Lain 0 - Introduction

Serial Experiments Lain Analysis

{working title: Symbolism}

Some viewers are mystified by simple elements in the show such as the smoke rising out of Lain's fingers, or the splotches of red under the constantly humming telephone poles. A lot of conceited ego-stroking has been done by claiming depth to the show by people who do not understand it, or say so to be seen as intellectual. This is not such an analysis. This is done by a fan who views SEL as a work of art, genuinely, so you have been warned by this disclaimer.

Serial Experiments Lain is a unique anime. There may have never been anything like it. The story is simple enough, despite the general view that it's incredibly obfuscated, and only a few simple points need to be addressed to understand the plot. The plot, however, is only one among several important aspects of Lain. That is why people continue to find value in it even if the linear plot goes over their heads. There is something mysteriously alluring, if nothing else, that lets the viewer know that this show is special. But what is so special about it, what speaks to the human soul? At least in a peripheral manner, this analysis endeavors to explain cultural and psychological relationships between the human psyche and this work of art. 

This analysis will cover all episodes, what is presented in these episodes, a discussion over prominent and obscure symbolism in the animator's choice of presentation, a discussion over the nature of the show for both Eastern and Western audiences, the plot, the characters (especially Lain) and anything else that people have wanted to read about but have been denied by the obscurity of interested, willing fans. I'm also going to link to several previous websites that have information about the show. One thing, however: please watch the episodes in order before reading this, and come to your own conclusions beforehand. 

{unfinished}

Prospects for the Future

I plan to do an analysis of Serial Experiments Lain in the future, which is when I have more time to do this right, but first I want to disclaim that this is probably one of the most esoteric anime series out there. I also mean that Lain's plot is NOT HARD to understand, and it's gained a notoriety for being difficult to comprehend only because of 1. Most people watching the show don't think critically about it, and 2. There is PROMINENT FILLER that sidetracks from the story's progression. As for esoteric symbolism and the archetypal layers beneath the show, those are all for speculation which I'll provide enough of in coming months.

1. Most people watching anime at all don't think critically about it. Critical thinking is something once demanded of them in an English class, and they watch anime for the fun and colorful lights. Lain, then, is no more than a smoke-and-mirrors show for them, and when it fails to deliver the same commonplace plot of other anime, they get offended or mystified and call the show indecipherable. They may even try to summarize a plot without ever really thinking about it.

The key, though, is not so much to think about it but to pay attention. The plot is stated right by the characters throughout the episodes, it doesn't even require much brain-power to pick it up.

2.  There are episodes in which the sub-plot has nearly nothing to do with the main plot. This includes aliens and little psychic children. Don't let this get to your head - this was probably done for the sake of those people watching it for the colors and cool stuff. But in the end, even as stated by the show's producers themselves, this was a mistake and detracted from the show. You have to realize that Lain was an experimental series, above all, with the end not being fully imagined until its actual conception. This left a lot or a few spaces for development, which resulted in some filler along the way.

3. Lain is my waifu. She was ever since I saw here and watched the series when it was still posted on YouTube, back in the days when you could still get classic anime series on popular video sites. She embodies various archetypes to me and other matters that are personal to me, and specifies a very particular feminine essence which requires lengthy discourses to fully define. In fact it can't be defines. Look forward to the analysis and I promise you won't be disappointed.

Gurren Lagann IV: Conclusion

Gurren Lagann and Character Traits

Perhaps better explained is the process of human development in this analysis as is represented in the show. When it comes down to it, the characters of the show are also human; such as Simon's emotional instability due to loss and jealousy at one point.

As the fourth and final part of this analysis, we'll take a moment to examine just exactly how such a production came into existence in the first place. GAINAX is a studio known for their "epic scale" plots and productions. However, Gurren Lagann stands out as a production very much alive with an epic, living message. The liberties taken with the production of Gurren Lagann can be seen in the rash-looking animation and color designs, which sometimes reflect a more materialistic depiction and tend to attract younger audiences. Yet it all the same retains that deeper and vital element. It is a production for the young and old, the child and the adult, the fun-lover and the thinker. The producers knew what they were doing, or at least they did in their subconsciousness.

Animators and manga-writers have been known to be in contact with psychological material like the works of C.G. Jung, therefore having read about said theories of symbolism and the revealing of the hidden self (individuation). Therefore it's very likely that the makers of this show had some relevant knowledge of what's been discussed here. It could also be that they are entirely clueless of this consciously; then it's left to the sub-conscience to do the work.

Gurren Lagann and Modernity

Gurren Lagann reflects the re-emergence of the myth in post-modernity. The the mighty driving forces of monolithic modernity come to a dead end, the mess left afterwards allows to the slight beginnings of the re-emergence of the classic myth albeit in hidden forms, often suppressed by a modern society, but nevertheless coming into embodiment through artists struggling to express urges and archetypes which well up in the sub-conscience and for which they innerly yearn.

Gurren Lagann, thus, is an expression of what lacks in modern society, or what is absent in the modern world. The issue of modernity and post-modernity is a big issue in Japan, as a society and a culture, because for the first time in that nation's history, they have been subjugated into a system other than the Imperial and natively Japanese one; into a system of materialism and modernism which rejects the esoteric religious functions of proper Japanese traditional perceptions and takes away the unity of the Japanese nation as well as the structure of Japanese hierarchy. The Emperor no longer lives a monolithic reign as the traditional godhead; the Japanese collective spirit and religiosity is thrown into a decay and decline.

