Holy crap, I've been waiting to do this one for a long time. And at lucky number 7, this one's gonna be the best.
This is Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. What a cool name to go with a cool anime. But before I get on with my reviewing, I have some questions I want to ask.
Well, imagine an animal piloting a robot mecha. What the hell can be cooler than that? How about a human stealing it and using it as his own weapon to fight. What's cooler than that? Using a smaller mecha to combine with the bigger, stolen mecha to create a huge combination mecha. What's cooler than that? Having even more people steal robots and join the orignal stealer to fight against the animals. What's cooler than that? Taking over a battleship-sized mecha with that same team and using it as your base. What's cooler than that? Flying with it, sailing with it, and taking down four other ships of the same size with that same battleship. What's cooler than that? A city bigger than 1000 of your battleship-sized mechas shaped like a tornado. What's cooler than that? The city transforms into a gigantic robot. What's cooler than that? Kicking ass and destroying the pilot and the robot. What's cooler than that? A person piloting a mecha piloting another, bigger mecha. What's cooler than that? The bigger mecha piloting an even bigger mecha. What's cooler than that? Using a drill bigger than yourself to bust a hole through the enemy. What's cooler than that? Being big enough to throw galaxies at your opponent as weapons. What's cooler than that? An explosion that stretches lightyears across.
So that, in a nutshell, is TTGL. This anime is from Gainax, the same people that produced FLCL. So it's bound to be good. At 27 episodes, this series delivers hours of excitement and fun times. So let's dig into this.
Before I go into character roll call, it would only make sense to talk about the story first, otherwise roll call would get kind of confusing. This anime can be split up into two sections. To my knowledge, each part does not have a distinct name. So I'll call the first one Surface Arc and the second one Future Arc.
Ok, now we can do roll call for the Surface Arc. Oh by the way, as far as I know, the characters don't have last names.
ROLL CALL:
Simon - A boy from Jeeha Village, an underground settlement. He enjoys digging to find treasure and one day he does. A tiny robot mecha, which is later named Lagann. He then travels out of the village and out onto the surface with his "bro", Kamina, and sharpshooter Yoko. Simon's character is pretty wimpy in the beginning, but through the experiences he has with Kamina and everyone else, he mans up and takes on the responsibility of a leader.
Kamina - This is Simon's "bro". I'm not sure if they're blood related, but they seem to be. He is the one that pushes Simon from behind (By the say you pronounce "Simon" as SEE MOHN). He encourages Simon to do the impossible and work all the way to the top. He helps Simon break through Jeeha Village and out onto the surface. He hates being in the village and that's why he went with Simon to the top. He is way older than Simon but probably just as immature as a kid. He steals a mecha, which are called Ganmen in this anime, from an beastman, and uses it to fight. He names his Ganmen: Gurren. Hence, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Gurren and Lagann can combine to form Gurren Lagann. Which is way more kickass. It's a shame that Kamina died early in the series though. Oops, spoiler.
Yoko - A woman from the village next door to Kamina's and Simon's. She uses a rifle as her weapon and is a sharpshooter. She meets with Simon and Kamina and travels with them on their journey on the surface. She also provides lots of fanservice. If you don't know what that is, look it up.
Roshiu - Roshiu is a boy about Simon's age that comes from a religious type village that worships Ganmen as gods. Kamina recruits him for his team and he also travels on the surface with the rest of them. He looks like a girl, and I think he's gay.
Leeron - I'm positive that this guy is gay. But he's a very important character in the series, as he serves as the mechanic for Kamina's group, giving the Ganmen upgrades and repairs. Without him, the whole group would be in ruins. He is also recruited for Kamina's group pretty early, or rather, he joins himself. He does not have his own Ganmen (neither does Yoko), but he is an important person nevertheless.
Kittan - He has the same personality as Kamina. He and his 3 sisters make up the Black Kinsmen and also fight against beastmen. All 4 of them join Kamina's group.
Dayakka - A person from the same village as Yoko, and is kind of like second in command to Kamina because he gets to steer the big ship they steal later on in the series. He is a nice man. Yep. Not much to say here.
Gimmy and Dari - Two little children from the same village as Roshiu. Gimmy is a little boy and Dari is a little girl. They go with Roshiu and travel along with Kamina's brigade to fight beastmen.
Boota - You'd think that he wouldn't be that important. Because he's actually a small rat. Yep. Kinda like Simon's pet, he travels with him and Simon treats him just like any other member of the brigade. But he more important than you think.
Attenborough - This guy looks like a trigger happy clown. Trigger happy is right. All he does is fire at anything that moves. He's always ready to aim the ship's cannons and fire at the enemy. Which sometimes is useful, and sometimes it gets them in trouble.
Viral - The main enemy in the first part of the anime. He is a beastman and is out to destroy all humans that come up to the surface world. He first meets Kamina and they immediately become rivals and fight intensely whenever they meet.
