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What a massive ride this series was. Gurren Lagann is a show that not only defines epicness and the nature of human evolution but also catches my heart every time I always take a look at it. Gainax has come along through making over-the-top and wacky stories even if there aren’t many, with those titles known for that kind of gimmick being this, FLCL, and Dead Leaves. But from time to time, Gurren Lagann is arguably the best of those shows simply because of how it pushes the boundaries and finds itself to newfound heights. With the amount of heart put into itself, it also ... shows us that no matter how much trouble you face, you still and will always move forward.

The story starts off with our central main character, Simon, who is an orphan working in the Giha village which is located in the underground. Simon works while hanging with who appears to be a foster father and brother of his, Kamina. Both Simon and Kamina try to find their way to the surface but there are restrictions they somehow can’t comprehend. Eventually, they discover Lagann while they’re attacked by the first enemy gunman (or in this case, a beastman) alongside meeting Yoko, the girl who rescues the two main characters as well as stops said gunman. With Lagann activated, Simon, Kamina, and Yoko defeated their first enemy and with them succeeding in finding the surface, Kamina builds his own legacy and gets his own mech named Gurren, a mech that is stolen from the beastmen and artificially designed to be fused with Lagann for more power.

The start of the series is incredible personally simply because of how it initiates in building background the moment its story starts. We already see Simon and Kamina building their own background respectively at the start, with Simon reflecting on how he’s living his own shackled life and Kamina reflecting on his silliness while also showing that you have enough strength to face your limits. Both of them are an amazing duo that coincides with each other greatly. The series also did a great job building on Lagann’s design and personality, that being how Lagann is some sort of sacred treasure that only a person with will can possess. While Simon has yet to develop on that, Kamina is still his superior so therefore, Simon still possesses Lagann with all of his heart. While this seems silly at first, this is completely in character for how Kamina, even though he can be rough at times, cares for anyone he befriends and how they want to improve. It also succeeds at explaining how both Gurren and Lagann are connected to Kamina and Simon respectively, with Gurren being the big silly guy and Lagann being the small one still standing up.

Of course, it only gets better from here. What this series succeeds at is building one of its most prominent messages, that being how you can always move forward. Simon and friends are touring around the Badlands gaining new friends, all of who they recruit as their own allies, and facing enemy encounters. At first glance, this seems like your typical Shounen story but with mechs. You’re technically right in that regard and with that, you wanna know what this series does? It adds dark themes that show you no matter how hard you try, you will still lose something valuable and these are handled excellently. One of the best deaths in the medium is Kamina’s fate. This is hard to tackle because it’s very controversial but here’s why it’s more impactful. You see, no matter how high Kamina’s position is, one of his natures is that he can act ignorant. He’s always a goofball at heart and even then, he’s still a massive influence on his own team.

With the war against the beastmen being more and more intense, it’s time that Kamina’s soul moves on. With Simon and the crew watching Kamina going away, Simon developed his own confidence even more. The reason why this is great is because although Kamina is very prominent, his death allowed Simon to develop more determination and thus, he and his team always learn how to grow stronger and stronger. This brings us to our next point, maturity. Gurren Lagann’s maturity is surprisingly very impactful. Not only does it show how characters actually find their way to develop their own will and ideals but it also shows a perfect contrast between Simon and Kamina. Even though Simon and Kamina are bros to each other that create a great duo and team, in some cases, they’re like a yin-yang to each other. Simon is the boy who always finds more improvements as he has an inferiority complex while Kamina has a superiority complex that blinds his adaptability at times, hence why it virtually explains how Gurren struggles to keep up in fighting without Lagann.

Another point TTGL also nails is, surprisingly enough, satire. Again, satire plays a crucial role when it twists normal logic to the ground and features some of the most absurd yet welcoming things around. Think JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure for a second where it is comical with its powers and actions yet doesn’t take anything seriously, regardless of serious moments, as long as it focuses on the general storytelling, directing, and character writing consistently. TTGL is similar to that in the sense that it captures its silliness very well. Is normal logic happening in our universe? Nah, screw you. The real logic here is you use your own imagination to fight against evil. Any of your imagination is part of your strength. The best part of this is the show isn’t so literal with it. Because it establishes the absurdness well, the series continues to work on other aspects very consistently.

