This anime is something truly unique, you dont see anime like this alot, and for some it may seem to much of old school to watch, after all you got main characters that Don't take SHIT! They make a stand up to the enemy, scream with all they might and bravado, and though they get hurt, and might die, giving up is not a option, even if covered in fear, they laugh at the fearsome, and break through (most of the times overdoing it all the way!! xD), so they can create a path, for those that follow, a path for a better tomorrow!!
Most anime are the opposite of the realistic, but this series, it picks up the laws of the universe and reinventats them for they own will of survival. Impossible will become possible on Gurren Lagann, and OVERKILL is a word that as never as before I associated a to a anime. Some may be disconected from the anime after reading the sypnosis, because they wont take the show seriously... a silly one they may think, WRONG, this is one hell of a ride, ignore common sense, and see the impossible happening!! You will love this show, certainly itself, it overdoes things, but that in Tegen Toppa Gurren Lagann, is EPIC, EMOTIONAL, FULL OF LIFE and it is very well done, where others may fail, the anime prevails and kicks the curb, the boundary to levels I never have seen, overdoing it marvelously!! ROW!! ROW!! Fight the POWA!! (aka POWER!!)
STORY: Itself the story may not seem too deep at first, humanity is locked underground and the series is initially about they struggle to reclaim surface from the Spiral King, being this only half of the story (that itself has much more meaning and detail to it), it doesnt stop anywhere there, and keeps suprising you with twists and epic quests!! And in the end when you look back and you see how far everything as come to, you realise the show was aiming for much more than what you first thought it was. Also the story may have its cliches, but they were all well done, to the point of feeling something new.
ART:Animation, scenarios, characters design, everything is outstandingly done, there may be something that maybe a bit less in quality, if there is, I never noticed since the pros were so many and well done.
The fighting scenes are so fluid and vibrating, the colours used especially on the transformations and special effects stuff, are great, and the anime itself has lots of background and scenarios that are beautfill, and sometimes sad, but noneless a joy to watch, it will beautiful set pieces, like being so high in the sky that you can see both the sun lowering and the moon rising. Some of the stuff that happens at screen, explosions, fights, really shames other anime and even movies, that came after, and we are talking about a anime from 2007, for what they done at the time, I was pleasently suprised and couldnt take my attention away of the screen!
SOUND: Brilliant!! The anime makes the viewer experiencing many and varied, different kind of emotion situations: loss, finding of yourself, fear, sadness, despair, joy, laughlable moments, love, friendship and power of will, will to change the reality, to bend the curve, and accomplish impossible goals against the odds! The OST of the anime covers every one of these situations, with great quality and detail, being musics like "Libera me" From Hell and other great ones, some of my favorites (and I have already listened to many different great anime OST) !
Also every bit of sound is placed right, when the moment demands it, and it all helps to give more meaning and immersion to everything you experience.
CHARACTERS: Kamina, Simon, Nia, Lordgenome, Viral, Yoko, Kittan and many others. Itself it is full of great characters that have more deep than what it initially shows up. The reason for the anime being so damm good, is the characters themselves that are the support, of what the anime is built into, it is their stories and hardships their surpass, their fates, that gives a path for everything that I meantionated before about the anime to take place. Lots of different personas, Kamina, the Bravado, that finds the strength to endure and go forth on Simon that initially is shy and unsecure, and unware of his own potential, which latter growns ups to something BADASS, and more I wont say.
Putting it "on the naked" you see this show for its characters, and you scream, cry and have good times, thanks to them. And there will be alot of those great moments!!
OVERALL: Through willpower, power of believing and of kept on going on, a grand journey waits those that give it a try to this masterpiece of creativity production. Every aspect of the show, I love and held in high regards, comedy, drama, action and romance, from start tp finish, it just keeps pushing and pushing to new heights, it never gets boring, there is always something interesting happening, from beggining to the end, never a let down moment. At first it may seem that something wasnt done well, or that, that thing shouldnt had happen. But it had to reach to the finale, "No pain, no gain"!, every aventure has its costs. Even with this said, the anime manages to be very colourfull and not so dark as some others, but the sadness and pain, are there, it is all a pattern of life, and you should go and make use of the opportunities others gave you to dig your way out of the darkness to a better light, to a better destiny. People come and go, and create a cycle of paths and changes, that we should take on, and use, to create paths for those that are to came, to walk through.
I highly reccomend anyone to give the anime a try, and prepare yourself, maybe there are only 27 episodes, but compared to many other anime longer and shorter, it does things they never done with 27 episodes, or will do with whole seasons! A classic.
This is a story of a quest, for hope of a better future, a adventure of meanings, of feelings, of emotions, manliness, of unbreakable souls and desires, and in the end, you will have characters that you will never forget, for the rest of your life, because you were there, when everything seemed impossible, and in the end, even the universe was possible!
A masterpiece of its own genre, and one of the best anime I watched in my life!
This is TENGEN TOPPA, THIS IS GURREN LAGANN!!!!!!
