Lessons Animation Taught Us: Gurren Lagann

This is the story of a man who has yet to realize his destiny.
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Tracklist:
Beyond by Daft Punk,
Give Life Back to Music by Daft Punk,
I'll Make a Man Out of You (Instrumental) by Donny Osmond & Chorus from the Mulan OST,
Contact by Daft Punk,
Libera Me From Hell by Taku Iwasaki from the Gurren Lagann OST,
Sorairo Days (Instrumental) by Shoko Nakagawa,
and Red Angels by James Shimoji from the Redline OST.
I do not own or hold claim to any footage or music whatsoever. Certain video clips used are property of Studio Gainax, TXN (TV Tokyo), BS Japan, AT-X, Syfy, Toonami, Adult Swim, Aniplex of America, Studio Pierrot, Disney XD, Cartoon Network Studios, Warner Bros. Television Distribution, Insomniac Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Culver Entertainment, Marvel Entertainment, Adelaide Productions, Sony Pictures Television, The CW, Titmouse Inc. Star Wars Kids, and Hiroyuki Imaishi. All video and audio footage has been used for the intent of transformative commentary and is permitted by the fair use clause.

[@ceresta1732]

I understand what you're getting at with toxic masculinity, but I wouldn't necessarily gender it like that; I think the concept presented and villified through narrative context is overconfidence, over-zealousness and arrogance itself. Traits that are not and have never been exclusively "male". I think the phrase "toxic" is important in a discussion about behavior, culture and life influences. But I also firmly believe that "Toxic Masculinity" is itself an unnecessary (and highly sexist) politicization and erroneous, deliberate re-categorization of a much broader problem with people in general. I work in customer service in the United States, and hoo boy lemme tell ya, toxic arrogant attitudes can come from ANYONE. It's not a "man" problem, its a human problem. Confidence is a powerful sword but arrogance is the double-edge. Yes men have historically driven the rickety boat of history, putting all their strengths and shortcomings in the spotlight, but if modern sensibilities have taught us anything, it's that women are no lesser, or greater than we are. We're all just people. And people are jerks. Anyway that's just my own thought, and I didn't wanna bring down your great video essay with this long nitpick, I genuinely enjoyed it. Unfortunately I'm far more vocal about things I disagree with than things I love, which is too a detrimental attitude of mine and sorry bye.

[@Lavapasta]

I'm glad your feedback is in good faith- I guess where we disagree is whether toxic masculinity exists or not. I agree that there certainly are "I want to speak to your manager" Karens just as much as there are arrogant frat bros, but I also feel like patriarchal cultures, how the rickety boat of history is driven by men- have made it seem normal for a man to be emotionally distant yet sexually accomplished, to not carry sentiment except for anger, to not wear the color pink because it's somehow only a girl's color, that the idea of showing vulnerability is somehow self-emasculating- stuff like that where "being a man" has all these steps that one must follow, when what a man really needs is to be comfortable with himself, to know that he's all right just the way he is, to have the confidence in that being a man isn't what others tell him is- it's what he decides for himself. Maybe there are women in those cultures who have supported these perceived norms, but I think that this stuff originates from men in charge of things who have a flawed understanding of themselves, and yes, toxic, arrogant attitudes can come from anyone, but how culture specifically treats men having these attitudes as 'normal' makes it specific to masculinity and that is why we call it "toxic masculinity". also I don't think you can really be sexist against men when men are the ones who benefit from sexism against women

[@TheHustler245]

@@Lavapasta I'm sorry, I gotta jump in on your last line there. Of course you can be sexist against men, its not about who benefits from it. Sexism as im sure you know is is predjudice/antagonism/hate etc towards someone purely for their sex and women are perfectly capable of doing that to men. Saying you can't be sexist to men because they are men is like saying you cant be racist to white people because they are white. Just because one side of something may be less effected by something dosnt mean they still arnt.

[@ninjk7836]

TLDR: we're all bastards

[@shonenbag6478]

I just wanna say to you, a customer service person, thank you for your service. It isn't an easy job and it isn't half as appreciated as it ought to be.

