Gurren Lagann

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is the pinnacle of anime insanity. No Dragon Ball or super robot show can come close to the ridiculousness of TTGL. It breaks the record, then reaches a million miles further. Its so over-the-top that any anime that would try to beat it would only chase its coat tails.

But what really makes TTGL one of the best is its controlled juuuuust enough for you to take it seriously. It isn't amped to 11 every episode. Its well-paced, and gradually progresses. The characters are very likable, the animation is solid, and the music is great! The best moments of the show are perfectly executed, working on so many levels. Its more than gigantic explosions and drills.

You'd have to be a sworn enemy of fun to hate TTGL. Its awesome, but emotional too. Its easily one of my favorites.

Final note - The movies are mostly rehashes of the TV series. But the final battle...well, let's just say it managed to top itself, somehow. See the second movie's ending for the stunning conclusion to the series, skip the rest.

Personally, I'm not a massive fan of anime, but I can get down with it. This is the first show I've watched all the way through, based on the recommendation of a few anime fanatics, and it was incredible.

Generally, the show defies realism by a long shot and is fairly lighthearted, although it expresses very abstract and interesting concepts, and also tense subjects we can all relate to. The first 10 episodes will probably make you think the whole show is going to be about fighting machines battling on a barren landscape, but everything changes dramatically halfway through. The last few episodes nearly had me crying in pure awe. Honestly, this anime is so well done, words cannot really describe it.

The show illustrates one primary message: willpower and love are much greater than you can imagine. If you're a bit unsure in the beginning, hold on until halfway through. I promise it gets intense.

People usually think of Gainax for Evangelion, and its obvious because Evangelion got all the people of my generation into anime (even if they don't want to admit it...) It was a freakin crazy i-don't-understand-nothing kind of anime series i've never seen before... but nowadays, now that we've seen more and learn more, its not thaaat great, except for the fact that everything we saw after Evangelion was heavily influenced by it, even western stuff.

Why do i talk about EVA?, well after all (except for the giant robot part) its nothing nothing at all like Gurren Lagann, its not serious, its not heavy, doesn't keep any information from you, and the main concept of the series (you know, like getting better day by day in Dragon Ball, the search for your own ideals in Samurai x, or the blues in Cowboy Bebop) its completely the opposite. While the main idea in EVA is quite dark and depressive and tries to reach the heart of people through emphathizing with the main character weaknesses, the spiral concept of Gurren Lagann is a call to heroism and faith.

So why do I want to compare this two?, first of all the style Gainax made for EVA is clearly present in Gurren Lagann like in most of their series... And second, because for me this two made the same thing in their current time periods, they reminded us why giant robot are so cool!!!

Yeah, Evangelion is clearly built for the nineties's standards, being secretive and revolutionary in its way of telling the story, its what we wanted in those days, an anime series that we could call a masterpiece in front of people that didn't watched anime at all... but today we don't care anymore, and Gainax know exactly what we want, super attacks, great fights, great fun, a good story without too much unnecessary story weight, and the best relation between all those parts, if you don't know what i mean go check Gurren Lagann out. It didn't get me addicted like Death Note, Code Geass, claymore or the first Fullmetal alchemist, but later i started to realize i love each one of the episodes of Gurren more, i don't really want to repeat all those series but its been two years and i still watch a Lagann episode or the movie now and then.

I love Gurren Lagann, and yeah it has issues, i got bored in one episode (Yoko's episode), but damn its good, even though the second half gets really transformed and sometimes gets you confused you will finally make one big universe in your head for this series... also has the best first episode because it puts in line the main concept trough the chapters of the story getting you all the way to the greatest oh-my-god final episode in anime history, the best.

love it love it love it, highly recommend it!

I'd like to make a few things clear before I say what i'm about to say about this anime. And that's: "I didn't want to like it." I'm serious, when I saw all the hype surrounding it and claims of "THE best anime", I felt antagonistic of the whole idea. I never believed it, I mean THE best? There's no way... But then I watched it...Now again, another thing, I don't usually cry. Like, at all. Not a bit. Nor do I scream in excitement, which is why I didn't very much like watching Football with my uncles growing up. But man does Gurren Lagann rip me out of that state of mind. Never before have I seen such a perfect blend, just the right amount of episodes, just the right amount of characters, just the right amount of plot progression, and topped off with a PERFECT amount of action and romance to give me an experience I wouldn't believe. Bawling at some parts and jumping up and chanting "FIGHT THE POWER!!" at others, this is definitely the anime to watch, and absolutely the best anime ever. With an ending so satisfying and bittersweet giving you the proper closure you needed for letting go of such a perfect experience. If you haven't watched it do so now. It's Dub is just as good as the original, a rare case indeed, so get out there and become part of the Dai-Gurren Brigade!!

This show is so very stoic and awesome. The way it plays out reminds of some of the Ancient Greek epics like the Odyssey. The characters are expertly designed as well as the action and visuals. If you're looking to get into anime I recommend you start with this one, it's really a modern classic.