Let’s all recall Code Geass R2 where Jeremiah is fighting Anya. He pilots some enormous nightmare mobile armor (for lack of a better word). Upon the mobile armor exploding in a flash of fire and explosions, his normal nightmare mobile suit comes charging out. Upon THAT getting destroyed, Jeremiah himself comes charging out of another explosion to deliver the killing blow.

Did not think it could get funnier than this

Little did I know that this was probably a reference to Tengan Toppa Gurren Lagann and is in fact child’s play when compared to the original

Was very wrong

Gurren Lagann has been on my list of Anime to watch for some time now. I’ve heard comments on the order of “best mecha Anime of all time” so it was something I definitely needed to get my hands on. Not to mention I was eagerly anticipating the scene in which “Libera me” From hell would be used.

Row row fight the power

What I liked:

Absolutely loved the animation style. The ridiculous and over the top mecha style is extremely fun to look at. I’m a big fan of Anime that takes advantage of the fact that it is animated to diverge from the normal path. Whether this be drastically shifting the art style for a particular scene or deliberately leaving the scene in an unfinished state (at least, when it’s used sparingly and not as an excuse to cut animation costs). It really puts emphasis on certain scenes and adds dramatic flourish.

Intensity

Fight scenes are great. Tons of action when needed and limited reuse of the same scenes. The battles were quick and to the point, with a clear victor most of the time. The thing that always baffled my mind is how bad guys have universally perfected the “teleport and run away so we can drag out the confrontation” technique. The last battle in particular is so stuffed full of things going on it is amazing to just look at screen captures. Everything about it just makes the Anime feel so badass.

This makes me want to beat up some little kids

The major characters are all very well portrayed and likeable (exept Rossiu, that fucker irritates me). Simon is a innocent, nice guy shounen character that starts of weak but through determination and hard work becomes the strongest person in the universe. Kamina is quite possibly the sweetest character I have ever seen in any Anime, period. Yoko is of course there to prevent it from being a sausage fest and provide fanservice.

People die in this Anime. Sounds morbid but it’s true. If you’re going to engage in a war of the worlds between galactic super powers, somebody is bound to get killed. It is too ridiculous when everyone is saved due to miracle healing powers or some bullshit (I’m looking at you Naruto and Bleach).

Music is good. Opening theme is great, background music isn’t annoyingly repetitive, and climactic scene have appropriately epic music. I do with that they would have blasted “Libera me” From hell in one of the scenes, but I guess playing it quietly in the background is alright.

When people are acting emo, it is resolved by having someone punch them in the face. If only this worked in the real world.

What I disliked:

The stretch of several episodes with Rossiu being President and people rioting. It made absolutely no sense. The fastest way to eliminate racism and hate amongst the human race is to introduce an Alien race that is threatening to destroy your planet. I would have assumed in that situation people would put aside their differences and fight the common enemy (aka Independence Day style). Somehow, the people in this Anime act completely irrationally, which makes no sense to me.

People die in this Anime. Yeah, I liked this but I disliked how they pulled off some of it. I particularly disliked the final battle where, scene after scene, people sacrifice themselves to perform some extraordinary task or save someone. When it happens every five minutes, it loses impact and becomes stupid.

Simon being a beast.

Overall:
This Anime is fantastic. This is definitely worth the time and is a must see for everyone. It definitely lives up to the hype I had heard beforehand and is vastly superior to any Gundam I’ve seen before. I’d defintiely say it is one of the best mechas out there, although I still think I enjoyed Macross Frontier a little more for the soundtrack.