At this point in the series, Tegen Toppa Gurren Lagann still looks like a pretty straightforward mecha battle story. If anything it’s a bit more straightforward than what one might have come to expect from Gainax, and it occurs to me with the benefit of hindsight that in addition to being the studio’s last burst of greatness, TTGL is a pretty atypical show for Gainax in many ways. Maybe it represents the first flowering of what we would come to think of as the Trigger aesthetic, a kind of bridge between parent studio and child. But it’s delightfully free of the cynical calculation that dominates Imaishi Hiroyuki’s Trigger work, and that makes all the difference.
It would be tempting to contrast Gurren Lagann with the unholy mess that is Darling in the Franxx, from Imaishi disciple Nishigori Atsushi (who played a prominent supporting role on TTGL in his late 20s). Both series certainly share a less than subtle symbolism at their core. A story of a young boy who seeks to pierce the heavens with his drill, that desire being what powers his machine, doesn’t demand a whole lot of interpretation in that sense. Somehow it works here and not there (I say that as objectively as possible, given that it’s a subjective opinion). And I think it again comes down to the lack of pretense and calculation with Gurren Lagann – that, and it didn’t bear the burden of being compared against itself.
Even this early, it’s obvious that while Kamina provides the flash, the arc of TTGL’s narrative is Simon’s. Someone who’s not afraid of anything certainly makes a less compelling protagonist than someone who is afraid (as any sensible person would be) and acts anyway. Yet it’s undeniably Kamina who provides the inspiration, on both sides of the fourth wall. When Yoko urges him to let her replace Simon (“he’s just not cut out for fighting”) in Lagann, Kamina stands by him.
“Don’t believe in yourself. Believe in the me that believes in you”. This seemingly almost nonsensical phrase is deceptively important to the core philosophy of Gurren Lagann. It’s a sort of backhanded way of fostering self-worth in a kid who lacks it – asking him (and Yoko) to trust that Kamina wouldn’t put his faith in Simon if Simon wasn’t deserving of that faith. This phrase will get a lot more mileage – and evolution – as the series progresses, of course. But it’s more than just another catch phrase (though undeniably it is a good one), something Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann has in spades.
The other great contribution from Episode 3, of course, is Viral. Played by Hiyama Nobuyuki in one of anime’s most intense and magnetic performances, Viral is a the first beastman who gets an actual personality. And it’s more than just his appearance which is more recognizably human than what we’ve seen before – Viral’s approach to battle (and Kamina) is as familiar as Bushido or the Chivalric Code. Viral is a fierce opponent, but he respects Kamina (grudgingly to be sure) for his courage and staying power. Each of them takes a turn in favoring discretion over valor and leaving the field to fight another day (in Kamina’s case, thanks to Simon) but it’s clear than we haven’t heard the last from Viral.
It wouldn’t be a mecha series without a gattai, I suppose, but the way TTGL presents it here is one of the more witty examples you’ll see in anime. Again the symbolism is pretty straightforward even above and beyond Yoko’s imagination – Simon brings something to this partnership that Kamina lacks, since bravado and bombast have their practical limits. Team Gurren and Gurren Lagann are born, and something more than simple survival presents itself as a goal. It all seems pretty simple, but things are not always as they seem.