[@featheredice]

@@Lavapasta To say something like "you can't be sexist against men" is in itself a discriminatory statement. Furthermore, it denies the possibility of a true equality ever existing between the sexes. You've implied that women are incapable of being sexist to men, that they are lacking in some agency, or capability. You're essentially saying the common racist/sexist/discriminatory line of "All xxx are yyy.". You've said "...men are the ones who benefit from sexism..." which disregards the many ways which men are disadvantaged by the same systems you call inherently patriacrchal. This doesn't diminish the points made by Feminism that woman are disadvantaged in many ways across a broad range of social systems, but it's not as black and white as you would portray it. Neither does it acknowledge, a woman's own agency as their own person to make their own decisions. If a woman chooses to be sexist to a man, you cannot remove her agency to do that. The same way if a woman chooses not to be sexist to a man, then that is also her choice. You would deny woman the agency to not be sexist. Equality will only be achieved when we treat everyone fairly, which means having a nuanced and insightful perspective into how we are treating others, ensuring we aren't judging others based on our own pre-conceptions. It is your prejudice that men always benefit from sexism.

[@ebindelgado9660]

What Gurren Lagann thought me is to keep moving forward regardless of what's in our. But not to the point where you must hurt people in order to do so

[@autumnassassin8263]

It's not every day you find a piece of media like gurren lagann. Something that teaches you hard yet absolutely crucial lessons, while still being a fun, lighthearted, and visually pleasing experience. This show genuinely changed my life as it has for many others, and that is a title that few other things can claim.

[@ryancarless7921]

Nice video, this is one of the best anime I've seen. That message about confidence was golden.

[@Lavapasta]

Glad you think so! I think it accurately describes what I realized when I first watched Gurren Lagann.

[@doofs]

Gurren Lagann's introduction to me was extremely similar to your story, and its themes resonate deeper than anything else for me still to this day. It's really difficult to talk about Gurren Lagann praising something somebody's already said, and I think you did a phenomenal job breaking down its themes of positive and negative masculinity. I really wasn't expecting to see Gurren Lagann in my sub box, but I'm never let down by either you or it! Fantastic video dude!

[@lemmykoopa1379]

Watched this when I was like 12 and it stuck with me ever since

[@wesleybelcher2283]

I disagree with “believe in the me that believes in you” being bad advice because you can’t just tell someone to believe in their self and that be the end of it. You have to give them that self confidence and that’s just what kamina does. He shows Simon all his strengths. It first took kamina showing Simon all the great things about him before he could see them in himself and have that self confidence

[@marocat4749]

Its a start. like simon learns later to believe in the simon, but thats a start.

[@afrosaiyan]

I know I’m hella late but I 100% agree with you Kamina wasn’t telling Simon to never believe in himself, he was telling Simon that if he CANT or WONT believe in himself to believe in him (Kamina) because HE (Kamina) believes in Simon

[@wesleybelcher2283]

@@afrosaiyan facts

[@cecilebakura]

Lava, you did such an amazing job on this ;;

[@gmoney771]

just found you today! Subbed so please keep up the good work, loving these videos

[@pedmonds2011]

I know this is hyperbolic, but this video is perfect. Well done!

[@mildrednromero]

Excellent analysis of Gurren Lagaan .....I could not agree with you more !!!!! :)

[@MatheusSouza-li4jf]

Great analysis mang, I totally relate to your view. Oh, and the Daft Punk songs fit perfectly :)

[@GodzillaSpartan-0037]

Best anime ever, nothing will top it

[@adriadnafragoso8123]

fantastic video and analysis! i hope more people see it and appreciate it!

[@Nexion3653]

I LOVE GURREN LAGANN

[@altname4742]

I see a deep Gurren Lagann analysis I like and subscribe. I'm a simple man

[@stereoplayerdx2308]

Pierce throught the Heavens ! And do not let anybody stop you ! One of the best ! Otherwise the best ! As a french fan of TTGL, I can say the french dubbed is awesome. Long live the dubbing ! And great video, keep up the good work ! I considerer Gurren Lagann as a message of confidence and I remember it each day. But I've never thought of Kamina as an example of toxic masculinity. You opened my eyes, thank you ;-)

[@tetitous]

And as a female fan of the show, I can confirm reccomending it to women isn't a problem

[@Lavapasta]

also the original script had me say "Yuri Lowenthal is Baby Bok CHOICE" as a shoutout to Movies With Mikey but I ended up cutting it bec i didn't have his permission and I didn't want to confuse anybody

[@Lavapasta]

oh yeah If you haven't already be sure to watch the original Movies With Mikey episode "Lessons Animation Taught Us" to see where this all started: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qpy4hI2hepKtgJo Part 2: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fHWwnamAmMdmgNU

[@OptimalZetaEdits]

I can say that everything you've pointed out I've noticed too, except for toxic masculinity. Thank you

[@juliomaravilla121]

Good vídeo, keep it up! I didn't like the equivalence between toxic masculinity and spiral power, but it's a good perspective. Thanks

[@Lavapasta]

Can you elaborate a bit further? I feel like the equivalence was between toxic masculinity and The Spiral Nemesis/Kamina (in which I can understand the dislike because Kamina is a fan favorite), not spiral power as a whole. Maybe I should have been more clear and said something like- "spiral power is confidence and OVER-confidence can lead to toxic masculinity, but that doesn't mean that regular confidence will, either."