A quick trip to Tokyo will affirm this. The "fashion" industry in Japan reflects all of this, totally built on the artificial and materialistic. Without the nation-uniting forces of the Imperial order, which pretty much gave meaning to life for the Japanese, the Japanese people are forced into a world without meaning or sense, their only sense of meaning crushed. We see this desire to follow meaning embodied in the rise of Otaku, which live their lives obsessed with anything that there is to be obsessed about in the modern world. Some Otaku become obsessors of Nazi Germany because they're afraid to vilify their own cultural past, the one they truly want to follow, because of post-war politics which condemn the traditional Japanese culture. The solidarity of Japanese culture has been destroyed, and modernism has replaced it. The Japanese, stifled in this environment, struggle beneath the mountains of ashed to express that mythopoetic spirit of the esoteric and divine which has been hidden and suppressed by the trends of modernity.

The wildness of Gurren Lagann represents a break from modern life. In Gurren Lagann, you are not afraid to be a man, or do what needs to be done, or fight for what's common sense; these things are taken away from the Japanese, but in Gurren Lagann, they are matter of fact things that the characters fight for. The conflicts in Gurren Lagann represent real conflicts in our universe, and therefore conflicts in our world that otherwise people couldn't speak of. That spirit of militarism, victory and fighting spirit is what pumps up so many viewers; and so we see how much that is suppressed and lacked in the modern world.

Also, the defeat of the suppressive Enlightenment philosophy, the first most forerunner and foundation of Modernism, is mentioned in many of the lines in Gurren Lagann. Repeatedly the phrase "Kick reason to the curb," is heard, that "Reason" being the limited humanist vision of the Enlightenment philosophy, responsible for the shortsightedness and destructiveness of Modernism.

The Positive Message

We see that the recurrent theme in this entire series is Hope. Hope against the enemy, Hope against entropy, it is always Hope that is the main focus - that Hope always exists. This is perhaps an expression of the fight against an iron-set modernity which seems, as it were, to have no hope of every changing, and people have no hope of returning to a system of values or meaning.

Unlike most anime, which is built merely around an entertaining substance which entertains earthly and materialistic ideals, Gurren Lagann is built with the substance of a strong, active message; the message that action must be taken with Hope.

The main factor which keeps the world as it is is Despair, and Hope the only cure. Gurren Lagann has a very positive message and is optimistic, for its message is Hope. Like Madoka, Gurren Lagann too, imparting a superior symbology and mythological process, is steeped in the message of Hope against the Despair of universal entropy; like Madoka, Gurren Lagann also deals with battle between cosmic and spiritual forces instead of the mundane and material, personal problems that most anime are built around. These things are seen as insignificant, truly, compared to the actual matter at hand, the real battle in the universe, of Order versus Entropy.

As Simon says,
"Maybe, but it isn't zero. As far as I'm concerned, that makes it the same as a 100% chance."

Conclusion

It's easy to see Gurren Lagann as ether a fun show or a depth of symbols - either one is perfectly fine. The creation is a work of art - open to interpretation.

"It's not who spoke the words, but the words themselves that matter."

So we can look at Gurren Lagann with our own eyes and realize what it means to us - whether it's concurrent with one analysis or another. But you'll find that these mythological references and archetypes do present themselves within the series; as a matter of fact.

Gurren Lagann is an example of the re-emergence of mythopoesis in modernity; even though the myths of old have been destroyed and forgotten (at least for their true meaning, with symbols intact), the artists of modern day are beginning to form a new expression to manifest these timeless archetypes. It is the part of a greater process of awakening - or I should say, reawakening - to the myths of old and the inert knowledge or gnosis possessed in the ancient wisdom. As these timeless archetypes and myths begin to express and liberate themselves from modern dogma, and emerge within modernity, they must be realized for what they truly are: modern myths. The myth is reborn into modernity, it's older form having been crucified and died, and is thus reborn savior of the next generation.

If the youth takes positive and timeless message from these works of fiction, it is only a matter of time and effort before gnosis is achieved and the human being reawakened. Men will start to realize and think about the world they live in... and do something about it. It will reawaken the heroic and righteous spirit within them.

The greatest obstacle here is the bias against fiction - the pejorative use of the word "fantasy" and the destructive and hateful attitude that modern society and the modern world has towards the creative process and the heroic. People are encouraged to believe that myths and fiction are of no real value, that they are only to be enjoyed in the sense of immersed entertainment and that they have no relevance or power in the real world at all; statement of frightened Modernists who fear the power of our message. When the youth believes this, they become trapped in the mindset of Modernity, thus viewing works of fiction purely as processes of escapism that is juxtaposed with reality, not intertwined on basic levels concerning archetypes and meaning. Meaning is eschewed; they will never be able to realize it or recognize it, thus fiction becomes a destructive act that takes away from society.

Good fiction, and a good use of it, can be told when the individual takes from fiction and inspires him to work harder in the real world because of it or its message. A bad or destructive use of fiction, which results from the modern mindset, is when the individual is lead away from reality or distracted from reality through escapism into the fictional world - only one way of severing off a person from our world and therefore cutting off one more person that could be of potential help (all the while making them a slave to consumerism via their addiction).

Therefore, spread the word of Gurren Lagann. Take from it, be productive with what you've taken; let it inspire you to achieve great things and let it give you hope against the seemingly impossible. Let it bolster your spirit, your fighting spirit, so your spiral energy might break through the heavens - and transcend the plains of the spirit. Let nothing stand in your way. Show others this show; let them take from it too.

無茶で無謀と笑われようと、mucha de mubou to waraware youto (kamina)
Whether it's laughable or irrational
維持が支えの喧嘩道！ iji ga sasae no kenka michi (kamina)
This is the path that ALL great men walk!
壁があったら殴って壊す！kabe ga attara nagutte kowasu (simon)
If there's a wall in our way, we'll destroy it!
道がなければ、この手で作る！ michi ga nakereba, kono te de tsukuru (simon)
If there's no road, we'll pave it with our own hands!
心のマグマが炎と燃える！ kokoro no maguma ga homura to moeru (together)
The magma in our hearts is blazing like flames!
超絶合体！グレンラガン！ chouzetsu gattai! GURREN-LAGANN! (together)
The perfect fusion: GURREN-LAGANN!

