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Cirno · 04:19 PM

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

Studio: GAINAX
Episodes: 27
Orig. Air Date April 1, 2007
Genre: Action/Mecha

One of the more popular shows airing this season and not a single thread. Decided to finally make one. Delicious copy pasta for most of this!

STORY

Quote:

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann takes place in a fictional far future where human beings have been forced underground and thrive in isolated subterranean civilizations. These "villages" have no contact with the surface world nor other villages. Since frequent earthquakes damage infrastructure, the villages must constantly expand deeper into the earth — individuals designated to this task are known as "diggers".

Jiiha Village is the home of Simon, a fourteen year old digger who was orphaned when his parents were killed in an earthquake. He is respected by the village elder as the best of the diggers, but is ostracized by his peers. After discovering a special drill key deep in the ground, he is recruited by an eccentric fellow orphan named Kamina into his group, the "Gurren Brigade". Kamina dreams of the surface world, which he visited as a child with his father but had to return home because he was too weak to survive.

After a failed attempt at reaching the surface, Kamina is jailed by the elder and Simon resumes digging, only to discover "a big face" deep in his tunnel. As he excitedly fetches Kamina to show him the discovery, he is caught by the village elder, but Kamina's punishment is interrupted by the ceiling of Jiiha Village collapsing as an enormous robot falls into the cavern. A fourteen year old girl named Yoko appears and tries to fight the robot with a large rifle, but initially cannot do much. Simon takes Kamina and Yoko to the "big face" he found earlier and discovers that the small drill key can be used to activate the small robot which he uses to end up destroying the much larger robot and effectively break through to the surface.

It is on the surface that Simon and Kamina discover that there are more large robots known as Gunmen piloted by "Beastmen" that terrorize the surface dwellers during the day. Simon and Kamina help Yoko and her village destroy three more Gunmen and Kamina takes one for himself, naming it Gurren. Eventually, Simon and Kamina decide that they will go on a journey to end the constant struggle between Beastmen and humans. Simon and Kamina are initially accompanied by Yoko and a mechanic from Yoko's village named Leeron as they head out to find the Beastmen's Human Eradication Army main head-quarters.

Major Characters
Simon

Simon is a fourteen year old (though Gainax supposedly removed character ages from the official site, so this may be moot) digger from Jiiha village. One day, he finds a mysterious drill-shaped item, which is later revealed to be the key for a head-shaped robot he dug up some time earlier. With the help of the robot, Kamina, and Yoko, he fights off a Gunmen who broke into the village. While finishing the Gunmen off with a drill-like attack, they reach the surface world.

Kamina

Kamina is a young man from Jiiha village who dreams of leaving the village and go to the surface, which he saw as a kid. He's very passionate about his goals, expressing his wishes through energetic speeches, which seems to affect all those who hear him. He convinces Simon to help him with his plan to drill through the roof of the village and get to the world above, but the plan failed and he was put in prison. He left the village shortly thereafter with the help of Simon and a young girl named Yoko, as a result of fighting a Gunmen, who broke into the village from the surface

Yoko

Yoko is a girl from Jiiha's neighboring village Ritona, who had been chasing the Gunmen which entered Jiiha village. She wields an extensive range of firearms and has previous experience fighting Gunmen. She uses her marksmanship from afar to assist Kamina and Simon, while they pilot their gunmens. Although she is of the same age group as Simon, she is mature and one of the most rational of the group.

Viral

A Beastman and member of the Human Eradication Army. HOT-BLOODED and quickly becomes Kamina's 'rival' in the series.

Nia

SO MOE, I'M GONNA DIE. Nia is a mysterious young girl found sleeping in a capsule in the middle of a dump site by Simon. She has had no prior contact with humans except her father. She is very curious, pure and innocent, because of growing up sheltered in a peaceful environment, away from all the battles occurring in the outside world. During her travels with the Gurren Brigade, she discovers the harsh reality of the world and develops a strong empathy towards Simon.

MECHA
Ganmen

The type of mecha used in the series. The name itself as a whole means "face" and can be broken down into "gun" and "man" — unsurprisingly, the mecha themselves are centered around faces. Gunmen sport a variety of weaponry — the more primitive models only use large clubs or bare hands, while more advanced ones use cannons or beam weapons. Gunmen are apparently powered by "fighting spirit", and prior to the events in the anime none were piloted by human beings.

Lagann

- Simon's personal Ganman. Significantly smaller than most, it's pretty powerful in it's own right. Capable of forming small drills on it's forearms or combining both legs to form a larger, stronger one. This mech also features the ability to 'hack' into other Gunmen by using it's 'leg-drills,' taking over either aspects of the 'victim' or absorbing it's likeness into itself.

Gurren

Piloted by Kamina. Bulky, slow, and cumbersome, but stronger than the Lagann in offensive capabilities. The big, black sunglasses were added to the Gunman per Kamina's wishes.

