FIMP: Gurren Lagann (Anime)

A new segment, a new anime, a new thing to complain and whine about.  Just another day at John's Super Blog.

Let me just clarify: Gurren Lagann is a good show.  It has good action, and its entertaining.  I'm going to be complaining about it a lot in a second, so just know that despite it all, it's still okay.  But it has it has it's fair share of problems, one of which is unforgivable and unfortunately typical for certain anime of this type.  I'm only 8 episodes in out of 27, so bear that in mind while reading.  Alright I've beaten around the bush long enough, let me start talking.

Gurren Lagann is a mecha anime set in the future, where humans have been driven underground by evil aliens in gunmens (mechs) that have conquered earth and turned it into a desolate wasteland.  Or at least I'm pretty sure thats what it is, Im not too sure on the setting and the villian here, so I'll just do my best.  Cut to Kamina and Simon, 2 antsy villagers wanting to explore the world above the surface.  A gunmen crashes into their village whilst fighting a teenager girl sharpshooter from above, a pair of bre-I mean Yoko.  After that they steal the gunmen, get introduced to her village and set off to find the gunmen headquarters and put a stop to it.  Overarching story is okay, the typical set off on an adventure with 3-4 characters thing, but I've always liked that so the overarching story was actually pretty good.  Setting's pretty boring though.  Like deserts?  Thats all it is.  Don't like deserts?  Well too bad.

Mech designs are good

So in the 8 episodes I've watched they've fought a gunmen every episode, which sounds great "awww yeah, robot fighting action!" but its very underwhelming.  The fights dont seem dynamic in the slightest, and I dont feel like the characters are truly fighting, merely advancing the story.  Many times gunmen or even our heroes just sit there and take hits from the enemy, without the defense we all know they have.  I know, I know, this is to make the fight not seem one sided, and the animation is limited because of how much detail they have to put into the mechs.  But still, a lot of humans in One Piece are pretty detailed, and they had fantastic fights!  because of this all fights are merely "meh" and only serve as visual entertainment for their crazy attacks and graphics.  I mean, yeah, they're fun to see, but never engage you like other shows and fights do, so you end up feeling very disconnected from it all/  Sucks from a show thats all about fighting, doesn't it?

The characters are hit and miss so far.  Kamina was AMAZING as a lead.  He's strong, confident, cocky, yet oblivious to everything as all hell.  Always wanting to be a man about everything and never back down, Kamina's spirit really made you excited for each battle, and and he was just plain fun to watch.  Simons shy and nerdy, but great in a pinch, which translates to boring.  Yoko is almost too perfect, having great hair, body, skills, and just about everything.  She's hugely popular on the internet, and I'm pretty sure why.  She's literally every guy's dream girl, which makes her extremely unappealing as all I can see is a pair of breasts with a mouth.  Other side characters are so underdeveloped and ignored they're not even worth mentioning.  The enemy, as little as I've seen from them, has been alright, but nothing special.

So seems like am pretty average show so far, right?  Well no, it screwed up.  Big time.  IT KILLED OFF KAMINA, THE MAIN CHARACTER, IN THE 8TH EPISODE.  THEY KILLED OFF LITERALLY, THE ONLY THING THIS SHOW HAD GOING FOR IT.  What the hell guys?!?!? They were a big fight with one of the gunmen generals, then he just takes like, 10 hits for no reason, just sitting there taking it, they finish off the enemy with one attack, and hes dead.  What.  The.  Hell.  His personality was literally the only thing that kept me from being completely and utterly BORED from this show.  It shows such arrogance to kill off someone they know the audience likes, and I hate them for it.  No doubt this is going to lead to Simon becoming stronger for the sake of his friend, Yoko and Simon finally being able to have a relationship, probably a time skip, and whatever.  But I don't like pussy Simon!  I like Kamina!  Everybody likes Kamina!  Ugh, this pisses me off so much.  The worse part is, in an earlier scene Yoko said she had his back, and was covering him for a while from  other mechs.  Uhm, WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU, YOKO?  The way he stupidly died just to keep the story going infuriates me.

RIP Kamina

So what do we have left?  Boring mech fights with no Kamina, boring characters with no Kamina, boring setting with no Kamina, and  a boring SHOW with no Kamina.  Yipee.  I look forward to more perversion on Yoko and side characters getting no development.  Sounds like fun.  Oh, and mech battles that are about dynamic as a sloth fighting another sloth?  Count me in!  Btw a random complaint but they really need to turn on the lights in this show.  It's so dark, even when it's daylight you could mistake it for overcast.  No doubt a way to save money by not having cleaner lines, but it really distracts you from the experience.

But it's not all bad.  The first 2 episodes were fantastic, offering a great introduction into the surface world, and had one scene where they finally burst upwards that still gives me goosebumps when I watch it.  Mech designs are pretty creative, same going for the attacks, and the opening and ending themes have been awesome.  I guess this means the show isn't afraid to do anything risky like this, so unpredictability may be one of it's better points.  I'm still looking forward, curious to see how they handle this and how the characters change because of it.  But for now, I friggin hate Gurren Lagann, and want my Kamina back!!

Next Post: Ur & UA: Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny (Part 1)