Look, I get
it, those of you know about Gunbuster want to hear about the astrophysics, not
the biology, and I do plan to attempt to do the astrophysics of Gunbuster. What you guys have to remember is that I am a
biology teacher not an astrophysicist, and astrophysics breaks my brain and
calculator. As for the rest of you who wonder
just what the heck Gunbuster is, it is the directorial debut of Hideki Anno,
famous for creating the iconic Neongenesis Evangelion. Gunbuster is a 6-episode OVA that was
released in 1988, and it has all of the classic elements of 80’s anime. It also holds up surprisingly well, and I
would go as far as to say that the facial expressions are better than a lot of
what we see in today’s anime. As for the
plot, it is fairly simple: giant space monsters threaten Earth, so the Earth (aka
Japan) builds a super robot to fight them.
As a result, most of the series takes place in space and a main element
of the show is the effect that time dilation via travel at or near light speed
has on the main characters. I promise to
try and dig into time dilation, but first let’s take a look at the biology of
Gunbuster.
The first and most obvious topic and perhaps the easiest to look at is the giant space monsters that are the antagonists of the series. Given that Gunbuster is only 6 episodes long, not much time is given to them beyond the fact that they are huge, want to exterminate humanity, and reproduce inside young stars. The giant monster part I have already discussed in a previous post on the Vajra of Macross Frontier found here. As for the reproducing inside of young stars…. Yeah, I’ve got nothing to explain that one. Stars are literally giant balls of nuclear fusion, and I can’t think of any remotely possible biological system that could survive in that kind of environment.
Space Radiation
Sickness
The second,
and dare I say more important plot point, is Commander Koichiro Ohta (aka Coach)’s
injuries and illness. The injuries are
predictably from a battle that takes place before the series begins. The illness is left unspecified until episode
5 when Noriko and Kazumi discover that he has something called space radiation
sickness after he falls coughing up blood.
First things first, there is no such thing as space radiation sickness;
that being said, there is a ton of radiation in space and it is something that
astronauts and high-altitude pilots need to protect themselves against. For example, a 6 month stay on the
International Space Station is an exposure over ten times the amount of
radiation the average American might experience in 1 year.
To put
things another way, astronauts can be exposed to up to 2,000 mSv (millisieverts
are a measure of radiation), during a 6-month trip, and your risk of cancer
goes up after exposure to 100 mSv.
I think
Hideki Anno’s second source of inspiration for space radiation sickness came
from the Hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors).
There were over 500,000 survivors of the bombing of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, and they were in a brief period of time exposed to extremely high
levels of radiation similar to, if not greater than, what astronauts face (it
depends on the amount of time they spend in space). Those survivors faced and still face a number
health effects as a result of their experience.
These health issues include much higher risk of cancer, cataracts,
reproductive issues (probably why Kazumi never had child with Coach), and an
increased risk of certain infectious diseases, just to name a few.
Thus, I
think what Hideki Anno is referring to with space radiation sickness is not
chronic exposure to radiation, but instead the lingering after-effects of a
single event. The technology of
Gunbuster is incredibly advanced, so I can’t imagine their ships lacking
shielding to block radiation.
Additionally, the threat posed by space radiation is never once
mentioned and no one other than Coach is suffering from exposure to
radiation. Yet, Noriko and Kazumi both
know and recognize the situation for what it is. This leads me to believe that this is
something that everyone who travels through space knows about, but that it is
not a common occurrence.
This leads
us to the question of when was Coach exposed to a high dose of radiation, and
how he survived past the 6-month time limit he was given in the show. I think the most obvious choice is that he
was exposed during the first disastrous battle humanity had with the space
monsters and that led to the death of Noriko’s father. A nearly destroyed ship and escape pod is
probably not nearly as resistant to radiation as a fully intact ship. On a final note- this is one instance of my
theory being proven by the show itself.
In the sequel to Gunbuster, Diebuster, Tycho’s buster machine is
destroyed and she is exposed to space without her spacesuit on for a short time
and is later shown being treated for space radiation sickness, thus proving it is
from brief unprotected exposure to the radiation present in space.
Another
reason I like this explanation is that it also provides a logical way for Coach
to have survived past the 6-month time limit he was given. This limit was probably the result of a terminal
cancer, and occasionally people do survive terminal cancer, so it’s not
impossible for Coach to have recovered without knowing more about the
particular cancer he had.
Conclusion
It’s
official, while it might not be called space radiation sickness, over-exposure
to radiation is something that astronauts must take seriously as it can have
long lasting side effects. I know it’s
not much, but this is the first of three posts on Gunbuster. The next two Gunbuster posts will be about
the physics, I promise.
这个不错耶,我喜欢!
初来乍到,多多关照!消灭新冠,人人平安!