Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

“Pierce the heavens, Gurren Lagann!” Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is one of the most watched, most rated, most talked about anime series on MAL. Have you ever considered whether you should give this show a try? Just why do people keep calling it “epicness”? If you are curious enough to look up this show but is undecided (or unsure) if it will turn out being a complete waste of time for you, then look no further! You have found the missing piece to your puzzle. Imagine. Life in underground caves where the sky is blocked off by thick layers of dirt, where no trees can ever grow, where no wind can ever blow. Imagine. Life as a digger whose sole purpose is to endlessly dig and drill as there is nothing better to do. To top it off, let us further imagine that life are constantly under threat by an unknown source of earthquake from above. This hell hole is precisely where the story begins. Our teenage protagonist, Simon the digger as he calls himself, has absolutely zero talent of being a hero-type guy to begin with. In fact, he was more likely to be viewed as a loser. His eventual success of being “the man who saves the universe”, in part, is thanks to his best friend whom he often regards as his older brother known as Kamina (*and no my name was not derived from him*). Brother Kamina, along with a cute long hair sniper girl called Yoko helped transform the loser Simon into a “GAR” Simon. While the story, to a large extend, focus on the character growth of Simon and how he cope with various issues in life, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the story itself is very plot driven. This is especially true in the latter half where viewers will notice an onion peel effect in the battles. One can find a story buried within another story, yet buried still within another story. There may also be people out there who will tell you the story can be basically split into two parts. Where the first part totally owns in terms of character growth and overall sanity of the show and the latter just totally transform the plot into something not recognizable but any sane person. Guess what? They have a point. Although the battles in the first half of the story pales compare to the latter part (as far as actions are concerned), at the very least there was a sensible goal and sensible way to deal with the problem. However, the second half literally takes things to the edge of the universe. Hardcore action fans will most certainly scream with joy seeing the most unbelievable action in their lifetime, but to the everyday norm like the rest of us, it may seem a little unexpected (some extremists called it unacceptable for ruining all the hard work built up from the first half). Anyhow, at least it was a nice change from the predictable monster of the week cliché. The soundtracks, by and large, are extremely well made. A few particular BGM played during the key moments of the story just make things all the better. Both the OP and various ED fit nicely with their corresponding animation counterpart. The seiyu have done a wonderful job as well, acting out their roles with great passion and pride. Surprisingly, a few seiyu used such a unique voice that most people (even fans) don’t even recognize them (see if you can identify their voices without spoiling yourself). Certainly TTGL is not just another one of your average anime. With intense battle scenes, a decent amount of character developments, and creative plot (note that I acknowledge its creativity and originality, but I am not necessary saying the plot make sense nor reasonable … that my friend, will be decided by you once you have watched the series) it will deliver beyond your expectation.

It might seem a bit pretentious if not outright outlandish to award Gurren Lagann a perfect 10, but meh, I'm doing it anyway. Just simply put this is a masterpiece of animated storytelling. Everyone, regardless of whether or not they're an anime fan, owes it to themselves to see Gurren Lagann before they die. Story: 10 (Outstanding) The story is deceptively simple yet simply hits all the right notes where it needs to. Kamina and Simon are diggers living in an underground village. Their job is to dig - digging is the lifeblood of the village, it's what allows the village to expand and grow in population. But it's not the kind of life Kamina wants. Kamina wants to kick logic to the curb and drill through the heavens, just like his long-believed to be dead dad who, as the rumors go, actually makes it to the surface. The desire to drill to the surface is Kamina's one great ambition in life, an ambition that earns him the ire of the rest of the village, and he frequently has to be tempered by his adoptive brother Simon. Then one day, Simon stumbles upon a strange, drill-like object buried underneath the dirt. He races over to show Kamina, who tells him that the strange object rightly belongs to Simon and shall forever belong to him. Soon afterwards, Simon stumbles upon an even stranger object - it looks like a giant head! Once again he races to tell Kamina, but before he can show him a giant mechanical beast crashes through the heavens and onto the village, along with the beautiful "surface girl" Yoko. And all of this and more happens in just the first episode! The plot evolves quickly and is very fast pace, and soon an expanding team headed by Kamina, Simon, Yoko and a field of friends and former enemies soon find themselves staring down what may very well be the complete annihilation of the entire universe! Art: 10 (Outstanding) The art is just terrific, and does much to carry on the incredible fast pace of the series. Simple when it needs to be, detailed when it needs to be, the featureless plains of a desert earth contrasts with a vast, detailed and colorful sky to bring the viewer into the desolate world these characters reside in. The character designs themselves may very well go down in history as some of the best remembered and most celebrated, at times looking more like an animated superhero comic book than a shonen anime. The mecha is fantastic too - very distinct with the main body of most mecha being dominated by a face (indeed, halfway through the anime everything, and I mean everything the humans and beastmen build seems to have a face for unexplained reasons, which only adds to the charm) and the Gurren Lagann itself will probably go down as an icon of mecha alongside EVA-01, Ray Armuro's Gundam and the VFS-1 Valkyrie. Sound: 10 (Outstanding) ...is perhaps the least that can be said about the sound of Gurren Lagann. The OST is probably filled to the brim with the most memorable music in all of humanity's existence, from the OP Sora ino Days to all three EDs (including Happy Endings, which accompanied only a single episode, the appropriate and unusually well done compilation episode). Perhaps the most legendary of them all is Libra Me aka ROW ROW FIGHT DA POWAH!, which is now known far and wide to even those who have never heard of Gurren Lagann thanks to its memetic power. Character: 10 (Outstanding) The characters of Gurren Lagann are an interesting lot - some are memorable because of their singular motivations and two-dimensions, such as Kamina and his sole ambition to be the best living specimen he can possibly be, a notion so strong it cannot help but infect everyone around him and even his enemies. Other characters are actually very well mapped out and surprisingly deep, such as Simon, who is conflicted by his own insecurities and his aspirations to be just like Kamina. Even Boota, Simon's mute pet pigmole, gets a lot of character development, especially in regards to an incredible, jaw-dropping twist near the end. The bad guys show up as amazing characters as well, especially Viral, who surprisingly only tries to do what he believes is good and useful, and Lord Genome, whose character development turns out to be one of the many developing twists in the series. Enjoyment: 10 (Outstanding) As you may have already gathered by now, there is nothing not to like in Gurren Lagann even for those who hate mecha anime. Nary a single second is boring, and the action and story is a non-stop whirlwind. With all that said, it comes as no surprise that Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann gets a final score of: 10 - Outstanding Really, nothing more needs to be said.

Born deep in the dirt, surrounded and made captive by earth above and below, where can a person go from there? There are three options: you do nothing and lay there until you die, you dig lower and strive to find yourself in the filth and darkness and loneliness, or you cast it all aside and reach for the sky you know exists. Certainly, the latter is the most difficult path to choose and it's not likely to just fall into your lap—but let's say it does just that, in the form of a device that will empower your very desire to explode forth into the world. In this case, a boy named Simon—Simon the Digger to most—finds a small key that resembles the drill he uses to explore his surroundings in search of treasure. Little does he know at first that he has just found a treasure that will grant him control of a mecha that will respond to his emotions. And before long, when the huge and scary world above comes crashing down into the tiny world he knows, he'll discover what he can do with this machine thanks to the encouragement of his big bro, the fiercely optimistic Kamina. One battle leads to a sort of tumbling-up-the-rabbit-hole, where the vast sky wheels around them and there's no limit to be seen—no dirt ceiling hanging above, just the endless blue horizon. By the second episode, Simon and Kamina have met Yoko and her band of rebels up on the surface. Where do they go from there? They soon learn that the surface world is a scary place, and the old cave from which they emerged begins to seem like a refuge, the place of their childhood—an earthly womb, perhaps. Up here, the beastmen piloting mecha with giant faces called Ganmen seek to exterminate humans, and along with this group of scrappers Simon and Kamina find themselves engaging in a succession of battles, awkwardly beginning to realize what they're capable of doing. Kamina, especially, throws himself into the mix with a boldness that sets the tone for the series. "Who the hell do you think I am?!" he shouts, demonstrating that in this world, where there's a will there's a way. And as the forces of oppression loom ever larger, the Gurren Brigade gains more and more resolve. Like many coming-of-age stories, TTGL has its phase of male adolescence. A time-leap brings us to an era when our heroes, once grasping for the skies, have lost their way. They struggle to face their new freedom and responsibility, and suddenly they are not very likable. In fact, you'll probably want to punch most of them. Simon especially, as he struggles to become even half the man that Kamina proved to be early in the series, let alone a man of his own strengths and desires. He may as well be back in the cave he came from, gathering dust in angsty stagnation. It's only fitting that Yoko and the other women at the core of the cast have found their place in the world apart from the rest, accepting their adulthood in stride. And it is only a new threat of loss and oppression that provides the man-children the kick in the ass necessary to get them moving again. And move they do. Purpose is rediscovered. Maybe the scared and thoughtful boy that Simon was can find himself after all, even if he does follow in Kamina's footsteps. There are far worse things one could aspire to. Quick comments on the quality of animation and sound here: excellent. Aside from the occasional misstep (such as the notoriously ugly fourth episode), everything here looks great, emphasizing the wild boldness of the story with animation that threatens to disintegrate into pure color and energy under such force. The soundtrack is thunderous, full of upbeat pop-rock and bombastic classical or neoclassical pieces that suit the increasingly epic feel perfectly. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann could be considered Gainax's magnum opus—the contrarily nihilistic Neon Genesis Evangelion notwithstanding. What they've managed to do with this show is take traditions set forth by Gunbuster/Top wo Nerae! and its sequel, Diebuster/Top wo Nerae! 2 and blend them with more subtle elements of the very non-traditional postmodernist FLCL. Rather than having robots popping out of the young protagonist's head after being clocked by a girl with an electric guitar, the boy goes about his usual mode of working his way through life and discovers the key to a robot that responds to his emotions, his very spirit, opening the way up and out, eradicating limitations as long as he can muster the desire to change, grow, and realize his destiny. Look to your dreams and reach for the heavens: every light in the sky is a star. It's a premise that is just as absurd, yet it seems to make sense compared to all the pubescent confusion FLCL hurls at its audience. This drill is the boy's soul—the key to a boundless extension of himself that he will call Gurren Lagann. "This drill is me." The "hard work and guts!" of Gunbuster becomes, "My drill is the drill that will penetrate the heavens!" Aim for the top, indeed.