俺を… ore o (simon)
Who...
俺たちを… ore tachi o (kamina)
...all of you...
誰だと思ってやがる！！！ dare da to omotte yagaru!!! (together)
The hell do you think we are!?! 

-Gurren Lagann Wiki-

-Quotes from Gurren Lagann- 

-Download GL Torrent Episodes 1-27-

Gurren Lagann III: Gunmen and Identity

Gunmen and Identity

GAINAX is an anime studio famous for their mecha anime - for those that don't know, mecha is a term used to describe "giant robots", often piloted or driven by human pilots, that are used for combat. Being true to their name, mechas are giant in form, being several times the size of the person inside. Sometimes mecha are driven by two or more people, depending on the specific robot.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann can be counted as such. The mechas in Gurren Lagann are very unique to the show. They are called Gunmen - the name in Japanese is a combination of gan and men to create ganmen, meaning "huge face", and the English version can be broken down into gun-man. They are called so because Gunmen have a giant face composing the middle of their body - like a face with arms and legs. Gunmen are used for almost all fighting and battles that take place in the anime.

Gunmen come in a variety of different forms, but as a rule all of them have some kind of anthropomorphic character to them, and every one of them bears a central face. The Gunmen forms a kind of armor or suit from within which the pilot fights - acting as an armored suit for the pilot, they are able to fight using the Gunmen. And, no matter how large the Gunmen combine, they always have a face.

The Gunmen are significant because they traditionally symbolize the role of armor in the process of combat - that is, an eternal war between forces in nature. The armor itself is symbolic of the body - the Gunmen represents the shell of the spirit inside, which is symbolized by the pilot or the individual itself. Simon, by himself, cannot fight against the Beastmen, since the Beastmen are fighting using the Gunmen; he must take on a material body, that is, a Gunmen of his own, in order to defeat the Beastmen on the material plane.

Example of a Gunmen on Earth.

The pilot is the soul of the Gunmen, and the Gunmen is the body. Without the soul, the Gunmen cannot function; likewise the spirit cannot fight the material Beastmen without using the Gunmen. It's also interesting to note that, true to the genetically and spiritually superiority of the humans, the humans power their Gunmen using Spiral Energy, while the Beastmen must use the power of the sun (material energy) to power them. That's because they're unable to use Spiral Energy, as gone over in the second part of the analysis.

More so, the Gunmen is symbolic of identity. Each character has a different Gunmen. During the Final Battle in the series, Simon's Gunmen grows to immense sizes, each one bearing a different outward form, which is symbolic of the progressive stages of his spiritual evolution. As the successive layers of the universe are broken through, the Gurren Lagann takes on forms representative of that stage, which relates back to the stages of alchemical transformation gone over in Part I. The part at the end of the ultimate battle where the Simon's breaks out of the Gurren Lagann and faces the Anti-Spiral represents the final liberation of his true, raw spiritual form from the body (the Gunmen), wince he has grown to the point of transcending the physical and the bodily.

Gunmen and Faces

All throughout ancient cultures, the face was seen as the representative of one's identity - this was also expressed through the concept of the mask, which gave visible visage to the otherwise unknown. It was common to attribute certain masks to certain gods, as physical manifestations or avatars of the divine powers as representatives on earth that could communicate with humans with the use of the mask - the messenger of the gods. This basically transfers in meaning to the messenger of the spirit - the mask or face represents the interface between the spirit and the rest of the world, as well as through the body.

The reasons for the development of Theater in human cultures goes back to this very same root. It was the representation of the divine on earth, manifested so as to have a way of communicating with the material forms of humans. People who were not yet transcendent of physicality could therefore still be imparted with the message of the gods.

Furthermore, it is the shape of the face that humans instinctually recognize above all else. Even in abstract shapes we can make out faces - it is in our instincts to recognize the human visage. That is because the face is symbolic of the front of communication between humans - the face represents the movements of the soul, with the body being a further extension of this representation. While the rest of the body can preform physical actions, the face is capable of imparting words, emotions, and eye contact, including the powers of sight.

Gunmen of the Anti-Spirals; Monstrous Archons

The face is the representation of identity. Simon begins his journey as a small boy, with seemingly no power, and this is represented through his Gunmen. Even though the Lagann is small, it is capable of imparting a mysterious and extremely powerful energy - Spiral Energy - which allows him to take control of other Gunmen (possession of multiple bodies) by combining with them. His Gunmen is the only one that can do this - signifying his role as a Messiah with the special power to combine Gunmen.

Gurren Lagann

The Gurren Lagann, which is the show's titular Gunmen, is a combination of Simon's Lagann and Kamina's Gurren. Together, they make the Gurren Lagann, the most powerful Gunmen in the TTGL universe. This is because Simon's Gunmen is representative of something superior; the complete harmonization of the body and spirit. The Lagann, which is the head of the Gurren Lagann, represents the spirit and mind, which is piloted and represented by Simon. The Body is represented by the Gurren, which is piloted first by Kamina, then Rossiu and then Viral. This is representative of the fact that even though the same spirit might exist throughout time, it will come to inhabit different bodies - take up different avatars - yet retain the same metaphysical core, which is Simon. This means that he takes on different avatars or physical bodies at different points in time, with the "hosts" or avatars being Kamina, Rossiu and Viral. It is through them (their bodies, represented by the Gurren) that he is able to fight against the Anti-Spirals.

Note that the Gurren Lagann is the only Gunmen to have an actual head, aside from the Gunmen of the main antagonists - this signifies Simon's role as a being on the same level as these universal metaphysical forces. Whoever pilots the "body" is irrelevant, only that they are chosen to be vessels, while Simon's role as the soul of the Gurren Lagann gives it its true identity.

