This review contains spoilers.
You see, I completely disagree with Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann's entire ethos and execution; you could even say that it is my antithesis; it is a total contrast to my general thoughts. Hope, comradery and the human spirit are three common themes in fiction, as they directly relate to our day-to-day basis, nature, and overarching history. If you asked me, I personally can't ignore the all-powerful nature of entropy and the overarching cruelty of the universe; existential dread is a core attribute I have installed and something I constantly meander about; thus, I believe hope is supplied best when injected in a
...
small dosage against sorrow, as an excess can promptly become intoxicating and ruin a story by using platitudes of asinine hopefulness. If you're going to make a case of hope, make it human and plausible—TTGL fails at doing this. To represent the natural fight against misery and oppression as a constant human victory is to be quixotic and utterly ridiculous.
I do think these themes are important to address, but Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann makes a very clumsy attempt at doing so and, in turn, becomes one of the preachiest and most ridiculous shows I've ever seen. It's a painfully written work that only seems to be able to deliver half-assed absurdist commentary about our nature and completely corny self-improvement stock phrases you'd find through a simple Google search.
TTGL aims high (as the heavens) but falls (to hell) in the middle of this voyage, laying half-dead in a pit of clichés and toxic optimism. Certain art pieces function as beacons of hope because all of them deliver "hope" in the right way and in a proper dose. They also demand personal development and work coming from oneself, not being obligated by someone else's ego and reckless optimism; many of them also work as excellent tales of caution. In order for all of them to change, the characters have to consider their motifs, their life situations, and much more. Many times, it is a very difficult, personal, and painful work of introspection, but it's amazing to see them evolve over time.
I believe the absurd and incomprehensible works in a similar way; it has to be delivered cleverly; it's not really clever or interesting when characters are basically juggling planets and making a dick-measuring competition on who has the biggest mech or the most powerful transformation. If there's something that's similar between schlock like Dragon Ball Super and TTGL, it's definitely that they quickly become extremely asinine and a ridiculous dick-measuring contest. When all of this is done wrongly, what was once impressive rapidly turns mundane, boring, and completely asinine; basically, you get Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. As a whole, this show crumbles like a wrongly-assembled Jenga tower because of these issues that I have:
1st issue: Kamina. Just Kamina.
Kamina is not a role model, a badass, or a pleasant person by any means; he's a self-important, suicidal, preachy douchebag who puts others in danger for the sake of his own planet-sized ego, messiah complex, and overtly toxic mindset who, for some reason, the anime insists on portraying as a paragon, a messianic figure, AND Yoko's (admittedly forced) love interest. As soon as Bimbo Redhead appears in the first episode, he slobbers all over her like an absolute buffoon, nearly getting himself and others killed. He's awfully idealistic, filled with toxic optimism, and actively puts others in incredibly awkward situations, such as Simon, who clearly deserves better than this.
He actively ruins plans or clear advantages they (the character cast) have over enemies because of his own colossal ego and foolishness. In episode two, Kamina puts others and himself in danger by standing in front of a giant mech with only a katana. Luckily, they are saved by a convenient firesquad just being there because... idk, and Simon being Superman and somehow snapping out of his anxiety attack again in an instant, but the fact that this time it conveniently ended well doesn't mean I have to disregard all of the garbage that I just had to digest. Kaminas own ego is so astronomically big that he purposefully avoids any and every discussion about his meaninglessness and mortality using vain statements, instead astrally projecting his delusion and himself into being more than he really is, truly showcasing his idiotic grandeur.
He's also a fucking hypocrite, telling Simon to not "heat up" when he sees the mech who caused earthquakes in the village and to maintain a cold head; the AUDACITY of this asshole, weren't YOU the one screaming like a rabid dog to a fucking mech, ruining Yoko's line of sight and standing face to face with a gigantic mech? Or just generally being an obnoxious motherfucker in the least appropriate situations? Who are YOU of all people to say this??? Of course this mindless dork just charges in without any care for their lives, no care for strategy, no care for tactics; just going in without anything in mind but "fighting spirit" and "being a man"... okay, such asinine concepts. Kamina is a headless chicken, which defies its innate duty as a role model. He's idolized for falling into the hands of the enemy out of his own volition. Kamina has to hatch implausible, logic-defying strategies to defeat the enemy in the middle of a battle, putting others and himself at risk, and this is the precedent he wants to set for Simon? He's essentially teaching a persuadable, shy young boy to be a suicidal, pretentious fuck with no care for his or others' wellbeing or any strategy whatsoever, plastering his bad traits all over Simon.
This whole situation ends with the most cliché ending imaginable. "Father, you died in a place like this?" Of course, you idiot, I assume the experiences you've gone through in the latest hours haven't yet clicked in your brain. THERES MURDEROUS MECHS EVERYWHERE IN THE SURFACE, AND YOUR DAD DIDN'T HAVE ADEQUATE TECHNOLOGY TO DEAL WITH THEM, YET HE STILL WANDERED OUT THERE. He was as delusional as you were; the apple doesn't fall far from the tree; I can even say that "he drilled a bit too close to the sun." Kamina DOES NOT realize that his dad was erroneous and deranged or changed after the idealized persona of his father was broken in pieces; also, I guess he knows how to drive that gunman out of fighting spirit and manliness too. Knowing your own weaknesses is important, but Kamina seems to ignore his human mortality.
In episode three, which starts with essentially the intent of a glorified date between Yoko and Kamina, we get to see how she gets flustered because Kamina agreed to go hunting with her; this is basically her version of a date, as she's a no-substance, no-thoughts bimbo meathead. After a certain encounter where the Gurren and Lagann pilots are crushed by an enemy, both Kamina and Simon are sitting in some type of canyon vale on a rock. After Simon tells him some valid complaints and concerns, this absolute moron replies with his classic stock-phrase Oblivion NPC dialogue, "Simon! Our drill will pierce the heavens! It isn't for running away." WHAT. You are now talking because Simon decided to escape. He's also a terrible counselor; he isn't addressing Simon's feelings or problems in any way whatsoever by spitting nothing-burger dialogue like this, but he's also clearly encouraging Simon to follow the same idiotic path as him, which, by the things I've mentioned before, is heinous.
Kamina gets beaten again because he's so incompetent that he can't formulate the right plan. This edgy guy for some reason doesn't kill him—despite working for the SURFACE HUMAN ANNIHILATION SQUAD and deeming humans as an inferior species who do not deserve his attention—and of course, remember: His vapid character does not inspire only Simon but also Yoko, who in turn has to inspire Simon up; and, as he has done before in his completely schizophrenic character, goes through a 180º spin, and he momentarily turns off his anxiety mode because the plot demands so. That's how anxiety totally works, bro, trust me! You just spit useless shit, and they'll get up again! Good job, Yoko; you just vapidly spoke the anxiety out of him, just like "Cool Boy" Kamina does.
And of course, Kamina gets a love interest in Waifu (Yoko) in three episodes. I'll talk more about this later, since this section is exclusively related to Kamina and his antics. His annoying shenanigans and terrible character continue throughout the series. He also complains about food that is being given to him out of generosity (they have ruined the house of these people, btw, opening up the surface and essentially condemning them; and even with all of this, they are still accommodating the main characters) in episode five, and he interrupts this kid, who was talking about important stuff regarding the orphan children in his village, by asking obvious questions. Seriously, it's like they want me to hate this guy and his fucking guts. And, lastly, in episode 8, even before finally kicking his last breath, he delivers his classic technique: THE TALK NO JUTSU! Freeing Simon from the panic attack of perceiving someone on the verge of death. Kamina might thankfully be dead, rotting away in some pit just like his dad, but the effect he leaves on this show is no less than completely repulsive, like a trail of putrid vomit. The plot loves him so much that it can't leave Kamina's message behind—which brought him his own demise—even after his death.
To sum it all up, Kamina is actually so retarded that he infects others with his own stupidity. The show really doesn't know what to do with him. Kamina strives and wants to dance above the absurd (or rather above the heavens), but he really can't do that and appreciate the passion of living if he's rotting away in some pit after like eight episodes! He's so fucking suicidal and delusional that he turns into a schizophrenic concoction. Ravelling in the absurd doesn't mean being a freak who can't recognize the shit situations he gets himself and others into out of his own volition, which are oftentimes life-threatening; the absurd doesn't dictate death, but Kamina's own impossibly colossal foolishness and vapidity do.
He's a pretentious idiot who spits dumb glossolalia about absurdity even in situations where they do not belong; he's a horrible counselor who only inspires Simon because the plot loves him; and due to the fact that Simon is also a terrible, bland character, I'll talk about him later. Kamina also has the plot by his side, even after his death, to grandify him and make a masturbatory hagiology of his thought process, actions, and complete vapidity that would never work and which would be disagreed with if he wasn't this anime's pampered golden child. His message is fundamentally contradicted by everything he does and says. The show attempts to make him likable and a "big bro" character, but he ends up being one of the most insufferable motherfuckers I've ever seen in an anime; indirectly or directly, he causes pain to others due to his own negligence.
His beliefs are never disagreed upon in a valuable way by other characters, and he isn't as challenged as he should be. He's a stubborn idiot who can't change the thoughts and values he has learned from his father. Even after seeing his skull, it didn't even make him question his values; instead, it made him even more of a moron. Yet Yoko instantly falls in love with this absolute tool in just three episodes, and she kisses him in episode 8. Mind you, Simon and Kamina's relationship is at a point where they call each other "brothers," so Kamina DEFINITELY had to know that Simon had an interest in Yoko from their experiences and time traveling together, yet he still decided to kiss her. What an absolute fucking idiot! I'll also go into this on my part, talking about Simon. Yeah, this is a load of bullshit. Not even after his death am I free from his vomitive after-death presence; since after that, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann essentially becomes Kamina's shitty parable. The "development" given in episode 11 only further amplifies my complaints about him and his messiah-esque character. Fuck Kamina, one of my most hated anime characters.
2nd issue: The Character Cast
There isn't a single good character in TTGL.
Yoko:
What is Yoko supposed to be? Tell me: What is she, as a character, supposed to be? Anime (especially battle shounen) as a whole is often infamous for including some of the most bland and vapid female characters in existence; clear examples are everywhere: from Mikasa, Annie, and Sasha in Attack on Titan to Jujutsu Kaisen's Nobara and Maki, CC, Shirley, Nina from Code Geass, or Frieren from Sousou no Frieren, and many more. Yoko for sure enters the absolutely list of purposeless, idiotic female characters; she doesn't get any development whatsoever; Yoko is shoehorned into being a love interest for this show's messiah buffoon, because why not right? There's no reason to adore this unlikable court jester yet she takes an unnatural liking to him in a short period of time; just more pandering towards the author's clearly favorite character.
When she barely knows Kamina and his stupidly suicidal personality, she abandons her people and convictions to go with his newly acquired husbando to some death place, and she's constantly used for shameless fan service bait. In the second part, she just... leaves, I guess? Not having received any fruitful development over the first or second half except for waifu pandering and fanservice, you could think of Nia as Yoko's replacement as seasonal waifu, and I'd buy it. She's essentially a pair of walking giant bazongers, boobily boobing her way into boobing her boobs; expect her breasts in a skimpy piece of clothing to be jiggled around your screen constantly. I'm not complaining, honestly, but that's an issue when it's the only defining trait of your character.
Nia:
Kamina died? Fret not, for Nia is here! She is practically Kamina throughout the second half; however, to TTGL's favor, she is certainly less obnoxious since she doesn't indulge in annoying machoisms or constant platitudes; however, her excessive naivete and purity can get old pretty fast, and they are for sure a solid replacement for Kamina's defects.
At first, Nia is contrary to Depresso Simon and a foil to Kamina; however, she soon turns into just another character who consistently spins around Simon and Kamina without any thought; she blindly trusts the protagonist, and her existential thoughts never get fully exploited into fruition. Nia is a blank slate; that's the purpose of her character; yet she only seems to copy thoughts pertinent to Simon or Kamina's mindsets; she gets nothing else beyond this; her personality remains the exact same through the first and second parts, except for when she's the anti-spiral proxy, and even this is aided by Second Part Simon's glossolalia.
Her introduction into the show is at minimum forced, at worst laughable; she's found through raw lack by Simon in a fight that had nothing to do with her, and she joins the Gurren Lagann squad after changing Depresso Simon's mood within a second; thus, we know her purpose from the very first second she enters the scene! The interesting dynamic between her and the squad is soon completely annihilated by this show's antics and contrivances, which have already been showcased ad nauseam in the first half. Everyone being overtly inept, everyone trusting someone they barely know (granted, Nia risked her life vs. shark woman, but couldn't it be a ploy from the Spiral King or something akin to that? He's a pretty enigmatic figure at that point) or everyone just changing their entire character to fit what the plot wants; her trust in Simon and the squad feels cobbled out of absolutely nowhere.
If I had a nickel for every terrible, soft-shy female character who got black and red clothing after a bad change in characterization, I would get two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.
Leeroy Littner:
A flamboyant guy whose entire personality is the gay archetype and comedy flavor. In the single episode where he's presented, at least 90% of his spotlight is entirely based on a single comedy gag of him being very extravagant and being a complete gay perv; that's about it for his character. Ron also abandons his people and gets his bag to travel with both Kamina and Simon (two guys he barely knows) to potentially life-threatening territory because they "need a good mechanic." What an absolute goofer!! What about, you know, your own home? The circumstances leading him to leave are so absolutely asinine that I can't even bother. Same thing with Yoko because, of course, you know, she has to be with her FUCKING BLAND LOVE INTEREST THAT SHE KNEW FOR THREE EPISODES everywhere he goes, even if it means abandoning her own people that she has known for years. It's quite funny how both of them have extravagant designs, and then you have the OBVIOUS NPCs who clearly aren't doing shit. I guess character vapidity comes with being from the Littner village. There is nothing. There is nothing more to say; his purpose later on is to do exposition.
