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discorainycomputer · 5 months ago

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Pokemon teams: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

I've wanted to do another one of these since my Dungeon Meshi / Delicious in dungeon ones. I'm not expecting this to reach many people, but if you disagree with my picks feel free to tell me so! These were made in a pretty short timeframe and I'll explain my process as i go. There will be spoilers.

Simon (Young): I wanted Simons first team to be weak, but full of potential. I'm no good at competetive pokemon, but i feel that if you leveled all these pokemon to their max evolutions you'd get a pretty decent team. Anyways moving on to the actual pokemons: The Drilbur line was made for Gurren Lagann. Drilbur is a digger just like Simon, with a signature drill. It also references Boota, its shiny because it looks more like Boota that way. Dreepy was added because i wanted to make a connection with Simons and Kaminas teams. I'll speak more on it in Kaminas section. Nosepass is referencing Lagann. Wishiwashi is symbolising Simons lack of confidence when being alone. Trapinch is a digging pokemon and is a lesser version of Flygon. Zygarde is a tiny weak thing that has great strength when it gathers itself, which is a pretty good way to describe Simon.

Kamina: I wanted Kaminas team to be extremely masculine as this is the idea of himself that he projects. Drakloak is carrying a little Dreepy on its head. This reminded me a lot of Kaminas and Simons relationship, which is why Simon has a Dreepy in his team. Although in reality its really Kamina that is carried by Simons abilities, this is how everyone besides Kamina sees their relationship. The big brother taking care of his younger brother. Krookodile was mostly picked because of its shades and it being a shady pokemon, which fits Kaminas infamous reputation in his village. Darmanitan fits his fiery motivation and is really just a nice pokemon for him. He is very hot headed after all. Golurk is representing Gurren, and also looks quite muscular which fits Kaminas masculine aesthetic. Flygon is here both to act as a bigger and better version of Simons Trapinch, but also here because of its goggles. Finally his last pokemon is Pyukumuku. This is my favourite part of his team because its the pokemon that fits his character the most. Kamina is a person that is nothing on his own. He lies about what he feels, he lies about his fears and doesnt speak about his insecurities. To everyone else he's the perfect leader. In reality, hes a 18 year old putting up the biggest front of all time to make the people in his life feel safe, especially his younger brother Simon. Pyukumuku on its own is a useless pokemon. It cant do any damage, except in certain situations. If you had a team with only a pyukumuku, you would most likely not be able to beat any pokemon game (Dont take this as a challenge). Pyukumuku shines better, when paired with a full team. Not only does this symbolise his status as the leader, but also his personality. In battles, he is never the deciding factor. He may shout the loudest, but the strength always comes from Simon. Kaminas role is making sure Simon believes in himself. He is the support. I see a lot of claims online sometimes saying Kamina is the manliest man, always seemingly because of his traditionally masculine traits. The real reason hes the greatest is the way he supports everyone. I hope after reading this you see why pyukumuku is his perfect pokemon. He is nothing alone, but as a leader, a brother, a friend or anything. He will always support you. (Also i like that Pyukumukus only way to attack is a fist, it fits Kamina). Sorry for the long rant, I'll be moving on now.

Yoko: For Yoko i wanted to make a mix of her status as a sniper, her attitude as a part of the team and her role as a teacher. Clawitzer and Sandaconda reference her status as the sniper, Blaziken is both a nod to her design having fire elements, and her more serious attitude. She can be a bit silly at times, but shes probably the most serious character of the crew. I think Blaziken fits her pretty well. Next up is Mantine, which i know looks a bit weird. Mantine is in a symbiotic relationship with schools of Remoraid. I thought this was a nice way to represent her status as a teacher taking care of the younger generation. The last two i picked mostly because i feel they fit her pretty well. Mawile is mostly because of the ponytail but also because it fits her personality as a teacher, being a mix of very nice/cute and scary. Lastly Tsareena just fits her. I've always felt it was a very, excuse my wording here, girlboss pokemon. Which fits her a lot.

