TENGEN TOPPA GURREN LAGANN ROCKS YOUR FACE OFF!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted On April 1, 2007

Gurren Lagann was fucking incredible. Much like Kanon 2006, it didn’t betray my expectations at all. However, I feel when one expects a well produced, cute and somewhat slow bishoujo game adaptation, it’s not that hard to deliver. However, when a show promises pure energy, epicness and well done insanity, it’s kind of a tall order. Sadly, many shows fall short when they promise things like epicness and excitement (Hello, Fate/Stay Night.) Gurren Lagann’s opening installment delivered excitement (with a hint of epic) in spades. Then again, Gainax is helming the project, so I suppose it’s not that surprising.

I can’t say much about the story, given I watched it raw and my Japanese comprehension isn’t that good. I can kind of nail down the characters, though. Keep in mind this is what I gathered from a raw viewing, so it may be a tad bit inaccurate. Simon seems like your normal anime youth, just living normally (well, whatever qualifies as “normal” in Gurren Lagann) with a slight confidence issue. However he does have nice youthful energy, and isn’t a total downer like a certain member of the Ikari family. Kamina is the guy with ambitions, and balances out Simon’s lack of confidence. Kamina’s ambitious attitude does seem to get him in trouble though. He’s a bit reckless. Yoko just seems like a fanservice character so far. She is a Girl With A Gun, but isn’t Revy by a long shot. Not like that’s a bad thing. So far it seems she’s that character that knows the method behind the madness, but has a nice friendly personality. And big boobs. Oh, and there’s a mascot character.

The animation is fairly well produced. Not KyoAni fluidity (what is?) but the style of animation suits the designs. It’s the kind of animation used in FLCL episode 5. A little jumpy and rough, but it’s not lazy looking at all; you can tell it’s a stylistic choice. You can get a taste of the animation by checking out the opening and ending sequences on YouTube.

To end this entry, I’m going to post some choice screen captures. More at Random Curiosity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The more astute of you will notice a bit of a reoccurring theme throughout these screencaps…