Quick Links
Aura farming refers to when a character can generate hype just from standing around, and fewCrunchyrollanime are better at it thanSolo Leveling. The stronger the series protagonist Jinwoo gets, the more scenes he gets of him flexing on everyone without even trying, and even after a year, it has yet to get old.
Solo Levelingis easily one of anime’s biggest sources of aura farming, but that doesn’t make it the absolute biggest. As easy as it would be to giveSolo Levelingthat honor, aura farming has been a thing in anime from well beforeSolo Levelingwas even created, and sure enough, there are plenty of shows that are just as good at it, if not better. Going even further,one of Crunchyroll’s best anime makesSolo Leveling’s aura farming look downright sad, and overall, it’s plenty easy to see why.
Why Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Is The King Of Aura Farming
Gurren Lagann’s Aura Is Still Unmatched To This Day
If there’s any anime that clearsSolo Levelingin terms of aura farming, it would have to beStudio Trigger’sTengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. The series posits itself as a hot-blooded and over-the-top mecha anime from day one, and going right along with that,every episode ofTengen Toppa Gurren Lagannhas characters trying to one-up each other in increasingly fun and ridiculous ways.
Much ofGurren Lagann’s most iconic aura farming comes from one of its main characters, Kamina. Kamina is introduced with a massive ego that he always backs up with either action or inspiring words to others, and no matter the situation, it never gets old.Even after dying, Kamina’s incredible charisma serves as a driving force forGurren Lagann’s heroes, and it’s no wonder that he’s one ofanime’s biggest aura farmers.
Even better than Kamina, however, isGurren Lagann’s true protagonist, Simon. As Simon matures both physically and mentally, he slowly takes everything that defined Kamina as an aura farmer and makes it his own for increasingly bigger feats, and in pureGurren Lagannfashion,Simon eventually evolves into someone who can literally stand above the entire universe based on pure charisma. There’s never been an anime character quite like Simon, and his aura farming is a major part of whyGurren Lagannis so iconic.
What best sells it all, of course, is how there’s always a point to it. As goofy a show asGurren Lagannmight be, the aura farming and over-the-top posturing is always used to advance the plot, and it never gets tiresome because of how engaging the characters are and the genuine sincerity behind every scene.Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagannhas a perfect balance of camp and heart, and it’s easy to see why it’s still held in such regard after almost 20 years.
Why Solo Leveling Will Never Beat Gurren Lagann In Aura Farming
What Gurren Lagann Has That Solo Leveling Doesn’t
With how greatGurren Lagann’s aura farming is, it’s easy to see whySolo Leveling’s falls short. While the heroes and villains alike are plenty intimidating, the scale of things never gets anywhere close toGurren Lagann, and there certainly isn’t anyone as charismatic or over-the-top as Simon, Kamina, or Lordgenome, either.Gurren Lagann’s visual and narrative presentation surpassesSolo Leveling’s in every regard, and that’s why the aura farming is so great.
That contrast is especially clear when looking at Jinwoo’s aura farming, specifically. Jinwoo is certainly powerful, but as many fans will attest to, power is pretty much all he has going for him, as he gradually becomes a more stoic person with very few moments that allow that to shine. Add in how Jinwoo’s action scenes often boil down to just beating someone up, andJinwoo’s aura farming never comes close to what madeGurren Lagann’s so iconic.
None of this is a knock againstSolo Leveling, of course, as between the gorgeous animation and the incredible fight scenes they enhance, it’s easy to see whySolo Levelinghas become so popular over the past year. That being said,Solo Leveling’s breakout popularity shouldn’t make people forget that other anime are just as good as what it can do, and for anyone who’s watchedTengen Toppa Gurren Lagannon Crunchyroll, that’s plenty easy to see.
Why Aura Farming Is Such A Big Part Of Modern Anime
Why The Aura Farming Meme Is As Big As It Is
All of the discussion of aura farming, of course, invites the question of why it’s become such a big part of modern anime. In the grand scheme of things, there isn’t that much to it; anime is no stranger to meme culture, and as it stands,aura farming is simply the latest meme to take anime and fandom culture, in general, by storm.
Aura farming has stuck around longer than other memes have, though, and that’s probably because of how fun it is. No one needs to be told that their favorite characters are cool and intimidating, butlabeling all forms of badassery in anime as aura farming creates a sense of unity within the culture that didn’t exist before, and if anything, it ultimately makes it funnier.
It’s easy to compareSolo Leveling’s aura farming to other anime’, but at the end of the day,Solo Levelinggetting as big as it is perfectly shows how big of a meme aura farming has become in modern pop culture.Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagannmight haveSolo Levelingbeat onCrunchyroll, but it still more than deserves its reputation for using it, and ifSolo Levelingseason 3does happen, that’s only going to become more apparent.
