Your average guy that loves anime, gaming, friends, and movies.
Current Anime
My top 10 anime (animes/series)
1. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
2. Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica
3. Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood
4. Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Kai
5. Steins;Gate
6. Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion
7. Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai
8. Baccano!
9. Durarara!!
10. Angel Beats!
I figured this worth mentioning: MAL decided to make Kokoro Connect's extra episodes into their own "show", so you can move it from "On-Hold" to "Completed", now.
I thought I should mention: on your list, you say you completed Yu-gi-Oh, listing this: http://myanimelist.net/anime/550/Yu-Gi-Oh!
Are you sure you didn't mean this? That's the one that was on when we were kids, and I think it's the one you meant.
Alright, then. Following my statement from earlier, had this series stopped at episode 15 with the fall of Teppelin, I would have been happy with it. I could see myself comfortably giving the series an 8 or 9 had it stopped there, with a small epilogue showing the establishment of Kamina City, and Simon recognizing he was not made for government, handing his power over to Rossiu, and proposing to Nia, with the two of them going off to live on their own in happiness somewhere, with one final shot over Kamina's grave or the like.
But of course, it didn't.
In my personal opinion, the second half was flimsy and weak. For the series to have truly been fulfilling, it either needed to flesh out that second half so it wasn't quite so lacking, or cut it altogether. I think that this series could have worked in 31 episodes. 15 for the fantastic first half, 15 for a much better second, and that one recap episode in between (though that should have been a bit more polished, in my opinion).
Now then, I'm going to just note here that everything following this is my personal opinion, and nothing more, so that I don't have to preface every single statement with "in my opinion". OK? OK.
Gurren Lagann does not have a cast of characters — it has a cast of caricatures. It's not that everyone has a role, a part to play in the plot — everyone is their role. And nothing more. The Hero, the Rival, the Love Interest, the Action Girl, the Messianic Archetype, the Lancer, the Voice of Reason… it goes on and on. This was easy to overlook during the first half of the series, because the series was moving at such a speed that it could be forgiven for glossing over things like that.
In the second half, on the other hand… it is not. Not at all. Much more focus is given to the cast as characters, and all it does is call attention to just how bland they are. They're as flat as cardboard cutouts, and it shows. Nowhere is this more apparent than in episode 24, in which six characters are killed in rapid succession, seemingly for no other reason than to show that things are getting serious, and to pull on heartstrings. The problem with this? I did not care about any single one of them. None of those people elicited any emotional response from me whatsoever. It was actually insulting. The show put utterly no effort into giving their deaths any meaning whatsoever. Makken in particular was just a slap in the face. Makken's death didn't mean anything on its own, he wasn't a character, he had no recognizable personality — instead, the series tried to make his death meaningful by tacking on a "WEEP FOR THE CHILDREN" moment by reminding us he had a wife and kids. A fact which, before this, was only ever given one scene of recognition, and one line of dialogue. The wife and kids weren't really characters either, and their relationship never went beyond face value. Really, it is actively offensive for the series to stoop so low as to kill off a guy and expect our sympathy just because "he had a family". No. That's not how it works.
Which is not to say that the characters are any better alive. What's wrong with them? What's right with them is the question you should be asking, and the answer is "nothing". Seriously, none of these characters work as characters. Hence, caricatures.
A few lucky members of the cast got away with being simply unremarkable, not having much (if any) characterization, but not being aggravatingly flawed (Leeron, Attenborough, Leite, Gimmy & Dari, Kiyal, Boota, Thymilph, Adiane, Cytomander), and there were a handful with no distinguishable personality at all (Gabal, Cybela, Tetsukan, Coco). The rest, however? Where to begin…
I'm not going to get into Simon and Kamina here. That's a discussion to be held in in person. The rest, however, I think I can quickly cover:
• Yoko: Episode 21 was just a rushed waste. It was sloppy and contrived. It was supposed to be her big moment, but it just didn't work. She fell completely out of focus in the second half, practically relegated to "Supporting Character" status. Her replacement romance with Kittan felt forced and unconvincing. And then they had the gall to make it an echo of the events with Kamina. Her fantasy-world was a mess, and she contributed nothing important to conclusion (and what she did do felt tacked on and trite).
