Forum - View topicTengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Are you there Nietzche?
|
|
| Author | Message | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Sabut
 Posts: 14 |
|
||
|
I am quite surprised. I've just finished viewing the anime Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and I thought I would find tons of references to the Nietzsche's symbolism that fills all the history, but I couldn't find a single webpage about this matter. I don't know if I am strange or what but I will try to explain the similes I see with some Nietzsche main themes. It is a bit long so if you don't want to read it all at least take a look at the quotes at the end after the ########### line.
Morality: Nietzsche's genealogical account of the development of master-slave morality occupies a central place. Nietzsche presents master-morality as the original system of morality. Nietzsche sees slave-morality as a sickness which has overtaken Europe — a derivative and resentful sort of value, which can only work by condemning others as evil. In Nietzsche's eyes, exists in a hypocritical state where people preach love and kindness but find their real enjoyment in condemning others for enjoying the impulses they themselves are not allowed to act on. Nietzsche calls for the strong in the world to break their self-imposed chains and assert their own power, health, and vitality on the world. In the anime: spoiler[we have the main characters fighting against everything that restraints their vitality, breaking all their chains, first against the ceiling, later against Lord Genome and finally against the anti-spirals.] The death of God: The statement "God is dead," occurring in several of Nietzsche's works, has probably become the single most-quoted line in all of Nietzsche's texts. Many people take the quotation as a reflection of Nietzsche's concerns about the development of Western society in the modern age. In Nietzsche's view, recent developments in modern science and the increasing secularization of European society had effectively "killed" the Christian God, who had served as the basis for meaning and value in the West for the previous thousand years. In the anime spoiler[there are various god figures that are overthrown, the gunmen gods in Rossiu village, Lord genome, the antivirals] The Will to Power: Probably the most important aspect of Nietzsche's picture of human psychology arises in the "will to power", which Nietzsche at points claims as the motivation that underlies all human behavior. Nietzsche appeals to many instances in which people and animals willingly risk their lives in order to promote their power, most notably in instances like competitive fighting and warfare, often dying quite young and risking their lives in battle — but wanted power, glory, and greatness. spoiler[The will to power in the anime is what they call the "spiral power"] The principle of Eternal Return: Another of Nietzsche's ideas has become frequently cited: his notion of "eternal recurrence" or eternal return. Scholars disagree about the proper interpretation of this idea. In one view, Nietzsche proposes a thought-experiment to determine who actually leads their life in a strong and vital way: we need to imagine that this life which we lead does not simply end at our deaths, but will repeat over and over again for all eternity, each moment recurring in exactly the same way, without end. Those who recoil from this idea with horror have not yet learned to love and value life in the way that Nietzsche would admire; those who would embrace the idea cheerfully, ipso facto, lead the right sort of life. spoiler[ In the anime there is a moment when Simon sees himself in all the moments of the past. There are too a recurrent structure in the anime, most of things that happen happened too before, the characters all the time destroy them limitations and then find another the bigger, the war with the antivirals happened before, ... the spiral itself is a symbol of the eternal return] Übermensch: Übermensch means the man who lives above and beyond pleasure and suffering, treating both circumstances equally "because joy and suffering are ... inseparable". All human life would be given meaning by how it advanced the generation of this higher, transhuman type. ############# I left this one for the end because one quote from Nietzsche and one from the anime are almost the same: "Man is a rope stretched between the animal and the Superman – a rope over an abyss. "A dangerous crossing, a dangerous wayfaring, a dangerous looking-back, a dangerous trembling and halting. "What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not a goal: what is lovable in man is that he is an over-going and a down-going. and spoiler[Remember this well! This drill rips holes through the universe. That hole will become a path for those who follow us. The wishes of the defeated and the hopes of everyone who follows, with those two thoughts, with 20 spirals weaved in, we'll carve the path to tomorrow!] spoiler[I'm the driller Simon. There's someone much more appropriate for passing through this hole that I made.] |
|||
|
|||
HMMcKamikaze
 Posts: 189 |
|
||
|
My experience with Nietzsche is limited to a rather cursory reading of Thus Spoke Zarathustra, but from what I recall I would say that you are definitely onto something. I've only seen four episodes of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (I really need to watch the rest) but I could already see the philosophical significance and symbolism of the story up to that point, which is impressive seeing as it was also able to fit into the shounen archetype where the main character accomplishes tasks through sheer willpower and succeeds to an almost impossible degree. That style of show tends to lack any real content since one can't always persevere and expect the results to be favorable.
I always find it a pleasant surprise when I discover an anime that is pregnant with meaning, and an affirmation of ideas that I hold myself. However, the great ones are few and far between. Besides RahXephon and Kino's Journey it's hard to think of anything that really comes to mind. I'll definitely investigate this show again, though. |
|||
|
|||
|
HellKorn
Posts: 1669 Location: Columbus, OH |
|
||
|
There are some allusions to Nietzsche, certainly. He and Jung seem to be a favorite among certain anime creators.
There is also a more generalized concept of the universe (it being comprised of spirals, or something like that for what my meager understanding permits me). Basically the spirals embodying vitality and progression, and spoiler[the anti-spirals representing stagnancy and containment.]
If you want anime/manga that actually deals with some of Nietzsche's ideas (and other philosophers), try out Berserk and Texhnolyze. (There are plenty of other titles along that vein that I'd recommend to you, if you want.) |
|||
|
|||
|
HMMcKamikaze
Posts: 189 |
|
||
|
Actually, I took the liberty of looking at your public list for ideas, and it seems with have similar tastes. But yeah, I'll definitely give Technolyze a try. I've had Berserk on the back burner for a while and I've tried to get into the manga, but I haven't been able to commit myself yet.
|
|||
|
|||
Leuconoe
 Posts: 83 |
|
||
|
I've never read anything by Nietzsche - I find it hard to take anyone with a moustache like that seriously - but (since you bring the subject up) the death of / rebellion against God angle was picked up on. Though others were drawing parallels between Simon and Simon Peter.
|
|||
|
|||
|
Sabut
Posts: 14 |
|
||
|
Yes, until the 4th chapter there are some allusions principally about the willpower, but later there are much more symbolism about other Nietzsche's topics that I had never seen so clear in any other anime, like the idea of the man as a path not as a goal, and other named in the first post.
I liked a lot the start of the anime, and it goes even better spoiler[over the chapter 6 more or less it started to seem a bit repetitive, but then there is the plot turn and made a really great story in whole] I will take a look at Berserk, Texhnolyze, RahXephon and Kino's Journey, thanks for the advices. EDIT: Yes, that page really hit's the point I wanted to made about the topic of the death of god, I looked it searching for Nietzsche so I couldn't find it, thanks. The mustache isn't the most scary thing about Nietzsche  his books are quite obscure to read and often misunderstood.
|
|||
|
|||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group