So, I recently downloaded the anime Gurren Lagann from the iTunes store. I've only watched the first two episodes, so this is going to be my initial impressions of the anime instead of a full fledged review of it. (Full review will come when I finish the series.)Gurren Lagann seems to have pretty much everything a good anime needs. There's giant robots; sexy, busty, scantily clad girls; men who get way too excited about little things; men who seem like cowards on the outside, but are really brave once they get motivated; cute, cuddly animals; villians/monsters that you can actually grow to like; and extremely effeminate men who get hot and bothered by the giant robots. It's also got all the required "inappropriate" moments. You know what I'm talking about: men falling face first into a girl's cleavage, women falling cleavage first into a man's face, men crawling up a tunnel mere inches away from the scantily clad woman's butt... I'd go on, but you get the point.
The story seems to be well put together (just going by the first 2 episodes) and the characters are, for the most part, easy to like despite their quirks. (Yes, even the extremely effeminate man is somewhat likable after you get used to him.)Usually, for me, an anime has to grab my attention within the first few episodes, otherwise it's unlikely that I'll ever finish watching it. Gurren Lagann succesfully pulled my interest and I do plan to finish the series, after which there will be a review on what I thought of the anime in it's entirety.
First Impression score:4 out of 5 (This will probably be higher in the final review if the anime continues to be like it has been.)
Yes, it is an absolutely off the walls fun series indeed, though the majority of it is indeed in the first few episodes or so. And as much as I love that aspect of it for me I think the series really started to click at about episode 8 or so, which is where it probably starts getting a little more serious about the storyline and such. But that's just for me, it really could go either way with others depending on their tastes.
ReplyDeleteThat's about all I'm going to say about the issue though, because to go any further would probably be spoiling the series too much, heh heh. ^_^'
Yeah, I kind of already know what's going to happen. (Not details, but the basics.) I kind of accidentally read through a wiki page about it which told me the main story line, but I still don't know all the little things that are going to happen.
ReplyDeleteI hope it continues to be an entertaining anime. I hate it when an anime catches my interest in the first couple of episodes, then turns out to not be as cool as I thought it was going to be. I've had that happen a couple of times. Very disappointing.
Ooooooohhh, ouch..... Although to tell you the truth it was probably inevitable you'd find out anyways, it's pretty fairly common knowledge within the anime fanbase what happens by now so it's kind of hard to ignore. Still though, I'm pretty sure you'll like it nonetheless. Even when it doesn't focus on the comedic aspects it's still a really fricken epic series.
ReplyDeleteMy only problem with it right now is that the animation style suddenly changed on episode 4. It was so beautifully done in the first 3 episodes, and when I turned on #4 today, it seemed like the animators had gotten lazy or something. It's not as smooth as it was.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I remember both you and Jason complaining about that. To tell you the honest truth I really don't pay enough attention to the animation to tell when the style changes, so I honestly had no clue that it did.
ReplyDeleteBut, nonetheless though, it's still a really awesome show. 8-)
Oh, of course. It's still way awesome. It's one of the few giant robot animes I can watch. (I never did get into Gundam.) Pretty much the only other giant robot animes I like are Martian Successor Nadesico and Evangelion, both of which are classics.
ReplyDeleteI always tend to pay attention to the animation style of any show I'm watching. So, when something changes in a show, I tend to notice before anyone else.
Well, it's not so much that I don't pay attention to the animation style at all, I just don't pay enough attention to notice stuff like that is all.
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, I think one of the things I really like about Gurren Lagann is that you don't necessarily think of it all too much as a giant robot anime, because there's so many other great aspects to the series that kind of makes the whole giant robot aspect of it take a bit of a back seat. I myself actually like giant robot anime quite a bit, but I do think there are those in that genre that really stand out above the rest that are just really great series overall. Gurren Lagann is most definitely one of them, that's for sure.
You're absolutely right. Gurren Lagann doesn't just focus on the giant robot aspect of the show. It's got some really good character development, which I like in an anime. I guess that's why I like Nadesico so much. It's like Gurren Lagann in that it focuses more on the relationships between the characters instead of just throwing giant robot fight scenes in your face.
ReplyDeleteNadesico will always be my all time favorite anime, but Gurren Lagann is slowly making its way into second place for me.
Yeah, that kind of sounds like me with Fullmetal Alchemist. That will always be my #1 all time favorite, but Gurren Lagann really, really shot right up there.