Rossiu:
If Kamina is the dumbest character in this show, second-part Rossiu is probably up there with him too. If Kamina is stupid irrationality, Rossiu is idiotic rationality. We are a mixture of both irrational and logical impulses, both equally driven by impulse and reason, yet Rossiu cannot seem to comprehend this, even after having seen his fair share of Kaminaisms and contrivances in this bullshit verse. "Point A to Point Z" also plagues Rossiu's character, who makes a sudden spin in characterization from being an amused kid with his fair share of impulse and logic to a 100% (stupid) logic, no non-sense type of person, which honestly contrasts with his previous experiences and invalidates his whole arc in the first part. Like, how does he turn into this type of person even after everything he's been through? It doesn't make much sense honestly, and his upbringings from the village weren't taking much of a toll on him on the first part; usually we are most influential in childhood; we repeat things and opinions we hear from adults, yet Rossiu honestly didn't have any of this when he was much younger. He is clearly crammed into this archetype to fit in as a forced foil to Simon and, again, prove an impossible message. Rossiu is also a complete goofball, by the way.
If we view it from a logical, utilitarian standpoint, jailing Simon is a terrible fucking idea considering hes the only one capable of actually fighting the anti-spirals; you're essentially incarcerating the Batman to your Arkham—the Simon to your Kamina City; yet Mr. Fucktard Rossiu and his lapdog are against Simon being free. I also find it incredibly idiotic how this anime just manifests hordes of angry people and riots out of nowhere to force this dumb clash of ideals. In the second half, I just wanted to crush the craneum of this insufferable douchebag. Who even thinks that incarcerating your best soldier and strategist is a good idea? Why did his government decide to scrap the Ganmen when these mechs were clearly created to fight off the Anti-Spirals in Lordgenome's era? What is he going to do with his spaceship after escaping the Earth anyway? Also, it's just an overall terrible idea because you're essentially entering the Anti-Spirals' territory. I was indifferent to Rossiu at first, but I fucking hated him post-time skip. Episode 23, which is based around him, is a fucking train wreck.
Viral:
Viral is a silly goofball who could have easily defeated all of the squad in an easy way when he was introduced early on, but he decided to be a buffoon since he was in front of this show's golden child, aka Kamina. He is also a recycled antagonist turned ally, akin to that of Jeremiah from Code Geass, who returns constantly to do nothing but get his ass beaten and be sodomized by a scantily clad woman. He isn't an intricate character by any means, but at least he's a pretty fun and charming guy to have around; possibly my favorite character on this show... which isn't saying much honestly; his theme is also a banger, so that definitely helps. Also, am I the only one to think that it is very pathetic to hear Viral repeating one of Kamina's NPC quotes? Like he's repeating the phrase of a guy who directly or indirectly killed everyone who was closest to him and someone who changed his entire life's tide, soon converting Viral into just another devoid of personality Gurren Lagann squad member.
The Gurren Lagann Squadron and other characters:
The more I see of the Gurren Lagann Squadron and their living conditions, the more it makes me question the fact that, despite their situation, they live too well. I mean, they have a clinic, plenty of food for everyone, potable water (or else they would have died of dehydration); they are all in good physical condition and have endless tools and materials; it really contrasts a lot with the situation they live in; it doesn't seem realistic to me; I haven't seen a single moment of them fetching food, or finding abandoned parts to use, or tools for the clinic, or food, them providing manpower, using their time; nothing, there is nothing; how and where do they get so much stuff from? Let alone keeping the Ganmen functional, that must cost not only a lot of manpower and time but also resources and tools, but well, it seems they simply have the amount of resources the plot determines necessary.
The plans that the squadron comes up with are woven out of thin air, and often one can't help but wonder... What do they do before combat? Why do clear strategies not enter into consideration when engaging in combat against the Spiral King's commanders? The enemies are utterly inept, and it is unbelievable how they fail in every situation. All fights are very predictable when this consideration is taken into account.
The others don't even have enough of a reason to care about Kamina's death yet they just... do, like alright; he spat some bullshit and went full self-immolation mode for your own sake, but you all don't know him; like cool "he sacrificed himself for our own sake, nice" that should be the response; yet they all weep, cry, piss, and shit for this man who they've known for a maximum of a week; and of course everyone loves him. Female characters in Gurren Lagann are completely stupid and barebones, even by Shounen standards; mostly defined by their love for another character or a single quirk, Yoko has huge boobs and likes Kamina, Kinon is a hard worker girl and likes Rossiu, Nia is a shy girl and likes Simon, etcetera. None of them are explored in an interesting fashion; I just despise this shoehorned romance. The same could be said for the bland secondary characters, who are completely flanderized into oblivion; Kittan, the twin fuckers, and the big lips comedy relief idiot are some of the worst and most obnoxious. I completely understand Rossiu's complaints towards them; they are absolute morons.
3rd issue: Simon. Just Simon.
Another long rant is incoming. Simon is terrible, so the whole show just falls.
Simon is an utterly schizophrenic, unrealistic character who serves as the direct addressee for the infamous Talk no Jutsu. He's a plain and bland representation of anxiety and grief that constantly does complete spins in personality and ideals when the plot (also known as Kamina's lapdog) demands as such, only to prove messages that, in any capacity and situation, would be wrong; however, they are presented as valid in forced and asinine ways. He is often included in some of the most astoundingly obnoxious and eye-rolling scenes this anime has to offer, paying no attention to actual development and instead going from point A to point Z without any nuance. Simon is virtually a substanceless heap of barebones emotionality and feelings that constantly alternate, in incomprehensible ways, to prove otherwise unrealistic points or messages however the plot (or Kamina) demands; he goes from having a panic attack, then becomes confident out of a sudden, back again to timidity, now he's aggressive, back to panic attack, then he's jealous...
Which is absolutely fucking retarded, by the way. Simon has known him for a lot of time already; they call each other "brothers," yet all of this goes into the dump as soon as Simon watches Kamina kissing a substanceless girl they've known for, like, less than a month? The relationship between Budget Shinji and Goofy Messiah might be cobbled out of nowhere if it means that it can break that easily; moreover, I'm not even taking into consideration Kamina and Yoko's idiocy and their lack of emotional or situational awareness (it is VERY clear when someones infatuated) or the fact that both romances (Yoko and Kamina, or Yoko and Simon) are horribly built, they (Simon and Yoko) have no valuable interactions whatsoever, yet Simon takes a liking to her so quickly it is completely unrealistic when he dumps his relationship with Kamina over such bland jealousy; episode 8 is a very contrived melodrama, ZERO communication between parties, absolute fucking idiots every single of them.
He starts as your archetypical wimpy boy who has no future prospects; he's bullied by girls because he is a dirty, stinky guy, and all he does twenty-four hours of the clock every day is drill stuff. Of course, this sets up a clear situation where one, as the audience, is bound to sympathize with this guy. Underdog and coming-of-age stories are always attractive, and viewers are usually expecting to see this once ridiculized or self-deprecating individual raise beyond anything he's ever foreseen. This sounds great, right? We've seen many good coming-of-age stories that make us feel the character's growth. The main issue arises from the fact that EVERY change in Simon's whole persona and ethos resides in Kamina's influence, not any satisfactory or well-built change; it feels utterly false and artificial, as all of Kamina's platitudes and actions apparently emanate some type of supernatural energy that constantly changes the whole cast's characterization and personal dilemmas at his predisposition; soon-enough turning into less coming of age and more like some self-gratifying hagiology or coming-of-Kamina.
It's impressive to me how Yoko doesn't address her kiss with Kamina as soon as the battle is over, just to tell Simon that he shouldn't blame himself for anything; it was his fucking idiotic friend and herself who were devoid of any situational awareness. Simon does this sudden twist from "MY ANIKI KAMINA WE CAN'T DO THIS" to "urghhh... Kamina would easily do this if he were here... we need to do this like Kamina... *executes self-immolation*" putting both him and Rossiu in danger due to the awful fuck teachings from his deceased big brother and a grandious lack of communication; all of this is done in the cheesiest way possible. It could've been interesting to see a more realistic deconstruction of Kamina's ridiculous idealism and how it negatively affects Simon, leading to an eventual breakdown and change, but we get nothing of that—just one blink—and you'll miss the 360-degree change in Simon's personality from one episode to the next. Let me tell you, nobody does Talk No Jutsu like Dead Aniki did; that's the issue. Why isn't it their top priority to talk to Simon and address his feelings? He's the ace pilot of the squad; his Gurren Lagann is extremely powerful, and he's been one of the reasons they've progressed so much, yet nobody seems to really care about him. This only emphasizes Kamina's role as some kind of messiah or role model, which definitely doesn't work. But Simon has a deranged expression! It is so realistic! There is not a single change from Simon that feels natural.
Simon, who clearly disagrees with his aniki's douchebaggery, sets up clear walls and concerns; however, the anime quickly crushes any prospect of developing his own protagonist in a more elegant fashion or any chance of him contradicting Kamina in any valuable way whatsoever. I believe the authors didn't know what to do for Simon to be an engaging character; his struggles are completely milquetoast and explored in a vapid manner; his emotions and philosophy are incongruous and nonsensical; his thoughts are explored in an utterly superficial way; his growth is from point A to point Z and much more; he's more of a receiver than an actual character, I'd dare say. In my case, the least I want is some fucking idiot spitting stupid shit in my ears, but Simon is bland enough for that to work in contrived ways. He does another completely absurd spin in Episode 11 after a flashback regarding Kamina; because of course that happens, he goes from full depresso expresso "I want to kill myself" to "KAMINA! LAGANN! I'M NOT GONNA GIVE UP, COME FEMALE, I'LL SAVE YOU" or whatever corny bullshit; another blink and you'll miss it change, seeing a pattern? Is Gurren Lagann incapable of doing character development? I'm not kidding; Simon gets both ruined and fixed by waifu bait; you really can't make this shit up.
After Kamina's death, Simon essentially and forcefully becomes proto-Kamina, walking through an obscene path of replicating the exact same thoughts and personality, despite the plot gaslighting you to think otherwise. "Kamina is no longer here!" "I'm not Kamina!" he says, as he proceeds to do Kamina shit and say Kamina's one-liners, revere Kamina every single fucking second, and remember Kamina every single time. You're truly not helping your case, Simon. In the second half, Simon's schizophrenic character essentially dies, now becoming a one-trick pony of faux confidence built upon his deceased friend's diarrhea. Also, I assume that controlling logistics, paperwork, and assigning or managing governmental roles come within the Kamina Inspiration starter pack. It truly seems like the first part of Simon ceases to exist; anxiety and depression traits will always remain even after managing to work around these disorders, sometimes even resurfacing again, yet for our protagonist this phase apparently didn't exist, as the second part of Simon retains nothing of the original Simon.
Again, from point A to point Z, Simon just becomes this wall of confidence out of nowhere! Hell, he even gets his newly acquired waifu to marry him. Great job. Budget Shinji, you've done fantastically well! Mental illness has been officially defeated! If Yoko x Kamina is forced, I won't even talk about how stupid Nia x Simon is. In the second part, Simon gives me huge Kirito vibes, which is not a compliment, as you might assume. Second Part Simon is HORRIBLY bland and boring, his impossible mental fortitude being implausible and vapid, but I couldn't realistically expect anything from such a barebones cast and forced development—nothing but vapidness. From now on, just so you know, I'll sometimes refer to Second Part Simon as "Kirito" because: 1. that's really the quality of a character we have in our hands; and 2. because it's more concise than "Second Part Simon.".
4th issue: Second Part. Just the second part.
After a format of weekly BBEG and finally defeating the Spiral King, a time-skip happens, and they have created a whole ass city (which they baptized "Kamina City," and I want to kill myself) and populated the surface with thousands of humans. What? Yes, in the second part, the main cast manages the government of a country they founded upon the rest of the spiral capital. If, after reading this, dear reader, you're thinking, "It can't be this retarded," it really is. I'm not even taking into account the INSANE amount of logistics, resources, planning, and role-assigning (for which the Gurren squad apparently has an infinite storage of) for everything in the republic, but also the fact that this country has been working for so much time under a government composed purely by inept buffoons. Granted, that also happens in real life, but you could replace TTGL's government with a bunch of babbling donkeys and nothing would change. The entire Gurren squad is an obscene composition of drooling idiots, yet they are able to make and organize a citadel. I think something like the Meteor City from Hunter x Hunter is way more plausible, yet the Gurren Squad's city looks like something out of fucking Blade Runner. WHERE DO THEY GET ALL OF THIS TECHNOLOGY (besides the Teppelin Capital's leftovers after the defeat of the Spiral King)? Did they just scavenge everything they could to recycle it? Did they somehow use the ruins and technology from the Teppelin Capital to make their own city? This seems impossible to manage in only seven years. An extremely dumb and non-sensical anime soon turns into a cheesy political drama; it is a spin that honestly dumbfounds me, and it does neither correctly.
A flourishing metropolis just sounds absurd in TTGL's circumstances and zeitgeist, yet it happens because... why not? We need a way to propel the second half after all! The worldbuilding around how this city works is also extremely barebones; also, just to rub salt in the wound, there's a big Kamina statue, of course. You know how Code Geass was almost surprising in how stupid the show is? Like, "it cannot possibly get any dumber," and yet it DOES get more idiotic? Gurren Lagann is exactly that, and oh, just bear with me, because it gets worse than the implausible nation they've cobbled out of nowhere.
The first anti-spiral invades the city, Nia goes into evil mode, and Simon destroys a whole bunch of the city—in complete justification, mind you, this technology was clearly extraterrestrial and there was no way they could analyze it on time; besides, they can easily rebuild the city, considering they did this entire citadel in only seven years; and what other option did they have? Just let the anti-spiral crab go rampant in the city and kill even more people? Yet Rossiu shits and pisses himself when Simon fights, when it's clear that the original Gurren Lagann is dimensions above the mass-produced copies, which would never even touch this creature; sending the mass-produced mechs to fight against the anti-spiral would have been completely in vain and a waste of resources. Although considering Rossiu asks beheaded Lord Genoma what the "system of human annihilation" is, yeah, I'd say Rossiu has a few loose screws, and he doesn't seem to comprehend the concept of war.
