Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
tabbycatcarnival
Absolutely overrated.
Before I get into women-centric views, let me address the glaring inconsistencies and poor writing decisions.
First. The first half and the second half are completely different shows. Sure they have the same vibe and art and cartoon logic and setting but too many characters take shit turns in their direction for the sake of melodrama. There's a guy who was more or less the same as Simon in terms of mental state but somehow after a seven year time skip became a brooding pragmatist even though he experienced the exact same things as the rest of the team and the exact same talk no jutsu as everyone else did at the end of the first half; the funny glasses girl (who was mere eyecandy as a sister to the Kamina spinoff) is his diehard simp for NO REASON. The very convenient…
Read at the sourceFlexstyle
TTGL is one of most overrated anime I’ve ever watched. It’s literally a Fairy Tail version of a Mecha, filled with: corny childish speeches, deus ex machinas and power of friendship.
The show never attempts to explain anything e.g. mechas joining together because it falls back on its premise of “kick logic out of the wall Simon!!1!”
70% of the characters are one dimensional and irrelevant to the story. Simon is a generic beta crybaby that turns into a Kamina clone. Kamina is your typical, confident, never-give up aniki (big brother), Yoko has no character and is just there for boobs fanservice. The first half of the story is boring, repetitive mecha of the week fights. The second half turns into some convulted fight against aliens. Spiral power is the worst power system I’ve ever seen.…
Read at the sourceMikasa
Tengan Toppa Gurren Lagann! JUST WHO THE HELL THINKS THIS IS GOOD?!!
*No Helping It Soundtrack*
Guren Lagann is like an eco-friendly waste disposal facility, it's well-organized, looks clean and colorful, and gives off a cheerful vibe, but ultimately it's still garbage.
Story: Rather than going ham on this and have people "enlighten" me on how this is an "over-the-top, just-for-fun, turn-your-brain-off", I'll just explain why it fails even down that road. See, being over the top requires turning a cliché idea into a truly enjoyable one; something witty, or bizarre. TTGL does not offer that. It simply offers explosions. Then offers bigger explosions. Sadly, this only makes them less impactful.
Over the top is when a squirrel conjured out of a first poses a threat on your life. TTGL is s…
Read at the sourceIAmSovereign
The show that turns boys into men.
Gurren Lagann was breathtaking. An endlessly thrilling ride from the most humble beginnings to the most fantastic of ends. Absolutely inspiring and a must-watch. There are so many memorable moments in this series, and lines and ideas that it imprints into your very soul.
I will admit this is one of the first anime I had ever watched, except Miyazaki films. And its ridiculousness shocked me as a newcomer. Even so, I was enraptured, drawn by the infectious energy and the constant adrenaline rush from this show.
Because it was unique. It was so very unique.
Tengen Toppa, while it does have an amazing story, is not about the story. It's not about a logical progression, strategy, conflicts of interests, world building, exploring the sci-fi or the other i…
Read at the sourceFrancAguiar
There was a time.
When men were men. They were screaming like crazy speeches, faced the impossible, and said things that made no sense, but that even so we did say "EPIC".
There was a time.
A time of captains Harlock, a master time Asia, a time of Domons.
Logic was not important. The strategy was not important. If you believe in the impossible, impossible would be nothing in front of you.
The time is gone
A wave of animes that have to be "realistic", "philosophical", "adults" around us. Are good? Are. Meet your purpose? Meet.
However, however ... I miss something.
Characters idiots who laugh in the face of death, and not to be shaken by anything. Characters that I remember that, in essence, in the beginning, were not meant to be realistic.
No wonder that I am addicted to shonens: manga as…
Read at the sourcetrzr23
The thing about having high expectations is that you do your best to enjoy the show even before you press play. And once you’ve finished watching, you either feel satisfied that this series truly lived up to the hype and something you too would recommend to others or, more than often, you wind up sitting down, watching the credits roll and wondering why you were looking forward to this wishy-washy stuff in the first place.
In 2007, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann pierced its drill not just into the heavens, but also into the hearts of millions of fans across the globe. It is probably one of the most massively raved shows with fans believing the series was a gift from the mecha Gods themselves and critics lavishing praise to the point of reducing the scores of its counterparts just because they…
Read at the sourceSkadi
Perhaps no other show I have viewed have I gone into with higher expectations and hype than with Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Practically everyone I know has told me about how awesome it is, how its epic ending is the best thing since the invention of the internal combustion engine. Looking back I suppose that made it inevitable for me to be let down and disappointed.
