Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Characters: Simon

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (Or TTGL from now on) is a story of rebellion and triumph, and focuses on making the rebels in question sympathetic first before really showing that the oppressors need to be rebelled against. This is in contrast to, say, the Original Star Wars movies where we are introduced first to the evil Empire, and show them to be cruel and militaristic. In TTGL, we are introduced to Simon and his living conditions: he lives deep underground in a bland colorless world where death is inevitable. In fact, before he meets Kamina he doesn’t even consider trying to move forward in life. The village in which he grows up respects his ability to dig, but the villagers seem to distance themselves from him. He is also an orphan, and has no real family of his own, save Kamina.

                In the case of Yoko and the Littner village, they were forced to move to the surface or die. It wasn’t even a question of progression or moving to a better life, it was just the only choice. They had to come to the surface and become sort of a military in order to fight off the Ganmen attacks.  It wasn’t until Kamina and Simon showed that the battle could be escalated and humanity could triumph that anybody else even considered fighting back. This shows pretty accurately how people deal with most situations like this; they’d rather not create waves, they would rather adapt and survive than move towards a better life…until inspired by exceptional people.

                

Simon:

                Simon starts a lonely young boy with a passion. Having lost his parents to an earthquake, it’s not hard to imagine that his focus became digging to avoid a similar fate. One could say that digging up the dirt that trapped them gives him a sense of comfort; his ability to drill and dig gives him a sense of conquering something that seems enormous and inevitable. Simon has experienced a great deal of loss early in his life, and it has caused him to be secluded and a little awkward around other people. It is easy to see how Kamina may have been drawn to Simon as a person. Both of them are orphans, both of them are passionate, but while Kamina is a great presence and a natural leader, Simon has an actual skill. This causes Kamina to respect him a great deal, and he sees in Simon the person that he eventually becomes. Simon, being a young man with practically no experience, has no taste for battle. He is easily intimidated, and would much rather run away than face his problems alone. It is through Kamina that Simon eventually starts to believe in himself. This is shown positively in episode 7, when Simon figures out a way to defeat the Dai-ganzan much more effectively than Kamina’s more direct approach.

                Simon looks up to Kamina as a brother/father/friend. Kamina shows Simon how to be outgoing and courageous, and how to inspire people. He shows Simon that things are worth fighting for, even to the death. Kamina considers them partners, and draws just as much inspiration from Simon, but we’ll get to that later. When asked about Kamina, Simon describes him as “Strong, Big, and Kind.” These are likely the qualities about Kamina that Simon wishes to see in himself, and eventually what Simon becomes.

At first, the show kind of feels like this. Kamina overshadowing Simon.

                Being lonely, it’s not much of a stretch for Simon to develop a crush on Yoko. He is 14 when the show begins and that’s when things start to get tough for guys as far as puberty goes, and Yoko always treated Simon better than the girls of his village (though that’s honestly not saying much, but we’ll get there). When Simon sees Kamina and Yoko kissing, it creates a big hole in his heart that he can’t really deal with. It is probably confusing in a lot of respects, because he already might feel inferior when compared to Kamina, and Yoko ‘choosing’ him might confirm some of those feelings; in addition, he might be afraid that Kamina will forget about him through his feelings for Yoko, but that is just speculation. Sadly, it is this confusion and other ugly feelings that cause the greatest tragedy in a life filled to the brim with it: Kamina’s death.

*sniffle*

                One of the most powerful shots in the show is directly after the battle with Thymylph, where it is raining so heavily that everything is obscured. We see everyone bowing their heads in sadness and shock, except Simon. He is on the ground, his mouth open in a soundless scream of sorrow and loss. Even the Gurren Lagann appears to be crying. Simon deals with his grief with anger at first, taking out all of the enemy Ganmen forces alone. This is surprising for Simon, who never appeared to be aggressive; the exception is when it came to friends and family. In an earlier episode, we see Simon actively charge the Ganmen for causing the tremors that made the ceiling crush his parents. Similarly, given the means to avenge Kamina, Simon lashes out at the enemies aggressively and zealously. He also believes that now that Kamina is gone, he needs to fill his shoes. He tries to be Kamina instead of Simon, which is the exact opposite of the advice that Kamina always gave him. At one point, he lashes out against Rossiu. He attacks him for believing in gods that turned out to be false; and if gods did exist, why would they let Kamina die? Eventually, it all becomes too much, and Simon loses control. He flees during a battle into a giant ravine. It is here that he meets the other most important person in his life: Nia Teppelin.

                If not for Nia, Simon may never have truly understood what Kamina had always been trying to tell him. Nia, who is very empathetic for a person raised by Lord Genome (We’ll get there), tries to help Simon deal with his grief. She recognizes Simon’s bravery, and wants to show him the person that Kamina always believed in. When Simon sees the danger in Nia’s confrontation with Adiane, he is the first to charge to save her, even without Lagann. When the Dai-Gurren Brigade is captured by Guame, long after everyone has given up, Simon continues to dig for freedom. It is during this that Kamina’s words finally ring true for Simon: “Don’t believe in me, who believes in you. Don’t believe in you, who believes in me. Believe in the you who believes in yourself.”

f*** yes. f*** yes forever.

                It is here that Simon becomes the person Kamina always believed in, the first time Gurren Lagann properly appears since Kamina’s death, and when Simon really becomes the main character of the show. He says, more to himself than anybody else, that he is not Kamina, but Kamina will always live within him, and the Dai-Gurren Brigade. He adopts Kamina’s catch-phrase, and Kamina’s legacy: The Giga Drill Break(er). After this, Simon is formally proclaimed to be the leader of the Dai-Gurren Brigade, having officially won their respect. In the first movie, Yoko comes forward and apologizes for not having more faith in Simon, like Kamina did. The Dai-Gurren Brigade eventually find themselves at the capital, where all their enemies are waiting. Simon easily defeats Viral, and challenges Lord Genome to one on one combat. Lord Genome has the upper hand at first, and Rossiu begins to lose faith. But Simon, showing how much he has progressed from the boy from the village, tells him to believe in himself. Rossiu is inspired to take the initiative in the battle, allowing Simon to attempt to take control of the Lazengann.