[@juliomaravilla121]

Exactly, I think that the line between masculinity and toxic masculinity is a little bit thin, but it's a good perspective as I said, I really liked your video

[@Lavapasta]

@@juliomaravilla121 I was saying that the line wasn't thin, but thank you for the appreciation.

[@Lavapasta]

hey I saw PROMARE recently and the ending of that movie is totally in tune with what I say @ 11:51 about allowing yourself to express your emotions but not letting them control you- I won't spoil what happens, but I feel like the film validates my discussions on masculinity throughout this video.

[@akechideez9277]

1:28 I knew it was him, just from the voice

[@habakaellis469]

Aye!! One of the greats, @me. Love the vid too

[@Nexion3653]

Beautiful ending and words

[@Lavapasta]

Thank you!

[@thehumanvacuum3413]

Ya know, I never noticed those messages, thanks for opening my eyes.

[@alexibear2599]

Ima women and I loved this anime, it was amazing

[@Nexion3653]

YES!!!

[@shonenbag6478]

Great analysis! I like your points about toxic masculinity.

[@BuffAllMight]

Honestly love the video but, I disagree on the concept of masculinity. If you ask a group of men and a group of women to define masculine or feminine each will give a unique answer based on their own life experience, inner feeling, and cultural bias. If you look at it logically humans vary so greatly in terms of behavior, attitude, and life experience its unfair to category someone based on how masculine you are or how feminine you are due to fact there is no universal consensus on the topic. Simon or Kamina to me never represented masculinity, but instead proactive action towards their goals. "Throw logic to the curb and do the impossible" lol well I say Throw masculinity and femininity to curb and just be you to the best of your ability.

[@iXSIKOBOIXi]

So I don't think the show says that the "Believe in the Me that believes in you" is inherently wrong, and I also believe it isn't necessarily wrong in the context that it is used here. The reason Kamina tells Simon to not believe in himself, but to beleive in the Kamina that belives in him, is that Simon has serious self confidence issues. Every time Simon acts in the first half it is on behalf of Kamina, before and after that line is said. Kamina believes that Simon will be a great person, that he already is a great person. Simon just can't see his own greatness, and so he tells Simon to not try and find those great things in himself as it is currently as he is now a fruitless endeavor, but instead to believe in Kamina and as a result believe in himself, as Kamina believes in Simon more than anyone else. In the second fight against Viral, where Yoko asks to pilot Lagann instead of Simon as she has more experience and Simon will just hold him back, Kamina says no. That Simon is great and that he will come through. Which as we see, he does. Simon needs someone like Kamina, who has unwavering faith in him, because Simon has no faith in himself. Believining in the me that Believes in you is a means to an end to make Simon believe in himself. Also I wouldn't characterize Kamina with the label toxic masculinity. Though there are instances of stupid Japanese Ecchi tropes such as the Sauna episode which is dumb, and the weird episode where Kittan and his sisters are introduced, Kamina projects his confidence because it's what Simon needs of him. Kamina is a great leader because he recognizes what others need. The Gurren Brigade didn't need someone with intricate plans or an eye for details. They needed someone to rally behind and keep them focused on the future. Simon becomes this too, in Kamina's stead, and is a reason why later on Rossiu is shown to be a poor leader. Because he wasn't looking towards the Goal that everyone needed, but just trying to keep the status quo alive. Gurren Lagann is all about progressing. Character Growth, Civilization Growth and Technological Growth are all explored in their various ways, and the idea is that you must always move forward. Just as a drill rotating will always push forward until it stops spinning, Spiral Lifeforms must always move forward. Kamina was a rebel and a great example of how Humans will always seek ways to better their scenario and not just for themselves. Kamina wanted kids to be able to spend their days out under the blue sky, unafraid of the Earthquakes that plagued them in their underground city. Circling back to Kamina and Masculinity, the instances we see of overconfidence, or trying to prove masculinity (I.e. the first battle against Dai-Gunzan) actually had a well thought basis to it, being that even if they turn and run away they'll just be painting a target on their backs for Dai-Gunzan's artillery to destroy them. The other instance you showed of him punching Simon was important for Simon. You can argue that it's toxic, sure. I disagree. He wasn't punishing Simon, or reprimanding Simon with Violence. He was giving Simon a shock to wake him up. To put him back no the path. In a situaition like that, you can't sit there and give him a Therapy session because by the end everyone is dead. Kamina isn't overconfident or reckless. In fact it seems more like he knows exactly what he needs to be doing and how to inspire those around him and embody's exactly what he needs to embody right until the very end.

