Upon suggestions from RPG.net, I checked out this Gainax anime. I'm nine episodes in and loving it. It's all so ridiculously over the top that it punches through to awesome.

Trying to put the premise simply would be a crime, but I guess I have to. Imagine an alternate earth where the surface is controlled by Beastmen in Giant Robots. Most if not all the humans live below ground, and in order to prevent destruction in the inevitable earthquakes, they drill deeper into the earth. One very proficient young driller, Simon, locates two treasures that get the whole adventure started. He finds the Lagann, an ambulatory giant robot head and the spiral key to start it moving. Joining forces with Kamina, a guy who pretty much embodies adrenaline, and Yoko, a scantily clad gunbunny, they ride the Lagann and punch through to the surface.

Once there, they fight the Beastmen of the Spiral King in their "Ganmen." Kamina, being the over the top guy he is, hijacks a Ganmen and combines it with Simon's Lagann to make Gurren Lagann. Gurren Lagann is themed around drills and uses a vast combination of special moves to defeat the ganmen piloted by the Spiral King's generals.

In episode nine, they use a strategy to distract the generals so Simon can use the Lagann to hijack a Ganmen Carrier City. (That's like a fighter hijacking all of Babylon 5) And somebody dies. More awesome awaits!

The dialogue would be cheesy if spoken by anyone else but from the mouths of Simon and Kamina it just becomes awesome. Phrases like "Break through the impossible and kick reason to the curb" and "Giiigaaa Driiiiill Breakaaaa!" become battle cries that bring hope to the opressed humans.

Really, if you haven't seen this already, check it out.

I was so 'smitten'
That I built a Lagann Mask for a cosplay a month ago^^




Remove those spoilers bloody hell!

That is awesome. Do you have a partner in crime with a Gurren costume?

Quote from: Sword on October 23, 2007, 04:54:57 PM
That is awesome. Do you have a partner in crime with a Gurren costume?

Nope^^ I was the first Gurren-Lagann Cosplay in France^^
(You should really remove your spoilers)

I just got to episode fifteen, and there were no punches pulled. No multipart episodes either. Introduce Villain, Fight Villain, Slay Villain in dramatic fashion. It's a pretty awesome formula.

Now, we get to the Helix King, his generals having been defeated. His Gurren type goes toe to toe with Simon's Gurren Type, winding up with the king's Ganmen split from crotch to chest. The king jumps down and starts barehanding Simon and the Lagann and winning. So SImon pulls out the Spiral Key and rams into the King's chest, twisting it almost all the way around and blowing a hole the size of Alaska through the king.

Big Celebration with all the free peoples having defeated their foes and then I look over at the Wikipedia entry and there's still 15 more episodes to go... This is going to get better.

Spoiling hurts...

Thasnks Sword!  this is great!  i was able to start watching this too.  only on ep 5 at the momoent.  soo cool.  it looks like there a lot more effort being put into the animation than what i've seen in recent series shows.  i like it.
and i'm happy that i'm watching it with a fresh start, and its not aloready bogged down in continuity (which i s why i tend to stay away from anime)

Up to episode 21!  its so awesome.  and i've never been a really big anime fan.  but this storyline is just so cool.

I think that's part of the point. It's just so dang awesome that you don't question how such things are possible.

Upon completion of this series, I have been advised by the same ones who recommended it, to hold off on watching any new anime for awhile, as I will be unfairly comparing the new stuff to Gurren Lagann.

Apparently, Gainax spent 40% of the animation budget on the last three episodes. I gotta figure with all the stuff I saw, that the budget was massive to begin with.

I just finished the last episode.  This is one of the best Animes of all time. :thumbup:

Yeah. Fight scenes, over the top character interaction, and some rocking music make a great show. The track "Row Row fight the power" is currently number one in my playlist.