Kurogane’s Anime Blog

Wow, I’m really slow, but I just knew about the Nia Portraits artbook. God damn, I’m really tempted to buy it now. Niaaaaa!!!!!!!!!

I really hope someone (maybe Ningen, XD) makes some nice wallpapers out of the pictures in the book, especially the one with the adult and loli Nia together :). Man, that portrait is really awesome.

It’s online now, you can watch it here.

….um so, do you like Pachinko Lagann?

Personally, I found it kinda LULZ instead of cool and such. Poor Viral, he’s such an unlucky sod.

I’m hoping the next one one will be more awesome.

I’m surprised it’s not being hyped much, but Gainax is gonna release a series of music videos, set to a track from the TTGL soundtrack, with all the characters of Gurren Lagaan set in to a parallel world. The first one’s out it seems and it can be watched here.

Starting the series off with the perfect track, 「Rap is a Man’s Soul! (Dai-Gurren-Dan Theme)」, this music video has the TTGL cast in a medieval setting, with Simon, Kamina and Viral playing as knights out to rescue poor damsel-in-distress Nia from the hands of the Spiral King. Yoko makes her appearance as one of the guards of the castle.

Pretty awesome as music videos go, and as a plus, we get to see adult Simon side-by-side with Kamina himself.

Continue ->

“F*ck yeah you are the best OST evar.” Seconded, Anon, seconded.

If for anything other than it being TTGL’s OST disk, get this album for the awesome track that is “Libera Me” From Hell, rap + opera never sounded this EPIC before.

ROW ROW FIGHT THE POWAA!!!

Rewatching it for the second time somehow makes the tears come easier, mostly when you get some of the more subtle hints that are easily missed in the frenetic pace of the episode buildup and climax.

I especially noticed that in the middle of the final battle, Nia flashed for a moment, noticed by Simon, and he suddenly comes a realization of the fate to befall Nia when he wins, making him hesitate a moment. However, Nia calms him down and instead tells him to follow his path. Ah, it’s this subtle foreshadowing that really makes a big impact on the emotional enjoyment of the show, especially when you rewatch it again and notice all this slight hints.

Also, Simon’s decision to not use the Spiral power to revive Nia and the rest of the Gurren Lagaan when suggested by Gimmy was a very nice touch by the production team, possibly as a way to subtly criticize other studios who might build up emotional impact by killing characters, but waste it all on a cop-out at the end. Simon rightly says that reviving the dead will eventually hinder the ones who follow after, and I can’t help getting flashes of a certain other mecha show that was popular recently.

Other, lesser studios *coughsunrisecough* might actually take the cop-out way of reviving everyone, at this point in the show, but I’m glad the Gainax team didn’t do so and aren’t the people to do so either. Definitely, Gainax people are really worthy of the respect I afford them, as mad as some of their mindsets are at times.

And finally, on towards the epilogue, roughly 20 to 30 years later, I say 30 because of how much the cast has aged (Intriguingly, except for Leeron, he must be researching youth creams on the side), a comment by Myssa Rei on my earlier post, on the saying of how true heroes will never know true happiness, really touched a nerve in me.

Truly, many Gainax’s protagonists are embodiments of this, in some way or another, and it is perhaps this overarching theme that they infuse in to their works that really brings me to utterly respect them as storytellers. It is a very true thing in real life as well, and I find that it’s characters that embody such are the ones that I truly find memorable, a lot more than ones that achieve some form of happiness in the end, mainly for the catharsis they evoke in me.

In the end, I’m glad I kept my faith in the GAINAX team throughout the run of Gurren Lagaan. There were many a times I felt like forgetting about this series, but inevitably, I’m thankful I didn’t act on those impulses. It has turned out to be a real sleeper hit, as put by Jason, and I’ve really enjoyed myself watching the show immensely when I felt my loyalty to the show rewarded back in return. Definitely one of the most notable shows of 2007, and I’m definitely proud to say that the show is worth mentioning with other Gainax gems such as the Top wo Nerae series and Evangelion.

P.S. BTW, why is everyone saying Simon looks like Kamina during the wedding shots? I seriously don’t see the resemblance. Perhaps it’s because I’m not really a great fan of Kamina himself, even though I acknowledge the impact he has had on the whole cast of Gurren Lagaan.

Wow. Gainax broke their own records again. Battle of mechas of galactic proportions, although I must say, it is really weird to see them throwing galaxies around like frisbees.

But really, I must admire Gainax for choosing a “True End” style ending for Gurren Lagaan rather than a “Good End” for it. While the final battle between the two mechas was totally hyperboled and massively overdone, seeing Simon deliver the final blow with only Lagaan really puts in spiral principle in context of the show.

Then, it was truly sad to see Nia fading away after marrying Simon, but it was a totally good decision by Gainax. I honestly didn’t expect them to do so, but this makes the second Gainax character voiced by Yukari Fukui die. Wonder if it’s intentional or not, lol. Also, it was good for Simon to retire out of politics and go off on his own, as that really fits him more than becoming a figurehead president. While he may have the 熱血, politics really wouldn’t be his forte, so which is why I say that Gainax is awesome for doing the more logical “True End” than just another generic “Good End”.

All in all, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagaan has been a real fun ride, even if it started off on a less than absorbing manner. Being one of Gainax’s real, full season show in years, they’ve done admirably well with it, with a well-executed twist and really awesome, manly tears inducing scenes included. It was also good to see that Gainax has found a nice balance in their way of doing endings, between their “WTF Gainax ending?!” and normal, generic endings as well.

So long, Simon and the Gurren Brigade members. It has been an enjoyable show.

MANLY TEARS were shed.

Kittan, your name will now forever be etched in my memories as a MAN amongst men. Rest in peace, hero, you will never be forgotten in the hearts and minds of us all.