Let’s move on to characters and well well well, we have a lot to discuss. Let’s start with Simon, the protagonist and one-man army who always strives to establish his motivation, Kamina, the silly sidekick who leaves an impact on his own team, and Yoko, the professional sniper. Simon is an amazing protagonist and one of my personal favorites. He starts off as weak but eventually gains not only more strength but also more confidence. What makes Simon stand out from other protagonists is how he faces his own consequences. Not only does he find more strategy but since he changed when Kamina died, he has a great speech about moving forward and this impacted both him and his friends. Yet he still struggles regardless of how much power he develops but that’s fine because he’s always determined and knows how to break a limit into pieces.

Kamina is also a great character. He can be very silly but that’s part of his nature. The best part of his character, however, is how he designed his whole team to spread the wisdom of determination and fighting against evil. His character gets even better with his chemistry with Simon, especially when his fate shows you that you’re still motivated. TTGL’s cast is great but I have to admit, Yoko might be a slight exception. She’s a decent character, don’t get me wrong. She’s useful for the team and she has good chemistry with Simon and Kamina. It’s true that she’s more than fanservice but generally speaking, she isn’t as impactful as the other characters. Speaking of others, the sidecast is great too, with my personal favorite of the bunch being probably Kittan and Nia since Kittan is also quirky yet kickass while Nia is one of the most impactful reasons why Simon keeps on developing.

The villains are entertaining and more tricks up to their sleeves but they aren’t the most memorable villains in the industry out there. Again, they have their purposes but we can still do better. Although my favorite antagonists in the show are Viral and Lordgenome. Viral at first seems like your annoying side villain to be trashed by the time his first fight is over but he grew on me simply because of how he coincides with the protagonists. His dynamics with Simon are more interesting than Kamina + Simon personally (more on that later). As for Lordgenome, he’s also surprisingly impactful. Even though he may act very suspiciously, he has great ideals as he rules over humans for reasons that make him not only logical but also compelling overall. All in all, TTGL has a great story, endearing directing, and superb characters it makes use of very effectively.

…But wait, that’s not even the end of our story! All of this is just the tip of the iceberg. We haven’t gotten into the full potential of TTGL yet and what is considered to be arguably the most controversial aspect of the show, the post-timeskip content. The post-timeskip content takes on a more mature take on the story as opposed to the pre-timeskip content’s goofier side. While it still retains almost all of its aspects such as satire, it now utilizes more drama and tragedy. The second half of this series now tells us that the beastmen aren’t really the villains of everything and they only fight because they’re bigger opponents to the true villains, the Anti-Spiral race. The imaginations we talked about are spiral powers. In fact, spiral powers are based on our imaginations (pre-timeskip content also explains this but this is more explained here). There’s a lot to unpack so let’s get through there piece by piece.

The Anti-Spiral race is not only an incredible twist but also an incredible final antagonist because they perform magic that only the strongest of the spiral warriors can comprehend and they’re the origins of how they create and moderate the universe. They also have very compelling philosophies where they have a reason to rule the universe as they’re the ones protecting it. With that, the Anti-Spiral race will try to send out weapons that are both incredibly potent and complex. And this leads us to Rossiu. Rossiu was a decent side character before. Nothing bad happened to his character but nothing too interesting happened either. But here, he becomes one of the most developed characters in the show. Rossiu takes care of people as the chief advisor and with the Anti-Spiral attacking as hard as they can, he had no choice but to put the blame on Simon. The reason for this is that he wants to calm his people but his solutions are vastly limited. Sure, that made you unlikable for arresting Simon but what other option do you have, really? Rossiu isn’t some malevolent dictator, he’s a victim of his own responsibilities and shortcomings and above all. He still cares about Simon and he wants to do something right for the people, even if it’s incredibly risky for our main cast to also fight, and that makes him a great character overall.

