Prahanien (Day 252)

I've watched the first six episodes of Gurren Lagann before, but for some reason I lost interest the first time around. I definitely wasn't much of an anime fan at the time and I guess I'm still not--but I'm opening my mind up to it a lot more lately. I'm watched about eight episodes this time around and I like it a lot, even though it does seem to lose the plot a tad on occasion. Kamina's ranting about manliness and glory are pretty endearing. It's also nice to hear Yuri Lowenthal on Simon, who sounds almost identical to his role as Yosuke from Persona 4. 

The sixth episode is one of those infamous hot springs scenes that tend to show up in every anime. I could see why that would have turned me off the first time around and I didn't particularly enjoy it this time either--but I can forgive it because most of other episodes so far have been really fun. The giant robots involved are called Gunmen and have giant faces that mimic the mouth movements of their pilot. Kamina hijacked his from one of the beastmen the roam the surface whereas Simon found his tiny Gunmen deep underground while digging a tunnel. They are named Gurren and Lagann and when combined form the great mecha Gurren Lagann. The combination sequence involves drilling the tiny Lagann into the head of Gurren so far that Kamina has to move his head out of the way to avoid getting skewered. Evidently both of these giant robots were programmed to function in exactly this way.

Kamina and Simon have lived their entire lives underground but in the first episode they get to see the surface for the first time. The beastmen roam the surface in these giant mecha for reasons that are currently unknown to me. With the help of a girl named Yoko with a snazzy hi-tech rifle, Kamina and Simon vanquish several of these beastmen and decide to set out together, where they eventually tumble into another underground cavern. This particular tribe views the Gunmen as deities and refer to them as Face Gods. Kamina is eager to disabuse them of this notion but the village elder urges him to respect their beliefs.

Because of the small size of the village, the elder has decreed that they can must maintain a population of no more than 50. Unfortunately, a woman is currently giving birth to triplets, which would bring that number up to 52. The villagers are forced to draw straws to determine who must leave the village. Two small children are chosen. Failing to understand the enormity of what has happened, they gleefully celebrate the fact that they've won the contest, even though they've been cast out of their community. A boy by the name of Rossiu (voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch) feel this is unjust, so he decides to accompany the two children to the surface--and they end up tagging along with Simon, Kamina, and Yoko.

Gurren Lagaan has great music, art, and animation and even has a great English dub. The characters are engaging and despite some questionable humor (especially in episode 6), it's been excellent so far. I'm definitely going to watch the rest of this one.