I will say that Gurren Lagann is one of the best animes I’ve seen in quite some time. It’s the only anime that took the mecha great Eva and added new concepts. At 27 eps., it can seem like a lengthy watch, but that’s nothing compared to the other series which have 50-200 eps.. The animation itself is beautiful and actually switches up a bit depending on the situation. The music is OK, but I’ve heard better. The only piece I care for is the piano which plays throughout the series. The “Fight The Powa” theme which is introduced halfway throughout the series is a little too ‘shounen‘ for me and becomes annoyingly repetitive at times.
But, I will say this, Gurren Lagann has a great storyline and awesome character development! I was interested in catching up on some anime series I’ve been neglecting since I’ve been busy with other shit over the past… umm… 4 years! So, I decided to go with popular opinion and check out those that have such high ratings. Gurren Lagann was one of them.
I don’t want to give away any spoilers here, so you might want to stop reading at this point, if you have yet to see this and want an element of surprise.
Although I love the series, and would highly suggest EVERYONE go out and buy it ASAP, I was a bit disappointed with the latter half. Most people who review the series on crunchyroll and elsewhere complain about the way it ended. But, for me, things took a turn for the worse around episode 17. Now, I can understand the concept of evolution, therefore the city(s) being built in only 7 years wasn’t too much of a stretch for me. However, once the anti-spirals were introduced into the plot, things started getting really weird really fast. At times I’m sure some concepts went over many people’s heads. Many times throughout the series I took certain concepts with a grain of salt and had to remind myself it’s an animation in an animated world where apparently anything is possible. So, based on the turn of events at the end of eps. 17, the ending didn’t surprise me. Overall I’d give this anime an 8.5/10. I would’ve given it a 9 but my distaste for the turn of events around eps. 17 made me dock it another 1/2 a point.
On a side note, some key things I feel need to be questioned are:
Why did Rossiu feel the need to become a total dickhead when he gets some political power? I felt like slapping the shit outta this dude every episode since eps. 17! And, if spiral power has the ability to bring the dead to life, why couldn’t you at least bring back those that were lost in the ‘final battle’?… or for heaven’s sake at least bring back Aniki! I don’t know, I guess that’s just me being hopeful 😛
Makell Bird 