In hindsight the structure of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is obvious. The first eight episodes were the prologue, and the main story begins now. As such, it’s fitting that a great deal of lasting importance happens in Episode 9. And it’s no surprise that it was directed by Gainax heavyweight Iwasaki Tarou and storyboarded by Imaishi himself. Episode 8 may have been the transition ep to end all transition eps, but this one carries the weight of setting up the next 18.
We begin of course with a new OP sequence (how could it be otherwise), and immediate meet Lordgenome, the Spiral King. Interestingly Gainax cast Ikeda Narushi, a screen actor whose anime career pretty much consists of this role, rather than plucking a big-time seiyuu. We also meet the remains of Lordgenome’s Four Supreme Generals – Cytomander, Guane, and Adiane the Elegant – the one the Spiral King tasks with the honor of avenging Thymilph’s death and taking back the Dai-Gunzan.
Meanwhile, Simon is struggling, as you’d expect. Yoko is the one he really needs at this low ebb of his life, but she’s too consumed with wallowing in her own grief to care. Kittan – widely pegged as the next leader of Team Dai-Gurren – is definitely taking the bad cop approach, while Dayakka does his best to be supportive. Rossiu, meanwhile, nominates himself to take over in Gurren – but it’s Lagann where the real problems lie. Simon seems to have lost control of it altogether, as grief and rage are apparently not suitable fuel for a machine that runs on male martial spirit.
Of all the introductions in this episode, that of Nia is probably the most important. As he’s at his lowest, having crashed out of a fight, Simon literally finds her on a garbage dump. Nia at least gives Simon a reason to act – keeping her alive – but that still isn’t enough to bend Gurren to his will. Nia is a mysterious one, full of surprises. A human girl who claims to be the daughter of the king of beastman, with no knowledge of humans or the outside world, she says she was cast out by her father after asking “why was I born?”
The question of who should be the leader definitely hangs over these two episodes, but for obvious reasons it’s sort of deferred. That makes Kittan’s seeming usurpation of the role a little unseemly, irrespective of anything else. Simon was Kamina’s closest companion, but he’s a kid (and broken, at the moment). What about Yoko, who seems quite competent and certainly was closer to Kamina than Kittan? This isn’t over, even if there are more pressing matters at hand thanks to the arrival of first Nia and then Adiane.
Simon’s existential crisis shows no signs of abating. Ron surmises that Lagann is simply refusing to fight for “a kid who’s lost the will to survive”, but irrespective of the reason, without his gunmen Simon isn’t much use in battle. Nia turns out to be much more use, since Adiane doesn’t know that Lordgenome had cast her out – her defiance buys the humans an extra day to prepare and Adiane comes back on her own (she thinks) for her one last chance at redemption. This time Nia standing up to her doesn’t even slow her down, and while Simon is the first to spring to Nia’s defense (she notices) he’s no help in actually rescuing her.
Nia’s role in this dynamic is very interesting. She’s a tabula rasa, an innocent with no grasp of why this conflict is occurring or preconceived notions of what humanity is supposed to be. That allows her to say things she really shouldn’t, which forces both Simon and Yoko to think about how their attachments to the past are putting their futures at risk.
