Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
	; Kamina, Yoko, and Simon in the foreground, with the Gurren Lagann as well as Nia and Viral in the back.
Original Manga	None
Director	Hiroyuki Imaishi
Format	Anime (TV)
Made By	Gainax
Episode Length	22 minutes
# of Episodes	27;
	Who the hell do you think we are!?

Genre

Mecha, Action, Comedy

Sum it up in a Sentence

Giant robots, sunglasses, drills, giant explosions and so much hot bloodedness you couldn't stir it with an oar.

Main Description

On a world where everybody lives underground and villages expand by perpetually digging the surrounding walls outward, Kamina aspires to follow in his father's footsteps and reach the surface. One day his village is disturbed by a visitor, and Kamina seizes his chance. With the help of some kid nobody cares about and a small robot he finds himself on the surface, where humans are hunted down by beastlike men piloting giant robots called Ganmen. With the help of that kid who nobody really cares about (I mean come on now) Kamina goes to hunt down the lair of the beastmen and end their aggression forever!

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Personal Opinions

Pierson

Holy shit.

Nate RFB

What he said.

Zorak

This anime... just... THIS ANIME

Zoolooman

Simon is the main character. There, I said it.

Nulani

Bloody hell.

Gwynne

Why are you still reading this and not watching this show?!

Dan a man

This show is, without a doubt, one of my all time favorite series. It's full of action, humor, and great animation. Not to mention a wonderful cast of characters that you'll quickly grow attached to. And there's not even a hint of filler in this show; you won't believe how much the story progresses from the great first episode to the amazing finale.

Golden315

Holy mother fucking shit.

Zackarotto

Jesus Christ.

Stiknork

When you finish this show, you will not want to ever do anything else again because it might ruin the intense moment of ecstacy. Also, you will have peed yourself.

araeris

Eh...it's pretty good I guess. Not really as good as Evangel- *gets taken out by rooftop sniper*

iddqd

Be careful, this is weapons-grade anime.

Len

Those drills have drills that shoot lasers that are probably drills.

Vargatron

I really can't say much, this is an anime in which space and time itself becomes a battlefield. Read the last sentence again.

Willsun

I don't care what you have to say until you watch Gurren Lagann.

helopticor

I usually don't like "hot-blooded" shows. However, this is one of my top 5 shows. Just watch it (and don't give up just because the director for episode 4 sucked).

Resurgam40

Ah, Gurren Lagann. Gurren Lagann, Gurren Lagann, Gurren Lagann. What can I say about this show that hasn't alreadfy been said? Perhaps I can't say anything; maybe like Cowboy Bebop and Utena, this show has to be experienced first before any kind of understanding can be reached. But just in case there are first timers reading who still need convincing, I'm gonna do my level best. So here goes.

Tengen Toppen Gurren Lagann is Gainax's love song to the super robot shows of yesteryear. Well, it could be said that it's pretty much a send up to the entire mecha genre in general, but this show contains a spirit that a lot of recent robot shows don't have. It's not that they're bad, it's just that they're so... serious. All having to do with war and death, sacrifice and betrayal and the cynical, destructive nature of mankind, whereas Gurren Lagann, even though it deals with all the themes I listed and more besides, takes a lighter, more relaxed tone. Gainax returns us to a simpler time in robot history, when belief in oneself can alter the world, bigger really is better, and even serious altercations between friends can be solved by a punch to the face and that's the end of it. It's clear to see that the folks at Gainax love what they do; every scene of every episode echoes with their love of that simple spirit, as well as their love of giant robots ripping shit up, and the viewer cant help but respond.

For example, I have a confession to make: I don't really care for giant robots that much. Sure, I think they're cool and all, and I can admire them from an artistic standpoint, but I'm never gonna shell out money for models or sets or the like; I just don't like them that much. But for every episode of this anime while I was watching, my breath was taken away, and I cheered and wept and screamed right along with all the characters; this series demands your love and attention, and deserves every shred you can give. I went into this anime expecting cool mecha designs, amazing fights and interesting settings, and that was exactly what I got, but what I wasn't expecting was good solid character development for most of the characters, an incredible plot, an AMAZING soundtrack, and some surprisingly mature meditations on philosophy, namely the Nietzschean ubermensch, the inevitability of combat, the balance between order and freedom and the cost of the same, and mankind and its place in the universe. You may be wondering how it covers so much ground, how it can stuff all these things into 27 episodes and not feel a bit rushed or stuffed for it. The truth is, I can't really tell you myself how they did it. They just did... and it was awesome.

So yes, watch this show. Buy this show, watch this show, watch it again, recommend it to friends, and show it to your kids and grandkids. The things not 5 years old and it's a great a classic cornerstone of anime as shows twenty or more years its senior. This is a show that must be spread to all the world, because it will never experience anything like it ever again. So watch it. Watch it and be AMAZED.

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