Coming of Age

Gurren Lagann is also a Coming of Age story. This is revealed in the earthly elements of the show - the actual upbringing and maturation of Simon, which spans the entire series both in the physical sense (his "growing-up") and the metaphysical sense (his evolution in Spiral Power). His identity solidifies over time, growing from the simple Gurren Lagann to the large final forms of the Gurren Lagann, and then to his raw, mature self during the final battle with the Anti-Spiral.

Next time, we'll wrap up the analysis by going over the show itself, its production, and the possibilities implied by its holistic existence. Until then, spiral on.

Gurren Lagann II: Beastmen

Throughout the beginning part of the series, the main antagonism is between the humans, including Simon, and the Beastmen. There are three chief species on Simon's planet: Humans, beasts, and Beastmen. While the animals don't pose any threat to humanity, the Beastmen are intrinsically anti-human. Their very existence fights against all that is human; in physiology, values and power.

They are a hybrid between Man and Beast, affording them the brute strength of an animal along with the rudimentary ability to follow orders. Because they are hybrid, with a chaotic degree of variation and mixed-ness, some are smarter than others, and these usually hold higher offices in the Beastman-army's chain of command.

Beastmen in Mythology

Hybrids have been featured all throughout Classical history; the Centaur, the Faun, the Minotaur, all hybrids in some varying degree and all distinctly monsters; all anti-human in sentiment. In Greek mythology, the Nymph is always juxtaposed with the Faunus; the Nymph is pure, fair, beautiful, distinctly human so much as godly (since at this time humans looked like gods), while the Faunus is lustful, dark, ugly and subversive, he has animal urges and reasoning but he can use many human abilities and appear like some kind of human. The Faunus is always seen as trying to rape the Nymph; that is, to destroy her purity by mixing their blood, giving birth to more monster offspring. It should be known that Nymphs in Greek mythology were originally land spirits; Dyads were the spirits of trees while Nereids are of the sea. This reveals the primal nature of the Nymphs as something of spirit and being godly. What, then, is the Faunus? He is a hybrid between these spiritual forms, manifested in earthly bodies, and the lower animals that inhabit the earth.

In the show, Beastmen are programmed to suppress humans. Human civilization, scattered in subterranean segments, is destroyed wherever it comes to the surface; the Beastmen continually hunt over the surface of the planet for any Humans to eradicate. The Beastmen are shown as being hateful or envious in some points against the humans; even without their orders, they know they are built for destruction. They thus indirectly actively suppress knowledge of Spiral Power, which is the spiritual power and potential of human beings.  Thus the Beastmen pose a serious threat to the continuation of the human genome (human survival) as well as human evolution; humans cannot break through the surface or transcend their world, and therefore they can never improve. Their underground settings will, in the long run, lead to devolution as they continue to rot and be trapped in the underground world.

With a little artistic licensing, we can draw an analogy from this similar to Plato's Cave. Simon's people, the humans, are trapped in their "earthly world" (represented by the fact that they live underground), unable to go to the "higher world" or to the heavens. They are trapped on earth, in their physical forms, their spirits suppressed in this earthly world and kept ignorant of the "spiritual" world above them (that is, since they will advance in their understanding of Spiral Energy only if they break through to the surface world, as we see later on in the show). The Beastmen are keeping them underground; they are preventing their evolution, their transcendence and their advancement of any sort of spiritual evolution. Therefore the humans are severely underpowered, since they are only limited to their physical beings and have not gained knowledge of their spiritual "Spiral" power. The Beastmen stand as a symbol of deterrence from the path of transcendence; that which keeps people tied to earthly things, the corporeal, the temporal, the bestial, the crass and vulgar.

Even though the Beastmen are sterile, since hybrids are often known to be sterile, they represent an active mix between Beast and Humanity. Since Humanity is capable of spiritual power (Spiral Energy), and the Beastmen are not (since the Spiral King created them so that they don't have Spiral Energy and therefore undetectable to the enemy Anti-Spirals in a long war before the series starts), this means naturally that the mixing between Beast and Human invariably devalues the human genome, since the offspring lose the spiritual faculties of the latter. This miscegenation or mixing between the Beast and the Human creates a spiritually inferior offspring, which is polluted with the ugliness and anti-humanity of the Beast, resulting in a Frankenstein-esque monster whose animal urges make it hate mankind and act inherently destructive towards it, yet possesses human faculties to realize its situation. It has rudimentary intelligence enough to subvert human kind and to bring it down. The hybrid Beastman also represents a destruction of the spiritual human DNA that affords humanity the potential to evolve spiritually and physically; this is represented in the fact that Beastmen are sterile. By mixing the genes, the recessive and superior human genes are blotted out by the dominant inferior genes of the corporeal Animals.

This relationship represents an old myth that has been the founding mythology for many civilizations and its traces found in nearly ever ancient civilization. The mystic anthropologist and "theozoologist" Lanz von Liebenfels, in his early 1900's works "Ostara" and "Theozoology", described Biblical accounts which allude to the mixing of an initially divine Human race, which had been a race of spiritual and physically superior and capable beings descended from Gods (the so-called "God-men"), with the inferior spirits and beings which originated on Earth, therefore giving rise to a species called "Beastmen" that were inferior to the God-people, which were the first Humans, yet possessed enough power to be a threat. The original mix happened for one reason or another, and in many cases it comes down to either two reasons: to create a sub-class of slaves for manual labor or because of the decadent spiritual degeneration of the primordial civilization. In every case, the Fall of Man is related to the latter; Humanity en masse begins mixing with the Beastmen until no pure Humans or anthromorphic Beasts exist; only hybrids between the two, in varying degrees, some purer than others and some with more Human/God blood than others. That was the creation of the current humanity; the reason why the humanity of Today is inherently different from the Humanity described in the Golden Age and the Age of the Gods in Classical mythology. That is also why the Mankind of the past was able to use magic and communicate with the gods, and the Mankind of today cannot; Modern humanity has fractured or absent spiritual faculties which are suppressed by the Beastman influence. People today are separated from the gods, the spiritual and the divine because their God-blood is distorted by the Beast-blood, in both body and soul. This is often associated with the mixing of the human races, however one should note that the mixing is not only physical but spiritual as well.

