@Ao:
Well, I found that play a bit funny,too.
I'm talking about the dream-like, parent-less, immoral and carnal seat-of-the-pants high frontier adventure feel of the first arc. Like Tom Sawyer, Becky Thatcher and Huck Finn driving in a Porche through a desert, running over all animals that get in their way.
If I were talking about the play itself I'd have used capitals and italics.
I can see how that could be confusing…
@Ao:
It's totally over the top and meant to be cheesy. Yes, there are genuine moments here and there, but overall the aesthetic is "not to be taken too seriously" throughout.
Cheese and camp are not synonymous with fanservice.
@Ao:
The difference with One Piece is it clearly and thoroughly shifts tone during certain parts of an arc.
Gurren-Lagann modulated between arcs. I don't see how you could detect subtle theme shifts in OP yet miss the blatantly obvious ones in GL.
@Ao:
One Piece adds human elements to fantasy situations by dealing with the emotions of certain plotlines realistically.
None of the emotions in OP are realistic, they're idealized. The point is they appeal to the soul, and again I'm surprised you don't see the same in GL.
@Ao:
When Usopp and Luffy fight, it's not over the top in dialogue or tone, but handled like an actual difference of opinion between friends.
That was a fight between men of differing ideals, not friends. The fact that Usopp left should have been a clear sign of that.
Also that's not a particularly good/general example either, since most of OP's fights are more outrageous than the previous ones, and that was the first of many in a long time that was pretty ordinary for the manga, save the nature of the combatants. It's an exception, rather than the rule and norm.
@Ao:
When Nami runs away, the whole thing with Bellemere and her shouting about being from a poor family or Bellemere not being her birth mother is handled with some level of realism that makes the tone feel serious.
So shows must be realistic to be serious? I guess Kaiba and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex aren't serious then, since both address philosophical issues of the nature of memory, identity and "self" which clearly isn't a realistic scenario because humans can't put their memory into alternate bodies.
I understand that OP can communicate to people on an emotional level, but really, just because the issue of a murdered stepmother could plausibly happen in the real world doesn't give OP a leg up on other shows with more fantastical issues. It's what literature folk call suspension of disbelief.
@Ao:
Despite common themes and animation or whatever, I really don't feel that GL and OP had this super similar tone like people claim, outside of feeling like a really intense shonen series. Gurren Lagann felt VERY spoof-ish and moved at such a lightning pace, it never really slowed down to let you feel anything. Kamina's death was really more shocking than sad and poignant.
OP moves pretty quickly in manga form, and outside of specific arcs the trauma certain characters feel isn't really brought up on, as per Luffy's policy to either forgive, forget or not care anymore.
@Ao:
A girl's leg is crushed in ep 2 of Basquash and there is no camel toe prior to it. But I do feel, much like I did with Lagann, the emotional stuff is too cursory and broad to evoke any SERIOUS emotion from anyone over the age of 14.
I wouldn't really call that one of the emotional scenes, I was more thinking about Dan's opinion toward the government, Big Foots and basketball, which is more complex than I think you're giving credit for.
He doesn't fault the Big Foots for crushing his sister's legs, which is unusual. Nor does he fault the government for it. He seems to view it as an accident and really only harasses the government because they are disrespecting his game of basketball with the clumsy nature of Big Foots.
THAT's interesting, but is is punctuated by scenes of Miyuki jiggling all over the place so people don't catch on it.
@Ao:
You made this reply as an excuse to namedrop, admit it!
I will drop Uncle Go's name in any rant on fanservice I make.
He's an awesome manga-ka, but his perverted nature caused a lot of damage to the manga and anime community cultures imv.
@Ao:
I only remember seeing this a lot in Slayers and honestly, it's not what I consider fanservice.
You've never heard of "delicious flat chest"? o_o
@Ao:
Well, yeah…in a perfect world. But it's like violence or sex, it doesn't automatically detract from the show, to me, if they use these cheap tricks to appeal to a broad audience. As long as they aren't oversaturating the show with them and the show is enjoyable or has some substance. And personally, it's been 2 episodes and I personally, ALREADY find Miyuki a more interesting character than Yoko. So that could be factoring in why I ignore the fanservice in this case. It helps that she's full clothed most of the time, too.
I feel it's over-saturated by the time jokes are made about the fanservice, let alone show scenes that focus in on them.
Skimpy uniforms are pretty bad, but tolerable. That's about all I can take these days.