Gurren Lagann is a show about two boys who live underground and their dream to drill up to the surface. At least that's how it starts. From the beginning I never would have expected the way the show would turn out though..

THE BEGINNING

The way the show flowed and progressed reminds me of one piece. Part one was more worldbuilding and comedy based, I found the show really funny with all the different gags and tropes. There wasn’t too much to worry about, the gang was setting off on a new adventure together and it was all jokes. Then, disaster struck. EPISODE 8 HAD ME IN TEARSSSSSS KAMINAAAAAA. What a character, what a leader, what a man. This show wasn’t the same without him. And they really got me too, I didn't think he'd die coz he got back up and continued fighting. even hit an ultra-special move with the Giga Drill Break. But nah, the show wanted to play with my heartstrings a bit more. AND AFTER HE PROMISED YOKO THE 10X PAYBACK TOO UGHHHHH. Her confession scene was great tho iwl catching him off guard while he spun around, great move.

###Only here for 8 episodes, but arguably one of the most influential characters of all time

His death was more than essential to the plot though, without it team Dai-Gurren would never learn to think and act for themselves, and Simon would never grow into the man he becomes. I like that fact that during his breakdown, while Simon had plenty of fighting sprit, Lagann could tell it was coming from a negative place of pure rage and lack of regard for his own like, and refused to be piloted while Simon was in that state. I love subliminal messages like this, you can’t move forward while still harbouring such negative feelings and instead you must acknowledge them and allow them to help you grow. It also kinda hints towards evolution being the basis for spiral energy, Simon had no regard for his life during this point so if he went out in Lagann it would very much be the opposite of evolution, his bloodline would have ended there as is. Regardless, he recovered from the setback better than ever and started putting the hands on EVERYONE THAT STOOD IN HIS WAY. Fighting against Viral with better proficiency than Kamina, low-diffing Adiane and Cytomander, no one was a match for him. I got chills during his speech in ep 11, in fact whenever he makes a speech tbh, he became one of the most influential characters I have had the pleasure of watching.

Can I just say that choosing Kittan as the temp leader was possibly the worst choice anyone could have made at this time, this decision pissed me off so much for the 3-4 episodes he was in charge. Always rushing in, never actually thinking with his head only his wood. And the other members blindly followed him coz they had nothing else. Sigh. The fights in this half were seriously impressive, esp for a 2007 anime. Simon vs Lordgenome was TOUGHHHHH, that one scene where lordgenome decides his mech was holding him back and started boxing with lagann was amazing, and the end where simon drills through his heart, simply wonderful. I think it might be the best fight in the series.

• - -

THE END

The second half of the show is where things really start going crazy. I think the show got both better and worse. Firstly, ROSSIU AND KINON HAD ME HEATEDDDD I HATED THEM BOTH SM. Rossiu grew his hair out and suddenly decided he didn't like that Simon got all the glory so he tried to banish him so he could take over, and Kinon just wanted to smash so she followed him without rhyme or reason. Obv i know he didn't do it for that reason, but he was very dumb. and don't even get me started on the people in Kamina City OOOOOOH. asking to be reimbursed for your lush new lifestyle coz simon destroyed some things (BY ACCIDENT) but if it wasn't for him then you wouldn't be here in the first place??

Stupid giga chin head ahh boy

I liked that part two raised the stakes for the show coz it felt like there was actual danger. In part one I remember thinking “Leeron must be an SS grade engineer coz these mechs have not been blown up or needed replacing once, damn. No casualties or near-death experience for anyone except Simon/Kamina, there’s no real threat.” They must’ve heard me coz in part two the mechs were not as indestructible. WE ACTUALLY LOST MEMBERS. I never thought I’d like Kittan or be upset if he died, but I grew to love him as a character as he got more screentime, and was devestated when he died man. His sacrifice allowed the other to survive, and in the end, he went out fulfilling Kamina’s legacy. His character development from a horny bum to a great leader and man willing to make the sacrifice play was not one I expected, but I am so glad it happened. It must be the Yoko kiss curse smh.

