Forum - View topicANNCast - Gurren Lagann
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Videogamep
 Posts: 564 Location: CA |
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I think Spiral Power is basically manliness/awesomeness/fighting spirit. The explanation was pretty incoherent, but that's what I remember about it. It's really just an excuse to make the robots even bigger and stop pretending to care about physics (not that I'm complaining). |
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v1cious
 Posts: 6216 Location: Houston, TX |
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Gurren Lagann is the only anime I've found that I can watch over and over without getting bored. I've seen this whole show through at least three times, and it never ceases to blow me away. Without a doubt, one of my favorite series of all time.
I feel like the hate for episode 4 simply comes from the contrast in style. The episode itself isn't that bad. And of course no Gurren Lagann thread can be complete without one of the best anime insert songs of all time Last edited by v1cious on Tue Sep 13, 2016 5:29 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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doubleO7
 Posts: 1071 |
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This pretty much sums up my disappointment with the ending as well. Especially the implication that the bittersweet ending could've been prevented or even changed after the fact. These characters had earned their happy ending as far as I was concerned, and while the idea of a limit to optimism sounds okay from a thematic standpoint, the way the writers chose to handle this just didn't make any sense narratively. Simon's selfishness in being the sole person to decide that everyone needed to settle for the bittersweet ending also never felt right to me. If I might be allowed to fanwank for a moment, I've always felt that an ending where spoiler[ Simon and Nia together sacrifice themselves/over-use their spiral engergy/etc in order to snatch the members of Team Gurren from the jaws of death, thereby granting everyone else a happy ending is a much more satisfying conclusion, and I feel addresses both the arguments for and against the original ending. It still shows, as Fronzel suggests is necessary, some kind of limit to Simon's optimism. It doesn't hand out a free pass to make a perfect happy ending, but still rolls with the implication that it was probably well within Simon's universe-bending powers to make one. Instead of trying to put a cap on that power, something as significant as resurrecting the dead just needs to come at a very steep price. In this case, trading the deaths of the others for those of our nigh-omnipotent protagonist and his love interest, who, at the very least, now get to be together in death. To cap it off, the wedding scene could be replaced with Yoko and the newly-resurrected/saved Kittan's wedding. Yoko spots two familiar faces in attendance holding hands, who just smile and vanish into the crowd, implying that they're still watching over their friends from somewhere. Okay, maybe this last bit is a little much, but everything from the previous paragraph is what my idealized alternate ending would be.] |
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Levitz9
 Posts: 1022 Location: Puerto Rico |
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I was on 4Chan when this show hit, so I can tell how how batshit people went for it back then. That odd heterosexual attraction that Jacob and Zac talked about became a thing; it was called "Gar", where a man was so overwhelmingly macho that your own sexuality was irrelevant in their presence. (Wouldn't you know, the term was originally used in reference to F/SN's Archer.)
I soured on GL, mostly because the show became one big meme. You can't talk about the show without someone bringing up the dumb lines over and over again; it's like Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It deserves a look, but I still can't shake the thought that Kill la Kill did GL better by virtue of not becoming Meme: The Show (even though the Frozen-esque-not-smart-enough-by-half-blogger-thinkpieces on KLK did threaten to choke the poor show.) There is no hating those designs, though. Even at their worst, GL is pure eyecandy. Great episode, really. Thanks a whole heap, you guys. And kudos to Erin for her appearance, she was very insightful. |
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HdE
Posts: 50 |
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Not actually got much to contribute here, but - HOLY CRAP! I recognise this poster from elsewhere! I really like Gurren Lagann. As much as folks talk about it being a genre re-defining show and debate aspects of it to death, I'm happy just to take it as a big, overblown giant robot show. The fact that it's still quotable even now (when not a lot of anime is) speaks, I think, to how entertaining it is. |
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grooven
Posts: 1426 Location: Canada |
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I remember watching this back when it came out on television I really enjoyed it, but it did take a crazy turn later on sometimes too extreme. But I did enjoy it overall. However, I found Kill la Kill really standard and the fights to be nothing special. Mako wasn't funny to me so I had to drop it. I did like the style.
OT: Just wondering is there an English spelling for Simon's name for it to be pronounced like that (See-mon). Is this because the Japanese name for Simon is translated as シモン (shimon)? Wouldn't it be the same as Beatrice ベアトリーチェ(Beatorichie) and Jordan as ヨルダン(Yorudan) and just call him Simon? Or am I missing something here? |
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v1cious
Posts: 6216 Location: Houston, TX |
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I don't think there's any big mystery to it, Sometimes the Japanese don't know. I remember back When Hellsing was first being translated, there was a conflict with changing Arucard to Alucard before someone explained to Kouta Hirano that he was spelling it wrong. |
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GVman
 Posts: 730 |
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Before I dive into all this, I want to state that I thought GL was a great anime, and that anime would be better if more shows tried to be like it and succeeded.
