Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann/Fridge

Fridge Brilliance

• Watch Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann once, and your mind will be totally thrashed by all the massive, over-the-top Hot Blood that runs through this series. But watch it after watching Neon Genesis Evangelion, and two things will happen: first, you'll gain a new respect for Eva, the deeply intellectual series that turned the mecha genre around, and once you watch Gurren Lagann, the emotion will be so overwhelming you'll find yourself crying out of thrill! -- Da_Nuke
  • • I did in fact unintentionally watch TTGL soon after Eva and, feeling the same way as you, I came to the exact same conclusion. They both balance and complement each other quite nicely.
  • I suddenly realized how fitting the part of the ending where Simon gave up the Gurren Lagann and became a wanderer was after watching it again and noticing a specific line (that goes something like "I'm just Simon the Digger. I shouldn't be the one to traverse those tunnels that I make"). It's pretty much telling us that his role was to lead the way to a new life of freedom to all races, but leading the people after freeing them isn't something he's suited for or would even enjoy. Additionally, by this point he was creating so much spiral power that he would have a hard time using only a comparatively little, and since the only threat that would require so much Spiral Power was gone him remaining a pilot would be more of a liability than an asset. That's why he gave the Core Drill and Gurren Lagann to Gimmy. Thus he can instead live a humble life with his closest friend (Boota), which is pretty much all he ever really wanted. This also brings new meaning to Simon's adjustment of the Arc Words in the finale that "My drill is the drill that creates the heaven!"--He didn't say anything about commanding them, now did he?-- User:thatother 1 dude
    • Additionally, I later realized something implied but not outright stated that answers several questions that had been bothering me about the Beastmen operating Gunmen without Spiral Power: the majority of them were solar powered, thus explaining why Beastmen only attacked during the day unless they had other power sources like the one from the Hot Springs Episode (geothermal) and coming out of Teppelin (Lordgenome's Spiral Power). -- User:thatother 1 dude
      • Smaller, but it's a third thing! I finally realized that the giant sunglasses on Gurren Lagann's chest is a parody/homage to Mazinger Z's Breast Fire plate thing when I saw Mazinger in one of many Lawyer Friendly Cameos in the last Parallel Works -- that same person again
        • Not really Mazinger Z, more like Great Mazinger and his Great Boomerang. It has the same V shape, put in pretty much same place, and actualy throwed as a weapon like the predecessor. To further complement this, Gainax even gave Gurren Lagann a set of wings that can be thrown, which is an obvious shout-out to Mazinger Z and Mazinkaiser Scrander and the Scrander boomerang move.
    • I just realized something else about the ending. After watching the ending the first time, I wondered why these particular people succeeded this time in defeating the Spiral Nemesis once and for all. Other than that their the main characters and thus almost definitely win. Then, I realized: since Simon's main weapon is a drill, he can really only move forwards, and head-on. Other species must have been foolish in the past, creating such distracting things as strategies, never really understanding the nature of Spiral Energy. But Simon's drill is one large spiral, and is an allegory for his soul, as Kamina stated in the first episode. And that led to an increased understanding of Spiral Energy, far beyond that of a normal person. Upon understanding the true nature of the power he was using, on a complex level we outside of that universe would never understand, he could charge forward, little by little, whittling away at the Big Bad, and he won. Because his is a drill that pierced through the heavens! (I really hope I managed to make that make sense) - User:Dinru
      • And in contrast, Lordgenome's drills are narrow and flexible. He tried to destroy the Anti-Spiral with strategic, decisive attacks rather than whittle away at it slowly, and was defeated for it.
      • Actually, this might be Wild Mass Guessing but I had a similar realization, after wondering for a few days just why the cast were the only ones able to win it finally hit me, the crucial factor came when they were in the infinite labyrinth, it was Kamina. All the other groups had their own Simon as seen by all the laganns, they probably had their own Kittan and Yoko and everyone else, even their own Kamina. But, this Kamina rather than just staying as a coward like all other versions of Kamina decided to be brave, for Simon, rather than seeing Simon as a weapon or advantage for himself, this Kamina saw Simon as someone who deserves a lot from life, so Kamina put on the mask and tried to become the mask as a badass for Simon and by extension everyone else, bringing an illogical hot-blooded attitude that defies this group. And the memory of that badass hot-blooded Kamina was something the Anti-Spirals had never seen before, which caused of course their ultimate downfall - User:Morning Moon King
      • Adding to the above, just consider Parallel Works 8 and Lordgenome's attempt at defeating the Anti-Spirals. Though it's a bit sparse, I felt it's rather telling that Lordgenome's is able to so easily slaughter the rest of humanity once he betrays them. It seemed as if everything rested on Lordgenome as their leader--whereas in Team Dai-Gurren, everyone was inspired by Kamina. When Lordgenome betrayed humanity, everything went to hell, because they didn't know what to do without their leader. But Team Dai-Gurren was able to move past Kamina's death and fight and stand on their own two feet because of his memory.
