Otakuism

Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann is the newest offering by Gainax, a company I both enjoy and hate. They make good stuff (Gunbuster, Evangelion, FLCL, Diebuster), but they’re also prone to reusing the same thing over and over to make money (Evangelion, same artstyle since FLCL). Fortunately, Gurren-Lagann is looking to be a better Gainax show, reminding me a lot of Diebuster. It starts with an epic space battle, where a fleet of millions of ships (one man remarks that there’s as many as “the heavenly bodies in the sky,”) attacking one ship. This doesn’t bother the Captain, though, who sees it as one big challenge and calls out the Gurren-Lagann to fight. The story then focuse on the boy Simon in his underground city where he drills holes everyday. His friend/soul brother is Kamina, a hot-blooded young man who wishes to see the “Surface”, the mythical land above the rock his father showed him. He gets that wish when a giant robot head falls through the cieling and begins attacking. Fortunately, the insanely hot Yoko is there with her big-ass gun to fight it, if only Kamina would get out of her way. Simon gets the idea to use the giant robot head he found buried earlier to fight the robot. It’s pretty useless at first, but through the power of COURAGE and HOT-BLOODED YELLING the group manages to defeat the robot and get to the surface, only to have two more even larger robots appear behind them. The episode ends there.

There was a lot to like in the episode. The beginning was awesome; a colossal space battle with explosions everywhere and a lone ship out to defeat them all, or at least that’s what I think it was. I’m pretty sure the Captain Harlock guy is actually Simon, since the director of the series talks about how Simon will grow into a man. There’s nothing manlier than being a space pirate. Then the focus quickly shifts to the underground city and Simon. The city itself is boring, but both Simon and Kamina are great characters. Simon is hardly a Naota and is willing to do what it takes, provided he has the proper encouragement. He rescues both Kamina and Yoko and pilots the Lagann without hesitation. Kamina is the emodiment of the hot-blooded mecha protagonist. He’ll stick to his dream no matter what and encourages everyone else to do the same. He’s willing to fight when needed and fights face to face like real men do, much to the ire of Yoko. He reminds me of Shishio Gai in a lot of ways (maybe it’s because his VA also voiced Volfogg in Gaogaigar). If there’s one point I really don’t like it is the mecha designs. Good god they are awful. The whole head motif is novel, but terribly executed. They’re not fluid or dynamic at all and look like little chibi robots fighting each other. Hopefully when Gurren-Lagann gets its full body it will look better. The rest of the animation was beautiful and fluid.

If only to be that mole…

And now, one final thing to mention. Yoko is insanely, out-of-this-world, unbelievably hot. The red hair, bikini top and hotpants, big-ass gun, everything just adds up to incredible hawtness. She’s like Nono with less clothing. And then there’s the Gainax bounce. Thank god Gainax invented that glorious bounce. Truly a great contribution to mankind. And any girl who doesn’t mind your face being buried in her breasts is awesome in my book. Gurren-Lagann is looking to be an epic mecha series, harking back to the days of Gunbuster and Gaogaigar. I can’t wait to see where this will go and to what heights it will reach. The director mentioned that when everything was planned out, the staff was awed by the immensity of the whole work. That sounds like a very good sign.