Overall Rating
Good
Story: 4
Dialogue: 4
Animation: 5
Entertainment: 4
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The first thing I have to point out, is that the reputation this show has is not hype, it is a genuine pleasure to watch. Whilst there are a few apparently pointless moments in the story, they don't subtract overly much from a story containing everything from love, happiness and life lessons, to loss, consequences, vengeance and disaster. Each of the side stories support the overall arch, and introduce side characters that will influence the main characters in both positive and negative manners. These ranges from blisteringly dark moments of upmost despair to side splitting moments of pure random humour.
Dialogue wise, both the English and Japanese voice actors are able to provide weight to their characters. The show carries with it one of the most recognisable catch phrases in the anime fandom, although I quickly got tired of it, as it made less sense every time they used it. While I don't know if this is mearly a subbing error or an official translation mess up, Simon is NOT pronounced Simone. Not sure who's fault that is, but for me that is a nagging point.
Most animes have animation that ranges from great to poor, and Gurren Lagann is no different. However, this time round the poor drawing style of the animation add fluid moments to the giant mech battles. It is all well and good to have nicely detailed mechs battering each other to pieces, but if they move like claymation figures, you quickly lose interest. The detail drop on the characters are a welcome trade off for fluid movements and excellent battles.
Entertainment wise; the battles, jokes, dark moments and even the interaction of the characters themselves will keep you watching. It is possible to watch the entire show in one sitting, but I recommend stopping at the mid-season point. Take a break for a few hours, even the rest of the day, and come back relaxed and ready to sit there for 7 hours to watch everything to the conclusion.
The only really major problem with this show, is that the characters have a major case of penis envy. I'm serious, they find a mech. Encounter someone with a bigger mech, they take that. Then they meet someone else with an even bigger mech. They take that, then encounter another enemy that has a bigger mech ... and so on and so on. Even the multi-episode grand finale is simply a case of "Who's Drill Bit is bigger?"
An engrossing watch, with jokes jokes for both male and female viewers, a story line that is captivating, even if the premise IS slightly overused. The story moments can be as entertaining the battles, and the true emotional moments are guaranteed to move you, no matter who or what you are.
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