Also, regarding the earlier posts concerning Simon becoming a hobo, I didn't see it in that manner whatsoever. If anything, he's just playing his cards right, knowing when to back out. Humanity got where it could with him and couldn't without, now's time for him to stop tempering and watch them in the background.

Btw, anyone catch Simon's spiral eye? That was pretty sweet.

I expected that Kamina will kiss Yoko (when he come to wake her up to the reality in EP26) and have his speech like "We'll have it 100 times better in the next time I see you" something like that,lol

watching him grow from an insecure kid to a hero as the series went on. Having Kamina die at the beginning was a TOTAL 'no wai' moment for me (after the shock wore out, I honestly expected Gainax to pull a 'oh-wait-there's-a-clone-of-him' or some other bullshit), but it was done beautifully :tpg:

The deaths of the rest of the Gurren-dan, Kittan's sacrifice, and then Nia's disappearance...gah, everything about this show is awesome.

Ep 8 or so, Kamina died. I heard folks say that the anime goes downhill after that episode.

True, it didn't feel nearly as interesting after Kamina died, but I think it evolved quite nicely. It became a very realistic representation of Simon becoming a maaaaaaaan~ =U He went from being a coward on his own to a coward fighting alongside Kamina. Then he had to get back up on his feet after Kamina's death and deal with things on his own.

The character deaths outside of Kamina didn't phase me. I didn't feel connected to ANY of the characters. I'm sorry to say that the only animes with deaths that got to me are Legend of Galactic Heroes & Gungrave. The latter did a wonderful job of making you feel connected to a few of the characters.

One forced thing -- Boota evolving. wtf is this furry shit. Thankfully the creators ENTIRELY forgot about that after that scene. It was pointless, worthless, and ignored. It should've been removed altogether.

Some folks have gripes with the 20 years later thing, but I think it MADE the anime, for me. I thought it was an alright anime up to that point. I was deleting the episodes as I go. I saw the end of the anime and kinda sat there for a bit. I was a bit grumpy about Nia fading away, but it was a creative ending.

Then I rewatched the epilogue. Again. And again. I find myself appreciating how very well done this ending was. Simon pierced the heavens, and stuck to his roots as a digger. They showed quite often that Simon isn't meant for being a politician or an official, and I figured he'd either die (unlikely) or fade in to obscurity. They did it so god damn WELL, though =D

It's good to see that he knew about Nia disappearing. It'd be horrible if he had no clue and it happened. He seemed to enter a state of acceptance and was grateful for their time together. It could've been a tragic ending if they removed a few lines and altered Simon's reaction, but they made it just bittersweet.

I might very well redownload it in the future. But episode 27 is remaining RIGHT where I left it. I'm downloading the soundtrack, since that tune in particular when old Simon shows up is caught on my mind.

Also, I like how it had Simon chatting with Kamina, even commenting on him being taller. Simon became very, very much like Kamina (not as crude or hilarious sadly :(), but it was very nice. Plus, in the wedding scene, he was the spitting image of his "big brother", despite there not being a blood relation.

Gimmy and Darry maybe? Ugh.