What I'm Watching Update ♦ Gurren Lagann

Gurren Lagann
Holy mother fucking of all shit...I've found my mecca. A dystopian action/romance (okay so the romance isn't a huge theme but it's in there).

This one changed my life. Whenever I feel down, I'm going to punch myself in the face. If only I had a real-life Kamina -- oh wait -- I do! His name is Adaven. But that's a different story...

​Please be warned, there are spoilers. 

When I first met Kamina (AKA "Bro") he looks like a j-hole jock with an arrogant attitude.

But I fell in love with him the moment he opened his mouth and told our hero, Simon, "Don't pay attention to those fugly girls making fun of you."

The story begins in an underground world in which our hero, Simon, is digging in the soil to make new tunnels and caverns for his people. But this is a case of the secondary character stealing the show. 

Kamina has an indomitable spirit whose main goal is to get out of their underground home. He believes there is something more to life than digging and never gives up. Kamina is a man that inspires the people around him. He's also the one that forms team Gurren Lagann which starts out as just him and Simon (below).

Our hero, Simon, is the best digger the community has and they depend on him to find them new space before the roof caves in. Simon was the one to find the spiral core and "Gurren", the small but powerful mecca-tech (that you see Simon riding in a picture above), while digging for new space in their underground home.

Because of Simon's incredible spiral power he was able to find Gurren and the core "key" shown above. Despite his timid nature, Kamina slowly brings out the confident person Simon becomes.

As soon as Gurren comes into the blood brothers lives, so does catastrophe. A huge mecha-tech blows the roof off their cave and that's when Yoko comes to the rescue! That's right! A girl saved our two heroes bacon. 

Yoko is a sharp shooting Beastman crusher!! She's confident, sassy and is super accurate with her bad-ass rifle. You quickly find out there are Beastmen forcing humans underground with these large mecha-tech called Gunmen. You also find out there are more people out there in the world other than this small tribe. Kamina was right. There was more to the world than dirt and tunnels. But creatures known only as "Beastmen" hunt humans and force them underground. One of these Beastmen fancies himself the best human-killer. Which brings me to Viral.

Viral is a beastman that's part of the Human Eradication Forces. He loves the thrill of the fight, but he's got standards and honor that matches Simon and Kamina. In my mind he has a certain nobility about him and is a worthy baddie. So worthy, I have to give him props and his own collage...

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This is pretty much how Viral is all the time.

Wow, a soft moment for Viral -- it lasted 8 seconds

After being beaten by Kamina and then Simon, Viral losses a lot of his dignity and near gives up ever being able to seek revenge on the duo for killing two of his commanders.

The wind is really knocked out of his sails when he learns Simon, the cub, has been beating him when he thought Kamina was behind the wheel. The look on his face showed his pride flushing down the toilet when he learned Simon had more power in his pinky finger than Viral would ever have was so sad and a turning point for our badie.

But, in season two Viral pulls a "Bro" and gets Simon to shake out of his gloom. As Viral seems more accepting of his fate, but lost and abandoned he battles in favor of the humans that want to stay underground when the government forces them from their cave homes. I know I'm getting beyond season 1 but would like to add that even though life has worn him down, Viral still gives his all to Simon and team Gurran Laggan when asked to join their fight. He does, of course, because he was created to protect humans, even if it was in the Spiral King's odd way.

While Kamina will always have my heart, Viral has a section of my soul. He's sexy, rough and noble. A hero on the wrong side who finds his way and his purpose. The best part is I know he'll live forever because he was made that way and will remain with the humans protecting them for eternity. 

What I love about this story the most are the characters.

Each one crawled into my heart and even though there are lots of them, I'd know them by name. The world is fun, the story seemed at first to be about a wandering quest and turned into an epic story with a well done plot.

Though I started loving "Bro" (Kamina) the most the rest of the cast is strong. In season 1 the story hints at these human "moles" going from the underground on up into space and I'm fully willing to go with them!

Kamina is the type of leader you would cross hell-fire for, but Simon is the one who saves humanity.

Simon in the beginning is the "Goose" to Kamina's "Maverik" but everything Simon does is inspired by Kamina. Simon's work ethic, over-coming his fear and his dedication to his friends make him the powerful Spiral mega-source in season 2. He totally matches Bro in spirit. You would think season 2 would be nothing without Kamina, but while reeling from the pain with Simon, you see the phoenix rise again in the smaller, but more powerful half of team Gurren-Lagenn. 

Bro and Simon pick up friends along the way. Yoko and Leeron, who injects a few comical akwardness but is vital to the team keeping their mecha-tech up to par. Rossiu, who has some really good insticts, Kittan and his three sisters--all known as the Black siblings. And when word spreads about team Gurren Lagann, others join to battle the Beastmen and the Spiral King. (Below) All of them are part of team Gurren Lagann. All of them essential to the team. The only two that are missing is Kamina and Viral.

Before I forget...

I would be remissed if I didn't give Boota a dedication!

Boota is Simon's cute fuzzy pig-mole friend that has a secret of his own. I'm guessing being around all that spiral energy makes certain things possible. Or as team Gurren Laggan would say... forget reality to make the impossible possible. That would even apply to Boota as well. 

But Boota is the steadfast loyal companion to Simon even during our hero's darkest moment. He's not gonna let you touch Simon.

This is Boota's evolution...meaning this is what he becomes in season 2. You can see his original form below.

One lucky pig-mole

Poor guy was sweating bullets with his own pair of cuffs when he and Simon got caught by Beastmen

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In season two we get to see Simon all grown up and reminding us of the epitome of masculinity, Kamina.

In this season humanity is above ground and prosperous. But they soon fight the very oppressors that made the Spiral King retreat to earth and forced humans underground.

Overall, I would say Simon had the largest character development arc, however, Rossiu would be the rival character arc that is very awesome.

Both are on the opposite end of the spectrum in temperament and they each react differently to situations but they need each other because of that difference. Rossiu is a leader that makes hard decisions for the human race, but Simon is an all or nothing type of guy. While Simon is the ultimate weapon of the human race and gives inspiration, in the end, Rossiu has the leadership quality to be president.

Season 1 & Season 2 Comparisons

Leeron, the man who even Viral is afraid of, doesn't change in Season 2 and has the same effect on everybody.

I have to hand it to the bad-ass mechanic, he never gives up looking for love.

The feeling when it's over, and you'll never be the same