the introductory segment of Gurren
Lagann has always been interesting to
meet personally for a number of reasons
it does a lot that one would expect an
establishing section to do introducing
an epic scope building the world and
very quickly adhering the audience to
the characters and main mantra of the
world it is also quite different
stylistically from the rest of the story
with the tone and feel of the
progression and conflicts giving off a
bit of a deceptive impression of where
the story might be headed but related to
this stylistic approach what is so
interesting about this opening act is
that it is a narrative red herring
something verging on a masterstroke of
expectation subversion and what's
important is that this is not a
subversion done for subversion sake but
something completely consistent with the
way this universe and the characters
within its function and thus a benefit
to the story looking at it
retrospectively it is intentionally what
many would consider the weakest act
using very logical reasons that can only
be deduced after you know the entire
story to perpetuate an impression of
false one dimensionality however before
expanding on this let's get into a
couple of traditional criticisms that
can be levied at the early episodes of
Gurren Lagann before discussing how
these elements are actually very
appropriate even if it doesn't change
the fact that a good portion of these
episodes are pretty silly first of all
it can be hard for new Watchers to feel
some genuine weight and investment in
the events and conflicts early on simply
because the show doesn't really take
them seriously with a slight exception
of episode 7 there is very little
tension in any of these battles even if
our heroes genuinely have a difficult
time and don't end up winning now this
can be explained
due to the general tone of these
episodes being won a pretty
light-hearted adventure with the
emphasis on overcoming the odds but I
think a bigger reason for this is in the
characterization and approach taken with
the villains these adversaries are
simply put shallow ranging from the
random grunts who are essentially cheesy
cannon fodder to virile who despite
being comfortably the most important
antagonist here is sometimes even
treated as comic relief early on the
antagonists are hardly given any weight
and are quite devoid of substance such a
pity that they're not fleshed out
there's no depth and we aren't given any
explanations for their motivations other
than them needing to kill the humans for
some reason they are not treated as
anything other than humorous obstacles
and this makes it difficult to care much
and to be emotionally invested the first
time around
the second supposin criticism here is
probably the most controversial yet
significant one that has been leveled at
the series and it pertains to our
beloved leader the driving force for
these opening episodes
kameena is the endearing determined
leader of team Dai guren and
retrospectively it's easy to look at him
with rose tinted glasses but he doesn't
appear here to be an extremely balanced
character and one could be forgiven for
feeling like his brand of leadership
leaves a bit to be desired
kameena is essentially the symbol of the
show the thematic drill from which the
entire narrative bases itself off of so
one would assume that his display of
leadership would be traditionally
exemplary inspirational and charismatic
but backed up with extreme interpersonal
intelligence a knack for strategy and a
knowledge and demonstration of the best
course of action in varying
circumstances but quite frankly
kameena does not meet those specific
expectations in full he's charismatic
confident and he leads by example but
ultimately what he boils down to is
someone who spouts the same platitudes
without much variation recklessly and
foolishly leading into battle outwardly
being a bit of a bonehead goof used for
comedy a lot of the time rather than a
genuine stable Lee
Durer kameena essentially just
repeatedly says the same few phrases
over and over with the hopes that
drilling in this philosophy will bring
about positive results and apart from a
few very subtle hints about his father
and a couple of key quotes this early
arc doesn't really try to add many
dimensions to him but although he is
scoffed at by some characters the story
by and large treats him like the
pinnacle of inspiration its creates some
dissonance between what is being
portrayed proportionate to what the
story perceives that importance to be
and this combined with the cannon fodder
approach to antagonists that I mentioned
leads to a feeling of superficiality
gravitas is important and apart from the
stories admirable philosophy and good
world building it's hard to become
invested when the show doesn't give you
many reasons to but the end of episode 8
understandably changes everything and
the story does a 180 though the
