"though this could be me reading too much into it" - yes, this entire paragraph is ready too much into things.
This series knew exactly what it was and what it wanted to be; the problem is you don't.
To be fair, this *is* a series where the Distant Opening bit had nothing to do with the rest of the show because they just plumb forgot where they were going with it.
I won't tell anyone they're wrong for disliking the sexual politics of something. I don't think that, unlike Highschool of the Dead and its ilk, that sexism was *intentional*, but a turn-off's a turn-off.
I'd say the show's issues on the front you describe improve markedly after the first major story arc and Kamina's death, but I've also never been one to say that "It gets better later" is an adequate defense.
I enjoyed it immensely, but if you didn't that's your right.
No, I knew what the series wanted to be: an Affectionate Parody turned Reconstruction. It doesn’t mean it was good. I could’ve taken your opinion that I was reading too much in general into it, but then vagina-face gunmen.
I actually preferred the series before Kamina’s death. When everything was still Played for Laughs I could let it slide. Then suddenly it turned around and played everything straight. I liked that they gave a sort-of scientific explanation to things (although their understanding was very shallow―quantum physics don’t work that way), but ultimately it was just repeating the same theme: stronger enemy, tap into more spiral/will power, rinse and repeat, with very little genuine ingenuity involved.
As for sexual politics: sexism, racism, misogyny, &c. are never intentional, so to speak. Very few people consciously think, ‘I’m going to produce a TV programme/film/whatever that propagates the idea that those cunts/niggers/faggots should know their place.’ These things perpetuate themselves through tacit assumptions. Through under representation. Through not noticing. The average Westerner might be horrified at a person saying that women should stay barefoot and pregnant, but will still call women bossy for the same behaviour he’d describe as ‘assertive’ for a man. Regardless of how explicit it was on TTGL (and I think it was less implicit than you give it credit for), it was still there.
This is a pretty obviously sexist show, yet talking about the Moon and vagina faces doesn't help your cause. The latter is only there to fit with the phallic drills.
Consider instead that Yoko is supposed to be an ace sniper, yet fires one effective shot in the first 16 episodes. Or that Simon decides to be a real man in episode 8, then gets a pre-packaged girlfriend the next. It's supposed to be about self-confidence, but this gets conflated with manliness. I liked the show, but its dumb plot mechanic led to some bad implications.
Finally, sexism can be intentional when pandering to an audience. See Saikano: the author might not be sexist, but my that show is.
Stories don't tell us monsters exist; we knew that already. They show us that monsters can be trademarked and milked for years.
Like I said, the moon thing might be a bit of a stretch (since the sun god in Japan is male). But the vagina-face thing is... I don’t even know if it’s misogynistic, really. It’s just bizarre.
Sorry, *moon god. They have a sun goddess, although she may have been male in earlier versions that predate the Kojiki.
How quaint, somehow you came up with assumption that the series is sexist towards women. It's like saying Evangelion has pro-war and genocide denying undertones. Afterall, the characters are named after Japanese warships that took part in WWII, the same war that lead to sexual enslavement and mass murders of Chinese and Korean people. Not to mention how the series homages Battle of Iwo Jima, which portrays the US in a very negative light. Not that I'm saying Eva is bad or offensive, but it's honestly no more politically correct than Gurren Lagann based on such readings.
Actually you raise a very valid point. In general, Japan very much refuses to acknowledge their horrific crimes in WWII, and yes, this has been a major issue in the past (cf. The Wind Rises), so yeah, the names do warrant somewhat of a raised eyebrow, especially since, as Brutannica noted here
, Hideaki Anno seems a bit too fond of WWII Japanese military stuff. However, again, there is a huge difference between referring to Japanese destroyers just for some theme naming for characters who are far from being glorified (and portraying the military as far from perfect in both franchises) and what TTGL did, which was making masculine values a central theme, conflating it with human fortitude, and glorifying it to hell and back. Also, I think Kensuke, who is seen playing pretend-army on his own, was meant to imply that Anno’s own nerdy academic/æsthetic fascination with WWII military stuff was something he took with a grain of salt (as his fans should with their ‘nerdy’ hobbies). Sure, it would rub a hell of a lot of people the wrong way, but it wouldn’t actually propagate harmful notions.
