Project Gurren Lagann Episode 6: There are Some Things I Just Have to See!!/Sit in the Hot Tub 'Till You're Sick!! #JHedzWorlD

Episode 6: There are Some Things I Just Have to See!!/Sit in the Hot Tub ‘Till You’re Sick!!

And now we get to probably the most pointless episode of Gurren Lagann, the fanservice episode. A lot of anime have these at some point and Gurren Lagann is no exception. True that in the form of Yoko (arguably Kamina too with him never wearing a shirt) we have had bits of fanservice throughout but in this episode it get put up to eleven. But for now enough of my intro rambling lets dive into the episode.

(Both episode titles)

Now before going into the episode itself, you probably noticed from the pictures above that their are two title cards. That is because there are two episode sixes. One a more censored version (Sit in the Hot Tub ‘Till You’re Sick!!) and the other a directors cut (There are Some Things I Just Have to See!!). The reason is a bit of a mess but I’ll try to explain, during Gurren Lagann’s first airing it was on a kid friendly time slot (Side note can I just say that why the hell was Gurren Lagann put into a kid friendly spot cause it has a lot of moments that would make a kid go what the fuck or would flat out not get especially in later episodes) the problem arises when you get into the sub plot of episode 6 which is Kamina trying to sneak a peek into the women’s bath, which is obviously not the best thing to show to kids. Hilariously at first the network okayed the episode until they saw the completed episode when they basically said to alter the episode and here we are with two versions of episode 6.

I’m going to be completely honest here, Until this latest watching I’ve never seen the censored version of episode 6. While Netflix does I believe only have the censored version, other streaming sites like Kissanime only have the directors cut version. (as another side note the official limited edition DVD set does have both versions) So this will be a new experience for me as well because I get to see what was altered and how both play and maybe see if one is better then the other. I’ll do my best to point to point out differences when they show up, but as for now, enough of a history lesson lets dive into these two.

(For those Curious this is the realise that has both version which I happen to own)

Not even to the title card and we already run into the first big change between the two, The recap of the previous episode. Not sure if I have explained and if I haven’t then I’m really late saying this but yeah a good majority of the episodes briefly recap the prior episodes events. Usually they last around twenty seconds and are voiced by Tony Oliver (Yeah I’m only referencing the dub since its the version I’m watching) However the censored version has a much longer recap of the previous episode (Around two minutes and five seconds I timed it). In this one the narration is done by Kyle Hebert and Yuri Lowenthal, Giving basically Kamina and Simon’s perspective and thoughts of Adai Village. While it is nice to hear those two thoughts expanded and even seeing how Simon is empathetic and understanding towards the people of Adai (even if he doesn’t agree with how they do things) while Kamina is much more annoyed and almost insulted by the way Adai was. Both sides have a point in their arguments and it is an interesting talk……. Too bad its not as effective because they don’t show Kamina and Simon talking  but instead using footage from the previous episode. I think this change was a huge missed opportunity to show more of Simon and Kamina instead of just simply having their voices over old footage. I’d also be less bothered by this if it didn’t feel like the intent of this didn’t feel more like filler then a conversation. Basically what I’m saying is show don’t tell in this case. As far as the directors cut version of the recap, its basically just a regular recap so I’m gonna move on.

Beyond the intro and some minor censoring of things that you’d expect to get censored not much about the first half of the episode has changed in either version. Its pretty much the same scene for scene. The next Major change comes right as the second half begins. That being Kamina (and to a smaller extent Simon’s) attempts to see the females naked, key word being attempts. This and other fanservice moments were cut instead being replaced with recap of episodes 1-4 along with dialogue changes to fit the censored version better. While they could never have gotten away with what the episode originally was there are a few things the censored version took away and some of those are kinda major elements that are needed for future episodes. The episodes pretty much cementing the fact that Simon has romantic feelings for Yoko, it also cements that Yoko has romantic feelings for Kamina and finally that this episode gives us our first mention of the Spiral King who we will go into more detail in later analysis. Its disappointing that these were removed to give us simple recap of stuff we already saw. However the episode does end pretty much the same way regardless of version. So before I totally move on from the changes I want to say that I find the directors cut version of episode 6 is better. I don’t feel enough was added to the changes to make it a good episode compared to its counter part and even then the recap in the second half of the episode isn’t impressive or adds anything to the episode that make it a justifiable change. Overall stick with the directors cut of episode 6.

(You also miss this faces like this)

Beyond the changes made to the episode there isn’t too much more to say on the episode. For one this episode reintroduces us to three of the four black siblings (those being Kiyoh, Kinon and Kiyal) it also introduces us to Old Coco a character who after this episode tags along with Team Gurren and pretty much will remain in the background for the rest of the series (Hell he doesn’t even get a speaking role till the last episode).

(I don’t think I’m spoiling too much when I say that Old Coco doesn’t do much in Gurren Lagann)

I think the biggest thing that happens in this episode is it further establishes Rossiu as both a character and member of team Gurren. We already saw some of what Rossiu was in the previous episode but this one shows more of him and how different he is from the rest of the team. For one Rossiu is not as implusive and quick to action as the rest of the team. He was the first one to suggest following the gunman that would eventually lead the team to the hot spring so that they might find the recall point. He is also the first one and only one (besides maybe Leeron) to suspect that the hot springs might be a trap created by the beastman (he was right). On top of that its briefly shown that Rossiu is able to pilot Gurren. Up till now we have only seen 3 humans pilot mechs those being Simon, Kamina and briefly Magin. However this episode confirms that Kamina might not be the only human to pilot a gunman (Lagann doesn’t count as a gunmen and I’ll explain that in the future). Rossiu overall is much more cautious and far less impulsive then the rest of the team aside from maybe Simon himself and even then Simon can be pretty implusive on his own. This episode gives Rossiu a lot of time to shine and pretty much cements him as a main character.

(Rossiu the main star of this episode)

(The only other thing of note here is well this fanservice brought to you by Gainax)

Outside of the plot points, history of the episode itself, fanservice, and Rossiu, this episode is pretty pointless. If we went by the censored version then like episode 4 before it you could take out this episode with little to the overall plot being lost. However the same can’t be said about the directors cut. There are elements of the episode that will come into play later on and for me at least it was an entertaining episode with the promise of big things coming in the next episode. So overall if you are watching Gurren Lagann on Netflix or Crunchyroll skip this episode and go to the next one as its not worth the viewing. However if you are watching this on Kissanime or the DVD/Blu Ray then watch the episode as they have the directors cut and overall better episode 6.

(And with another track from the OST I end this post)

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Project Gurren Lagann Episode 6: There are Some Things I Just Have to See!!/Sit in the Hot Tub 'Till You're Sick!! #JHedzWorlD