Gurren Lagann - 10 June 9
(click .gifs for full size .gifs)
Episode Summary:
Adiane the Elegant retreats back to base after unexpectedly confronting her boss’ daughter, Princess Nia. Using the slight reprieve in battle, the Gurren Brigade interrogate Nia about the Spiral King. However, Nia’s charming naivety and cluelessness has Kittan on the ropes, which quickly turn his attempt at hard-ball around on him. Yoko, Nia, and Simon then have a three-way (discussion, ya’ pervs) outside the ship until they are interrupted again by Adiane’s return. With the green-light from the Spiral King to kill his abandoned daughter, Adiane continues her warpath of revenge. Princess Nia once again steps up to the forefront, delivering a moving speech in defense of her newly made friends, thus winning their respect and adoration.
Adiane loses patience and snatches up Nia in her pincers. Reacting to the perilous situation, Simon desperately tries to active the Lagann. After fruitless attempts, he decides to rescue Nia by himself instead. However, Kittan, Yoko, and crew beat him to the punch, practically gang-banging Adiane into submission. When things seem dire for Adiane, Viral swoops in to rescue and retreat with his fallen comrade.
The episode ends with Nia standing outside the gloomy Simon’s room with a tray of food. She acknowledges and thanks Simon for being the first one to try and save her, despite him being of no use at all. Simon, sulking inside his room, mutters to himself that he could never become like his brother.
Impressions:
MushroomSamba:
I just noticed there’s a new OP for the series (Gimme a break. I usually start skipping ‘em after the first few viewings.) It’s still the same song…just with slightly different scenes. Basically, Kamina got phased out, and Nina phased in. A nice touch, but no big deal.
On to the actual episode: If Nia hasn’t already done so during her premiere, she’s certainly won me over now. In a way, she’s a bit like Kamina…you know, just without the overflowing levels of testosterone, and a little more sugary and pink. In fact, she’s already picked up where Kamina left off in sculpting Simon a backbone.
I’ve been particularly pleased with how Kamina’s passing has been dealt with. Instead of just sweeping his legacy under a rug, the episode reaches a proper balance between reflection and moving on forward. Nia, in all her naivety and pureness, preaches about the absurdity in obsessing over the dead and tries to drive everyone out of their slump. While it doesn’t completely derail Simon’s emo-trip, her infectious personality should be making some progress pretty soon. The interplay between Nia and Yoko, on the other hand, might not be as therapeutic. We can already see the disparity in their personalities clashing, as Nia’s optimistic outlook grinds against Yoko’s nerves. A sign for future cat-fights to come?
Moving on to the villains: Adiane is definitely making some head-way in that department. She already tops Viral in terms of loony-ness, and her mecha has a talking vagina. Badass. I can’t wait to see what kind of nutjobs the remaining “Big Four” members are.
b0nes:
Talking vagina you say! Simply: awesome. I look forward to the next fight with Ms. Crotch and Mr. STD Viral. Hopefully Simon will get out of his emoy state soon (if there is a god).
MushroomSamba:
Well, I actually prefer angry emo Simon over meek and cowardly Simon…that’s for sure. So, if getting out of his “emoy” state (James is evidently bound by no conventions of the English language) means returning to his skirt-wearing self, then I’d rather he continue down his current road instead. At least he’s got a pair now.
b0nes:
I have no problem with him having a pair of balls to go beating down whatever’s in front of him It would just be better if he got a better grip on himself. His current state caused him to lose control over his ganmen. So, depressive emo=bad, whereas, focused anger=good mojo that will most likely lead him to the future state that was alluded to in the first episode as true commander of the Gurren-dan. His rage-dumps as he fights are great, but I don’t want to watch him reverting to sulking in a corner all pansy-like.
note: screw the grammatically correct and “real” English words crap. this is informal, not some philosophy paper. i may even refer to random things as banana cream pies, mmm - i’m hungry. time to eat!