Biblical quotes about the mixing:
"There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the Sons of God came in to the Daughters of Men and they bore children to them" Genesis 6:4

The reasoning for this relation goes on and on, which will not be gone over here. Liebenfels' book can be read here: http://www.archive.org/details/EuropaHouseTheozoology
Download: Von Liebenfels - Theozoology


Therefore, it becomes obvious that the Beastmen are an archetypal symbol of the inferior genome and the process of devolution. They are the earthly forces standing against Mankind's spiritual evolution and the realization of their spiritual selves, like Simon did in the Final Battle against the Anti-Spirals (thus achieving Godhood). Humanity can only "re-achieve" godhood and the genetic potential it has lost by overcoming the bestial and carnal elements in life, by overcoming the earthly with the spiritual and letting the spirit prevail over the physical. It is only then that spiritual evolution and the transcendence of worlds can take place, that mankind can evolve and become one with the immortal stream of divine spirit-driven existence. The Beastmen are temporal entities, and by mixing they make everything else temporal; it is only when man abandons this bestial nature that he can rise undeterred to a more eternal existence, and therefore be able to survive as an eternal rather than temporal (subject to eventual death) existence. 


The Beastmen represent Mankind's first obstacle in the quest for spiritual transcendence. They represent the physical forces in humanity, which are inherently antithetical to the spiritual and therefore Spiral Energy. Being a Spiral Being, Humanity becomes subject to destruction from outside forces when it is suppressed of its true inner energy, Spiral Energy. Therefore, in order to unlock humanity's true evolutionary and transcendent potential, they must harness Spiral Energy and defeat the Beastmen which pose the greatest immediate threat. Once this force is neutralized, only then can they go on to fight within the metaphysical realm, and this is represented by Simon's fight against the Anti-Spirals. The process of Transcendence takes place in two parts (battle with the corporeal physical, and then the metaphysical). These are the two parts of Gurren Lagann; the first on earth, the second in the wider cosmos. 


The Tragedy of the Beastman

However, Gurren Lagann also relates the personal aspects of Beastmen. Though most are too crude to understand things or have any notion of human values, there is one member of their hybrid species in the show names Viral. He is a mix between three creatures, yet he looks the most human on the exterior, with shoddy blonde hair and light golden eyes. He is a creature far superior to the other Beastmen; his human intelligence and reasoning makes him one of the Spiral King's greatest warriors. We can see an unmistakably human nature in his actions; under the Beast exterior, he feels human emotions and sentiments like loyalty, honor, disgrace, sacrifice and perseverance that the animalistic Beastmen lack. He represents an example of a hybrid whose peculiar mix of genes gives him a distinctly human-outlook and spirit; without the body, Viral's spirit would be just like a human's. And that is the tragedy; his mixed blood makes him eternally inhuman. He was born as a Beastman, yet possesses the human faculties of full consciousness and critical thinking, even philosophizing. 

Viral, after the Battle of Teppelin

Later on in the series, Viral, who becomes a pivotal leader in the small faction of Beastmen holding out after the war, realizes that it's better to ally himself with the humans and fight for humanity. Why would a Beastman fight for Humanity? It is because he feels he is human on the inside; he feels that Humanity is what's right, that it is the honorable thing to do, despite his own mixed nature; he still perseveres for his Human/spiritual values. He knows that he can never live as a human, although this is his deepest and most tragic wish; he wants to have a family of his own, with a wife and children to share his happiness with. He will never have this; but it is the beauty of that dream, the very universal substance that it's made out of, that lets him continue his fight alongside Simon. He genuinely feels like one of Simon's own, and Simon accepts him as such, since Viral is truly on his side. Even as a Beastman, he becomes one of Simon's highest warriors because of the nature he acts with; the superior nature, the godly nature, the transcendent nature of the eternal; the embodiment of the very values which Viral holds dear.  In the end, Viral is "saved" from his own status as Beastman-born through his righteous cause and actions. Having overcome the bestial, he has overcome himself and his own demons. Though he will always bear the fact of his inferior origins, he has achieved a personal salvation through a hero's sacrifice. 

Viral's dream

Viral's tragic character will never allow him to reach his one true desire. Such is the tragedy of the Beastman.


Beastmen have always been antithetical to humanity's progress, and the earthly factor which keeps Mankind from achieving spiritual gnosis. Mankind is prevented from achieving gnosis and realization in Spiral Energy, his true spirit and knowledge of the divine, by these carnal earthly forces. Further analogy can make this a battle between the human mind and will and the impulsive carnal-driven body. Therefore he must conquer the things which prevent his will from being done, the chaotic physical factors that affect him, in order to take full control over his own being. He must seek purity and the regaining of his lost wisdom; purity in body, spirit, and every other aspect. Only this purity can allow Humanity to realize the greater truths of the universe, and not have their heads stuck on earth and with insignificant material matters. 


We see degeneration happening in our modern world all the time. Materialism is paramount, and everything is valued around paper money and material objects. We see how Gurren Lagann quickly becomes an expression of an inner yearning for a reconnection with the spiritual, with the higher, and with our "Spiral Energy", something that is lost in the world of modernity and post-modernity. 


Next time, I'll talk about Gunmen and what they mean, along with the issues of Identity with the main characters.