Viral, as I talked about, is very compelling with not only his ideals but also his chemistry with Simon. The reason why his chemistry with Simon is more interesting than Kamina’s is that although Kamina + Simon performs a very iconic duo and left a valuable impact on their own group, Viral + Simon has interactions that are more personal. They point out each others’ highs and lows. Viral worked with the beastmen legacy because he wanted to strive for more value in both his personal belongings and his true intentions. He virtually doesn’t give a flying damn if he gets his ass kicked, he wants his life to be healthier. Simon, on the other hand, still has a greater reason than anyone else as to why he’s a greater savior and how he wanted to keep Kamina’s legacy alive. Both of them try to clash with each other for said reasons from them respectively but at the end of the day, it’s kind of pointless and they agree that they’ll still fight against the true evil together. Lordgenome is more interesting because he’s the father of Nia and Nia is the Anti-Spiral’s greatest victim. Lordgenome was forced to trash Nia out of his place so his victory would not go haywire.

Sadly, that plan of his did not work but that doesn’t matter because he developed more strategies now that he fights alongside Team Dai-Gurren. The Anti-Spiral race only shows power that is just stronger and stronger. The team members have to sacrifice themselves. The best one is Kittan because he had a great time interacting with the team and how dedicated he was as a member. Like Kamina, he left an impact upon meeting his fate, strengthening the team, especially Simon, even more. Kamina’s soul is stronger because of the death of others and his soul is a living spiral power. This fully motivates Team Dai-Gurren to their full power, having a final showdown with the Anti-Spiral’s core, which is arguably one of the best finales ever. Both sides try to prove which of the two is more valuable in protecting the universe but in the end, it’s the humans who win because they always show that they always improve. The Anti-Spiral finally admits that they’re mistaken about the human race and with that, they’re dead.

After the race, Simon and Nia marry each other but Nia dies right after because she signed the contract of the Anti-Spiral race. Simon didn’t cry as he understood everything and thus he moved on, telling his team that they could do things on their own and going back to his older self, being a no-name miner. Here’s why this is a fantastic finale. You see, Simon understood what would happen to Nia because he paid attention to how potent the Anti-Spiral was, and no matter how strong he got, he always reached his limit. So yeah, even with full spiral power, he still isn’t worthy of being a god. This perfectly conveys TTGL’s message because it doesn’t matter if you gained something valuable, it doesn’t matter if you lose something valuable, you still need to face your consequences. But that’s okay because no matter the trouble around you, you ALWAYS MOVE FORWARD.

This was fun talking about the amazing storytelling of TTGL. Before we wrap up, let’s talk about other things. The animation is great and aged well. It perfectly reflects on the over-the-top action happening. The character designs are amazing and from a generous viewpoint, my personal favorite part of the show. Minus Yoko’s space outfit which could have been a lot better with a few tweaks, every silhouette and texture is over-the-top yet very effective and adds a lot of heart. The music is also superb. Again conveying each and every scenario very well alongside having one of the most iconic songs ever, that being Libera me from Hell. The voice acting is amazing as well. While I love both the Japanese and English versions equally, I actually prefer the latter for Simon over the former. Not to diss Kakihara Tetsuya, his performance on Simon is still great and my favorite from him but Yuri Lowenthal nailed the character harder than I expected.

And that will do everything. Gurren Lagann is a massive inspiration to both the philosophies of your imagination and over-the-top action for the best. All of its storytelling, directing, and character writing truly did the impossible equally while also having among the best designs and soundtracks in the industry. It’s no wonder why the crew that worked on this left Gainax and created Studio TRIGGER. Again, it’s a massive inspiration for the best. Hell, even if you’re not a fan of action, this is still a ride you would guarantee to hop into because it’s wacky yet it’s deep and meaningful. I just want to thank Imaishi for introducing me to both this masterpiece and the follow-ups of his work.

Oooh, Ergo Proxy. This is going to be an interesting series to talk about. Ergo Proxy is probably one of THOSE shows if you get what I mean. It’s a series that is very complicated yet interesting in terms of how it sets up its own story structures. It’s never meant to be relatively easy to understand but from the looks of it, it can create twists and/or have characters explore around while they develop their own ideals. Sure, it’s going to take a little longer given its moderate runtime but it might still tell you how its story will go. In theory, this is ... rather pleasing. But even then, is it going to be good enough to hold up until the end? Well, let’s jump into the talk, shall we?

