Takaya, and both fight alongside others to defend the bomb. The alien army is fended off, allowing the black hole bomb to be set. However, when the time comes to activate, they find out the enemies' attacks have damaged 2% of the 'slave generators' required for implosion. Amano and Takaya decide to dive down into the core of Buster Machine III and activate it by using one of Gunbuster's two Degeneracy reactors, even though doing so means they will likely be unable to leave without suffering severe relativistic time dilation during their escape. After the bomb is set off, Noriko and Kazumi spend 12,000 Earth years objective traveling home, although for them only hours or days have passed. Upon arriving in Earth orbit in the damaged Gunbuster, the pilots cannot make contact with anyone nor see any sign of habitation on the planet, suggesting that human civilization is long gone. However, their despair is instantly dispelled when a massive light pattern suddenly appears on the planet saying "WELCOME HOMƎ!" spelled out in simplified Japanese ("オカエリナサイ". The final letter "イ", however, is reversed, which indicates the current civilization was mimicking the bygone language). Delighted that their planet is alive and well, the pilots bid the Gunbuster farewell and return to Earth. Characters Releases The series was originally released in Japan over three volumes on VHS videocassette, with two episodes per volume. It was then released on three laserdiscs with a later boxset containing two new science episodes. Eventually, it was released on DVD in 2001. A remastered four disc set was released in 2004 with dramatically improved image, and new extras such as three short animations, a rough cut of episode five and an unmatted version of episode 6. The series was first released in English in North America starting in March 1990 on video by U.S. Renditions as their first release. It was only released in the original Japanese language audio track and featured some rather loose English subtitles, especially on the first volume. It was later re-released verbatim in 1996 on VHS by Manga Entertainment after U.S. Renditions ceased operations. The series was released in English on a single DVD in the United Kingdom by Kiseki Films, but this release suffered from poor video quality and inconsistent subtitles. It was also criticized for lack of advertised extras and the editing of a scene with full-frontal nudity. On November 24,