Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann – Episode 17
25 July 2007
Seven years later…
Ever since the episode 16, the recap, I’ve been dying to see the new Gurren Lagann episodes, especially since in the episode 17 preview had a shot of Nia and a ring. I can’t say anything bad about Gurren Lagann, at all, not possible, never happening, out of the question, just incapable of expressing hatred towards this show.
Opening There’s a new opening, but I don’t have screen, the karaoke was in the way. I downloaded a soft subbed version but it refused to play properly, ask me not why. Same song, totally new animation. It made me extremely sentimental because in the new opening they’re all grown up and it reminds you of the old opening and of Kamina and Yoko and Simon. Those first couple of episodes seem so far away now. When it’s all over, I’m going to spend a good day rewatching all of it.
Plot Seven year time skip! It made me so giddy just to hear the theme and it made me even giddier when the episode actually started. So, after the fall of Teppelin and Lord Genome, the humans built their own city, Kamina City, where the old capitol use to be. Simon is the Commander in Chief, constantly bogged down by paperwork (to a point where it reminds me of Roy from Hagaren) and Rossiu seems to be his executive type person. All the members of the Dai Gurren Brigade have jobs within the government.
Nia drops by to give Simon lunch. Frightened by his memories of her cooking, Rossiu was luckily spared when Nia explained that she forgot to make him any. Skipping out on lunch, Rossiu reminds Simon there’s a meeting soon. At the meeting, Leeron, head of the Science Department, announces he just sent out a probe to the moon. Relaying Lord Genome’s last words to the rest of the council, Simon says nonchalantly that they should check it out, it’d be good if there’s nothing there. Rossiu, on the other hand, doesn’t share Simon’s relaxed attitude and asks about the population situation. Jougan, who doesn’t make a very good People’s Bureau officer, is helpless in the face of Rossiu’s questions. To appease Rossiu’s mounting anger at the predicament, Simon gives him permission to look into the matter, while Jougan still kept his rank. The exchange didn’t sit too well with Jougan or his brother who, while shoving mole steak down their throats, complain about it at lunch. Dayakka, sitting across from there, is extremely worried about his wife, Kiyoh, who is due to give birth. Kittan remarks that he’s not exactly looking forward to being an uncle.
Meanwhile, Kiyoh and Kiyal receives a special guest at their house, Nia. Apparently, much to their surprise, Simon proposed! After eating lunch that day, Simon approached Nia, saying that it’s about time. Confessing his feelings to her, he presents her with a ring and asks her to marry him. She said no. In all naivety and innocence, Nia’s reason for rejecting him was because she didn’t think two people could become one. Exasperated, Kiyoh and Kiyal explains to Nia that what Simon meant was not to really become the same person, it’s just a romantic metaphor. Sevens years it took Simon to finally make his move, Kiyoh shoves her the phone and tells Nia to make her move.
Standing under the gigantic statue of Kamina, Simon reminisces about Yoko’s departure. She said she wasn’t suited for politics and conferences and all that. Rossiu tries to convince her otherwise, but she’s set. She bids Rossiu and Commander in Chief Simon farewell, taking off on a hover bike of sorts. Simon, who isn’t depressed from being rejected, tells Kamina that she just wasn’t ready to let him protect her yet. Then his cellphone rings. Elated that Nia’s on the other end, Simon listens diligently as Nia tells him that the ring made her very happy. He turns back to Kamina’s statue, cheering at his success. Interrupting his moment of happiness, Rossie brings news of an uprising in the south. Seeing Viral, Simon immediately jumps to go and fight but Rossiu tells him it’s not his job to fight anymore, not to mention the Grapal squad is there already.
Enter Gimmy and Darry, pilots in the Grapal squad. This battle turns out to be Viral’s last stand, his ganmen pushed to edge and then finally collapsing. Apprehending Viral, Darry patches him through to Simon and Rossiu via holograph. Simon asks why Viral is still rebelling, the fight’s been over for years. Begrudgingly, Viral points to the people beside him. They want to stay underground, but Simon’s government is forcing them move up. He’s only fighting for their sake, is Simon any different from Lord Genome for what he’s doing? Taken aback by that question, Simon asks Rossiu why he was not told of this. Rossiu replies that it’s for the sake of population count. Upset, Simon inquires what he’ll do when he finds the millionth person, kick him off the planet? Like his old village used to do? Rossiu walks out, muttering that Simon didn’t know anything.
Arriving at his headquarters, laboratory of sorts, Rossiu is greeted by Kinoh and a bespectacled man, telling him the biological computer is complete. Kinoh congratulates Rossiu, now his dreams will be complete. The other man says that Rossiu’s the only one keeping the government alive, Simon and the others growing too used to peace. Rossiu disagrees, saying that he’s got them, the younger generation.