• Nia: Admittedly, Nia's issues have more to do with her plot than her characterization. The only fault (that I can think of) in her characterization was that it was irritatingly shallow, aside from the tacky moments she had with her father in the last episode (more on that in his entry). However, her plot… Oh, Nia. Firstly: Was there any foreshadowing for Anti-Spiral status, anything at all? Aside from her unusual eyes and hair (which really wasn't much of a tell, given the setting), I don't think there was any prior setup for that at all. None whatsoever.
Similarly, there was no reason for her to die. The idea that she ceases to exist because she was part Anti-Spiral and the other Anti-Spirals had died is just silly — they weren't actively supporting her existence. But they needed her to die so they could have their sappy ending and so Simon could get his "walking the earth" epilogue. Ugh.
• Viral: As with Nia, this is a case where it isn't so much the characterization itself that's the problem, as it is the plot. Viral's transition in to the team just felt clumsy, and that feeling lingered throughout entirety of the last few episodes. It seemed forced (because it was). And, as was the case with Yoko, his contribution to the conclusion similarly felt minimal, tacked-on, and trite.
Viral needed more fleshing out as a character, but I think the real problem is this: he stands against the series' theme. The "anything is possible" nature of the show is betrayed, because Viral couldn't do anything about fulfilling his dream. It was impossible from the beginning, and all that "break through the impossible" stuff the series went on about? Sorry Viral, that doesn't apply to you! You aren't human, and you don't have Spiral Power, so you can't reach your dream. Sucks to be a Beastman, doesn't it? This is emblematic of a larger problem with the series' theme — namely, that the theme isn't so much "anything is possible if you keep pushing forward!" as it is "anything is possible if you're lucky enough to be the main character! The rest of you, not so much. Better luck next time." — but Viral is probably the most obnoxious example. Come on, he gets upstaged by freaking Boota, because Spiral Power is the only thing that matters (so screw you, Beastmen).
• Rossiu: Oh, Rossiu… I feel so sorry you. You were just bad, primarily because you were mishandled, but still… ugh…
Second-half Rossiu was utterly unlikable. His "redeeming" moments didn't work. At all. Overall, his character arc was just plain terrible. I don't really know what to say, other than noting that nothing about him worked. Gurren Lagann was in over its head with Rossiu, and boy does it show. His perceptive and reasonable nature was at odds with the series from the beginning, and ultimately reinforced the thematic problem I mentioned above, the "nobody but Simon matters" attitude that plagued the second half. And I also have to say, his suicidal subplot was simply offensive. This is one of my biggest berserk buttons in all of fiction, so I'm going to try and avoid ranting, but I just have to say: That kind of quick and easy cure is beyond insulting. A person who has made the resolve to end their own life is not going to "snapped out of it" by something so simple. If it was established as being a cry for attention, or an act of fear, or that he though that it would solve a problem, or it were the climax of a full-scale breakdown, I might have been able to forgive him being so easily stopped — but definitely not "cured". For a psyche in that sort of state, professional help is absolutely necessary, and… just… GAH! I'm going to go into a full-on rant if I keep talking about this, so to wrap it up: That was cheap and contemptible, Gainax, and rather insulting at that.
• Guinble: An unlikable lackey of Rossiu's, and nothing more. The show gave him a moment that was supposed to redeem him, but really, it just fell flat.
• Kittan: Kittan was little more than flat, but the "little more" made him a worse character. The replacement romance, as I noted in Yoko's entry, didn't work. The series rushed to make him sympathetic right near the end so it would mean something when he died, and that also didn't work. His relationship with his sisters was done poorly. His relationship with the other pilots was done poorly, (which was especially noticeable when just about all of them died). And, quite tellingly, his last words had nothing to do with him as a character, or any of his relationships, or really anything at all.
• Lordgenome: As a biological computer, Lordgenome was just plain boring. And, facing the Anti-Spiral Leader, he was also rather uninteresting. His fantasy was random and ridiculous (so… his dream is to be the principal of an elementary school? What?). And, in the last episode, he gets a "redeeming moment" with Nia that just doesn't work. What, he suddenly cares about her now? And I know it's in character for her to be sweet and forgiving, but he left her to die because she asked him a question. It flies in the face of her own character development (scarce as it was) — moving towards independence and individuality — for her to forgive him in three lines of dialogue and a half-hearted acknowledgement that it wasn't good of him to abandon her in a ditch. His redemption didn't work, and neither did his death (which honestly kind of funny in its stupidity: "SIMON! MY HEAD IS ON A DRILL, NOW!").