Gurren Lagann I: Spiral Energy

"The spiral theme is especially prominent throughout the series. Not only is it the basis of strength for the main characters and mankind, but it is presented as a philosophy and way of life, and as a model of physics. Lordgenome (whose own name contains the word genome, referring to DNA and its spiraling double helix) notes that it is the natural order of the universe to coordinate itself into a spiral arrangement. The spiral symbolizes the double helix structure of DNA, representing biological evolution, and the spiral structure of a galaxy, representing universal evolution. Simon's spiral drill is used as a motif to symbolize the spiral theme throughout the series. At the same time, the drill motif symbolizes the strength to challenge or 'drill' through tough obstacles." - Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Wiki



Spirals run throughout the entire show. At the smallest end of the scale, we have spirals represented in the helix of human DNA, which allows humans to tap into Spiral Energy, all the way to the spiral represented in the shapes of galaxies; it was not by coincidence that the show's writers chose to integrate this motif into the plot. Similarly, the mysterious Spiral Energy is accessed in accordance with the adherence to the spiral structure on every level of existence. The spiral is a symbol of progression, of evolution, and of growth. Everything in nature grows in a spiral pattern; early life, like ferns and sea shells, are very easy to see spiral patterns in, and as life becomes more complex, we see these spirals arranged in complex stands of DNA. Mathematically, the spiral represents a certain growth ration which has been seen all throughout the natural world, from ecosystems to planetary orbits and sizes. The spiral is the embodiment, the physical product, of natural law. Therefore it also symbolizes the ability for matter to organize itself and grow, which we call "life", and the potential for that life to evolve and grow more power.


Exoterically, the spiral represents the outward growth of the scale in which the story takes place; first underground, then over the whole planet, then into the space around the planet, and finally to such a scale that it transcends the galaxy. In accordance with this development, it also symbolizes how Simon's own power and understanding of Spiral Energy grows as the series goes on, and ultimately fulfills his destiny as pontifex of the human race.

The Final Battle

However, we see that Spiral Energy is not only a species' capacity for genetic evolution - it is a source of mutable power as well. Just what is this elusive Spiral Energy then?

The answer is simple: spiritual metaphysical energy. In all traditional mythologies and civilizations, the spiritual was said to pervade the physical, to exist on a higher plane on reality than the material world, and that all sources of power came from this higher world. In the same way, Spiritual Energy converts into physical energy, especially when we see it used in Gunmen.

In Gunmen, Spiral Energy determines how well the Gunmen will operate and fight. In numerous times in the series, it's revealed that the pilot's willpower, his hope and his strength (that is to say, his spiritual will) is what increases Spiral Energy within the Gunmen and allows it to operate. When Simon goes Berserk in episode 8, we see his Gunmen reacts in a similar fashion, since his spiritual energy is out of whack. Since his spirit is thrown into chaos, the Spiral Energy therefore makes the Gunmen react chaotically and without control.

By now, we see that the potential for genetic evolution and the willpower/spirit of the individual correlate within Spiral Energy. It is seemingly an infinite source of energy, since the human spirit provides inexhaustible and the spirit as something without physical limitations.

Genetic potential allows humans to tap into Spiral Energy; that is why less evolved life-forms, like the Beastmen, cannot use spiral energy. The potential to tap into Spiral Energy (that is, spiritual energy) can be seen as the real standard for genetic evolution. The higher evolved a species' genes are, the more they can tap into Spiral Energy. Simon is the purest of his species, since he achieves self-realization as the harbinger of Spiral Energy and the realization of his own being as a Spiral Being.

Spiral Energy can also be converted to physical energy. Other than powering the Gunmen, it can also repair and regenerate the Gunmen. We see how the Gunmen can be damaged and destroyed, yet Simon is able to rejuvenate the parts of the Gurren Lagann continually. This is because Spiral Energy can be converted into physical energy, which by extension can be converted into matter; he can transmute elements on a physical scale. Therefore Spiral Energy can also be used to manipulate and create new matter, as well as add to its mass (make it grow) or change its shape; this is what happens when Gunmen combine together to make a larger Gunmen. This bypasses Newton's law by adding physical matter to the universe from a limitless supply of spiritual Spiral energy.

The deep symbolism of the spiral is further proof of its analogy with spiritual energy. Other than its mathematical and natural significance, the spiral is seen as a holy figure in ancient religions. The spiral represented the center of the universe, the center of universal energy, of spiritual and physical energy. It is the central radiating source of all life, and from it all energy issues into the universe. This model closely compares to the Big Bang theory; the universe was radiated from a central singularity. And because the universe moves in such a motion, the entirety of universal matter has developed into smaller spiral patterns; galaxies, star clusters, etc. Everything in the universe thus not only arranges itself in a spiral pattern, but turns and rotates in a spiral as well.

As a radiating source, the spiral also represents the Sun (center of our Solar System), represented by the Swastika. The ancient solar symbol was recognized as a centrality of divine power, the center of heaven and the bringer of all life. As opposed to the endless and dark void of space, the Sun gives light and energy, bleeding out into the void as a source of physical and spiritual energy. The ancient Hindus knew that the Swastika, represented in any form, was a physical manifestation of a natural law which supplied spiritual power, naturally radiating this energy. This "physical symbol" of power was recognized as having magical and spiritual significance. It represents the axis of the earth around which the whole world spins, and by extension the central mass of any universal system around which its components turn in accordance too. This is the basest expression of natural spiritual law.The Swastika was also called the "Hooked Cross" because it also represents a Cross shape with its arms hooked as if they were trailing after the motion of a central rotating mass; this is the basis for a spiral. The shape of the Cross is also very much related to the Spiral shape, with the number 4 being the key number: four arms, four spokes, etc. Spiral symbolism stretches as far back as the beginning of time itself.