Rossiu: For Rossius team i wanted to get a mix of his role being a wise person, relying on logic but also his status as a former religious person. Carracosta design wise always evoked a very wise feeling for me. It seems like a pokemon you could talk about your feelings to, and give that it could respond, it would give the answers you didnt know you needed. I think Rossiu is the most intelligent character (Except for Leeron which I forgot to make a team for...) and i wanted his team to reflect this. Next up is Sigilyph which is to my knowledge based on ancient angels. At least to me it evokes a very "Be not afraid" kind of feeling. I felt this fit his connection to religion fairly well. Next up is Golett which represents him taking over Gurren after Kaminas death. Gurren however is represented by Golurk, so him just having Golett represents that hes not really cut out for piloting Gurren. I felt Oranguru fit him alot as it seems to be designed to be like a sort of preacher. Not only is this a nice little nod to the leader of his village, I think they look alike, but its design also fits his nihilistic perpective and choices in the later episodes of the series. I wanted to fit into some technology into his team, so I included Klingklang. Lastly I added Duraludon Dynamax. It being a very modern building i felt fit his modern outlook on the world. He builds a democracy and society after the team fumble at building a government. I feel its a nice fit.

Nia: There are a lot of pokemon who share Nias colour palette, and i really love her design. Sylveon is basically her design, filled with ribbons and that colour scheme. I love Nias design, so i wanted to truly represent it. I also feel Primarina fits her a lot, no real substance here. Hatterene both fits her design, and represents her status as a princess. She was locked away which is also in Hatterenes design. Audino represents her empathy, and caring nature. She really is the heart of the team after Kaminas death. And draws the team forward. Mainly drawing Simon out of his depression, simply by treating him as a human being. This is also why I added Wishiwashi. Sharing a pokemon with Simons team. Like mentioned, Nia brought Simon out of his depression, so I felt this was a good way to symbolise her being a main factor in him growing as a person. Lastly I added Nihilego as its a cute design that fits her, but it also represents her being part anti-spiral, as a Ultra Beast is not a pokemon.

Kittan: I awnted to represent Kittans personality and status to the team. Tyrantrum represents him being agressive, sometimes throing tantrums and his King aesthetic. Pangoro represents him being a thug and i also feel it represents the black siblings pretty well. For Golisopod and Mimikyu I wanted to represent his insecurities. Golisopod because Kittan is a person who acts very tough but can be wimpy sometimes. Although this is really just for the start of the season. Mimikyu however is him trying to act like Kamina to be the leader the team needs after Kaminas death. Hes mimicing his behaviours but they dont work. He can never be Kamina, but he tries. For Rhyperior I wanted to represent him getting his own drill. Not Kaminas drill, and not Simons drill either. Its not Excadrills drill, its its own thing. Although the rest of the design doesnt really fit him, i really like this symbolically. Electivire is probably the weakest part of his team, but i feel it fits him visually.

Simon (Adult): I felt Simon deserved to have his team grow since my favourite part of this show is Simon moving past his self hatred to become the best version of his self. To get a bit personal here, I've alwways related to Simon since i first watched the show. I wanted to be like Kamina, and saw myself in Simon. Watching Simon grow up to be as amazing as he is motivates me when I'm at my lowest. Hes a character that always had it in him, but he just couldnt believe in himself. All he needed was someone to tell him that it was okay to believe in himself. And that it was okay to be him. This is something I really love with him. He truly grows up to be himself. Therefore this team is just a fully evolved version of his team when he was younger. He always had it in him, he just had to Believe. There are some nice touches here. Excadrills shiny looks suspiciously like Bootas humanoid form in the show, so I felt it was necessary. He also gets a Dragapult. Kamina only had a Drakloak. Simon surpasses the legend of Kamina while taking up his mantle. Then wwe have Wishiwashis school form. Simon is the person he is because of the people around him. He may not be entirely weak on his own, but Wishiwashi as a pokemon represents the theme of being stronger together very well, and Simon wouldnt be who he is without the people believing in him. Probopass is Lagann again, I've always had a soft spot for this guy, sorry theres not really any better reasoning. I wanted him to keep a Flygon aswell, not only because he gets Kaminas shades, but cooler, but also because i wanted him to have a part of Kaminas team with him. Kamina will always be in his heart, and on his back after all. Lastly I added Zygarde 100%. I usually hate giving legendaries to characters when I make pokemon teams, but this one is too perfect. It is litterally Gurren Lagann. Its the only thing i think of when I see this pokemon and if any character is deserving of a legendary in my eyes, its Simon.

I wanted to do Viral aswell, but i forgot about it and its now 9 am and I havent slept.

Anyway, if you got this far, or got anywhere at all on this post, thanks for reading it. This is my favourite anime of all time, and although some teams could be better I'm satisfied. Again if you are reading, thank you. Have a good day or night wherever you are.