Later that night, as Simon sits in his office with Boota watching the city, he receives a call from Nia, telling him Kiyoh’s given birth to a girl. They’ve named her Anne. As the two talk, Boota notices an obstruction appear in the night sky. As if ripping apart the sky, a hope appears and a very strange, pointy, machine appears. Immediately, it starts destroying the city. Gawking at the mess, Simon tells Nia that he has to go and hangs up. Nia looks up to see the moon enlarging and suddenly red symbols begin to appear on her skin. When Kiyal goes to fetch her, she only finds Nia’s cellphone on the ground.
The Grapal squad has already been dispatched to deal with the problem. From inside the command center, Rossiu and everyone monitors the situation. Neither the bullets nor Grapal sword manages to penetrate or even damage their new enemy. The only two machines still functioning are Gimmy and Darry’s. Complaining that if they had their ganmen they’d destroy it instantly, Kittan and the others are surprised to hear Kinoh tell them that the ganmen is a thing of the past and that their new models are more efficient.
Just in time, Simon appears, saving Gimmy. Rossiu yells at him, how many times did he have to tell him that he shouldn’t be fighting? Yelling back, Simon states that their priorities are to save the people. Cringing at his remarks, Rossiu asks him to try to identify and capture alive the enemy. Having no such luxuries, Simon tells him to shut up and with his trademark Giga Drill Breaker destroys the intruder. Exploding into little pieces, they wonder if it’s been destroyed. However, upon making contact with objects, the pieces of the destroyed machine explode, wreaking havoc on the city regardless. Frustrated, Rossiu condemns Simon as being too reckless.
Before anything else happens, Nia appears in the sky. Hovering under the moon, Nia’s clover eyes have a shrewd, cold look in them as she introduces herself as the Han-Ransen, the anti spiral. Now that Earth has reached spiral power level two, one million people (Anne being the one millionth), they’ve come from the moon to terminate human existences.
Ending “Minna no Peace” by Afromania I loved the new ending! The first ending was just cool, the song grew on me, despite reminding me of nails on a chalkboard and scraping metal the first few times around. The new song seemed indecently fitting, just giving off happiness and hope. I love the way they do their endings. The black and white animation they have for both endings gives such a unique edge. Can’t get enough of Simon walking with Boota, it’s all they really do in the endings, walk. It’s wonderful, though.
Preview Alright, it’s getting a bit weird now. Why is Lord Genome floating in some tube thing? Why is Rossiu talking to him in some tube thing? What’s going on? And what happened to Nia!?
Impressions Gurren Lagann, hands down, in my favorite show on air. It’s my top priority over everything. I don’t care, I will literally drop everything for this show. I’m also officially never downloading .mkv files anymore, they just don’t work and it ruins my surprise.
I can’t believe how much Simon changed. Compared to his character in that very first episode, he’s a totally different person. Seven years makes a big difference. He went from a timid little kid who knew nothing but how to dig, to freedom fighter hero and commander in chief of a new government. I can’t help but grin every time I look him because he’s still just Simon. There’s still something so childish about him.
And then he proposed to Nia!……!!!!!!!!!! I had a heart attack when I saw the ring in the preview. I literally tipped over and died when I saw him propose. Kiyal and Kiyol are right, it took him seven years to make a move. There was a shot of a picture, taken on the day Teppelin fell, back when Simon still wore those goggles and his blue jacket, Nia with her short hair and her clover eyes…makes me so sentimental. Look at both of them now!
And then, Nia gets abducted by the anti-spiral people and turns evil. Gah! My life ruined, constantly. The way this show runs, I’m praying she lives. I don’t want her to die, though it’s a popular prediction. She can’t die, she’s getting married! Not possible, not possible, I refuse to give into general consensus, never! Dark Nia was, for all intended purposes, pretty cool. It’s amazing how feeling you get from a character changes just with the eyes. Nia’s hair and eyes were her most distinguishing aspects. Those colorful, clover eyes said everything about Nia, little pools of innocence turned into the eyes of a merciless killer. Oh, I’m hoping for a happily ever after ending. They had one for the first half, is it too much for Gainax to actually pull off a happy, satisfying ending? Thanks to this show, I believe in miracles.