Really didn't jive with this one's story at all. It feels exactly like when a little kid walks up to you with their action figures in hand and starts acting out wild action scenes with senseless kid logic but expects you to take it just as seriously as they are. Meanwhile you're just nodding along waiting for them to get bored and wander away. Weirdly the part of the story that I found myself most interested in was the section where Yoko was living as a teacher on a small island. I liked the idea of a teacher who was secretly a mecha fighting badass, it was a fun contrast and felt a bit more grounded. Her teacher design was also super cute. While I think the character designs are hit and miss it would be a lie to say that it's not well animated (if a bit overly frantic at times) with a good soundtrack. The high production value definitely does the heavy lifting for this anime.

What are heroes? Heroes are individuals that are often taken for granted. They rise to the calling during our hour of need, defend us, inspire us, and even die for us. We cheer for them and give them recognition when we need them but just as easily forget and toss them aside when they've done their part. Heroes live short lives. They often go unrecognized, aren't given monetary gain, or any type of value to enrich their lives for their heroic feats. They rarely ask for anything in return. They humbly sacrifice their dreams and happiness so that the rest of us can enjoy ours; that's what makes them heroes. I believe the best description of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is calling it an epic. No, I don’t mean the overused term, ‘epic’, in which people use to describe various things they deem simply cool. I’m talking about the word epic that stems from Greek literature; a journey that focuses on a hero overcoming all odds through success and failure. Gurren Lagann is truly a spectacle that every anime watcher should see at some point during their anime watching career. While Gurren Laggan isn't perfect, can we really say that anything is really perfect? It has its own deficiencies and hiccups that hold it back from achieving a more perfect state, yet still elevates its good points masterfully. The story isn't exceptionally thought invoking or full of intellectual plot twists that stimulate the brain. If you're using your brain, you've chosen the incorrect organ of choice. What Gurren Lagann lacks in logical prowess it makes up for in heart. It's uplifting and depressing, exhilarating and discouraging, and fascinating yet illogical. The story of Gurren Lagann is one in which a young man tosses away the shackles of oppression and forges his own destiny to pierce heaven itself. With the exception of a couple episodes of what I consider filler, I loved every moment of Gurren Lagann. It was exciting, fresh, and accelerated past my brain, drilling it's place into my heart. The art/animation of TTGL is a bit of a mixture of good and bad. While there are dips in the animation and consistency, it still swings back to its natural, explosive greatness when we need it to; it immensely satisfies when satisfaction is expected. The style of TTGL is unmistakably over the top and excessive when it comes to fights, explosions, and kicking all concepts of physics and logic to the curb, but that's also part of its appeal. Gurren Lagann's soundtrack was by no means fantastic or anything of the like, but somehow everything fits together and creates such an enjoyable experience that it doesn't really matter. Fuck logic, think with raw emotion. As anyone else who has seen the show will tell you, Libera Me From Hell will probably be imprinted into your soul as it's the song grows on you during battles, speeches, and moments of greatness during the last few episodes. It complements TTGL extremely well and is the defining piece of the series. I think the OST in general was good as well; it felt inspirational and helped fuel the already exploding levels of testosterone in the audience. Characters is where Gurren Lagann has the most success. The Dai-Gurren Gang/Dai-Gurren Brigade are all easily likeable and mesh so well that near impossible not to enjoy their presence on screen. Simon is the main character of the series and for the most part almost everything is dedicated to his growth as a character, though inspired by his role model and big brother figure, Kamina. The most admirable trait about Simon is that he remains such a humble figure from start to finish. Despite the power, glory, and hardships along the way, Simon stays true to himself. One thing that I would have liked was a little more development of the supporting cast. Some characters seem to lose their importance later in the series which is saddening to watch. Yoko, the original main female lead is subjected to this. All in all, I loved the characters of TTGL as a whole. They were the heart and soul of the series and they made such an amazing show possible. The last thing I would like to talk about is the ending. Personally I think Gurren Lagann had one of the best endings in anime of all time. It depicts the struggles of what it means to have great power and the sacrifices you must make in being the hero. Tacking on such a powerful ending to top off a grand journey of surpassing dreams, tossing away logic, and overcoming the most unlikely of odds adds such a bittersweet feeling and concludes a fine chapter in the ever so growing collection of anime. Upon finishing the series for the second time, I am once again filled with angst and a feeling of depression just like my first. It's not because the series was at all disappointing. It's because I realize I probably won't feel the same charged emotions, shed the same manly tears, and raise my finger in the air pointing to the heavens ever again. Abayo, Dachikō. I bid you adieu.

I am not a mecha person. I started watching TTGL to check out what the hype's all about. It turned out to be overrated. Now, before you bitch at me for saying that, hear me out... Animation: Although the series was enjoyable, I didn't understand a thing during the fight scenes. All I could remember are lines barging in and out, no image in particular stuck out. Thank goodness for non-action scenes, I get to enjoy absurd drawings of creatures I never though of possible. But because of its unique aspect, I gave it a 6. Story: One of the good things of this series is the concept. Although the plot was simple, the concept behind it is admirable. I am a biologist so I understood well why the spiral possess so much power. Music: One word to describe it, "COOL." Character: Also one of the good things about this series. It showed a good light on stubborness. It simply says "Being stubborn gives you power to succeed." Enjoyment: The first half did not really struck me. I merely continued watching to know the story. It was in the second half that things started to get exciting. Overall: This series requires the audience to have a wide perspective on things to make it enjoyable. I asked someone from MAL what was so great about this series because I hardly found it enjoyable at first, now, I believe what made it to the top rank is pure character. All of the categories, story, art, sound and character has an elemental character imbued to it. The animation has a personal character distinct to TTGL, along with the music which was way cool and the concept of the story which was extraordinary.

Another one of my all times favorite anime. From the intense storyline to the comedy purpose episodes, this anime was one that made me continue watching non stop. Story - To tell you the truth, I've never particularly liked mecha type animes. The only ones i recall watching and actually enjoyed were Gundam series. Usually these types of mecha anime fails to appeal to me halfway through the show, an example should be Eureka Seven. However Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is one series where you'll watch and be caught into the storyline. Also (warning spoiler ahead.. sort of.) I thought the way they did that 7 year time skip after defeating the Helix King was quite different from your average action based anime. Art - When i first saw Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann's cover, I disliked that art. I thought it was those typical shounen anime aimed towards boys at a young age. Man, was I wrong. Episode after episode I watched this anime and unknowingly i started loving the art style of this anime. From the ass-kicking Ganmens (Gunmens) to the pilot's of these ass-kickers, they were all very nicely done. Sound - The sound in this show was purely awesome. I love how realistic the drilling sounds were i love the OP. The reason i gave it a 9 instead of a 10 was because Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann stuck to the same opening song the whole time. As i clearly stated before, I loved the OP but after listening to the opening song so many times, it starts to become dull. They took the time to make 3 different opening videos in 27 episodes but did not change the song. That's the only flaw i found within the sound category. Also cannot forget to to mention the awesome sound track, Libera me from hell.. Best. Anime. Song. Ever.. I've listened to this song over and over. Characters - The characters in this show were very well developed and tons of fun. I believe that most of the success from this show was due to the large amount of entertaining characters. Of course, if you like all the characters in this show, there would be no point in having a conflict, therefore there are also characters which you will hate their guts, but later find out what drives them to do such acts. Enjoyment - The enjoyment of one who can achieve through this series is truly, truly priceless. If you like mechas trying to send each other to oblivion, this series is for you. If you like comedy with a actual storyline, this series is for you. If you don't care about the storyline and just want some laughs, this series is for you. Basically you should try this series no matter what. Overall - Great anime, only one flaw i found and it wasn't even a major one that effects the show. Not much else to say about this. But anyways.. I highly recommend you to watch this anime.

