Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - Ahead of Its Time

Took the opportunity to rewatch TTGL and I must say that I’ve overlooked some of the beauty that this anime has to offer.

The first and most distinct element is definitely production value. You can bring a few dozen high-end modern anime (maybe in the past 5 years or so) and this thing will still easily bring them down to their knees. The amount of effort spent to carve every frame, every detail, every design, every voice acting (especially the Anti-Spiral dude) is very, very real. I’m not exaggerating to say you can literally feel the passion driven deep inside Gainax during the making of this piece of art.

Another thing to bring to the table is how insanely well thought out TTGL was brought about. The thematic value resides within is not something to laugh at. Sure, the method and presentation might appear juvenile and, how do I say, “primitive” perhaps, but if you sit back for 10 seconds and think about it, they actually try to deliver something worth muling over.

Honestly, I don’t think I’ve seen any anime with the guts to devastate the MC to their hardest content yet all the while pertaining the initial image he has, really well done there (Nia though 😢). And I think Kittan was really well crafted for a side character with very limited screentime, he didn’t get much chance to shine but when the time came, he absolutely stole the spotlight, and that’s how you handle supporting cast.

Lastly, the whole ideology mumble jumble stuff can also be a bit convoluted but I think they do make solid substance to challenge the premise of the story a bit. I don’t really have any problem with the ordeal revolving around Rossiu or even find the Anti-Spiral ideology to be rather compelling, it serves as a great anti-thesis to the protagonist side and, as a result, turned the whole final struggle into something worthy of its scale.

So yeah, TTGL is really something, the ending really nailed the whole journey of Simon and I gotta say it’s definitely one of the best coming-of-age story out there that rarely seen.

AND OF COURSE, ONE DOES NOT SKIP THE OST,