Gurren Lagann Heartbreaker: Kamina
I've recently completed my entire anime binge list, and being the kind that prefers watching an entire season at one shot, I decided to put the new released episodes on hold and watch an anime that has been completed.
After a little googling and research I decided to start watching Gurren Lagann. I've heard good reviews about it, plus along the fact that it involes Mechas and plenty of humor and comedy.. It sounds just perfect for a relaxing afternoon in bed.
That's what I thought in the beginning, but no, Gurren Lagann entirely shattered my heart. While Gurren Lagann was simple lighthearted entertainment in the beginning, we start to see the deeper darker parts come to light within the first few episodes.
This post will mainly revolve around Kamina, and contains spoilers, so please back out if you're anti-spoilers!
One thing I really like about Gurren Lagann is that it's pretty fast paced, and I never had to fast forward the episode. Which is a feat in my books.
Anyway, when Kamina was introduced, I honestly thought he was going to be one of those annoying dumb loudmouthed characters that are there only for comic relief, and with no significant input to the plot.
But as the plot progressed, I realised the importance of Kamina. Not only was he only there to push the Protag to grow, he was a unique character, and not just there for plot convenience. Sure, his main role is still the comic relief, and to also ease tension in tight spots, but rather than getting irritated, I found myself rooting for him in all of his stupidity. He is incredibly strong-willed, and will do anything to reach his goals, even if it means harming himself. His eyes are always set forward, and puts intense trust in the Protag.
After drilling himself a spot in my heart reserved for sad backstory hidden-emotions dumbasses, that's where the trouble started.
In the beginning, Kamina's goal was simply to reach the surface, which he did superbly. The second goal was then to find his father, which he did.
In. The. Worst. Way. Possible.
He found his dad, dead and buried. He broke down and wailed, which was already bad for my heart, since he was always a cheerful upbeat guy. He reverted back to his normal happy dumb self in a few real life minutes, which was worse for me.
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| no |
Honestly, I had thought that the story would be all like "nah, your dad's alive. the cloak and bracelet found on the skeleton was your dad giving it to his comrades as a symbol of thanks or something." That was honestly what I thought. I mean, most animes are like that right?? So I set my heart aside then trudged on. There were a few other sad scenes but I chalked it up to something big happening later.
Yeah, something big happened, but it wasn't anything good like I had expected.
So after the goal of finding his dad was completed (although terribly), the next goal was to find the beastmen's recall point. Team Gurren Lagann found it, and a huge battle ensued.
Kamina was obviously the lead, and had a lot of help in getting Protag to do his work properly. The battle was intense, and Kamina was amazing. He's that kind of leader where you know he's dumb and needs help in almost everything, but you can put your trust in him to pull through and survive the worst situations.
So, the battle. Kamina spouted the usual hero speech in the most important moment, when it looked like everything was going south. It was the heartwrenching, gut-clenching, soul-screaming speech that makes you want to pump your fist in the air screaming "yeah!!!" while manly tears roll down your face.
Protag was having trouble, and for a moment Kamina took a massive blow that he would not have survived from. But Kamina pulled through!! And started the I TRUST IN YOU LET'S DO THIS speech, which got me all teary. As usual, that gave Protag all the power he needed to complete his job.
I heaved a sigh of relief when Kamina appeared beneath the rubble, because amidst all the blood and wounds, he was alive, and that's all that mattered to me. At that moment I was like yeah okay, he cant die right? He's important, they can't kill him off, Kamina's safe, yeah he is.
But no. My angsty fic karma has turned on me.
After the battle Kamina said his last important words, and died. "Don't believe in the Kamina who you believe in. Don't believe in the Simon that I believe in. Believe in the Simon who believes in himself."
I literally sat there in dumb shock while all the characters cried. I refused to believe it. Right there and then I had one of those anime death flashbacks of Kamina. How could he ever die? I know he wasn't the Protag, but he was important! He was the glue of the team, and the leader, the one with goals and ideals and most importantly, he was the one with heart. He was basically the Gurren to Protag's Lagann!!
I cried.
That was episode 8 of 27, and I have currently ceased continuing Gurren Lagann until the wound on my heart heals.
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| nooo |
Nerd out..
Written by: ninetylives
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