Spoilers ahead, I suppose. Discretion advised. __________________________ What a shame, indeed. I get it. The show is about manliness, manic (to the point of suicidal) intentions overcoming the limitations of the universe, parodying the mecha genre and its inherently dark undertones, the innate sense of humanity having the capacity to deal with all the problems that it confronts, the ability to grit one's teeth and tell the world that they are not going to bring them down, so on and so forth. I also understand that you cannot think too hard about what you are seeing on screen: when robots the size of whole galaxies (inexplicably) show up, wondering how they don't take millions of years just to take their next step is the last thing you are supposed to think about. There are those I respect from whom I heard this show was good. No, the actual words were, "this anime is a key to my creative abilities". Given how envious I am of their abilities, I eagerly watched this show. Simon, a boy without a future. Kamina, the man who knows the right words but not the right sense. They become brothers after Simon realises that Kamina has a dream that he can get behind and drill. Fine. The world is keeping them down, so they will first rebel against their village and its narrow ways. Of course, they do not succeed, but they aren't disappointed because, the very next day, everything comes crashing down, starting with a giant robot that has no intention beyond generally causing mayhem, and a teenager named Yoko who wears that ridiculous attire in the name of mobility and comfort. Their world has been a lie, and Kamina is the most satisfied of the bunch, because he can now finally believe in his own memories. So far, so good. The show progresses and you get caught along with the characters. Then more characters show up. "O...kay", I said, "I suppose this is fine". They make a pit-stop at "moral ambiguity village" where they are treated as gods, because they fell down from the sky, but leave without any real conflict of beliefs. And I realised something was off. Nothing was gained in terms of conviction; they simply chose not to deal with the potential conflict at all. Hmm. Alright. We have a big fight on our hands. But then something bad happens (to only one person among everyone involved in the fighting), and the whole thing grinds to a halt. "Well, that is what you get for tempting fate all this time, right?" I blurt out. But, wait, what are these emotions doing here? Remorse? Despair? Impotence (you know, lack of "manly spirit" and all that)? Before they can take their toll on the show, Nia shows up, left to die in a sealed coffin (but, somehow, assigned a caretaker, who didn't bother to show up when she was left to die while seemingly wanting to get the protagonists killed earlier in the show). She holds the show back, making sure that it doesn't go the same way Evangelion went, because letting the small things get in the way will kill the momentum. Nia gives the show the dose of morphine that pushes it on until the first half is complete. Then the second half begins. An ominous cloud looms over everyone. Humans have become a prosperous species within just seven years (that is not how humans work, but the show didn't care and it isn't going to start now). Rossiu, Simon's partner and the erstwhile apprentice of the priest of "moral ambiguity village", is now starting to darken the mood. Sewage problems, perception of the government he is running, maintaining order. The old guard is completely dumbfounded: they are fighters, not bureaucrats. Simon is apparently at peace, for he "saved" the world, but when the Anti-Spirals, opposed to the use of the Spiral Energy that Simon exhibits most brilliantly, attack the Earth, everyone turns on Simon for being himself. Nia is pulled away, with the show making up a new character motivation for her, like it did in the past with her caretaker. Of course, here, Rossiu becomes the centre- having to take decisions he was afraid of taking but ready to accept what must follow. Honestly, this was the closest the show came to becoming interesting: what are the consequences of believing in yourself when not everyone agrees with your methods? Simon never understood this and he almost becomes the ceremonial scapegoat that would be sacrificed for the well-being of Rossiu's government. Of course, another contrivance prevents this, and the show is back on track with its attempts at embarrassing itself with each passing episode. The show explains that Spiral Energy is a metaphor for the fighting spirit in general and the evolutionary drive which moves all living organisms. The spiralling drill is represented in the double helix of the DNA, changing and constantly bettering itself. The Anti-Spirals believe that this energy will bring about the end of the universe because of something called the Spiral Nemesis, a prophesied ("prophesied", "predicted", it doesn't make a difference) end-state of the universe when Spiral Energy grows bigger and bigger in each organism that evolves to the point where the organisms begin violating the law of conservation of mass and a black hole sucks up all of existence. I wish that I didn't know half as much as I did about astrophysics and evolution as I did when I watched this show, because all I wanted to do when I heard this explanation was to sit in a corner and cry. I was left wondering what the people I had admired saw in the show. The women never had any real reason to come into conflict with the men after they became significant others- the definition of an idealised relationship. That is why Yoko and Simon could not live their lives with the ones they loved. The whiplash of moving from the first to the second season, only to be told that none of that matters- the definition of a cop-out. The show didn't want to deal with the issues it raises, just move past it. The juvenile beliefs that thoughtless bravado can accomplish anything is so much easier to swallow when the people dying have not been important all this time and that harebrained schemes work better than any well-thought out plans that might fail was enough to make me yell angrily at the show, because I had realised that there was nothing that I could get from this. People will continue to appreciate this show and speak about how it stands as an epitome of manliness, testosterone, hope, and whatever else they think will get them to stop thinking about their depressing lives. Fine. I'm not saying that the show needed to be realistic. What I'm saying is, if Evangelion represents depression, this represents mania. Not the mild kind which gives a person all sorts of ideas to keep pushing and do a lot more than they previously could, but the kind that can lead to the hospitalisation of both the person who is suffering from it and the people surrounding this person. This is neither a children's story, nor a story many can connect with unless they have separated themselves from reality to a significant enough degree: Kamina's and Simon's manliness-laden nonsense are used by megalomaniacs with cults of personalities in our world. You listen to them because they stop you from feeling bad about what you could have done, just so long as you sacrifice yourself to their dream. "There is a better tomorrow" should not be coming out of the mouths of men who have taken over the responsibility of being the only grown-ups in the world, while they themselves have no real understanding of the losses grown-ups have to deal with. I got up from my chair and got out of my room. "This show wasn't for you," they'd say. I sighed. I had lost something that I did not expect to- a sense of stability. What does creativity mean at all? Is this what they, the ones I respect, used to fuel their imaginations that I was in awe of? I had no answer. I closed my eyes, felt a strange discomfort flood my chest, and, realising what this was, I ran to the toilet and let m…

Ok let me make this clear from the start. I HATE Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. I hate its amount of nonsense, its animation and most of all I hate how unbelievably immature it is (and not in a fun way). Before I start digging the hole,let me name the two things I did like about it. One: The soundtracks "Nicopol" and "Roh roh" (rap version) were awesome. Two: At the start of the second half of the series, there was some pretty nice political debate between the characters. This barely lasted for 2-3 episodes though, apparently it wasn't "over-the-top" enough for the series. Now to grab the shovel; for some reason I dislike drills right now. The anime is WAAAAY too over-the-top, to a level where it becomes downright retarded. And I'm not just talking about people shouting with all of their lungs. I'm talking about robots combining (god I hate mechas), galaxies being LITERALLY grabbed and thrown like baseballs, and other equally stupid 2-year-old fantasies. On the bright side, if there is a physics teacher or a scientist you dislike you can simple show them this anime and they will commit suicide. And then there is the anime's theme. No I don't mean the f@cking mechas, but basically the main ideology that the whole anime revolves around. "If you have the will, you can do anything."... Well that is true, so long as you have the power to do that... For example, say you're headmaster in a school, ,can you expel every student? Yes, because you have the POWER to do so, those annoying little brats! Now say you're a homeless guy who wastes his money on drinking. Can you still expell those students? No because you're a miserable failure with no power over them. For another example lets say you want to change the way a country works. Can you do it as an average day-to-day employee? No because you have no political power whatsoever. But if you were a politician? You can make a worthwhile effort because you have the POWER to do so. If you don't like the amount of power you currently have just work your way to increasing it. The show just straight up ignores this, allowing for stupidities like a squirell becoming human through sheer force of will and fighting an alien head-on, or robots with no compability whatsoever combining. Oh and keep in mind that noone EVER works on becoming more powerful. The closest we get to training is when our stupid protagonist called Simon and the even stupider former protagonist Kamina try to make their robot union technique look cooler in a pathetic attempt by the animators to offer us humor. They NEVER EVER try to imrpover by pretty logical things such as gadget upgrades or perhaps learning their opponents' weaknesses. Force of will people. When someone aims a gun at your head just shout "who the hell do you think I am?" and cross your arms. The rest will work itself out. Either that or you will die and the average IQ level of the planet will go up. To make the hole larger... Lets talk about that "oh my god" awful animation. I'll not say that I can animate better, but I can easily say that I would animate more... Maturely. The animation reminds waaaaaay too much of a manga for its own good, seeming fake by most anime standards. Hell, Yamishibai's animation is more realistic compared to this. In case the anime itself wasn't immature enough on its own, the animators decided to add the names of attacks or transformations with BIG BRIGHT RED LETTERS that cover half the screen. To me it just made already-rediculous things appear even stupider. Unsurprisingly I found myself siding with the anti-spirals most of the time, hoping that they would get those apes to shut up. And to those who say "you don't get it"...Yes, I don't get it, at all! This isn't entertaining or smart, it's a tribute to 2 year-old fantasies, where the big robot goes " vroom vroom!" and then "pewh pewh!", and the worst part is, it doesn't recognize itself as such, but instead takes itself seriously. How does this even have fans?!