Episode 18 is essentially a bunch of exposition and stuff being explained by "muh spiral power," a power system I'll talk more about later; the political intrigue is also pathetic, further amplified by the weak construction of Kamina City. Rossiu is completely delusional: "They cannot know about this." Bitch, they just saw a giant red and black crab shooting lasers, and the moon is next to the Earth. Everyone has already noticed, and those who haven't will soon know. The absolute lack of any patriotism or cult following towards (what should be) one of the biggest revolutionary symbols in the city (the Gurren Lagann) is also preposterous; you'd believe a giant fucking mech would be pretty good patriot fodder.
This show also collects all of humanity, or a very large populace (in this case, an entire city), into a single monolithic group when the plot demands as such, which is completely implausible and denies any prospect of nuance. Even with this singular, ridiculous representation of humanity (where a goofy riot just materializes itself when a point needs to be preached), the roots for an interesting part are certainly here, although I personally think it's completely asinine that Rossiu decided to incarcerate Simon; this is like if Superman was taken to jail after fighting Doomsday because he destroyed too many properties and many civilians were killed. That's what fucking comes when you're going to war with a world-threatening enemy; you all are essentially erasing away your only chance of beating the enemy, you dumb fucks. It's anger-inducing just how ignored Simon seems to be throughout the entire anime, making his already faux growth even more irrelevant and non-existent.
Simon goes to jail, and there he encounters Viral. Shit goes down in Kamina City, and they get inside a spaceship, which I'm not sure what that will achieve. Sure, you might not die from the moon crashing into the earth, but where are you going to go? Supplies will eventually run out and the earth will be inhabitable, and I don't think they have the technology to travel across the galaxy, plus they are going straight into the Anti-Spirals' territory. Edgy Nia talks to Viral and Simon about the Anti-Spiral's purpose and why Rossiu's spaceship idea is absolute garbage, and then BOOM, Yoko appears. For what purpose? Where, specifically, has she been? How did she know the place where he was incarcerated? Nobody missed her anyway; she's less than a character; her time away at the island as a teacher (which, ngl, is a weird occupation for someone like her) could've been a good time for good characterization and development, but it really goes nowhere, just like the Adai Village section. Also LOL at her making up a lame fake name despite... her full, long red-toned hair still being there... a hair color literally nobody else has—they apparently have super computers but not hair dye, or maybe she just didn't care. Although I still have to admit that this was a nice SOL break, something to appreciate after all the political slop.
They all go to space to stop the freaking freaking moon, and Dai-Gurren Lagann happens, which is admittedly cool; also, I can't believe Viral is repeating Kamina's one-liners; it is so pathetic, imo. I couldn't help but ROLL MY FUCKING EYES when Kirito Simon just talked about no Jutsu'd Nia out of the anti-spiral form. Guess what? Talking now modifies internal programming and technology! Or is that just another property of the *gasp* spiral power!!!? Seriously, such a bullshit power system; it feels so anticlimactic and dumb. Fuck the Anti-Spirals' empyrean technology! Kirito will get his female again! Truly learning from the best. THEY DESTROY THE MOON (which turned out to be Lordgenome's best technology), and IT TURNS INTO A FUCKING SPACESHIP! That's for sure convenient! I just want to delete myself from existence at this point.
Kirito gets to uncorrupt his flustered female from the big bad anti-spirals, so all is good... He ends this up with a one-liner. He's learning. "And someone showed after six years of not showing herself... and she hasn't changed a bit." Even fucking Kittan knows that Yoko didn't get any development whatsoever. OH and Kirito punches the suicidal tendencies of a man with an extremely guilty consciousness (just like Kamina did, get it?) because of course he does; TTGL just invented a new form of therapy! Punch someone in the face! The violin soundtrack comes in, and Kirito soon talks with this suicidal person, who instantly changes his entire mind because he's been graced by the protagonist. This is CANCEROUS, thats the least I can say about this. At this point, this show just becomes Dragon Ball Super slop but with mechs.
Mind you, they are traveling and teleporting through time and space now. The fact that the anti-spirals control the entire galaxy around them is astounding to me. Why can't they just summon a black hole or some shit where they are and spaghettizize all of the Gurren Lagann squad members? Or does the spiral energy also protect them against fucking black holes?? Soon enough, they start to fight against stone flying heads (which loosely resemble Pretty Squidward), and... yeah, do not ask me; this is the part of the show where everything goes into an absurd magnitude. Remember how I said that nobody from the Gurren Lagann squad died in the first part? Well, cut that, because TTGL goes fucking SHIBUYA INCIDENT mode and kills like a third of the squad in a single episode, most of whom undoubtedly and with an implausible mental fortitude sacrifice themselves for the cause. I am okay with character death; in fact, I like it, but holy shit, episode 24 feels like the authors just wanted to cut away the fat from the main squad. THIS SECONDARY CHARACTER? DEAD. THIS OTHER SECONDARY CHARACTER? He also dies! Everyone will just sacrifice themselves without any doubt or fear, and look, they are fighting for the fate of humanity. But even with this in mind, one is just bound to eventually mindbreak and let loose, yet none of this happens. And a freaking ocean in space—that's pretty cool. Can they please leave Kamina behind? We are on episode 25, and they keep mentioning him. I know they are inspired by him and shit, but it is so exhausting and preachy.
NAH, there's absolutely no way the fucking pigmole just recharges the Gurren Lagann with spiral energy. What the fuck is even happening?? At this point, Yoko is just a husbando trap; she has also been kissed by Kittan. lol. Also, ULTRA BONER SUPER POWERFUL HOLY SHIT GALACTIC GURREN LAGANN is here. The Gurren Lagann is now capable of tanking entire planets, and brace yourself; it gets even worse. The anti-spirals are throwing missiles that alter the probability of hitting the enemy; why haven't they used that in the first place? Kirito now knows the fact that a large enough amount of spiral energy might destroy the fucking universe, but he has a female to save, so he gets on the grind again; also, nobody is seemingly worried about this information. Everyone is just like, "Yeah, sure, let's save the waifu" but anyways.
Admittedly, I liked the surreal section of episode 26, and The Anti-Spiral has a nice design, his discussion with Lordgenome is cool; all of this is ruined by the fucking pigmole evolving into a furry. Yes, you've read this right; due to the potential of spiral energy, he turns into a furry. What a way to completely ruin immersion, and that is ignoring the fact that this irrelevant comedy gag turned out to be a Pokemon on steroids all along, evolving at the right moment thanks to this shitty power system. Pigmole Furry is truly one of the top 10 most powerful characters in anime; his only weakness is Yoko's enormous fleshy watermelons.
Fucking. Kamina. appears in everyone's flashbacks; they are liberated from the Anti-Spiral's grasp, and SUPER ULTRA OMEGA JUICER SIGMA MALE SKIBIDI TOILET HOLY FUCKING SHIT AMERICAN PSYCHO GIGACHAD MULTIVERSE GALACTIC GURREN LAGANN IS HERE, AND KIRITO IS MORE MOTIVATED THAN EVER. PREPARE YOURSELF, SKINNY FUCKER. That's basically the last fight in TTGL. How is this any different from slop like Dragon Ball Super or Fairy Tail? Seriously, they keep popping in with new transformations and friendship "evolution" power bullshit; the ending run of Gurren Lagann is absolutely abhorrent. One is bound to witness many of the most asinine sequences I've ever seen on a show, with flashbacks to accentuate and further preach messages that have been nailed into my brain a hundred times by now. I'm basically being subjected to SAW torture at this point; nevertheless, I kept watching, as this was the final episode and I was going to be free. I just don't care anymore at this point; it's just a power-up galore and dick-measuring contest. Opening ensues, and shit happens.
5th issue: So absurd and massive, yet so mundane and small.
Now, I know nothing about astrophysics, astronomy, or anything of the sort, but the absolute magnitude of TTGL's end arc with spiral power, them traveling through time and space at lightspeed, the anti-spiral big boss, and the STTGL still made me wince in cringe. I've heard of a review mentioning how their knowledge of astrophysics led them to "sit in a corner and cry." I truly can't imagine the trauma this person had to go through—some Dante's Divine Comedy type of shit. The Gurren Lagann combining itself with the Dai-Gurren was cool, but them juggling universes around and doing Dragon Ball Super shit was just asinine; hell, they start to break the space time as soon as the Tengen Toppa Dai-Gurren is a thing; that's when you know shits are going to go down—and not in a good way. At Galactic Gurren Lagann, shit's already dire; it quickly becomes a superhero slop with constant asinine transformations and bullshit spiral energy everywhere. OH, YOU THOUGHT WE WERE DEFEATED??? GURREN LAGANN EVOLVES AGAIN, like it is fucking Dragon Ball, yet it feels so small and just... boring. Keep throwing universes and playing with sticks, Gurren Lagann; maybe you'll manage to be amusing at some point, even though I consider it to be a sisyphean task in my case.
The lovecraftian and absurd, when done well, are impacting and unbelievable; often times one doesn't know where to start in analyzing them, but the STTGL and the Anti-Spiral are just asinine. Sincerely, they are doing this shit and ripping the space-time continuum like its nothing; at this point, it just feels like you're watching your two small cousins fight with sticks, and they are pulling off bigger hacks from under their sleeves. BOOM, I HAVE A BIGGER STICK! NO, BECAUSE, ACKSHUALLY, I HAVE ANTI-BIGGER STICK RESISTANCE! MY STICK IS NOW EXTRA BIG, AND IT COUNTERS YOUR ANTI BIG STICK RESISTANCE! That's how the ending of Gurren Lagann goes off; it feels like nothing. The Anti-Spiral throws a laser with an energy equivalent to that of the fucking big bang at them, and at this point, I'm just wondering how the Earth isn't being fucking annihilated and vanished from existence just from the impact of their clash. THEY ARE BIGGER THAN ENTIRE UNIVERSES, for fuck's sake; it is just bland and boring; I don't care.
6th issue: Gurren Lagann and how it fails
Call me a nihilistic freak, a callous individual, or a bitter person, but I really need to give my two cents on this.
Coming of age:
I think Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann completely fails in the way it depicts coming-of-age and its themes as a whole; I am meant to like Kamina and his boisterous ideologies or be happy for Simon's growth; I am meant to have fun as the anime gets retarded on the second half climax with the anti-spiral galactic STTGL stuff; I am meant to like the character cast, but... I just don't. Simon is never well-built enough for me to care in any fashion about his plastic faux "growth" or anything he has to offer, and Kamina is a terrible character and role model for everything I've mentioned before; if you fail to build the very first two characters who exemplify and showcase this show's message, you know that you're in big trouble. The super galactic, ultra absurd stuff also doesn't work because everything else fails; it doesn't feel as climactic as it wants to be. As I said before, "After Kamina's death, Simon essentially and forcefully becomes proto-Kamina, walking through an obscene path of replicating the exact same thoughts and personality despite the plot gaslighting you to think otherwise. "Kamina is no longer here!" "I'm not Kamina!" he says, as he proceeds to do Kamina shit and say Kamina's one-liners, revere Kamina every single fucking second, and remember Kamina every single time".
Simon becomes no one but a substanceless replica of someone who has already existed, which is just completely lame. TTGL completely fails as a coming-of-age history since there's no real growth to talk about, just severe jumps in characterization fed by implausible situations; when he grows up, he doesn't become a better person or an individual with their own mindset and personality; Simon just becomes Kamina, and that's about it. Others oblige Simon to grow up by feeding him ridiculous one-liners and thoughts, which are completely implausible to work with any other person, but they function with Simon as he isn't a real character but a plot device to further accentuate an impossible message. He changes constantly, with no satisfying character arc to speak of, to justify anything the plot wants to at that specific moment.
Evangelion triumphs because we can sympathize with Shinji, Asuka, Rei, and the rest of the cast's struggles, even the secondary characters; the Third Impact triumphs because it is a well-built climax which expands on character arcs and ends the characters' journey in a very satisfying manner; but that doesn't happen in TTGL's paper-thin fashion; whatever growth Simon goes through is forced by highly unlikable situations or quixotisms; whatever Kamina says and does is word of preach, essentially solidifying this anime's place in a single platitude. It is completely out of touch with human mortality and meaninglessness, deifying mere humans who should only walk; the message of this show resides in dumbing down an existential issue bound to the human species. TTGL wants us to see the "human potential" to drill "beyond the heavens," but it is completely contrary to our natural place; it is really just a non-sensical landscape of one-liners and bad writing, which do nothing but augment my suspicions that this show isn't meant to be anything beyond what it seems, other than mere "LE WHOLESOME INDOMITABLE HUMAN SPIRIT" masturbation material, devoid of any points to make, and that gets me to my next point.
"If you believe in yourself and work together, you can achieve anything."
This is one of those classic phrases you'd see being reposted by a Facebook mom or being imprinted on some cheap merchandise. Do not think of the main character cast or secondary characters who are graced by Kamina's direct presence and by his sacrosanct words; think of the characters who don't receive a name, those who didn't stumble upon an ancient piece of technology out of pure coincidence, those who don't have the entire plot by his side, the other townfolk from the Adai Village—just anyone really. We are intrinsically tied to our circumstances and surroundings; to believe otherwise would be foolish. Our hard work will many times be wasted on absolutely nothing; we will be reprimanded despite giving our best efforts, and we will be unjustifiably fucked over. I wanted to go to college, study my dream career, and have a cool job I liked, but guess what? I was held back by financial and real-life issues, so I had to work in jobs I absolutely despised and have a life I didn't want, my dreams going down the drain. To say "lol, just believe in yourself and work hard" is truly having a highly dreamlike and quixotical worldview, especially considering the expensiveness and unaccessibility of everything nowadays.
