Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann!!!

[Isteb]

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it's been hailed by many as the best anime of 2007. And it's already almost halfway through 2008 yet a thread for this anime does not exist yet.

wait. the best anime? didn't that title belong to Code Geass? nope. Code Geass had the opportunity to be put on a prime spot, whereas this anime was put on a saturday morning slot.

i had my doubts then, particularly due to the fact that the mechs looked funny, and the drawing style didn't quite fit my description of what a "well drawn" anime was.

after watching a few episodes, i realized what i was missing.

tvtropes.org has a good description of the show.

This is a story of men fighting against their fates...

Go beyond the impossible, and kick reason to the curb! That's the Gurren-dan way!

Don't believe in yourself. Believe in me, who believes in you!

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is what happens when you ask Studio Gainax to create a Saturday morning cartoon.

Lonely orphan Simon lives in an underground village, digging for ancient artifacts and eating mole-pigs. His self-appointed big brother, Kamina, is a hot-headed idiot gang leader/delinquent who dreams of going to the "Surface" like his father, despite the elder's insistence that there's no such thing.

Then Simon discovers a strange drill-shaped key and, later on, a pint-sized mecha that seems to respond to the key.

Taking his brother to see it, they're interrupted by, in turn, the elder, the roof collapsing, a massive bestial robotic head (which Kamina faces off against with just a katana), and Yoko, a woman with a very big gun firing at said beast-mecha -- a "Ganmen".

Thus begins a rollercoaster ride of Fanservice, over-the-top fight scenes between mecha, hot-bloodedness, epic sunglasses, and mind-blowing heroism. Great fun, and doesn't take itself seriously at all.

---end of tvtropes description

whereas Lelouch is the "cool guy" that everyone can relate to, Gurren Lagann is the show that never tries to be cool. and that makes them cooler than Lelouch will ever be. They start off merely trying to escape from the roof of their boring village and end up fighting for the fate of the universe and everything living in it.

this is not gundam. this is not code geass. this is mecha for non mecha fans. this is hard core old school mecha action.

This is Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.

P.S. Yoko's Flaming bikini has been voted Costume of the Year. Or was it character design of the year?

[chagorio]

one of my faves, a really down-to-earth anime :mrgreen: dont be fooled by its ridiculous-looking mechs, this one packs a punch.....

[Nezumix22]

One of my favorite animes of 2007. IMO, the only anime that was equally as good as this one was Baccano! (a really unique anime, though not as popular as TTGL).

Yoko is certainly the fanservice girl here. (along with the 3 sisters). Simon really isn't that likeable though, he becomes likeable only later in the series. His attitude after a certain very important event eerily reminds me of another GAINAX work (NGE), as he approaches near-Shinji emo. Good thing though, it only lasted a few episodes, I had so wanted to slap some sense into him. The series might be overrated (with countless fanboys, hehe), but there's no denying this is one fun, enjoyable ride from start to finish. I'll never look at another mecha anime, or any anime for that matter the same way ever again.

If I have one complaint for this series, it's how they wrapped up some of the storylines. uggh, why the hell did the lead character end up that way after everything he has worked for, it doesn't make sense, after all he was this optimistic guy, with the never give-up (okay, pierce the heavens, hehe) attitude. But oh well, Japanese love their ambiguous endings.

Certainly beats Code Geass a thousand times. hehehe..

Some screencaps of the series. NOTE: May contain spoilers..

Take note of the mecha designs. They may look funny, and weird. But it's very effective, and actually works hand in hand with the humor and action.

[r0mm3L]

great! , more mechs!

is the story nice?

[Nezumix22]

^^ Yup, it has a great story. The premise may be simple, but it is wonderfully executed. Don't expect a ground-breaking story though, but even the tiny plot details are thought-provoking with themes that touch on ethics, morality, politics etc. It's these details that make a wonderful narrative in TTGL no matter how basic the overall plot may be.

[DuLexSidLex]

Totally epic jud ni! I prefer Kamina at first, pero astig ug gwapito si Simon pagdako niya! The moral lesson na hibaw-an nako kay...matud ni Kamina: Believe in yourself, not me who believes in you! ^^;

[Isteb]

kamina and simon can kill their enemies with the sheer awesome they radiate. i'm not kidding. death by awesome.

yeah simon had his shinji stage, although he didn't regress and turn emo, instead he became just as badass as kamina.

this show is pure epic, i get goosebumps every time somebody has a moment of awesome.

[hypocrisy]

kick ass anime!! watched episode 1 and i ended up DL-ing the whole thing...27 eps right?
somehow this reminds me of samurai champloo..idk why...o.O?

heres a cosplay of this..very well made lagann:

[hypocrisy]

one of the BEST anime i've seen so far!!!!!! i wonder why people aren't posting here...nindooooootttt kaaaaaaayu ni guys!!!!

[Isteb]

people are not posting because...

there's nothing much to talk about, now that the series is done. all that can be said about this awesome series has already been said. everybody's saying "this.is.the.BEST!" which pretty much sums up everything that can be said about gurren lagann.

what we can do now is wait for the movie to come out.

HEEEeeyyyy, why don't we talk about the movie? there's an idea. "Gurren Lagann but not quite Gurren Lagann". prolly covers the first half of the show, based on what i've read so far.