Before we explain how the series goes into practice, what is Ergo Proxy? Ergo Proxy is about reality being forced to replace humans with mysterious creatures named, you guessed it, Proxies. Both humanity and the Proxie have a visceral relationship with one another and the latter wants to reign supreme. In our main location, the domed city of Rondo, where the remaining humans live, we have our main detective named Re-L and she will investigate the vile mysteries happening along with the help of the companions called AutoReivs. Ergo Proxy has a lot of interesting ideas, to say the least. As mentioned, the premise behind it is very complicated but it still has distinct elements we can explore. The whole humanity vs Proxy thing is crazy and we could still make it more enticing.

The start of this series is pretty decent in my opinion. We first get to see some humans and their robot companions experimenting with what a Proxy is capable of. As we all know, Proxies are very strong and aren’t really something we can easily experiment with. That’s where our main detective, Re-L, comes into play. Re-L is hired to investigate the Proxies around and her goal is to take them down before they can cause any more trouble. And even she isn’t that strong to take on them on her own. She needs to develop more strategies in order to make things a little easier. Initially, we get to see some pretty compelling characterization around this one. On the surface, this is pleasing. Showing us what Proxies are capable of and how they clash with the human race is pretty good.

‘ahem’ On the SURFACE

After the start of the series, you’ll notice that something’s off with the story. That is sadly where this series goes downhill. The issue with the series is how it tries very hard to be serious. I get it, you want to be very serious. That’s totally fine. Do that as you wish. It’s just that it constantly wants to be smarter than it really is by throwing a shit load of philosophical monologues around. Now, philosophical monologues are not even bad on their own. They’re actually good if you connect them well with the story and/or character(s). That’s something Ergo Proxy fails to recognize. The monologues could have been a lot better if the story didn’t just spit them out and put them on the floor, probably never to be touched ever again when another episode comes into play. The best way to describe the story is that it’s pretentious. No, really, it’s pretentious in the sense that it tries to be deep when it’s surface level at best.

Another problem with the series is how much potential there is thrown away. The relationship between humanity and the Proxies is actually great. We could have seen more from it if the series hadn’t treated that idea as a poor cat on the streets. All we have left right now are a bunch of concepts we can observe for a little while before we move on without realizing how they reach their maximum potential. Let’s face it, we can headcanon how those concepts go better than this show. Those concepts, as I said earlier, could have been explored more if the series didn’t waste its time trying to appear smart. This leads to not only confusion (and not in a sense that could elevate the story higher) but also frustration. It’s head-scratching to see how we get to see SOME buildup happening and afterward, they’re abandoned as if they’re grocery stuff we don’t need on our list.

This also applies to symbolism, by the way, and it’s more frustrating than ever. Symbolism is an interesting beast in Ergo Proxy where it may give you hints on how mysteries happen, especially with how Proxies originated. There are some hints pointed out but other than that, almost all of them are also wasted. Like the monologues, symbolism is just thrown out just so the series can appear smarter. Symbolism in general shouldn’t really be used all the time, to begin with. What do I mean by this? Let’s take a little look at Serial Experience Lain where that show doesn’t use its own symbolism countless times but it properly uses them when it carefully creates either a twist or a slow buildup to convince audiences what’s happening. Yes, I’m aware that both SEL and Ergo Proxy are different shows but even then, the principal stands. My point of this contrast is that symbolism isn’t a toy you can play with all the time. Symbolism is something that gives you a hint/idea when you create a figurative story. That’s something that, again, Ergo Proxy fails to understand.

Lastly, and I’m surprised that not many people point this out but I can’t stress to you how bad the filler is. It seems like Ergo Proxy occasionally runs out of ideas when trying to be serious so to “compensate” for that, it creates episodes that are comedic yet have nothing to do with the plot. Here’s an example, there’s this episode called “Nightmare Quiz Show” (episode 15, to be exact) where the characters play a quiz. Now this may bring in variety but it leans too much on what the episode is about and not what the overall story is about. Basically, it just leans on comedy for the vast majority of the episode’s runtime. A similar case can be said with some other episodes like “Eternal Smile” (episode 19). As we keep needing to come back to it, it adds nothing to the story and just leans on comedy. Ergo Proxy isn’t supposed to be an anime to do this kind of thing, since it’s about seriousness and mystery-solving. But we have those happening anyway.