                When the battle comes down to hand to hand combat and Simon is clearly outmatched, he never gives up or tries to run away despite being beat down. With Nia’s support, Simon is able to defeat Lord Genome, and overthrow their supressors.

We come back to Simon ten years later, he has become supreme leader. Now, being an illiterate village person from underground, it’s pretty obvious that Simon isn't entirely cut out for his duties. We can even see that he is frustrated with how he some things are being treated, especially with Rossiu’s attitude towards Viral. In love, however, Simon is really come to his own. He proposes to Nia, and she accepts (eventually). Of course, nothing good can ever happen to Simon. When Kiyoh’s daughter is born, Lord Genome’s prophecy comes to fruition, and the first Mugann attacks. Simon is told not to engage, but when the Gurapearl force is shown to be ineffective, Simon comes to their aid. Simon defeats the Mugann, but causes widespread destruction throughout the city.

Eventually, Simon learns that Nia has been brainwashed and has become the messenger’s for the Anti-spirals. She tells him that Nia is gone forever, and now the Anti-Spirals will destroy their civilization for progressing too much. Simon and the Government are blamed for the current state of things, and demand a solution. They call for someone to be held responsible, and Rossiu uses Simon as a scapegoat. He is tried and found guilty, impeached, and sentenced to death. During all of this, Simon hardly defends himself at all. Simon, at this point, is probably more concerned about Nia and sees this as an acceptable alternative if it will help. Viral challenges Simon for this in prison, telling him that he is weaker than Kamina for losing his people and his ‘woman’. Simon defends himself against Viral’s attacks, and eventually they are both stopped by the guards.

In the movie, Lagann-hen, Simon shows Viral his mastery over Spiral Power is now comparable to Lord Genomes by conjuring a small energy drill in his palm in a similar manner to the Spiral King. As soon as this happens, Nia comes to tell Simon that Rossiu’s plan to move the citizens to outer space when the moon crashes won’t work; there is an ambush waiting in space for them. Simon tries to reason with Nia, but Nia persists that there is no Nia anymore. She is about to kill Simon when Viral breaks out of his cell to defend him, obviously now respectful of Simon and his position. Nia is stopped by Yoko, and she retreats for now.

Man and Beast

Immediately, without question or anything, Simon goes to defend the people and Rossiu, even allying with Viral and asking him to pilot Gurren Lagann with him. Simon hasn’t lost hope at all, and is willing to fight against the legion of Anti-Spirals. He doesn’t blame Rossiu for anything, and is eager to defeat the Anti-spirals like he defeated the beastmen before. When Rossiu realizes that everything he did was more or less in vain, he finds himself in a state of despair. Simon eventually breaks him out of this state just like Kamina did with him ten years ago: by punching him in the face really hard.

                

When it comes to assaulting the Anti-Spirals, Simon assumes his place as the heart of the Dai-Gurren brigade. Despite the harrowing odds, Simon is able to keep the crew together even when things seem bleakest. When Kittan goes out to destroy the despair-factory-ocean-machine, he takes Simon’s drill as good luck. With it, he is able to use the last moments of his life and all of his willpower to assume Simon’s attack and destroy it. With his great sacrifice, Simon is granted a renewed vigor, and they are able to continue their assault.

                The Anti-Spirals changed the nature of the battle by trapping the Dai-Gurren Brigade’s mind in an impossible-to-escape mental labyrinth. Simon’s vision is being reunited with Kamina, using his drill for personal wealth. The vision is shallow and empty, and shows a false Kamina. Simon himself begins to notice something wrong, when he gets a bit more help from the real Kamina himself. Now, there is a train of thought that says that the Kamina that appears here is a manifestation of Simon’s psyche, so it is Simon breaking himself out of the labyrinth. By the rules of the Labyrinth, as long as you are self-aware, you are trapped forever. Thus, I think it more ‘likely’ that the Kamina that Simon sees is actually Kamina. This is supported later, when Kamina is shown with the rest of the fallen members of the Dai-Gurren Brigade in the chest that Simon found Nia in. ((It should be noted that in the Movie, only Kittan dies, and he himself shows up in Simon’s dream, further supporting my point.)) Kamina also shows himself in Yoko’s subconscious, and while it could be argued that Kamina was also very important to Yoko, I find it unlikely that Yoko’s ability to resist would ALSO take the form of Kamina.

Kamina himself notes that Simon has grown taller than him. *sniffle again*

                Simon and the Dai-Gurren Brigade eventually triumph over the Anti-Spirals, but Simon learns that their triumph means that he will lose Nia forever. When it happens, the others suggest that he use his Spiral Power to revive her. He declines, saying that he is not god and should not play with the dead. The exact reason he gives is that the dead will start to crowd and overshadow the living, but I wonder if he is afraid of becoming the twisted Tyrant that Lord Genome became.

                

Simon’s character is the one with the most change, and it is also the one that exemplifies the show most: You may not like him at first, seeing him as whiney and weak, but he comes into his own over time. It is heartening to see him become the person that Kamina saw in him. It is interesting to see a boy become a person to be admired over time, which is kind of rare in storytelling. Most people start admirable, but Simon had to go through a lot to get there. He started a dirty villager, and became a revolutionary savior.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Part 0

Part 0: Introduction

Think about your life real quick. Seriously, take a moment and think about the things that you would say define you. Generally, people are defined by their actions, but actions come from a specific place in the mind. We are inspired to take action by a myriad of different things: Family, friends, hobbies, etc. You take all of this with you and it creates you. Now, for a moment, pretend that what I said is absolute truth and it isn’t a lot more complicated than that: Can you think of ANYTHING specifically that defines you? A sport? A video game? A book? A song? Maybe something that speaks to you easily?

As for me, I’m pretty easy to put together. When I was younger, my parents (read: mother) made sure I was subjected to everything necessary to be a huge nerd. First, I watched Godzilla movies a lot which sparked my interest in dinosaurs and reading and eventually to dragons and myth. Then that interest was taken further by the family’s NES, from which I played my very first game, the Legend of Zelda. From Legend of Zelda, my love of high adventure and elves and swordsmanship could easily be traced. I could go on, but I think I have illustrated my point about how things affect you. All of this rambling to get to this point: The most recent thing I can think of that has had an effect on me and my life is Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.