#ttgl #gurren lagann #tengen toppa gurren lagann #pokemon #simon the digger #kamina #yoko littner #rossiu #kittan #i dont really get tags #im new here im sorry

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wanderersrest · 3 months ago

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The Mazinger Z Experience

Spoiler Warning for basically everything Mazinger-related; specifically the original Mazinger Z, Mazinger Edition Z/Shin Mazinger Z, Shin Mazinger Zero and its sequel, Mazinger Z: Infinity, and Grendizer U

Also, if you want to read Shin Mazinger Zero and its sequel, I'll just say it now: BIG FAT CONTENT WARNING FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT IF YOU DECIDE TO READ THEM.

Ah, Dungeon Meshi Mazinger Z. My beloved Iron Fortress. Few machines can hold a candle in terms of importance to you, those few being either Tetsujin-28, Getter Robo, the RX-78-2 Gundam, the VF-01 Valkyrie, and Evangelion Unit 01. I might be a little bit biased though. Just a little bit.

Recently, I decided that I would start reading more manga. As I had said in my second Idle Thoughts post on Patlabor, I had started reading the manga version of Patlabor. Well... I read a lot more than just Patlabor (which is great, by the way; if you like Patlabor, go read the manga if you haven't already). I managed to read through all of Getter Robo (I blame the YouTuber CheeseGX exclusively for making me Getter-pilled), Dungeon Meshi/Delicious in Dungeon (which is amazing, btw), and, of course Mazinger Z.

And boy oh boy was that a wild ride. To say nothing of the fact that Grendizer U is currently airing, I figured now would be a great time to just talk about random stuff involving the Iron Castle, Mazinger Z!

Oh, also, for future reference: there are two series tied to the name Shin Mazinger. For all intents and purposes, the TV series will be referred to as Mazinger Edition Z, while the manga series will be referred to as Mazinger Zero.

Yasuhiro Imagawa Will Cause Me to Overdose on HOT BLOOD

My first experience with Mazinger Z was watching 2009's Mazinger Edition Z: the Impact, otherwise known as Shin Mazinger Z. I would only learn later on that this series was directed by Yasuhiro Imagawa, but I remember feeling my body temperature rise as I continued to watch the series. It was that familiar sensation. A sudden increase in fighting spirit. A boisterous energy that makes you want to yell at the top of your lungs.

It's what a lot of people call HOT BLOOD. Mecha heads, especially those who love the classic giant robot shows made in the wake of Mazinger Z, will know this feeling well. HOT BLOOD is a common trope with a lot of these shows, with some of the big names associated with the term including the aforementioned Mazinger Z alongside Getter Robo, Mobile Fighter G Gundam, The King of Braves GaoGaiGar, and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann among others.

Really, what I wanted to highlight is that Imagawa-san is a purveyor of HOT BLOOD. Because this is another moment of Imagawa helming a HOT-BLOODED mecha series, the other two being G Gundam and the first three episodes of Getter Robo Armageddon. And those are just the shows I've actually watched (I will get to Giant Robo one day, I swear). It's why I enjoy a lot of these shows.

Also Imagawa and the people working under him are really good at mecha introductions. Not necessarily tied to HOT BLOOD per se, but a good HOT BLOODED giant robot series does need a good introduction. And man, does Imagawa and company deliver. Let's just say that there's a reason why I use the gif at the beginning for Mazinger. And that's saying a lot, since the original Mazinger Z's introduction is just as iconic. All Edition Z does, as Edition Z is wont to do, is lean into the idea of Mazinger Z being either a god or a devil.

I'm So Mazinger, Even This Acronym

Another entry in the Mazinger franchise that I read was Shin Mazinger Zero and its sequel, Shin Mazinger Zero vs The Great General of Darkness. And like it's TV Anime counterpart (that being Mazinger Edition Z, or more aptly, Shin Mazginer Z), Mazinger Zero leans in to the core themes of what make Mazinger, well, Mazinger, arguably even more so than even Edition Z. And this is best exemplified not in the original Mazinger Zero, but its sequel series.

Based off of its title, the sequel manga is named after what is arguably one of the most important of the original Mazinger Z: Kouji Kabuto is eventually defeated. Not by Doctor Hell, but by the Great General of Darkness and his Mycenaean Empire. This is treated as a darkest hour kind of thing, until Tetsuya Tsurugi shows up to save the day with his Great Mazinger. This introduction acts as a general bridge for Mazinger Z to transition over to its sequel series Great Mazinger.

Shin Mazinger Zero vs The Great General of Darkness throws a wrench into this with one major change: Mazinger survives and ultimately beats the Great General of Darkness. But before we get into that, I might be burying the lede a little bit here.