And as for Iwo Jima, well, it’s not like the US was particularly saintly at the time, what with the internment camps for its own citizens of Japanese descent (which it took forever to acknowledge) and the racism-motivated atomic bombings (see Prof. Ben-Ami Shillony’s doctoral thesis for more on that).
Look, if someone on the series actually said, ‘No, that’s not what being a “man” is, it’s about humanity as a whole,’ and had they written Leeron as a real character rather than an offensive caricature, I would’ve said it was a rather pointless series, because ultimately it basically keeps regurgitating its own theme while upping the ante a little more every time, but at least without Unfortunate Implications. But these elements exist, so yeah, my opinion is worse than that.
...First, toxic masculinity is about competition, while masculinity as expressed in TTGL is about cooperation, the idea that "men" should help each other with their problems without disdaining or mocking them, and about confidence, the idea that manliness is self-derived and self-reinforced, not something extracted from mistreating others to shore up one's own insecurities by constantly asserting dominance.
And acting as though any and all exploration of themes of masculinity and "manliness" without a frown and a thumbs down is anti-feminist is frankly disgusting. A self-righteous attempt to derive a sense of smug superiority for your own personal satisfaction, even if it means shooting your own cause in the foot. When the Gamergate shitheads lose their bloody minds over the *idea* of feminism creeping into their games, it's shallow, self-aggrandizing nonsense like that that they latch onto.
No, the show isn't feminist, but pretending that that automatically makes it anti-feminist is intellectually dishonest and morally warped.
And, yes, while Leeron is a gay stereotype, calling him a caricature is unfair and unfitting to the facts of the case. He *does* have character moments and characterization beyond his sexuality. He is a valued and valuable member of the team. If the show were trying to assert that his homosexuality were somehow wrong, or un-manly, and if it really was plugged into the toxic culture of masculine competition and dominance, why would Leeron be more secure, more in-control, more (by the standards of both toxic masculinity and the show's own more-positive vision of "manliness") "manly" than the insecure people he interacts with?
I’ve never heard of that definition. Toxic masculinity, as I’ve seen it defined damn near everywhere, is an exclusionary form of masculinity that asserts that Men Dont Cry, A Real Man Is A Killer, and A Man Is Not A Virgin and A Man Is Always Eager (and, in worse cases, Im A Man I Cant Help It), and is harmful to the person who has it and/or to those around them. TTGL’s interpretation of masculinity definitely suits that definition: masculinity is defined as being aggressive in conflict and aggressive sexually (Kamina’s behaviour in the onsen episode is incredibly predatory, but it’s still Played For Laughs, and he still gets the girl he’s that incredibly creepy towards), and constantly powering through in an Honor Before Reason way (their damn motto is ‘kick reason flying off’note —he alerts his enemy to his presence when it’s about 1,000 times his size when Youko tries to play it smart and snipe it down, and, if memory serves, he does it at least twice, and wins, and that’s before we go into how in later episodes they win battles they should reasonably never stand a chance in, against an enemy far stronger than themselves, just because they got so much fucking SPIRAL POWER!!!), and, once again, and this is a point that is constantly overlooked by most people I’ve argued with here, it’s tacitly conflated with human fortitude—as far as memory serves, and I’m pretty sure it’s something I observed while watching rather than in retrospect, in the second half of the series the values of never giving up and brazing through with impunity in the face of adversity were described interchangeably as ‘masculine’ and ‘human/spiral’. If I’m wrong, and they did say, ‘No, that’s not being a man, that’s being a spiral/human,’ point it out, but I’m about 90% sure that was not the case.