Yes.

Gainax is a monster-truck of powerful series. Evangelion requires no introduction, anyone with any real interest in Anime as an artform has heard of it at least. FLCL, which I have examined myself, is a masterpiece of coming of age tales. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is a loving callback/parody to a genre that doesn’t really exist anymore, but did it with such excellence that it became 

something more.

To oversimplify, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is a giant robot anime. It is a giant robot anime in the same vein that Evangelion is a giant robot anime, and the same vein that “Schindler’s List” is a movie about some people who do stuff. That is to say, all of those things are true but WAY oversimplified. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is about inspiration, leadership, bonds, triumph and standing up even when there is no way to prevail. It is, in many ways, the polar opposite of Evangelion, and that makes it great.

It is a show that the first time I finished it, despite it being 3 am, I had to tell somebody about it. The ending literally brought me to tears. Now, I’m gonna tell you about it in my own perspective. I will focus on my initial reaction, and then what I think about it now. First, I’m gonna get some things out of the way:

I'm going to focus on the subtitled version of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and sometimes I will purposefully refer to a fan-based translation as opposed to the official Bandai translation. This is because the way Japanese translates into English sometimes certain phrases are translated better by fans of the show than people paid to translate something they have no passion for. This is probably true of any language, but this show is especially prone to NEEDING a convincing performance with convincing dialog. I guess that’s true of just about any movie/anime/whatever, but I didn’t realize how important it was that I believed what the characters said…

Until I heard the English dub. The English dub is a travesty, it is horrible. What’s more is that there is no excuse for it being so horrible; the company who dubbed it is the same company responsible for FLCL, possibly the most excellent dub of all time. It’s so disappointing. I might dedicate an entire part of this analysis just to take apart what is wrong with the show, but I’ll get this out there right now:

The dub does the show an injustice. The voice actors have no passion, no fire. Many are miscast, and it’s entirely possible that this is one of those times where a show can’t really be dubbed. Some things just don’t translate. As a quick example, a common phrase in the show is “That is the way of the Dai-Gurren Dan!” In the English dub, it was translated into “That’s how (the great) Gurren Brigade rolls!” Granted, they are more or less the same sentence but one has passion and grandeur, and the other is…blah. It’s a very George Lucas-y type thing. It’s written down, it is in fact a sentence, but it’s not really actable or believable. How we roll? Really? The real problem is Kamina, but again, I’ll probably elaborate on this elsewhere.

Come back soon, for I start my journey to the center of TTGL by breaking down the characters, starting with the star: Simon!

FLCL Episode 2: Firestarter

Once again, the episode starts with Mamimi narrating, talking about a god she saw. “It helped a kitten that was all alone. It’s a god that only I can see, a black-winged angel that came just for me.” This is type of self-centered imaginary-friend type thinking could be attributed to Mamimi’s loneliness, but I suspect there is more to it than that. The narration is over what appears to be a building on fire near the bridge that Naota and Mamimi are seen under in the first episode. We also see footage of some sort of handheld video game.

Mamimi visits Naota at his school, we see Naota wearing another new hat. Mamimi tries to peek under it, but Naota refuses to show her what is underneath it. While this is happening, Naota’s two friends are telling Ninamori about Mamimi. They call her his “wife”, and Ninamori is openly upset about this ‘relationship’. She says that Mamimi “Doesn’t look very bright,” and is “so not cool.” Already, we see the hints of Ninamori’s feelings toward Naota, but we will get to that…

We cut to Haruko narrating. We see an X-ray of a skull, presumably Naota’s. “Its empty. There’s no brain. Did you lose it somewhere?” Naota blames Haruko for his head appearing to lack a brain. Haruko says not to blame her for losing things, saying that “some kids are just freaks.” We see Naota has a new horn, this one even more pronounced than the last. We also see that the cobalt robot from the last episode now lives with Naota.

When Naota asks why Haruko is wearing a nurse outfit, she speaks to the audience directly. She says her name is Haruhara Haruko, age 19, and a house-keeper. She whispers that she has a true identity. We then begin a strange sequence where we see frames of her changing from one outfit to another. It is significant to note that this is not a transformation sequence; she very clearly changes outfits IN FRONT of Naota. When this is done, she declares that she is a “First class space patrol officer.” (With the robot doing humorous jazz hands). We also note that Haruko keeps calling Naota “Ta-kun.”

We learn from Haruko that the robot is from Medical Mechanica, which is why it can take X-rays. Naota asks why it came out of his head, but Haruko says she doesn’t know. “Exactly where does the truth end, and the lies begin? Samejima Mamimi, and Haruhara Haruko. A lot of lies are spinning around me…these two horns that suddenly sprouted. A true story that seems like a lie.” This narration from Naota is interesting in a lot of ways. Taken on its own, it seems cryptic and ultimately pointless. However, if you strip away the literal plot and think about the meaning of the horns, the lack of a brain, and take in the context of Naota’s relationship with these two women, it becomes clearer what Naota is talking about. Take, for example, the idea of Naota’s head being totally empty. Clearly it can’t be true; if something had happened to his brain he would simply cease to function, he would die. However, not only is he not dead, but he sprouted a horn that created a robot. His body went through a strange change that only happened when a woman came into his life. Two women, at that. Because of the strange things happening around and to him, Naota can’t tell the truth from lies anymore. The narration is related to the plot, to be sure, but it also has to do with puberty, and the development of the human body.

Next we see a pretty funny scene of Naota’s father trying to get the robot to help out around the house. I should note that the Robot is now wearing what appears to be a halo and black wings with a jacket. Naota says that it’s weird to have a robot, while Kamon goes on and on about how progressive it is and how the meaning is significant. I actually can’t help but wonder if this scene is meant to poke fun at people like me, who interpret things like Japanese animation. Naw, couldn’t be.

We see Haruko looking through binoculars, commenting that there have been a lot of fires. Naota says there was one the day before. We cut to the Robot, who is looking up. We see the reflection of a cloudy sky in his face-monitor.