Something that should be noted about Mazinger Zero is that the titular robot is actually a twisted incarnation of the classic Mazinger. Whereas Edition Z's Mazinger leans into a little bit more into the idea of Mazinger as a god, Zero's version of Mazinger leans more into the idea of the machine becoming more of a devil. If we're comparing this to the other members of the Holy Trinity, Mazinger Zero would be comparable to both the Getter Emperor or the Turn A Gundam.

Also there's time travel involving Minerva X, but I'll get to that... right now, actually.

See, Mazinger defeating the Great General of Darkness in their first encounter in the Zero timeline is important, because it messes with the timeline of the setting. This causes everything to go haywire in a series where, up to this point, the timeline has been relatively stable thanks to Kouji and Minerva X. But because Mazinger could not handle the idea of losing and being saved by Great, it went out of control.

Mazinger getting totaled is kind of a landmark scene for this franchise, since it's what establishes Great Mazinger and later Grendizer as its successors. But Mazinger not accepting this outcome in Zero means that Mazinger keeps on winning. And it keeps on winning to the point where it creates an alternate timeline where the only giant robot show to exist are Mazinger Z and the shows and manga that came out before it. So while things like Tetsujin 28-go, Giant Robo, and Ambassador Magma would still exist in this timeline, shows that would come out after Mazinger Z like Kotetsu Jeeg, Getter Robo, Voltes V, Zambot 3, Mobile Suit Gundam, Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Gunbuster, Neon Genesis Evangelion, The King of Braves GaoGaiGar, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and Pacific Rim all do not exist.

Heck, even both Great Mazinger and UFO Robot Grendizer never happen in this specific timeline. The only reason Kouji is even able to bring Tetsuya is that he creates a film explaining the events of the manga up to that point in an attempt to will Tetsuya back into existence. The only reason he can't do the same for Duke Fleed is because, as Minerva X explains to Duke Fleed in the manga, Mazinger Z never meets Grendizer. Sure they both exist in the same shared universe due to Duke and Kouji being friends, but officially Mazinger Z and Grendizer never officially meet (there is a one-shot chapter in the Grendizer manga featuring the two of them as well as Great Mazinger, but I don't think that's officially canon).

Fun Spoiler Fact: I didn't pick those post-Mazinger series at random. If you read Mazinger Zero vs The Great General of Darkness, you'll see what I mean.

Mitsuo Fukuda is a Good Fit For Grendizer; or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and... uh... Respect the Saudis?

As I've said in An Abbreviated History of Mecha, I am not terribly familiar with Mobile Suit Gundam SEED. What I AM familiar with is its, shall we say, rather divisive nature as a series. I am also familiar that a lot of the blame also tends to be thrown at series director Mitsuo Fukuda. As I understand them, a common criticism of SEED I can recall was the fact that the series overly relies on melodrama in a rather ridiculous manner.

If I remembered that correctly, then it pleases me to tell you that 2024's Grendizer U is, in my humble opinion, a great fit for Fukuda. I believe a lot of this stems from the fact that our protagonist Duke Fleed is a better fit as a melodramatic messiah figure than, say, Kira Yamato. It also helps that Grendizer U also has preexisting source material like the original UFO Robot Grendizer, whereas Gundam SEED can only take the more surface level aspects of the original Gundam.

This is, of course, only a theory. As I have also heard, the production history of Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED Destiny is arguably one of the more troubled productions in the franchise. But that's another story for another day, and one that requires me to do more research.

What I can talk about is the production history behind Grendizer U. It should be noted that the original UFO Robot Grendizer, and really most of the Mazinger Z franchise, is popular in countries outside of Japan and the US. And while this isn't unheard of (See: Voltes V and The Philippines), Grendizer is a frustrating case since the country it is most popular in is Saudi Arabia. The reason why this is frustrating is because the Saudis are the ones bankrolling Grendizer U. And because they are bankrolling Grendizer U, it means that the series (which is a summer anime in Japan) has not been localized outside of Saudi Arabia. The only way to watch Grendizer U currently is through, shall we say, alternate means. It's vexing, because Grendizer U has been a pretty fun romp so far. Hopefully there are plans for a global release outside of Saudi Arabia in the future.

There Is a Charm to Robots That Can Do Everything

Something that is refreshing about a giant robot like Mazinger Z is, surprisingly enough, the very toyetic nature of the Iron Fortress. The fact that Mazinger is a giant humanoid machine standing at least 50 feet in height and is armed to the teeth with rocket punches, axe blades, missiles (a lot of missiles, by the way), two lasers (depending on how you classify Breast Fire), and a breath attack that turns most metals into dust. Oh yeah, it also has a winged backpack that allows it to fly, and said backpack's wings are sharp enough to cut buildings and monsters in two. And when I say it's refreshing to see a robot like Mazinger, this is even going into things like how the Black Castle is designed.

