Gurren Lagann is one of those anime series I’ve long heard praised so, I decided it was high time I found about for myself what all the fuss was about. The series takes place in a world where humans have moved underground to flee the Spiral King and the “beastmen” who use machines to wipe humans off the earth. Thus, the humans secluded themselves into small villages with no contact with the surface or other humans. Simon, a small, unimposing young man who spends most his time digging, and his outspoken, reckless friend, Kamina dream of leaving their dank village underground and going to the surface. One day, after Simon comes across a strange object that turns out to be a key to a machine like those the beastmen use. After a girl (Yoko) fighting a beastman falls from the surface into their village, Simon and Kamina use the newly-found machine to defeat the beastman and break through to the surface. Together with Yoko, they begin to wage war against the beastmen.
While Gurren Lagann is unique in many ways, at the halfway mark of the second season, I’m feelings a bit disengaged as a female viewer. Of the cast of female characters that have been assembled, almost all of them are heavily subjected to fan service and/or fall victim to the damsel in distress cliche to give the male characters motivation. That’s not to say that the female characters sit on the side lines all the time (Yoko and two side female characters do participate in battles), but somehow I feel the way they are presented undermines them.
For instance, there have been two episodes that either had good portions or the full episode devoted to fan service. One takes place at a hot spring and involves Kamina and Simon trying to figure out how to catch a peek of the girls naked. Later, the girls are held hostage dressed in towels, reducing them to not only sex objects, but sex objects that need rescuing. The other episode involves bathing suits. Need I say more? The guys drool over the girls since it’s a chance to see them less covered. Yoko, who is usually in little more than a bikini top and short-shorts, actually wears a bathing suit that covers her more than usual and is disregarded as a result. To be fair, the show mixes in a fair amount of zaniness, which these episodes were playing up, but by focusing so much on the female characters’ bodies, it reduces them to fan fare.
As the two main female protagonists, Yoko and Nia, both suffer from female character clichés. Yoko is no helpless maiden. She’s been fighting the enemy for some time now in what seemed to be a losing battle. Once Simon and Kamina join the fight, new life is breathed into the resistance. At that point, Yoko could have just relied totally on the guys from then on, but she doesn’t. She is put into more of a supporting role, but she’s good at watching her comrades’ backs. Unfortunately, Yoko’s strengths, both inner and outer, take a back seat to her exterior appearance. For some reason, this character who’s fighting a war dresses in a bikini top that’s slightly too small for her and short shorts. Viewers are constantly getting shots of Yoko’s breasts, even when she’s in battle, taking a shot at the enemy, the view is such that we (conveniently) get to see her boobs bounce from the kick-back of her gun. Thus, Yoko largely gets reduced to eye candy.
On the other hand, Nia is more traditional, playing the part of the girl with inner strength that relies on the male protagonist. Don’t get me wrong; a female character doesn’t have to shoot a gun or punch people to be strong. In fact, if she can pick up a gun, but has nothing beyond that, I’m not sure I could call her a strong female character. There’s something to be admired in characters like Nia who show such inner strength. Nia has been abandoned by the people she knew and her own father. She’s told she was little more than a pretty doll to him, something to be admired for its beauty and discarded when one grows tired of it, and she has been thrust out into a world she knows very little about as being sheltered for so long. Her whole world has been turned upside down yet she has the strength to assess the situation and make her own decisions. The problem occurs here: whenever Nia is in trouble, she’s not worried in the least, not because she has a plan to save herself as I
initially thought, but because she has such strong faith that Simon will rescue her and anyone else in trouble. It’s nice that she has such faith in Simon–one of the first besides Kamina to recognize it–but that total reliance, or rather dependence, and expectation that someone will come to her aid is pretty cliché.
As I watch Gurren Lagann I do see hope for its female protagonists. While I’m not sure it will ever be excellent in terms of female characters given the way the show has treated them so much as fan service, I’m hoping for more development to take these characters to the next level. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
Gagging on Sexism 
The problem with this show it that it really does undermine its female characters’ strengths. As soon as the show remembers a character’s a female it subjects them to objectification, and I have to admit, the breasts were really distracting when all I wanted to do was watch the explosions.
The female characters in this aren’t BAD per se, in fact I quite like them, but they don’t really hold a candle to their male counterparts.
I can’t help but wonder if the excessive fanservice didn’t play a crucial part in TTGL’s popularity- which just goes to show how sad us anime fans are.
