That episode was truly epic, I'm sorry to say but the series kind of went downhill from there for me. The show just wasn't epic or even awesome anymore, it was just ridiculous and it only got worse.
That episode was truly epic, I'm sorry to say but the series kind of went downhill from there for me. The show just wasn't epic or even awesome anymore, it was just ridiculous and it only got worse.
I think before you watch this show, to truly appreciate it, you have to understand that the show doesn't take itself seriously and when watching it you shouldn't take it seriously either. If you want an inspiring, deep, takes itself serious show Gurren Lagann is not for you. Thats more of the Gundam Wing, Escaflowne, Evangelion area. (though I argue that Evangelion actually isn't that deep but more of Japanese's people throwing Christian symbolism into a show randomly to give the appearance of deepness..but thats for a different thread) Gurren Lagann is defiantly a show targeted towards young teens and in a large part is satire towards the robot show genre. I mean, transforming sunglasses, a diagram appearing on the robot to show its hungry, "You think your better then me because you have two heads!", doing a disco pose after capturing a giant robot. Thats not a serious show. Theres probably only two earnestly serious episodes in the entire series. This is a fun show that has the underlying message of ,"Never give up, keep on moving forward. Change, evolve, breakdown the barriers...etc.." Its a feel good show, with allot of manliness and really funny jokes at times if you look for them. This show IS ridiculous. Thats what its trying to be.
Spoiler: Common guys Kamina HAS to die for the show to work. If he survived I can't imagine the series progressing nearly as well. Ontop of that they made you love him then they killed him. He wasn't a nobody, he was arguably the main character up to that point. Thats ballsy. His death allows all the other characters to develop in much more meaningful ways. Kamina could have lived, and the story would have taken a much different angle. Id argue it wouldnt have been as good of a show.
I do have to admit at first I wasn't thrilled after episode 16 but it got better in that story arc.
Did anyone else think Yoko (looked like the teacher in Please Teacher when she was Yomako sensei?) Also I agree with (Kamina's death being pivotal to the series success despite my fangirlism of wishing it never happened! It helped the story in so many ways. It's forgivable...but I love him. He's hotter than the flames of the hell you Gainax bitches are going to!)
That episode was truly epic, I'm sorry to say but the series kind of went downhill from there for me. The show just wasn't epic or even awesome anymore, it was just ridiculous and it only got worse.
I think before you watch this show, to truly appreciate it, you have to understand that the show doesn't take itself seriously and when watching it you shouldn't take it seriously either. If you want an inspiring, deep, takes itself serious show Gurren Lagann is not for you. Thats more of the Gundam Wing, Escaflowne, Evangelion area. (though I argue that Evangelion actually isn't that deep but more of Japanese's people throwing Christian symbolism into a show randomly to give the appearance of deepness..but thats for a different thread) Gurren Lagann is defiantly a show targeted towards young teens and in a large part is satire towards the robot show genre. I mean, transforming sunglasses, a diagram appearing on the robot to show its hungry, "You think your better then me because you have two heads!", doing a disco pose after capturing a giant robot. Thats not a serious show. Theres probably only two earnestly serious episodes in the entire series. This is a fun show that has the underlying message of ,"Never give up, keep on moving forward. Change, evolve, breakdown the barriers...etc.." Its a feel good show, with allot of manliness and really funny jokes at times if you look for them. This show IS ridiculous. Thats what its trying to be.
I know what you are saying and when I first started watching this show I expected a show that wouldn't take itself seriously. I expected a show that would include over the top mecha battles, burning manly passion, and the Gainax boob jiggle and that was what I got and then some until ep. 15. After that the show started going downhill as everything I expected and loved from the first arc of the show was taken to a stupidly ridiculous degree that left me with an ever growing pit of bile and disgust as I watched the best show of 2007 attempt to commit seppuku with a rusty chainsaw.
However I do not deny that Gurren-Lagann, as a whole, is a good show with many awesome and truly epic scenes and one-liners; the ending just didn't sit with me very well.
I know what you are saying and when I first started watching this show I expected a show that wouldn't take itself seriously. I expected a show that would include over the top mecha battles, burning manly passion, and the Gainax boob jiggle and that was what I got and then some until ep. 15. After that the show started going downhill as everything I expected and loved from the first arc of the show was taken to a stupidly ridiculous degree that left me with an ever growing pit of bile and disgust as I watched the best show of 2007 attempt to commit seppuku with a rusty chainsaw.
However I do not deny that Gurren-Lagann, as a whole, is a good show with many awesome and truly epic scenes and one-liners; the ending just didn't sit with me very well.
I can understand where your coming from. When robots were spitting out other robots and moles becoming tools of justice the show defiantly started going ways I didn't expect at all. Gurren-Lagann pushed what ridiculous level was acceptable and I understand that some people may see it as going to far. I have one friend that felt the same way. I also have 5 friends that loved it. I guess when you make a show like this if you don't push it far enough to make some people sick you wont please anyone. Probably why its a good show, not an amazing show with broader appeal like trigun or bebop.
Probably why its a good show, not an amazing show with broader appeal like trigun or bebop.
This show did have something for everyone, its main problem was that it didn't ty it all together like Bebop and Trigun did. It had the potential to be in the A category of anime with them but fell short short and into the category of B+ anime, such as Death Note and Full Metal Alchemist.
This show did have something for everyone, its main problem was that it didn't tie it all together like Bebop and Trigun did. It had the potential to be in the A category of anime with them but fell short short and into the category of B+ anime, such as Death Note and Full Metal Alchemist.