  • For a long time, I was a really vocal opponent of the ending where Nia dies. I thought it was a Diabolus Ex Machina Gainax Ending that was the complete reverse of everything the series had stood for. A month ago I watched the ending again, and suddenly it hit me: if Simon had resurrected Nia, then it would have opened up a whole can of worms as people would have demanded the use of Spiral Power to resurrect their loved ones too. Such a world, where no-one would ever die and leave the world to the next generation, is exactly against the ideals of "moving forward" and "evolution" that the series portrays. Yes, the method by which her death plays out makes no sense (since it combines the worst aspects of Contrived Coincidence and No Ontological Inertia) but there couldn't have been a more potent way to show Simon's growth as a character (can you imagine the same Simon giving up this chance in episode 9?) and utterly rebuke the Anti-Spiral's claims that he has become conceited with Spiral Power. -- User:Redkun
    • There's also the fact that bringing people back from the dead would basically bring about the Spiral Nemesis due to a lack of decay, etc. This, in turn, explains why post-timeskip, the Spiral Power that was apparently used to build up surface civilization so quickly doesn't "wear off" like it did pre-timeskip (a la the damage to the Gurren returning when Lagann "unplugs"): it doesn't act like fuel so much as like a building material. And so the only way to undo that is to break the old stuff down and make new stuff out of it. The endless creation that comes of constant use of Spiral Power is what the Spiral Nemesis would result from. It's a nice little death and rebirth side-Aesop. --WonSab
    • I realized something else, about the manner in which it happens. Think of the Extermination System as an Artificial Intelligence Program, and the Anti-Spiral Homeworld as the only database it can run on. Without the database, the program is deleted. Nia managed to exist independently for a while, but she could only do so much. So much for No Ontological Inertia! - User:Dinru
    • What you've also missed is simple. At the start of the last episode, the Anti-Spiral is tearing Nia to shreds. Like her father, she has very little of her body left, and fills in the gaps due to the advantages of Super Spiral Space. When she leaves that, all she has left to keep her alive is her own Spiral Power... which only lasts so long.
  • I just realized something rather touching that comes after Kittan dies: at first I thought the star-shaped sunglasses were just a random bit of coolness they stuck on. Then it hit me: approximately what shape was the King Kittan? A star. It's not just there , it's a tribute to another fallen hero. It's not as big as some the others here, but it's a nice detail. -- WonSab
    • There's more about the shades as well. At the end of the final battle, when delivering the final blow, the star-shaped shades break. Now, the first thing that occurred to me was that this symbolizes him fulfilling his promises to Kamina and Kittan and carrying on their fight, to make their deaths worthwhile. The shades are like that to remind him of the people who gave everything to get him that far, and when they shatter, it means he's won. But also consider, what were the shades originally? That's right, his digging goggles. So, also taking into account his statement that somebody else is meant to go down the tunnels he dug, the phrase "my drill is the drill that creates the heavens," and the fact that the Anti-Spiral gets a big ol' drill through him, it basically means that Simon has dug his last hole. Not only do the shades break because he's justified his friends' deaths, but it's also his goggles breaking because he has fulfilled his destiny and doesn't need them anymore. Pretty deep for something that took less than a second of screentime...
  • It just occurred to me that maybe Lordgenome threw Nia out like trash because he was aware of the Anti-Spiral gene inside her that would turn her into their servant should the annihilation system wake up. Considering everything else Lordgenome supposedly did for humanity's sake, it's not too much of a stretch. -- User:Zephid
    • Actually, he decides to get rid of her, because she starts questioning the world around her. Perhaps Nia was a failed experiment to create a human without Sprial Power. Just like the Beastmen, but capable of reproduction. An end to the threat of the Anti-Spirals, since there would be nothing left for them to oppose. The Anti-Spiral itself wonders this: what it is that drives them to fight and use Spiral Power, so that they may erase that power from the world.
