Gurren Lagann

I just finished watching the complete series of Gurren Lagann and want to just give my fresh impressions. First off, I watched it all in one sitting. From episode one through episode twenty-seven, for a total of about 10 and a half hours (virtually no comercials and skipping the intro and outro each time). So, yes, I am a little tired, and the amazingness of Gurren Lagann might just be exaggerated because of the tiredness I feel. Anyway...

Gurren Lagann. Where to start. Okay, so basically it starts with some kids who live in an underground town, and who dream of seeing the surface. But, the surface is forbidden to them and they are stuck beneath the ground. When they get up to the surface, though, they find the surface under constant attack from Gunmen, which are giant mechs with faces in the middle, where you get into them through the mouth. Aside from Lagann, Simon's mech, the mechs are all massive. The mechs are the work of the beastmen, who try to eliminate humans that make their way to the surface. After Kamina decides to steal a mech he liked, the road is set for a full revolution and overthrow of those who would keep humans underground. Beyond that, I'd have to spoil a fair amount.

Okay, without spoiling anything, it makes me, basically, feel like the work Michael Bay has tried to do. I've heard people criticize Bay for the amount of explosions in his movies and some gratuitous scenes, well, Gurren Lagann blows anything he's done away. Not just in terms of sheer numbers of explosions, but also in scale of the explosions. Now, yes, this is a mech show, but he did Transformers, which is a mech movie (okay, giant robots, but close enough). Plus, one of the main characters wears pretty much only a bikini top and short shorts all the time, so, um, yeah. Just in terms of the sheer explosions, though, well, let's just say that Gurren Lagann, straight up Gurren Lagann, is absolutely miniature in comparison to some of the things that explode. In other words, a normal giant mech is tiny in comparison to other things. Just how tiny I won't spoil, but, just believe me when I say tiny.

The main thing that makes Gurren Lagann awesome though, is that it does not take itself seriously in the least and almost every single episode has at least one person making a ridiculously overdramatic speech, with the phrase, "Just who the hell do you think I am?!!" appearing in one form or another in, again, almost every single episode. Plus, there is a lot of talk about Simon's drill being "the drill that will pierce the heavens!"It would be corny if it were done once or twice, but the amount that the overdramatizations take place makes it absolutely silly and ridiculous. Which in turn makes it amazing. Especially since there is also ridiculous amounts of damage and explosions and fighting. The amazing combo of humor, action, explosions and drama make Gurren Lagann truly a brilliantly done anime.