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, HOLY CRAP!! What a sleeper hit O_O Why didnt someone tell me about this anime sooner? Story: 10 The story in TTGL is one of the most interesting stories I have ever witnessed, there wasn't one time where I wished the episode would just end (except episode 16 : ). Very nice plot, very easy to follow while still holding a great message in it. TTGL keeps great action while also keeping true to the great message behind the plot. Art/Animation: 9 B-E-A- YOUtiful animations in this anime. The fight scenes left me speechless at times and it really made you want to click 'Next' on the media player for the next episode. The art style is really reminscent of some of the earlier action animes that I have watched. Great FX used in the fights as well. Sound: 8 The sounds in TTGL were simply breathtaking, explosions left you wanting more and more. The music score was also memorable, music was used nicely in the scenes. The addition of the english track was a little iffy though, in my opinion. Character: 10 If you've ever watched an anime and you simply loved every character, then you should watch this, because it is literally much better. The character development is very nicely done, from episode 1-27 you will get limitless amounts of satisfaction out of just watching the character's personalities come out and develop. Enjoyment: 10 If you're like me, when you watch an anime that is truly epic. You are feeling crappy by the end, not because it was a bad anime, but because you're sad that it's all over and you'll never be able to see those characters again. Simply put, the enjoyment I got out of this is too much for words. If I could somehow embed screams of joy into this review, I would. Overall: 10 Okay, so overall the score works out to a 9.4. But really, the Story, character and enjoyment sections were WELL over a 10, so it's only fitting that this anime recieves that score. If you like fighting, boobs, comedy, drama and a great story. It may sound cliche, but this anime LITERALLY has them all. A must-see anime, MUST FUCKING SEEE!!!!!!

In a world of negativity, solitude, and despair, what can one hope to do? Some might opt to resign to their miserable fates and accept the world around them, but this is not the case with Gurren Lagann. The world of Gurren Lagann fixates on dedication and a focus on never giving up regardless of the dangers that lie in the near (or even far) future. The spectrum of themes that appear throughout the story make Gurren Lagann a much deeper experience than one might initially perceive. Even if one should, as the resident members of Team Dai-Gurren would say, kick logic and reason to the curb regarding the anime, the story offers a hot-blooded, high spirited tale that shows the high point of human potential and generates a very inspirational atmosphere throughout. Gurren Lagann revolves around a young boy named Simon. Shy, cowardly, and weak, he is anything but the type of protagonist you would expect after reading the previous description of the series. This personality style is contrasted heavily by his older brother figure, Kamina. Kamina is straightforward, outspoken, and charismatic, serving as the inspirational figure for Simon throughout the series. The two live in the underground Giha Village and wish to break out to the surface. This comes unexpectedly with the descent of a giant mecha, known as Gunmen, as well as Yoko Littner, a beautiful woman with a rifle. Simon finds a small mecha, which Kamina quickly names Lagann, and the hectic clash for survival on the surface begins. From this point on, the story progresses into one of those “fight for humanity” type of plots with a generally optimistic atmosphere. As cliché as that sounds, Gurren Lagann has a way of appealing to the emotions and manages to make an old idea feel like an incredibly new experience overall. Gurren Lagann appears to be a simple super robot action anime, complete with the outrageous intensity and the dramatic mecha transformation scenes. Even its overall plot seems pretty straightforward and, according to some, perhaps even unoriginal. On first glance, it is easy to assume that it is limited to the Shounen mecha range, but this could not be further from the truth. While the premise is nothing new, Gurren Lagann manages to turn a somewhat typical tale into a masterpiece. Once the plot begins to set in motion, the anime begins to focus on a variety of deeper themes, such as tragedy, despair, and betrayal. While action and hot-blooded spirit are typically the most important focuses of the anime, it definitely leaves room for drama amongst the cast and even a decent amount of comedy, especially in the first part of the series. A decent portion of this comedy even contains some parody in regard to super robot mecha series (I'm looking at you episode 3...). Gurren Lagann fits in a number of elements that manage to blend surprisingly well together. Even with this in mind, the plot as a whole remains pretty simple and it is easy to question how such a story could possibly be so captivating. This can be attributed to the lovable and very popular cast. Simon, while starting off as a wimpy character, is a fantastic protagonist that deals with a great deal of hardship throughout the story and develops significantly. Simon is my personal favorite of the cast if only because he struggles so much and manages to overcome everything, somehow becoming a symbol of what believing in oneself can do and just how far spirit and tenacity can take a person. The hot-blooded and fan-favorite Kamina is also incredibly important to the story. Kamina's spirit is the catalyst of all of the intense adventures that the heroes of Gurren Lagann experience and he serves as a figure of inspiration not only to the cast of Gurren Lagann, but also to those of the audience who look up to him. Kamina's words serve to motivate Team Dai-Gurren throughout the entire story and many of Gurren Lagann's memorable quotes originated from the man himself. Yoko, while an obvious source of fanservice for the viewers, plays the role of the badass female with a gun and is connected to a good number of the romantic developments of the story. Nia, the polite and optimistic love interest of Simon, is one of the deepest characters Gurren Lagann has to offer. Nia appears to just be a well-mannered princess of sorts, but her existence generates a number of twists throughout the story and add to the many underlying themes of Gurren Lagann as a whole. The side cast, while not nearly as developed as the major characters, also have many lovable characteristics and provide their own contributions to the story. While many of the villains are one-dimensional and ultimately serve as stepping stones to highlight the awesomeness of the heroes, the major antagonists prove to be much deeper than they initially appear and add to the thought-provoking ideas beneath the surface of the story. In terms of visuals, Gurren Lagann does a great job for the most part. The cartoony art definitely fits the Gainax style and it certainly makes some nods to previous Gainax works. The style works well with the goofy and over-the-top nature of the story, but it doesn't lose its effect when the going gets serious. In particular, the action scenes are typically very well done and this is most noticeable in the last few episodes, as the final battle truly boosts the scale of the fighting and adds to the intensity. However, many fans remember the unusual Gurren Lagann Episode 4. Episode 4, put into the hands of a guest director, had a drastic change in visuals, which many fans (including me) did not respond to very well. The art felt like a massive downgrade and the characters looked completely unfitting, especially when compared to the previous episode. Luckily, this is only the case with said episode and Gurren Lagann's visuals as a whole are as good as they need to be. And of course we can't forget about the sound department. Gurren Lagann's OP song, Sorairo Days, is used for the entirety of the anime and fits perfectly with the tone of the series, indicating the inspiration that the characters (especially Simon) were filled with and their constant pursuit of a better future. The two ED songs did not strike me as much, but were still catchy tracks. Gurren Lagann also has a fantastic soundtrack with a number of notable songs, which fit perfectly for action scenes, dramatic moments, and relaxed times. Many of the most memorable songs, as one would expect, lie in the action category. However, my personal favorite track would easily be “Libera me” from Hell, which plays a few times during the second half of Gurren Lagann and, in some spectacular manner, manages to fit opera, rap, and orchestra together while making it sound amazing and perfectly fitting for the Gurren Lagann atmosphere. Some have interpreted the two contrasting vocal styles of the song to represent the contrast between the Spirals and the Anti-Spirals, which certainly adds to the meaning of the lyrics. Having watched the series in both Japanese and English, I can confidently say that watching either version is fine. Overall the Japanese voices capture the hot-blooded essence of the story more, but the English actors still do a fantastic job and any dub fans will no doubt have a great time watching Gurren Lagann in English. For the most part, the main cast is treated well in both versions. Simon and Yoko both have very fitting roles in English and Japanese. Kamina's seiyuu, Katsuyuki Konishi, does a fantastic job of expressing the badass, high intensity nature of his character and makes his role all the more memorable. Kyle Hebert, while giving a different sound to Kamina's character, still manages to express Kamina well and, while not quite as energetic as Konishi, is still easy to get used to after some time. Yukari Fukui does an excellent job of capturing Nia's character, and Hynden Walch does the same with Part 1 Nia. In part 2, Nia's English voice actress switches to Bridget Hoffman, which i…