Next we cut to Mamimi, who is playing a video game under the bridge. A kitten dances (?) around behind her, as Naota enters the scene. He drops some flops in front of her and asks what she thinks she is doing. “I was playing with Ta-kun when my shoes floated away.” The kitten is named Ta-Kun as well. The name she has for Naota, the one that was a pet-name she used for his older brother, she has now given to a kitten. Naota asks if she saved the stray cat, to which Mamimi responds “I’m like a god, huh? A protector of the weak. The lord of black flame, you know, like lord Canti!” when she finishes this, we get a very quick close up to her lips, which have been drawn in a much more sensual way. Naota flinches, and looks awkward for a moment. We learn that Canti is a character from the game Mamimi has been playing. Naota says an interesting line of dialog here, that he is too busy for games because there are a lot of people he has to take care of. Keep in mind that Naota is only 12 years old.

Dancing (?) cat

We then see Haruko being Haruko. She crashes into the Medical Mechanica facility, and we see her looking bored as she is “interrogated” by what appears to be two police officers or guards; when Naota shows up the guard questions if Naota is related to her. He responds: “No relation, I’m from planet earth.” This is twice now that Haruko has been compared to or declared herself to be alien. The guard berates them for wandering around saying that they are disrupting the work happening here. “This isn’t a place for people to work. There’s not even a door in or out.” Haruko’s response seems to resonate with Naota. She is, in a way, disrespecting adult authority by calling them out on their lies. I have to admit, this next joke is sort of lost on me. When Naota arrived, he was carrying some sort of box. He gives it to Haruko, and we see a very Gundam-y looking toy. She takes it and begins to work on her vespa, and we see the toy become a bolt for her wheel. I…don’t really get it, honestly. I suppose it has something to do with her Vespa obviously being special in some way, but…

In any case, Haruko responds warmly to Naota. She says that since the rain has stopped, she would give him a reward ‘better than CPR’. She says this with a lot of sexual undertones, which I am sure, is on purpose.

This next scene might be my favorite scene in this whole series. We cut to Mamimi, who is waiting for Naota. She hears something in the distance, and goes to investigate. We see the robot searching in the grass for something. He is still wearing the halo and the wings, and when Mamimi sees them, she exclaims “It’s a god!” She follows him to what appears to be a burnt down school. She looks uncomfortable here at first, but she spots the robot again on the roof of the burnt building. I won’t describe the scene, because I can’t do it justice, you really just have to see it. The robot begins to fly away, and Mamimi says to herself “I can really see him, he’s real! That time I was saved, he…”

Seriously, this scene is fantastic

Then we cut to Naota and Haruko on the bike. Haruko is driving erratically, and making Naota nervous. She asks if he ever goes to the beach, to which Naota responds ‘not in October.’ Naota gets scared, and reminds her that he doesn’t have a helmet. Haruko scoffs at him though, since his brain is missing. I should add that while Haruko is driving like a lunatic, Naota keeps flopping about in the bike, landing in between Haruko’s legs repeatedly. “When you’re on a bike, the ocean is a lot closer than you think. The Autumn salt wind went right to the back of my nose, and maybe it like Haruko said, my head was empty.” Again, this is another interesting statement from Naota. He doesn’t say anything about his brain; he just says that his head is empty. It’s another case of the dialog meaning something to the plot of the story, but also relating to what is being conveyed in relation to the theme of sexual development. As a result of Haruko, Naota’s head is totally empty. She has taken over his life.

We cut to Haruko, Naota, and Mamimi all hanging out at Naota’s place. You’ll notice that the animation style has changed drastically. I imagine this is some sort of joke, but I can’t really tell. They are talking about Canti, and how he is basically used as an errand boy. Naota is still ashamed of him for some reason (Ashamed of something that came out of his body) and we cut to Mamimi’s kitten interacting with Miyu Miyu. We also learn that Naota’s grandfather did not approve of Mamimi dating Tasuku, and so Mamimi stays out of the house. Canti enters the scene with flashing lights and loud jets much to Naota’s annoyance. When he enters, Mamimi utters a strange prayer. When she does, it cuts to a shot of Canti looking sort of divine in front of her, despite holding two plastic bags from 7-11. I imagine this is a perspective thing…to Mamimi, he does look god-like. She even comes right out to say that Canti IS a god, and the black wings on his back (The very fake looking ones) are proof that it is him.

"Hail o' God of Black Flame. Canti..."

Canti is searching through the rubble of another burnt building, and this time he picks up a shard of some sort. The shard appears to be the same crimson color he was when he came out of Naota’s head. Naota and his friends from school arrive on the scene, all with their own theories about the arsonist. Naota is strangely quiet. We also learn about a school that burned down some time ago. A shoe drifts down the river, and we see Mamimi in the water. The kids talk about seeing her getting bullied by some girls, and we see Naota looking nervous. We get VERY quick flashes, almost one or two frames only, of what could have been the bullying. Worth noting is Ninamori belittling Mamimi for being bullied; calling it ‘Pathetic’ like it was her fault or something. When Naota sees Mamimi’s face, we also catch a glimpse of the Medical Mechanica factory letting off some steam.

We cut to Naota and Mamimi walking alone on the bridge. They share no words at all, and we see Mamimi light a cigarette and drop her video game. When she lights the cigarette, Naota gasps like he has just realized something. We then get a description of the video game with some random tidbits of dialog about the Arson and Mamimi. From all of this, it’s pretty clear that the Arsonist is Mamimi, and she possibly uses it to deal with her harsh life. What with the bullying, the abandonment, the probably poor family living…We also learn that the ultimate point is to earn the boon of the god Canti, which explains Mamimi’s fascination with it. There is a lot of dialog happening here at once, as if Naota can’t keep a hold of more than one thought at a time. We also hear Miyu Miyu speak, asking “What part of this is really the truth?”

