge loss for our force.
Oh, I get it now!
So that's why they pardoned me too!
Excuse me, girls.
It's my fault you both got a scolding from Coach, right?
I'm really shy around others...
and you know, one thing leads to another.
Still, Miss Amano, you really are something.
I heard you were good...
but I never expected you to be that good.
Being on the moon is nice! It makes my breasts lighter.
But here it's worse.
My bra gets so tight, my shoulders get so stiff...
and on top of that, my breasts are on the verge of sagging.
Don't you think so?
Oh, yes, it's a strange way to apologize...
but I'd like to invite you both to my birthday party.
It's on the 12th of the month after next.
That's the same birthday as mine!
Really?
Well, that's perfect timing, then!
We can throw a party together! A big one!
By the way, that coach is totally hot.
I love that atmosphere of tension he has.
Say, when's his birthday?
It was 2 days ago.
What do you think, Ohta?
I think it certainly merits further investigation.
Indeed.
The object is coming from the direction of the Perseus Arm...
Uh... It's approaching our Sol System at 99.8% lightspeed.
We expect it to just barely infringe on Neptune's orbit, but...
such speed, for such a large mass, is quite unusual.
I'd like for you to find out what this object is.
Can we get an image of it?
Due to a strong Doppler-Lorentz shift...
I'm afraid that's impossible.
Which means we'll have to catch up to it and see it for ourselves.
Do we have any lightspeed battleships near Neptune?
No battleships, as such...
but a vessel is out for training around the asteroids.
If you used its external boosters...
you could accelerate two machine weapons up to sub-lightspeed.
We'll send Amano and Takaya.
Well, putting Amano aside...
wouldn't Jung be a better choice for the other pilot's seat?
Amano and Takaya are both candidates to pilot Gunbuster.
I'd like to use this as an opportunity...
to let them experience lightspeed travel for themselves.
All right.
We will control your acceleration timing.
Just hang on tight and endure the g- forces.
The moment you depart...
I'll set out from Silver Star on a sub-lightspeed recovery vehicle.
I should catch up to you one minute later, by your clock.
Now, our target is traveling at near lightspeed.
Don't let ether flow throw you off course.
You'll have 10 minutes to complete your mission.
For every minute that passes out there, 3 months pass by on Earth.
Be careful, or you'll end up like Rip van Winkle.
Moby Dick #1, Moby Dick #2, prepare to separate.
Noriko!
If you get back on time, you should arrive on the day right before our party.
I'll be looking forward to it.
Right, I won't let you grow old alone!
Don't grow into an old woman on us.
Whether I do or not is up to you.
Commencing countdown.
18, 17, 16...
15, 14, 13...
12, 11...
10...
9...
8...
7...
6...
5...
4...
3...
I didn't know the ether flow was so violent...
Time for secondary propulsion...
6...
5...
4...
3...
2...
1...
Zero.
Target acquired.
It's flying in front of us, right on schedule.
I acquired both of you.
20 seconds to contact.
Target recognized.
Can you tell what it is?
A spaceship?
It's man-made.
Wait, I see a name.
Coach! It's from Earth!
The Luxion...?
No! Don't let Takaya go near it!
Noriko!
Coach! Noriko's going aboard the Luxion!
There's still air in here.
Inside this ship...
only 2 days have passed since the battle!
Dad!
Amano, I'm retrieving you.
Stand by and prepare for deceleration.
I'll go find Takaya.
If I'm not back in 3 minutes...
forget about us and decelerate immediately. Understood?
Dad!
Dad...
She's heading for the bridge.
The main bridge...
Dad!
Takaya...
No!
Takaya, we're leaving!
Coach...
We'll smash through the hull!
Roger...
Amano, prepare for retrieval!
They won't make it...
Coach!
Get us in, quick!
Decelerate!
A... Amano?
Yes, sir?
How late were we?
12 seconds.
I see...
Welcome aboard the Exelion!
Welcome back.
You kept me waiting for so long!
We set out next week.
It must have been rough on you, about your father.
But cheer up.
6 months may have passed for all of you...
but we were just there, barely an hour ago.
Let her have some time to herself.
Dad, it's been 6 months since my birthday, but...
let's have a party today, just the two of us.
After all, Dad...
you came back to me, just like you promised.
When I grow up, I'll go into space too!
That way...
I can always be with you, Daddy!
"You're like a younger sister to me"
Imouto mitai sonzai datte
That's what you murmured in answer
Anata ga kotae tsubuyaita no yo
My desperate confession of love
Hisshi datta kokuhaku
Was scattered on the wind that Sunday
Kaze ni chitta nichiyoubi
I lost my love under bright sunshine
Taiyou no shita furarechau to ne
Too bright to even cry
Namida nanka mo deban ga nakute
Heartbroken, I just watched your back
Tada bouzen to senaka ni
And waved a forlorn goodbye
Te wo futta no nasakenai.
Since that day, my life is dark
Sorekara mou kurayami no hibi
But, encore, the power of love!
Demo ne ankooru koi suru pawaa
In my heart, encore, pure fighting spirit!
Mune ni ankooru mujaki no faito
I'll polish the depths of my heart,
Haato no oku migaki wo kakete
And someday, I'll try again
Itsuka mata "I'll try again"
Next Episode Preview
The sea of space is my sea!
10,000 parsecs from Earth, the girls played a game of "dare."
But I get caught by Coach and get a serious scolding.
Because of that, I get stuck swabbing the laser cannon lenses.
Ooh, my back aches!
There, I get to know a nice guy.
While enjoying the mood under the nebulae, there's a sudden attack!
My first real battle! With a destructive californium nuclear warhead!
Oh, God, please forgive me for my inappropriate attitude!
Next time on GUNBUSTER...
Episode 3: First Love, First Sortie.
Episode 3
「First Love ☆ First Sortie」
LIGHTNING KICK!