A message to the rabid fanboys probably is in order. If you are incapable of accepting anyone’s opinion that differs from your own then you might as well stop reading this right now. What follows is a critical and perhaps a bit harsh analysis of a series that at its best was one of the best things I have ever seen, but at its worst made me want to punch a hole in my television. I certainly did not hate TTGL. I can clearly rec…
Read at the sourceMikiyo
"The story of a man who fights to forge his own destiny."
Pretty much we can resume those words onto this story. To be honest i would have never thought that i would enjoy a show where you can find excesive and overadrenaline fights. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann called my atention just because of the very commotion of being such a overrated anime, or people calling it trash. Turned out that i was wrong to think that this anime would be a waste.
From unexpected shouts of wars to supergalactic fights that our imagination never would manage to have, we have Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, a plot that brings the story of a man who tries to forge his own destiny with the company of his friends. Sounds very simple isn't? It is indeed, but just because it is simple it doesn't mean it lacks of complex…
Read at the sourceUndertow
I just don't seem to be able to wrap my head around this anime and the ideas of the people at Gainax behind making it...
It seems almost like what Quentin Tarantino did with Kill Bill, which is a throwback to something that was mildly popular back in the 70s. Gurren Lagann seems to do the same thing, as in copying the over-the-top style and cheesy writing from the mecha anime from those days. Or they made a parody on that exact same thing by going even further into it then they did back in the 70s.
I'll admit straight away that this type of anime is not my style, especially since I'm someone that loves an anime with a great story, which is something that seems to be put into this anime as an afterthought to fill in the few seconds in between the senseless battles and fanservice.
I'll giv…
Read at the sourcejgodby1
When reading some of the reviews for Gurren Lagann, I realized very quickly that a lot of people are transposing their enjoyment of the series onto their opinion of its story and characterization quality.
This is a mistake.
While Gurren Lagann is a fun, entertaining anime with many over-the-top, wow-factor moments, it doesn't do anything that hasn't been done before in one form or another. The overall message of believing in oneself and that "Ganbarre yo!" atmosphere is a major factor in the enjoyment of the show. The opening theme is great, the animation, apart from one episode near the beginning of the series, is mostly spot-on, and the voice acting is superb.
However, if you're looking for a serious anime like Death Note or the majority of Code Geass, you won't find it here. Don't e…
Read at the sourceSplitter
"Who the hell do you think I am?!"
A now famous quote that is Kamina's battle cry, Simon's battle cry, and arguably the show's battle cry. Gurren Lagann is a show that screams this in every way, shattering all limitations placed upon the constraints of its world. In doing so, it becomes what is arguably the most epic anime on the map today, in every sense of the word.
Gurren Lagann is an epic story, because the narrative actually is the layout of classic epic poetry. A vast limitless setting to journey across, passionate speeches, and heroes that embody the hopes and dreams of entire civilizations. It is a tried-and-true formula that Lagann follows to the letter. This is especially enjoyable for people such as myself, who need more... much much more, to even consider watching a "mecha" a…
Read at the sourceholdenn
When I hear about a company making a mecha anime, there are only two things that spring to mind: either they are brilliant, or they are goddamn blind and living under a rock. Thankfully for fans of anime worldwide, the boys and gals at Gainax are neither blind, nor living under a rock. The simple fact is that Gainax has proven one universal truth: no matter how saturated the genre may appear at any given time, there is always room for improvement. All you need is a robot with two heads, arguably the most elusive quality in a mecha.
In many ways, TTGL represents the true evolution of mecha. It takes the concept of armored fighting vehicle to a whole new level. A level no mecha anime dared to do before.
Not once in TTGL did I feel like being let down. It is both visually and in terms of c…
Read at the sourcetheeggman85
I just finished watching TTGL about a few days ago, and let me tell you all, this anime isn't rated #1 for nothing.
Now because there are already reviews that I couldn't hope to outwrite already posted on this page, let's assume that I agree with all of the positive ones. What I hope to do is give an image of what to expect by addressing some of the negative comments about the anime.
