"Gurren Lagann" on Hulu & YouTube Talkback (Spoilers)

Yes it is.

But do you remeraber how awful the episode looked and the controversies that came from it? I warn anybody getting into this show to be mindful of episode 4.
 
Episode 2 down. We're introduced to Kamina's dad via a flash back and ten minutes later learn he's dead. >___>

Kamina steal himself a Gunman. How this never occured to Yoko's crew, I have no idea. >___>

Insert gay comic relief character here. Boy, is this going to be annoying.

Kamina continually spouts grandiose speechs for 17 minutes before actually doing something. Whee.

I'm continually wanting something more from Hebert's Kamina. It lacks some real power.
 
So, do we really need another Gurren Lagann talkback if

1) There's already two decently long sub and dub talkbacks, and

2) We're all defending against one person's obvious loathing of the series?
 
If you're the sort of person who makes assumptions about a show based on what you expect most anime to do, I can see how the early episodes would be hard to get into. Then again, this is a hotblooded action and big dramatic speech sorta show... If you don't care for that kind of thing, this could be rough. It subverts some tropes, but plays others straight off a cliff.

Definitely may want to consider the sub if you're not feeling any power from the speeches.

--Romey
 
I'd like to think that it's not as adversarial as Jacob attacking the show and other people defending it. He's trying to give it a fair shot, and we're trying to help him through the awkward first few episodes so he can get to the good bits that might change his mind. That's all.

As for whether we need another talkback thread, it's the only GL thread currently active, so it's not like it's cluttering up the first page, and it is being shown on a different venue than previously, with some different attributes to it than some of us may have seen before (like showing the bad version of Episode 6), so I don't have a problem with it. With so many different ways of experiencing anime and such dramatic variation between different versions of the same show, the Anime Forum has always of necessity been less formal with talkbacks than, say, the Entertainment Board.

I rewatched Episodes 3, 6 (it was sort of a "so bad I can't look away" experience once I realized it was the cut version), and 7 on Hulu. This is my first time seeing the dub. It was totally weird at first, but I'm getting used to it. Hebert's Kamina sounRAB kind of stilted and awkward in actual dialogue situations, but he holRAB his own when it comes to battle scenes. He definitely doesn't compare to the Japanese VA in sheer manly forcefulness, though, and I'm not sure I'd call his performance award-winning caliber. I find Vic Mignaminana kind of annoying in real life (in all fairness, that's due at least as much to insane fangirls at cons as to the man himself), but I've got to hand it to him, he's well-cast as Viral. And Steve Blum plays Leeron in, let's face it, the only way possible to play such a character in English.

As someone who almost always has trouble transitioning from the sub to a dub or vice versa, the fact that I haven't given up the dub as a bad job and quit watching it altogether is probably the highest compliment I can pay it.
 
I know. I learned that from DBZ for which, I didn't stop and so now hate it with a firey passion, whereas with Gurren Lagaan I will forever be able to say 'It failed to excite me so those that like it, like away, I simply won't count myself among you'

But FMP definatly has super robot elements with the Larabda Driver which turns human emotion and rage into a physical force. And they're very quick to point out the fact that it doesn't make any sense and Souske, the guy who has to use it, HATES the damn thing for it's irrationality.

Certainly, it's not a Super robot show but it uses and then subverts a lot of Super Robot tropes, only reason I mentioned it.
 
Oops, my bad. I remerabered hearing it was Vic and didn't bother to check the cast list. Must've been misinformed.

I'm not one of those people who can easily identify VAs by ear unless they're doing a similar voice to something I've heard them in before.
 
Well, actually...

Here's where the difference is.

When the Gundam Verse is well written, a certain amount of time has to pass in order for new technollogies to be developed. You mentioned the giant beam sword, well that only works with the 00 and riser in corabination and in Trans-am mode. Neither of these technollogies were on-the-spot ass pulls. New-types, likewise, are somewhat established but they don't have any powers, they're just like regular people who habitually get ridiculously lucky. (Notice of course when I say well written. You've all heard my oppinions about when the Gundam Verse is NOT well Written.)

Super robots just have badly developed cost free magic and disguise it as a machine as if that explains it or validates it.

I have exactly the same problem with Superhero type shows with overpowered heros who's abilites don't infer a price.

Technollogy works in such a way that the price for it's use has already been paid by developing it in the first place, but it can only ever be as powerful as it was designed to be. The wonderful thing about technollogy is that anyone can use it. It doesn't need a plot specific person to be able to pick up a gun and kill someone with it and there is the ballance in it.

Magic and super powers don't follow this rule by defenition unless we're dealing with a fantasy world where everyone is inately able to use magic and only through practice and mastery of these techniques do you become more powerful. That's intresting. If however it's not something that's inate in everyone, then there has to be a price for using it or it's boring beyond possibly the enjoyment to be derived from living vicariously through a Mary Sue.

Suddenly growing spikes and killing things is not only a giant asspull, but it exacts no price on the user of this ability and it demonstrably could not have been done by just anyone otherwise why doesn't ever robot just suddenly sprout drills when outnurabered? Are the pilots of the other robots... Less angry? Is it actually your ability to scream loudly that causes this to happen? You see the problem here? There are no rules so there is nothing to understand about the world, ergo, the world is not intresting.
 
Conclusion: You dislike and find uninteresting the things that make the Super Robot genre Super Robot. Therefore, just stop watching and talking about it and everything's fine.
 
That's the kind of dub choice I don't even need to hear to know it's brilliant. Then again, my expectations could be too high... Naaah. I'm sure it's fine.

--Romey
 
Uh, I was talking about Zeta Gundam with the giant beam saber. He uses the power of the dead loved ones to fuel his rage (and his weapons) while being immune to beam shots. And Zeta is universally a well-praised UC show.


And the Ganmen and Laganns are all explained in the show. They even introduce regular mechs that are technically superior based off the GL, but were ineffective for the most part when the true enemy appeared.

It also explains that using so much Spiral Energy is...well, bad. Like Big Bang bad. The second half is more aftermath reprocussions, with decisions that aren't good or bad, but morally uneasy but logically sound. Heck, Simon enRAB up in jail for saving people.

Most people write GL as a traditional super in the first 15, with the second half being more EVA-like.
 
Yeah...

But I really like the giant robots.

Also on the Zeta thing... Well, that seems durab and the writers either plain forgot about all the technollogical stuff they'd set up earlier or just decided it didn't matter anymore. I wouldn't know however never having seen Zeta.
 
Back
Top