If you loved Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone, try Gunbuster: The Movie
A bridge between a film you've already seen and one most people haven't. Gunbuster: The Movie has roughly 67.8× fewer votes than Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone — it's a deeper cut, not a mainstream recommendation. Here's what they share, and what the second one does that the first one doesn't.
What they share
Both films are directed by Hideaki Anno, and they both carry the foreign gem mood tag, and they sit in Action / Animation / Drama / Science Fiction territory. If that's the register that drew you to Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone, the second film will land in a comparable space — through a different lens.
What Gunbuster: The Movie is
You aspire to pilot a space fighter, just like your late father. You enroll in a training program, but your skills lag behind the other cadets. Then, you're inexplicably chosen to co-pilot an experimental mecha. Anno's debut short-form anime is a frenetic, sentimental tribute to hot-blooded sports stories. The animation style has aged, but the core of its drama remains.
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