introduction of Nia gradually brings the
story back to its light-hearted fun the
dynamics are changed everything now has
weight themes of self-actualization and
grief are introduced moving on from the
death of a loved one and integrating
their memory while being your own person
the inner duality of all these
characters becomes more apparent the
plot opens up antagonists with gravity
are introduced true development occurs
the universe mechanics are delved into
and the story is benefited exponentially
by this comparatively the introductory
episodes are probably the relatively
weakest section of the show and one
could definitely understand why they
might be hard to buy into for some
Watchers things are established well
from the beginning but despite that
everything seems a bit shallow but that
is the point it is shallow because these
characters are simply putting on an act
or playing a role doing what they need
to do rather than what they truly feel
because of their personal circumstances
we find out later that in the hopes of
combating the spiral nemesis and
maintaining the survival of the world's
a custom of tyranny has been established
to keep populations below the limit as
such the setting is one of utmost
oppression and the people have learned
generation after generation that there
is no point to hope for a better future
the legacy passed down is one of fear
and learned helplessness for the
oppressed but what's key here is that it
is also true for the oppressors there
are two sides to this the beasts men and
especially virile they have no idea why
they're doing what they're doing they've
just been told to hunt and hate humans
by lord genome and their superiors some
may enjoy this but there is no
deeply-rooted substantial motivation
other than killing for an unknown duty
and that is why they're so shallow just
as the people in the underground
villages they are told what to do and
told not to ask questions a thematic
mirror image of those they are hunting
there is no weight to these characters
early on because they have no conviction
they're only carrying out roles handed
down all the way from the anti spirals
to combat the spiral nemesis and we see
later on that Veera was never really
that type of person in the first place
which adds much-needed context to the
supposed lack of punch to him as an
antagonist at heart he really isn't much
of a villain anyway so why should there
be a false conviction to his actions
these villains being superficial was
entirely appropriate both logically and
thematically and it is quite a poignant
idea after all the closest thing to a
villain in Gurren Lagann is the abstract
idea that you cannot achieve the
seemingly impossible now for kameena
there is an even better reason and more
emotional weight tied to his
narrow-minded stubborn one-dimensional
approach kameena lives as the legacy of
a great man
his father was truly impressive able to
make it to the surface and explore the
unknown as communists stayed in GEHA
village too afraid to follow at the
start of the series he breaks through to
the surface to reach his father and
after seeing his corpse he pursues the
improbable in the hopes of restoring
humanity to the surface and building the
prosperous world that his father sought
but on his own he does not know how to
do this he admits that he'd be lost
without the brains and solid foundation
that semen provides him and he is all
too aware of his limitations
Oh - awwww yeeeaaah what else but he is
also way more intelligent than he lets
on and he acts the way he does partly
because he knows Simone's limitations -
he wants to be the person everyone needs
even if he didn't know how to be more he
doesn't know how to be a great leader
he's just doing what he knows just doing
his best projecting an opposite reaction
to the insecurities that he actually
feels to try and inspire those around
him kameena genuinely sacrifices quite a
bit during his time in Gurren Lagann
this persona is without doubt a big part
of him but he exaggerates it wearing a
mask to be the hero that these people
needed maybe not the perfect leader now
but the type of symbol who would later
inspire one and he also knows that
Simone is currently a bit lost himself
so he is exactly what he needs to be to
inspire his brother the words the agency
the Brawn he does not need a brain and
he does not need resourcefulness because
Simone already has that
stolen undermine America's trigga
honoka's Kiyomi Romania
mine is dimension I gotta mining we see
Ronnie me Naruto luminita kookie Omaha
archaic no scam here a so redirects to a
- many mega mining area re take about
token of testing at scurvy degree back
erect or - safe as said kameena just
spouts platitudes - C Mon repeating
himself door drill is the drill that
will pierce the heavens believe in the
me that believes in you who the hell do
you think I am rinse and repeat over and