I am truly amazed at how high this anime is ranked here on MAL. I'm guessing this is an indicator of how ignorant many people are as to what makes a good anime. Firstly, I admit that I watched Gurren Lagann a whole year ago, so my memory of it isn't 100% exact. However, I am constantly frustrated by how overhyped and overrated this anime is. Story: 5/10. The plot is nothing but your average shounen anime 'feel-good' stuff. But oh wait Kamina the cool guy gets killed off early and then there's this OMG-monstrous 7 year timeskip to the 2nd part of the anime where everything becomes ridiculous...no correction LUDICROUS and FARCICAL. Taking on the whole universe...I mean seriously? Last time I checked 'epic' does not equal to 'enormous destruction that defies all logic, belief, etc etc' If you're looking for action and plot, check something out that's at least more believable like Ao no Exorcist. Sorry guys, but TTGL really does not have a good story. Art: 5/10 Nothing special here. Blatantly shounen art, big mecha, big spaceships...all done before. Yoko the 'hottie' who should look something more like this: http://www.goodsmile.info/product/en/2446/Yoko+Real+Image+ver.html Sound: 7/10 OP was ok, this is probably what made Shoko Nakagawa considerably more famous. But OST is nothing to be ooh-ing and ahhh-ing about. It doesn't add much substance to the anime's atmosphere except to emphasise its already BLATANT SHOUNEN-ness. Hmm I think I already mentioned that didn't I? For an anime that currently ranks just behind Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal, it is a complete insult to think that TTGL has sound and background music that remotely even compares to that. [Again I'm amazed at you diehard TTGL fans] Character: 4/10. Ahh, now if this isn't the worst part... For an anime that seems to take its plot seriously unlike gag animes like Gintama and Hayate no Gotoku, it needs good character development (even if it screams "This is shounen!!" for the 1000th time). And boy did we not get it. Simon is intially presented as nothing more than a wimp who relies on Kamina. Reminds me personally of Ganta from Deadman Wonderland but I have to say Ganta is more annoying. Anyway, after the time skip a completely different, Kamina-clone-type, carefree Simon emerges...and we have no idea how the hell this character change came about. Yoko becomes a teacher...WOW. I don't believe this. So a gun-toting (supposedly 'smoking hot') chick who likes older guys has a BIG change of heart and decides to suddenly settle down to help children. And still proves that she has the great body and fighting spirit when called up once again to 'protect the planet'. Geez, it couldn't get any worse could it? But oh it does. I hear a lot of fans liked Kamina when he was still around. But he isn't around anymore is he? Which leaves us wondering how Simon's personality did some kind of teleportation to a parallel plane and came back with enhanced features like increased assertiveness and the hey-look-Rossiu's-arresting-me-but-meh-I-don't-give-a-damn attitude without Kamina teaching him some of his cool ass-kicking tricks. Enjoyment: I've ranted enough about this anime by now so yeah I gave this part a 6. I marathon'd this anime in like 3 weeknights hoping that it'd somehow get better after the spa episode but that dream never came about. And I'm generally a lenient 'rater', so this would easily deserve a 4 or 5 if I'd bothered to rewatch it (which I'm not going to do for at least another 2 full years). Overall: 6/10. If you can stand not having your logic obliterated by something that's often mislabelled as 'epic' and 'awesome' when it is totally ludicrous, overdone, unoriginal and seriously lacking in top quality that a 10th-ranked anime really should have, then yeah give it a try. I'm not stopping you. I guess there are really worse anime out there, but I really cbfed to tell you to avoid them. Use your own judgement pls.

An anime about drills and robots. Yep, that’s Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Well, that’s not something you see everyday. Now, when I started watching this anime, I had a certain feeling inside me, a gut feeling that this anime would bore me because as far as I’m concerned, the mecha genre has long died. But hot damn, Gurren Lagann sure proved me wrong! This anime, although as cliché as hell, managed to turn me into something I thought I never would be, which is a mecha fan. Now, that might seem weird, seeing as I just said that it was cliché, but I will tell you the reasons why. Story: If I have to describe Gurren Lagann in one word, that word would be EPIC. But for you to enjoy it, you’ll have to turn your brain off. You see, Gurren Lagann is not something that was made not to be taken seriously. It is a comedy that relies on over the top action scenes and a lot of explosions to instill that sense of epicness in each scene. It isn’t he kind of anime wherein you’ll need to use your brain constantly just to enjoy the show; all you need to do is sit back, watch and enjoy. Also, as you would expect, the plot itself is pretty straightforward. MC finds a robot, MC goes on an adventure to defeat some evil king and gets a lot of friends and bigger robots along the way. You can also expect a lot of shouting, DBZ style. Well, that’s how it goes for the first half anyway. In the latter half, the story becomes a bit more serious, but not to the point wherein it’s not funny anymore, but of course, I won’t go deep into that. Overall, I give it a 9/10 for the simplicity of the story. Animation and sound: The art is as you would expect, over the top during fights and pretty normal the rest of the time. Nothing really special, animation was smooth, faces were well drawn although the expressions sometimes look distorted, and the fights were sometimes shown from weird angles. Now, the soundtrack of Gurren Lagann though is a different story. It has literally one of the most EPIC BGMs that i’ve ever heard of out of all the animes that i’ve watched. Not to mention the opening, which is also pretty badass in its own right. Also, I would like to give special mention to pictures during the transitions, because they are just fucking epic. Overall i give animation a 9/10 and music a perfect 10/10. Characters: What Gurren Lagann lacks in the plot, it makes up with the characters. This is where Gurren Lagann truly shines. The main character, Simon, is a weakling kid who has a habit of self depreciation who turns into a super badass character somewhere in the middle(think Tsuna). He has a silly backstory of being disliked by others because he smells bad, which i find stupid because he's a damn miner. The main female character, Yoko, is your tits and guns type of character who apparently likes to wear a bikini to battle just because she feels like it. Then there’s Kamina, the most badass and awesome character in the entire anime world (imho). The guy can is so awesome that he can read your homework and make it sound like a commandment from god. I mean, the can literally talk about anything and still come up with an epic speech about it.Now, although they seem reminiscent with other anime characters, they are unique in their own way. Each character has a certain depth to them, and at least they have personalities unlike in other animes, wherein the characters have the personality of a rock and the brain of a potato. Also, character development in this anime is very noticeable. Unlike other animes wherein development happens gradually, up to the point that it’s almost unnoticeable, character development in Gurren Lagann happens quickly through big, serious events throughout the story although it doesn’t just happen abruptly and is justifiable. Overall, i give it a 9/10. Enjoyment: When it comes to enjoyment, Gurren Lagann really delivers.I’ve never enjoyed a mecha anime as much as I did Gurren Lagann. To tell you frankly, Gurren Lagann doesn’t really have much to offer other than pure, brainless fun and enjoyment. It will make you laugh, it can give you an adrenaline rush, and sometimes it can make you cry. It’s one of the few animes that i enjoyed not because it has a great story, but just because it can make you feel happy without having to make you think. I find it unique in that aspect wherein an anime that doesn’t require you to think can keep you on the edge of your seat due to the sheer epicness of the character speeches and the fight scenes. I give it a perfect 10/10. Overall: Well, like all anime, Gurren Lagann is not everyone’s cup of coffee. You might like it, you might not, but for me I really liked it so all that’s left for me to say is that I give this anime a 9/10. One thing that I would like to say is to those who plan to watch this series is that DON’T TAKE IT TO SERIOUSLY. It’s supposed to be a light-hearted anime wherein you just need to sit back, get some popcorn and prepare for awesomeness. If you’re not a fan of humor or DBZ style action scenes wherein everything just literally blows up, then I suggest that you just try and give it a shot. Who knows, you might grow to love it. If you liked this review then please give the helpful button a click, it means a lot to me. Also, I would highly appreciate criticism, so that I can improve my reviews. Thx :))

