Gurren-Lagann: GAINAX'S Epic! (There Be Massive Spoilers)

[Gendo'sPapa]

So a lot has happened in the Gurren-Lagann world since the EvaForums crashed, died, and were reborn.
Kamina is still dead. Boota is still the best Gainax mascot ever (yes, even beating Nadia's penis lion and Eva's Pen-Pen, who I never warmed up to). And the show continues to be one great action episode after another with each one only getting better!!

When the Forums crashed the series had just finished the Second Arch of the series. The HERO Arch. With Kamina dead, Simon overcame his self-doubt and depression (with the help of the too-cute-for-words Nia) and led the human resistance gang against the leader of the Beastmen, Lord Genome, and freed humanity from thousands of years of bondage (not that kind).

The show in Episode 17 jumped ahead 7 years and humanity had just exploded. They made Stalin and his 5-Year-Plans look like a bunch of Giant Forehead Pussies. Literally they had flying cars, giant cities, and even bad fast food! It was the start of the third arch, the DARK Arch.

Originally director Hiroyuki Imaishi said that each arch of the show was a homage to a certain decade of Mecha based anime. Arch 1 (KAMINA Arch) was the 70s and the HERO Arch was 80s, then the DARK Arch was clearly 90s inspired. And what better "mecha" anime existed in the 90s than Evangelion.
Characters were betraying each other, the villians were now faceless creatures that randomely showed up unnanoucned (a.la. Angels) and the whole tone was less happy.
To me, the third arch was Rossiu's arch. As Simon;s second in command he was the only one with a brain it seemd (besides Leeron) and when they were faced with unbeatable odds he was the only one who didn't say "Fuck Reason! Let's Just FIGHT!" He had to make some horrible decisions and while some were wrong, from an unbiased opinion many were right considering what little option he had. Either way, the actions Rossiu had to make in this arch turned him from another pointless side character into an actual fully rounded individual.
Gimmy and Darry grew up (hence Darry paying off her Gainax role as the 14 year old sexbomb present in every episode of their animes....shudder) and Nia became mind-raped and pulled a complete 180 becoming the Key Villian.
Basically without going into to many details humanity was thrown several curveballs by the new villians (known as Anti-Spirals who were actually the creatures Lord Genome was fighting before he lost and hid humanity from them as a way to survive-tragic hero!) and Simon and Rossiu had to go their seperate ways.
Of course the Arch ended with a happy ending and now the series is knee deep in its final episodes.
The final Arch, the MYTH Arch (I'm makign these arch names up as I go along damnit) and with Mechas to outsize everyone thats come before it they have gone to the Anti-Spiral homeworld to kick some ass and take some names.
When Episode 24 ends they weren't doing so hot...

3 Episodes left. Seriously while Evangelion is GAINAX'S Best Series, and KareKano is their most Bipolar Series, and that Maid Show is their Dumbest Looking Series, Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann just has to be their most FUN series!

[CorporalChaos]

Eva's Pen-Pen, who I never warmed up to

I almost stopped reading right there. Seriously.

But yeah, everything else you said was about right. Its a show I watch when I have the feeling to just go out and kick ass. It is pretty much balls to the wall fun.

[Gendo'sPapa]

I just find Pen-Pen more distracting than anything else.

He's not really funny and once the cuteness idea of a HotSpring Penguin wears off it got old to me. He had one good scene in the whole series when Misato asks him to "come here" and he just kinda rolls away. But whenever I watch EOE and the Instrumentality scene comes in and Shinji is busting up the room asking Asuka for help there's nothing more distracting than those quick cuts to the fucking thing watching them.

On the bright side Pen-Pen beat the Penguin Craze by like a decade so for R'Eva the producers could market the film as a Penguin Anime and make a mint. "From the Guys who Saw "March of the Penguins", "Happy Feet", and "Surf's Up" comes the newest Penguin based story! Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone, You Got Pen-Pen!"

[Hunter21]

You know you could have just continued the Previous thread you yourself created before for Gurren-Lagann. No need cluttering up the place with duplicate threads.

[Gendo'sPapa]

Aiy but its no longer really a countdown.

That kinda ended on April 1.

Plus all these sticklers for rules and such is rather obnoxious. Its a freaking message board. In the scheme of things its nothing.

[Otaprince]

3 eps? isn't it a 26-ep show?

nice writeup. Amazing that hyper Imaishi has pulled together such a well-paced anime show that shows no decline in animation. But now that we're in the final eps, you know what this means: GAINAX ENDING TIME!!

Note Simon's Honneamise uniform once he becomes Commander-in-Chief.

[Mr. Tines]

From what I've overheard on /a/ episode 16 -- the recap episode -- is in effect number 15.5 of 26.

[Gendo'sPapa]

GURREN-LAGANN EPISODE 25.


More Epicness. All about the heros (and Boota!) rising up to meet impossible challenges and overcoming their enemies. Overall a fluidly animated and uplifting episode after last weeks downer.

This episode is all KITTAN.

KITTAN= Kamina^2!