We cut to Haruko, who is talking to the cat again. She talks about not being able to get in touch with “Him”, but she has recruited one of the enemy MM robots. Miyu Miyu kicks Haruko in the face as she hears sirens in the background. There is another building on fire. Naota watches it from afar, and then runs off to find Mamimi. He remembers when the Elementary School burned down, and we hear that Mamimi was saved from the fire by Naota’s brother (Although she refers to him as the protector of the weak, lord Canti, like from earlier. It enforces her worship of Tasuku). Naota also states that there were rumors that it was arson.

WE cut to Mamimi, who is performing some sort of weird ritual. She sits in a circle of lit cigarettes reciting a chant in rapid succession while listening to music. She has lighters taped to her forhead, and she is praying in front of the elementary school. Naota finds her, and asks her about the school. Mamimi says that she hated the school, and that she wished for it to go away. “But it’s useless…even if it burns down the wreckage and ash are still there.” This statement reflects reality, as the wreckage IS still here (despite the burning happening 6 years ago), but one wonders if she doesn’t also mean her memory of the school… or perhaps her guilt for burning it down.

She walks out of the circle, and asks for Canti’s kiss. The camera zooms in on her lips in a sensual way again, and Naota looks horrified. Perhaps his horror stems from jealousy? Like nobody can kiss Mamimi but him. There is also the idea that she is asking Canti for a kiss, instead of just having her way with him like she does with him. In any case, his horns start to react again, and the MM factory begins to function again. Here, the dialog gets REALLY sexual: “What’s this? Its bigger than before.” Followed by “Oh no, there’s some weird fat thing coming out of Ta-Kun.”

Sexy lips

This time, only one large robot comes out of Naota’s head. It throws Naota to the distance, only to be run over comically by Haruko’s vespa. She skids to a stop, declaring “How dare you hurt Ta-kun!” despite being the one who ran him over. What follows is a fairly neat action scene. During the hectic battle, Canti’s fake wings and halo are torn off, and Mamimi’s Kitten is thrown in the air. Mamimi appears to be in shock from the whole affair. Haruko confronts the robot as Canti is just thrown around, not showing any of the fighting prowess we saw in the first episode. When we cut to Naota he sees Haruko sustain an injury in combat, and though he is alarmed, it is the thought of Mamimi that stirs him from his injuries. He tackles her away from the place where Canti would have landed on her and crushed her. Canti is about to receive the finishing blow from the robot, crushing Naota and Mamimi in the process. Naota utters his older brother’s name, and memories of the burning school flash in his mind. As he utters his name, that strange symbol from the first episode appears on Canti’s screen. Suddenly, Canti very easily bats the robot away.

Canti picks up Naota and lifts him into a strange orifice that has opened in his abdomen. It looks like a huge gaping reptilian maw, filled with cosmic energy. In eats Naota, and we see him inside a strange hypnotic plane. He appears to be in pain, as something drills into his head. We see what is drilling into his head is a light bulb, and when it is firmly in place, it begins to glow and the world turns red. Outside, Mamimi is upset. She denounces Canti, berating him for eating Naota. She pauses though, when Canti turns the same crimson color he was the day before. The music swells, and god damn this part is so cool.

so cool

Canti easily stops the robot from attacking again, and delivers a powerful elbow strike. Then, he jumps into the air and kicks the robot in the face in an impossible to describe way. We also see Haruko’s bracelet begin to react. Canti backs Mamimi away and begins to transform into a huge gun. It is significant to note the imagery of the barrel of the gun coming from Canti’s groin, and being place where his head used to be. We also see brain-matter-esque protuberances on the gun.

Also, notice the mist in the background. And what looks like the MM factory...

Canti destroys the gun with one blast, and also destroys the school in the process. Taking the opportunity, Haruko strikes the robot with her Bass guitar, and it explodes. Canti saves Mamimi and the Vespa (?) from the explosion, patting her on the head in the same manner that Tasuku seemed to be doing in the memory. We then see Canti act very strange, and literally poop Naota out. Sirens come in from the distance as Naota and Mamimi stare at each other. “At the time, I didn’t notice the sirens that were coming towards us. I don’t know where the lies end and the truths begin. I asked myself what I could do for Mamimi: I decided I would stay by her side. Forever.”

This episode is extremely neat, and it introduces a few ideas while fully exploring Mamimi’s motivations as a character. I want to talk in particular about Naota causing Canti’s transformation, and his actions when transformed. Now, it seems that because of something that Haruko did, Canti can’t reach that crimson state alone anymore and requires Naota. When Naota is swallowed by Canti, a light bulb is drilled into his head that causes the power to appear. When in this state, I surmise that Naota is somewhat in control. From what we hear in the next episode, Naota barely remembers what it’s like when he is swallowed by Canti, but the way Canti was acting (like Tasuku) suggests that Naota has something to do with what happens. Naota is able to act like Tasuku when he is swallowed by Canti.

The light bulb probably represents some sort of forced idea. Like, something is pushing itself onto Naota to make him think in a certain way, and that causes the power to reveal itself. This probably also has something to do with Naota not remembering what he does as Canti.

The other thing I should mention is the projectile launched by Canti. It returns and enters through the cannon itself. I will mention this again in a future episode, and bring up something that I have debated about on and off.

This episode was mostly about Naota and Mamimi, and a bit less about Naota and Haruko. In fact, Haruko is very subdued (in a manner of speaking) in this episode. It is significant to note that Naota is more concerned about Mamimi than Haruko at this point, even saying that he will “stay by her side, forever.” It seems that Naota doesn’t quite understand how Mamimi feels about him yet.

Next time, we learn more about Naota’s school life. In particular: his classmate Eri Ninamori.

-Lynk the Hero.

FLCL Episode 1

FLCL EPISODE 1 ANALYSIS
(Two things: When doing this analysis, I used both the subbed AND dubbed versions of the show. I should also say that I cannot read the Japanese language, so some of the more subtle jokes pertaining to the language may escape me)

It is significant to note that FLCL begins right away. There is no opening sequence; it jumps straight into the first shot. While not important to the story, it is interesting to note. This may have something to do with the fact that FLCL is only 6 episodes long, and is an OVA, but OVA’s can have openings. I do not know for sure, but I think they made an active decision not to have an opening. Perhaps money was a factor but I like to think they wanted to squeeze as much show into the twenty-some minutes as possible.

