Okay, so Gurren Lagann is considered an old anime already and I may be a bit late since I only watched the entire thing this weekend. But what's great about good anime is that it never gets old no matter when you watch it. And I could say Gurren Laggan is one heck of a good anime. It's hilarious, inspiring, and tear-jerking. I'm telling you get your handkerchief ready for episode 8.
The story is set on a post apocalyptic Earth where humans are forced to live underground by the creatures called "Beastmen". These strange beings aside from their strange animalistic appearance also pilot "Ganmen", giant robots that come in different appearances and usually have a big mouth.
The story starts with one of the underground towns when one of the diggers named Simon found a small glowing drill-shaped amulet that was to be the key to a mini-Ganmen. This small robot was then called Lagann. So the story revolves mostly on Simon and his Drill that pierces the heavens in more ways than one.
"Where do you want me to put this in, Aniki?"
When it comes to animation, Gurren Lagann has a lot of roughness which is just perfect for the theme of the anime which is brotherhood and manly fighting spirit. Also lots of shouting courtesy of Kamina and the members of Dai-Gurren Brigade.
I also can't complain about the regular fanservice courtesy of Yoko and the Black Siblings: Kiyoh, Kinan, and Kiyal. I believe that fanservice is necessary for an anime that has a lot of manliness factor. A shonen anime with big mechs just ain't complete without it.
The mech design is also refreshing since only Gurren Lagann and its evolutions have that humanoid shape. Others have wacky forms like Kittan's Ganmen that has a banana-like shape.
row row fight the powah!
The music is awesome. With just one opening song and 2 ending songs, you can really feel the progression. You see, unlike other anime that decide to drag on the story up to 200 or something episodes, this one brings you the start to finish and gives you that feeling of complete satisfaction till the end. The song fit it perfectly. Although I think the song used during Kittan's climax was better than Kamina's.
Since this is a high spirited war-like anime the characters were mostly rough warrior-type men. Viral, the beastman was a one-sided rivalry with Kamina which becomes his tagline throught the series. Kittan, is just as loud as kamina. Imagine Naruto and Black Star from Soul Eater having a shoutfest with each other. Rossiu is more rounded character. At one point he becomes an anti-hero bearing the values of his old village. His presence is great for the plot though because it gives the story a more human perspective an a stirring of emotion you rarely feel in anime.
Kamina and Simon have the strongest bond in the series which is evident especially at last episode. The mixtures of these characters is what makes Gurren Laggan a great anime to watch.
The biggest mechs the anime universe has ever seen!
I was a bit sick during the weekend I watched it but this anime kept me laughing back to health. Manly tears were difficult to suppress. I still can't get enough of Yoko Littner's.. ahem.. I hope another anime like this comes by sometime soon.
It's a shame though that because of Yokos gettup and since Philippines is a conservative country, Gurren Lagann may have no chance of being shown on local stations soon. Overall this anime was a joy to watch and I'd recommend it to anyone who loves a good anime.
Nice blog Aniki!!
ReplyDeleteThis is possibly one of my favorite animes ever. It broke my epicness scale.
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