Meaning
What does Kamina Glasses mean?
Kamina Glasses, also referred to as Kamina Shades or Gar Glasses are a pair of red or orange tinted sunglasses, with a peculiar, triangular shape.
Their name and the design itself originate from the Gurren Lagann anime, where the character Kamina was depicted wearing them, hence donning the name to the spectacles.
Online, “Kamina glasses” have been used as an exploitable photoshop meme, in a similar fashion to the Deal with It glasses, used to highlight the cool properties of people.
They also serve as the manifestation of the Anime Glasses for a Weeb or Otaku.
via MEME
Origin
What's the origin of Kamina Glasses?
Although “Kamina glasses” were not first of their kind in terms of design, they started gaining prominence in 2007, when the anime Gurren Lagann launched, airing between April 1st and September 30th, 2007.
In the series, the Chad Kamina known for his masculinity was depicted with the spectacles, setting the trend for anyone who found inspiration in his character.
Although the exact origin of the “Kamina glasses” trend is not known, it started on forums about the anime in 2007.
An early fanart, putting the glasses on to a different character was uploaded to DeviantArt on August 23rd, 2007, by user T4R0K.
Spread & Usage
How did Kamina Glasses spread?
By October 2007, the “Kamina glasses” trend emerged on various blog and forums sites, including Live Journal.
The glasses were cited as a major example on the TVTropes entry about triangular sunglasses, which was published on August 26th, 2010.
Although the trend of “Kamina glasses” has been slowly dying out in the 2010’s, occasional posts and mentions still persist on sites like Reddit or YouTube.
External resources
- Reddit – r/gurrenlagann
- Fandom – Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Wiki