The mental fortitude of every character in Gurren Lagann is unreal. Shinji triumphs as a character because he's a teenager who has to fight a biblical battle beyond comprehension; he has to stop an earth-ending event and fight against the powers that be; and he goes into a complete fucking mental breakdown, understandably so, and that's why he's so relatable. But every Gurren Lagann character, kids and adults alike, just fucking fistfights lovecraftian enemies; they fight God; they destroy planets; they just travel into space; they sacrifice themselves for a single cause without a doubt, a single concern, or without any semblance of introspection or breakdown and they are filled with an impossible sense of comradery; it is so fucking terrible and unrealistic; I can't relate to any of these characters, who don't seldom pose a single drop of preoccupation, humanity, or pessimism.
"Indomitable Power of the Human Spirit"
No, the human spirit, as long as it has to pass through the painful process of living, will never be able to clash elbow-to-elbow against the overarching zeitgeist of the universe. We die pathetically in decay; we fight between ourselves and live no more than a spark of life itself; we exist in a nigh-lovecraftian order of heartlessness, a cold progression of time and space, and a neverending clash between a cruel order and disorder; the ever-passing nature of time and the universe crushes us. Hell, we barely put up a fight in opposition to the political and social circumstances that have surrounded us time and time again; our own laws fall flat, insanity coupled with agendas threatens our everyday lives, and we are often deprived of autonomy due to outside circumstances. How is it even thinkable that, even on a grand scale, we even stand a chance against the always-looming chaos and agony? This trope is an insurmountable cliché used on many tales, which often turns into a detriment; it is corny, ridiculous and narcissistic.
Of course, this shouldn't limit us, but to believe that humans are much more than a mere speck of dust or number in this infinite cycle of natural cruelty is, at minimum, foolish; we can express ourselves, but on a grander scale, we are nothing more than a plaything in the order of an impossible-to-understand order. Thinking we can even brawl against the crushing nature of entropy and chaos is preposterous. This show aims to clear or at least give clarity to these questions, but it does nothing to aid its case or reply to these questions in any way whatsoever, except if you consider awful, trite dialogue, vapid theming, horrible development, and a volatile characterization to be a correct response to such an existential issue. Honestly? Fuck the "indomitable human spirit" trope, quite possibly one of my most hated tropes out there, and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann embodies that but augmented a million times in the worst way possible, and I despise it.
Spiral energy and why I hate it:
Spiral Power is a hack power system that unsatisfyingly explains everything and covers every technique of bad writing with asinine explanations and limits. It is also in place to justify haphazard, implausible plans and prove impossible messages right, I believe this is one of the reasons why I felt like everything in Gurren Lagann was so anticlimactic and predictable. Spiral Energy as a power system is mind-numbingly simple and seems to devolve into a single platitude, which makes it so unappealing. Everything is explained with "well, it's spiral energy, dummy," like, how did the humans reproduce so much during the time skip? "Spiral Energy!" How did they manage to forcefully prove certain messages right? "Spiral Energy!" and more, it also taints the execution of themes and messages this show tries to output since it relies so heavily on this vaguely assembled power system. When the main squad faces an obstacle, expect this power system to do the chores and raise their power beyond comprehension. The immature thoughts of reckless machoisms and bravado are impossible to digest, and representing brainrotting schemes as always working better than carefully planned strategies is astoundingly obnoxious. Seriously, I couldn't help but roll my eyes constantly.
Fear exists for a valid reason:
Fear is an instinctive response to many situations in our day-to-day lives, and understandably so; it has helped us to fear natural predators or to further improve the survivability of our species. Fear is a mixed response; sometimes it will help us, but on other occasions it will freeze us in place. And justifiably enough, Gurren Lagann just erases any fear and doubt the characters have, which is excessively inhuman. To undermine the importance of our fear is also ridiculous and akin to my complaint about the treatment of the absurd in this show. Every character is unfathomably strong mentally, and they never have any doubts, even when clashing against the overarching forces of the universe.
Kamina Effect:
The Kamina effect, aptly named after a character in this work, is the product of a character whose influence borders on the supernatural and whose message borders on the absurdly impossible; however, the aftermath of this character, even after his death, makes the plot convoluted in ways one can't help but roll one's eyes or scratch one's head.
Characters are changed from one moment to the next by Kamina; characters are completely influenced by Kamina; people who should give a damn about Kamina suddenly care a lot about Kamina; people with thoughts contrary to Kamina are changed; it's the Kamina effect; it's the outcome of a character who serves purely and solely to change the plot on a whim instead of letting the story change him or the plot develop naturally. Remember the element manipulators in Avatar? Kamina would be the only plot manipulator there.
The message Kamina gives only works because of forced elements of the anime or sudden changes in characterization, which feel anticlimactic and contrived to say the least; the fact is that in a more natural work, Kamina would be taken as a court jester, and his messages would be quickly dismissed as an ode to optimistic suicide.
A one-sided clash of logic vs. absurdity:
The following individuals are always depicted as apathetic, power-hungry megalomaniacs: The leader of Simon's hometown is depicted as a tyrannical bastard, the Anti-Spirals are downright genocidal villains, and Rossiu's father is depicted as an oppressive leader who follows a faux rulebook—soon, inexplicably, his son growing to be like him; an absolute force of pure logic, becoming the antagonist of the second part. Every law-abiding, logical character is represented as a force of antagonism in this series' unrestrained appraisal of the irrational absurd, deliberately ignoring our own nature and how logic has served us time and time again. Be it for militaristic strategy, science (which is able to explain many phenomena with an absurdity akin to that of spiral energy), or many other things, of course, the same thing could also be said for irrationality. BOTH POLAR OPPOSITES ARE BAD, but Kamina is ridiculously considered the overaching hero of this series; his suicidal tendencies and baffling character are deified in every second, for which I cannot help but be weirded out.
Granted, a lot of TTGL's verse is based on and powered by the absurd, but to take logic and paint it as the antagonistic force of this series is completely incomprehensible. How do they think buildings in Kamina City were done? Just slapping components together and hoping it works by "manly power" or some shit? They are based on cold architecture; supercomputers were created by frigid math and science; mechs were created by robotics and technology; all of these are logical powers that cannot possibly work under the absurd since everything would just break. Yet all of this is ignored. Taking the absurd as the driving force behind everything and antagonizing rationality. Never strategizing, never explaining anything; absolutely nothing, just "DRILL DA HEAVENZ SIMON!!!1111" and "MANLY POWER BITCH I TRUST HIM LOL" stupidity. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann constantly abides by the absurd, making it an utterly predictable and dull show.
7th issue: Other aspects
The soundtrack is easily the best aspect of this show; although it isn't particularly unique, the rap songs and metal tracks perfectly fit the frantic pace of this anime. I specifically like "To Hell with Gattai!!" and "Nikopol" and whenever they popped up, I couldn't help but at least utter a faint grin. However, the other tracks aren't very highlightable. There's a single nice opening track and a decent amount of forgettable ending tracks.
Regarding the show's overall mood, I'm told to turn off my brain, but then you insert dumb geopolitics and Spiral Energy babble? But then I try to see this show's properties, and I can't help but be utterly disappointed. Just about everything crumbles, and it is laughable. The message stinks, the themes stink, everything stinks. "Turning my brain off" also doesn't allow me to just digest garbage; I cannot do it. Overall mediocre plot, but it doesn't matter much, honestly.
Pacing is all over the place; you've got sudden beach sections, then a fucking sauna filler episode; then you've got whatever the fuck episodes four and six are; enemies come out of nowhere with no plausible anticipation or buildup; they fight, they go away, then suddenly a calm section, and that's about it. Gurren Lagann is a glorified enemy of the week series; enemies constantly arrive to be beaten by the main squad using bullshit spiral energy and whatever they pull out of their asses. I also didn't understand the decision to turn this into some shitty political drama when it doesn't work. There isn't enough time or interactions to sympathize with and connect with the characters or to digest what just happened; they just spit whatever one-liners, fight, and do goofy shit. The events do not really feel "connected," if that makes sense; it is mostly just a sequence of anticlimactic sections lazily knit together.
8th issue: Conclusion
I deem Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann to be an utter failure, not only lacking in a good message but also in the frailty of every single component in this show: its barebones character cast, the idiotic plot decisions and pacing, the non-existent development, the eye-rolling dialogue, the ad nauseam preachiness, contrivances, idiotic ideology and philosophy, forced and erratic characterization, and just about everything, seriously. Of course, we can and should attempt and try to tap upon our potential, that isnt a bad thing—but TTGL's optimism is nearly offensive. There are things that will be outside of our reach and fuck us up without any fix or remorse, no matter what we do; and there will be no messianic figure to figure it out for us or make it work, no "spiral power" or sudden life spins to change your life in a positive way forever; this toxic optimism for human potential and hope makes me sick to my stomach.
Fuck this show, fuck everything it stands for, and fuck everyone who delivers platitudes of insincere, shallow hope for a living.
The only aspect where I believe Gurren Lagann has a small win is in the soundtrack and sometimes the action, yet both are so overwhelmingly crushed by every other bad aspect of this show that I cannot help but give TTGL the minimum score possible. Congratulations to Gainax for getting both a 1 and a 10 from me.
Aug 24, 2024
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
(Anime)
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Not Recommended Funny 
This review contains spoilers.
You see, I completely disagree with Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann's entire ethos and execution; you could even say that it is my antithesis; it is a total contrast to my general thoughts. Hope, comradery and the human spirit are three common themes in fiction, as they directly relate to our day-to-day basis, nature, and overarching history. If you asked me, I personally can't ignore the all-powerful nature of entropy and the overarching cruelty of the universe; existential dread is a core attribute I have installed and something I constantly meander about; thus, I believe hope is supplied best when injected in a ...
Reviewer’s Rating: 1
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Aug 7, 2024
Kusuriya no Hitorigoto
(Anime)
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Not Recommended
This review contains spoilers.