• Guame the Immovable: He isn't much worse off than the other generals, who were merely flat characters, but I especially disliked him due to his perversion, stupidity, and ineffectuality. The other generals were at least fun enough to watch (most of the time, anyways). He, on the other hand, wasn't.
• Anti-Spiral: My main problem is that he was given a clear, and clever motivation, which did not come across in his actions or demeanor. He didn't act like his background would suggest, he just acted like a one-dimensional, human-hating villain. His motivation was genuinely interesting, but wasn't followed through on. Thus, I don't think he works as a character (given that this was really all we were given about him, anyways).
The other main problem with characterization in Gurren Lagann is that the show doesn't really get "development". This is made especially obvious by the time-skip, when we're just sort of shown that a bunch of stuff has happened, and next to none of it is really explained. The most egregious examples that I can think of are Kiyoh and Dayakka's marriage, and Kinon's sudden love for Rossiu. Starting with the former: before the timeskip, did these two characters share any connection? Was their dialogue between them? Was their anything to hint that they had any sort relationship, or would end up in one? Kiyoh briefly piloted the Dayakkaiser, but I can't think of anything else. And what about Kinon and Rossiu? Did they have any conversations? Did they even have any scenes together? What made Kinon fall for Rossiu? Yes, a lot can change in seven years, but if you don't foreshadow it, and you don't go back and explain, it looks like you just pulled it out of thin air — and moreover, you probably did
Characterization is not a game of connect-the-dots. You don't just show the audience a handful of different points and expect them to draw enough lines for a coherent picture to emerge. You have to develop these sorts of things yourself, and Gurren Lagann does not. At all.
Before I go on to the theme and plot, I'll give my thoughts on the technical side of things. The voice acting was fantastic in the Japanese version, the music was nice but not outstanding, the animation was… usually good, but had its iffy moments (not counting episodes 4, 5, and 6, which were terrible, as were all of the "sudden style shift" shots), and the art design was above average much of the time, with iffy examples of its own (e.g., the final two mechs look silly, and Simon spends the final battle dressed like a Chippendales dancer with horrendous taste in eyewear).
Since this Wall is ridiculous enough already, I'll keep this last bit as concise as I can manage.
The government plotline does not suit this series at all, and it shows. The whole thing is hackneyed and mishandled, and overall, just doesn't work. The Anti-Spiral plot feels like a retread of the infinitely better first half. When the plot slows down to focus on individual characters, all it does is highlight how little there is to said characters. The second half does not do a single one of its rapid-fire deaths well — this is a stark contrast to the first half, which had its one death done very well. The "science" is mind-numbingly stupid. No one ever really provides an actual answer to the Anti-Spiral's perfectly legitimate argument of, "if we let you run free, the universe will eventually come to a catastrophic end". And the conclusion is disappointing and dissatisfying.
Thematically, the series falls flat. One of the most important themes in this series is the idea that with unending determination, anything can be accomplished. If you never stop pushing, eventually, you'll break through obstacle. If you keep moving forward, you can reach any goal. So on, and so forth.
The problem is that, as I touched upon earlier with Viral, this only applies to Simon. Simon is the only character to whom the above applies, because in this series, that sort of thing depends on Spiral Power. And, guess what? Spiral Power is dependent on species. Sorry, Viral, the impossible is still impossible for you. Sorry, Nia, you're an Anti-Spiral life-form, so, saving the universe means you're going to die. If you're trying to send the message that a person can accomplish anything if they never give up, why would you limit that capability by having it only apply to certain people? By birth?
