B2112's Anime Reviews - Episode 6: Gurren Lagann

I could approach this as I have my previous anime reviews, and very easily craft a long, nuanced review on TTGL; but I would rather boil it down to this:

TTGL is an excellent show, and handles scale unlike anything that has come before it or since. It is silly, but it has depth. It is beautiful, but it is sad. It is ridiculous and absurd, but it plays by its own rules.

You should watch Gurren Lagann. (And don't miss out on the post-credits scene in the last episode)

I rate TTGL: 5/5

B2112's Anime Reviews: Episode 0

(P.S. I think TTGL is a perfect @danryckert anime. It has manly men doing manly things, and is genuinely funny)

I agree with this, Gurren Lagann is manly as all get out.

I wish there wasn't that huge dip in quality at episode 4(?) though.

@cat_herder:

Was that the one with the fuzzballs/multiple faces/black siblings introduction? If so, I didn't personally have any problems with it; but I could certainly see where it has room for criticism =)

When does it get good? I tried the first two episodes a few years ago and found it completely unwatchable.

@werupenstein: I watched through it a couple of years ago but I just couldn't get into it at all. I can appreciate some real over the top craziness but it felt like the show didn't have much else going for it other than how insane and frantic it was. I guess it was also a case of me just not finding it very funny. The gags came across as kind of annoying at times. Maybe I need to rewatch it at some point.

I was hoping to watch through this during the holidays so I'm glad it comes recommended

@boonsong: Gurren Lagann is absolutely insane, but it's also just a story about becoming a man. It's emotional when it needs to be (occasionally) and also absurd when it needs to be (most of the time). The gags drop off after a short while, because the story starts gearing up.

Gurren Lagann is a show that I try to watch once a year or so. I really, really like the idea, I love how extremely over-the-top and hammy everything is... but man, it just doesn't do anything for me. The characters tend to get on my nerves a little bit, but that's not what makes me stop every time. I can't really tell you what does, I just don't really like it.

But Gurren Lagann remains one of the most recommended anime shows pretty much ever, so if you're reading this and want to watch it, give it a shot.

I don't really think Dan Ryckert would like it much, either. I still think he'd like Rurouni Kenshin a lot.

@bassman2112: That's the one! It's not necessarily a bad episode but it doesn't match up to the quality of the rest of the show.

It's great. To this day, the OP remains on my song playlist and it pumps me up so much when I hear it. Simply fantastic.

I think it takes a fairly big risk with how it handles its characters and the passing of the torch from one protagonist to the other. While that other character still plays quite a major role, especially near the climax of the show, I still think it was a shift you don't see that often in shows and it remains one of the biggest shocks, when it happened, that I had ever seen.

I've yet to rewatch the series in its entirety since the first time I finished, but I occasionally still go back just to watch the big fight in the last episode with "Sora Iro Days" playing in the background. It was one of the few shows where every time I watched it, my little sister would stop whatever she was doing and watch it with me over my shoulder.