[Categories: Anime Reviews]
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann 4
This will have to be a shortish post since I have an exam tomorrow…worse luck. Anyway, this episode is notorious for the fan backlash, which is a shame because it’s not really too bad. The problem seems to be that episode #3 was so damned awesome that it would take a lot to better it. It follows the same format as the others though with some comedy, drama and a bit of an insight into the series’ own bizzarre world in the first half, and a mecha battle with a ganmen in the second half. Unfortunately I have to agree with a few others in that there is a special ’something’ that is missing here. It seems a bit filler-ish for one thing. Unless the Black Brigade turn up later in the series it would have ended up as a distraction for Simon and Kamina’s journey.
The black Brigade aren’t really introduced properly and by the end of the episode we know little about them beyond their names and the fact that they’re related. Where are they from? Why are they hunting the 16-Face beastman (beyond the obvious)? Visually though, I wasn’t as disappointed as I expected to be. The sketchiness of the animation reminded me a little of the FLCL manga, although a pivotal moment in the battle was reduced to a series of stills. Overall however I noticed no serious problems.
My main criticism of this episode is that apart from a mecha battle and some new characters that may or may not reappear, not a great deal happens. I don’t think it deserve the panning it did though (especially with the furore that ensued) but there’s no depth or dramatic meat for the viewer to get their teeth into. Like poor Simon and Kamina, it goes into battle this time around on an empty stomach with only the tail end of a weird creature to sustain it. Boota’s backside may be delicious but it can’t keep us going for long!
Posted on May 10th, 2007 @ 1:13 am
Certainly not as bad as most people made it out to be. I think a lot of people put way too much emphasis and importance on animation, so that swayed their opinions probably much more than it should have. Content-wise, like you, I felt the episode was missing something that made the other episodes before it so good. Overall, it wasn’t a horrible episode, but it wasn’t great either. It was watchable.