Gurren Lagann [DUB] (2007) Review

 Gurren Lagann [DUB] (2007) 8/10

[THIS WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!]

“JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM!”

Hello everyone! Today, I’ll be going over the critically acclaimed mecha anime Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Gurren Lagann first aired from April 1 - September 30, 2007 with the English dub airing at a later date. The show was produced by Studio Gainax. Now, just like with a bunch of other older shows, I have seen this back when it aired on Toonami and rewatching it now, the show still holds up very nicely. Let’s just jump right into this cause I have quite a bit to say.

So in this world, all humans live in underground villages while beastmen live above ground. Our story follows Simon and Kamina, two humans that live in Giha Village. One day, while the two are living their lives holed up in this crummy village, a Gunman (mecha) crashes through the ceiling, revealing to the villagers that there is in fact a world above them. A girl named Yoko follows, trying to kill the Gunman. While this is going on, Simon tries to get to this weird face that he dug up earlier. This face is another Gunman that Simon will pilot that Kamina names Lagann. After defeating the Gunman and digging to the surface, our main characters will begin to rage war against the beastmen, wanting to live on the surface, free from any oppression. After taking the fight all the way to Spiral King Lordgenome, the humans will at last be able to live normally, until another threat appears: the Anti-Spirals.

Okay so this story is split into two arcs. The first arc is with Lordgenome and the second is with the Anti-Spirals. Let's talk about the first arc. The first arc in my opinion is decent at best. I found it to be dragging a bit. I probably felt this way because I already knew what was going to happen. The story didn't really seem to be going anywhere until Nia pops up, Lordgenome's daughter. I'm probably going to get a lot of hate with what I'm about to say, but it's how I feel. Although Kamina is a great guy, I feel like the rest of the cast outshines him. His entire character and death is just a catalyst to develop everyone else. Personally, I feel like Kamina needed a bit more development because his death didn't really shock me (however this is also probably because I already knew he dies like 6 episodes in). The rest of the cast is great. Simon is one of my favorite protagonists now, overcoming his depression and always fighting against the greater odds; Yoko is great, but she doesn’t go through her proper character arc until the second arc; Viral is an excellent rival and I loved seeing him constantly trying to beat Kamina. When he learned of Kamina’s death, you can tell he felt bad as well. Kitan was a great supporting character as well as his sisters. The way he tried to take charge when Kamina died was admirable. And then there’s Nia, probably one of my favorite characters now. When she first appeared and her blissful ignorance coupled with how adorable she is made me fall in love with her character at the very start. She also has a great moral compass and absolute faith in her new friends. She is adorable and I will die for this woman. I found all of the villains (the four generals) to just be walls for Team Gurren to get over. Nothing compelling about them (although some of their battles were great). On the other hand, Lordgenome is an excellent antagonist and he had a reason as to why he kept the humans underground: for their own protection against the Anti-Spirals. Overall, this first arc is just a stepping stone for what’s going to happen next, but a solid stepping stone at that.

The second half of the series deals with the Anti-Spirals and my favorite arc of the show. The Anti-Spirals was a very formidable and excellent opposing force to Team Dai-Gurren. This is where I found the story to get very interesting. I binged half of this arc without realizing it. This arc also fills out the rest of the show’s lore and brings about all of the answers to the show’s questions. The whole first half of this arc is phenomenally written and the way it sets up the counterattack against the Anti-Spirals is nothing short of amazing. As you can probably tell, I enjoyed this arc A LOT more than the first one. The first arc was just setting up the Anti-Spirals, which I am happy for. All of the battles for this are much better too (probably because it takes place in space and I love space battles). In this arc, we also have further development for Simon, Nia, Rossiu, Lordgenome, Viral, Yoko, and Kitan. Btw, Kitan’s death was fucking badass and is probably one of my favorite deaths in anime. The way Simon stepped up and took responsibility showed just how much has matured. I feel bad for Nia. All she wanted was to live her life with Simon, but the Anti-Spirals used her and then killed her off. Rossiu was a very complicated character and I love what the show did with him. You hated him for what he did but he was also looking out for the best for humanity. Viral was amazing in this arc as well and became another one of my favorites. I love how he started off hating Gurren Lagann and then later became one of its pilots. Yoko became interesting too. I do think her whole becoming a teacher thing came out of nowhere. I was expecting her to become a bounty hunter like in her vision with the Anti-Spirals. Her dynamic with the kids was great to see. The Anti-Spirals themselves were a great opposite to the main cast. Like, just how over the top their battles were is what makes them such an awesome villain. Overall, this arc was a blast and I would totally rewatch it in the future.

The story as a whole is an excellent tale of always fighting for what you believe in. Never lose hope. Always have the fighting spirit to face the coming oppression. Simon is truly a great MC and is now up there with Vash and Yusei Fudo in my top favorite Main Characters. A very lovable cast and not one person that I hated.

The art direction for the show is great. I love the character designs, mecha designs, the art direction for the world, the designs for the animals, the Anti-Spirals, everything looks great. I love the designs for Simon, Yoko, Nia, Kamina, Kitan, Lordgenome, and Viral (post time skip). The animation seriously puts this show on a higher tier of anime. Up there with Kill la Kill and FLCL, the animation for Gurren Lagann is god tier amazing. All of the action scenes felt extra, which helps fuel the insanity of this show. I’m pretty sure that if the studio had a lower budget, the show wouldn’t be as memorable as it is. Studio Gainax truly hit it out of the park.

The fight scenes are easily the drawing point for the series. Every fight is over the top nonsense and it’s great. My favorite fights being Simon and Nia vs Lordgenome, the whole thing with the moon, and the final fight between Team Dai-Gurren and the Anti-Spirals.

The music for the show is another great thing about it. The OP “Sorairo Days” goes hard and perfectly fits the craziness of the show. The EDs are great to mellow you out a bit before the next episode. The OST itself is up there with Trigun and Orange. Some of my favorite songs are: “Rap is Man’s Soul!”, “Libera me from Hell”, "Can't Stop Burning", and “BafBaf! Burning Like that... Likable?”

The voice acting for this is just as good as the rest of the show. I watched this in the English dub and it’s great. All of the voices fit their characters perfectly. My favorites being Yuri Lowenthal (Simon), Kyle Hebert (Kamina), Michelle Ruff (Yoko), Hynden Walch (Nia), Johnny Yong Bosch (Rossiu), and Jamieson Price (Lordgenome).

The overall show is great and a must watch. With that said, I wish they developed more of the relationships between the characters. Everyone is buddy buddy with each other, but we hardly get to see them actually hang out with each other or have conflicting fights (like with Rossiu and Simon in the second arc). Other than that, pacing with the first arc, and developing Kamina a bit more, the show is basically perfect. If you haven’t seen this yet, do yourself a favor and check it out. You will not regret it.

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time.

This is Zorgak, signing off.