Yes,the headline says it all. Tengen Toppan Gurren Lagann which literally means Heaven Piercing Gurren Lagann was the GAR-est anime I ever saw in my life. That is why it will be my first anime review. This anime had so much fun that I watch it 3 times in a week! I mean it has giant friggin robots!!! Ahem, anyway on with the review.
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann took place a fantasy world where humans lived underground. In fear of being caved in, humans dig even further into the ground. Wow, what a depressing setting for the GAR-est anime ever. Thank god, most of the series took place above ground.
In the first episode we have been introduced to Simon (It was pronounced as C-mon in Japanese), a fourteen years old boy who works as a Digger. Simon has a friend called Kamina, an eighteen years old boy who secretly is the God of GAR, which Simon fondly calls him 'Aniki' (as in big brother) One day, Simon found a giant face and a glowing miniature drill when he was digging. That giant face is the same face that would changed his life.
After failing to reach the upper ground with Kamina, a huge robot attacked the underground village. (Seriously, it was more of a beast than a robot.I mean look at the damn giantic face!) The giant robot stood before Kamina and Simon with a wicked grin plastered on it's face. Oh no, what will Kamina and Simon do? Being the God of GAR, Kamina challenged it to a fight. Wow, he is a genius to challenge a giant robot whose shadows loams over you. Fortunately, a hot red-haired babe falls down from the sky and tries to save the duo...which she fails (Her name is Yoko btw). Simon went to the giant face he found earlier and found that is was actually a robot. All three of them squeeze into the small cockpit and deliver justice to the giant robot.
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..Okay, I admit it. That was my cracked up version of the first episode. I know it was ridiculous but you still read it through right?
Anyway, the only reason you should watch this anime is because it had a solid theme of Believing yourself plus some other values like valor,trust etc. Okay,now continuing with the actual review...
The story revolves on Simon as he oppose the dictatorship about the Beastman, an artificial race which controls the upper world with giantic robots called Gunman.(A pun of Gume which means face in Japanese.) With his minituare Gunman called Lagann, he and his friends oppose the rule of the Beastman and fight of the future of mankind.
Simon's Gunman, Lagann has a unique ability to fuse with other Gunmans. His Lagann fused with Kamina's Gurren to form the most awesome piece of metal ever: The Gurren Lagann. Later in the series, Gurren Lagann fuse with other Gunmans to form various version of it. I will not spoil it for you but the scale of one version of Gurren Lagann will definitely blow your minds :)
One noticeable trait that puts TTGL apart from other Mecha series is Kamina's and Simon's signature speech. Every time there is conflict or a big battle going, one of them will rise up and deliver a GAR speech full with essence of manliness and bad ass-ness. These speeches although it sounded cliche' and cheesy in English, it was done quite well in Japanese. I swear I could feel my inner GAR-ness roars as I hear (while read the subs) Simon delivers his speech on confidence. These speeches is what truly set TTGL apart from another mecha series.
In a nut shell, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is an awesome anime with a solid storyline, nice cast of characters, talented VAs and giant robots :) This 27 episodes anime is a definite 'Must-Watch' if you are just starting to like anime. If you like anime and never watch it before, then what the hell are you waiting for? Go and watch it now! I recommend www.animeseason.com if you want to watch TTGL (plus other anime as well)
That is all from me for today. School is starting soon so expect some delay for my next post. (I went to a boarding school fyi) Wish me luck for my school year!
Congratulation for reaching the end to the post,
Zephyr.Net
