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Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann

 
  

Page: 12(3)4567

 
 
Seth
07:54 / 13.06.07
I had to wait on this one because Nyoron are the only subbers who release in the avi format. For some reason mkvs still aren't working for me.

That was great fun. It's amazing how much more behind this show I get when someone shouts, "Who the fuck do you think I am?"
 
 
Mysterious Transfer Student
09:12 / 13.06.07
I'm clearly a 'Chicken' type beastman, as I can never bring myself to comment on a new episode until someone else has already done so.

Seth might be sadly right to say that this series is falling on the side of the fence dominated by fun, well-made adventure anime shows (Nadesico, Cowboy Bebop) rather than head-melting, life-changing annihilators of the medium (Utena, Evangelion, Paranoia Agent). For all that I'm emphatically sticking with it, because the characters and execution have grown on me and because an ounce of Gainax goodness goes a lot further than ten pounds of many other shows.

The revelations about the Spiral King are interesting, the detail of the throwaway princesses creepy and something I can't recall seeing elsewhere. (Maybe a bit of industry satire, since anime thrives on the constant production and disposal of pliable big-eyed flopsies for the lonely souls in the audience to project onto.) I'm also enjoying Kittan being crap at leadership, Simon blossoming under the influence of Nia and Yoko being frankly not very nice.

The flashback to Kamina confessing his cowardice was a bit of a cheat, but I have a real aversion to after-the-fact character development, so others will probably find it less objectionable than I did. I just somehow want the constant rhetoric about self-belief, which in the absence of a truly bugfuck character like Kamina sounds mainly like shonen anime boilerplate, to cross over into something meaningful. But there's me demanding too much from a children's show; despite the timeslot and other similarities, this isn't another Eureka Seven. (I really need to get past that series.)

Next week, TTGL hits the beach! As if anything in the brazen fan service stakes could be greater than episode six. Never mind, just relax and enjoy the jiggling.
 
 
Seth
17:40 / 18.06.07
Again , very enjoyable, very fortgettable. However it's interesting that we're not even halfway through yet and already the generals are getting killed off. I'm still really suspicious of this show.
 
 
Mysterious Transfer Student
15:03 / 26.06.07
Since last week's show was not really worthy of comment - hundreds of anime shows have done the "let's go to the beach and frolic in our swimsuits for no good reason" episode better than this one, notably Martian Successor Nadesico - I thought I'd save up 'til now.

Ehh... still not so much to say, sadly. I really want TTGL to be the best thing on air and feel a little sad that it is not... and that at my age, even a walking battleship leaping into the air to scissor kick the crap out of a helicarrier doesn't excite me the way it should.

Instead it's the furniture and design that makes me stick around, like Nia's admittedly cute new hairdo, the chibi-Yoko icon that flashes up when Yoko takes her seat in the Gurren's cockpit, and the Spiral King's lair with its drifting stalactites and vacuous gengineered babes. Also, any scene with Kittan failing to be heroic can raise a smile.

But is it really enough? From Gainax?

Bah, between this and the drainingly thin Bleach filler arc I'm feeling quite moody towards my favourite telly at the moment.
 
 
Seth
19:16 / 26.06.07
I doubt we'll be waiting too long for killer Bleach action.

Where's the avi for the latest TTGL? Seems to be delayed again.
 
 
Bandini
09:16 / 02.07.07
I've just started watching this series and really loving it. Thanks to a PSP i received as a present Gurren Lagann now brightens up my commute to work.
However, i have just found out that the series has been licensed by ADV.
I've not watched a series as it is screened before, does this mean the fansubs will stop?
AnimeSuki has already blocked the torrents. Are we going to be left hanging mid series till it gets a proper release?
 
 
Seth
10:38 / 02.07.07
I've missed two episodes now because Nyoron have stopped doing avis. Perhaps this is the reason. Perhaps, if they have stopped due to licensing, it's for the best. I think TTGL would benefit from being seen in one long marathon than split up weekly. Can anyone shed any light?
 