The character writing is also subpar. Let’s start with Re-L, the main detective, Vincent, the immigrant, and Pino, the main AutoReiv. Starting with Re-L, she’s a passable character, I guess. She has this cool no-nonsense personality and she does her job. But she isn’t fleshed out enough for me to care about. Moving to Vincent and oh boy, there are so many wrong things with his character. Now, he is a very important character but the series made him as if he shouldn’t exist in the first place. The nail in the coffin of his character in my opinion is when he’s revealed to be the Ergo Proxy which, again, seems cool but the whole thing is rushed which leads to yet another line of pretentiousness. Lastly, Pino is just there. She isn’t a remotely bad character also but she doesn’t have much personality to show. Yeah, she’s a main companion but that’s basically about it.

The side characters kind of suck. Yeah, they have their purposes as well but they still aren’t really properly executed characters, to begin in, even if they’re supporting ones. They only exist just so they can push the plot forward in case the writing for the main cast isn’t “enough”. There isn’t much to say about them honestly.

Now, the final important element to cover is the ending. Now, this is arguably the most controversial part of Ergo Proxy but I actually think the ending is pretty decent and is the best part of the show. It’s not too amazing all things considered but it ties up most of the plot points quite nicely and isn’t rushed, even if some others are still left in the dust, unlike the rest of the story. It does at least address what happened in the series.

It’s a shame with how Ergo Proxy’s writing is resulted because the visuals are actually great. They’re not too simplistic but not too complicated either. The details are executed well, especially with character designs, and the animation flows very nicely. The soundtrack is amazing and my personal favorite part of the show. The same goes with the voice acting and of course, how can we forget about Megan Hollingshead as Re-L in the English dub? Still the best voice acting in the show. That said, both the Japanese and English voice-acting are equally great in their very own rights.

And those are my opinions on Ergo Proxy. There are a lot of interesting things we can observe but most of them are never used properly by the show and it leads to not only unnecessary confusion but also blatant frustration on top of it. There are ways the show can handle complexity well and yet, it doesn’t even realize that from left to right. Now, that isn’t to say don’t watch this series. I’m not trying to be objective with all these points. If you have a high chance to enjoy or love this series then go for it. I have nothing against it. But if you manage to read all of what I just said, you at least heard my two cents.

Now I’ll admit, I’m not really into musical anime. While I do appreciate the ideas of music used in any show, most of the time, they felt one-sided and too gimmicky for my personal liking. At least to me, the use of musicals isn’t really executed well due to how they’re portrayed as background themes instead of story purposes. But there’s one anime that caught my attention and I’ve been a huge fan ever since. Of course, I’m referring to arguably KineCi’s best show, Revue Starlight. When I started watching this, I was keeping my expectations in check for the most part solely because again, ... my stances with musical anime. But as soon as I finished the show (and gave it a re-watch because why not?), I have come to appreciate the passion and creativity this show holds.

The story is about two girls named ‘Karen’ and ‘Hikari’ who watched a stage performance of 9 girls in a group called “Starlight” and both were amazed by each of the girl’s performances. As time passed, the two girls were in high school and made friends with 7 other girls. While the 9 girls do their standard school activities, Karen discovers a secret room which is a stage for the Starlight and the other girls are part of it. And with that, the 9 girls are dancing and singing in a battle of who will take the victory. Revue Starlight has a lot of enticing ideas that it explores well. On the surface, the storytelling barely made any sense. Sure, it’s one of the more unique musical anime out there but it’s just a bunch of girls fighting each other on a stage with some cool shit thrown together. And you know what? You’re technically right. From the looks of it, Revstar isn’t really taken literally. The scriptwriting seems odd and the characterization looks pretty funny.