  • After I watched the series for the first time, I had thought that it would've been better if Kamina had lived. He laid the groundwork for the rest of the series, so if he had lived, he would've continued to do awesome things, right? However, I eventually realized that it would've meant that Simon would never have developed into the Badass we know and love later on. One might argue a case that he was already starting to come into his own shortly before Kamina's death (the first Giga Drill Breaker being evidence of that), but with Kamina around, Simon would've been content to remain in Kamina's rather large shadow, and would have never become the great hero he's turned into by the end of the series. Kamina himself admits to Simon in episode 26 that "you've become a greater man that I was" or something to that effect. -- User:Bufuman
    • I came to the conclusion that Kamina would have had IMPOSSIBLY large shoes to fill in the later parts of the series. It could be said, by dying, he was more instrumental by being a memory of greatness, rather than ever having disappointed the people. His spiral power actually seemed to be pretty minimal, especially when he tried to steal the Gurren, until his death. He basically needed to set an example for everyone of how to do the job he couldn't do himself, especially Simon, with his massive potential. -- User:Cid Highwind
  • Partially inspired by an entry in Wild Mass Guessing, I recently realized something about Kamina's famous catchphrase (well, one of them...), "Don't believe in yourself; believe in me who believes in you". On its face, it sounds like, "Don't worry, kid, when your confidence is shot, I'll keep cheering you on", and it's easy enough to just take it as such... but pare down that sentence and you get "Believe in me." Simon was looked down on and/or ignored in his village, and no one "believed in" him aside from Kamina... but consider that Kamina was in much the same kind of position, being called "the liar's son", having his gang composed of insincere hangers-on who betrayed him at the first opportunity, and being subjected to constant beatings, jailings and general attempts to shut him up. The only person who truly stood by him was Simon. Additionally, we see in Episode 11 that Kamina was afraid and panicking when the tunnel collapsed, and Simon's quiet determination was directly responsible for Kamina's refusal to give up. In short, when the phrase is examined closely, Kamina was actually asking Simon, the person he admired more than anyone else, to have faith in him -- "Please have faith in me, because you're the person I respect and trust the most, and I act confident and self-assured because I know you're watching me". Furthermore, when Kamina was dying, he told Simon, "Don't believe in me, who believes in you... don't believe in you, who believes in me... believe in you, who believes in yourself" because he finally recognized that that was what he should have been telling Simon all along. -- User:Rain Normally
  • There is a Japanese saying that goes something along the lines of "The nail that stands out gets pounded down." It practically defines their culture. Keep that saying in mind, and re-watch the scene of Simon getting beaten by Lordgenome.
    • This sort of thing seems to crop up in anime a lot. In a society that values conformity as much as Japan's, why are the heroes so blatantly nonconformist that it becomes a superpower? Are the creators deliberately deconstructing their own culture? -- phantomreader42
  • Rossiu's viewpoints in the third arc reflect the views of his village in the fifth episode. I had to watch the fifth episode three times after finishing the series to catch that. - User:Dinru
  • Here again with another revelation-of-sorts: given his insistence that he wouldn't die on the surface like his father did, one might only attribute the fact that Kamina didn't struggle or get angry when faced with death, and in fact died smiling to his genuine (and well-placed, of course, as it turns out) faith in Simon's strength. But that isn't all -- Kamina's acceptance of death also points to the series's eventual message that death needs to be accepted and the past placed in the past in order for life to continue forward, and that peaceful smile also a tribute to the ability to let go and move on that he knew Simon had. -- User:Rain Normally
    • Notice a line earlier on: Kamina's father says to him "Come to the surface and join me when you're ready." Later on, when Kamina dies, this acts as him joining his father, who had also died.
  • The earlier scene where we find out Simon's actions during the cave-in originally seem like just a touching moment about two friends, but in truth, they point to this important fact about his personality: When faced with a seemingly impossible task, he presses straight forward, always taking what seems like the hardest route, but making it work through pure determination. Consider, for instance, the scene where Gimmy and Darry are attempting to find some way to defeat the Anti-Spiral without its pieces destroying the city: another show might try to lure the enemy outside the city or enclose it (think GaoGaiGar), but Simon just takes the direct approach by grabbing a gun and shooting every piece before it hits ground. Watch the series again with this in mind: you'll notice that every time someone seems to try and come up with some roundabout strategem or some complex plan (for example: captured by the Beastmen), Simon solves it using the direct approach that no one considered because it was (thought to be) impossible.
  • Nia probably suffered brain damage from the box.
