~Simon
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, in many ways, is a parody of a typical shounen mecha show that breaks out of the genre to become something else entirely.
In a post-apocalyptic world, humanity is forced underground to escape the beastmen, ruled by the Spiral King, that hunt them on the surface. Underground, the humans dig tunnels and live in peace. The best digger in the village, Simon, discovers a golden drill, and awakens an ancient mecha with incredible power. Using this mecha, Simon and friends decide to rebel against the beastmen and the evil Spiral King to save humanity from subjugation.
From this point the show quickly locks itself into a simple formula of setting a goal, beating up that goal, and then finding a new goal. While early on the plot can be almost episodic and there is no clear direction, the show quickly gains a clear and defined point B.
The characters are pretty typical but the main cast do receive large amounts of developments. Best example is probably Kamina, while absent for the majority of the series his impact on the rest of the characters in the show, even characters he never interacted with, is astounding. Early on Kamina is a somewhat annoying and headstrong take-no-shit character. Over time though you realize and even appreciate what he did and stood for.
Yoko is your typical fan-service girl with guns, but even she has a rare amount of depth to her. Simon starts off as the simple timid and wussy mecha protagonist but quickly comes into a league of his own and is easy to cheer for.
As mentioned Gurren Lagann often parodies other shounen mecha shows. Often not caring about explaining the aftermath of fights or character motivations and simply decides to fix everything with explosions. This formula is shattered around the midway point of the show with a time skip. The show quickly becomes dark and starts talking about serious themes such as war crimes and political ramifications.
While some people question it’s relevance in a show like Gurren Lagann, my issue stemmed not from it’s sudden change is direction, but with how contrived and broken certain plot elements and character motivations became. Certain events have an outcome and consequences that don’t make any sense and seem to conflict with what would probably happen if the world were real. It ends up coming off as an attempt to shove superfluous drama down your throat.
However, the show then quickly kicks itself back in gear and goes back to it’s “explosions fix everything” mindset, that culminates in one of the most epic conclusions I’ve ever seen in an anime.
On the animation side of things everything is done well, except for episode four. The fight scenes are wonderfully animated, the mechas look great in motion, and the characters are easily recognizable.
The sound on the other hand leaves something to be desired. I’m not much of a hip-hop fan, so the main track that plays later on in the series is more irritating than enjoyable, regardless of how catchy it is. The OP and EDs are well done though and have a song attached to them that you’ll most likely be hearing in your head long after the show is over.
Overall Gurren Lagann is a fantastic show that shatters the norm most people are accustomed to. It’s fast paced and it’s scale eventually becomes super-massive. The show is quite the enjoyable ride.
Gurren Lagann is a show that most people consider a classic, and after having watched it I can certainly see why.
