gurren lagann redux
1 Aug 2008 04:21 pmAwhile back I contemplated bad guys and bad motivations (among other things) and then I finished the series and moved along. At AX I snagged the first volume of the official release, and mentioned (again) to CP that I really, really recommend this series. He'd watched the first episode, and said, "I don't know, it looked kinda silly."
(This from the man who cheerfully, even avidly, watched Lucky Star. Silly. Right.)
I told him, look, you know FLCL and Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi? You know how both started out kinda silly, way over the top, goofy and just plain wierd and wacky? ...and then at some point along the way, it took that goofy wackiness and turned around and slammed you in the gut?
Yeah. That's Tengen Toppen Gurren Lagann. It's goofy, it's ridiculous, it's over-the-top, it's wild, it's almost retro sometimes in its visual style, it's even downright silly with the robot-heads bouncing around with these completely unrealistic super-robot-throwbacks, down to the camera angles and the angled lines as the robot hangs there on the screen mid-move, even the totally outrageous homage-and-yet-parody names Kamina comes up for each move... and then suddenly, it will take a left turn and the next thing you know, you've been gutted. Completely, and totally gutted. ( I'm warning you but I'm saying you can't brace yourself, because when it happens -- spiraling around again to come to that silent center, where the sacrifice lives... )
The best stories always hurt.
Believe in you. Not in you who believes in me, not in me who believes in you, but in you, who believes in you.
(This from the man who cheerfully, even avidly, watched Lucky Star. Silly. Right.)
I told him, look, you know FLCL and Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi? You know how both started out kinda silly, way over the top, goofy and just plain wierd and wacky? ...and then at some point along the way, it took that goofy wackiness and turned around and slammed you in the gut?
Yeah. That's Tengen Toppen Gurren Lagann. It's goofy, it's ridiculous, it's over-the-top, it's wild, it's almost retro sometimes in its visual style, it's even downright silly with the robot-heads bouncing around with these completely unrealistic super-robot-throwbacks, down to the camera angles and the angled lines as the robot hangs there on the screen mid-move, even the totally outrageous homage-and-yet-parody names Kamina comes up for each move... and then suddenly, it will take a left turn and the next thing you know, you've been gutted. Completely, and totally gutted. ( I'm warning you but I'm saying you can't brace yourself, because when it happens -- spiraling around again to come to that silent center, where the sacrifice lives... )
The best stories always hurt.
Believe in you. Not in you who believes in me, not in me who believes in you, but in you, who believes in you.