The one person that troubles me is Rossiu, who is looking very suspicious, bordering villainous. For one thing, after the time skip, it seems he’s gotten very cold and bureaucratic about everything. He’s a lot different from Rossiu way back when. He came from his village as, like, a little lost kid, seeing the world for the first time. He jumped into the cockpit of the Gurren Lagann with Simon and for what it’s worth, just sat there. Now, he’s like the backseat driver for the government, putting everything after his own goals. Perhaps he’s seriously concerned for the sake of humanity, his intentions are good but methods not. Or, as they say, there may indeed be a method to his madness. However, I’m getting a different message. Not looking good for Rossiu. I say, he’s going to rebel against Simon, make some huge, dire, inevitable mistake and will have to repent for his sins. I’m hoping he doesn’t die, never had anything against him, just hopes he learns.
I’m also hoping Yoko comes back. Of the original trio, there’s only Simon left now. Even Nia’s gone to the anti-spiral. And besides, you can’t have Gurren Lagann without the gun touting, red-head. You can’t. At least I refuse to accept her absence as permanent, or else she wouldn’t be in the opening. On the same note, I’m glad Viral got a bit of action. He’s shaping up to be a good character. Every blond person in any show with marginally long hair reminds me of Kanna from Iroha. Even the way Viral acts reminds me of Kanna. It looks like the poor guy is finally going to get a break and maybe play a bigger, less “I got pwned by a human child” role.
And, a word on the anti-spiral: People finally came up with good alien-creature-things. The thing that bothers me the most about aliens in fiction is that they carry too much of a resemblance to humans. Just because we have eyes do not mean the guy from Mars needs them. Just because we need fingers and hands do not mean the guy from several million light years away plotting our eminent demise will needs fingers and hands to do so. I thought the design and the animation for that whole fight was great. It was like, yes! Kick ass mecha from the moon! They actually, for a lack of better words, look out of this world.
Completely random side note – Kazuki Nakashima, the creator of Ohedo Rocket, is cited for series composition. Though I’ve never seen Ohedo Rocket, after reading the summary on ANN, there’s a strange parallel between the it and Gurren Lagann. The man, for whatever reason, seems to have a curious fixation with moon. Just thought that was interesting. Moving on…
At the end, or rather, the beginning, or it all, I’m happy as…the next happy thing. Happy is a bad word, too plain, too overused, it really doesn’t carry much weight anymore, but I’m actually just happy. In about one episode, they set everything up for another epic. Just looking at it makes me feel giddy, it’s like an overflowing glass. The anti-spiral, Rossiu’s possible rebellion, the ever elusive ‘truth’ that the prevew’s talking about, those big, freakish geometric anti-spiralian machines…. Giddy just doesn’t begin to describe how I feel, I’m hoping for a lot of things, but above all, I want the really kick ass, emotional, hyperactive ending. I’m hoping, again, that Gainax gives me a good ending. I don’t want another Evangelion ending where I sit there goes, “What?” for three hours.
With that said, I think I’ve come to a conclusion, for the moment, on Gurren Lagann. I think the reason I love it so much is that, while being completely crazy and fictional, the shows touches on something very real, very subtle about the world. Makes me want to cheer just thinking about how this new arc is going to be, makes me feel like a little kid standing on top of the world.
“Standing under the gigantic statue of Kamina, Simon reminisces about Yoko’s departure. She said she wasn’t suited for politics and conferences and all that.”
The truth is that I don’t think any of the original trio are suited to a political, modern world. They are war-time generals who see situations in very clear, black and white stakes. To that end, I think Yoko made the right choice to leave. Lets not forget that aside from fighting off that alien mecha, Simon’s hot blooded decision making destroyed half of Kamina City too. On the other hand, Rossiu has a wider view of things; he is a lot more cautious and is clearly motivated by the “greater good”, so, though Simon’s power is formidable, I must admit that I think he was wrong to run head-first into that battle.
@bateszi – “They are war-time generals who see situations in very clear, black and white stakes. ” That reminds me a lot of Patton for some reason. I can’t really draw a parallel between Kamina and George S. Patton, save for the fact that neither lived to see the peace they helped create. You’re right, they aren’t suited for politics, or maybe just peace in general. Or, it’s that what they have isn’t quite ‘peace’, yet. Maybe that’s what has Rossiu all hot and bothered, impending doom.
People with good intentions usually worry me. Simon had good intentions, to protect the city and the people, but he ended up destroying the city. Rossiu worries me in a different way. Sure, he sees the bigger pictures, does things for the greater good, but to quote Alvin Toffler, “It’s better to err on the side of daring than the side of caution.” I agree with you that Simon was wrong and his actions too rash but I have a feeling that whatever Rossiu does will have graver consequences. I’m sure he’ll have good reasons for his actions, but it bothers me anyways. You’re still erring no matter which side you pick. Anyways, this is still all just speculation. XD