-Note: not related to TTGL, but one thing that’s always annoyed me about females in media is that they’re almost ALWAYS shown to have an inner soft side even if they have a cold or badass exterior- but the same thing doesn’t apply to males.
I agree. I like the female characters, but I wish they weren’t objectified and were more equal to Simon and the rest of the main male cast. It gets old seeing shots of boobs and actually detracts from an interesting show. But yes, I’m sure some people loved the fanservice.
As for the cold, tough girl with a soft side, that is definitely a trend right now. I think it wouldn’t be a problem if 1), this trend were used on male characters more as well and 2), if cold, tough girls could sometimes just be cold, tough girls. It gets back to gender stereotypes; tough guys can’t have soft sides and girls always have to have soft sides.
Reffering strictly to your side note, would this not make for a terribly unrelatable character?
Gurren Lagann is great in a lot of things, but it’s definitely not in female characterization. I mean, to be fair, the series was animated by Gainax, so going in there expecting to see strong portrayals of women in a serious setting is definitely overestimating them. There’s a reason why fan service is also called “Gainaxing”. And Gurren Lagann is definitely one of the worst offenders from their repertoire.
It’s pretty bad if a company name is a synonym for fanservice. When I watch anime or read manga that is filled with fanservice, I can’t help but think, “Didn’t anyone think any girls/women would be interested in this series?” Of course, I’m sure not all guys like fanservice either, but I feel like no thought was given to the female audience in these cases.
Yea, Gainax is fairly known for that. I’d say you can definitely have an idea of what to expect judging from the production studio.
I know I definitely don’t enjoy that type of fanservice, but I wouldn’t say that a lot of girls were put off by it. I mean, given the nature of your blog you don’t really notice it here, but a lot of girls (in my experience) are surprisingly indifferent about it. If anything, the video game industry and community (and I’m aware I bring this up a lot) is far more controversial regarding feminism. May I suggest you look into the recent uproar, if you haven’t already done so? Well-known gaming and anime community site, Kotaku, is very notorious about the topic.
Well first of all, we don’t like the show because Yoko bounces every other second. We like it because of all the zany, over the top and nonesensical action/adventure. EG: later in the show, they warp the laws of physics due to fighting spirit.
It makes no sense whatsoever but it still just so awesome you can’t help but not care.
As for the feminine analysis… Yeah the females aren’t exactly of high standard. I do agree that Yoko’s odd choice of costume undermines her real ability. She gets a little bit better post time skip where she becomes a badass school teacher, but that is only for a short while before she goes back to wearing skimpy outfits… Though this time, she also gets a huge mech and gets her own chance to save everyone.
Nia, I like her yes, but not very femninist. She rely’s solely on Simon to rescue her… Although A) her faith in him is touching and B) she isn’t exactly a fighter nor has much spiral power (spoilers?) in a series revolving around action. and there is ONE moment where she does prove how awesome she is… But I won’t spoil it. You’ll know it when you see it though.
As for the bathhouse, it is our sworn duty as men to peep in on women whenever possible. This ancient tradition is burdened by all with an excess of testosterone, and must be followed through for the sake of humanity’s continuity.
And boy did that sound a lot more justifiable than it actually is XD but I had fun writing it.
And to the comment above, for the side note, yes that’s true, but lately I’ve been seeing many men written to have a soft spot as well. Or maybe I’m imagining things?
The zany aspect of the show makes it fun and original. It’s too bad they had to throw in all the fanservice although I’m not going to let that stop me from watching the rest of the series. At least it sounds like there’s some interesting moments ahead for Yoko and Nia. I like the female protagonists after all; I could just use less boobs/helplessness and more awesomeness.
Nice try justifying the bathhouse thing, by the way. That’s certainly what anime makes it seem like.
As for the soft side in male and female characters, I feel like we might be seeing more male characters with softer sides now, but I’ll have to keep an eye out. It would be nice if that’s true.
Erin’s reply pretty much sums up what I would say to you (very good bathhouse justification, by the way- that’s what I’ll tell the police next time XD).
Anyway, thank you for not immediately going into idiot mode and actually relying on facts rather than denying the whole goddamn thing- the reason I’m saying so is that I’m worried youtube may be littered with idiot 13 year olds, and arguing your point over there will make them think you’re a gay guy that wears pantsu (speaking from experience). (Seriously what do they have against gay guys anway? And why is it that so many anime fans go into complete homophobe mode over everything? So insecure..)