In any case, the first shot is a set of mountains with a voice over, talking about baseball. The language used suggests it is talking about a stance for hitting the ball, and hand placement on the bat. This is the first time we have baseball serving as a metaphor for sexual activity. While that seems to be a bit presumptive at this point, it becomes clearer in future episodes. Mamimi is the one dispensing the ‘advice’ which enforces the idea of baseball equating sex. Naota’s first line here is “What are you talking about?” which establishes three things: First that Naota is listening to Mamimi, but perhaps not paying attention. We find out that the bat that Mamimi is holding in this scene is Naota’s, so he would probably know the general sounding baseball advice she is talking about which enforces my second point: That Naota does not understand that Mamimi is talking about sex. Last, we establish that Naota seems to be aloof and disinterested in what Mamimi is saying, despite spending time with her and carrying his own bat with him. We have a picture of Naota in our head already as somebody who is acting older than he is which is enforced by his attitude.

The first time we see Naota, the pro-ta-gonist.

As the scene continues, Mamimi asks what Naota is doing. He tells her that he is doing his homework, and when Mamimi asks why he isn’t doing it at home, he very simply responds that it’s “not cool.” From this succinct and unconvincing response, it’s clear that he is distant from what is happening here. Mamimi asks him to do her homework as well, to which we catch our first real glimpse of Naota. He is grimacing at her, and tells her that her hands are upside-down. Proof of what I was saying earlier; he does know his baseball. Mamimi tells Naota that he should play baseball, and asks why he carries around a bat. Naota turns away from her here, and asks why she’s always hanging around under this bridge. He very quickly changed the subject for some reason, either because he had no answer, or he didn’t wish to talk about it. Mamimi is about to answer, but stops to think about it. Naota comments that Mamimi is in a good mood. Suddenly, we see Mamimi literally looming over Naota.

Literally.

This is the first time we see the nature of Mamimi and Naota’s relationship: Mamimi begins hug Naota close. We see shots of her squeezing her chest against him and kissing his earlobes. Naota clearly looks uncomfortable, and asks her why she is always does this. Mamimi says if she doesn’t do this, she will ‘overflow’ and when asked what she means she responds ‘probably something amazing’.

Mamimi uses Naota as an outlet for her sexual frustrations. She refers to him as “Takkun”, a nickname she had for his older brother. While here, alone with Naota, she can pretend she is still with Tasuku.

WE pan out from the scene, with Naota narrating that “Nothing amazing happens here. Only the ordinary.” This is to do a few things: For starters, he pretends that he isn’t bothered by Mamimi’s attentions by saying that it is ‘ordinary’. Next, it is foreshadowing, supported by the camera panning to the Medical Mechanica plant. Naota talks about the Medical Mechanica plant, and how it makes “Medical Machines”. It’s pretty clear that Naota doesn’t really know what it does, and is deriving this from the name of the plant. He also states that the adults were very excited when it came, suggesting that perhaps the adults excitement makes Naota nervous about the plant. At every day at a set time, White smoke would pour out of the factory. Naota states that it reminds him of an omen, especially because it spreads over the whole city, engulfing it.

We see the first title screen, with the symbols for FLCL superimposed over an X-ray of a brain. This is a reference to Naota, but we’ll get to that.

The next major scene cuts to a bridge, and time has passed from the introduction. Naota tries to buy a drink, but Mamimi intercedes and buys a different drink. Naota complains that he doesn’t like sour drinks. We also see a hickey on Naota’s neck, much to Naota’s embarrassment. Mamimi suggests hiding it with a bandage, which will come into play later. Mamimi hands Naota the drink, saying that it belongs to him, and there Is more than half left. I believe this represents Mamimi literally taking something from Naota, innocence possibly, or childhood. It could also represent that in taking something from Naota, she is forcing him to become an adult because of the situation, the “sour drink” being sexual maturity or adulthood. Mamimi leaves with a blank look on her face as Naota looks on. They both look uncomfortable, and Naota gazes at the drink before throwing it aside. He is about to tell her something about Tasuku, as we see a letter with his name on it, when suddenly he stops. During the pause, we hear a motor getting gradually louder. The clouds literally part behind Naota.

I tried to think of something witty, but the image speaks for itself.

Here we are introduced to Haruko. She speeds into the scene, guitar raised, screaming “Come and get it!” In the English Dub, she says “Lunch time!” This is setting up something in the future, but we’ll get to that. She hits Naota with her bike, and he goes flying. Mamimi is about to go help him, when Haruko stops her. “Native girl must stop!” this is to establish Haruko as foreign or strange. She says this in English in the Japanese version, probably to reinforce the strangeness of the situation. Haruko continiually refers to Naota as “Taro-kun.” As far as I can understand, Taro-Kun is the Japanese equivalent of “John Doe.” Already Haruko is not acknowledging Naota as a person, but rather an anonymous object. Haruko panics, talking about how he is dead and that she killed him right as “She finally found him.” She decides that she has to try reviving him with “CPR”. The camera pans very close to Haruko, and the scenery becomes romantic. She even makes noises suggesting actual kissing, and Mamimi is clearly distressed at her actions. Naota starts to move, and when Haruko exclaims relief that “Taro” is alive, Mamimi repeats that Naota is not “Taro-kun”. Haruko remarks that that is a good thing, because if he as taro (remember, anonymous) he’d be dead for sure. This is kind of a fourth wall joke, Naota is a character who matters, particularly, he is the main character. Therefore, he can’t be dead. “That was lucky…for me!” she says, and strikes Naota on the head with a guitar. He flies off, and appears to be unconscious again. She shakes his body, wondering why ‘it won’t come out’. She is about to strike him again when Mamimi intercedes. Naota awakens in pain, asking what she did to him. She responds coyly: “You mean the CPR?” Mamimi asks if she put her tongue inside, suggesting she is more concerned about if Naota just made out with this mystery woman. Haruko speeds off, exclaiming that Naota is a “good-for-nothing.”