Anti-Spiral v. Spiral Energy

The spiral also indicates an upward movement or movement into something; we can see it gives a natural mechanical advantage when used as an inclined plane (as screw or drill), and from this we derive the show's Drill symbolism. Drills are prominent in the show, as weapons and as tools of power. Simon's drill, which acts like a key to activate the Gurren Lagann, represents his own soul and his link with Spiral Energy. The Drill symbolizes his upward progressive movement from a subterranean dweller to the leader of humanity. It is with the drill that he "breaks through the heavens", which is a prominent theme in the series. Literally, he breaks through the levels of existence, until at the end he finally transcends everything and exists on a purely metaphysical level, in which he exists only as his own Will and is not limited by any sort of physical laws or limitations.

Gurren Lagann and Alchemy

The theme of progressive evolution in the show is also an expression of an even more ancient archetypal process described in C.G. Jung's book, "Psychology and Alchemy". For those that are unfamiliar with Alchemy, it was a prominent scientific and spiritual philosophy during the Middle Ages that existed as far back as Egyptian times and in Persia. Alchemy was the science of the transformation of physical matter, and one of the key tasks it associated itself with was the transformation of Lead into Gold. However, Alchemy was a dual science: while it often masqueraded as a physical science, much of its writings and figures were actually symbolism for the process of spiritual evolution. Much of Alchemy doesn't make sense unless taken in this context; by extension it is the primal and subconscious expression of the process of spiritual growth. Lead was symbolic for the basest of earth elements; the starting point in the evolutionary chain. We go then up to Tin and Iron, then to Copper, Mercury, Silver and finally Gold, the purest of all elements, which represents total spiritual realization. These all have planetary equivalents too: Lead is started with Saturn, and ends with Gold, symbolic of the Sun. Further Solar symbology points to the sun being the spiritual center of all energy, and by further extension, the center of our galaxy, the Black Sun, is the center of our galaxy's spiritual energy. This progressive centralizing process of purification and transformation into Spiritual "Gold" thus also carries into this show.

The Alchemical process was also associated with "transcending the spheres", which meant to go through the different levels of existence, starting with the physical, to the higher astral plains until one achieved total spiritual realization on the highest and most basest level. That level is the Metaphysical plain, which transcends and surpasses all existence and is the macrocosmic universe from which all other universes and worlds originate. All worlds exist within these worlds, and the closer something is to the Metaphysical, the more of an eternal and immortal, undying nature it has, since the spirit is an eternal and limitless energy.

Simon progressively transcends these spheres or levels of existence until he finally breaches the total Spiritual world. His battle is thus transformed into a showdown between himself, embodied by his Will to Power, against the Will of the opposing force, the Anti-Spirals. This raw battle between the two base energies is what ultimately determines the fate of the entire universe - a battle stripped of all physical limitations existing on a divine level, two raw spiritual forces fighting against each other.

Simon himself fighting the Anti-Spiral

Simon therefore "breaks through the heavens" multiple times, and he completes the archetypal Alchemical process. He begins as an "earth element", since he lives underground, and his realization of his own existence as a Spiral being with Spiral Energy is close to none. He lives a simple existence in the depths of the earth. This stage represents Lead or Tin, since it is the basest of all elements and the starting point of the Alchemical transformation process. As the show goes on, his element becomes "purer and purer". He breaks through the subterranean world (the underworld, world farthest from the spiritual center/the sun) to the surface world, the first time he sees the sky and the heavens. Here he defeats the Beastmen and reclaims Earth; now he is ready to bring salvation to humanity on an even greater scale, and by extension to the entire universe. When he begins his battle in space, his forces transmutate into the higher elements of Iron and Copper, and becomes Mercury as their final collective adversary comes to light. This is when they become trapped in the Space-Time Labyrinth. The elements associated with Mercury are wisdom and knowledge; the Space-Time Labyrinth is an exploration of thought, pitting the heroes against the mental forces of Dispair. The dual nature of Mercury is expressed in that two alternatives exist; to surrender and live in peace, or to continue the fight despite all the opposing temptations. This final test of will is only permissible in the mental realm; when Mercury is transcended, they finally ascend to Silver, which is their largest physical stage. In the final attack, Simon's Gunmen is reduced to his bare self, representing his own spiritual and metaphysical existence on its basest and most singular level, and therefore he finally transforms into Gold. He thus achieves godhood as the self-realized soul, transcending to an existence of pure Spiral Energy. He abandons his body (the Gunmen) and all physicality in order to fight the war on the purest and most elemental ground. It cannot get smaller than this; it becomes the raw battle of two wills against each other.


Spiral Energy and Physics

The two opposing forces in the show, the Spirals and the Anti-Spirals, also have grander physical implications. Since the spiritual is said to be mirrored in the larger development of the spiritual, we can see as demonstrated before the existence of physical laws that are descended from the basic laws of the spiral pattern, a universal spiritual and physical law of existence.

The nature of Spiral Energy is the channelling of energy into the physical world, thereby bypassing the Law of the Conservation of Energy. In astrophysics, this has but one implication: the addition of matter into the universe. On a universal scale, this means the addition of Gravity. Immediately the polar dichotomy is recognizable; the two forces in the show, the Spirals and Anti-Spirals, represent the two central forces in the universe from which all other forces originate: the contracting and expanding forces.

These are, respectably, Gravity and Dark Energy in astrophysics. These determine the life and death of the universe. When the Big Bang occurs, the universe expands at an exponential rate, making matter spread apart and creating more and more space in the universe. Within the universe exists matter; matter, instead of spreading out completely, retains the energy of the Big Bang in centralized sources held together by Gravity, which are Galactic Clusters. This centralization of universal matter, with the help of the opposing force Gravity which is the opposite of Dark Energy's expansive force, allows life to form. Life, and by extension all forms of energy, cannot exist or develop without such centralization.