Another theme comes into play near the end of the series, that of it being necessary for each generation to protect the next, and eventually give way to their followers. One must always allow for evolution. This would be a very nice message, but it is betrayed in execution by the fact that it doesn't actually lead to anything good:
• Simon gives Gimmy his Core Drill, handing over Gurren Lagann to the younger generation, doing his part to step back so they may rise up. This would be a nice moment, and a nice ending for the twins, if it weren't for the fact that this means the twins don't ever get to live their dream. If the fantasy-alternate-universe depicted what they truly dreamed of, then apparently, their dream is to own/work in a bakery. The epilogue shows that they instead spend the rest of their lives as soldiers. So, they didn't get to have their dream, because someone of the older generation pushed his responsibility onto them. Huh.
• A big part of this "always allow for evolution" thing is, "never stop moving forward out of fear". The series' suggestion for what to when someone does? Snap them out of it! Preferably with violence: Kamina punches Simon out of his depression, and Simon later punches Rossiu out of his suicidal state. But, this is all over the place, and the message: if someone stops moving forward out of fear, get them to stand back up and start moving again. Nia talks Simon out of his other depression, Yoko talks Nakim (the boy from her class) out of his fear when they're up in the tree, Lordgenome eventually "comes to his senses" and fights the Anti-Spiral — the series goes on and on about this.
And guess what? The Anti-Spiral are the embodiment of this. They were a Spiral race, but when they discovered the Spiral Nemesis would eventually bring about the end of the universe, they shut down their civilization, and sealed themselves up in stasis. They stopped moving forward out of fear. So what do our heroes do? They do as they've always espoused, and snap the Anti-Spirals out of it, showing that fear is no reason to — oh no wait. They killed them all. Right, that's what they did. They found an entire race of people that had stopped moving forward out of fear, and murdered every last one of them. Potentially hundreds of millions, all dying because they acted out of fear.
…Seriously, guys? It was understandable for Simon to have a breakdown over his seeing his idol kiss the girl he had a crush on, but the Anti-Spirals deserve death for panicking over the inevitable end of the universe? Really?
• This idea is brought up again after Nia dies. Gimmy points out that Simon could use Spiral Power to resurrect everyone who died. The other characters say that the dead should rest in peace, and that things need to be allowed to progress naturally, and that Simon would be playing God.
…A-hem:
"My drill is the drill that will pierce the heavens!"
"I will put a hole in heaven itself."
"My drill is the drill...that creates the heavens!!!"
"Our friends' hopes and dreams are etched into its body, transforming the infinite darkness into light! Unmatched in Heaven, and Earth; one machine, equal to the gods!"
Simon, what's this all of a sudden about not playing God? Up until this point you've gone on and on about how humanity will eventually reach the heavens, so isn't that a bit hypocritical?
There are other, smaller issues, like how the show has a noticeably anti-intellectualist bent — but those are nothing compared to this, the last major problem I have with this series: for all of its talk about everything being within reach, for all of the emphasis on achieving one's dreams by never giving up… not a single one of the characters whose dreams we knew of actually reached their dream. Simon and Yoko lose the ones they loved, Kamina, Nia, and Kittan, are all dead, Viral is still incapable of having a child of his own (and never marries, either, as far as we know), Lordgenome is also dead, Dayakka, Gimmy, and Dari never open that bakery, Leeron, Attenborough, and Gabal never do whatever it was that they were up on the cables doing, Leite never becomes a teacher, Cybela and Tetsukan never became a couple, and we don't even know if Kinon actually got together with Rossiu.
The series didn't show a single person reaching their dream.
Most all of my complaints are focused at the second half of the series, yes. As I said both before, and above, I liked the first half. And that is part of the problem. The series went into its second half with a lot of positive momentum. And then, it shot itself in the foot. With a cannon. It spiraled out of control and slammed into the ground, totally burned out.
Hopefully, this has helped you understand my ultimate dissatisfaction. I'll admit, my fury with the ending may have negatively influenced my opinion by clouding my fonder remembrance of the better elements from earlier in the series, and I'm still thinking it over — there's no harm in changing it later, after all. But if I do, don't expect it to stray too far from its current position.
Also: I am very sorry for the Wall. Though, if you TL;DR (which is understandable, although irritating), you officially lose your right to complain — you can't protest my opinion if you don't read my defense.
P.S.: For this sort of thing, do you prefer responding on one another's Walls as a continuation of the back-and-forth, or using replies to anchor the discussion in a single place?
