You know what? Despite how much I disagree with you, this was a well written article and you have some arguable points. Believe me, I'm very aware that not everyone can take the GL fandom to the level I did, but glad to see an opposing viewpoint. Now onto the debate!

You say that Simon accepts Nia's fate passively, and that makes him a bad hero. I would disagree. Simon has been fighting his ENTIRE life. Okay, he's probably only in his 20's by the end of the series, but other than the 7-year skip, everyone's hopes have constantly been put on this guy's shoulders. Whether he's the ONLY one capable of fighting the 4 generals and Lordgenome, or just the plaint fact that he's the only one capable of defeating the Anti-Spiral. Sure, he's insanely powerful, but in the GL universe, he has to be, because there's no other human who can do it in his place.

I believe Simon's acceptance of Nia's fate is the classical hero's return. The part of the hero's journey where the hero must accept his mortality and return back to the realm of the normal. Would the Dai-Gurren Brigade's struggle and sacrifice seem nearly as worth it if Simon could just go, "oh well, let's bring everyone back from the dead!" Of course not, and at that point in the series, it would've seemed like a cheap cop out.

So yeah, I can understand why you're frustrated with the characters and how they act, but hopefully my explanation offers a different look at it.

If you want a more thorough explanation, you can take a look at the c-blog I wrote for it. *cough*shameless plug*cough*

Some strong points that I've seen been made before, made here.

I like what you stated regarding Rossiu. I always liked his character.

You make some good points, but I disagree on a few points, mainly that Simon didn't know that he would be sacrificing Nia. It's made clear somewhere in the middle of the final battle that defeating the Anti-Spirals would cause Nia to cease to exist, and Simon moves on because it's the only thing that can be done. Maybe he doesn't look for an alternative, but that's because there isn't one - he either defeats the anti-spiral or all of humanity dies, there's no middle ground. He has to keep moving forward despite the sacrifices, and the moving forward thing is the whole theme of the story.

Anyway, about not feeling affection for the side characters and thus not feeling the whole sacrifice deal, I can't help you there. That's more a difference of values than anything, but I personally don't think it's fair to declare that there's no feeling of sacrifice at all when it's only your viewpoint.

You are an excellent writer and reviewer... your take on the series is very interesting and enlightening, and it's good to hear a viewpoint that comes from the opposite angle.

I think the difference lies in that angle; for me, I enjoy GL from the standpoint that it was there to do stuff TO me. It seems, maybe, that you wanted to do things WITH it. You were more interested in being engaged intellectually, while I enjoyed being violated intellectually.

So there are my two cents... That and a fiver'll get us a cup of coffee!

You also forgot that even though Gurren Lagann is a well choreographed anime, I believe it tries too hard to bring the "epic", almost to the point where it becomes corny.

Hi, I would just like to point out that Gurren-Lagann was drawn as they go. So when the first episode was produced, Gainax did not even have the second half in sight (hence why we never really see that beginning scene again) ...

Thanks guys!

@ Gee-Man
Now that you mention it, I admit that I overlooked the psychological pressure that Simon felt the whole time. That's a good point, and yes, I read your cblog yesterday ;) sure your interpretation puts everything in a better light.

@ Irothtin
Regarding the side characters, yes, my viewpoint influences it a lot, it can't be helped really.

@ Both
As for Nia, I was just surprised that, in a world where you can do anything with willpower, nobody really looked for an alternative. Then again, as you said, Nia's disappearance was necessary to the story. I still think the whole thing could have been handled better, though.

Now I'll read The-Excel's blog, let's see if something else comes out.

Finally! Someone who finally agrees with me.

I never understood all this Gurren Lagann Hype. At first, I thought it was a bad copy of this 3D movie about a kid who lived in some mines (forgot the name, worry) and the first part was him reaching the surface of the planet. The part about battling the beasts was OK. But then they came with this idea about the spirals, and the anti-spirals and all that crap...