Gurren-Lagann

As the name implies, the combination of Gurren and Lagann. Lagann literally drills into Gurren and the two form a far more powerful and formidable Gunman, christened Gurren-Lagann by Kamina during its first battle. It's trademark attack is the 'Giga Drill Breaker,' among other ab-libbed, spur of the moment moves.

Enki

Viral's advanced Gunman, pictured here without it's helmet. One of the few mechs to actually use ammunition, this one is a swift fighter wielding two katana-like blades, a sickle-like head projectile, and a headpiece that fires medium-ranged particle beams. So much win.

My Thoughts
I don't like mecha anime much. I'll watch it every now and then if I'm bored but I never actually dedicate myself to a series. Gurren-Lagann's the first time in years that I've thoroughly enjoyed a mecha anime. The fight scenes are well-choreographed and so incredibly over-the-top that it's hard to take your eyes off of them. Animation is top-notch stuff, though may turn a few viewers off. It's kind of wacky, as while the plot gets darker along the way, the show seems to naturally mix comedy into it's more serious moments often. There are several exceptions when shit hits the fan and comedy is completely left on the sidelines, but all-in-all Gainax somehow makes it work.

That said, I'm also not a big fan of Gainax. Evangelion pissed me off and I hate that series with a passion. I've watched a few episodes of Gunbuster 2 and liked it (which is interesting, considering the multiple nods to previous Gainax works included in GL), but as a whole the studio's done little to keep my attention.

The series is currently up to episode 18, but it was recently licensed by ADV. A few fansubbers received 'cease and desist' letters from the publishing group, and thus most groups dropped the series. The only ones who seem unnerved by the warnings are [anon] and BSS. RAWs are typically released Saturday evening or Sunday morning, with soft-subs in the latter's evening or Monday. Hardsubs are usually on/off and a little bit more difficult to come by, but you can always check out veoh.com. People there tend to upload full episodes to view, ala Youfail.

Opening - Sorairo Days by Nakagawa Shouko

YouTube Video

Download

Ending- Underground by High Voltage

YouTube Video

Download

Direct Downloads

Spoiler:

By the way, if you're an avid EBAUMSWORLDER don't visit f/a/ilname Saturday or Sunday, as you'll get spoiled out of your minds.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Chris Dark · 04:20 PM

Gurren-Lagann's quickly getting up there on my list of favorite anime. Sure, Gunbuster and Diebuster's above it, but they also finished after six episodes each. There's little doubt in my mind that GL'll take the top spot on my list before the end. After all, they have Kamina in Nia in the list of characters! Oh, and "happily ever after" still makes me cheer every time I hear it after its' appearance in two of the most epic episodes so far.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Conan-the-3rd · Local time: Jul 29, 2007, 10:24 PM

Black order have pressed foreword too, they're just being like Natashi Subs were with E7 though...
And that's no good.

Most amazing jew boots

Roku · Jul 29, 2007, 08:55 PM

I was skeptical about this show at first, but decided to watch it after seeing some screenshots and reading favorable reviews...

Turns out to be one of the most fast-paced and content-packed shows I've seen in a while... I also appreciate the growth of Simon throughout the series (though the first episode kinda gives it away).

I'm curious though, when did Gurren Lagann's helmet lose one of the 'horns' (or the curved samurai helmet decorations, whatever they are called)? It shows it damaged in the picture provided above, and never in the anime do I remember a part being lopped off.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

The Big Cheese · Local time: Jul 29, 2007, 10:56 PM

Gainax shows make me happy inside. This is definitely a very interesting anime. The fast pace and constant action are really a jolt to the brain. Really though, the action can be repetitive and lackluster but it's great that they throw in such interesting characters. Just got episodes 17 and 18 and I think I will wait until a few more from this arc are released before I get back into it.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Magi · 11:29 PM

Quote:

I'm curious though, when did Gurren Lagann's helmet lose one of the 'horns' (or the curved samurai helmet decorations, whatever they are called)? It shows it damaged in the picture provided above, and never in the anime do I remember a part being lopped off.

Originally it was a full circle, but it was broken when Gurren Lagann broke it off Enki's first helm.

I actually love the symphonic track that often use in the background, very uplifting, epic even. >w<;;

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

aku · Local time: Jul 29, 2007, 11:41 PM

i could have sworn there was already a thread for this.... but oh well.
Of what i have seen of the series i LOVE! only thing i dont love is the slow rate at which order is subbing it..so im holding off on watching it untill there are afew more episodes released before i watch much more, but its got that zannyness of Gainax of which i love <3 so i will deffently keep watching it

FELIPE NO

Conan-the-3rd · Local time: Aug 5, 2007, 10:42 AM

Black Order released episodes 11 - 13 so there you go.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Little Shithead · Aug 13, 2007, 11:39 AM

Downloading the raws and then getting BSS-anon's subtitle files is the only way to go. They're released pretty quickly (usually about a day or two after the first raw gets released,) but very good. Best speedsubbing I've seen.