I was the one with the question about the references being intrusive. Personally, I felt like a lot of the impact of Kamina's death was lost by having that scene be such an obvious reference to Ashita no Joe. An important character's death that's supposed to be a turning point in the series is a terrible, distracting place to shove a reference. As for how the show's opening scene seems unrelated and the different direction it took in the latter half, this all goes back to Ken Ishikawa and his original five-part Getter Robo manga series. To keep it brief, the Getter was ultimately shown to be a malevolent force. That opening scene with the line, "The lights in the sky are our enemies," is a parallel to the same sort events occurring in the last Getter manga, Getter Robo Arc. The show was likely going to move in a similar direction, but it would up moving in one that was much more hopeful about where mankind's progress could take us and what could possibly lie at the end of that progress. |
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Jayhosh
 Posts: 972 Location: Millmont, Pennsylvania |
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Even though I love Gurren Lagann, I personally prefer Kill la Kill slightly. Most people prefer GL and claim that it's "more perfect," but I've always felt that they're both what I'd consider flawed masterpieces. Shows with such limitless creativity and passion behind them that any issues just seem superfluous to me. Also, what's wrong with masculinity? It's an aspect of ourselves that we all indulge in occasionally. I found it to quite empowering, just as KLK's "comfortable in your own skin" theme probably resonated with a lot of others. I guess that's one of the most respectful qualities of the team behind these shows, that they take such basic, human traits and inject them unit such ridiculously over the top storylines.
And lastly, to the one person who was commenting about people looking for meaning that isn't there in shows like GL and Eva, here's my opinion on that argument: when art is released into the world, it's all fair game from that point on in terms of personal interpretations. It doesn't really matter if the creators initially intended for these meanings to exist, the whole point of art is that it can mean different things for everybody. So in addition to whatever the creators might say a show is trying to comment on, the viewer themselves also has their own personal view, shaped by years of their own experiences and beliefs. That's why, especially in those really vague and avant garde works, various interpretations of meaning are all equally valid. Unless, of course, they're really freaking stupid interpretations. 
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Radrappy
Posts: 78 |
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I can't be the only one who found this show absolutely TANKED quality wise after the time skip can I? It only really picked back up with the last couple episodes leading into the finale.
What a finale though, woo! |
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Hawkmonger
Posts: 440 |
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Up top for my main man HdE! And between you and The Adventurer i'm fairly assured i've got it all wrong about Gurren Lgann and a rewatch is certainly on the cards. |
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CoreSignal
 Posts: 727 Location: California, USA |
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I'll be the lone voice of dissent: I found Gurren Lagann mediocre at best. There's some parts I enjoyed but I found most of the story, especially the characters and themes, to be a rehash of other super-robot mecha shows. I don't have a problem with reusing tropes per se, but GL never does anything original or interesting with them. I probably would've thought more of GL if I hadn't already watched stuff like Gunbuster+Diebuster, G Gundam, GaoGaigar etc. earlier on. The animation and fight scenes were fun though, although the character and mecha designs are a little too goofy looking for my taste.
I thought the writers killed off Kamina too early. The made a bold choice to kill him but to off him after eight episodes in a 27 episode show is a little fast. Honestly, when Simon and the other characters reminsice about Kamina in the second, I barely remembered the character at that point. I've always felt that people who think GL is a masterpiece are generally people who don't watch mecha shows or specifically, super-robot shows. Eryn's comment on not being familar with the genre kinda confirms it. I'm with Jacob, I preferred Kill la Kill over GL, I thought KLK was a lot more creative in it's ideas, themes, and even visually. |
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v1cious
Posts: 6216 Location: Houston, TX |
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Don't know about anyone else, but I'm a huge super robot fan. The point of Kamina's death wasn't shock value, his whole purpose in the story was to be a symbol to move people forward. spoiler[That's why Simon left at the end, the purpose of the spiral power is to clear the way for the next generation forward ("This drill, will open a hole in the universe. And that hole will be a path for those behind us"). Eventually, another person (Gimmy, judging from the epilogue), will also be called upon to use the drill and move the next generation forward. Hence, a spiral.] Last edited by v1cious on Fri Sep 16, 2016 8:22 am; edited 1 time in total |
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lunaswav3
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Sometimes it's Japanese people using other foreign words that don't derive from the English language... other times it's Japanese people don't know, as v1cious mentioned... and sometimes it's just J-slang that's formed over the years. Though from my years of listening & translating J-song lyrics; also from talking to a number of J-doujin songwriters... a lot of the time it's Japanese people's way of playing on words, and hinting a nod to us foreigners consuming their media - ie. songs, anime, manga, video games, etc. Granted it's a very simplistic & dumb way of using rhetorical puns, but Japanese people love doing that, especially with names. Shimon, Arucardo, Yordan, Raito/Light, Kallen, etc, etc... Japanese artists, like Masamune Shirow, that do know the correct way of spelling/pronouncing a name - just need a huge gaijin-filter most of the time. --- --- --- Great podcast! I loved the analysis on Kamina's character; bravado is the perfect way to sum him up in a nutshell. But as a guy, I'd prefer him stick it in my butt, rather than me stick it in his.  ♡
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TarsTarkas
 Posts: 5909 Location: Virginia, United States |
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There is leaving, and then there is leaving. At the very end of the series, I felt that Simon should have died, spoiler[when she died.] Because I felt that he didn't just leave to make way for the next generation, but rather he left everything behind. An incredibly sad ending for the epilogue, dogpiling on the sad ending for the series. |
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