In my opinion they should've taken the Kamina arc, expand it and make the whole series to it. Well, at least half the series. For me, Gurren Lagann was a huge disappointment. Oh, and the drill head transforming the giant robots just by inserting itself into them? C'mon. Oh well, I guess a goofy explanation could be tolerated... but when they arrived to the part about the anti-spirals, I knew that the show had jumped the shark.

When I arrived to the part about using galaxies with shuriken, it didn't even impress me. It was just "meh, more crap. I wonder why I bought this".

Oh well... at least it wasn't Endless Eight.

I actually hold the exact opposite opinion as you.

When I first started watching the series, I could hardly understand where everyone was coming from in saying it was the greatest thing ever, and my opinion didn't change through the entire first half. Even Kamina's death didn't affect me that much.
The show was well-drawn, but every single character was an archetype we'd seen a million times before; it was nothing new.

After the time-skip, however, my opinion on the show completely changed. I'd never seen any show go to such ridiculous extremes, and I couldn't have been happier with it.
I believe the galaxy-throwing scene was actually what sealed my intense love for the series.

I liked it more than I thought I would -- more than FLCL and more than Diebuster, which is odd since I'm a huge Gunbuster fan. Anyway I find myself respecting a show if it has an awesome structure, and GL is all about structure. The entire series is a giant drill! They start out living underground, unsure if there even is such a thing as a "sky." Ten years later they're masters of the galaxy, actually having giant robots standing on a galaxy throwing solar systems as weapons. That's some awesome shit!

Well, between this blog post and the comments I made on Irothtin's blog, I don't really need to make my own review (which I was reluctant to do as soon as I saw the saturation of Gurren Lagann posts). Your problems with the series essentially mirror my own.

@Irothtin: Actually, it's totally fair for him to declare there was no feeling of sacrifice, just like it's totally fair for YOU to declare there WAS a feeling of sacrifice. The two of you are coming at the same information from different innate prejudices that you have developed since your births.

I think you make a lot of good points in your review, and I even agree with some of them. But really, if you're analyzing the plot that much I think you've missed the point. Gurren Lagann isn't trying to have the most original plot ever, it's trying to be the most awesome show ever. For instance, I did think the Nia arc lagged arount the middle, but when they were delivering a flying kick to the enemy's battleship, using their battleship, I couldn't care less about the plot.

Also, the final battle with the Anti-Spirals took place in a parallel universe of their own creation, where they had control over the laws of physics. So there.

@Mloclam: The problem, though, is that for people like Mr. Pizza and I, the repetition and absurdity of it all does NOT make it awesome. It has the exact opposite effect. Yeah, I get that it's supposed to be over the top. I get that it's supposed to break all the laws of physics. I get that we shouldn't take it too seriously.

However, what I DON'T get is why the critics are supposed to forgive incredibly lazy writing. The battles in the second half of the show boil down to "the heroes get their butts kicked, then Simon suddenly gets a burst of even more fighting spirit and wins." That's it. Are you honestly trying to argue that we're over-analyzing it because we'd like to see even a shred of creativity? Especially since the first half of the show seemed like it was trying to mix up the battles; the heroes actually had to use TACTICS in addition to fighting spirit.

@Stilts and various others: I'm feeling a little lazy so i'll just comment on a few things.

Like Stilts pointed out this show is supposed to be over the top. It's main theme in my opinion is that you can do anything with courage and overcome and obstacle.

I personally don't think it's fair to say the second half just boiled down to "hero gets but kicked and such and such happens and he wins." You could say that about many shows (Berserk, Kenshin, Ippo, -insert shonen show-) but you'd be missing a lot if you want to look at it that way. I think what's important to look at is what lead to such events, (i.e many things happened for Simon to gather more energy in the second half.)

My question is what shows do you guys prefer to this that has lots of fighting? Or is it more so of how they win?

Also random comment about Nia.

-I personally thought it was very sweet that he married her knowing she'd disappear.