When she leaves, Mamimi remarks that she must have been over 20. She asks if Naota wants to go to the hospital, but Naota doesn’t answer. He holds his head, which is turning pink from the blow, and remarks that Haruko is a “stupid adult that’s not mature enough to grow up.” He says it with anger, as if someone her age acting the way she did was disgraceful. Mamimi remarks that the mark looks like it hurts, and the camera cuts to the baseball bat, abandoned on the ground. Here, the bat represents Tasuku, who is in the US to play baseball. It lies on the ground forgotten, in lieu of the mysterious woman. This is significant, since Naota carries the bat because of his fondness for Tasuku. When Haruko comes out of nowhere and hits his head, he doesn’t even consider it.

We cut to Naota in his room, and he appears to be looking at himself in a mirror. It is revealed that the place where Haruko struck him has become some sort of strange growth. It looks like a single horn. It appears to be hurting him, but he can hide it if he holds it down. He decides to hide it with a bandage. Hiding a mark he is embarrassed about with a bandage.

A boy and his horn.

The next day, Naota is in class. A classmate of his, a girl named Ninamori, is mocking him about his bandage. Two more classmates come in and begin telling Naota about a “Wasp woman” who stole some girl’s curry from class 2. (When we are introduced to Haruko, she appears to be eating something from a package) One of the classmates says that when the Wasp Woman stings you, if you have done something bad, a mark appears. Ninamori is quick to point out that Naota has a mark on his head now that he is covering with a bandage, to which the other student begins repeating the phrase “Pervert! He’s a Pervert!” Naota is being judged for hiding a mark he is embarrassed about. A mark he got with an encounter with a woman.

Ninamori. Don't worry, we'll get to her.

Later, we see Naota heading to the hospital after school. He says to himself that going to the hospital has nothing to do with the wasp woman. He actually lies to himself to keep up his show of “coolness” or “adulthood”. As he is waiting for a train to pass, he hears somebody behind him, and we see Haruko seemingly sizing up Naota’s head. She says to herself that his head “Feel’s right”, and asks him if anything happened after she left. It’s clear that Haruko did in fact know something but wasn’t saying. When Naota turns around, he says “What do you mean by something weird?” As if nothing had happened at all and he wasn’t sure what she was talking about. Haruko sees the bandage on his head, and asks what it is. She remarks to herself that he is hiding something, but when she turns to confront him, he is already long gone. (One of the smartest moves an Anime character has ever tried next to Kuwabara not going to the demon world in Yu Yu Hakusho. That’s another story.)

We cut to the hospital, where a nurse is talking about “Flictonic Klipple Waver Syndrome”, where horns sprout out of the head of a child when they are stressing themselves are trying too hard. Naota accuses the nurse, saying that she is lying. The nurse admits to lying, and it is revealed that the nurse is Haruko in disguise. “You’re right, I did lie…so what is the truth…underneath the band-aid?” This statement has a few layers, the first being exactly what she’s asking, the second being that she is asking Naota as if she doesn’t know what is happening, and perhaps she doesn’t. She attacks Naota, and we see her tied up victims behind a table. It’s worth noting that this scene happens in a facility owned by Medical Mechanica. I believe this scene has very little significance other than to show Haruko is following Naota because of something having to do with his head, and the things I have already mentioned. This is one of the few scenes that are purely humorous for humor’s sake, the next being later.

Next we cut to Naota’s house, where we overhear a phone call. Naota is being very unkind towards Mamimi, who wants to show him photos and hang out. I find I am more sympathetic of Naota here, who is the victim of sexual abuse at the hands of Mamimi.  He tells Mamimi to “Go out with your friends”, and hangs up suddenly. We see Mamimi standing under the bridge at sunset, and we get the impression that Mamimi doesn’t have many friends. Naota crashes onto his bed, and falls asleep. We hear narration telling us about his dream; he is watching his brother play baseball, and is very impressed with his swinging. “It seemed impossible that anything could be so perfect.” This is, of course, to establish how much Naota admires his older brother. We also cut to the mysterious letter on the table, and from the red, white, and blue border it is pretty clear it is from Tasuku. When Naota wakes up, it is night time. He descends the stairs, and suddenly…

Haruko is sitting at his dinner table, eating with his father and grandfather.

sup

This scene is extremely chaotic, and really, I couldn’t do it justice with words here. The significant things to note here is that Naota’s father was also hit by Haruko’s vespa, and now Haruko works for Naota’s family as a housekeeper. Most of this scene is a series of puns, which they made to be rather funny in the English dub, despite Japanese humor rarely working in English. We also deal with the title; The Grandfather keeps making hand-motions to describe FLCL, and it becomes clear that he is describing breast fondling. Haruko also states that is the sort of relationship Naota and she have. “Mouth to Mouth.” Naota also tells his father to “Stop acting like a kid!” and his father accuses him of hiding his perverted dreams underneath his Band-aid. The scene ends with Haruko repeating the phrase “Band-aid...”

The scene cuts to Naota overhearing his father and grandfather speaking to Haruko, he remarks in a sort of grumpy voice that “They’re in a good mood.” Note that even though he is bathing, he keeps the band-aid on his head.

Then we see Haruko talking to something or someone. She says that “The channel is imperfect and the kid I found here is pretty useless.” She’s saying it rather loudly, and one gets the impression that she wasn’t trying very hard to hide what she was saying, especially since Naota overhears her. Naota opens the door to his room and we see that the only thing in it, other than Haruko, is Naota’s overweight cat: Miyu-Miyu. Naota confronts Haruko, asking who she is and what she wants. Haruko plays coy with Naota some more, claiming she’s a wandering house-keeper. When Naota asks for the truth, Haruko says that she’s an alien, in the same sarcastic voice. She then asks what is underneath Naota’s band-aid. Naota is openly un-nerved by Haruko at this point. “Under the band-aid…what’s it like? Tell me.” Haruko is confronting Naota here about his insecurities. Naota says, almost to himself, that “something strange is happening.” A change is occurring in Naota after he meets Haruko, and he accuses Haruko of such. Haruko tries to remove the bandaid, commenting that Naota should know about his own head. Naota smacks Haruko’s hand away, and tells Haruko “You came with my dad why don’t you go stay with him?” The camera cuts to Miyu-miyu, who jumps. The scene is quiet until Haruko plucks her bass. She looks hurt. “You’re the one I saw first, Ta-kun.” She uses the pet name for his brother that Mamimi gave Tasuku. He blushes visably, and changes the subject. He says that the top bunk was Tasuku’s and nobody can sleep there, and that’s the way it is. Haruko begins to ask Naota questions about his brother, and gets into bed with Naota. When asked why, she states that there is no other place to sleep, because the top bunk belongs to Tasuku.