And, before you say anything about Youko: no, she’s not a feminist character, just a blatant case of All Amazons Want Hercules. This is not feminism; I see this kind of Wish Fulfillment in Nazi propaganda on Tubmlr all the time—they often like women who are fit and can use a gun, but still succumb to a ‘real man’ and ultimately have Acceptable Feminine Goals And Traits, and the distinction between the binary genders is still very clear.
That is not an exploration of masculinitynote . That is glorifying a very narrow brand of masculinity and gender roles. A work of art can be non-feminist and still not be anti-feministnote ; this is most definitely not the case.
The problem with Leeron is not that. It’s that his sexuality and gender identity is Played For Laughs alone, and it’s expressed almost exclusively when he sexually harasses the other men in the group (and a young boy). Even if he is not a one-dimentional character, even if he’s secure and in-control, even if whatever else, the bottom line is that on TTGL, gay = sexual predator. I’m a (generally) male-presenting AMAB and bi, and as such I’ve heard men and boys say ‘I’ve no problem with gays, so long as they keep their distance from me’ too many times to let it slide when this message is reinforced.
What you're describing are symptoms rather than disease. "Toxic masculinity" is the idea that, to be a "man," you have to be dominant, unemotional, aggressive, etc. Sure, one could make the argument that Kamina has *some* of these qualities, particularly when he's trying to put on a brave face for Simon, but they're far more likely to be lampooned as celebrated. The hot springs incident is *supposed* to be buffoonish rather than celebratory, an early indicator that Kamina is hardly infallible.
And, even then, Kamina dies young, and the more-sensible Simon ultimately carries the day. After a final battle that sees countless Red Shirts, led, need I not add, by someone who's cosplaying Kamina, dying pointlessly trying to ram the problem into submission instead of using their brains.
And *then* the next story arc heavily reinforces the idea that just because they're great fighters in wartime doesn't make them great (or even passable) administrators in peacetime. The first few episodes of the second season really hammer in the point that it takes all kinds to make a world, rather than some half-baked conception that violence is the only expression of masculinity.
Team Gurren's vision of masculinity is hardly in keeping with the "toxic" version. They cry and grieve. They form close relationships with one another without worrying about power dynamics and competition, and generally don't bother with crying "No homo bro!" They try to emotionally support one another, even if they use the traditional physical language of shonen to do so. When they acknowledge one another's pain supportively rather than judgmentally, it's shown in a positive light, and when they gruffly tell one another to "buck up," or some other slogan of the sort, it doesn't work or makes the situation worse.
And, yes, the final story arc uses the terms "man" and "human" fairly interchangeably. Nina in particular uses similar terms in relation to herself.
Why would I *ever* call Yoko feminist?! I actively said the show *wasn't*! It is not making the slightest serious effort to examine themes of gender roles, identity, or politics. At least call me out for what I actually said, bro.
(And, as a side note, I will decline to Godwin you, because I suspect that was a screw up on your part.)
I won't pretend that I can relate to that experience, and neither will I judge you for your reactions. You've gotten enough of that without my adding to it. I personally felt that Leeron was just being playful rather than serious at those moments, and they never came across as genuinely predatory to me. But, I admit that this point is subjective, and I would never tell you that you *can't* find it offensive, only that it was almost certainly not the artist's intent, cold comfort though that might be.
You're never going to like this show. That's fine. I do, and I *still* admit that it's pretty dumb most of the time. I just think that you're witch-hunting here. This is not a subtle show for the most part. Part of why I don't believe in anti-feminist subtext here is that I don't believe there's much in the way of subtext at all!