Which is why we have yet to observe this show’s biggest charm, its take on symbolic elements. Think about it, Revstar doesn’t have traditional storytelling, to begin with, regardless of what premise it holds. Instead, it has its figurative meaning about how the girls are driven by their own determination and philosophies. It really shows how the characters are trying very hard to prove that their strengths are way more than average and how they can voice out their very own colors. The show does a fantastic job nailing those aspects. It presents just how human and colorful the cast is no matter the situation. It feels like I’m watching another Ikuhara anime and yes, this show isn’t really directed by Ikuhara himself but this is SO IKUHARA that it’s a CRIME if one says otherwise. The script writing may be complicated but it’s directed brilliantly because it doesn’t take itself seriously alongside creating more room for the cast to show more personality.

Normally, I would consider fight scenes to be superficial but I can’t stress enough how HARD the choreography holds. In most cases, it’s fine if you make fight scenes pieces of popcorn entertainment. After all, you want to keep viewers entertained, even if writing won’t do justice. But you can make them better if you elect to combine them with storytelling. In this respect, Revstar is the best at that. Not only is the action portrayed well with a combination of physical clashing and over-the-top movements but the dialogue is, again, driven by adrenaline and true human emotions. It nails how girls perform on a stage and how they want to be the star of the dance extremely well. In the Starlight auditions, you need a lot of effort in order to prove that you hold enough will and justice, both in your script and your dance performances. The cast is the best at showing those kinds of factors.

Speaking of which, it’s time we talk about the cast. Karen is an excellent protagonist who shows how you can hold any sense of determination. She isn’t your average Shoujo main character by any means, she always has enough physical and emotional strength to present to you how you can be deemed to be a guardian angel. The same goes for Hikari, who even though Karen is fantastic as both an MC and a character, felt like the true protagonist of the show. Other characters also deserve special mention. Mahiru may be a psycho (a harmless one at that) but I absolutely love her relationship with Karen, even though it’s silly. Junna’s kindness towards anyone she mostly interacts with is something I really admire. Claudine and Maya probably have some of the most philosophical chemistry with each other I’ve ever seen when it comes to making a female equivalent of a bromance (I really don’t know what it’s called, please help). Kaoruko’s combination of laziness and surprisingly high knowledge of the stage makes her a fantastic character. Futaba was a little disappointing, though. I do love her princely behavior and her chemistry with Kaoruko but she doesn’t click me as much as the other characters.

But even if some tend to be my least favorite of the bunch, I adore all the girls equally due to their own unique and enjoyable charms. However, if one stands out the most for me in a way that makes the most definitions of what special means, I have to give it to Nana. She isn’t just an honorary shadow figure, she IS THE honorary shadow figure in animanga. The fact that she’s very kind for the most part only to reveal her true colors in the auditions is what really holds my attention. In fact, her selfishness is easily the best part of the show. Nana is a diehard idol who spent all of her effort trying to stand on top of others. What makes her extremely special is how she is very dedicated to the Starlight stages yet doesn’t overstay her welcome. Despite all the hassle she brings when she’s brought into the auditions, she still retains most, if not, all of her kindness.

Talking about the story and characters is fun and all but let’s talk about the art and sound. The production really surprised me. When I saw the words “KineCi” and “animation” put together, I always thought they would do okay. Not the worst but not the greatest either. But with Revstar, the animation is clean and smooth. The physical moments are over-the-top yet balanced at the same time, all while also containing very pleasing visuals. I don’t want to disregard the aesthetics either. In my opinion, Revstar has the best character designs out of any anime. Not only do the characters look distinct and dynamic but they also fit well with each character’s personality and dancing style. The music, most notably the stage ones, is incredible. The amount of energy put into and used with them is just amazing. They also represent the characterizations of every character wonderfully. Same with the voice acting.

STORY - 93%
CHARACTERS - 94%
ART - 90%
SOUND - 100%

There’s more I could talk about but all I can say is that Revue Starlight is just fantastic. I find it sad that it has gotten a reputation as a hit-or-miss and I could totally understand why. It’s not for everyone. Its take on symbolic elements may confuse those who aren’t familiar with its story structures. But personally, this show has a lot of great stuff in one package. It has a non-linear storytelling that indirectly shows human determination well and the characters are super fleshed out. Best of all, this is just at minimum potential. This series has a movie sequel and we will talk about that in another time.

FINAL VERDICT - 9/10