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, to go along with what you said about character development, I think the main thing that really makes Gurren Lagann stand out as an outstanding series overall for me is the fact that it's as inventive and unique as it is. In it's animation style, it's overall tone and the world it takes place in, it's just a really, really unique series.
It's true. Gurren Lagann is pretty unique as far as animes go. The story is gripping without being so intense as to make it not enjoyable. And the animation style is very different from most animes. It's almost as if they tried to make it look more... cartoonish. A lot of animes I've watched really try too hard to make it seem real. I haven't noticed that with Gurren Lagann yet. It's animation style is quite refreshing to watch.
ReplyDeleteI've been watching it for the past couple of days, and I must say that I'm liking it more and more. I just wish I had more time to watch it other than lunch breaks at work.
Oh yeah, it's that cartoony animation style that I actually prefer to the more realistic looking ones. As good as some of those more realistic-looking series are, when it actually comes down to animation I just don't prefer it as much. Basically the idea is that what I love so much about animation in the first place is it's ability to stretch the imagination, you know, to do things that the boundries of live action don't allow. So I always say the more unrealistic it looks the better. ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're really liking it though. I totally understand wanting to have more time to watch it, I eventually got to the point with that series where I really just couldn't stop watching it when I had the time and cursing the skyes when I ran out of time to keep watching it. ;_;
That's how I'm getting. I just watched an episode with the biggest giant robot I've ever seen in an anime. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. That really big one that is like a walking base for the Gunmen.
ReplyDeleteAnd I totally agree with you. I really just don't like it when an animated show tries to look realistic. They lose something when they do that, and I think you hit the nail right on the head. They lose that ability to stretch the imagination further than live action can.
Granted, I also hate it when a cartoon is so poorly drawn that it becomes hard to watch. A lot of the American cartoon shows have become like that.
Ah yes, I know exactly what you're talking about. Can't remember what it's called, but I know what you're talking about. ^_^; My favorite though is when the Gurren Lagann starts fusing together with all the battleships and whatnot and starts to become uber powerful. Not only does it get uber poweful, which is always awesome, but it starts taking forms that are just all sorts of awesome. 8-) So far you've only seen it fuse together with the Dai-Gunzen, which that was a real fun fusion, but it gets to be much, much more awesome in latter episodes. 8-)
ReplyDeleteHeh heh, totally didn't notice you had posted something here earlier today, heh heh. ^_^'
Wow. I just watched an episode that I'm not happy with. It's episode 8, and I think you'll know why I'm not happy with it. Why would they do what they did? That was totally not cool! Especially when there's so many more episodes in the series! It reminds me of the first few episodes of Nadesico when they did what they did to Gai Daigoji. That was also SO not cool. He was one of the best characters in the anime. I'm really upset with Gurren Lagann right now after what they did. (Can you tell I'm trying to not spoil anything for anyone?)
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ReplyDeleteHeh heh heh, well, you did your best anyways. ;)
ReplyDeleteBelieve me though, I was just as shocked and mad when it happened as you are. I think everyone who's seen, is seeing and will see this series felt, is feeling and will feel the exact same way. But I've got to say it really is quite impressive how the rest of the series compensates for that and continues on to be a really dang good series in spite of that. Which is especially impressive considering that sort of thing will typically kill a series. So don't you worry, even though they did what they did to the best character in the series, the best of this thing is yet to come. 8-)
But you're probably already well aware of this though. Considering that Nadesico is your favorite series of all time I assume it's pretty fairly close to being the same thing as that.
(Well I tried my best to not spoil anything either, so who knows if I did or not, heh heh ^_^' )
Yeah, I think we've skirted the edges of what happens, but I don't think we've given anything away yet. So far, the anime is still pretty good despite what happened. They introduced a new girl into the series, who I took a liking to right away. Probably something to do with how awesome she looks. I'm pretty sure that I'll still like the rest of the anime.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, Nia. I like her character a lot as well. She does have a really great character design, I must say. But she's just an all around great character as well.
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, we probably at least did good enough to keep it spoiler free anyways. I'm glad you're still liking it though. I personally can't wait to see what you'll think of the series at about episode 18 or 17 onward (can't remember if it was 17 or 16 that was the recap episode..... ). That's about where things REALLY start taking very interesting turns.