-Gimmy also asks Simon why he doesn't use spiral power to bring her back.

-Yoko comments that Simon is not a god.

-Simon says those who have passed are always dead.

I find those to be pretty important comments on not bringing her back or finding an alternative. Some also may view it as a cookie cutter happy ending also.

In the end it's all personal taste.

@Darksorrow29: My problem is how they win. For example, I like the first half of Gurren Lagann, because they have to THINK about how they're going to defeat the enemy in addition to having fighting spirit. When Kamina first attacks the gunship, he can't defeat it by rushing in, no matter how much spirit he has. Simon defeats it (well, puts it out of commission for a bit, but you know what I mean) by considering his surroundings and luring it into a trap. When they try to capture the gunship, they have to create a diversion to give the Lagann a fighting chance. When they defeat the last general whose ultimate attack is to spin (can't remember the guy's name), they can't just rush in. The Gurren Lagann has to dig underneath it to pierce it's hull and reverse the spin.

In contrast, virtually all of the battles in the second half of the show have the heroes meeting the forces head on, getting kicked around a bit and finally winning because of magic--er..."fighing spirit." Tactics play a very small role, so I never had an "Oh, that's pretty clever!" reaction to the resolution of any of the battles. That's kind of sad, since you'd expect that a show that doesn't care much about reality could come up with ways to end battles that are more creative than "build a bigger/better drill."

@Stilts: Everyone has their own opinion on what makes a show good or bad, so they can criticise it from whichever angle they see fit. However, saying Gurren Lagann is bad because of sloppy writing is like saying that Death Note is bad because it doesn't have enough action scenes involving giant robots. I honestly never noticed that the final arc is basicly just Simon powering up to the next level, which I think says a lot for the show's structure. The way that the over-the-top action and over-the-top dialogue come together in the last arc always stir my emotions, and that's just fine by me.

I never liked it to begin with. It was okay but never deserved any of the hype people gave it.

@Mloclam: Uh...yes, I know that everyone has their own opinion. In fact, I said exactly that in my first comment to this blog. I wasn't trying to tell you why you should think the show is bad. I was explaining why I thought the show was bad. YOU were the one saying I was wrongheaded for wanting decent writing in Gurren Lagann. Why shouldn't I? In my opinion, EVERY show should have good writing, no matter what genre it is.

Personally, I think kid Simon is pretty annoying, but the adult version is great. He's totally different from Kamina, in my opinion. Kittan is more like Kamina if anything. Also, I recommend you watch the two movies. Especially the second one, it is much better.

Gah! I really wish I had an edit button. I didn't mean to say I think the show is bad. I enjoyed it, but there were several aspects that disappointed me. And unlike The Big O (which I think is the best super robot show ever made), I doubt I'll ever feel compelled to rewatch Gurren Lagann.

You had the same reaction to the series that I did. I mean I like the series and I recommend it to people who are into either mecha or sheer manliness, but as a whole I think it is over-hyped

I really, REALLY liked this review. Now I'm a GL fanboy[/obvious] and defend it on every point I can. But I can't really disagree with you on any points. All I can say is, I love the show for the things that it intended, and acknowledge that others will see beyond those things. This is a perfect example of that.

Good job, sir. Good job. *two thubs up*

"What is more, grown-up Simon can’t be a good protagonist. We’ve already had one Kamina, and he was much better, thank you." OMG THANK YOU!!! ugh i agree. i love Gurren Lagann and simon is better older but he is definetly NOT BETTER THAN KAMINA.

Great read.

From an intelectual point of view, TTGL is stupid. But it is awesome because it is stupid. We have enough of main characters with no spine to fight (DA POWA!), enough characters who think too much, enough sentimentalism. TTGL is great because it's all about GAR and being epic.

I absolutely hate when the villain is on the verge of destroying the world, and all the main characters do is to cry and being emo instead of punching the enemy in the face.

Bad post imo, The Rossiu arc was NOT the best arc ...