Apparently some (guys/kids/whatever the hell he was) actually believe that girls get more fanservice than guys.
Sorry, I just went ahead and rambled for a paragraph about something completely unrelated.
All I can bring to the talk about this anime is a link to the review JesuOtaku did a while back: http://blip.tv/jesuotaku/gurren-lagann-review-4921888
Hi, I am a new member of this blog. I have been following your blog a while now, I like it a lot so I will click on “Follow”. 🙂 I did read this post, I haven’t watched Gurren Lagann but the characters looks very familiar… I’m not so sure if I will give this anime a try because of the huge fan service, it’s fine if it’s a bit fan service but if it’s too much of it I don’t like it, because girls aren’t sex objects. This is a shōnen, right? It’s directed to guys in their teens, and in that age many (not all of them) are interested in girls thats naked/has little clothes and big breasts. Many manga artists/anime creators knows it, so that’s why they put fan service in shōnen manga/anime to please the audience (that consists lots of boys). It’s so typical for shōnen to have fan service, I don’t think I have ever read/watched a shōnen manga/anime series without it! I’m sure you probably already know of all this, but I just wante to comment something here because your blog is so good! 🙂
Thanks for following my blog! I’m glad you’re enjoying it. As for your comment on fanservice, I think you’re right. I do believe Gurren Lagann is considered a shonen and as you said, there’s almost always fanservice of some kind in that genre given the target audience. The only shonen manga I can think of that was extremely tame on fanservice is Fullmetal Alchemist, but that seems to be the exception. While I understand what manga creators are thinking when they put in fanservice, I have to wonder if many of these series would be just as popular without the massive dose of fanservice. If they have a good plot, good characters, and appealing art, it’s quite possible. Unfortunately, if they put too much fanservice in, it can turn away potential readers/viewers.
Yeah, I wonder too if many of those popular shonen manga/anime series would still have been just as popular if there wasn’t fanservice in them.
I did not appreciate these portrayals at all… The girls were just there to be cute or sexy. SOMe of the stuff in here just made me cringe… such as, in the aforementioned beach episode, Yoko resents Nia for getting more sexual attention from the boys even though she is more covered up. She then treats Nia badly due to this stupid jealousy, until later, when they make up by doing a cute girly activity (cutting Nia’s hair).
And the one gay stereotype character in the show, despite being an important character who explains a lot of important plot points, remains a stereotype. He has “the gay lisp” which isn’t a bad thing, but I thought it was really messed up that he would always make creepy, unwanted innuendo-type statements, perpetuating the myth of the “predatory gay” who will prey on random unsuspecting straight dudes. Why was that necessary to his character?
It wasn’t necessary to his character. It just goes to show that creators will often resort to lazy archetypes instead of fully understanding the people they’ve chosen to represent. I’d rather get no representation in an anime than be represented as a predator to straight people.
Same thing goes for representation of women. I’d sooner watch an anime with NO women, like Toriko (there are 2, but they’re rarely given air time) than be subjected to 3 seasons of disturbing camera angles that zoom into every boob jiggle and butt wag. I loved Fairy Tail, but it takes me out of being immersed into the world when Mirajane is reduced to almost no clothes every time she fights, or when Lucy is damseled for the 34954895th time.
/rant
I’ve just watch Gurren and like most Gainax shows it’s very odd. I strongly suspect that Iamashi especially, the director of GL and PASWG, has a background in Marxist/Hegelian dialectic, because he seems fascinated with presenting thesis and antithesis and then (sometimes) resolving them. This would be a bit OTT to suspect most anime companies of, but not Gainax (because , hello, NGE.) The real attraction of working this way is not to produce something with hidden “ideological” meanings but that, for some people, it’s a great way of developing from a simple idea to a complex final piece,
But this makes their work very tricky to interpret. Especially if you don’t what Hegelian dialetic is. In fact it will sound weird and impossible – even though this is stuff that would have been discussed endless if you were a Japanese art or humanities student in the late 60s or most of the 70s.
For example, the fan service beach episode doesn’t just show pretty girls on a beach… ***It shows men behaving like idiots over them.*** Emphasis on idiots. Ditto the bath house scene. Of course most viewers will just see boobs, and then most of the rest objectoinable fanservice, ***but it is the job of criticism to try to use intelligence to try to discover the full intent of the creator.*** And I don’t think that was being done here. The actual message was “These characters are guys, I’m a guy, and we think boobs are great, but looking at them makes our IQ fall.”