First off, some people say "This anime is way too cliche, it doesnt work for me cause theres nothing new". This is completely understandable, because usually the cliche can breach the lines of corny and become, well, cliche. The thing is, I am REALLY into the whole "if you think you can do it, you can" mentality, and when you watch TTGL, keep in mind that that mindset is a focal point to the series. Personal…
Read at the sourceslpless
Gainax is easily one of the most well known anime studio, especially with titles like, Neon Genesis Evangelion, KareKano, and Wings of Honneamise. However, as of late many fans claim that the quality of Gainax has dropped down significantly and that their golden age is over, well that was until Gurren Lagann. Without a doubt Gurren Lagann took both Japanese and western fandom by storm. This coupled with the fact that there was very little hype before hand thus, making the extreme popularity even more impressive. For me what was more impressive was the fact that people that normally don’t like this sort of thing (ie prefer more serious, dramatic works) enjoy it immensely. This was what drove me to watch Gurren Lagann and write this review afterwards.
Gurren Lagann reminds me of anot…
Read at the sourcekiriska
I was basically forced into watching TTGL by my brother, and I'm ever so grateful because I, like many others, had not experienced true epicness until I saw this series.
STORY - The story for Gurren Lagann seems very modest at first glance. That's very misleading though, as it eventually becomes quite grand and all-encompassing. Simon and Kamina just wanted to break out of the underground and see what was on the surface, but they got so much more than that... It's amazing to me just how far the story goes between episode 1 and episode 27 (is it 27 episodes because it was just way too amazing to fit into 26? I think so). The characters' goals at the beginning and end of the series can't even be compared, and yet, the progression happens incredibly smoothly... so smoothly that you don't eve…
Read at the sourceUserZero
First of all, I'd like to point out that I do not normally watch anime about mecha. That being said, I found Gurren Lagann to be a fresh look at the genre, and one that was quite entertaining as well. Unfortunately, I do think the show has been slightly overrated (being ranked #1 on this site at the time of writing) and for this reason my expectations upon starting Gurren Lagann were somewhat higher than they should have been. I'd have probably enjoyed the show more if I'd gone in with my usual attitude toward anime of this genre and been pleasantly surprised rather than mildly disappointed.
My main reason for writing this review therefore is for those like me who might otherwise watch this show without regard to the fact that it still follows many the typical shounen mecha tropes that ma…
Read at the sourcechosenone
This is the only series that is bad enough for me to put it on hold thrice but just good enough for me to pick up again and finish. I am astounded by the mass popularity of this anime, there is no logical reason for it. The story you can say is about fulfilling dreams, which is fine. The problem is that it tries to be serious and absurd at the same time. Combining FLCL and Gundams does not work, yet that is exactly what this anime is. The animation is very good however and and their use of CGI fit in nicely when they used it. The musical score is nothing to brag about, it was neither a + or - for the show it was just there. The development of Simon may be the shows one redeeming quality. With the exception of a few incredibly bland characters like Kamina, most were fairly unique and a few…
Read at the sourceMaster10K
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is a fast paced, no-holds-barred Shounen, Sci-fi, Mecha, Adventure anime that takes many of the elements that worked well, to form something that is bursting with entertainment. ^_^
The story revolves around humanity’s struggle against enemies known as the “beastmen” who use mecha to annihilate all the humans on the surface. The story is really simple, with no need for complications as it follows several people (including Simon, Kamina, Yoko, etc.) who stand up and fight. As the story goes, the people get stronger and their numbers grow larger and even after some major turning-points it never loses its focus. Nonetheless the story may be too simple for its own good. Yet this still doesn’t change the fact that the anime is pure entertainme…
Read at the sourceWashi
Only on the rarest of occasions does an anime come along that truly grabs me and elevates itself above mere entertainment and into the realms of gripping television. Gurren Lagann did this with frightening ease, not with complexity or depth of its storyline, nor with its technical excellence, or innovation, but with its boldness, energy, sense of humour, and heart. Some people may be put off with the degree of silliness the show never ceases to deliver, or at least be deterred from becoming deeply invested in the plot or its characters, but being the sucker for just this kind of shameless splendour and over-the-top theatrics, I took to it with enthusiasm, and came out of it with a strong sense of appreciation for the fun that the show delivered from week to week. Gurren Lagann is the kind…
Read at the sourceVexys7
Every once in a while a series comes along that, for lack of a better word, owns the competition. Ladies and gentlemen that series is Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, do not let the lengthy name intimidate you or the seemingly cartoonish style put you off because this show is worth it and you'd sorely regret not experiencing this gem of a series. In a world where the majority considers mediocre shows such as Naruto to be masterpieces, we often overlook shows that so sorely deserve our attention and they end up just passing us by. I'm writing this review in hopes it will divert your attention away from shouting bankai as you imitate Ichigo and open your eyes to this series.
Story wise Gurren Lagann shows us exactly what an anime should be, a seemingly simple story of a young men forced to stay…
Read at the source