I thought about making a thread for this after the first few episodes, but I feared that if I were to make the thread, the shows AWESOME would drop significantly. Obviously this hasn't happened.

I'm not even gonna lie, this is the BEST anime I've ever seen. Any anime that makes me want to wait for each new episode every week is always good in my book, but this is something completely different and new. I've seen some epic anime before (GTO, Kaleido Star, etc,) but this just goes above and beyond them. If Gainax can pull off a good ending (something that's always been very hard for them,) it will be hands-down, a perfect 10/10 rating from me.

Also, a soundtrack can't come soon enough.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Metal Sphere · Aug 13, 2007, 12:02 PM

Aye, I'm definitely with you there. One of the more enjoyable animes I've watched and if Gainax doesn't screw up it'll definitely be in the "best ever" list I've got in my mind.

Also, the raws are in HD, so I'll definitely be holding onto them since the chances of it coming over at that resolution are pretty low.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Ashton · Aug 26, 2007, 10:47 AM

Summing up the most recent episode

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Dave1988 · Local time: Aug 26, 2007, 06:30 PM

Originally Posted by Ashton

Summing up the most recent episode

Pretty much sums it up

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Conan-the-3rd · Local time: Sep 9, 2007, 01:38 PM

Black order and KAA joined forces to present the DVD-quality subs of Gurren Laggan to the Standard KAA form.

News be here

I was speaking idiomatically.

Arucard · Local time: Sep 10, 2007, 08:55 PM

holy episode 24 was O_o
didn't see that one coming...i thought about something like that...but never before 26...or 27 really

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Little Shithead · 10:18 PM

I just got around to watching episode 23, absolutely fucking phenomenal episode. If the ending to this show is anything but "fucking epic," it will be slightly disappointing.

I'll have to get on downloading 24 when BSS-anon releases an .ass for it.

Also, I think according to Nipponsei, in a month from now, on October 3rd, the OST will be released. That's what I think, and my best guess looking at the Gurren Lagann website. I'll just have to wait a month and see.

FELIPE NO

Arucard · Local time: Sep 11, 2007, 10:24 AM

adtrw already subbed ep 24 quite nice subs rly

How ya doing, buddy?

Metal Sphere · Sep 13, 2007, 10:28 PM

Wow, just caught episode 24. This show has become absolutely insane and when I think back to where they were, it makes me laugh. Episode 25's preview has me worried, but if what I think will happen actually occurs, wild shit is basically guaranteed.

I can't wait to cringe when the inevitable GL dub pops up in a while.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Conan-the-3rd · Local time: Sep 15, 2007, 11:10 AM

Oh, if the US market is anything to go by, it'll get the first 3 dvds dubbed and then adv will focus thier energys on Kanon or sumsuch shit like that an' leave lagan to rot with sub only releases that will never be supported except for the hardest of Hardcore.

I'm onto, you, Voltron: destroyer of shows!

How ya doing, buddy?

Ashton · Sep 16, 2007, 01:49 AM

Ep 25.

Words simply fail. This show. This music. These characters.

This is the single greatest anime ever. Ever.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Metal Sphere · Sep 16, 2007, 06:18 PM

Spoiler:

If you've seen episode 25, go ahead and check out the image. If not, go see the episode or catch up. This is getting ridiculous, and I was right back then about 25 being something crazy.

Here's to hoping they end the show well.

Most amazing jew boots

Little Shithead · Sep 16, 2007, 10:13 PM

Spiral King, what is the Gurren Lagann's power level?

IT'S OVER...ONE MILLION!

WHAT, ONE MILLION!?

Okay, terrible joke, but goddammit, that's what I thought when I saw it.

I haven't said it enough, but... so... damned... EPIC. I think we can all agree that the only bad thing now about Gurren Lagann's ending is that it will end (and be replaced by Maple Story the next week.)

Also, damned near 100% certain that I'll be importing the soundtrack(s) and ripping them to FLAC or something. Blah better have a tracker ready on the forums by then.

How ya doing, buddy?

Cirno · Local time: Sep 16, 2007, 08:35 PM

Manly tears.

As I was saying in chat, I actually got teary-eyed. I haven't felt like that since David the fucking Gnome died. Since Optimus Prime died. Cartoons and most media just don't have the same kind of affect they had on me when I was a little kid. Fucking awesome directing, animation, and writing in this episode.

Spoiler:

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Ashton · Sep 16, 2007, 11:54 PM

Woah, woah, fight da powa with a new av.

Spoiler:

FELIPE NO

Metal Sphere · Sep 17, 2007, 12:08 AM

I'll keep an eye out for the OST, there's a ton of tracks I'd love to get my hands on.

Spoiler:

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Cirno · Local time: Sep 17, 2007, 10:04 PM

The OST is scheduled for an October 3 release.

Hopefully somebody rips it by then. All I really want is Viral's Theme and 'Eye of the Storm.'

Jam it back in, in the dark.