I disagree. If Gurren-Lagann had tied itself together in the end, it would have turned into an ultra-pretentious "look at me I'm deep" story, preventing it from being nearly as epic as it ended up being.
The show did tie up all the loose strands at the end, those who watched the whole show were not left with anything unclear. When I said "tied together" I meant that the various genres that Gurren-Lagann had didn't fit into a finished 3D puzzle. The show tended to jump from one genre to another from one episode to another, sometimes ad nauseam within a single episode, and the segues were, at times, abrupt and arriving so far from left field that it was more criminal than funny.
I used to hate Viral but he grew on me. (Spoiler Read original post)
I felt so bad for him there. I believe it was episode 25. ( Viral by far had the worst reality to be taken away from. I like how as soon as he realized it was not his reality he left with no hesitation. Even though it was only a flash his scene was the best one in the episode. )
Jay, about Kamina dyeing. (I couldn't find the proper color for the quote bax so I'm doing this instead). Unfortunately I agree, but I still don't like it. And I honestly don't think it was as good after that. I'm not saying it was bad, it was still awesome, just not AS good.
I felt so bad for him there. I believe it was episode 25. (Viral by far had the worst reality to be taken away from. I like how as soon as he realized it was not his reality he left with no hesitation. Even though it was only a flash his scene was the best one in the episode.)
Exactly, I friggen cried there (as well as at several other places in that episode). Its either 25 or 26 depending on whether you count the recap episode.
Jay, about Kamina dyeing. (I couldn't find the proper color for the quote bax so I'm doing this instead). Unfortunately I agree, but I still don't like it. And I honestly don't think it was as good after that. I'm not saying it was bad, it was still awesome, just not AS good.
Well this entire post is a spoiler, im just writing here so it doesn't look like a large blank Kamina was the joke vehicle for the show up to the point that he died, and after he died they didn't replace him. So all jokes from that point on were satire and not verbal. By default right there the show lost something. Also, after Kamina dies the show starts getting a little more serious of a tone, and it goes into an action lull where Simon just mopes around and is emo (for good reason, but he does). The show essentially changes after Kamina dies, it gets a different feel for a long time. Pretty much they killed the guy everyone liked and was basically the main character, theres a reason why it doesn't happen often. If anyone feels the show changed after Kamina died, your right it did. For better or worse? Well I doubt that many people will think its exactly the same after words and its really a binary choice from there. I feel I respected the show more for doing Kamina in, it also made the show allot more interesting to me to see how they would handle having to force Simon to take his place. Also the story line and the way it developed relied on Kaminas death. I don't think the show could have been done as well if he was alive for the events near the end. The show became less funny and exciting but more serious, which is strange because the show is not very serious at all. It was a ballsy move.
I thought the show was great up to the very end. There were quite a few moments where I wanted to cry, but it didn't happen.
Spoiler:(Kamina's death really was a necessity, I agree with the above posts. It was a necessity for Simon to come into the limelight and develop, but Kamina's personality was an obstacle to that. Post-timeskip was epic, particularly episode 27, of course. I think that, while some episodes took a different spin to others, every last episode did justice to the core of the show.)
Sigh (I wish Nia didn't disappear. Why doesn't Boota grow up!? Why didn't Simon stay after everything!?) Also...was Yoko really 14 in the beginning? She sure doesn't look it!
Also...was Yoko really 14 in the beginning? She sure doesn't look it!
I guess it's reverse moe. Instead of drawing an 8-year-old girl and say that she is 18, they draw a 20 year old woman and say she is 14. Equally perverted.
It's supposed to represent how quickly she had to grow up, fighting against the Ganmen every day. But we both know that it was just for the Gainax bounce.
It's supposed to represent how quickly she had to grow up, fighting against the Ganmen every day. But we both know that it was just for the Gainax bounce.
At least they kept Nia out of the bounce. That would be disturbing.
Speaking of her, her backstory was sad. I also love her character design because of the way they made her eyes and hair.
Comments
Spoiler:
Common guys Kamina HAS to die for the show to work. If he survived I can't imagine the series progressing nearly as well. Ontop of that they made you love him then they killed him. He wasn't a nobody, he was arguably the main character up to that point. Thats ballsy. His death allows all the other characters to develop in much more meaningful ways. Kamina could have lived, and the story would have taken a much different angle. Id argue it wouldnt have been as good of a show.
End Spoiler
Did anyone else think Yoko (looked like the teacher in Please Teacher when she was Yomako sensei?) Also I agree with (Kamina's death being pivotal to the series success despite my fangirlism of wishing it never happened! It helped the story in so many ways. It's forgivable...but I love him. He's hotter than the flames of the hell you Gainax bitches are going to!) Fuck yeah!
However I do not deny that Gurren-Lagann, as a whole, is a good show with many awesome and truly epic scenes and one-liners; the ending just didn't sit with me very well.
Addendum: Viral is awesome.
Spoiler:(Kamina's death really was a necessity, I agree with the above posts. It was a necessity for Simon to come into the limelight and develop, but Kamina's personality was an obstacle to that.
Post-timeskip was epic, particularly episode 27, of course. I think that, while some episodes took a different spin to others, every last episode did justice to the core of the show.)
But we both know that it was just for the Gainax bounce.
Speaking of her, her backstory was sad. I also love her character design because of the way they made her eyes and hair.
Was he (Simon) offput because Kamina was kissing Yoko, or because Yoko was kissing Kamina?