SPeaking of Kamina, he shows up in the preview for Episode 26. It's clearly an artificial dream sequence forced on Simon but if you need an idea of how Kamina looks...think just how different Episode 26 Alternate Version Rei was from Real Rei. Kamina gets the treatment.

[Shawn Dudley]

I just find Pen-Pen more distracting than anything else.

He's not really funny and once the cuteness idea of a HotSpring Penguin wears off it got old to me. He had one good scene in the whole series when Misato asks him to "come here" and he just kinda rolls away.

BUT I LIKE PEN PEN!!!!

Honestly, what makes him (yes, it's him) so cute is that he has this incredible disinterest in everything around him - he just wants his food, his beer, his bath, and his TV. He sort of resembles the non-Otaku world at large.

But this is a forum about Gurren-Lagaan, so I digress...

[Barinax]

Congratulations?

[UrsusArctos]

Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone, You Got Pen-Pen!"

I understand your concerns about Pen-Pen being rather superfluous, but he's there to stay. Perhaps he wouldn't have been to superfluous had we seen what happened to him around 3I/Instrumentality. Pen-Pen, who can read newspapers and watch TV, comes across as a sentient Lilim...what happened inside his mind when the world tanged?

[Barinax]

Good question. I always thought he might have seen the Rei clones or something he fears but... you never know, it might have been Hikari. :O

[CorporalChaos]

Pen-Pen, who can read newspapers and watch TV, comes across as a sentient Lilim...what happened inside his mind when the world tanged?

The mundo-fish appeared to him. It's Pen-Pen's wet dream.

[Trigger's Elysium]

KITTAN= Kamina^2!

Kittan may have been surpremely awesome that episode, but do not downplay Lord Kamina like that.

[Gendo'sPapa]

Episode 26:

Pure EPIC. I think GAINAX is in competition with itself to creat the biggest robot EVER. So far I think SuperNono/Diebuster from...well...Diebuster is the largest (to my knowledge) but for the final episode it looks like the team gets a mecha so large it's a freaking galaxy.

Anywho, the series continues to be the tightest written show I've ever seen GAINAX do (I love Eva and it's still their number one but its not the tightest written show ever...Toji looses a leg and is gone, Kensuke falls the way of supporting, and no one really seems to miss Kaji 'cept Misato).
The first half is pure epic action with planet throwing and more phallic talk of people commenting Simon on the size and strenght of his drill. And Simon himself praising his drill. And everyone wanting to touch his drill. Seriously, Eva may be Vagina centric but this is just overly phallic centric. Funny stuff.

Anywho, Anti-Spiral shows up and finds Simon's drill to be...meh. So he sends everyone off into the GAINAX of GAINAX'S. Alternate worlds. Some fun developments happen (New Boota, Lame Kamina, etc) and then everyone's favorite hero idol Kamina shows up (well, not the real Kamina but the image) and convinces Simon to go on and fight.
So everyone just kinda hops on Simon's drill (Viral's dream world is the best!) and they come out through Nia's ring in front of the Anti-Spiral itself.
End episode.

Epic like I said. And it gives all its fans one more time to flame their man crushes for Kamina (I still like Kittan more!) but is a great lead up to the final episode.

Weird to have been following this for 6 months and its almost over (never followed a series before), so it'll be good to stop downloading. Next episode looks like it's gonna feature a mecha battle between machines that literally are their own solar system. There's clearly gonna be more praising of Simon's drill and Nia's gonna try to get it all in her mout....wait.....no. They just imply that.
Best thing- last episode is personally directed by Hiroyuki Imaishii himself so expect a stylistic and hyperkinetic ORGY!!!!

[cat42]

Viral's dream world made me cry. He looked truly happy, but he decides to go fight for the sake of the spiral beings anyway. Of course, he looked even more excited to go fight, honestly.

They keep killing off members of Team Gurren, I really hope Viral survives. He may not be well developed, but he is still my favorite character. I dunno, but for some reason I think it's kind of sweet of him to apologize in episode 25 to Simon for not having spiral energy.

I like that Kittan got to experience what it was like to be the hero who saves the day before he died.

Boota becoming anthropomorphic is just funny. I was thinking before it happened "Wait, it's been 7 years, why is the mole-pig still so damn small?", and then, boom! He's an anthropomorph.

[chee]

Gurren Lagann is entertaining and sufficiently epic.

[Trigger's Elysium]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v112/ ... 363954.jpg

[cat42]

I think the awesome level of the show is a steadier, and steeper rise than that.

However, it should sink almost to the bottom for ep 4, and then be around the same level of awesome for ep 5 as it is for ep 1, and a sharp increase in awesome when Viral shows up.

[NeonZ]

Funny coincidence that was pointed in another forum:

(description of the S2 Engine from the Eva2 game files)

The S2 Engine Theory was advocated by Dr. Katsuragi. As the world is formed with spirals, the engine acquires energy from its shape, which is the same as DNA. From here, the S2 Engine was being envisioned as an energy source that would attempt to procure helical energy -- in other words, an inexhaustible supply.