over and over again it isn't perfect but
a constant reminder can leave traces he
hopes that if he keeps drilling this
into C Mon it will bear fruit and turn
him into the man he wants to be and it
does the reason why he only ever faces
forward even when it was ill-advised is
because C Mon didn't need advice on how
to be safe he needed a push through
sheer force and repetition and with a
little help from Nia those platitudes
truly changed C Mon for the absolute
better
Anita Nick's immediate etiquette I dunno
toy chica chica Sara Marku Yin Aikido I
need you at donut I had pneumonia doctor
it's more Ithaca thank you so gonna be
huh kameena was an extremely imperfect
person plagued by insecurity and doubt
but he hardly ever let it show during
his life supporting and dragging those
around him towards a better future
through sheer determination and a
knowledge of one's strengths waves can
be made and the world can be changed
it's not until his absence that the
value of his words and presence is
really felt and that tells you all you
need to know about kameena a man who
despite his flaws was exactly who he
needed to be for all of those around him
who put on a stupid valiant mask and
persevered when he himself didn't really
have that much confidence doing it the
only way he knew how not the perfect
leader not the perfect man but a true
hero nonetheless the opening act is
arguably the weakest one in this show
for this general feeling of generic
shallowness in some aspects but that is
an illusion a false display that the
story tricks you with that can only be
realized afterwards on the first watch
one wonders why there is such little
gravitas to these encounters why the
show treats kameena as a hero when he
seems more like a reckless idiot
why virile is treated as comic relief
when he's the closest thing to a big bad
villain but it all flips on its head
through a clever ironic tonal wink to
this deception
there's no gravitas to these encounters
because the beast men never really had
their heart in it kameena is treated as
a hero despite repeating the same
seemingly insubstantial platitudes
because he is a hero just doing the best
that he can and because those platitudes
are given wait later now don't mistake
me this is all an extremely risky
maneuver and the fact that perspective
criticism is countered by later events
does not completely make the shallow or
dumb moments more enjoyable for those
who didn't like it in the first place it
is likely a big reason as to why a lot
of people drop it early on and disregard
the series as stupid and that is a bit
of a problem but regardless there is no
disputing that this twist is intelligent
and adds a new layer of appreciation to
the series characteristic of the duality
that it operates in note that I don't
mean to imply that these opening
episodes were all a complete 100 percent
intentional facade that the writers
decided to pull I'm simply pointing out
that there is narrative logic behind
these aspects but there were plenty of
other functions the early relatively
more lighthearted tone is a good way to
organically make these characters
endearing and a great way to habituate
the watcher to the mundane
so that the hammer blows later on
achieve maximum effect as said earlier
the sense of epic scope is palpable from
episode 1 the concept of drilling to the
heavens a theme from the start
episode 5 for shadows the later
revelations about the spiral nemesis and
introduces the societal implications of
this forced oppression on the beings of
this world and the early lines from Ross
you hint at how he becomes a man who he
warns the others against the whole it is
too much also as early as episode 1 we
are able to see little glimpses of
Simone's inner thrill-seeker his
exhilaration and deep yearning for a
place beyond what seems possible hidden
underneath his cowardly comfort seeking
exterior we are also given little bits
of symbolic and thematic foreshadowing
such as the way Simone pilots the brain
and calming up pilots the heart or the
Cape motif through the Cape communist
father passes his will on to him and he
passes that spirit into Simone through
the little bit that rips off it's just a
subtle little bit of theming about
legacy learning about those who have
touched your life integrating them
within to make yourself a better person
through their spirit while also being
your own person so it's clear that there
are a multitude of functional
foundations set in this act but they're
ever so slightly hidden beneath these
antics overshadowed by this falsely
superficial feel and a tone that while
deceptive is completely consistent and
logical given the story that we are
witnessing it's a series of personas of
masks a really quite meta elements that
the series achieves here through some
emotional theming while also being the
fun unpredictable thrill ride that we
all know
to love many thanks for watching