 
Seth
11:04 / 02.07.07
I've just checked Nyoron's page. Still no avi for 13, 14 hasn't surfaced in any form which is making it a little late.
 
 
Essential Dazzler
11:16 / 02.07.07
I haven't seen 12 or 13 yet. Downloaded them, but surprise surprise, my parent's PC has weird issues with .mkv's.
 
 
Seth
11:41 / 02.07.07
YouSubs has done an avi for 13 that I'm downloading as we speak. God knows if it'll work or if it's any good.
 
 
Bandini
12:34 / 02.07.07
Alas

Gurren Lagann Dropped

but fear not he has linked to an alternative source that already has ep 14 up!
 
 
Seth
12:48 / 02.07.07
Nice one bandini. Alas, anon doesn't cater for .avi and my persistent .mkv problems will probably mean me waiting until this is all collected and getting on DVD.
 
 
Bandini
13:47 / 02.07.07
If you search in the same place for 'gurren lagann' there is an avi by someone else. would link but don't want to get the barb in trouble.
 
 
Bandini
13:48 / 02.07.07
Also have you tried using vlc player. My computer is dreadful and that seems to play anything without a hitch or glitch.
 
 
Mysterious Transfer Student
14:05 / 02.07.07
I used VLC until for some unexplored reason around episode six, it refused to play the show with anything but fifty-point scarlet caps subtitles that rendered it unwatchable. (Possibly the digital equivalent of an anime-style comedy nosebleed at the unrelenting fanservice.) So I switched to Media Player Classic, which comes packaged with the invaluable K-Lite Codec Pack and which has so far absorbed just about anything I can throw at it. So that's recommended for people with .mkv woes.
 
 
Bandini
14:26 / 02.07.07
One of the things i like about vlc is that you can change the colour, size and font of the subtitles. Did the function not work?
 
 
Seth
14:27 / 02.07.07
VLC is my preferred player, but refuses when it comes to TTGL.

Media Player Classic didn't work at all, even with added codecs. It also makes my crumbling laptop crash.
 
 
Nocturne
22:10 / 03.07.07
I hope you find something that works, YO.

I'm using the Combined Community Codec Pack, which is basically WMP Classic + a ton of extras, including the oh-so-useful Haali Media Splitter. It works fine for TTGL so far. pm me if you want the same torrents I've been using.

I found episode 13 particularly slow as it had no plot aside from the monster-of-the-week. Of course, as soon as you saw the Turtle Beast you knew what was going to happen to defeat it. I hope the next episode is better. At least the music's still good.
 
 
Seth
09:13 / 04.07.07
CCCP + WMP Classic = tried and failed. I have given up on .mkv.
 
 
Bandini
09:49 / 04.07.07
The other option is to do the mkv to avi conversion yourself although prob not worth the hassle. I convert them all from avi/mkv to mp4 so i can watch them on my psp on the tube.

What episode is everyone up to now?
 
 
Seth
10:24 / 05.07.07
Pah. The YouSub avi of episode thirteen doesn't work either.

Sorry all. Looks like I'm bowing out until my friend in the States can send me the lot on DVD. See you at the end.
 
 
RichT's boring old name
12:03 / 17.07.07
Not sure if anyone's still keeping up with this at all but I've just seen 15 which feels like an ending but also appears to be a whole new beginning again. I have a feeling that weird factor is about to go up quite a chunk now
 
 
Essential Dazzler
15:24 / 17.07.07
Watched 12 through 14 on Monday, than ran up against an unplayable .mkv of 15.

These things really are a pain.

I managed to get enough of 15 to play to know it's an episode without an opening theme, which we all know means big things!

16 aired on Sunday, and I am informed it's a series recap.
 
 
RichT's boring old name
15:28 / 18.07.07
my 15 was an .avi encoded with Xvid (BSS subs)

The only tricksy .mkv I've found was 13

indeed 15=BIG
 
 
Essential Dazzler
22:40 / 18.07.07
Oh holy hell. I, after 4 hours of hell, have finally managed to (through laggy video, unesponsive subs, and constant restarts of PC) watch the first half of episode 15.

