Mintyfresh Anime Blog

So wow, episode 8 turned out to be a big one. If I had to guess I would say this would be both the major turning point for the series and for Simon’s character. It’s been apparent since the very first episode that Simon does indeed reach the stars and become some sort of great leader, but the question left to ask oneself was how would a wuss-bag like him change so drastically? I had no idea that this event to change Simon would be none other than Kamina’s death. Until now, as much as anybody would like to refute that Simon has been the protagonist of this story, it has really been Kamina. Kamina is more likeable in every aspect when compared to Simon. This episode will probably mark the point at which the focus shifts towards Simon. The little love scene between Yoko and Kamina was entirely devoid of build up. Honestly there was very little “connection moments” between the two. Perhaps if they spent a bit more time hinting at it …. Oh well. On the other hand, I really did like how Simon reacted to the kiss between yoko and his ‘brother’. Who hasn’t been in Simon’s position honestly? There’s been countless times in my life where I’ve held childish reverence for a girl only to have it smashed to pieces, although in truth I knew my passive personality did little to win her heart. Simon seems more human because of this short 20 seconds of footage in my humble opinion.

The battle …. Ahhh the battle. Each episode of this series is crammed so full of action you’re surprised it takes place in the 20 some odd minutes it does. Somehow Simon and kamaina amassed a small army of stolen gungen …. And surprisingly their army didn’t help in this epic battle one bit. It seemed entirely as if the Gurren and Lagann fought solitary, putting aside Yoko kicking ass with her new riffle thing. Overall pretty damn heroic how Kamina nearly came back from the dead to help Simon defeat his enemies one last time, all while giving Simon a speech that he should stand on his own two feet and just believe in himself.

I’m sure we can all agree that episode 8 ended on a rather sad note. Will the series continue to have it’s obscure charm without the leader of the “Great Gurren Brigade?” I for one sure hope so. One last note I figured I’d throw in here is that now that Kamina is no longer part of the story, does this open the opportunity for Yoko and Simon to get together once he grows up a bit ? That would be sort of disrespectful to his brother … but then again he’d be the kind of person to understand if he were still alive. He loved Simon like a real brother after all.

Upon further inspection, there are a few shots in the introduction sequence that shows the entire cast and leaves Kamina out. I feel a fool for having not noticed this until now.