Lordgenome - I'm not sure if it's Lord Genome or Lordgenome, because I see both ways in the anime. Whatever. This is the helix king that Kamina's brigade is out to get and destroy. Later it is Simon and Lordgenome that have the final battle.
Ok, I know there are a lot more characters, but there are way too many to describe. That's why I only listed out the important/semi-important ones. And that's why this anime is so great. So many damn characters. You will love most of them, if not all of them. So this is the story of the Surface Arc. Simon is from Jeeha Village. He is digging and he finds this small Ganmen and uses it to fight a huge Ganmen that breaks into the village. He and Kamina and Yoko help fight it off and in the process, they make it up to the surface. From then, Kamina steals a Ganmen for himself and fights beastmen like that. He then establishes the Gurren Brigade and picks up whoever wants to fight for their right to stay on the surface. Most of these new additions also have their own Ganmen because they heard of Kamina and copied him by taking Ganmen for themselves. This way, they can fight against whatever comes after them. They also find a huge ass ship Ganmen that is big enough to have people live in, store their Ganmen, and travel around at the same time. Kamina's Gurren Brigade steals the ship, and head off to the Spiral Capital, Tepperin, where they will face the Helix King, Lord Genome.
And now for the Surface Arc Roll Call.
ROLL CALL:
Nia - She actually appears in the Surface Arc, but it's so late that it doesn't count. In the Surface Arc, she meets Simon because he finds her in a box. She also travels with Simon's group, because Kamina died, and sort of does Kamina's job by helping along Simon. Other than that, she's the cook of the entire ship. In the future, she is abducted by the enemies, the Anti-Spirals, and Simon and his crew are out to save her.
Simon - He's not new, but many major changes in him take place in the Future Arc. He is now the Supreme Commander of Kamina City, the city that was created after the defeat of Lord Genome. And I can't describe him any better than the words of Ryan Ruan can: "Simon becomes such a badass." That's perfect. Because that's what he is in the future. A badass. He becomes the leader after Kamina dies in the beginning, but he wasn't that confident. He later becomes more confident, and then in the future, he virtually replaces Kamina.
Roshiu - Roshiu plays a much bigger role in the future. Your first impression of "future Roshiu" is that he is a giant dick. Big enough to F a whale. Because he is the one that orders Simon's arrest and excecution. Wow what an asshole. But later you'll see that he is actually a good person, and helps Simon in the final fight with the Anti-Spirals.
Viral - Viral becomes Simon's cellmate after Simon is arrested, and Viral still has a grudge against him. But when the Earth is in danger, he then combines powers with Simon and works together with him to pilot the Gurren Lagann to save humanity.
So that's pretty much it...the rest of the characters are pretty much the same, just older. Especially Gimmy and Dari; they're teenagers now. Ok, so in the future, a new enemy appears, the Anti-Spiral. They oppose Simon and his people, who are the Spirals. Get it? LOL. This part of the story is about Simon's fight against the Anti-Spirals, his rescue of Nia, and saving all the people on Earth. Because the MOON IS GOING TO CRASH INTO THE EARTH.
Now more of an overall review. This anime revolves around two symbols: spirals and faces. The spiral is a symbol of evolution and the shape implies improvement and progression. The most important version of the spiral is the drill, Simon's weapon. The drill itself is also an important symbol, as it represents the will to fight and the will to reach the heavens with a blazing soul. The second symbol is the face. This is commonly seen in the Ganmen. Ganmen are just faces with arms, legs, and guns. The word Ganmen is derived from the word face. Somehow. The face represents looking forward and never looking back. Always seeing the future and looking towards what you are going to achieve.
I really liked this anime for its different use in symbolism. Another thing I liked is that in almost every episode, there are at least 3 memorable quotes. There are so many manly quotes out there that I even have a wallpaper with all of those slapped together with a picture of Gurren Lagann. It's awesome. It just shows that you can have a kickass show that teaches you lessons on life.
The music is pretty awesome too. This anime gets bonus points for having good opening and ending songs. Especially the second ending song. But the music almost always fits the mood and just enhances the experience. I love it.
But where this anime really shines is the storyline itself. Every part of the story is just exciting and awesome. Even though I already watched this one other time before, I kept watching because it was that gripping. The fights are always awesome, the characters are really moving and funny, and the cinematic effects are off the charts. The best way I can put this anime is...a combination of Code Geass and FLCL. YES, IT'S EXACTLY LIKE THAT. Probably because it's from Gainax.
Overall, this anime is just plain awesome. I love everything about it and is a possible candidate for 2nd favorite anime of all time. For me. If you like mecha anime, watch this. If you like Gundam, watch this. If you like FLCL, watch this. If you like Clannad, watch this. If you like Death Note, watch this. If you like Elfen Lied, watch this. If you like Pokemon, watch this. It doesn't matter what you like or don't like. This anime will satisfy all. And I guarantee it. Or your time back. Just kidding. But watch it, it's definitely a keeper.
Storyline: 10/10
Characters: 9/10
Mood: 10/10
Uniqueness: 8/10
Overall: 9.5/10
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