ROW, ROW, FIGHT THE POWAH!!! Gurren Lagann complete simulwatch

Better late than never. The more episodes your post has, the more powerful they are, that's the way I see it!

Episode 4 - SCREENCAPS ARE BACK! BUT MANLY LEAWO HAS NO FRAME ADVANCE!?

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You tell 'em, Yoko

It's probably less common or obvious than it used to be, but in a lot of older shows the visuals can look very different from one episode to another depending on who was doing the storyboarding, so I don't necessarily dislike this episode just for that. But the animation is just SO limited compared to what came before, with fairly long sequences of just talking over a few frames (and so, so many close up grimaces) that it really is a bit of a drag. It might be more tolerable if even much of the comedy in this episode (which it leans very heavily on) didn't also fall flat. So yeah. It introduces Kittan and his sisters, I guess. Next.

Episode 5 - Kamino's Journey

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You tell 'em, Kamina

What a difference an episode makes. This one is a visual delight, even with the limited colour palette. That's some nice directing. Probably Laggan at its most contemplative we've seen, with a bit less in the way of action (though Kamina tries his best) and quite a bit more insight into how life really is for humans in this world. Even Kamina admits that it makes their village look like not such a bad place, not everywhere can have things together as much as Littner. And splintered as they are, of course each band of humans is going to have to find its own way and in doing so develop its own culture. So yeah, it's hard to really judge them for just doing their best to survive.

a bit... problematic
Now I KNOW you're just trying to trigger me Ian. :p

Episode 6 - Yoko and the Haunted Hot Springs

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You... will have to live with that image, Rossiu

Bloody Hell. A full four-minute long recap at the start, I'm glad it's been so long I can't remember, this will make it more interesting to compare. Are all these flashbacks covering stuff or do some of them still appear in the full ep, covering for the somewhat limited animation again? Seriously, of all the episodes that need quality animation, you'd think the hot springs one would be a top priority. Disappointing. And it seems like the cuts have really messed up whatever flow the episode might have had. Possibly it didn't anyway, we'll find out tomorrow!

The Gurren Lagann wiki got them all, though:
NEIL! Now you've gone and spoiled the game!
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Episode 6:
Differnces
Boobie surfing is appartley too much and replace with pink swirly stuff
Hot sping still image of sunbathing "couple" (sure a couple), before bathing, removed i think.
Just completely removed the option of them peaking scene.

Completly lost sync with it all at this point onwards.
 
NEIL! Now you've gone and spoiled the game!
Whoops... 😋
Me and my info, eh?

Look out for 'em in tomorrow's episode again, folks! (Now that you know who they are. 😅)

Are all these flashbacks covering stuff or do some of them still appear in the full ep, covering for the somewhat limited animation again?
There are no flashbacks at all in the full version; they're all filling in for the missing content here.

You'll see that the episode is quite sloppily storyboarded at a couple of points as well, even with the missing bits added back in; it's an occasional habit of Imaishi.
 
I only managed to identify Rei and Asuka from Evangelion, alongside a character I couldn't name from Diebuster when I first watched this.
Speaking of, have you watched Diebuster yet, Neil? This is the deal, if we watch Franxx, you watch that! I wanna know what you think of it.
 
I've actually sit through the entirety of the painfully ancient gunbuster because I was interested in watching the wonderful looking diebuster, but then just up and dropped it for who knows what reason.

I'll get to it one of these days, always loved its look!
 
I was just in the middle of writing a post about how you didn't offend me in the fanservice thread, but you've offended me now. :p

I know I'm in the wrong, but I just have this thing with "old" anime, I can't stand most of it and the way it sounded and was animated... I'm talking 80s and backwards with the way movement and speed are depicted, hair, sound quality... I can't. I can't!

I'll admit it's on me with this mental barrier, though 😅
 
Ep 4
Odd art. Kamina in full on jerk mode, I mean he's kind of a jerk most of the time, but a lovable one. But he was being mean to Simon in this episode and then destroyed Leron's gadgets!
The sisters in the Black Siblings are all just stereotypes at the moment the bouncy blonde one, the shy one and the energetic one (I recognised the voice and the VA has characters in Non Non Biyori Nonstop which I've just finished and Princess Connect which I'm still playing).

Ep 5
makes no reference to any of this.
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I got a bit of an answer assuming everyone went to ground at the same time. Also (spoiler masking just in case my idle musings are in anyway spoilerific because I only remember top level stuff) the Gunman at the bottom may suggest that the Beastmen were the cause of the downfall of man and this one was some how defeated. It seems to be being used as a dam now though so someone in the past could use it. The chief also seems to know about the chasm behind it, but I say I believe he knew nothing about it being a robot and just overheard Kamina talking about how to use it. There may have been a history in the book, but alas he cannot read.
This pit seems to be the worst so far in terms of living conditions. And whilst the leader comes off as a bit of a villain he's probably in the right for choosing to limit numbers.
One question is, why wasn't Kamina asked to cover up as well? Seems it's a thing the men of the village do as well as the women. I'm sure he would have turned down the suggestion flat going by his reaction to everything else about the place though.

Ep 6 (uncensored)
Dispite all the larking about and fanservice there's some important bits here. Like Kamina's speach about reaching for the moon and Yoko talking about how Simon can still grow into a fine man. Also first mention of the Spiral King.

Other things I spotted. More call backs to the drill d**k and a call forward? to Kill La Kill with the outfits being controlled a bit like the Life Fibres. Also whilst Kamina being tricked twice was funny, the first time with the pixelisation was a bit weird because it clearly covered things inside Gurren as well rather just what Kamina was seeing on the screen. There should have been some sort of haziness or something animated in. Maybe they forgot to draw it in and had to do with the pixels.