The scene was amplified by the introduction of the bgm as well. When Libera me from Hell started playing I damn near cried, ITS SO BEAUTIFUL. I didn’t think that orchestra and rap would mesh so well, esp not in a mech anime in space, but I’m glad they decided to test it. I will be row-rowing and fighting every power in my way from now on. Soraio Days is also a top tier opening, I appreciate the fact they kept it throughout and the lyrics changed to match the events of the story. It has the same effect on me as Haruka Mirai from Black Clover, anytime it plays you know shit is going down. There were also a number of other bangers, like “Thrust Through the Heavens with your Spirit!” and “To Hell with your Gattai!”

Kittan’s sacrifice was great, but the best scene in the second half, maybe even the whole show, was when grown up Simon met Kamina again in the dream thingy. Seeing Simon choose to abandon the whiny, scared version of Kamina, who was his parallel and a reminder of his old self, and instead went along with the Mighty Kamina, the bro he always knew and believed in, and them seeing him grow up and seeing how similar they were in both appearance and behaviour was beautiful.

However, this is lowkey taken away from by the rest of the ending to the show. I think it was just one asspull after another once the gang started fighting the anti-spiral. From the moon getting replaced without anyone knowing and perfectly put back in its place after, to all the “between the 10th and 11th dimensions” bs, to BOOTA BECOMING INTELLIGENT, to Nia dying(?) after they got married and then Simon randomly deciding to take off and disappear for 40yrs. Again, it felt very rushed and didn’t do the show which had been set up so well thus far justice.

##like huh? ##HUUH??

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THE FLAWS

No show can be perfect sadly, and the ending is only one of a few drawbacks. The characters didn’t really get a whole bunch of character development, even in moments where it was perfectly set up for them to do so. Only ones who got any consistent development were Simon and Rossiu. In ep 2 Kamina had a chance to face his character and goals and change and develop after discovering his dad was dead, but instead all we got was a small snippet of him crying and saying "imma move on" and then he went back to normal. The members of team Dai-Gurren either didn’t get any screentime, and if they did they remained the same, even after the 7yr time skip and then suddenly got some development just before they died. And some didn’t change at all.

As much as I love the show and all the action it gave us, the plot armour was thicker than post time-skip Yoko for most of the show. Whether it be surviving events that shouldn’t have been possible, or the random powerups. Oh my the powerups were insanely stupid for 90% of the show. From the time I saw two gunmen combine because Kamina thought it was a good idea to shove Lagann into the top of Gurren and hope for the best, I knew nothing would ever make sense again. And as great as the fight was, honestly Simon and the others should not have been able to beat Anti-Spiral like that, especially since his first move was to put them in a EXTRADIMENSIONAL SPACE LABRYNTH.

###Very entertaining don’t get me wrong but that doesn’t save them from not making sense.

The plot kinda went off the rails in part two. We skipped 7yrs into the future, find out Nia is a fake which was predetermined hundreds of years ago, see Kamina city get attacked and destroyed, simon get arrested, break out of prison and then fly to space all in like five episodes. It just felt a bit rushed. I think Spiral Energy as a power system is flawed as well, it seems very confused about itself. Its based on the potential of human evolution or something like that, so how can you get physically tired from generating it? And how do you increase your output of it on command, by just wishing to grow or something like that? It wasn’t explained very well tbh, it was just put behind a wall of complicated words from Lordgenome. At least the show tried to provide some justification with the whole “the gunmen stream the actions into my head” idea, but it didn’t fully work.

Finally fan service is quite excessive, there was even a whole episode where they were butt booty naked at an onsen for no reason in the plot whatsoever. Yoko’s everyday fit is just a bikini, she could be just as free in a regular shirt and trousers or a jumpsuit. When we got to space it got even worse smh.

Overall though, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann was an amazing watching experience that I would willingly redo all over again. It has it’s flaws, but it has so many strong suits and iconic moments that it would simply be a detriment to you not to watch it. If you're still on the fence, or even never considered it before, do it anyway.