UPDATED VERSION (7/8/2024) Kusuriya no Hitorigoto, also known as The Apothecary Diaries, is an anime that passed under the shadow of Sousou no Frieren due to the gigantic popularity that the latter achieved during its time; but, despite this, it achieved some fame and renown in the community for its ideas and change in an ocean of isekai anime, shounen and action flicks with exhilarating battles. It is without a doubt that The Apothecary Diaries drank a lot from the fame of Sousou no Frieren because of the demographic to which these two shows are addressed and because of certain similarities in some ... genres or cast of characters; I bet that if I were to make a Venn diagram a large part of the audience of SnF would overlap with that of Kusuriya no Hitorigoto, I would not find it strange. So, it doesn't strike me as odd that, like Frieren, The Apothecary Diaries didn't strike me as a big deal. And it's sad, because Kusuriya no Hitorigoto had so much potential to become a truly memorable and captivating show, but it falls due to its own flaws. Lakan and Fengxian's story is probably my favourite part of the show, but even that is pretty defectuous and plagued by a somewhat clumsy execution. The design of the environments and characters is good, it is often appropriate and is characteristic of the era in which The Apothecary Diaries is inspired; you can easily differentiate between concubines of a high caliber and those that are of a lower level. A personal favorite of mine is the scene where the mysterious concubine is seen dancing with the moon from behind; she could be seen engaging in an ethereal and almost ghostly dance, something that added to her mysticism and the mystery surrounding her. Although their personalities and identities are nothing to highlight they are superficially pretty and Kusuriya no Hitorigoto tries to make use of various artistic styles to accentuate comedic or emotional scenes; the animation is decent enough to deliver, it's not particularly special or distinctive with the exception of Lakan's story with Fengxian, which is stylistically notable and both Lakan and Fengxian's seiyuus did a good job in capturing the tone of the scenes. The overall design and stylistic choices are probably the best part of this show. The stories presented in Kusuriya no Hitorigoto are decent, often describing emotional stories in the form of mini-arcs, a la Violet Evergarden, mainly with events mostly caused by the circumstances surrounding the participants of these situations; a very high-tier concubine who in order to meet her youth love she sells herself at a lower price, the poisoning of multiple people in the temple, a substance which is spread throughout the kingdom that is actually poisonous—which was ignorantly used to beautify—and which was the main cause of one of the concubines' discomfort, something that makes the patient enter into a relationship with Maomao, because the latter (of course) is the one who discovered that this was actually a potent poisonous substance and it is from this discovery that it stops being used in the palace, and so on; all of these stories are fine, but they are ruined by the constant urge to include Maomao in every single situation or else it could not be solved: Maomao is the one who uncovers a conspiracy in the kingdom, Maomao is the one who discovers the truth of the double suicide, Maomao changes Jinshi forever, Maomao is the one who behind the scenes managed the circumstances of the girl who wanted to meet her love again, and so on, the author feels the need to insert her in every moment, even in those that should not concern her, so that most of the cases would remain unsolved if it were not for the participation of the apothecary, directly or indirectly; to this show's detriment, some acts in the later half began to be very predictable when you know The Apothecary Diaries' usual shenanigans and patterns. Lakan's case with Fengxian is especially contrived, I'll talk about that later on; but remember this. The dialogue is decent, not anything to highlight; however, Kusuriya no Hitorigoto lacks interesting interactions, valuable introspection, captivating dynamics, well put together comedy and philosophy; although these shortcomings do not greatly affect the viewer's experience or the quality of Kusuriya no Hitorigoto in normal scenes it is certainly something to know before watching this show. Overall it is usually pretty average and unremarkable, but that is a problem in specific parts that require the viewer's immersion; this work tries to cover up this lack of finesse in emotional scenes with music that is intended to evoke feelings towards the viewer; but these scenes are usually not a big enough deal or do not have a remarkable construction, therefore they tend to come off as flat and melodramatic as a whole. Soundtracks in anime are often used as a supplement to amplify or distort certain emotions, if you look beyond the dramatic and loud instrumentals of Kusuriya no Hitorigoto you can witness how all of the story, before accompanied by a fitting soundtrack, often becomes somewhat ridiculous and embarrassing. Does this show seriously wants me to feel concern or pity for a character as utterly flat and inhuman as Maomao is? Or do I have to feel pity for NPC number 342 or sympathize with them? That's the message I get when I get this music playing in the background. The soundtrack can work but it's not used in a well-executed or nicely knitted emotional story with captivating dialogue, so here as a whole it doesn't usually hit in the best way and comes off as out of place; both just crumble down because of the inefficacy of each other. Lakan and Fengxian comes close to being a well-knit story, but it falls apart due to strange characterization, forced melodrama, weird choices and inadequate dialogue. People complain about Kimetsu no Yaiba and Tanjiro as a character, with justification since the world essentially revolves around him; there is no change in the natural order until Tanjiro arrives and hunts down several incredibly powerful demons with asspulls and plot conveniences. Until he arrived the demons had the upper hand over the human race by far and for YEARS not a single demon of the high moons died until the protagonist arrives and changes absolutely everything for the better, doing the most incredible feats in a very short period of time; so much so that the pillars are seen as inept next to him and in a time frame where his victory doesn't really feel rewarding. Tanjiro possesses no disadvantages that weaken him to any substantial extent, and those that do arise are solved by convenience, plot devices or other characters, not valuable development or long-term transformations. In Kusuriya no Hitorigoto until Miss "I'm not good at makeup, *proceeds to do modern makeup at a professional level*" Maomao arrives, tragedies continue to freely happen; she appears and everything begins to control itself in a radically better way. Necessarily for Maomao to succeed and excel everyone else must be reduced to ineptitude, extreme close-mind, idiocy, evilness or to the most bland characterization in anime history; hell, it even makes Lakan betray his own characterization. This goes to an absurd point where I cannot simply suspend my disbelief and let it slide that EVERYONE except for Maomao are seduced by Jinshi and her predatory beauty and that EVERYONE except for Maomao are inept and incapable of doing their tasks properly, discovering facts for themselves or thinking logically. I can't say anything about the rest of the characters since, as I said before, Maomao simplifies and stupidizes them tremendously to the point where they are either very bland or possess nothing that stands out; but Jinshi is basically the stereotypical pretty boy and on many occasions is used as a comedic gag or to demonstrate ad nauseam how stubborn and anti-establishment Maomao is by rejecting and avoiding him. Jinshi is constantly after her even though he has been relentlessly rejected by the apothecary, no one but her is romantically interested in her—remember that Maomao is not like other girls, she rejects the hot guy whos wanted by everyone else—but he constantly craves her and is after her constantly, the perfect eunuch considered the most beautiful follows her around at all times and hours to praise her. Jinshi's control and jealousy are treated as funny XD quirks, which absolutely bewilders me. You see, Maomao is not like the other girls around her, she is hardworking, strong both physically and mentally, intelligent, a good cook, an excellent herbalist, good at treating patients, she knocks out an adult woman with a single slap, she can intimidate people with JUST HER EXPRESSION, she's also a mighty tank! Receiving a metal baton to the face from a man whos easily triple her weight without being AT LEAST knocked out! That's a good defensive build if you ask me. She's also good at research, she is not envious, she is attractive, she is not naïve, she is persuasive, she does not hesitate, she gets whatever she wants, others orbit around her, she is empathetic, she is studious, she is wise, she knows how to bake perfectly, she is good at seduction, she's a better detective than fucking Sherlock Holmes, she gives seasoned concubines advice on sexuality, she knows how to heal wounds and disinfect them properly, she goes against the zeitgeist of her country, she is good at talking to others, she is insightful, she is informed about what surrounds her etc etc etc. She does not allow herself to be oppressed or dominated by the strong oppressive Chinese grip of her time and fights against any order there is in her era; contrary to the other women and men of course, who in comparison to Miss "r/NotLikeOtherGirls" Maomao are seduced by the beauty of Jinshi and her lineage, the rest—except for Maomao—are uneducated or absurdly evil and unable to fully understand the problems that plague their homeland and they are absolute idiots or purely evil scum compared to the protagonist, which is just lame as fuck. The amount of characteristics in which the protagonist is sublime make her an extremely unrelatable character and one that I am unable to empathize with. Even moreso considering the lack of valuable introspection or construction that bedevils Maomao. How am I supposed to feel immersed in Jinshi and Maomao's relationships when both of them are such nothingburgers of a character and when their relationship is tremendously forced and superficial? Is the dramatic sequence in the end of episode 19 supposed to make me feel something at all? > A person dies in front of a group of people: > NPC Nº1: We can't solve this, we must wait for Maomao. > The fucking aliens come to invade the earth, they kill NPC Nº1 > NPC Nº3: We can't solve this!! We must wait for Maomao to outwit them so they abandon the earth!!!! > NPC Nº3: Where's Maomao?? We can't solve this without her!!!! > NPC Nº2: She's cleaning the dishes, healing 334925 concubines at the same time, treating the sick patients, cooking, making herbal treatments, catering poison, punching the craneum of a concubine that disagrees with her, defeating Saitama, putting her freckles out to demonstrate her immaculate beauty, outwitting EVIL and JEALOUS concubines, giving out wisdom to everyone in the palace, healing 592834 wounds, solving 49203 mysteries AND avoiding Jinshi—yeah, that weird creep who seduces everyone except our almighty goddess Maomao—all at the same time, with just one hand and without seeing. > NPC Nº3: We are so doomed!!!!!!!!!!!! NPC_DIALOGUE_3 ERROR She completely changes the order of the palace like no one ever has, to the point where the whole place she is in would fall into disarray and chaos if not for her presence and actions; it goes to an absurd point, Maomao inherently hurts the show as her own character must stupidize or cripple others for her own benefit to a level where I can't suspend my disbelief. Situations must ALWAYS be resolved because of Maomao and her actions, that which is extraneous to her is not resolved or awaits resolution forever because the rest of the characters are stupidized to make her shine; in case a situation is being resolved without her taking the lead role, somehow the author manages to insert Maomao so that in such a way all goes well under the tutelage and watchfulness of the protagonist, criminal cases and tragedies would skyrocket if it were not for her. Woah another case that was resolved by Galaxy Brain Maomao! It not only feels unsatisfying, but also utterly boring and predictable. People who disagree with Maomao are soon disproved or shown by this anime to be ridiculously malicious, unintelligent or excessively inept people; such instances where Maomao believes something and everyone says, with a smug expression of utter disbelief "Nah, I don't think Maomao is right this time" and they don't know that she is always right in one way or another, the author wants to make her shine constantly, but it is such a strong brilliance that it blinds and obscures the other characters completely. It reminds me in some ways of Hollywood films or shows that create female protagonists to feed the hordes hungry for female representation in mainstream media, but instead through ineptitude or corporate malice they create the most boring, stupid and inhuman strong woman stereotype; a protagonist who can never be wrong, who is completely inhuman, devoid of personality or interesting traits, who is good in every way or talent and who ruins the rest of the show by her mere presence; this is Maomao, with her presence she drags the rest of the characters and aspects of this show into a maelstrom in which she is the center and everything else is obliterated. > Random Concubine: Well, Maomao I disagree with y- > The sky gains a darker tint and gray clouds soon stand on top of the celestial firmament; the sun disappears and it starts to rain > Everyone in the character cast, the author, the anime itself and everything or everyone: YOU SHOULD KILL YOURSELF, NOW! > A thunder soon falls in the concubine, burning her to a crisp > Everyone applauds, cherishing the all-powerful goddess Maomao for resolving everything in the palace! I have seen Kusuriya no Hitorigoto being described as a "self-insert power fantasy" but many discredit this criticism by arguing that the protagonist lives in a society which actively oppresses her; however, they ignore that this is where the power fantasy actually flourishes, the rise of an outcast, by having Maomao turn the system over its head and outshine the rest of the character cast without any actual and notable reprisal, efforts or relevant consequences, her enemies being presented in the most idiotic way ever AND having the most beautiful guy in the palace drool over her. She is taken to the royal palace and then receives a bunch of compliments, a better place to experiment with her favorite things, she's able to exercise her hobby and she beats down and outwits everyone who disagrees with her; the anime might want to paint a mature picture of oppression, but I can't help but feel like the anime contradicts itself when doing all of this. When consequences soon come to her life they do not matter at all and only serve as a plot device to further ascend her position as a concubine and make her—in a very artificial way—closer to Mr "Pretty Boy" Jinshi. Nevertheless, the show doesn't do a good job in delving into the circumstances that surround Maomao and other characters; it doesn't take the necessary time for the viewer to immerse themselves into this world and as such every tragedy in this show falls flat on its face. When Maomao finally has to pass through a complicated event (a dismissal from the palace and having to say goodbye to everyone, which is done in a non-gratifying way) the Kusuriya no Hitorigoto Ken gets all depressed and quirky in a corner and wants to get her back, again slobbering all over her all-powerful goddess—you know... this show just ISNT THE SAME without dear quirky waifu Xiaomao!—and the show decides to turn its tide towards getting the protagonist back, when this could've been an interesting opportunity to see Maomao fight and struggle against hell and back in China's deepest corners and most degrading jobs just to ascend to her previous position again, you know, to flesh out her character and give her & her relationship with Jinshi more depth, after all, love and pain are two sides of the same coin, sisters even; but nah, the anime decides that this is too much work. She goes in her new job and her love interest is in the corner of the restaurant shes working at, waiting to be grasped by Maomao-sama's holy light! Not even one episode with consequences hitting her that the show goes OUT OF ITS WAY to bring her back; our protagonist has clearly heard his voice before, but this show needs to also make the fanservicey moment of Maomao with Jinshi getting closer to her just so girlfailures or boyfailures looking at this show can self-insert on her or him. EVERYONE else in the place is looking at them, truly a dream fantasy! When she goes back to the palace, with her makeup and ornaments ready, EVERYONE is astonished at her beauty and they look at her, drool coming out of their mouths, quickly interrupting their tasks to take a glance at the goddess; of course, Jinshi gets jealous and tells them to hurry up. OH and she gets to work in the pretty guy's house AND she also ascends to a higher position on her job, all thanks to Generic Pretty Boy thirsting over her and to the anime clearly pandering to her. BRO is with his fucking unbuttoned shirt in front of her, you really can't make this shit up; all of this just after a tasteless joke about Jinshi getting raped (someone took advantage of him after sneaking in aphrodisiacs), talk about a real good joke timing! She arrives to her new workplace and of course theres some FILTHY vixen girls who are envious of her. These aren't real people, these are archetypical NPCs fabricated so Maomao can be even more idolized, it is such a cheap technique. The synergy between Jinshi and Maomao feels utterly artificial due to these type of tricks that the author pulls off; both Maomao and Jinshi are bad characters and their quirks grow old and cringe. Remember how I said that, despite being nicely depicted, Lakan and Fengxian's story is generally pretty contrived? I'll just copy and paste my rough comments on it: "The outcome of episode 23 was pretty obvious from the get-go, it was clear that Maomao was going to win the Go game somehow with her convoluted plan and that they were going to play the "ACKSHUALLY he isn't a bad guy" card without putting actual work in his redemption arc; are we supposed to forget all of the shit he has done? Why did he agree to such rules on the Go game when they were clearly biased against him? For such supposedly clever characters the miscommunication is insane; all of his life has been purely based on dry, hard logic; seeing others as chess pieces yet he can't put two and two together on anything regarding Fengxian and his relationship with her. Yes, the Go and Chess metaphors aren't subtle and Fengxian clearly was outside his "seeing everyone as pieces" mindspace but you'd think that someone as Lakan would find a way to fit such an irregular unit into his normal thinking scheme. Perhaps making her the queen; the second piece with the upmost importance on the chess game, maybe even making her the King, as she'd be the piece with the upmost importance on his current life situation. This way he'd be able to construct something and get away; but instead he gets driven away by passion? It feels so out of character. Also, moreover in relation to the Go game: NOBODY gets THAT drunk THAT fast lol. I feel like his backstory could have been constructed and told better in the span of many episodes instead of it all being shoehorned into a single episode of so much exposition; I get that there were some signs, but the amount of information we suddenly receive about him makes it hard for me to digest all of it and feel anything for this guy; maybe his character would have been benefitted from receiving more scenes from his PoV and internal monologues? Moreover, if a soldier and the ghost-like concubine could manage to reunite again, how couldnt two of the most clever characters in the entire kingdom do that too? You'd think they'd find a way, especially considering how both of them are so dry and they don't drive themselves purely into passion; there's always at least sprinkles of cold inference even when they were having sex. Both of them not finding a plan to get away is insane in my honest opinion; not even a semblance of a thought process, yet they are depicted as so clever and cunning. I believe it is especially contrived that all of it turns this way, as it kind of betrays Lakan's character. I'm also surprised at the lack of consequences or judgement towards the old hag who allowed all of this through pure ineptitude or malice. You'd also think that Lakan and Fengxian would be able to outsmart the granny, but nah. Regardless of whos the "guilty" one in their case I think that doesn't matter, both are absolute goofballs and this is the upbringings they have brought upon themselves. I'm sorry if that sounds rough, but it is just unthinkable on how none of them communicated or planned anything in any way whatsoever, later resulting into such a contrived drama regarding Maomao's family. An insane amount of miscommunication, strange out of character moments and weird interactions plague this episode, which if executed better could have been maybe a more endearing backstory. Maybe they could have executed a plan but it ended up badly, turning into even more of a tragedy? I'm not sure, but as it stands now, it's pretty contrived." After recognizing the usual patterns, Kusuriya no Hitorigoto becomes such a terribly boring and predictable show; quite sad, since this show could've been much more if executed better; being easily foreseeable and bland is a problem for an anime which aims to show the development of a mystery or case. Maomao quickly grows to be the best pharmacist, doctor and soon-enough to be everyones favorite 2quirky4me, perfect and horribly plain waifu—Frieren has a good opponent, someone is as bland as her!—I'm incapable of ever seeing Maomao as an engaging main character, moreso of an inhumanly, no introspection perfect individual with whom I can't relate nor someone I can't empathize with, as I'm very imperfect, so are you, so is everyone else, while Maomao receives everything she wants, gets compliments for everything she does, gets no real consequences for her acts and if someone dares insult her they are quickly proven to be ill-willed, everyone who disagrees with her is proven wrong or shown as outright malicious or, in the case of Lakan, they have to ruin their character to glorify her even more. She is seemingly perfect at every talent that is needed in the temple; the doctor is a complete coward and cannot dissect or analyze a dead body thus Maomao, a botanist at profession, has to do it; the concubines are sexually inept so Maomao has to teach them and much more; how has this place endured the test of time before the all-mighty protagonist graced them? It cannot stand on itself without the protagonist's aid, it is so absurd! Kusuriya no Hitorigoto mostly fails and it's really hard for me to get completely immersed in this show because of its faults and questionable writing or choices. It's ironic how this show ends while proudly flaunting its deepest flaw: Maomao herself. Of course she strikes a perfect dance in episode 24 like she's peak Shakira or something; I was more enthralled with Lakan and Fengxian's case, so returning to these two vapid characters (Maomao and Jinshi) is just mindnumbingly boring. And the old hag doesn't receive any consequences despite being a clear aggravant in that convoluted case between the strategist and the concubine, which is particularly astounding to me. It's practically like this anime is Maomao's hostage, perhaps Kusuriya no Hitorigoto has always just been only meta commentary on how an author can be dominated by their own creation.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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May 10, 2024 Recommended
Does not contain spoilers.
