Ask John: Why Do Japanese Kids Like Gundam OO But Not Gurren Lagann?

Question:
Why was Gurren Lagann not at all popular among children although it aired on Sunday mornings? Gundam 00 aired during Golden Time (primetime) and was popular among both otaku
and children, but children have not even heard of Gurren Lagann. Only the otaku watched it although it was not in a late night otaku timeslot.

Answer:
The authority to answer this question are Japanese children. I’m not a Japanese child, nor do I personally know any. So in place of an authoritative answer, I’ll have to speculate. Comparison between Gurren Lagann and Gundam OO reveals a few subtle but possibly important differences. Furthermore, examination of the origins of these two series may also reveal some explanation. While the two shows seem superficially similar, Gurren Lagann is a show targeted specifically at otaku while Gundam has been a popular mainstream franchise for years.

Gurren Lagann and Gundam OO are both series revolving around small teams of heroes that use powerful robots to oppose forces which they perceive as philosophically oppressive. Like the protagonists of typical shonen anime, the heroes of Gundam OO are assertive and courageous. They may have weaknesses, but they rely on hard work and guts to prevail. Simon, the protagonist of Gurren Lagann, however, is initially timid and cowardly. He fights motivated by fear rather than commitment to principle. Traditionally children’s robot anime have starred protagonists motivated by the passion of justice. From Tetsujin 28 to Mazinger to the Yusha series to Gundam, the heroes of these series sortie because they want to protect and defend. Mecha anime that revolve around protagonists who are hesitant or fearful to fight, including Evangelion, Zeorymer, the Maze TV series, and Gurren Lagann, are consistently titles targeted at otaku viewers.

The inversion of pilot motivation is just one aspect of Gurren Lagann’s subtle difference from Gundam OO. While Gundam OO is a straightforward, conventional robot anime, Gurren Lagann is a simultaneous parody and homage of giant robot anime. Gurren Lagann employs the traditional tropes of children’s giant robot anime, like the drill arm and combining robots, but does so in order to exaggerate and tribute the tropes rather than use them conventionally. In fact, the very fact that Gurren Lagann was superficially a traditional children’s super robot anime may explain why it was placed in a Sunday morning broadcast timeslot instead of a possibly more appropriate late night broadcast hour. Gurren Lagann revels in abstract hyperbole that mature viewers can interpret and appreciate. But children may not have “got” the joke.

Criticizing Gurren Lagann’s visual design may seem petty, but in this case it may be necessary. There’s no reason to believe that mainstream Japanese viewers reject anime with unconventional visual design or animation. On the contrary, unusual shows targeted at non-otaku viewers like Ukkari Penelope, Ayakashi, and Hakaba Kitaro suggest that mainstream Japanese viewers may be even more receptive to unusual animation styles than otaku. However, the hyper exaggerated visual design of Gurren Lagann may have been a bit much for Sunday mornings alongside shows including Hayate no Gotoku, Pretty Cure, Pokemon, and Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro.

Foreign fans may not immediately think of Gundam OO as a children’s program. I’ll admit that I don’t. Gundam OO seems too complex, and seems to include too much realistic violence to be suitable or appealing to children. But foreigners instinctively form impressions influenced by their own cultural perspective. It’s not unusual for children to watch TV programs targeted at an audience older than themselves. And Gundam has been a popular mainstream Japanese franchise for a long time. But Japanese children having ignored Gurren Lagann does seemingly prove that Gurren Lagann was a show strictly for otaku – possibly one that was simply mistakenly broadcast in a timeslot outside of what would normally be expected for an otaku show.