And why shouldn’t Leeron be camp? Some gay men are: does the person who complained about Leeron think these people should be made invisible? Camp is an important part of gay identity to many gay men. And is Leeron “predatpry”? He sometimes flirts mildly to see if a guy is interested – but because he’s gay this makes him the next thing to a rapist? Leeron also uses flirting as a tool to push back at men who are uncomfortable with him and possibly to test to see who he can get along. Other than that, he’s an important character who demands and gets respect from a hard-boiled backwoods cast who you might expect to be inclined to homophobia without a tough attitude. So in fact, Leeron is being “manly”, which is what GL says it is about. Again thesis, antithesis, resolution. (And really: saying that camp gay men shouldn’t be seen on TV is just hateful, although I know it wasn’t meant that way.)
As for Yoko’s fanservice: THIS IS A SHOW WHERE THE MALE HEORES SHOW THEIR NIPPLES! It’s a show about young and attractive people that arguably equates yputh and attractiveness with too many other positive qualities, but that is not sexism – not even with boob bounce. Yoko has agency and she’s strong: saying that’s she’s an anti-feminist character because she wears hotpants to fight is suspiciously like “Women in short skirts deserve to be raped” talk.
More: Yoko does NOT only wear hot pants! She wears them in the romabtic/heroic period when Kamina and Simon go topless too. When peace comes she dresses more conventionally – just as Simon does.
Important point: the camera might make an effort to find sexy angles on Nia, but she does NOT adopt insane cat-in-heat poses while fighting like American female superheroes. This is an important difference: people intuitively understand the diffference between “This angle is sexy and the camera represents the masculine view” and “This character is defined by sex and so has no agency.”
Yes, Nia is super passive. But so what? The other female characters are not, and Nia’s passivity is not explained as being “Because she’s a chick” but “Because she’s really an alien device raised by an immortal dictator as a plaything.” If any female character is presented as being typical it’s Yoko. Who makes her appearence when she rescues Kamina and Simon, and rescues Simon again later.
Having said this you’re left with a question: does GL promote feminism or not in the minds of the average likely watcher? I would say, undoubtedly that it does. Because while Yoko has a great body, she is also a badass with complete agency. And the Black siblings and the female engineer shown have agency and are competent too. If you think “But boobs!” destroys this, then you need to attend your local slutwalk and tell them to put some more clothes on.
..The ever-present danger with would-be politically correct criticism is that it can easily turn into a demand for blandless and confined thinking, especially when it is sloppy. Whatever GL’s faults, I think that happned here. One of the damger signs of an over-simplified discussion is when people fail to mention obvious counterpoints – eg the competent female beastwoman general who complains that two of her colleagues don’t respect her because of her sex; the fact that Kamina, procilamer of maniless, is resuced so often by Yoko…
Ouch – I missed two concluding arghuments for the influence of Hegel on TTGL:
1. The writer of the show was trained not as a screenwriter but a playwright. And the most important book of the C20th on writing for the theatre – in fact the most important since the Poetics (and some would say it overshadows even Aristotle) was Laos Egri’s. Which was overtly rooted in… Hegelian dialetic.
2. Guess what word is referenced over and over again in Hegel? Specifiically to describe the progress of an argument, a process, or history? The word is *spiral*
So I think we can be reasonably sure that TTGL was written using Hegelian Dialectic. Which matters a LOT because if you see a protagonist do something you have to wait to see if he/she or another protagonist do something later to negate it before suggesting that the author approves of the action. An obvious case would be Simon realizing that he should spy on the women at the baths.
While I agree that the fanservice was completely unnecessary (I skip the bath house episode every time I watch it), to say that it completely undermines a character, I feel is unfair. If that were the case, then not much character was there to begin with, and that is not the case in my opinion, as Gurren Lagann’s over-the-top characters are one of the main draw in’s for me. While this doesn’t explain the focus on her breasts, her clothing is appropriate considering her environment and fighting style, with an emphasis on mobility (sniper rifle/various other firearms). As for Nia becoming a damsel in distress, is it wrong to rely on others? There are some things in life we just can’t do anything about personally. We all know Simon was reliant, if not completely dependent on Kamina initially, hence his major identity crisis. And as far as I’m aware, Nia played an integral part in freeing Simon from that depressive state following Kamina’s untimely death. In that sense, Simon was the damsel – powerless against his inner turmoil. Anyhow, I enjoyed reading your post. I can tell alot of thought went into it! 🙂