I’ll concede that you did improve my interpretation of the show. I haven’t watched it in a while, and my memory might be a bit fuzzy, but from what I recall, the battles were won mostly by adding more gung-ho masculist attitude and brute force, especially after Kamina’s death. And, even if they do support a model of masculinity based on True Companions being mutually supportive rather than Klingon Promotion (a huge step forward from, say, Dragon Ball Z, when Vegeta’s knickers were always in a twist about him being the best fighter in the universe, and he finally let go only when he realised he’s not rather than that it didn’t fucking matter), the ‘hu/man’ issue is a hurdle that I can’t bring myself to overlook, especially since ‘masculinity is the driving force of society, therefore men must never act like women (i.e. be gay)’ is, as depressing as it may be, a prevailing state-of-mind in too many African societies, and men weren’t considered the ‘default’ for humans in Western society.
As for Youko, I might not have been clear: I’m saying that, in the grand scheme of things, she was anti-feminist, as not only did the points I mentioned above apply, but her attitude towards what is essentially sexual assault (also, weren’t there pubescent girls there, and wasn’t she way younger than him?) is rife with Unfortunate Implications. This is beyond fallible—anime characters get Megaton Punches for less.
The point about the Nazis was to demonstrate that Youko’s character fits right into a decisively anti-feminist Weltanschauung (and, having trolled Neo-Nazis on Tumblr for sport so, so many times, seeing warning signs I’ve come to notice tends to alarm me), and, in TTGL’s case, I contend this is very much the case.
As for Leeron, well, jokes tends to convey the joker’s own views. Stephen Fry noted, for instance, that, in his experience in the field, the quintessential American comedic hero tends to be someone who breaks and circumvents rigid, oppressive rules on their upward mobility course (as the old adage goes: ‘Americans love an underdog’, or, rather, an underdog story), while the British is an Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist who tries to earn his upward mobility, but the rigid class system (implicitly) makes it all for naught. Same goes for Leeron: even if his behaviour is Played for Laughs, that’s all his sexuality amounts to—harassing men and boys and (at one point) complaining about a broken fingernail when everyone’s frantic about a crisis in the middle of a war. If he had been given someone to flirt with like an actual human being, let alone (gasp!) a boyfriend, it could serve to say, ‘Nah, we kid, that’s not what we think gayness is.’ If they had joked about creepy straight men, that would’ve leveled the field a bit, so they would joke about everyone equally. This is inexcusable in my book, especially after we’ve had a lesbian couple on Sailor Moon, a gay couple on Neon Genesis Evangelion (yes, Kawoshin is canon, it’s All There in the Manual), another gay couple on Gravitation, and the list goes on but I’m too lazy to elaborate further. To make matters worse, he does this to a child, as if All Gays Are Pedophiles hasn’t claimed enough victims already (case in point, albeit anachronistically: Russia).
The problem is not whether there’s subtext or not. Works can convey toxic messages without meaning to convey An Aesop, but by merely reflecting what the creator thought was ‘normal’. Whether the former or the latter was the case in TTGL, I contend that the message as conveyed there loud and clear.
Honestly Svarti Kotturinn, I think you're taking things waaay to seriously. If anything, when it comes to feminism, all I care about female characters is that they're well-rounded and have enough agency. Hence the reason why I'm not too bothered by Yoko's appearance. For me, I see nothing wrong with having a female protagonist with hot body and big guns so long as they have interesting personalities. Hence the reason why I feel that Black Lagoon and Ghost in the Shell should be commended for showing that a female protagonist in a manly work can break the Girl-Show Ghetto.
On a side note, I live by statistics and logic. For me, I see the world using science, mathematics, statistics, economics, and established history. For me, I do not see female characters using violent methods like Furiosa are necessary un-feminist or male-pandering. For anyone who would say that violence-based badassery is a male construct, I disagree. Male & female gender expectations are created by society. From a purely biological perspective, the masculine-associated violence is endemic among all species regardless of sex. In fact, in the animal kingdom, female species like lionesses and mama bears are considered more violent and aggressive than their male counterparts. To me, violent badasses show not be confined to just one gender. Again, I'm a biologist, not a communications or womens-studies major.