Larger than Worlds

When the contraction force caused by the gravity of all matter in the universe finally supersedes the expansion force of Dark Matter, the universe begins to fall together again and everything returns to a central universal source. All physical matter is dissolved, and in Hinduism this is called the "Night of Brahma". It is called the Big Crunch in astrophysics. Everything returns, and thereafter the universe is born again, with a new Big Bang, and in this way the universe continues its cyclical death and rebirth for eternity. This way the universe continues to exist forever and in fluctuation, continually being reborn in a cyclical pattern.

However, if the expansive energy of Dark Matter wins in the end, and Gravity is not enough to start the reversal of the expansion process, the universe will continue to expand indefinitely and forever, and this is called the Big Rip. This means that the energy radiated by galaxies and stars will continue to be emminated until they run out completely; since this energy will never return to a centralized source, no more stars can be created, and therefore all forms of energy will start to dissipate. With the universe expanding forever, and only a certain amount of physical matter in the universe, the energy will continue to spread throughout the universe until it is completely even. This is called Heat Death, and the process of energy becoming increasingly spread out and unretainable is called Entropy.

Eventually, all the matter and energy of the universe will have been radiated from its central source, and no more life can be supported. Heat energy, without the presence of other heat energy, will died down and the total amount of energy in the universe will quiet down and turn to 0. That is why it's important for Gravity to eventually overcome Dark Matter, so that the universe can come together again so that it can be birthed anew.

Therefore Spiral Energy exists as a method of adding new matter to the universe, and thereby more Gravity to reduce the process of Entropy. This is gone over in the Significance of Gurren Lagann, which I posted about a week ago. I think I explain it better then.

Next time I'll talk about the Beastmen and what they mean. Until then, Spiral On.

The Significance of Gurren Lagann

The Esoteric Meaning of Gurren Lagann: Introduction

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is a journey of the archetypes as found in Alchemy; transmutation from the basest element (represented by Simon the Digger, digging=interred in earth) to the height of spiritual purity, the herald of the ultimate Spiral Energy and therefore by extension the leader of the human race. The spiral is an ancient symbol for dynamic evolution, transfiguration and the transcendent; the transcending of worlds, of the spirit, etc. The spiral represents the well of continuous spiritual energy that drives the survival of the human race and is the central radiating source of all spiritual power (i.e. the sun, the swastika, core of galaxy, etc.) This makes Simon the leader of the human race because he becomes the Avatar, or the incarnate representation of the Sun of the Earth and the Black Sun at the center of the galaxy, which is in opposition to the entropic Dark Energy/Matter, which is the expansive force which threatens to rip the entire universe apart and therefore diffuse the power of the Sun into infinity where it will die out (read more here). These are represented by the Anti-spirals, who want to preserve the physical universe by eliminating all manifestations of spiral energy (such as humans) since Spiral Energy will eventually cause the reunification of the universe similar to the big bang and completing the universal cycle. A side effect of putting a stop to this cycle is the continued expansion of the universe, which means that eventually life and Spiral Energy will never be able to evolve again, which effectively equals the death of the Spirit and the Eternal. The whole story echoes the archetypal war between the forces of chaos/entropy/expansion and the forces of light/order/contraction.

Multiple layers of such archetypal layers are fused into Gurren Lagann from start to finish. The story as presented is pretty straight forward, and with a little thinking it's very easy to understand. However, one might just be surprised at the depth of meaning that can be applied to it without every losing analogy with the original work. Usual academic literary analysis has already been done to it because of it being an Epic Journey and a Coming of Age story, which can be read here.

Concerning all this, one might wonder if the creators of this show consciously engrafted a deeper meaning discernable only by the initiated, or if in fact the free thought-forms sprung unconsciously from the creators' collective unconscious as a manifestation of supressed gnosis, unable to be manifested in any other area of Japanese life. Usual elements of anime might set some people off, and being an anime it is due to have these elements: fanservice, materialistic character traits, etc. However these all have their place and I will explain why later on.

This analysis will cover multiple posts so don't expect me to be able to get it all out in this one. I've been contemplating TTGL for a while now, and what I've been able to derive from it is astounding. It is one of the few works of modern times that features the true reproduction of the myth, or the mythos which shapes us all. It's deeper meaning is not straightforward, but lies in the use of scale and evolution which are themes reoccurrant in the plot. It can be broken down into two levels of analysis: the personal battles, which are represented by the physical characters and their earthly experiences, and the higher meaning which is represented in the holistic collective in the entire show.

Introduction

The name "Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann" means Breaking Through the Heavens: Gurren Lagann. Gurren Lagann is the name of the central mecha or giant robot in the series, which represents many things such as the manifestation of Simon's willpower. The title echoes GAINAX's previous work, Toppu wo Narae!, which means "Aim for the Top!" The title speaks of a very transcendental theme; from the underworld, the main characters literally "break through" the sphere of the heavens. In the old times, one theory represented heaven as the inside of a solid sphere which formed a roof over the world. When Simon and the others break through into the surface world, they are literally "shattering" and "breaking through" the heavens into the world beyond; in the second half of the series, they continue breaking through various stages of existence until finally they have reached the metaphysical universe.

The series has two parts: the First Part deals with the transcendence of the main cast into the surface world and their fight against the Beastmen, which are terrestrial/earthly obstetrical that the characters must face and defeat if they are to take control of their own destiny. The Second Part deals with their battle against the forces of universal entropy themselves, the Anti-spirals. The two parts are interrelated with each other and each contribute to the overall meaning of the plot.

The analysis of TTGL will take place in 4+ parts, each going over different facets of the show. It is highly recommended that you watch the series before you read this. This allows the show to soak in which enables you to think about it critically as a whole; without critical thinking, reading only gives you conclusions instead of helping you come to conclusions. There are 27 episodes and a few movie versions. The most important movie version to watch in order to follow this analysis is Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Lagann-hen. (watch here)

Part I: Spiral Energy
Part II: Beastmen
Part III: Gunmen and Identity
Part IV: Conclusion