This is the tale of a man who has felt clinically insane for the past week or so. Even after combing through numerous online forums and studying dozens of glowing reviews, he still cannot reconcile how Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is as revered as it is. To strengthen his grasp on reality, he feels the need to write an overwhelmingly negative review. Yeah, I didn’t like Gurren Lagann. At all. Feel free to call me a slur on my profile. My curiosity was sparked when I happened upon a video essay about how Gurren Lagann “answers” Evangelion. With me adoring Eva, this being from the same studio (R.I.P. Gainax) and it seeming like it was going to tackle some of the same themes... Well, I was excited to say the least. My expectations seemed to be justified too, as I saw hordes of fans online claim that TTGL “changed my life” or “was integral to my growth as a person/artist/whatever.” I truly believed I was in for something transcendent... ...Instead, I received a story that was about on par with what I used to come up with for my Transformers when I was 9, a world so uninterested with its own lore that it’s borderline insulting, comedy that’s about as funny as hearing that your dog’s just been run over, characters that ran the gamut from just annoying to legitimately loathsome, and themes so broad, boisterous and disconnected from reality that you’d have to be a sociopath to genuinely connect with them. Spoilers ahead, I suppose. I feel like I can safely put the people reading this review into 2 categories: 1 – You also didn’t enjoy the show and are just looking for thoughts that align with your own. 2 – You love the show and are bewildered/angry that I very much don’t. For the former, you’re not alone! For the latter, go ahead and use the “confusing” button as a virtual middle finger. First, a few (the few) positives: The OP actually bangs, as do the eyecatches, and the mechs actually sometimes somewhat manage to look like something approaching “cool”... Alright, now for the rest. The entire visual design of the show is just incredibly lame to me. Maybe in another life I could come to appreciate Gurren Lagann’s chest piece just being a huge pair of sunglasses or find amusement in the mech whose tits are eyes, but it all feels like it’s trying way too hard. It’s like what the world’s least endearing 5 year-old would think is “awesome.” Then the smaller mechs, the “Gunmen,” all look like MODOK except somehow less cool. Then when these things finally get to fighting... Ooh boy. Picture Diebuster by way of Looney Tunes. It’s astounding that Gainax only managed to get WORSE at mecha action throughout the years. Forget the simple, but brutally effective and insanely cathartic action from Gunbuster. Never mind the heft and intensity that Evangelion brought. Disregard the sheer energy that FLCL had; it’s all gone. The mechs in TTGL move with almost no sense of weight and, barring a few exceptions, the fights completely lack any interesting choreography. Battles are largely decided by whoever can punch/drill the hardest, fire the flashiest beam, or scream the loudest. That’s one thing, but there’s also no sense of escalation to these fights – I’m serious. Sure, the SCALE obviously increases, but the climax FEELS no more loud, intense, or grand than a fight that happened 20 episodes prior. When every single battle is this exhausting, obnoxious, balls to the walls clash of titans then you shouldn’t be surprised when the ultra-mega super ACTUAL climax loses all of its weight. If an asspull is defined as “a hastily fabricated explanation or contrived plot twist,” then TTGL is guilty of asspullage x1000. This can be forgiven/overlooked in moderation, but tension evaporates when it happens as much as it does here. Unless this is literally the first piece of fiction you’ve ever consumed, there’s no reason why Simon and friends overcoming the present, seemingly insurmountable, obstacle should ever surprise you. Shit just happens because it needs to for the story to continue. After Simon and co. escape/overcome danger due to, essentially, divine intervention (A.K.A. the hand of the writer conspiring in their favor) the story, world, characters, and stakes become almost impossible to take seriously, much less become genuinely invested in. A lot of people say that you can’t take the show too seriously and that it’s best to just “turn off your brain and enjoy.” I think that’s a well-intentioned, but ultimately bullshit philosophy. Even if I’m not meant to take things “too seriously,” that doesn’t mean the show gets away with everything just being abject absurdity all the time. There still needs to be at least some sense of internal logic. Going back to the scenarios I’d come up with for my Transformers when I was a kid, I couldn’t imagine making a manuscript out of them and then refuting any criticism like “this doesn’t make any fucking sense” with a “WEll iT’s NoT SuPPoSEd tO!” FLCL also “doesn’t make any sense” to a lot of people. The difference is that FLCL’s tongue in cheek all the way through. TTGL, despite what a lot of people say, wants to be taken at least PARTIALLY serious. This makes the overall tone and mood feel, at best, schizophrenic and, at worst, incredibly irritating. Without fail, there’s always a cutaway during a huge important battle to some fucking dickheads on Gurren Lagann’s command deck doing/saying some painfully unfunny things. I’m not saying that TTGL needed to be totally grounded, and I don’t think it needed to be a total piss-take like FLCL either. What I am saying is that it needed to not be both at the SAME time, ALL the time. Before you think I’m overexaggerating, think about how this presentation affects the characters/themes. I totally get Shinji NOT wanting to pilot an Eva, because the Angels are legitimately horrifying and facing them is always portrayed as an ultra-violent, chaotic, and extremely dangerous affair. Fuck that. The few times Simon’s scared to pilot Gurren Lagann though? Well, maybe I’d buy it/care if the fighting wasn’t always such a cartoonish spectacle. Imagine Elmer Fudd being legitimately scared of Bugs Bunny and it NOT being played for laughs. Speaking of Simon... I wouldn’t say he’s a bad protagonist necessarily, but he’s about as bog-standard of a “HOO-RAH! I WILL WIN! I FIGHT FOR ALL THAT’S GOOD!” anime MC as you can get. He has just enough of an arc for it to COUNT as “character development,” but I’d never say it was all that compelling. He goes from “kind of a wimp” to basically Kamina 2.0, which is fine. I guess. 5/10. I fucking abhor Kamina though. Think of the most obnoxious motivational speaker you can imagine, replace all of their more practical advice with “manliness” laden nonsense, and give them some tragic 2000s tribal tattoos and boom, you’ve got Kamina. He’s like if a Woody doll, when you pulled the string on his back, instead of saying something mildly Western-themed and amusing, just yelled “GRIT THOSE TEETH!” “WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?!” “BELIEVE IN THE ME THAT BELIEVES IN YOU!” Utter nonsense. He was never not annoying as fuck to me and I’m glad he’s dead. Yoko’s just there for the pointless fan service, Rossiu has, like, REVERSE development for dumb reasons, Nia’s basically Rei Ayanami but twice as clueless and a fraction as interesting, and then there’s the rest of the ensemble who aren’t even worth describing. A bunch of them are killed just prior to the endgame and it’s hilarious that the show thought their deaths would extract any emotion out of me. Alright, now to talk about the themes. Going back to how this supposedly “answers” Evangelion, I think about it like this: The theme of Evangelion, crudely put, is “nooo don’t kill yourself your so sexy aha.” The theme of Gurren Lagann, put a little less crudely, is “believe in yourself (or the me that believes in you whatever) and you can accomplish anything.” Now, despite how I presented that, both messages are rooted in a…

“Don't forget. Believe in yourself. Not in the you who believes in me. Not the me who believes in you. Believe in the you who believes in yourself.” There’s always going to be that one (or handful of) anime that everybody just seem to worship, and that all your friends tell you that you NEED to watch, because it’s going to blow your mind. And it does blow... but not really in the way you'd expect... For me, that anime is TTGL. The way this was described to me by a couple of friends made it sound like the best thing ever; it had mecha, great humor, awesome story & action, beautiful women and everything else you could ever wish for in a series. But in the end, I still can’t see what’s so good about this show, or why people idolize it. Story: (3 / 10) The story, is pretty dull, to be honest. It’s nothing you haven’t seen before, nor is it innovative in any respect. A couple of friends find a giant robot and go on to defeat the evil leader. Sure, there are some twists here and there to keep you going “wat”, but in the end it’s your standard “hero single-handedly defeats the enemy against all odds”. But then, halfway through, when you think “Oh, this is it, it’s finally over” they pull a time-skip out of nowhere, and you now have a somewhat different story... To be honest, I thought the second part was slightly better (atleast in terms of story), since it’s more about the intrigue and drama between characters, and the political games and whatnot, as opposed to the over-the-top battles against evil. That is, until the end, where they pull some more twists out of their sleeves, and yet again you’re left saying “wat”. Art: (7 / 10) Admittedly, even if I didn’t really like the rest of the series, I can’t say that it was ugly. In fact, the art was probably the best part of it, for me. Most scenes are pretty good quality, with smooth animations, and well detailed characters. However, there are some scenes that change the artstyle into something more... hard to describe... It makes it look a bit more “gritty”, so to speak, though yet again, I wouldn’t call it ugly. Sound: (5 / 10) As I’ve said before, I’m not one to usually take note of background music, and the few times it was prominent enough I was probably too baffled or annoyed to actually care enough. As for the voice actor’s, I personally watched the dub for this show (so this factors into the score a bit), and it was one of the most annoying experiences I’ve ever had. I just can’t stand Simon’s voice, and his constant shouting “Bro, bro, bro, bro, bro!”. I can’t really remember any other VA that really stood out either, but I would highly recommend anyone who wants to watch this to do so with subs. Character: (4 / 10) The characters were pretty mediocre, in my opinion. I didn’t feel like there was much character development at all (looking at you here, Simon), nor did I ever really care for any character all that much. To be honest, I found most of the characters either stupid or just simply annoying, and since this (atleast the latter) didn’t really change as the show went on, it really ruined the show (further) for me. Enjoyment: (2 / 10) This show is a constant mess of over-the-top action scenes, manly screams, fanservice, and bad comedy. Evidently, a lot of people are going to find this show absolutely amazing and hilarious, but in my case.. well, I guess I just couldn’t handle all the epicness. Still, if you like all of this stuff, or enjoyed any previous similar works by Gainax (FLCL) you’ll most likely love this as well, but if you’re looking for something atleast a bit serious, then this is not for you... at all.

