Now, this is more like it.
The title of this episode is “I Don't Get It, Not One Bit!” and that’s oddly inappropriate, because that’s exactly what I was saying about the last episode. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one saying that because, according to you Anime Vice lunatics, somebody at Gainax even got fired because of that episode. This episode, however, we’ve got Team Gurren Lagann encountering some kind of repressed, Gunmen-worshiping cult underground and it’s a lot easier to follow. Hell, with the low-level political intrigue of the priest actually being a manipulative leader and his son experiencing the double-whammy of doubt for his father’s leadership and this Gunman religion… it actually felt like a syndicated sci-fi TV show! Which is why Team Gurren Lagann’s bullheaded reactions to everything cracked me up like an egg shell - - it was almost like they were spoofing syndication clichés!
A specific example - - the Team GL knuckleheads are having a meal with these underground dwellers and Rossiu introduces the two inquisitive kids, about to detail the tragic story of how they’re spoiled because their orphans and...
Kamina just cuts him off! “Whatever! Who cares about any of that?”
And then they all move on. I could just see one of the shows in the type I mentioned going into some whole sub-plot about them, and GL just pushes it aside because it really isn’t that interesting. I hate to keep drawing comparisons, but Kamina's interactions with the Rossiu and the priest gave me some serious shades of how legendary macho dumbass badass, Ash, acted in ARMY OF DARKNESS. A bullheaded idiot who succeeds... really, despite logic.
Oh, and to answer the question raised in this episode, I’m going to say that the Gunmen are just getting weaker. These knuckleheads don’t have enough of a clue to get better, and, well I’ve talked about how these beastmen are too goofy to be taken seriously as threats. Also, to answer Count Zero... while "The Impossible Dream" might fit this show lyrically, I think this song fits the show better as a theme.
Watch this episode, "I Don't Get It, Not One Bit!" below and here, and read my comments on the previous episode here.
-- Tom Pinchuk is the writer of UNIMAGINABLE for Arcana Studios and HYBRID BASTARDS! for Archaia. Pre-order the HYBRID BASTARDS! hardcover now on Amazon.com.
This anime really does deconstruct and rebuild hotblooded mecha anime.
Oh Tom...Don't be fooled by the weak beastmen and their Gunmen. You're only 5 eps in so there has to be something else out there, no? I never really cared for Rossiu through the whole series.
I didn't like the priest either, or how the village lived and refused to go to the surface. I mean, what's not to like? At least there you could get fresh food, fresh air, and natural light.
Don't forget the chance to be smushed into paste by wandering monsters in giant robots!
That's when Team Gurren shows up in all its badassery!
ESCAPE and CONQUEST are the best Apes sequels, in my opinion.
Oh God, after the jump especially, man did I hate him.
So far the only character voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch that I don't like.
As much as I want to agree:
And we know just how much of a believer Rossiu is.