Then nothing will play the second half.

For the love of God can somebody link me to a Direct Download of episode 15 in .avi or .rm or.rmvb, or .wmv or anything that isn't a goram .mkv!

The first episode I can't play is the most important episode so far!
 
 
Seth
00:18 / 19.07.07
I have just purchased a new computer. I am hoping to catch up very fast, as I think something amazing is going to happen in this show.

Or rather I hope something amazing is going to happen in this show.
 
 
Phex: Dorset Doom
08:09 / 19.07.07
Seth- try TV Links- it has all the episodes up to 15 in watchable quality, a lot quicker than bittorrent.
 
 
Essential Dazzler
11:56 / 19.07.07
I loved that episode, haven't been that excited by a TV show in ages. Real edge-of-the-seat stuff.

One effect killing Kamina has had is that I'm never 100% sure who's going to make it to the end of each episode.
 
 
Essential Dazzler
20:22 / 21.07.07
Episode 16 was indeed recap, but I highly recommend it for the montage of concept art that replaces the ending movie, if nothing else.

My how differently everything could have looked.

The preview of 17 makes it clear that the series really is going nowhere near where anyone (at least, not me) expected it too. Weird times are ahead.
 
 
Mysterious Transfer Student
05:57 / 22.07.07
The whole of #15 was incredible. Off Pacific's comment, I did wonder if one of the secondary characters like Rossiu or Dayakka was going to get killed off just to fuel Simon's righteous fury further. But no! Lordgenome blasted into a sinisterly prophetic doughnut of DEATH!

Lordgenome was a terrific bad guy, all the better for the sense that we haven't learned a single thing worth knowing about him. Those fight scenes with him battering Lagann with his bare fists were hair-raising.

I was also sensing some callbacks to Gainax of yore; the ecstatically self-sacrificing drill-babes felt like a quick riff on the multiple crucified Liliths from EoE, and the Atlas-like Teppelin - some stunning imagery with the skyborne city blocks falling to earth - reminded me of Douze Mille from the finale of Diebuster.

As for the imminent #17.... Oh man. If you want a peaceful life, don't spend it as I do reading anime blogs. That said, the writers at the one site I permit myself to frequent are just as thrilled as we are with the new change of direction, so I can almost forgive myself for peeking at their spoiler-laden review of the raw.

Including! a new version of the opening song, Sorairo Days by Shōko Nakagawa, who is quite the renaissance idoru. You can see a remarkably boring music video of the full song here.

This comment from one of the YouTube viewers invokes true spirit of Dai-Gurren-dan!

MANLY TEARS knows no gender. When the weight of the world is too much, when sorrow overflows in even the strongest and bravest, be they man or woman. those are MANLY TEARS.
 
 
Phex: Dorset Doom
08:22 / 22.07.07
Sounds like I've found my next tatoo... for my face.
MANLY TEARS!

Anyway, and on a slightly threadrotty note, what are some good anime blogs? My Netvibes is pretty much anime free right now and I could do with somewhere to find new shows.
 
 
Essential Dazzler
16:15 / 23.07.07
17 is huge.

A lot has happened in 7 years.

So much to talk about. Get on it, people.
 
 
Phex: Dorset Doom
19:26 / 23.07.07
17 is just... wow.

[+] [-] Spoiler
 
 
Essential Dazzler
19:37 / 23.07.07
Who needs a thoughtful re-watch when you can have hyper-caffeinated ramblings?

[+] [-] Bits I particularly liked.
 
 
Mysterious Transfer Student
21:39 / 23.07.07
threadrot for PSA :

The blog I mentioned is Random Curiosity, which regrettably has a writing style and comments section that is as adolescent as you might expect, but is always very up to date and well designed. I have a weakness for their practice of using well-chosen screencaps to illustrate an episode - this one for the last but one episode of Bleach started me laughing at it all over again.

/ threadrot for PSA

Aaand...

[+] [-] Spoiler
 
  

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