Gurren Lagan is the anime that dared to ask "what if hype moments and aura also had good writing?" It seems we'll never know. I only picked up this show because I had multiple friends insisting it was peak, only to find out after dropping it that all of them had the same experience of getting around 15 episodes in and dropping it because it was boring as shit. And yeah, I did that too! Gurren Lagann is a show that tries to be many things (character focused action, political thriller, post-apocalyptic brawls) but the only one that ends up being consistent is just cool fighting for the sake of cool fighting. And don't get me wrong, I'm fine with a good fun series, JoJo is my second favorite anime. The issue I have with how GL tackles this is that it also very clearly tries to go for a well-written and profound story, which it fails in every aspect. The main power system for the show is barely explained in a way that makes sense up until about 20 something episodes in where it turns into a scapegoat for moving the plot forward whenever it feels like it. The group is losing hope as the enemy wins? Boost in spiral power saves the day! The main character can't reach his friends in time? Magic spiral powers activate! It's such a nothing power system that's only function is to make sure the MC can win in any undesirable situation he finds himself in. It's not even well rounded at least, vague concepts of emotional stability are brought up early on and abandoned even after the system is expanded on.... at least try to make your shit consistent. The characters are awful too. Most of them have a distinct lack of personality outside of a single trait, and sometimes they don't have any discernible personality whatsoever Yoko is the hot girl, the twins are the stupid guys, Leeron is gay. Nia is kind. The only characters who end up passing (I would put a spoiler warning but I'm being discreet and you'd never care anyways) in the show end up being characters I did not know the names of. There's one standout case of someone being a legit enjoyable character and they're murked before they can have any meaningful progression and end up being little more than a vague flashback to rely on whenever morale is low in a fight. The main bad guy might have actually had a point? Only if you ignore the random slaves he kept for no reason other than a cheap gasp from the audience The main bad guys are called the goddamn "anti-spiral force". Can you imagine if the main antagonists of Naruto were called the "anti-ninja team"? The creator has been nothing short of controversial for sexualizing minors (which GL has plenty of), but GL also brings in much-needed elements of sexism and homophobia that, while they aren't brought up nearly enough to claim the author as any true bigot, require at the very least a mention. Leeron's role early-on is reduced to the gross creep who acts strange towards the child protagonist and weirds everyone out. His deal? Being gender non-conforming. Kamina's role early-on is claiming that women don't understand the importance of a man's pride and that it's a complete disconnect between the sexes, all the while preaching to his teenage girlfriend who initially objects before falling in love with him. None of this is really that much, but am I wrong to be a little skeptical of bigotry in situations like this? Gurren Lagann is simply a nothing anime. It tries to do so much that it fails to be much at all besides something you watch once a night while you eat dinner to watch cool robots duke it out because what else do you have to do really? Who cares that Simon wins every fight on his first try without having to endure any hardships besides a single death in the friend group, or that he wins against the omnipotent evil easily when the king who knew infinitely more about said evil and built all of the robots couldn't even stand a chance? Who cares man, you haven't seen a mecha show with action like this since the last time a mecha show came out, which was probably last night!

This is my first review. Tengen Toppa Gurren Laggan was an interesting anime, to say the least. It had its good moments and bad moments. Overall I was able to finish it, but it took a lot longer then expected, and at times it was crap. "Kick logic out and make the impossible possible" That is the motto for team Gurren, and is certainly an understatement given what they end up doing. I have to say, for those like me, who focus more on story and character development, it was rather satisfying in those areas, however I disliked the unrealistic components and lack of logic behind almost every decision/out come in every battle. Story: 5 It had ups and downs, some absolutely brilliantly written and thought out episodes, and then some crappy doesn't make any sense episodes. I prefer animes where logic actually matters and what happens sorta makes sense, rather then beyond beyond the impossible. In fact: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BeyondTheImpossible gives reference to it as the only anime to go beyond beyond the impossible. Art: 2 Last time I checked, this was aired in 2007, not 1992. If I am wrong and it was made in 1992, notify me so I can raise this to a 4, for being on par with its time. Given that his anime has nothing but cheesy battle scenes, art is rather needed. Sound: 6 fairly good sound track. Characters: Kamina for his actions in the first 7 episodes and Rossiu for his actions in episode 19 and 20, put them on the list of greatest characters of all time. Enjoyment: 3 3 times while watching it, I put it down for a week, and if it wasn't for my friend pushing me to finish it, I doubt I would have. I like animes that don't have to many unrealistic events, and when unrealistic events come up, characters don't spout **** to explain how they are possible, when they clearly aren't. Its not entertaining to watch the same event happen over and over again, and I dropped Bleach for the same reason that I didn't like this anime. Overall: 5 It was a mediocre anime and I don't understand why its so popular and highly ranked.

I'll sum it all up for you: "GREATEST ANIME OF ALL TIME". Before I explain why I will go over the ratings. Story - 10 It should have scored higher if allowed...definitely. OK yeah it is a tribute to the old 70s GAR, but I wouldn't even categorize this anime. The story was pretty much fast paced and not a lot of things were explained. But that was not the point it was trying to get across. It has all the anime cliches but this is what most animes are trying not to do these days. They do it in a way that its so awesome you don't even think about it!No melodramatic bullshit that gets everyone down. Oh I cried (which I only do for those damn Key stories) but in a manly way. In fact I never cried so much from how awesome this is. The plot? EPIC. If you remember Outlaw Star's ending, omg that is like a speck compared to how epic this is. There is no other anime as epic as this. Oh and there is a little love story for you hopeless romantics. Just a tiny. Art - 10 It may not be the most detailed over-the-top produced realistic anime, but I give it props for being fantastic. The fight scenes were incredible. This show set a whole new level of explosions. THEY MADE explosions. The fashion is simple but great. But no one should be complaining about art when there is a show as important as this. (Although I advise to watch a high quality version of the show.) Sound - 10 Again not the best where it pays attention to every detail, but from the things I hear, I'm not complaining. The show makes you see past these thinks as you're watching it. The music is epic. The voice actors are perfect for every character, I saw the dub and it sucks ass. Character - 10 The best part. Kamina...his attitude changed my life. As I was watching this, I remembered characters who had similar personalities like Great Teacher Onizuka but he blends it together and multiplies it by 100 with out actually too cheesy but awesome at the same time. Simon...I don't want to spoil, changes as the story progresses. Yoko is fucking hot and badass. The other characters are fun so fun loving. There is not one character I hate which is odd! I even like Leeron Jenkins. LEERON JENKINSSSSSSSS. Ahaha. Enjoyment- 1000 I enjoyed every episode and almost every scene. I've watched many anime for many years. I haven't felt my spine tingling so much in such a long time and never felt the urge to yell and raise my fist and scream around my house. I love this anime. Overall - No number can rate this. Not even a 10. This show is undoubtedly a masterpiece. I have watched so many great anime. And I'm not talking about Inuyasha, Pokemon, Bleach BS. I give Gainax, the man who wrote the script, the director, and all the staff my hear-tfilled thank you. This is an anime I will never forget and hold dear to me. My reason for writing this review: This show did the impossible. Turned my whole attitude in life completely upside down when I was at the lowest point of my life. Over the course of the past 6 months, I let depression get the best of me as I lose myself, my friends, and everything around me. This summer, I developed social withdrawal and suicide attempts. I thought there was nothing left but to live like an empty shell till I died. After watching this, I know there will always be a new tomorrow waiting for me. I just have to get better on my own and be strong and NOT LET ANYTHING stop me from doing what I want. If you haven't watched it. Watch it now. The reason I made an account and wrote a review is because I want other people to know how phenomenal this show is and an anime has never made me want to review. I will get started to watching this anime again (without tokin up and I'm sober right now). I hope they make a equally great sequel and I can't wait for the movie. "WHO THE HELL YOU THINK WE ARE!"