I admit this is a tricky issue, which is why I’m gonna use this handy little shortcut to explain what irks me.
It can be tough at times to determine whether or not a smoking hot female character is supposed to be empowering or not. Granted how real life physics have shown that scantily dressed outfits like boob chest plates are useless, one could argue that sexualized outfits make a female character less empowering and objectify them. However, there are some scantily clad heroines like She-Hulk and Wonder Woman that were created to be empowering role models. Wonder Woman was created by a feminist psychologist who believed that women are the superior gender. Furthermore, She-Hulk was an ideal action heroine who wasn't angsty or socially rejected unlike many male Marvel characters created in the 60s. I'm just saying that it can be very tough to determine whether or not a hyper-sexualized female character is supposed to be good or bad.
Also on a separate note, do you really have to claim that Yoko is a Nazi icon? Given how Nazis are Acceptable Targets, to compare a character or work to a hate group is just asking for trouble given the amount of ambiguity. Look, even though I disagree with different views, I avoid invoking Godwin's law. Hence the reason I never resort to describing radical man-hating feminists as "feminazis" or compare warmongering conservatives to the Waffen SS. It's just that life is ambiguous and that some things just don't align with everyone. For instance, some feminists think that sexually revealing outfits are objectifying yet others think that they show off the beauty of the female body. I'm saying that things are complicated and can't always simplify things into hardline ideas or interacted with knee-jerk reactionary beliefs.
Again, what matters here is intention. If a woman is dressed scantily because she is horny, or just thinks it looks good on her (or is hot and doesn’t want to wear a lot of layers), that’s one thing; if she does so because otherwise her sexist boss would fire her or because she’s created by an artist who mostly just wants to use her for fanservice, that’s a whole ‘nother ballgame. Yoko is firmly in the latter, and little has or can convince me otherwise.
I don’t claim she’s a Nazi icon. That’s not even remotely what I said. What I said was that Nazis have an affinity for the All Amazons Want Hercules trope (a decidedly non- if not anti-feminist trope), partially to explain why her character being supposedly strong and resourceful means about jack shit when it comes to assessing how much of a ‘feminist’ character she is.
And, by the way, bringing up Nazis does not make your argument invalid: if someone says someone is a great leader because he helped the economy and you say Hitler did too, it is a good argument—it demonstrates very effectively that boosting the economy on its own is not the only criterion to judge whether or not someone is a good leader.
You know what, fine. You have every right to hate Gurren Lagann and Yoko. However, I think you can get too emotionally worked up over these things. If someone has alternative interpretation of a character, you just had to turn it into an internet rant. I viewed Eva as a coming-of-age story and you just had to say that my views are wrong. Maybe I'm just sick of people using fiery rhetoric that only causes more ill feelings and animosity towards other people. That's why I have a cold and stoic personality to keep a clear head and think straight. My life is grounded in reason and hard logic first and foremost. I'm just a utilitarian pragmatist.
Also I'm just saying that bringing up the Nazis is just Flame Bait. Comparisons to Hitler have been abused so much (see Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh) that even bringing it up in a non-historical setting would risk discrediting one's argument. I just think that an analogy would risk overshadowing your legitimate arguments.
Also, I honestly think you're too emotional.
Oh, bug off. Emotion is a legitimate metric through which to measure art. No one's really "raaaaaational" the way stupid people who don't understand cognitive science claim. Your very disdain for his taste is *rooted* in an emotional respose for pity's sake!
If you think he's getting stuck on minor things, you think he's getting stuck on minor things. Don't pull some b.s. pop-neurology in here to try making you objectively correct in a fundamentally-subjective arena!
Look I'm just sick of people getting too emotionally work up. There's nothing wrong with having passion for a good cause, but when people let there emotions control them they get irrational. In fact when I point out how TTGL was about how people can't become badasses by following another's footsteps, Svarti Kotturinn created this theory that TTGL was enforcing conformist views about masculinity and oppressive Japanese societal expectations. There's just a real sense of contrivance to that type of analysis.