Naota leaves his room, commenting that “She’s playing with my head.” He is confronted by his father. He says they need to discuss Haruko. When asked if Naota is against her staying, Naota says that his father can do whatever he wants. Kamon (naota’s father) grins, and shows what appear to be pictures of Naota getting run over by Haruko’s Vespa. Naota asks if Mamimi was here, and Kamon says that she was buying day-old bread. He asks if Mamimi’s family is poor, and Naota runs out of the house, presumably to find her. Haruko hangs out of the window with Miyu Miyu, watching him leave.

We cut to a bridge and a lit cigarette. The cigarette says “Never knows best.” We heard Naota remark earlier that Mamimi smelled like smoke, but Mamimi told him she hasn’t been smoking. Mamimi says to Naota “He gave me…a lot.” She’s hugging the bread when she does this, but it’s clear she is talking about Naota’s brother. Naota asks if he has contacted her at all, and how much she likes him. Her first response is “It’s hard.” Again, she is trying to eat the bread, but she’s probably talking about putting her feelings into words. We then see her get up and dust herself off with extreme detail, with a focus on her bare legs. She is talking about unpleasant things, like a panda with a mean face and the smell of a chalkboard eraser. She approaches Naota, commenting that she likes Tasuku more than Day-old bread. Naota asks why she doesn’t stop, but he doesn’t say what. He probably means her attachment to Tasuku and using Naota to satisfy it. At this point, we learn the contents of the letter. Haruko opens it up and sees that Tasuku has an American girlfriend. He even says “I bagged me a blond one!” (This says to me that Tasuku is probably a jerk) We see Mamimi’s face, it looks like she is going to cry. At that moment, Haruko’s strange wristband, which looks like a broken shackle, begins to shake.

Mamimi begins to hold her head and moan. She keeps repeating that she is “going to overflow.” She then appears to pass out, and suddenly something begins to happen to Naota’s head. WE also see Haruko speed off, and the Medical Mechanica plant begins to shine. Naota’s bandaid flies off, and we see the “horn” again. It appears to be “getting bigger.” Suddenly, the horn begins to change, and out of Naota’s head a crimson robot materializes. The Robot appears to be fighting another robot, on the screen of the crimson robot, we see a strange red symbol appear. The crimson robot rips the hand off of the robot attacking him, and throws it away. The hand jumps up the bridge, and the red robot pursues, snagging Naota on in the process. Naota seems to be less concerned with the Robot battle than the status of Mamimi, until the battle begins again. The Crimson robot seems to have the upper hand. He defeats the hand-robot, just as Haruko arrives. Haruko strikes the Crimson robot, and it changes from Crimson to Cobalt Blue. Naota is impressed with Haruko, saying that for a brief moment “She looked like my brother.” Haruko appears to be looking around for something, and we see Naota struggle, stuck on the robot.

The Robot and the strange symbol.

We see the aftermath, Naota starting to explain with “The Band-aid came off. The Horn is gone. Nothing amazing.” At this, he looks up and sees Haruko instructing the cobalt robot in dough-kneading. He continues to say that only the ordinary happens here. We cut to Mamimi, who is standing at the bridge. Naota runs up to meet her. She says that he didn’t have to rush, as if nothing had happened last night, and hands him a drink. Naota says to himself that he still doesn’t like the sour drinks, and the episode ends with him downing the drink.

A lot happens in this first episode, but because it is the first episode we have a lot of establishing and not a lot of development. The most development we see is Naota’s relationship to Mamimi which goes from indifference to affection. However, the affection is based off of a sort of sense of duty in his head. It’s clear that he wants to be his older brother, and begins to change his attitude towards Mamimi to accomplish that goal. 

Pertaining Haruko, well, I’m not gonna say much here because it will ruin the next episodes. The most accurate thing I can say about her is that it is clear that nothing is clear about her. Her motives are beyond any of us at this point. 

I can’t talk about Canti, the cobalt robot who came from Naota’s head, much either. He pertains to Haruko’s goals and ambitions and his representation in the show hasn’t been established yet.

Mamimi now knows that Tasuku has forgotten and abandoned her. How will she react to this? And what does that mean for Naota? I guess time will tell...

What we have established, as of right now, is that Naota is a young man with complicated relationships to others, who feels he has to act more mature for their sake. In this episode he is continually denying the strangeness around him; writing it off as 'ordinary' or 'no big deal.' This is an attempt to avoid attention. I find that some people will do this to appear cool or perhaps to avoid people noticing the strange or unsavory things are happening. Things only get stranger though, in episode 2...

First post, already an announcement!

Welcome to Totally Necessary!

A blog with the purpose of chronicling the analysis of various things. 


What sort of things? Well, on that I cannot give you a specific answer. Come here expecting analysis of Video Games, Japanese Animation, or other entertainment media generally associated with 'Nerds' and 'Nerdy types'. 


So now that you're here, why should you come back? Well hold on to your hats reader(s), I am already hard at work at my first project:

An episode by episode analysis of Gainax's FLCL. 

FLCL (Pronounced "Fooly Cooly" or "Eff Ell See Ell") stars Nandaba Naota, 12, and the strange happenings of his hometown of Mabase at the arrival of the mysterious Haruhara Haruko.

It is a tale of growth and maturity, communication and relationships, sexual growth and self-actualization. 


Also it has giant robot fights.

I will begin with the first episode, and continue in that manner until completion at Episode 6. Afterwards, I will probably have a wrap-up where I focus on the specific characters.

Expect it soon!

Note: While I will post my interpretation here, it is not the end-all-beat-all interpretation of the images. I encourage all readers to seek out the show and experience it themselves!

-Lynk the Hero