Is it possible for this show to live up to the hype its been given? So so very nearly. Nothing can be perfect. But this should be almost better than anyone could hope for. Certainly was for me. If you strip away the outer coating the story is nothing special really. It's just a nobody (surprise surprise, a kid) going from no one to someone on a journey that will be filled with epic moments & the making of new friends, be them enemies once or not. Where have we heard this before? I wonder. So there isn't anything that makes the story special? Well yeah, I suppose there is. But it's not the story itself, but what this show fills the story with. I can't stand anime with crap stories, however the story isn't really important here when you have all these amazing characters & events happening, as long as the story means they keep coming. It doesn't matter how bad it is. The art seems to often switch from style to style, sketchy, angular, cartoony, realistic (in an anime sense) & ultimately I didn't think it worked all that well. It just often comes off cheap looking somehow. And the battles, they are often incredibly unclear, everything moves so fast (I'm not sure if this is on purpose or not) & just becomes this sort of crazy blur. Or once again, loads of coloured lines & balls of orange for explosions. It's like they took the same image & changed one thing & the background & used it for the whole anime. I suppose the saving grace is the designs of everything. No matter how unclear, you can't deny that everything this anime does screams cool, while pointing it's finger up at the sky & one leg placed on a raised object. Sound. As amazing powerful as it is at first, you soon find it quite annoying, that basically every male character shouts rather than talks. I mean the lines start to become less epic when once again they are shouting them at the top of their lungs to some kind of funky coloured background. The voice actor cast is however, a good one. Even if you keep expecting Viral to shout bankai. I especially loved Kamina's voice (Japanese) this warm, strong voice, which is recognisable straight away & will fill you with warmth & joy everytime you hear it. Wow that was cheesy. In terms of music, this has arguably the best soundtrack in an anime ever & they use the music perfectly. Except maybe the 'Roh roh, fight da powah!" stuff... The characters in this are simply perfect, whether it comes to personality or design. And I suppose it is hard for me to explain why with such a large cast without spoiling. But I want you to, if you haven't already, watch this anime & find out for yourself. Even characters who initially annoy you at first will end up doing something which gives them a place in your heart. Trust me on this. If nothing else I have written so far. Enjoyment. It will vary. The first 3 episodes are pure pleasure, but then it's rather dire from episode 4 (it almost feels like filler) until at least episode 8 where it picks up again then it becomes a rather stretched out slog of samey battles & a bit rubbish. Unless you're easily entertained. And attempting to avoid spoilers, to your dismay you will soon find out after that, that everything you watched was pointless. Then it takes more time for some reason & finally the end comes around & the brilliance pierces the heavens with it's drill. And I think that is possibly the one fault with TTGL. You can't get enough, but yet, at the same time, there is to much. Things are dragged out way to much, random things happen, which merely tack something onto the certain scene to make it last longer. Not really twists, more like they hadn't enough materiel to make the series as long as planned but refused to admit it. So overall. I don't look back on this in any other way than joy. What an amazing thrill ride of pleasure this anime has been. I am thankful for all the times it made me cheer, smile, cry, laugh or simply scream at how cool it was. But it isn't without faults. There is a little to much man & way to much ambition to call this perfect, or to truly live up to the hype. It is however, one of the best things you'll ever watch at this length.

-- [ Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann ] -- In one line: "A fun trip with a fabulous crew, from start to end, and back to the start for another go! Nia is cute!! ~Nyaaaa!" Overall rating: 9/10 Briefly, the story is about Simon, a driller. Pretty boring till now. It's also about Kamina, Simon's brother, and a lot of other people. The story is also about Spirals, Beastmen and the Anti-Spirals. A story about hippopotamus made of grapes. About mecha battles. About love. About tragedy. About courage in the face of adversity. About unfaltering determination against all odds. And specially, about huge mega powerups that make Dragon Ball characters seem sooo weak. Well, basically, it's ONE anime which you will really enjoy if you watch. Definitely recommended! Pardon me for the long review. :P -[ Animation - 8/10 ]- Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (TTGL) has one of the weirdest animation types I've ever seen. At the same time, it's also one of the most interesting I've got to watch. The characters are very well drawn, and the action scenes are always depicted with clarity, and are made to give you the feeling that everything is going very fast. There's also some shots which depict the characters as in manga drawing types. This adds to originality, since the only other anime I've seen that was in FLCL (Furi Kuri). The mechas are also well made, but they have kind of funny shapes. Like a starfish mecha? A worm mecha? A foot mecha? A hand mecha? You get the idea. They are more comical than realistic, but they are fun to watch. The mechas are almost living things. It's difficult to describe here, but it's not your generic artificial mecha type. There are not many landscape or cityscape scenes, but if they appear in TTGL, they were well detailed. The space shots later in the anime are particularly well made, with galaxies and stars being represented. It was... colourful! - [ Sound - 8.5/10 ] - I don't pay much attention to music in anime most of the time. I focus on the story, characters and action. TTGL does not disappoint in terms of music. The ones used in action scenes are fast and add the necessary punch to the action. The sound effects, particularly explosions, are not very realistic but they do the job. Characters are appropriately voiced, but for some of them, it does not reflect their characters very well. Like Kamina deserved a more powerful voice maybe. It's no major problem. Overall, the sound is ok, and works as it should. - [ Characters - 9/10] - Frankly, I've never seen such an interesting crew of characters since Eureka Seven. Each character plays a major role in the story. There are NO superfluous characters. Even the mole-pig has a role to play!! Each of the characters has a detailed background story, and each get an appropriate conclusion. The stories unfold at a very good pace, showing you the characters little by little, with some unexpected turns. Like the unfolding of Simon as Kamina's shadow, to Simon the universal leader. They also have very distinct personalities, that make a very good blend when added together to make TTGL. The mood-swings are there too! All the main characters fit in very nicely in the story, and all the secondary characters add up to make a wonderful show out of TTGL. Even the villains are likable! I enjoyed going through the story with the crew, of that I'm sure. And well, Nia must surely be the cutest character ever shown in anime! :P - [ Story - 7/10] - The story is a very good one. There are only very few plotholes, or parts that were not much elaborated on. It also has a good flow, and there are no fillers, except for a recap episode. You will get a fair share of action, tragedy, romance and suspence (unfortunately, these 2 don't last very long). The series is basically divided in 2. I call the first part, the Beastmen arc, and the second arc is the Anti-Spirals arc, following a time jump of 7 years. Each arc is well structured and well developed. Another feature which I liked is fore-shadowing. You will always get to see a tiny bit of what will happen in the future. Just like a spiral, it starts small, and ends up really big. Without spoiling, you will see somewhere that population level is being controlled in a village, and in the end, it's the whole universe population level that is controlled. That's the spiralling I was talking about. Starts small, ends up big! Reeeaaall big! Basically, it was a satisfying story. But why the 7? Well, because the story is a bit too exaggerated. The main character always seem to output more power than a nuclear reactor. Saiyen 4 is nothing in comparison to Simon! They always seem to win, whatever happens. There is usage of some weird science concepts that would make the likes of Einstein and Hawking faint. Like somebody being converted into Spiral Energy to form a drill by quantum explosion?? Space jump just by thinking about your destination (here, a loved one)? W..T..F, it just can't be! The series is a bit weird at the end, just like Eureka Seven. Use of weird concepts. Very weird happenings and similar events. Also the fights are sometimes just too unrealistic! Come'on, a million opponents, and you seem to kill them en-mass? Hell, there's even a mecha that resists the energy blast of the big bang, and another that releases that kind of energy!! It becomes real difficult to understand what's happening after episode 25. The concepts used are just too... strange! Like messing with probabilities, and so random shots actually hit all enemies. Can somebody explain how that happens? >.< That's just not realistic. 3 points lost to lack of realism, over-boosted good guys and because there is not enough long-lasting romance in the anime. It starts well, ends up real fast. Too fast. This series needs some more romance among main characters. However, the story is not too complex, not too technical, so you can just kick back and watch leisurely. - [ Enjoyment & Rewatch - 8/10] - The series was definitely enjoyable. The plot was non-linear and full of unexpected twists. Like a villain not being a villain? This makes things enjoyable. The action scenes are worth re-watching, as well as the character development. I personally enjoyed the anime, since I found a good blend of humour, lightness, ecchiness, tragedy, romance and action in it. I would say the anime has a rewatch value, probably to better understand the story, and the characters. 2 points lost because during the rewatch, you will still get that "OMG! This is just overkill!" feeling. It's just too exaggerated, trust me. - [ Conclusions ] - It was a great trip through TTGL. TTGL really got me stuck to my chair from the start to the end. The story was good. The characters were interesting and almost lovable. The action and plotlines were consistent. I've got nothing much to criticize about TTGL. So if you want an anime that has loads of action, huge character power-ups and is light at the same time, go for TTGL! Definitely worth it, and no regrets! :P