The First Face of Gurren Lagann

 So I just finished watching the first part of Gurren Lagann. I know I'm late by half a decade, but it came out at a time where I treated Japanese animation with hostility. I have finally gotten around to what has been dubbed "the greatest mecha production ever created," by that obese girl at your local anime club. I'm also going to assume you have watched Gurren Lagann already, or at least knows what happens in the eighth episode, because I will be discussing them later on. I'll put up a spoiler warning, but I doubt many will care.

 My main problem going into Gurren Lagann was the hype. The show grabbed millions of weaboos by the balls and gave them the greatest orgasm of their lives, making them think that this is the greatest achievement in animation since animation was created. I laugh at these people. I laugh right in there face and tell them that they are wrong. The show is good, hell it's great, but it's not great for the reasons they claim. The show is not deep, and the story is shallow. I don't know if all of the great plot comes in the second part, but so far it's just a fun mecha show, and that's all I want.

 I went in expecting Gurren Lagann to be edgy garbage like Elfen Lied, but I was surprised. The show is just a wild romp through a world where humans have resorted to living underground. A digger boy named Simon, lives in the underground Jeeha village. He digs to help the village expand, but is constantly bombarded by earthquakes. Simon is made fun of in his village, and is shunned from most people, with the exception of Kamina. Kamina acts like a big brother to Simon, and has always dreamed of going to the surface, but is often punished for his attempts to breakthrough. One day while digging, Simon finds a giant mechanical face in the ground, and wants to show Kamina. While trying to show Kamina, another large face, known as a Gunman, falls through the cieling, and starts to destroy the village. Simon then pilots the mini-Gunman and defeats the giant Gunman with the help of the barely dressed woman Yoko. Together the three of them with the help of a mechanic name Leeron, they set forth to stop the person sending these Gunman to kill the humans.

 The fun comes from the characters they meet, and adventures they have, not the actual goal. The plot does become interesting after episode eight, where it basically turns into an unpretentious version of Neon Genesis Evangelion. The comparisons to Neon Genesis make sense, because both shows are by the same studio. Simon's character development is also similar to that of Shinji, but Simon doesn't make me want to slit my wrist. The show also isn't trying to shove its ambitiousness down you throat screaming, "look at me I'm so deep!" Gurren Lagann does touch on some interesting themes, but it doesn't really explore them or do anything at all with them, but I prefer it this way. If I wanted a philosophy lesson, I would have taken a course on it, or watched Neon Genesis again.

 One of the shows best parts is the characters. So far, the characters don't really develop with the exception of Simon, but they're still fun, over-the-top and full of personality. Kamina is mainly the embodiement of masculinity, and serves as an older brother role for Simon. Yoko is Kamina's love interest, and is in the show to move the plot occasionally, but is mainly there for fanservice. Leeron is the stereotypical homosexual, which is amped up in the English version of the show. Leeron is actually one of my favourite characters, because he is surprisingly the most competent of the whole cast, and is a source of much of the show humour, even if he only has one joke. The other characters introduced later, such as Kittan and Rossiu, are both fun as well. Kittan is basically a blonde Kamina, and Rossiu is the patient priest. Both characters get their fair share of screentime, and are fun to watch. Nia introduced later on, is one of the worst mary sues I have seen in a while. She is perfect in everyway, and it's just horrible. I'm calling it now, that something happens in part two that will cause a huge character shift. Viral, one of the main villians, doesn't do much besides fight for his honour, but has potential to be great. The rest of the cast, barely get enough screen time for the audience to remember their names. They're only in the battles, and then never seen again.

 The music is another one of the flaws of the show. The music isn't bad, it's just generic. I know I will get shit on for this, but all of the music in the show is generic metal and rap. There's one instrumental song that fits the mood of the battle, but most of the time they use some Japanese heavy metal song that just isn't exciting. Or they use "row row fight da powa," which has quickly become one of my most hated battle songs. The opening and ending songs are catchy though.

 The voice acting in the English version is surprisingly good. I grew up in a time where all dubs were trash put together by a homeless man in a dumpster, but the majority have improved greatly with time. A majority of the voices fit the characters, they emote well, and they time their sentances properly. I don't know Japanese, so I can't comment if the voice acting is good, but they do emote and the voices fit the characters. I can't say whether it's good or not, since there are too many factors in voice acting that you can't grasp without being fluent in the given language. I'd say watch it either sub or dub, the dub script is the identical to the sub, but occasionally rewords the dialogue to sound natural in English. Just don't expect Cowboy Bebop levels of quality.

 The animation in the show is fantastic for a Japanese animated series. My problem with Japanese series, is that they are usually animated very poorly and flat. They rarely follow the basic principles of animation. I have come to understand is that Japanese animators have very low budgets and tight deadlines, causing the quality to drop. With the exception of episode four, which looks like someone wiped their ass with the cels and called it a day, the show is actually animated very well, and does not feel flat. The mech battles in particular reach FLCL levels of quality and look stunning. The animation helps ramp up the battles to a brilliant level of intensity. The battles are a spectacle and are the selling point of the show. They are fun, imaganitive, and over-the-top. What else could you ask for in a show about giant robots.

 It's now spoiler time, so if you're the one person who hasn't watched Gurren Lagann, I suggest you skip this next paragraph, unless you have seen the first part, or know what happens in episode eight.

 The plot doesn't become very interesting until episode eight, where a huge battle entails, and you have people all around stealing Gunmen and helping fight the beastmen. The reason that this becomes interesting, is because they kill off one of the main characters. Kamina is killed in combat, and is now the driving force of the show. It's interesting the way they do this, because he's what has been keeping Simon together this whole time. This event cause Simon to lose self control, which leads to the next few episodes being about Simon's self discovery. Kamina is seen as the definition of manhood for Simon, so when Kamina dies, it's as if Simon's manhood has died with him. Simon has a short mental breakdown, where he claims that he will never be like Kamina. This is the part where Simon learns what it means to truly become a man. He learns it had nothing to do with Kamina's attitude, or ability. He realizes that it's about taking responsability, and protecting the people that rely on you. This is Simon's first transition into manhood. This whole character arc is done well, and does not overstay its welcome. This is also when they introduce Nia, and the concept of human life, and what it means to be human. It's too bad that the show rarely touches on these themes very much, but I have hopes that they will later in the second part of the show.

Spoilers over.

 Overall I'm really liking this show. It's animated very well, has great over-the-top characters, and giant robot battle, and is just entertaining. I don't know if later in the series the show does become the greatest mecha show ever, but it's still very entertaining, even if it's a bit shallow. I hope that the second season touches more on the themes that the show deals with, but doesn't go overboard like Neon Genesis did. It's like a Japanese Megas XLR. I'll be back to write more when I finish the whole series.