Almost all mecha series have hyperviolent battles ending with the hero destroying the enemy. The finishing move has always served as a sexual climax in destruction. However, looking back at about the midway point of "Gurren Lagann," the love of violence met an exciting, but frighteningly devastating, peak with this series. If Evangelion was the rejection of the wanton shonen apocalypse, "Gurren Lagann" poured in an excess of action and robotic dismemberment.
These are just my initial thoughts upon watching the second volume of "Gurren Lagann." The series almost feels like the Kanye West of anime. In the same way in which Kanye combines multiple soul, funk and techno tracks for his rap songs, "Gurren Lagann" combines superflat cel-shaded animation in a FLCL-style orgy of action, all held down to earth with interspersed scenes of love and romance.
If you want a teaser of how euphoric this series turns out, just listen to the song "Nikopol" from the "Gurren Lagann" soundtrack. The song is littered with chaotic DJ scratches and loud guitars. The vocals, however, sounds like some sort of bizarre Rage Against the Machine warning against Westernization and colonization. "Nikopol," named after the Greek city Nicopolis, blasts with a trippy sense of inner consciousness.
I wish Incubus sounded like this.
Image courtesy of photobucket.com
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