At first, I was shocked at the depth of the show, for being a mecha as a primary base, it went about re-doing the mecha genre so that even people who dislike mechs could enjoy the series. Whereas the mecha oriented genre usually uses said items to move the plot of the show, Tengen relied heavily upon relationships, and the very nature of humans to survive, damned be the consequences. That type of a hook drags me in and doesn't let go. I don't know about you, but I've often felt like I wanted to shatter my own fate too.
Using the mechs they were able to accomplish what was though impossible: they broke fate itself. Yup, they shattered it like an expensive vase and ensured the survival of all human kind. Along the way, you grow engaged along with them, which is the mark of any halfway decent anime. You laugh with them, you cry when people die, and you want them to survive as badly as you want to help them. On this front, the show was a smashing success, and hence why my rating of a "10" as outstanding.
The art in the show was gritty, sub-part at best, animation. While they tried to pull of their own style, it kind of at times looks like the animators just got mad and threw their pencils at the storyboard. But this is also why the show was as good as I gave it. Even though my rating of a "7" on the art, it managed to pull it off and this show remains firmly at my #3 on my top five. it doesn't look too horrid, it doesn't look fantastic or "Animated with Class" as say death note, or speed grapher who did their style in a very highly refined medium. It was refreshing but like I said, at times sub-part at best.
The sound in the show is the same as the art, rating of 7. It's good, it's not bad. The opening and endings are suiting, whereas the actual in-anime music was lacking in spots. Sure, when the epic fight music came on, it didn't instill that "oh man, SOMEONE'S going to get OWNED hard" feeling that say DBZ brought to the table. But when it needed to be good, it was. Like whenever Kamina or Simon were doing their epic speeches, that music got me pumped. I guess you can't win them all.
Characters were awesome. You loved them, you cried as they died, you laughed at their antics. In this respect, this is why I rate it a solid "8". The other reason it did not achieve a 9 or 10 was simply they did not develop enough of their characters to a satisfactory point for me. People like Kittan ended up like clones of Kamina, and only a select few like Yoko and Simon grew at an outstanding rate. I also liked how Rossiu came to the forefront, and took on the aspects of the father that led his underground village. I found that fitting. But like I said, there were a lot of character and very few grew to be anything decent, but such is the problem with any anime that has tons of people in it.
Enjoyment was a solid 10, there was in no way any episode in this series I disliked at all. Even the filler episode where they were at the beach, I felt like it just fit into the series as a whole, and gave that rounded-feeling to it. I usually dislike filler 100%, but it worked for a very rare change.
Overall, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann was an epic ride of even more epic proportions (I mean come on, how can you get more epic then chucking galaxies as throwing stars?!) and the scale of the fights just shot up and up and up and never stopped. Sure, the anime started out slow, but once the Genome saga finished and the second part of the show started, it exploded onto the scene. This is why I solidly rate this show as a "9"
It's also the reason it's #3 like I said, on my all time top five list. I'd be hard pressed to kick this off the list anytime soon. I hope anyone who chances across this anime review can somewhat agree with my standpoiints and ratings. I do believe I validly explained why I rated what I rated.
