Anime Reviews
ANIME MARK
Gurren Lagann is all about mindless fun with no hidden objectives. It's an amazingly enjoyable anime as long as you don't go over it with a fine tooth comb or delve into its inner workings. I mean, Gurren Lagann is a bit silly, but surprisingly effective. Gainax has managed to make a stupid anime that's amazing...no other anime has earned this response from me but Gurren Lagann. Anyway, the story..
Humans are desparate beings who, in the future, live under the earth's surface. They hide in limited safety from the world above, a now desolate environment that is ruled by savage beast-men. Although some surface dwellers are in constant battle against the beast-men, most cower in fear below. Spiral King, Lordgenome, has forced the humans into segregated subterranean hideouts. There are a few men are yet to realise their true destiny, Simon and Kamina, who are now intertwined in the same gang known as Team Gurren. They battle to the surface to obtain the freedom that humanity once had but has since lost. Once they steal one mecha from the enemy, and find another underground, they combine power and wits to create the dominant gunman 'Gurren Lagann'. Now they must fight their way to the leader of the earth, Spiral King, and defeat him in order to regain humanity's freedom.
Now this is the basic plot and further arcs have more story involvement and have the cast face greater challenges. Each battle that is brought forth has greater potential than the last and the trend continues. This eventually develops into battles on a monumental scale that are pretty awesome to witness. Even if they are insanely absurd, I can't deny I loved every minute. Even if you think at times that they have gone 'too far', you'll be surprised when I say they is no 'too far' in Gurren Lagann. The story is simple, just keep working toward the goal of freeing humanity. I could only say that the crazy antics of the anime are put on hold after a time-skip and are replaced by some seriousness. The whole 'what's best for humanity' question gets thrown around and it does take from the awesomeness of the show. But...it's only for a few episodes and it actually provides a perfect backing for one of the most epic climaxes I've seen in anime.
The characters are equally as good as the story. We have the main two, Simon and Kamina, and each have their own unique individualities. Simon is the initial weakling who you wouldn't expect on the front line of humanity's saving grace. In fact, he would be at the bottom of the list. But he does grow into a brave warrior that makes for an insatiably cool protagonist. Kamina is quite the opposite however. He takes the role of older brother and represents the personification of masculinity itself. Although he can be wild and ego driven, he can also be selfless and serious when he needs to. There's also Yoko who provides a heroic female badass. I can't say I didn't love these three characters even among the large supporting cast.
The animation quality and art is very good throughout with only a few minor discrepancies. But there is only one episode that seemed tedious at best in terms of animation, and that was episode four. I don't think this detracts from the show whatsoever, so I won't mention too much about it.
Conclusion
There are plenty of anime that really make you think and are a mental workout too. Gurren Lagann isn't one of them. This is one of its strengths in my opinion and is almost refreshing. It doesn't force you to think about its deep storyline or narrative but rather sells itself with moments of complete insanity . The few flaws that are eveident are very evident but that would be its only weakness. In just a couple of words...watch it!
Pro's
- Mindless entertainment full of humour
- Over-the-top combat scenes and explosions
- Nothing is impossible scenarios
- A+ main cast and secondary characters
Con's
- Episode four should be remade
- Gets too serious after the timeskip with a tedious character
Final Rating: 8.6/10
Gurren Lagann
2nd of November 2015
Name: Gurren Lagann
Episodes: 27
Air Date: April 1, 2007
Episode Length: 24 minutes
Produced By: Gainax, TV Tokyo, Aniplex, Dentsu, Konami, Half H.P Studio, Bandai, Bandai Entertainment, Aniplex of America
Rating: PG 13+