Also I'm tired of people getting preachy. Svarti Kotturinn cares about feminism and feels that Gurren Lagann is some conspiracy to oppress women then fine. What I don't need is for someone to chime in on my Evangelion review and deliver 500 word Anvilicious statement about how my interpretation of Shinji's emotional struggle as a coming-of-age/growing up story as wrong and invalid. I'm just sick of it.
Also accusing me of trying to justify me beliefs in science or emotional desire for pity, well that's just proving my point. People get too emotionally worked up just jump to random judgements. There's a reason I honestly prefer people characterized by Tranquil Fury instead of Hot-Blooded. Then again, maybe I would be better off as Cylon or Straw Vulcan.
Your emotions are a fundamental part of your cognitive makeup and brain chemistry. They serve vital functions that complement your ability to be rational rather than inhibiting it. You couldn't *be* "sick of people getting too emotionally work[sic] up" without the extremely primal emotion of disgust.
Also, you're a real person, not a fictional character, and rambling incoherently in tropisms while trying to justify yourself is annoying as balls. There is, paradoxically, a trope for that.
I feel that having emotions aren't bad. It's just that I would have to ask, are you controlling your emotions or are they controlling you? Emotions can be powerful and useful. However, when not properly channeled, they can be destructive. The best analogy is a nuclear reaction. It has so much energy and potential for good. But if not tempered, it can cause more harm than good.
Is it all right to be emotionally indignant or passionate about social injustice? Absolutely. It's just that raging and assuming that someone is inherently wrong just based on a gut feeling –– that won't get us anywhere.
Cool review. Personally, I like the show, but I can see why you wouldn't.
Robin: Don't ever ask me to dock with you again. Serious...
Your argument is flawed, Svarti Kotturinn. First off, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann isn't sexist if you look deep enough. When Kamina talks of Masculinity, Yoko once said that she isn't a man. Kamina then retorted that it didn't matter. That made realize that the show isn't talking about Masculinity as in male. They were talking about masculinity as in man or humanity. Every time they talk of masculinity, they never make the disticition between man or woman, showing that their message is universal.
And Yoko only has one competent shot in the whole sereis? Let's count her shots: About four shots on eth frist ever Gunemn, denting it more than Kamina ever could. She once sniped four Gunemn out of the air while riding another Gunemen that is riding up and down so she has to account for the jumps, took out Adenia in the beach episode, defeated two more Gunmen with just her sniper rifle in the time skip and sniped a planet on top of a constantly moving mecha the size of a galaxy several hundred light years away. Yeah, she's a horrible shot. Just because a woman wears a sexually revealing outfit does not mean its sexist. In fact, due to my experiences with another anime, I'm more inclined to believe this is a show of confidence and independence from society's views. Yes, Yoko's outfit is S Tripperfic but A) she doesn't care and B) She has the power and personality to back it up.
And may I refer to Nia as my second point of arguement? Nia is far more feminine than Yoko and yet she is even more important in this so-called myogistic show, True, she doesn't do much in battle and is completely dependent on Simon for help, often gets herself in trouble because of her brashness and needs someone to rescue her as well as addressing a much powerful opponent by asking them if they know who they are-Oops! Sorry, I wended up describing Kamina there for a second. You know, the paragon of masculinity?
Now, how is it that a man who boasts himself as the single greatest example of masculinity have so much in common with the most feminine character in the entire show? Oh yeah, because they are an example of true masculinity AKA they are best of humanity! Honest, courageous, inspiring, friendly, warm, happy and full of inner strength, they are the perfect example of Gurren Lagann's message that the fighting spirit that dwelled in the characters is inherent in all of humanity and the great things it can achieve!
