Story & Characters
Story:
(May seem like spoilers, but they aren't: )The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting where humans are
doomed to live under the ground. Above ground lives Beastmen, human-like creatures that have a disdain for humans, who
make it their job to kill whatever human comes above ground. We soon learn that the reason is because humans belong to a
race of people who possess the power of the Spiral, and that if left alone, could potentially destroy the world. After a
bunch of devastating and motivating events, our main character Simoun, leads his team of rag-tag fighters in a rebellion
against the oppressors.
The reason why I liked the story is because it is very innovative and new. They took familiar ideas in mecha, and added
some flavor to the plot. We have interesting scenes such as Simoun's mecha having the ability to take over
whatever-else mecha it manages to combine with, which leads to some really key and interesting events. Although some
essential plot points are easy to predict, it still doesn't detract from the overall story.
There are some gaps in the storyline that are left untouched, but I really enjoyed how the story progresses with
no-nonsense, and just gives us the meat.
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Characters:
Characters are really lacking. All of them, except for Simoun, are extremely one-dimensional. For example, all the
'background' characters have no real purpose other than to make things seem livelier. I didn't like
KAMINA's character at first, but I managed to deal with his importance relative to the main character, Simoun. His
energy is also inspiring. YOKO almost has no purpose other than to fulfill the requirement for X amount of boobs in an
anime. People may hate me for saying this, but she's only there to balance the testosterone with estrogen.
Seriously, considering how she's rendered 'unavailable' for any guy to chase her at episode 10, just
proves my point. As for ROSSHU, a necessary character that you can't help but to hate. He represents all the people
who have doubts of Simoun's abilities and motivation. VIRAL, also has very little purpose other than to represent
the Beastman side of things. He doesn't have much individuality and seems really one-track minded. However, I
enjoyed SIMOUN's growth, LIRON's quirks, BOOTA's humor, NIA's kindness, and KITTAN's
perseverance.
Other than Simoun's growth and development, though, the characters just aren't that interesting. You may argue
that they're a perfect balance of different character personalities, but they really do nothing other than one
thing (ugly button pushing nerd, grunting twins, dumb three useless sisters, conveniently placed old man, mindless
battalion leaders, etc etc).
Rating: 7
Art
Very stylish and artistic. I didn't give it a 10, because it didn't seem to go above and beyond. It was very
well done, but still seemed within the realms of 'safe'.
Rating: 9
Sound
As my friend mentioned, after Simoun grows up into a man, the opening song lyrics change to reflect Simoun's
personal feelings. Truly a great representation.
Rating: 8
Presentation
I am purposely writing this review one week after I finished watching TTGL, so that the adrenaline rush that came from
watching the end could wear off. (Yes, it required one week for that to happen).
TTGL is an in-your-face straight-up mecha anime with no frills and little nonsense. From mind boggling action fight
scenes to outlandish ideas that somehow fit into this fictional universe, TTGL really satisfies the palette. Although
the pace starts out slowly for the first 10 episodes, it soon gains steam and goes for an amazingly enjoyable build-up
until the end. Objectively, there may be a few flaws and irks in the characters and storyline, but this is really
overshadowed by the energy of the anime.
I highly recommend this anime, because the fights are on such an epic scale. Furthermore, aside from the slow start and
the useless hot springs episode, TTGL really doesn't waste much screen time. If you are a male who doesn't
have expectations for a profound story, have a healthy amount of testosterone and just plain want an entertaining anime
to watch, Tengen Toppa Gurren Laggen should definitely be on your "To-Watch" list.
Value:
I would definitely want to re-watch this series again, just so I can pick up on the little details and references.
Furthermore, the battles are just so epic.
Rating: 9
Final Verdict
8.1667 (good)
Reviewed by nauxolo, Nov 12, 2008