It was the 60's and Japan was having a surge in leftist movements; with this new flourishing of the left in Japan came organizations that sought to do whatever it took to make communism emerge in Japan and take over the reins of the asian country. Violent protests and terrorism were some of their tools to sow discontent in the territory they wanted to control and many of these events were broadcasted live on the televisions of millions of japanese citizens; death was a common thing and violence was spread in every corner of the hectic Japan of the 60s. Inspired by ... the political movements, the bustling and lively Japanese urbanity, the crime, poverty, the riots and more, Katsuhiro Ôtomo created his work called “Akira”. This manga quickly became a success in Japan due to its violence and unique visuals compared to other works of its time, so much so that Ôtomo was soon offered an animated adaptation of his magnum opus. The untouchable classic from the land of the rising sun, Akira, is a product of its time. The cyberpunk themed Neo-Tokyo present in this creation is clearly a striking and highly stylized representation of the Japan of the 60s-90s and the whole zeitgeist that dominated the country at that time. A dense urbanity filled with questionable people, bikers, stressed out workers, criminals, sketchy politicians and so much more; with the vast humanity present in Akira's cities one could say that these are ecosystems made up of countless tons of concrete, iron, lights and people. This film begins with an iconic scene of Kaneda and his motorcycle gang chasing a group loosely referred to as “The Clowns” through various Japanese districts; the viewer will quickly notice something that is highly praised in this work, that is of course its sublime animation and the incredible soundtrack that makes up this film. Akira's impeccable, handdrawn animation to this day stands up gloriously and looks newer than even recently made works. The tremendously fluid movements of each character, the dazzling lights contrasting divinely with the dreary constructions, watching a character move while everything in the background also possesses a dynamic and fluidity, a color palette uniquely created for filming Akira, the grotesque violence expressed in an incredible way and much more creates a tremendously admirable, charismatic and technically impressive composition. The immense ambition of Akira, the technical leap it made in its creation, the resonance viewers had in relating the events of Akira to real life, the influence it had on various works, artists, writers, directors and the enormous box-office success it was—even surpassing such animated giants as Tomb of the Fireflies—makes Akira perhaps one of the most influential and visionary films of all time. The cast of characters is very simple, they are not particularly sophisticated or special but they have some growth throughout the play and they fulfill their role, reflecting the criminal reality of Japan in those times; a conflictive youth already altered by their time and which is not supported by the institutions that should be at their sides. Shima Tetsuo is a boy who is part of Kaneda's gang, from the first minutes he is seen carrying an obsession towards his friend's motorcycle and the ability he has to master it, his growth as a character throughout the film is notable. Kaneda Shoutarou is a carefree boy, Tetsuo's childhood friend, who lives a daily life of juvenile crime and vigorous adolescence with his gang and group of friends, soon to have his whole world turned upside down. Shikishima is the colonel of the Japanese army at the time and his ideals are constantly challenged in the film. Besides the incredible animation, Akira has a stupendously unique and incredible soundtrack that accompanies the film perfectly and gives it unique tinges of tremendous spirituality and deep metaphysics that accompany the dense Japan of that era. Religious and spiritual aspects are not uncommon in this work, on several occasions you can see references to religious idols, Buddhist symbols, spiritual worship towards the possessors of psychic abilities and more; it is not surprising, because in a place ruined by crime and despair many seek hope in religion or spirituality, often than not their vulnerability being monetized by malicious people. The music in this work represents these aspects, somehow dystopian but spiritual, with incomprehensible chants, traditional instrumentation with intense percussion, electronic notes and more. It is a soundtrack that truly elevates this film and makes it even better. Akira is not only a technical tour de force, it clearly denotes a symbolic representation of the nuclear power that Japan had to experience in the years prior to the creation of this work; from the first second the film begins with an explosion that destroys an entire city, with an extreme resemblance to the impact of a nuclear bomb, devastating everything that was old Tokyo. The scientists in the film play and experiment with a power of which they do not know the limit and that is capable of a highly destructive force. It is a fitting representation of the devastating potential that mankind manufactured and what it caused in civilization by its use, a complete destruction of cities, human loss, adverse effects on the survivors and the emergence of a dystopia. NEO-TOKYO IS ABOUT TO E X P L O D E Certainly, not only Neo-Tokyo exploded, but also all of popular culture and entertainment as a whole.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Apr 7, 2024
Sousou no Frieren
(Anime)
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Not Recommended Funny
This review contains spoilers.
The utter lack of identity this show exhibits is absolutely bewildering and perhaps I was expecting this to improve within the second half, but I was wrong; there is a severe lack of any substance whatsoever in every single pore of this anime and it is completely forgettable. Sousou no Frieren played a safe formula and won the jackpot. They are still the exact same fucking person after 25 episodes, you can literally define each character with a single sentence. Something can be simple yet still be distinctive, yet Frieren is basic and it doesn't have any soul or substance; there is ... nothing to grasp in this anime that evokes even a semblance of interest. This show doesn't take into account just how complicated humanity can be especially in a fantasy world like this, all of the people Frieren meets throughout her path have one-dimensional motivations and are always up to help Frieren and her group, which is just absolutely ridiculous and unrealistic; except demons, who are big bad evil guys of course. Demons are such bland antagonists for which genocide is the only counter of course; the author really went out of their way to lazily write such boring characters, they are DND evil-personified royalty scumbags who trick other species and then BETRAY them! So fun and thought provoking. This last arc a la Hunter Exam is completely unnecessary and only serves a purpose for the people who, understandably enough, were bored of the absolute slog this series is; why Frieren doesn't just go through the lock, considering she defeated the fucking Demon King with her group and is one of the, if not THE strongest, mage in the entire planet? She could just blast absolutely everyone that crossed her path like she had always done, there's absolutely no need to do this battle tournament bullshit if she just talked about it, or if any of her allies mentioned it, or if there was a minimal amount of valuable communication, which Frieren, as a whole and to be honest, completely lacks. Dialogue in Frieren is sloggy and useless, oftentimes it will feel like you're listening to two brick walls talking to each other; it lacks any insight or interest that might come with good and valuable communication. If there isn't a strong-enough emotional basis in Frieren to grow sympathy and become a slow-burner, dramatic character development show, what is the identity of this anime? The combat isn't as frantic or notable so it cannot be a battle shounen either, Sousou no Frieren does not exhibit an interesting-enough fantasy world full of mysteries, so it cannot exactly be an exploration show about the value of a long journey; Frieren doesn't have witty dialogue or particularly great humour—beyond repeating the same gag a thousand times without any variation—so it can't be an effective comedy show. The romance between Frieren and Himmel is bland as fuck and I absolutely despise that he essentially works as an emotional prop or messiah and Frieren is essentially the damsel in distress that needs emotional points throughout this entire thing, so it doesn't work as romance either. So with this said: What is Sousou no Frieren's identity? What does this anime want? I do not know, I really don't; this is one of the biggest problems with it: SnF doesn't know what it wants. It goes from being a WoW secondary mission simulator to a cheap copy of the Hunter Exam arc, meanwhile no valuable progress is done for the characters' identity. Funnily enough, the show who lacks uniqueness isn't able to develop an unique identity for their own character cast. Can ANY of these characters express any emotion beyond a boring emotionless face? Can ANY of them express any emotion on their dialogue? Or say anything that I can minimally care about? It tastes so much like air. This show is completely inoffensive and riskless, completely devoid of any identity and inherently soulless. It can't be an emotional journey where we watch Frieren learn, as Frieren's progress feels artificial when it is purely fed by flashbacks, cliché quotes and plot conveniences. SoF seems directionless, like it's completely lost. The last arc of this show suffers from a dragged on pace, they have to explain E V E R Y S I N G L E T H I N G—even irrelevant details—before actually doing it, they have to E X P L A I N C A R E F U L L Y irrelevant shit such as history of magic in the middle of an intense moment such as a battle; oftentimes in the form of a flashback, of course. We have to see these random ass dudes running for their lifes in the middle of an important scene where they are strategizing, why?? I literally do not care about them. I already know Frieren is smiling because this whole thing reminds her of the skirmishes she did with her group on a dungeon, you don't need to slap a flashback and completely break the scene, this exposition dump in the form of a memory is absolutely uncalled for. Exposition and the use of flashbacks can work in complex topics or when cleverly-used, but here it completely ruins the pace and feels out of place; let ME deduce why Frieren is smiling based on my experience on watching the show. This is a constant pattern that is repeated throughout all of Sousou no Frieren: > Frieren sees an old person > Boring ass dialogue ensues > flashback!!! this actually relates in some way to her original party group!!! > 2sad4me melodrama > Frieren sees something, anything > Boring ass dialogue ensues (that is constant within this show) > She relates it back to her party > Mr. Gary "Himmel" Stu tells her everything she needs to hear and everything that is perfect for that specific situation!! He is really wise and definitely isnt just an emotional Macguffin for Frieren to grow in cheap emotion points. > Himmel dicksuckery shenanigans ensues. he's the worst character on the entire show by far btw > A cross-eyed Frieren is lying on the ground, drooling and having an epileptic attack; her eyes haphazardly inspecting the sky > "Is Frieren alright?" asked Sein, worried that his companion could've been going through a tough time > "Yeah, she's on Himmel's flashback, she'll be back in a minute." assured Fern, she was already used to this. Do you like comedy? I do, sometimes; comedy is subjective, thus it might be funny to some but holy shit I believe the author doesn't know anything beyond the same comedy-gag ad nauseam. There isn't anything witty, to deduce or interesting about this show's humour; it is "haha shes in the mimic again lulz" for ten-thousand times or Fern throwing a pouting tantrum and punching our shounen boi. I guess it gets slapped in for fanservice motives or to accelerate the pace of this absolute snail of an anime to acceptable amounts; same with the action, I feel like the author assimilated that this was absolutely horrific and decided to put some action in the last arc, which I honestly appreciate, I don't know if I could stand 12 more episodes about World of Warcraft secondary quests and nothingburger characters peppered with melodrama. I bet that if you write "Create boring-ass plain World of Warcraft secondary quest" in ChatGPT it would bring a plot point fit to Sousou no Frieren's standards. Perhaps if it were 12 episodes it'd be less obnoxious and bland, because watching these bland archetypes talk with nobodies constantly was drawn out to absurdity. It truly becomes a nothing-fiesta when every dialogue sounds like it was AI-generated. There is no different way to approach each character, dialogue, action, expression; there's no nuance, nothing. Frieren meeting kid Himmel for the first time is so absurdly convenient its cheesy; of ALL the forests in the fucking world, in THIS specific moment, in THIS specific night AND day of the year was where Frieren met Himmel for the first time. The relationship between Frieren and Himmel annoys me to my core, it is a prophet and damsel in distress relationship where Frieren cannot realize anything without having it spoonfed by Himmel thru endless memories; guess what, there's many times in life where you have to do shit by yourself and there will not be anyone to tell you what you need to do; there will be inmense doubt, conflicts and sometimes suffering. Their connection is rotten to the core and consists on a flashbacks-based savior complex from Himmel, he MUST be the one who teaches Frieren emotion, he MUST be Frieren's love interest; it feels so wrong and forced, the rest of the group are just spectators of this degenerate link between a savior and a broken or lost one. I still haven't talked enough shit about the character cast, which oftentimes turns into one-dimensional archetypes, devoid of any charisma and very lackluster identities, which is a huge problem in a show such as Frieren. Twenty-eight episodes yet Fern is still absolutely insufferable, Stark has no personality traits beyond being a shounen boy & Fern's love interest and boxing-bag, Sein appears to have been absolutely thanos'd from reality, Übel is your crazy bitch archetype—who is the only one that thankfully puts some spice in this slog—and Himmel... oh, fuck Himmel. I really cannot describe just how much I dislike him honestly; he's the core on my main disdain towards this show. He's a Gary Stu who's entire personality traits are being Frieren's would-be love interest and a hero. Yeah thats about it, he's a blue-haired Ken with no interesting traits whatsoever; the worst thing by far is his discount-ass motivational phrases which do nothing but artificially inflate Frieren's emotional points, oftentimes through flashbacks ad nauseam, something that feels cheap, frequently pace-breaking and bland; he's essentially an emotional deus ex machina, whenever you feel like Frieren is having a hard emotive situation Himmel will be there to spit some motivational stock phrases so Frieren has a huge epiphany and the show will be like "See? They were truly one for the other!" It feels so forced and disgusting when he plays this messiah superman-esque role. Heiter is "haha le drunk guy XD" comedy relief in the heroes' group who occasionally pukes motivational slop a la Himmel. Eisen is strong dwarf who teaches shounen boy and theres not much more about him. Who in the fuck is Methode? Oh, that one girl in the exam; okay I don't care, who even cares? Who are all these people? Why are they so completely plain? Fern is still absolutely insufferable, a complete brat and a Frieren copy—and being cared for under Frieren's bosom isn't a good excuse—having both Frieren and Fern talk to each other is like clashing two rocks with each other. It is STILL the same shit after 25 episodes and hasnt changed a thing. The main trio is lazily conformed and their thoughts are vaguely explored; without a semblance of interesting dynamics or substantial thoughts. Relationships tend to be notoriously complex, depending on endless layers of emotions, interests and more; Sousou no Frieren simplifies this in a lazy way and the author only dares to make straightforward, boring interactions and links between characters. Finding any interesting traits in these characters feels like trying to find a penny in the atlantic ocean. Frieren is an elf femcel who gets punched ad nauseam by emotional planitudes and nothingburger motivational phrases. Have you ever read these classic happy-go-lucky phrases like a la "Living is good! Keep living!"