Now you've gone and spoiled the game!
I zoomed in for... research purposes 😏 and I see there's a male bunny "girl" in the row facing us. 5th one in from the left with blonde hair.
 
Speaking of, have you watched Diebuster yet, Neil? This is the deal, if we watch Franxx, you watch that! I wanna know what you think of it.
I haven't, I'm afraid. I don't have a copy of Diebuster, and, alas, the old Beez DVD is pretty hard to come by these days. I've still got my eyes peeled, though, because I definitely want to see it. I'm pretty sure I'd enjoy Diebuster, because I love FLCL. Even if Diebuster was only half as good as FLCL, that would still leave a lot of margin for me.

Sorry for dragging this off topic with banter, Neil.
[munches figurative popcorn]
"Off topic"?? Nah!!!

Keep at it: this is what this thread's about! Like João said, we're going the full 120% at this.

pls don't galaxy punch me Neil
Giga...

Doriiru...!!


Nah, too soon. 😛


And, lastly, to @D1tchd1gger... 😅

I can see why you quoted part of that post of mine in relation to Leeron's estimation in your screenshot, but I was actually saying it's the complex methodology of measuring time that you mentioned in your own earlier post that isn't referred to in the screenplay.

I feel like you're sometimes perhaps not seeing the broad symbolism and meaning in certain things in the script here. "About four or five hundred years" is a pretty vague estimate. Writer Kazuki Nakashima's only aim with that line is to convey that humans have been living underground for a very long time; there's no desire to dig down any deeper than that. (Pun fully intended.)

As another example of conveying a mood within the script, what do you suppose the purpose was in the "lights out" scene in the first episode? I can give my own read on it in an upcoming post if there's any interest, and perhaps we can compare notes.

You're absolutely on the money with the reference to the Spiral King, though. I'm intrigued myself to see how much the absence of that dialogue would impact on the continuity of the story. I mean, when his name comes up again beyond this point, I'm guessing that Kamina and co. will remember hearing it before, right? But how could they have done in the original Japanese TV broadcast if the Spiral King was never mentioned in that version of episode 6?

And for one last thing that caught my attention:
One question is, why wasn't Kamina asked to cover up as well?
Because he's a guy, no doubt.
 
complex methodology of measuring time that you mentioned in your own earlier post that isn't referred to in the screenplay.
Yeah, you don't need any methodology when you've got a wizzy sci-fi scanner thingy-ma-bob!
I feel like you're sometimes perhaps not seeing the broad symbolism and meaning in certain things in the script here.
Probably. I already admitted I have a different thought pattern to those who enjoy having to read into things in their media. Don't give me symbols, tell me!
there's no desire to dig down any deeper than that.
By the writer sure. But you've never ever wondered what's happening elsewhere in a fictional world or made up a theory about something that happened to that character that had like one line. Where would Boba Fett be if people never speculated about him.
Dispite not seeing the symbolism I am always curious about things.
conveying a mood within the script, what do you suppose the purpose was in the "lights out" scene in the first episode?
That it was time for bed 😜 I call a spade a spade me!
 
Episode 6 (uncensored)

The most conflicting episode so far - in that this is the episode that I have found the funniest, but is also the most objectionable.

I know the scene in which Yoko’s bikini flies off is the most remembered, but there so many other moments in the episode that I had forgotten and laughed at when I watched them again: Gimmy sticking his finger up Simon’s bottom; the removed mosaics to show the towels; the removed towels to show the bikinis etc. I did enjoy seeing these moments again.

At the same time, these funny moments get mixed in between scenes which are certainly troublesome: Gimmy joyously bouncing around naked female flesh - and for that matter, Gimmy being naked, with his penis visible throughout much of the episode. I do find it odd that out of all the naked male characters, the one who was not censored was arguably the one who should have been censored first.
 
Gimmy being naked, with his penis visible throughout much of the episode. I do find it odd that out of all the naked male characters, the one who was not censored was arguably the one who should have been censored first.
From the Gurren Lagann wiki's account of the uncut episode 6:

Gimmy's penis is briefly shown. (This is actually not seen as taboo in Japan, as Gimmy is considered too young to be sexualized.)
[Under the heading "Uncut"]

We only think there's anything wrong with it here because our collective minds are in the gutter, sadly. 😕
 
Row, row, fight the double post.

That it was time for bed 😜 I call a spade a spade me!
Oh, man! 😆
What can I say? 😅

Well, what I took from it was that it was demonstrating how rigidly ordered everything is in Giha Village, with little room for fun or individual expression. Showing the villagers as having a curfew is done in order to give the viewer something they can relate to and put themselves in Simon and Kamina's position. In this case it's taking the audience back to when they were kids and when their days were laid out by those in charge — in that case, adults — possibly also tapping into something that will still resonate with its teenage audience.

Gurren Lagann is, after all, a series about kicking authority to the kerb to make the unallowed possible*. 😁


*possibly paraphrased
 
Those damn adults! You do see that a lot in anime and through various means I know how ridged Japanese schools (and society as a whole) is. So I guess it's only natural that writers can empathise with the target audience, Japanese teenagers.

Same goes, as you pointed out above, with the attitude to nudity. People in Japan go to public baths and bathe nude, something that would never happen here! Those Victorians have a lot to answer for!
teenage audience
It's been a looooooong time since I was a teenager!
 
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