Well it’s finally over, and I can’t help but feel sad about it, no more waking up and checking tokyotosho every morning for my weekly dose of GAR and inspiration speeches about drills and space. All I can do now I quietly await the new anime seasons to start (Shana II, Genshiken II and hopefully Haruhi), until then I’ll be re-watching Tengen 27 over and over, letting loose with the manly tears. (No funky comments on the screenshots this time, just admire the win)
As most of us know, Gainax is a very cursed studio, what’s their curse you ask? To make the worst anime endings out of what could have been the best animes of all time. The endings are rushed, and always what the viewer hoped won’t happen, does. Good examples are Evangelion and Kare Kano, both starting off well and slowly sinking into a pit of what Gainax likes to call “creativity”. Knowing this curse well, I almost dreaded the end of Tengen, would the anime I adored fall victim to the curse and end up being another anime to put away and forget? No, never, besides… who the hell do you think we are.
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann ended in just about the best way it could, with an epic battle. About 85% of the entire episode was the fight between Simon and the Anti-Spiral; the battle literally took place throughout thousands of Galaxies and shook the very foundation of space and time. When robots start throwing galaxies and big bangs at one another, you can’t help but be completely entranced, although what you’re seeing is completely nonsense and couldn’t possibly happen (like how there appeared to be gravity in space and how they could walk on Galaxies) for a brief moment we just didn’t care, we cared only about the epic clash, and who would be victorious, just like Tengen always did.
At the start of the series, Lord Genome was the enemy of humans everywhere, or so they thought. He suppressed them and took away their rights, and eventually died for it. Yet 26 episodes later he’s sacrificing himself for the benefit of mankind and turning the tide of the war in Simons favor, Tengen's characters really have evolved. The once cowardly boy Simon is a man brimming with confidence in him as well as others, the once young and playful Yoko changed into a young woman who gained knowledge and responsibility through hardship and losses, Rossiu the young boy who once blindly followed a false religion is now the leader of the entire world, every character slowly drilled their way to the surface, and became better people in the end. And of those people, there were those who gave their lives for the sake of others. Kamina, died trying to fight for his dream of a better world, Kittan, died protecting thousands of people and the only hope of mankind, and Nia the girl who entered the series with no warning, seemingly carefree and faithful in Simon no matter what the situation, died for the sake of Humans and Beastmen everywhere, for without her death the Anti-Spirals would have had to have lived on, yet still knowing that she was able to smile and move forward. RIP Kamina, Kittan and Nia for who without the series wouldn’t have been as epic as it was in the end.
Tengen was a breath of fresh air, and easily the best mecha anime released in many years, if not just the best anime released in many years. There were episodes that made me wonder if the writers were sane and where the story was leading, but I look back ashamed, seeing as how the series turned out to be epic, there is no other word for it. Amazing and lovable characters, a plot that developed as the story grew on, amazing battles and animation; one can look back on this series and only remember good parts and epic moments and phrases. This anime most defiantly is one of my favorite, and I challenge Gundam 00 to make its anime even remotely as good as this one.
With Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann finished there’s already talk of a second series, people saying that we can most likely expect it to be released next year. Is this valid information? No, but Tengen did leave off on an off note, Gimmy has Simons spiral and it seems a new enemy has presented itself, apparently calling themselves the “Spiral Nemesis”. It’s not official, but I wouldn’t forget about Tengen just yet.
Whats next? Who knows, there probably wont be any anime posts until the new series start, or unless I get bored and download a small series to keep me busy in the meantime. Or maybe Ill finish that Persona 3 review, or get Miku to make a anime post. Well see, till then just remember to believe in yourself, and if not, believe in me; who believes in you.
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