Why? Because mechanical design for giant robots did not exist when Mazinger Z was created.

No seriously. Mechanical design in relation to giant robots wouldn't be taken seriously until arguably Combattler V and at most the original Mobile Suit Gundam. But before then, giant robots were, to my understanding, largely designed by the rule of thumb of "this looks cool" (or in the case of Getter Robo specifically "this looks like three jets smooshed together"). There's a certain wonder to these early machines who I would assume go on to inspire a whole generation of people in become righteous people (pay no attention to the militia who named their armored vehicles Mazinger Z).

Even moving outside of the mechanical design of Mazinger, part of the charm of these older machines (and the ones that harken back to this era of robots like GaoGaiGar and Dai-Guard) is that they tend to tell simpler stories. To be clear, I'm not advocating for stories to be dumbed down. It's just that a lot of mecha stories, especially in the wake of both the original Gundam as well as Neon Genesis Evangelion, have felt a need for stories to be more and more complicated themes. And that's good! That's a good thing! It shows that the vague and nebulous genre known as mecha has matured from where it started, but information overload is also a thing that exists.

Mazinger Z, as far as stories (and especially as far as mecha stories are concerned), is a fairly simple one. This is not a bad thing, as I have argued that Mobile Fighter G Gundam benefits from having a simpler story. We tend to assume that serialized storytelling is objectively better than episodic storytelling, but I would argue (as I did with G Gundam) that that is not always the case. Think about how US darling series New Mobile Report Gundam Wing is thought of today as this incoherent mess that, while having some pretty interesting critiques of war, is wrapped up in this ball of unlikable and arguably insane characters and bizarre story beats. I could go on about how bad Gundam Wing is, but my name is neither Arin Hanson nor Barry Kramer. The important point is that being episodic does not necessarily mean that a series is lesser. Just remember that the original Star Trek, arguably one of the most important shows in all of science fiction, is largely episodic in nature. The same applies to seminal science fiction shows like The Twilight Zone and, to a lesser extent, Doctor Who are also episodic affairs.

(I'd like to clarify one more thing: I'm not saying that Mazinger Z does not have anything substantial to say. That's folly; every story has a message that people can take away from it, the author's original intent be damned. If anything, downplaying what Mazinger Z brings to the table is disrespectful not just to the series itself, but also mecha as a whole.)

Extra Thoughts

Before I go, I do have a couple other stray thoughts about Mazinger in its various iterations. These are little things that I thought were interesting or funny.

I haven't watched all of Mazinkaiser yet, but I love that Mazikasier in general is basically "What if Mazinger, but Getter?" No really, the origins behind Mazinkaiser was basically a what-if scenario from Super Robot Wars that conjectured what would happen if Mazinger Z was subjected to the effects of the Getter Rays. Mazinger Zero's iteration of Tetsuya Tsurugi is basically "What if Tetsuya, but Getter pilot," and guess what Tetsuya eventually pilots? Great Mazinkaiser. Hell, Mazinkaiser SKL is directed by Jun Kawagoe, the man who directed every Getter Robo OVA and the Getter Robo Arc Anime. I'm sorry Mazinkaiser faithful. I know I tagged you all in this post, but I promise I'll get to it one day.

Mazinger Z protagonist Kouji Kabuto has never had a consistent voice actor, which is surprising when compared to fellow Holy Trinity compatriots Ryouma Nagare and Amuro Ray.

Grendizer U has revealed to me that Kouji x Duke is a thing, and I'm not going to lie: I can see it.

Mazinger Z vs the Transformers is amazing. Definitely read that when you get the chance. The friendship between Boss and Grimlock is peak, by the way. It's... it's just peak.

Anyways, if there are any specific series I'd recommend, definitely give Mazinger Edition Z a shot if you like Imagawa's previous works (specifically G Gundam) and also like Go Nagai's stuff in general. As I said before, Mazinger vs the Transformers is also peak, and I've also been enjoying Grendizer U. Maybe one day I'll finally get around to watching the original Mazinger Z. Who knows. I finished all of the City Hunter anime once. I'm currently rewatching City Hunter 2. I think if I can watch City Hunter twice, I can do all of the Toei Mazinger series.

#mecha #anime and manga #mazinger z #great mazinger #ufo robot grendizer #mazinger edition z #shin mazinger z #shin mazinger zero #mazinger z infinity #grendizer u #mazinkaiser #mazinkaiser skl

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