Has pretty much made it into my favorite anime series of all time.
Gurren Lagann pretty much reinvigorated the anime fan for me. I liked anime before, a lot, but this…this just blew me. It was great, everything about it. The soundtrack, the flashy animation, the characters…everything about it was so over-the-top and completely awesome that I feel in love with it.
I have no idea where I first heard about Gurren Lagann. I had watched a lot of GAINAX series before (Diebuster, FLCL) but I wasn’t an avid reader of ANN or an informative site about new anime series (I was pretty in the dark) so I didn’t read about it anywhere. I didn’t here it from one of my friends, I was the one to tell them about it. I remember my cousin was into it, but we only talked about it after I had watched some of the series. I have my suspicions I found it on accident, though I have no idea how. I rented the entire thing from Netflix, and they have hundreds of anime series, so maybe it was fate? Or something, that would be pretty cool, wouldn’t it? Fate deciding which anime you would really like and helping you pick it out.
Nevertheless, I found Gurren Lagann through some means and watched it immediately. I only got the sub version of the series (and whether or not Sci-fi was running it at the time I don’t know) so I never heard the dub until a loooong time later (and it didn’t sound that bad, honestly). Apparently no one else was watching it because I got the discs easily. Anyway, so I loved the series and ordered the second disc. And then Gurren Lagann broke my heart.
Yes, you remember him. I loved Kamina, although he was my secondary favorite next to Simon. And when he died? Well, I was devastated. It was the first time (after Kanon 2006) that I had felt sad about an anime character dieing (I didn’t cry, though, which I knew some people did). I didn’t want to watch the last episode on the disc because I didn’t want to see a Gurren Lagann without Kamina. Of course, after watching the entire series I realize putting an episode after episode 8 onto the second disc was a good idea. I would probably be even sadder than I was if I had to send the disc back and wait 3-5 business days for the next one to come out. I might’ve not even finished the series.
But I felt bad about not watching the last episode on the disc, so I drew myself together and put in the disc again, not really knowing if I would still feel the same about the series now that Kamina was gone. After all, the next episode title was in pink, flowery print. The next episode was depressing, as it should be, but with the introduction of my third favorite character, the most adorable girl on the show.
Niaaaaaa
Of course, I was still pretty depressed when she showed up, but my Nia love grew over the next few episodes. Anyway, so episode 9 didn’t make me feel any better, because of course they were all in mourning, but the introduction of Nia made me want to continue the series. So I ordered disc 3, and Gurren Lagann blew me away once again.
Episode 10 was when Adiane showed up. I had pretty much recovered from my devestation over Kamina’s death and now felt bad for Simon, who seemed pretty alone because the others (besides Yoko, who got points from me) seemed to be ridiculing him for still mourning Kamina. I didn’t understand this, because I believed that Yoko and Simon, who had the closest relationship with Kamina would be saddened longer than the others, and recover from it slower. Apparently no one understood that.
And then…and then episode 11. I was a little angry at Gurren Lagann because Simon didn’t seem very progressive in character development, like he was always dependant on Kamina and never shone himself. Episode 11 was when Simon finally broke out of Kamina’s shadow and became his own, independant character. Just pulled one of the best moves in the series, and made me determined to finish it.
Now, the taking over of Teppelin didn’t stand out to me as episodes, mostly because I was more interested in Lord Genome and what he meant at the end. When Simon and the others went to war with him I just didn’t think anything could be as awesome as episode 11. So, it was kind’ve like expecting something from these episodes to be as good or better than episode 11, which wouldn’t happen until the last few eps.
I liked the characters after the time skip, because I hadn’t seen a lot of anime where we see what happens when the characters complete their mission and grow older. Rossiu finally went through puberty, Simon got hot, and Nia became beautiful. I should have expected that Nia, the sweetest character, would turn out to be the one who announces the beginning of the annihilation of the human race. Still, though, I was a little surprised. Not to mention angry at Rossiu for putting Simon in jail and trying to control this thing himself.
I knew why he did it, of course, and his motives seemed reasonable. I guess it was the city’s reaction that surprised me the most. Here was a leader they had trusted for years, and they can turn their backs on him in one day? Seemed a little unrealistic. I liked Viral’s older appearance as well (and not just because they fought in bath towels. I’m not that shallow). But I was happy when Simon came back and knocked some sense into Rossiu.
I was happy when they saved the earth from being destroyed by the “moon” but that was short-lived when Nia was captured at the end of it. Simon had to go after her and had to defeat the Anti-Spirals, so I knew I was waiting for something so completely awesome that it overshadowed the entire rest of the series. And I wasn’t disappointed, the incredible force of those last few episodes has stayed with me till today. I can’t say any other anime has made me root for the main character as much as this one has. I even shouted things out loud when I was watching it. I wanted Simon to win, no matter what the cost of it may be. And the appearance of Kamina at the end? I was really shocked at how much Simon had turned into Kamina, not as a complete copy but he was definitely a major influence. It just made me happy, when I thought of how much Simon had grown from the beginning of the series to the end.
I was, of course, saddened when the series ended. I’m like that, when I finish something I like. I can’t help but wonder, though, why did Gurren Lagann affect me so much? It had never happened before (the closest I had come was Kanon 2006) so I was really surprised at this. Even being an anime fan, I never thought I would feel more than shallow emotions for that show. Just what about the characters appealed to me?
I would have to blame Kamina. He was so different from any anime character I had seen before. He had a never-die attitude and no matter what nothing was impossible. And then Simon, who looked up to Kamina and stood in his shadow was a character who I wanted to see get his own spotlight. He just had a lot of potential. Yoko was very different from most anime heroines, she was strong willed and knew how to defend herself. Not once did she call for help from Kamina or Simon and stand uselessly on the sidelines. Nia won me over because, one, she was really cute, and, two, she dug Simon out of depression and into the badass character we knew he was. I love her for that.
I also blame it on the OST, which has some of the most memorable tracks ever. They gave feeling to the animation, and really kept me on edge. It was like the Holy Grail of OSTs, that added to the feel of the anime and fit with every scene no matter how much it seemed out of place at first. It kept me suspenseful, sad, or rooting for the main character. I got into OSTs from this anime.
Point is, Gurren Lagann really showed me what an anime could be. I have not watched another show that has elicited as much feeling from it as Gurren Lagann has. I don’t know if I ever will, whether GAINAX makes it or not. It had so many positive elements working for it that it combined into one awesome show. What am I trying to say?
“WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM!?”
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