? That's what Himmel constantly slaps in your face in every scene he appears in. This show is oftentimes praised by its emotionality yet the characters are barely human, 90% of times the characters' expressions look like Moai statues without any emotionality whatsoever (with no offense to moai statues, they are pretty rad in comparison to this blandfest). Many excuse Fern's absolute nothingburger identity through being cared by Frieren's teachings; however, this is no excuse, I still fail to comprehend why shes completely devoid of any notable traits. You can be teached by someone your entire life and STILL derail from their ideas, morality, teachings, etcetera; hearing Frieren and Fern talk might as well be two Frierens talking to each other, just lame as fuck. There's also the vague and plain worldbuilding which doesn't get better: > Welcome to village numba 1 Frieren-sama, thank you for staying; here's my sad story for you to hear. FLASHBACKS ENSUES BOOM > Welcome to village numba 2 Frieren-sama, thank you for staying; here's my sad story for you to hear. FLASHBACKS ENSUES BOOM > Welcome to village numba 3 Frieren-sama, thank you for staying; here's my sad story for you to hear. FLASHBACKS ENSUES BOOM ad nauseam > Thank you for hearing my sad story and helping me, I will help you. > Thank you for hearing my sad story and helping me, I will help you. > Thank you for hearing my sad story and helping me, I will help you. ad nauseam > Welcome to magic city. As you can see it is full of magic; betcha you didn't expect that. Is there anything beyond this? Nope, it's magic city, why in the fuck would you expect something more? But I guess shounen fans just can't understand this immaculate piece of peak fiction and the symbolism behind Frieren's feet, they want skibidi brainrot lobotomykaisen fast paced spoonfed everything, they have a low attention span and can't stand HEAVY and SLOW shows like Frieren... nevermind the fact that I do enjoy slow-paced media and still found Sousou no Frieren to be a complete slog and a restaurant of nothing meals, despite what the Frieren fanbase might tell you, not everyone who dislikes Frieren are skibidi ipad kids. In a show like this character development is deemed to be a very important aspect yet there's virtually no advancements towards anything resembling development, and if it happens, it is completely irrelevant. The arc a la Hunter Exam doesn't work when every battle is fought by pokerfaced nobodies with not even an inch of personality, they fail completely at even evoking a semblance of emotion in me when it just looks like they dont wanna be in this anime. Watching Frieren characters fight between each other looks like when you were going to do a class presentation in a topic you absolutely didn't care about; that's Frieren battles in a nutshell. How can I care if they don't seem to care? Where's the emotion in these expresionless androids? Where's the emotion in their ChatGPT dialogue and fights? Where's the emotion that is so praised about this anime? Wait, before delivering flashbacks, BOOM LAZER, MAGICAL BULLSHIT; now, let's haphazardly introduce the flashback. After all they are supposed to be humans, of complicated thoughts and intricate morality yet they seem to lack anything of sorts, instead looking like a reptilian trying to replicate superficial philosophy, feeliings and humanity; it's tough when a show that's supposed to feel human and emotional instead feels like E.T trying to make a personal story. Frieren and Fern vs Frieren clone in the last arc is supposed to be a huge climax yet it feels like nothing, there are no stakes I already know they are going to wreck the shit out of it; especially if you slap a fucking flashback on me where it essentially praises humanity and their advancement towards dominating magic, soon to be equal or even surpass elves—of course, it refers to Fern—just like that stakes are completely gone. As a whole package, Sousou no Frieren might be the most ambitionless anime I've seen in a long time, only carried by the talents in Madhouse, who I applaud for improving this blandfest and jack of all trades turned into a devoid master of none.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Feb 8, 2024
Shingeki no Kyojin
(Anime)
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Mixed Feelings Funny
This review contains minor spoilers.
It is clear that I have come very late to the hype-train of Shingeki no Kyojin, years later in fact; I don't know why but this show never quite caught my attention and I only started to get interested when the show had already blown up the anime and manga community in every possible way and I can see why; Shingeki no Kyojin is quite fun to watch, as I have finished it in just 3 days and not only this, it also has an animation that surely revolutionized 2014 in a similar way to Kimetsu no Yaiba in more-modern days. ... Watching the episodes of the anime and feeling full with an atmosphere of grandiosity and mostly-frenetic action scenes, with a tone that at the time was perhaps more innovative and which scratched the vein of more grotesque or dark atmosphere that was beginning to grow in anime fans. It's an exciting show to watch, but of course it's an anime that despite executing certain elements well, Shingeki no Kyojin does other things..., not so well, I'd say. The first thing you notice when you start watching Shingeki no Kyojin is its simple and bland cast of characters, with Eren Jaeger, who possesses an identity characteristic of shonen protagonists; short fused, short-tempered and always in a hurry, who tends to shout most things out loud and is not very smart in the way he goes about things. Mikasa Ackermann, who is surely the worst character in the entire anime by far and consists purely of a tremendously bland Mary Sue composed of only one trait; protecting Eren at all costs, her identity is Eren and everything about her is Eren, to the point where she seems more like an ornament of the protagonist than a separate character; not only this, Mikasa actively damages the series due to her being so strong in combat that she makes the others look like complete useless dweebs next to her (with the exception of Levi). Armin is the classic fragile guy incapable of fighting and in charge of logistics, perhaps the best and most realistic character all in all, he's a decent interpretation of the wimpy character archetype; the other characters are completely one-dimensional (Annie being blonde Mikasa and Sasha, whose entire identity is based on two comedic gags) and their personality consists of a single trait repeated throughout the series, and I'm confident that this anime would be much better without Mikasa. In a series like Shingeki no Kyojin something important is the mystery and emotion; but the climax of the series is an absolutely silly and obvious revelation that rather than surprise me the only thing it did was to make me think "Seriously?? Was it the most obvious thing all-along??" since my brain had automatically dismissed it due to it being clearer than water, it's a mystery solved in a very anticlimactic, goofy way and the ending of this anime (and climax of the series) is one of the worst I've ever seen, with a character doing something out of what his identity means and a weird representation of rage; imagine that someone kills compatriots and even your own family-members, completely destroys and pulverizes them in front of your own eyes without you being able to do anything, you have the opportunity to kill this individual but they just start to cry before you give them the final hit, do I have too much cynicism to think that something like that would not stop such a strong emotion as a completely unleashed rage? And more so when they are surely crocodile tears and sadness at being captured, not true regret. That scene felt more like something out of character and an asspull or plot armor to keep the series going, plus cheap emotion that reminds me of the flashbacks Kimetsu no Yaiba suddenly shoves in to make you "empathize" with the demons, it is a very disappointing and cheap ending. A positive point of Shingeki no Kyojin is, as I said before, its tone of epic grandeur and dynamic action scenes that in its time were surely top-tier and that even today look good. The anime manages to capture the viewer's interest through its worldbuilding and manages to make the audience question various mysteries presented by the show; from the origin of the titans to the exterior beyond the walls, the first season definitely feels like an appetizer before the heavyweights that are the rest of the seasons. Like ingredients for a recipe, I can see why Shingeki blew up the community so much; for in 2014 it was the equivalent of Demon Slayer in pure action frenzy and dark setting, watching Levi spin through the air with the two blades should have been the equivalent of watching the sun dance in Kimetsu no Yaiba, an act of pure style and for their times they are impressive audio-visually and have aged like wine; but as it stands, it is a show that I can't rate very high due to its weak cast of characters and its utterly-ridiculous final mystery, with a disappointing climax for a series of this style.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jan 13, 2024
Jujutsu Kaisen 2nd Season
(Anime)
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Not Recommended Funny
This review contains minor spoilers.
Everyone told me to wait for the Shibuya Incident arc, that it is one of the best arcs in shounen and I have also seen people comparing it to the Chimera Ant arc from Hunter x Hunter 2011 (something I could almost consider an insult to Togashi's work). It is to no one's surprise that the second season of Jujutsu Kaisen retains many of the first season's flaws. It is still a work devoid of any substance and it contains many notable tone problems; when it tries to be dark it is ruined by the ridiculous monster design and the absolutely ... idiotic decisions that the characters make, when it tries to be funny it is instead totally cringe and ineffective. It just feels so cheap, bland and shallow; Gege tries to be deep and psychological in this second season with Gojo and Geto's relationship, Geto's metamorphosis and the Hidden Inventory arc but it fails tremendously and instead turns into a show of mediocrity, superficiality and edgyness which I will talk about later. Of course, I cannot do a negative review without talking about Walmart Kakashi akka "Satoru Gojo" who receives a nice power-up to defeat an enemy; this is pretty annoying, he was a character with a lot of future to participate actively on other arcs and this is what I expected before starting this season, but the guy was dispatched in less than three episodes because Gojo gets a powerup out of nowhere with Hollow Purple; so sad bro, you were a victim of the white-haired generic prettyboy, the Gojo fapping session starts here and expands all across the Shibuya Incident arc; where despite being on a precarious situation he manages to still be asslicked by the rest of the character cast every single fucking episode. This review will be somewhat long and painful to write. First circle of Hell: Animation It is obviously not bad, in fact it is amazing; this is due to the fact that MAPPA has every worker on extra hours and working like cattle constantly so the studio can get more revenue from this thing without any substance, of course the animation will be very pretty.., but I still have a complaint, am I the only person who feels that this animation has no soul or inspiration whatsoever? Yeah, yes, it looks objectively cool, but I feel nothing watching Gojo take off his blindfold and reveal his eyes, I feel nothing watching the fights, I feel nothing watching the domain expansions, I feel nothing but utter apathy; there is no sense of any kind of soul behind the pretty things I'm watching, something that was a similar complaint to the one I had in my review of Oshi no Ko. This feels like you're putting lipstick, long eyelashes and pretty makeup on a robot that's constantly fighting another robot, to the point that by the time I watched the fifth fight in a row with pretty animation I was getting bored out of my mind, there is nothing in these fights that interests me. The choreography of the fights is weak and mostly consists of who can throw the strongest firework at each other instead of truly interesting and unforced tactics (I'll talk about what happens in the Shibuya arc later). Still, this is in the first circle of hell as it is obviously the strongest thing about this anime and it's still objectively nice and good, there are fights (especially in the second half of the anime, towards the end and climax of Shibuya Incident) that are visually spectacular and it is obvious theres inmense amounts of effort put into them. Second circle of Hell: Worldbuilding Jujutsu Kaisen's world is completely empty; yes, the worldbuilding in this anime is tremendously lame; the powers that be of Jujutsu Kaisen are explained on very silly and superficial ways, it does not feel like an actual world and it is more like randomly-chosen scenarios in which the characters fight, explain or resolve their problems on immature ways. It just does not feel like theres a true world or deep scenario surrounding our characters, there is no explanation or substantial attention to detail in how the authoritarian orders work in the Jujutsu schools or how the government acts in Tokyo at that moment, in the Shibuya Incident arc I was constantly asking to myself "how would high ranks of the government respond to a terrorist attack of such a big scale?" "why arent there any militaristic or police forces moving in when the attack is so notoriously obvious?" Even if they cannot do anything against the curse users or the monsters they can still help people out and let the Jujutsu sorcerers fight without having to care for harming innocent people. The worldbuilding feels extremely vague, the power system on Jujutsu Kaisen is still pretty basic and the curses are bland and not-interesting. It does not feel like there is a world beyond what the characters can see or something that surrounds them, there is not much else to say. Jujutsu Kaisen's Japan feels extremely artificial and it isn't more than a green screen or a chroma where the entirety of the plot happens, there is no depth or substance. Third circle of Hell: Atmosphere and tone The dark atmosphere that Gege tries to settle many times is ruined by his obsession to try and make his characters look "cool" constantly. Jujutsu Kaisen at some point becomes a competition of "who throws the nicest-looking fireworks" throwing powers everywhere, doing idiotic stuff because it is cool.., etc, it is extremely cheesy and I couldn't help but roll my eyes and get stressed because of the tenth time in which Gege used his lame excuse of a character cast and basically screamed at my face "LOOK HOW COOL MY CHARACTER IS WOW, LOOK AT HIS POWERS, IMPRESSIVE YOU HAVE TO BE IMPRESSED WOW" until it just became tedious and boring. This show is also sold as a shounen with a dark atmosphere and tone, yet it fails in establishing one correctly due to what I said in the first place and the ridiculous monster design; yet it isn't the worst thing in this anime and in some points the atmosphere is quite decent, like the discussion between Fushiguro Toji and Geto Suguru in the weird japanese-like halls or the big haunted house in episode one.., up until this last one is ruined by Satoru Gojo, of course, as he has an innate talent to ruin every single scene or plot that is minimally interesting. Fourth circle of Hell: Characters In this case, the worst circle of hell and the worst thing in the entire anime. One of the things that annoyed me in the Hidden Inventory arc is Suguru Geto's idiotic character transformation; he is taking a shower alone, he starts to say pseudo-intellectual nonsense and CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!!! He suddenly becomes Jujutsu Kaisen's Adolf Hitler in basically 3 or 4 episodes; this is not character development yall, this is just a cheap and forced character metamorphosis so the plot can advance, you can't make me think that this guy goes from one pole to the other, completely radical only because one of his fellow workers died in a job where older people should be respected and because he failed a mission; have you not seen thousands of situations like this? Don't you think that people like you, in very emotionally-hard jobs like this, should have developed coping mechanisms to deal with work and emotional problems? Doctors, morgue workers, volunteer people in poor places, fireworkers, military, etc, workers on these lines of labour have ways to face problems on their work; Geto did