"Tengen toppa gurren lagann" (2007) TV series 2007-????

Directors:

Hiroshi Iketomi
Osamu Kobayashi

Writers:

Kazuki Nakashima (script)
Kazuki Nakashima (series writer)

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

2007 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Pierce through tragedy and fight toward victory, Gurren Lagann!

Plot:

In their closed-off underground village, Kamina and Simon chafe at the limits imposed by the village elder...

Plot Keywords:

Female Warrior | Anime | Mecha | Super Robot | Piloted Giant Robot

Cast

Nobuyuki Hiyama

...

Viral (1 episode, 2007)

Runtime:

25 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:TV-14 | South Korea:15 | Australia:M (some episodes) | Australia:PG (some episodes)

Company:

Aniplex

Trivia:

The titular Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann mecha is, as of mid-2008, the largest robot in anime history, standing ten million light-years tall. Our galaxy is one hundred thousand light-years across and the biggest known galaxies are estimated to have diameters of roughly six million light-years.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Gekijô ban Tengen toppa guren ragan: Guren hen (2008)

Soundtrack:

Minna no Pîsu

An epic breath of fresh air.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Quite a mouthful. Anyway, I won't go on and on here, but I feel compelled to say something about this show because with its perfect blend of comedy, drama, action, and romance, (with no aspect of either feeling forced just for the sake of having it), it is quite simply one of the best animes ever made. Ask a few anime fans to list some of their favorite shows and you'll start to hear quite a few of the greats being repeated. This show easily stands shoulder to shoulder with any and all of them.

To give a little idea of the overall feel of this show for the anime fans out there. Let's say you hold, "Neon Genesis Evangelion", in one hand and, "FLCL", in the other. Now put your hands together and you've got Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.

Epic is probably the single best word to describe this show; epic in both scope and scale. From the technical aspects of the truly incredible, fluid and stylish animation; to the story with it's take on humanity, evolution and the potential finish lines to which we're sprinting; to the battles, ranging from underground guerrilla warfare in the early stages and ultimately culminating in a climactic finale of truly galactic proportions. Without spoiling anything, I'll just say it involves literally tossing whole planets like baseballs and even flinging entire galaxies like so many shuriken. Epic.

Nothing is perfect though, it does stumble a bit in the audio department. However, it only falls short in comparison to the rest of itself. That is to say, while the rest of the show is, "excellent", some of the audio aspects are only, "very good". The character designs are also nothing special, but that is easily countered by the spectacular animation and the personalities of the characters themselves.

It's probably not for everyone. Some may be put off by the artistic styling such as the unconventional and often bizarre angles and techniques as well as the hyperkinetic feel of the animation. I, for one, couldn't be more thrilled with all of it. I've seen a lot of anime and quite frankly most of it is mediocre at best. After wading through so many anime lately with virtually interchangeable story lines, art and characters, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is like a breath of fresh air.

Sorry, I guess I did kind of go on and on after all. Anyway...

9.5 out of 10, but since IMDb doesn't allow the .5, I'll have to round it up and give my first ever 10.