Part Gurren Lagan, part Eureka Seven, with some NGE vibes and Kill La Kill attitude thrown in for good measure. On paper it sounds like a pedigree for excellence, and it really almost is.
The mech and character designs are interesting, the OP/ED’s are honestly phenomenal, and the cast seems solid enough at the outset to get your hopes up.
The first two thirds of the series is immensely entertaining, the show builds it's dystopian world under a veil of secrecy, and the characters play well off each other.
These were my thoughts as I binged watched the season. It was a euphoric ride and was already getting those post-series feels before my last session of episodes.
Then EP 19 info-dumps the mystery away and 20-24 shit on any progression, open plot threads, relationships, and previously established themes.
Our main couple start out as interesting troubled characters, Hiro being a washed-up child protégée who can’t even get it up... er start up his robot; and Zero Two being a mysterious, possibly even dangerous, otherworldly ace pilot alone in a world that is dependent on couples.
They have ups and downs; alternating between puppy love, and doubt that leads to resentment which climaxes into an emotionally rewarding reunion.
Unfortunately their characters almost regress after this point to one dimensional “If we get separated, I'll come to you.” Which happens. A lot. In these last few episodes. It’s almost as if the show runners completely ran out of gas, and just started throwing every mecha cliche and trope out there in an effort to copy TTGL.
That’s not what this show was working towards; it didn’t have to go to space with a terribly designed giant Zero Two mech. It didn’t have to build up the Klax princess just to throw her out and introduce aliens as the “real” antagonists. It had no build up, no reason.
It was just so unexpectedly asinine, and truthfully retroactively made me angry at the series as a whole. I can handle controversial conclusions (I looked past Akame Ga Kill, and am one of the few people who are content with how Gurren wound up,) but this is something else. It took an easy 10/10 masterpiece for me, and tainted everything pleasant about it. It made all the joyous moments and trials/tribulations of our cast seem like a waste of time, and it’s a damn shame.
I’ll rate it an 8/10 soley for the fact it provided me more enjoyment than anything else has in years up to a point, and that alone makes it deserve recognition. If ep 15 was the end of the series I would’ve been content.
This series deserved much better; perhaps an OVA or movie to give us a more fleshed out and less cringey conclusion. I have never encountered a more frustrating work of fiction, and that’s because I so desperately wanted it to be great. It felt like I was finally getting a quality spiritual successor to Eureka Seven, and instead I got burnt.
I suppose that’s life.