[@marocat4749]

Even believe in the simon who believes in you is , not ust believe in yourself.

[@TheHustler245]

I liked quite a few of your points, they resonated with me. Simon is definitely the best and most important character in the show and how we can strive to be better people. I cant say I agree with all your talk about Toxic masculinity, at least not totally anyway. With the objectification of women... I always viewed it like this, we are seeing this entire story through simons eyes, thats who we are meant to identify with so in the first half of the show (Pre time skip) Simon is a 14 year old boy, as we all know that time in a boys life starts bringing about heavy interest in women and in Simons case these women who get objectified (*Mainly* Yoko and Kiyoh) will garner his attention which is why we probably see more of that because and barring Yoko's space suit, there is isnt really any objectification of women post time skip (From memory anyway) because Simon has grown. However please note Im not saying that makes it right by any stretch of the imagination, but there is an explanation, as to why whether its ok or not will be up to the individual i guess and whilst Yoko is a badass (shes not just sex appeal, she is actually VERY capable) there is also women who get no objectification but still play huge and important roles (Leyte and Darry and I'd say Nia too) Your video had some great points, but I personally feel you are trying to push social justice issues on to this show (Not to say Toxic masculinity and objectification of Women arn't issues IRL because they most certainly are) that arn't there, at least not as much as you are emphasizing them to be.

[@marocat4749]

And its anime, anime can be realy great and then be anime.

[@xblade149]

Nice video

[@trycon40]

i'm sorry i do not speak anti spiral

[@jessicatatum7769]

Thank you for acknowledging the oversexualization of the female characters in this show as a major drawback. personally, and as a woman myself, it doesn't bother me too much, but my sister absolutely refuses to watch bc its just too uncomfortable for her.

[@keng3162]

There`s a point to be made. The "toxic masculinity" was the starting point of this show, it all started because Kamina was overconfident, which is ironic when we bring up masculinity. And while we`re here i would love to adress that toxic masculinity is kinda sexist, i think its product of many problems in our society, with mens help too. And i could argue with female objectification, but my knowledge of english would fail to help me here and americans kinda gone crazy with that stuff. Great video nontheless

[@flintlockbeithir4823]

yeah man i agree make more things sexy. sexyness in itself is freedom not typically objectification

[@thefox7427]

PSA: First 2 mins and buzzwords like "toxic masculine" and "objectifying women" are present. Click off if you don't want to watch the ramblings of someone who gives a milk toast interpretation of the radical masculine analysis that is GL. I.E. Lavatoast actually believes that you can't be sexist towards men.

[@claybirdgod]

Funny no women I know thatve seen it think it objectified women,it's a cartoon anyone saying toxic masculinity can't be taken seriously as toxic masculinity doesn't exist there's just masculinity and feminity with extremes existing in both.again it's cartoon not some media meant t9 teach life lessons as it exists as a fictional property meant to entertain but some people look for meaning on the back of ceral boxes so whatever I guess😅

[@redwanhossain5181]

lol liked this video until this guy started talking about toxic masculinity names all the negative attributes to "male" only men dont have arrogance women have it too this guy is such a lib with all the bias

[@Userdoesnotexit]

dud what are you on ??.. This Toxic Masculinity thing you throw into the Anime is just wrong. Maybe coz you are from the west. . In other cultures and most of the countries Masculinity is prasied and recommended. not to mention Masculinity is what made there people get on the ground and it is not Masculinity that deprived them under since that dud was just weak and he had only one option resulted of him losing emotions.... We have so much in common when it come to the show but the moment you throw this Toxic Masculinity it just gave me these impression where you western have problems with such basic thing as that. Masculinity RUN this world if you think about it. its these crazy people who push everyone to extreme for people later to come like Simon and balance things out for the long run. And you are only a MAN when you encounter once own desires. and know when not to listen to your emotions. (depends on the situation)

[@marocat4749]

Not really , its even pointed out how kamina is only really to put up that fassade and be confident, because he knows he knows simon is having his back, and is talking about hi feelings and not afraid. And youdidnt think toxic masculinity suggests healthy masculinity exists too?! Like simon, healthy masculinity. Kamina too because he actually listens a lot and trusts in others and be positive and not destructive and dare being emotional , thats positive . But toxic maculinity exits too and is more important to talk about .