The story starts out underground, where humans are starving to death, live without light, and can be crushed by earth quakes at any moment. Sounds like a bummer but the show gives you a beacon of hope and happiness in the characters. Just ask any one who's ever seen this show- Kamina is the freaking bomb. His charisma and hot blooded personality is so infectious that it extends to the viewers, as well as every character whom he interacts with in the show. He's the lovable, reckless, hero of the story, although it's set from a young, shy boy named Simon's point of view. I originally dismissed him as a whiny kid, but there's more than Simon than meets the eye, and I eventually grew to love the him as much as Kamina. There's also, of course, Yoko. Let's be honest, Yoko and her character design are probably more popular than the show itself. But make no mistake, Yoko fits in with the cast of manly freedom fighters perfectly, and she gets a mountain of character development throughout the series. I could of spent ten years of research, but I would never have been able to put together such a perfect cast of character for a show of this style. Even the minor characters have heart, and lend themselves to the show. Heck, even characters who only appear for a few seconds have their own fanbase, like Bruce Ironstaunch. The villains all have interesting motivations, but it never stops you from cheering on the main cast the whole way through. And while the story itself seems simple at first, things start to take unexpected turns by the end of the first quarter, and the plot really kicks off about half way through, it's hard to talk about without spoilers.
There are effectively four parts to the story, each a reconstruction of a different period of mecha. The first part is fun and lighthearted like those of the seventies. Part two is dramatic and tense like the real robot shows of the eighties. Three is dark and depressing like the Evangelion era of mechs, and the last part does something of its own, hoping to set a new trend for the genre that ultimately never caught on. Each part is punctuated by a major "oh crap" moment and a tone shift. Its the kind of show that never lets up. I never found myself wondering where it would go next; it was a story unlike any other, and I only wanted to keep watching to find out. You'll find yourself laughing at every absurd scenario -especially when Kamina's involved-, and heartbroken at every sad moment. One moment that I hope you haven't gotten spoiled for you left me so shocked that I had to prematurely end my session that day just to absorb what I'd just watched. I'm not exaggerating, when I re-watched it with a friend, who actually knew what was going to happen before hand, they were still left in such shock by the timing and effectiveness of a twist that we had to take a walk around my house to cool down.
I've heard a few complaints about the way conflicts seem to be solved only by willpower and guts rather than through strength or intelligence. As much as I enjoy smart plans getting put to work like in Code Geass or Death Note, I never felt cheated by this. That's probably because willpower and guts actually have a physical manifestation known as spiral energy in the show. Fighting spirit literally is a legitimate weapon in this show, worth far more than any Mech. And while we're on the subject of mechs, I'd just like to say that I've never seen robot fights as good as I've seen here. This is all thanks to the smooth animation; most mechas tend to lean more towards grand wars and battles with many soldiers on each side. That's not the case here, most of the fights are fought only by the titular Gurren Lagann, piloted by Kamina and Simon. I realize that mecha battles are not for everyone, but I encourage you to give it a try even if your not a fan. The mechs move with the same agility and movement as a human would in a fight, allowing the fights to have more entertainment value than just shear spectacle. Some fights are even fought without mechs, and these are entertaining as well. Kamina has a one on one sword fight, and Yoko takes down plenty with just her gun.
A show as quirky and fun as Gurren Lagann sticks with you, for its originality and bizarre moments. I find it constantly working its way into my head, in fact, there hasn't been a day where I don't think about it since I've watched it (by the way, the soundtrack is also brilliant, and is one of the best I've heard that wasn't composed by Yoko Kanno). The show plays by it's own rules, and barrows from many different genres. But honestly, if you only like a specific type a show, like slice of life or serious dramas (not that there's anything wrong with that), you probably wont find much in gurren lagann. And as for its real flaws, there isn't any single one that remains through the whole series. It could of benefited from an extra episode or two (the creators even said they wanted more), but other than that, its a masterpiece, an absolute much watch. It's a marvel of story telling, something only anime can do, and its finale has yet to be matched in spectacle or magnitude by anything before or since. It's my all time favorite work of fiction, and its gorgeous as it is over the top. With something as original as this, you really cant do it justice with words. Just give it a watch.