Another aspect of misogyny is the reliance of females on other characters to be of use. Who is the most reliant person in the show? Yoko? Mo, she can fight pretty well with the sniper rifle alone. Nia? Kind of, but she can still fight on her own like in Lagann-hen? Kamina? Yes, he's technically weaker than Nia but still no. It's Simon, who fails in every single battle where he is alone. Next is Kamina, who was always reliant on Simon to get his plans completed, something he admits. Next is Kittan, who would have died several times if not for his teammates alongside his sisters. Most of the people in this show are men, yes but they all fall under the weak when alone archtype that is associated with sexist women.
And finally, Leeron wasn't overly campy and fabulous on accident. When ever he acts this way towards someone who doesn't care like Simon he drops the act quickly. With people like Kamina and Viral, he keeps on teasing them because he finds it fun. He's well aware that his sexuality makes some uncomfortable and he delights in it. And that's not just the extent of his character. He is possibly the smartest person in the whole series, having gone from not knowing how to write his name to fine tuning a giant dreadnought of a space ship and understanding complex spacial events like the portal to Earth from the Anti-Spiral's home in teh span of seven years. Seven years. Stuff like that would take decades for some one in our society, let alone on one in a society that is akin to cavemen.
I know I may seem a little over the top but this show has earned its right to be Gainax's greatest anime, especially in my opinion as this anime has given me so much joy and warmth, I will not let it be tarnished without a fight!
Also, the only Gunmen that even vaguely resembles a female reproductive organ is Adenia's Gunmen, which was probably intentional since she was the only female General.
You are aware that the Moon is specifically male in Japanese mythology, and the Sun is the female one, aren\'t you?
If you're going to put up a review of something, MAKE SURE IT HAS A PAGE FIRST!
All these replies. Holy shit, heaven forbid someone isn\'t a fan of the same things as all of you.
Find the Light in the Dark
Can you not necropost if you\'re just here to popcorn post?
Jawbreakers on sale for 99¢
Not least because this writer has been burned for a long time.
I very much agree with this review and this discussion. Most of it anyway.
Yeah, I\'d call myself a fan of TTGL on the whole but can find plenty of stuff in it that I can like/praise AND dislike/criticize. Ain\'t that something?
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I don’t know who the hell you are, and after a while I kinda stopped caring.
The series was promising at first: the battles were awesome, the characters were interesting, the animation was fairly good. Then it became repetitive: fine, fighting spirit makes the mechas work, going past the impossible, we get it. It’s Serial Escalation of the exact same concept with too little development of anything else. Characters repeatedly pick up the Idiot Ball, and to make matters worse, the ball is apparently the Macguffin. At some point the escalation got so bad I started laughing when I should’ve been amazed.
To make matters even worse, it smacked of misogyny, what with all the non-stop talk about masculinity and masculine values (and conflating them with a will to struggle for survival!), and that vagina-faced gunmen; to a lesser degree, the moon, which has been associated with femininity in many cultures around the world, becomes a serious threat to the survival of all mankind at one point (though this could be me reading too much into it). Worst of all is obviously gay/gender-nonconforming Leeron, who repeatedly harasses and creeps out the men he works with (yes, he contributes a lot to the team, but his queerness is expressed first and foremost by sexual harassment and Skewed Priorities towards his own good looks in the middle fighting). Nia serves to counter some of Kamina’s raging idiocy very briefly when she tells Simon he has every right to use his common sense and run from a hopeless battle... and then the series goes right back to espousing what is essentially unthinking Attack! Attack! Attack! mentality. Yoko is used way, way too much as Wish Fulfillment rather than an actual character, eagerly wearing extremely revealing clothes that practically run on Theiss Titillation Theory, complete with constant Gainaxing for no actual reason, and falling for caricatures of masculinity hormone-addled teenage boys project themselves onto. It’s annoying.
This series had potential, but it couldn’t decide whether it was a parody or a straight-forward mecha series, and relied way too heavily on a set formula and misogyny that seriously cut down its entertainment value.
6/10