In a rare conservative gesture for me (it’s usually a Herculean feat for me not to digress into the intricacies of action figure jointing during game reviews or make an article comprised of nothing but lyrics to the Chewy Bacon Joe song, I haven’t written anything about one of the greatest anime series I’ve followed in a while, especially since I mainly watch it ‘ironically’ for review fodder (note the utter lack of anime reviews on this site and judge silently amongst yourselves.) Said anime: Gainax’s recently-concluded Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann. (A title which my spell checker will simply have no part of.)
As much as I love giant robot shows, I have to confess my awareness that they’re pretty formulaic. You can usually step out for a sandwich or something for the first fifteen-twenty minutes wherein ‘tension’ is built by people in a laboratory or starship bridge have a spirited chat about the monster/enemy ace/alien invaders wrecking their shit, usually followed by a five-to-ten minute brawl wherein the heroes and their robots wreck the enemy’s shit, thus proving that though violence may not be the answer, it does seem to wrap things up more efficiently than a roomful of scientists discussing the deep (or not so deep) ramifications of their ongoing struggle.
Gurren-Lagann is a breath of fresh air in many ways- for starters, it does trot out a fairly generic cast, but rather than decompress the storyline fleshing out each and every one, they just take that you can assume their archetypes and lets the story run wild. The end result is a literally epic storyline that follows the hero, Simon, from a little kid all the way to an old man by the end. It takes most shows two or three seasons to accomplish the amount of progression this one does within 27 episodes. It’s the kind of show where if you miss an episode, you miss a lot- aside from the hot spring special (gratuitous, obligatory MALE nudity-huh!?) and clip show, there’s really no filler whatsoever, turning what would normally be a groaningly dull progression into a roller coaster ride, a feat assisted by the stylistic, fluid animation direction of Imaishi. The Big Four of the Spiral King, for example, are introduced-and dispatched neatly within two episodes of their initial attacks.
Despite the opening scene depicting a grizzled but confident space captain about to do battle with all the stars in the sky at once, things begin small, with a bleak world wherein the human race is being confined in underground villages by demi-human beastmen and their huge, cephalic mecha known as “Ganmen” (a play on words, both meaning “Face” itself, and on the English “Gunmen.”) Simon is a digger, people who use hand-cranked drills to expand the village and look for treasures. He soon crosses paths with Kamina, a charismatic and utterly unflappable older boy who heads a gang called the “Gurren-Dan” (Red Lotus Gang) and dreams of breaking through the ceiling to the fabled Surface. Simon uncovers a tiny drill which is used to power up Lagann, as Kamina dubs the large metal face they find buried in another cave. A Ganmen crashes through the ceiling, being battled by the busty, gun-toting Yoko, and eventually Simon gains enough fighting spirit to use the rather goofy-looking Lagann to destroy it- and land them in the outside world, a barren desert as far as the eye can see.
I’d really rather not ruin too much, besides to say how simply awesome this show is in scale. The Gurren-Dan grows from a tiny band of resistance fighters to a full-fledged army, and Simon in particular is the best example of growth in the series- a timid orphan at the beginning, but by the series’ end, Simon is commanding the power of multiple galaxies through Gurren-Lagann’s final evolution. The theme of revolution runs strong through this show- both literally and figuratively as it turns out that the power of the Spiral is a force that could probably pants The Force and make it march around the playground. The recurring rap (yes, rap) theme that urges “RAW! RAW! FIGHT DA POWUH!” at especially dramatic moments helps draw me in as well.
The music in this show is pretty important to the overall experience. Though not to the extent of FLCL (which sometimes I half think of as an extended music video for the Pillows). There’s a lot of orchestral, important-sounding themes in the bgm, with the more ‘urban’ theme representing the rebellious Dai-Gurren-Dan,Gurren-Lagann’s obligatory recurring rival Viral’s metal theme, and eventually the alien Anti-Spirals represented by techno music and arabesque. Toward the end, there’s a rather surprising opera remix of the main theme, that works well within the context.
Overall, if you like heroic action stories, Gurren-Lagann delivers on a near-mythic scale. ADV Films will be releasing it on DVD at some point (though there are of course, more time and cost-effective methods. Ahem! I plan to buy em when they come out.) Check it out if you get the chance.
Closing Quotes:
- “Don’t believe in yourself! Believe in me, who believes in you!“
- “Who the [obscenity of choice] do you think I am?”
- “It’s been a long time, naked apes…”
- “Your drill is a drill that will pierce through the heavens!”
- “Each revolution moves us forward… THAT IS A DRILL!!”