not care at all, he suddenly decided to transform into Jujutsu Kaisen's third reich for an absolutely idiotic thing. Suguru Geto is a terrible villain, badly written and without motivations that inspire the viewer to be genuinely interested on him, he is your classic cliché BBEG who decides to become a fucking CULT LEADER and do a fucking massacre for dumb stuff that occured in the past. This guy decided to go thru wisest path and kill more than half of the population, become an authoritarian imbecile cult-leader and practice eugenics, it seems that he never thought that massacring most of the human population and only let a handful of people alive is a bad idea. Wow a girl you rescued from a hostage mission died, who cares? Like in the first season, Satoru Gojo is a character who leaves a lot to be desired and someone who Gege constantly puts in your face to try and impress you (in my case failing tremendously) with his OP powers and cringe attitude. Gojo has always been a terrible teacher and badly-written character, I will never understand people who like to pretend that hes a deep character. I particularly remember one scene in which Gojo could have ended the Shibuya Incident arc in only three episodes.., but the plot needs to advance and he decides to make the dumbest decisions known to mankind, an enemy is running away from Gojo and he decides to fucking WALK; bro, he is running away please just RUN AND CATCH HIM, it just doesnt make any sense, it doesnt even happen because of his mental state since hes able to carefully analyze his environment and the battle conditions, it is a scene that insults your intelligence; he could have killed all of the bad guys right there with ease, escaped from that situation and could have went vs Geto, yeah thats it Shibuya ends in fucking three episodes. Episode 9 is one of the worst episodes, since it is essentially a Gojo asslicking session where every character simps for him, saying how powerful he is and yadda yadda, of course all of the fights he has Gojo completely destroys them and he can only be defeated with a deus ex machina forced by Satoru Gojo's stupid decisions. TLDR is basically that Gojo is an extremely stupid character, ridiculous, overrated and badly-written; with inconsistent speed feats and incomprehensible decisions, who is absolutely obnoxious and cringe, I'll never understand the success of this character in popular anime culture. Gege has the tendency to mercilessly execute his characters before they can even get any type of character development or interesting plot, he has an obsession with killing them before the viewer can even feel anything for them and due to this their deaths and the things that happens during the Shibuya Incident are completely irrelevant and feel like nothing to me; it is this bad or I just don't have empathy, I'm not sure, I just cannot feel anything for such bland characters. This anime uses the "Kimetsu no Yaiba" tactic, which is inserting flashbacks and memories with sad music just before someones death so the scene can be sadder; of course it feels overtly artificial when you see a character who is clearly going to die and they suddenly insert a random flashback, no, I will not empathize with this character only because you're putting these flashbacks in their last moment. To empathize with a character and feel emotions the writer needs to build them in a correct way previously; the death scenes are good but they don't belong to anyone who feels human and thus they are very ineffective. Nobara is a nobody who has done nothing in every season and is absolutely bland as a character, Megumi is still the same Sasuke-trope guy from the first season and there is not a single type of development or change, they are still the same person they were on the first season and beginning of Shibuya, the Kyoto alumni are absurdly forgotten in a conflict which should involve both Kyoto and Tokyo schools (because of their danger and scale, it doesn't matter what Mechamaru thinks or does) and the rest of the secondary characters are the same cliché stereotype they were on the first season, there is nothing that makes them unique. Because of this, the death of people on Shibuya doesn't affect me on any way and thus Itadori's "development" feels forced and cheap, Itadori's trauma is treated in a very immature and short-lived way; as a viewer I wasn't capable of putting myself in the protagonist's shoes because I don't care a single bit about Jujutsu Kaisen's character cast, and this incapacity to empathize with such a bland cast is an enormous error on what should be a tremendously tragic and chaotic arc (Shibuya Incident) simply because they don't feel like real people, they are just stereotypes, it's like killing a bunch of NPCs without any relevance. The last episodes also have the tendency to disable and suddenly materialize characters out of nowhere in a way that is convenient for the plot, suddenly the strongest sorcerers appear in the battlefield and I'm asking to myself "where were these guys when we needed them???? why in the fuck do they appear in the ending of this conflict???" It is a terrorist attack of a great scale and these guys weren't even present here, they appear in the ending to throw around exposition dumps to the spectator and not help in anything, its ridiculous. The worst thing a storyteller can hear is: "I don't care for any of these characters" and it certainly rings true here. I don't care about anyone on here. Final Words: I didn't expect much but it still managed to disappoint me, the second part of Jujutsu Kaisen isn't more than the continuation of something tremendously mediocre and a shounen hidden under a veil of pretencious darkness. It is like if you turned a battle of edgy robots without any personality in japanese animation with generic anime character-designs, this battle will for sure look great but behind of that there isnt anything else; its just a show of pure style over substance and a show that is constantly trying to convice the viewer that it is more than it really is, a mediocre shounen show with generic, badly-written characters, stylish-yet soulless battles, stupid decisions, edgyness, pretenciousness and more; because of these reasons, it is interesting to me how people treat Jujutsu Kaisen as the last bottle of water in the desert, truly, I can't see how this is not less mediocre than, for example, Boku no Hero Academia or any shonen flavour of the month.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Dec 12, 2023
"Oshi no Ko"
(Anime)
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Not Recommended Funny
This review contains minor spoilers.
To this day I fail to understand how Oshi no Ko not only managed to be crowned as the highest rated anime of all time but also with a peak score of 9.32 and, currently at the time of writing this review, a score of 8.73, ranking 48th of all time; I fail to understand it, as Oshi no Ko fails tremendously in dealing with its central themes. It is impressive how an anime from this very year is already outdated in comparison to an anime that deals with similar themes, such as Perfect Blue, which came out 25 YEARS AGO; ... this last work is written in a much more intelligent, mature and interesting way, it is a visionary, thought-provoking anime and a masterpiece in comparison to the concert of mediocrity that Oshi no Ko offers in every sense, an anime that is dedicated to absolute mediocrity and to criticize the consumerism that this same anime uses in its favor. It is ironic how the show that pretends to show the consumerism in the entertainment industry and the superficial falsehood of entertainers is at the same time a huge waifu collection with a flat as an ironing board personality and with a 2cute4you design destined to sell dakimakuras and produce merchandise; it is also a show that goes from pretending to deal with serious issues to being a melodramatic drama of teenagers soaked in embarrassing & poorly-timed humour with shock value added for morbid curiosity. This show assumes that the audience is stupid and it overexplains absolutely everything with idiotic platitudes; fragile, vapid and completely harmless. Oshi no Ko criticizes what Oshi no Ko itself does, this anime commits the same sins that it condemns in its plot and I believe that this hypocrisy cannot go unnoticed. Oshi no Ko tries to be self-aware, it aspires to be an anime that tells you about how fake the entertainment industry is and how their only objective is to make money when this anime does this very thing in a blatant way. It tries to be serious, cynical, mocking and provocative but falls short in any way. Oshi no Ko is food for people who want to feel superficially satisfied and feel "aware" of much-more complicated and real issues, this anime feeds people a digested, ridiculous version of enormous, real-life problems. Not only does Oshi no Ko bastardize such a complex issue as abuse on the Idol and entertainment industry, it also fucks up bullying and harassment in a specific arc. I'll start with the famed episode one, which boasts the length of basically a movie and was the main reason this anime managed to claim the number one spot on this page. It begins with an off-key dialogue of a narrator exclaiming "This story is a fictional work; in fact, almost everything in this world is fiction. They fabricate, exaggerate and cover up every minute detail that does not fulfill their narrative. Therefore, fans love to be cleverly lied to. In this world, lies are weapons." at this moment, from the very first second, the anime is covered with a pretentious and insulting attitude; exclaiming things that are already common knowledge to all those who consume any kind of entertainment and that are absolutely clear in this time; it is not even said in a way that incites an interesting point of view or even becomes provocative, it is already obvious and not worth mentioning. Saying obvious facts and being tremendously bland and pretentious is a common theme of Oshi no Ko; it is an anime that tells you "fire burns" and it stands there, with a sly little smile, as if it has unveiled a hidden truth in the industry, when the depravity and darkness of the entertainment industry is something well-known, something that has been continuously fought against and a degenerate sewer which goes much deeper than this anime presents; the attitude of this show and its attempts to be provocative are not only insulting, but it also fails miserably at being thought-provoking or rebellious. After this show of pretentiousness where they tell you that water is wet, they proceed to introduce for the first time our protagonist; Gorou Anemiya, a degenerate otaku doctor obsessed with underage girls (this is his comedy gag for the next 30 minutes and his only personality traits) and Hoshino Ai, who is the most notorious talent of the idol group called "B Komachi" and is clearly the light of the stage; Hoshino Ai also a character who offers no interesting insights into her occupation as such an acclaimed idol and sets out to make exposition dumps and regurgitate information that a viewer already knows or can deduce for themselves. Episode one furthermore consists of a miserable comedic tone, like when the nurse mocks Gotou by calling him a pedophile..., after the death of a girl from cancer, I don't think it's a good time to insert comedy. Anyways, the two of them revive as Hoshino Ai's twins and this is something I find funny; it's a supernatural element of resurrection suddenly inserted in an anime that pretends to represent the harsh reality, something supernatural that never comes back and just happens without reasonable explanation within what this anime is; also, are you going to tell me that in 16 years that the two of them lived together nothing ever came out about this in this regard? Not only this, Oshi no Ko as a whole suffers from tone problems; its dark atmosphere pretends to uncover raw facts about the industry but it comes off as pretentious, clumsy, obvious, and the light humorous moments are embarrassing and mainly repeat the same comedy gags over and over again. The cast of characters in Oshi no Ko is tremendously bland and one-dimensional; none of them are relatable, they don't feel realistic and are absolute clichés. Each of them spits out the same platitudes about the entertainment industry constantly, without any interesting or thought-provoking additions to prompt the viewer to think or have a new point of view. From the edgelord gigachad 50000 IQ galaxy brain of Aquamarine Hoshino, who is surely the worst character in this anime (which is saying a lot) and who undertakes a ridiculous Walmart Death Note style cat and mouse story; while this is going on, every now and then Aqua turns to the camera, in edgelord 50000 IQ mode and tells the viewer for the fifth hundredth time "the entertainment industry is fake................ all of these people have a facade and they hide all the details that would ruin their narrative........" and the camera focuses on him as if he were the Albert Einstein of anime or the revolutionary of the industry, when the things he says are not only observable and deductible to the viewer by themselves, but, again, are OBVIOUS things that have already been repeated a million times over. Perhaps I am too cynical and pessimistic, but it is a fact that most famous people in entertainment hide dirt under their carpets and there are probably still many degenerates to be uncovered, it is something already assumed, much deeper and known. They introduce Ruby Hoshino who is a classy cliché idol and essentially resurrected Ai Hoshino, Kana Arima who is the talented actress and who, like Aquamarine, spews out expositions of information all the time about painfully obvious things and Akane Kurokawa, a girl who is SO tormented; everyone hates her and talks bad about her because she is SO talented and SO hardworking, everyone talks bad about her and of course the one who should help her is Aquamarine, there is no one else in her life who cares about her more than the protagonist. Anime as a medium often sins of treating bullying as a topic so extremely superficial that it hurts, and Oshi no Ko is no different from them; the bullying towards Akane is treated in an incredibly shallow and flat way, and it's all so bland it's disgusting, her mental health is also treated in an incredibly shallow way and I feel like this character is just made as a plot device to make Aquamarine into a hero and of course after he helped her she proceeds to fall in love, everyone knows the best way to romance the galaxy 50000 IQ brain gigachad is to pretend you're his mother, that's totally something a person would do. I didn't mention Mem-Cho because she is so flat that I can't consider her a character. Oshi no Ko is nothing more than a brick wall with pretty paint, it's pure style over substance and offers nothing new. It is the same stuff puked again on the table, it is a melodramatic and ridiculous teen drama with an immature revenge story pasted as a stamp on top and I'm convinced it's one of the most overrated anime to come out lately; it's immature in its execution and treatment of its core themes. What did I like about Oshi no Ko? The animation looks decent.., there really isn't much else, it's all style over substance, there's nothing here for the taking that's anything fresh. Oshi no Ko does what Oshi no Ko criticizes, it's a rebellious pretense that goes nowhere and is a vomit of common knowledge about the ceptic pit that is the celebrity world, Oshi no Ko's criticism of the idol and entertainment industry comes off as lukewarm and fragile; there is nothing of real value, this show is steeped in superficiality, pretentiousness and immaturity. For a show that deals with Oshi no Ko's core themes in a better way there is Perfect Blue, which is a million times better in every way; more mature, better directed, better written, better atmosphere, improved in every way, and that came out in 1998, Oshi no Ko could only DREAM of still staying relevant 25 years later. It feels like a show with no soul or essence behind it, it's something without substance and completely bland in nature. It's a show that deals with its themes in an immature way and which fails in all its attempts to provoke the viewer, which turns into a melodramatic anime of teenagers in a high school with extremely one-dimensional characters with super ridiculous revenge story stamps, which at the same time pretends that the viewer is left amazed; but in reality it is nothing more than a compilation of mediocrity, edgyness and obvious platitudes. Not only this, it is also a crude way to make money at the expense of a real problem using marketable character designs and dumb, easily digestible episodes and plot, do not let Aka Akasaka cook.
Reviewer’s Rating: 1
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