Watching episode 16 of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann really makes you realize how much the show is built around morals. You don’t notice it as much, when there’s giant mechs tearing apart huge moving fortresses onscreen, but when you get to see all the powerful moments together, like they did in this episode, you suddenly understand that this show isn’t just about fancy effects and fan service, theres a lot to be learnt from it. How Simons drill represents how people can’t move forward unless they believe in themselves and those they love, it’s a strong metaphor, but upon closer consideration, it’s really true. People don’t get where they want to be by just sitting down and hoping it’s all going to be okay, you have to take initiative, and though people may stand in your way and try to stop you, you have to believe in yourself enough to be able to push them aside and keep going and if you have a friend that believes in you and what youre doing, that’s all the better. Because they can be there to slap you in the face when you feel like giving up, and remind you that you have to keep moving forward, keep trying, no matter how grim it seems, and even if you fail in the end, you can feel good knowing you gave it everything you possibly could and have no regrets. Those people who watch Tengen and consider all the things they say to each other in order to keep going on as just cheesy encouragement lines don’t understand that.
With all that deep stuff out of the way, I can go on and talk about the episode itself now (:P). Besides just being a recap episode, it really was well put together. I never felt bored because I was watching something I’ve already seen, they put it in such a way that you get a chance to understand each characters feelings from each obstacle they passed over the previous episodes. A large difference to how I normally see recap episodes, which usually just jam in random clips from random episodes and call it a day. This one really reminds you of everything they did and gave up in order to get their freedom back, kinda like the story of Rosa Parks on crack. I really liked how they had some dude (director maybe) write down a subtitle for every different thing that was portrayed onscreen. A really original and well thought out effect for the episode. There were also some amazingly well drawn concept art for the credits, for both what happened, and a little of what to expect.
Watching this really gave me back my Tengen buzz, I think Ill go watch episode 15 again after I finish writing this. It also started my wait for episode 17, which apparently is going to take 7 YEARS in the future. That’s a long time, and lots of stuff had to have happened in between. Simon looks like he’s the Commander of the entire Human race, with Rossiu as his right hand man. It would seem that the Drill Kings words are finally going to have some meaning, we’ll all have to wait and see.
If there are those reading this that haven’t seen Tengen, I cannot stress how much you have to. Its not a matter of wanting to see it, it’s a matter of NEEDING to see it. Its easily one of the greatest animes released this year. A solid mix of drama, action, comedy, mecha and a whole bunch of others. You’d be hard up to find another anime recently released that could even begin to rival it. With all that said and done, *Double Clicks Tengen 15*, you can expect a full series post on Genshiken coming very soon.
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