    • Oxygen Deprevation. Good point. --User:Jonn
  • I had a Fridge Brilliance moment a while after finishing the anime. After being especially struck by the scene where Kamina helps the various characters escape from the Anti-Spiral dream world I began paying close attention to Yoko's fantasy scene specifically. After a while, I realized that Yoko turns off the screen showing her AU future at the exact moment before she kisses Kittan. When it is revealed that Kamina's spirit is the one holding the screen, I realized that she chose that particular moment in order to show both herself and Kamina that he was still the man she really loved, even though she cared for Kittan. It made that brief, wordless last scene between them suddenly heavy with meaning, and almost as much of a Tear Jerker as his conversation with Simon. --dragonclaw
    • Another scene more meaningful than the surface might imply is with Viral. he has a woman and a child. Which, okay, in his heart he might want a family. But this isn't just "what he would like." Unlike Yoko and Simon, though, it's not because what they desire is gone. As much as anyone else's dream, it's impossible, since as a Beastman he can't have children. He will never be able to have a child like a spiral race creature could. --Mockery
    • RE: Yoko; alternate theory. She had feelings for both men, and had Kittan not died, he would've been a constant presence in their lives, whatever they were. --User:Jonn
  • I just realized something -- through implication, during the last arc, the members of Team Dai-Gurren basically state themselves that, by the last episode, they have surpassed the Gods to fight the universe and WIN.]] They don't call Simon a Determinator for nothing! --User:Dinru
  • The phrase "Gurren Lagann" always seemed like cool-sounding gibberish to me. Then, I realized that thruought the series, it's slowly defined as being a Serial Escalation Hot-Blooded Badass, culminating in Simon's final Rousing Speech - Rather than, "And that's Tengen Toppa, that's Gurren Lagann", it's meant to be interpreted as, "And that will pierce the heavens -- that's Gurren Lagann!" The show is so Hot-Blooded they had to invent words just to describe it! - User:Dinru, yet again
  • Double points for Fridge Brilliance there, User:Dinru. The final mech's name and the title of the show nigh-literally translate, English-wise, into Heaven-Shattering Gurren Lagann. Despite the Gainax Opening, they knew that this is where they were going for when they made the title.
  • I was considering the difference between a Real Robot show and a Super Robot show, not only in terms of the nature of the robots but of the Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism, when it hit me: In Neon Genesis Evangelion, an EVA unit is a Super Robot show in a Real Robot universe, and the Ganmen in Gurren Lagann are the other way around. Think about it: Spiral Energy is essentially the Minovsky Particle of the TTGL universe, and the creators of the Gunmen have essentially exploited this principle in their design and execution; furthermore, anyone who fits the right requirements can pilot any of them. The fact that the nature of said Spiral Energy is a combination of Rule of Cool and Serial Escalation, and said requirements consist of "FIGHTING SPIRIT!" instead of training and certification, and the tone is as Idealistic as all hell, doesn't change this. Compare to Evangelion: the EVA units are empathic weapons bonded to their specific pilots, they're essentially one-of-a-kind in the battle against the Angels ... and the tone is extremely Cynical, it has a Downer En -- um, a Gainax Ending, and eventually, they have mass-produced EVA units! - User:Kimiko Muffin
  • Having recently rewatched Lagann-hen, I wondered why the Cathedral Lazengann moved so slowly as it was trying to crush Arc-Gurren Lagann in its hand, then to punch out the Earth when it moved so much more quickly later as the Super Galaxy Gurren Lagann. Then I realised that the Cathedral Lazengann was not running off of Spiral Power (the fighting spirit) that would have allowed it to have moved as quickly as the Super Galaxy Gurren Lagann would later in the very same movie.
  • When I heard the Anti Spiral say that they were using Spiral Power to satisfy their own desires and growing drunk on it, I at first thought it was just a stupid Hannibal Lecture, but then, I realized this, it wasn't just a lecture, he was calling them out on unneccasary upgrades that usually just made the mechs and themselves look cooler, such as the Garrific glasses that Simon had, and other things, the flight was neccesary, but it didn't excuse the other unneccasary upgrades, he wasn't just giving them a lecture about overusing Spiral Power, he was calling them out on the upgrades that weren't even needed!-Etheru
    • The glasses example gets even better, if you think about it. The glasses are star shaped. Right after Kittan's death. Kittan's mech was star shaped. They're a tribute to Kamina and Kittan. To humans, those emotions are extremely important, but the Anti-Spiral can't comprehend such things, and sees them as unnecessary.
  • Here's one for you. You know how Yoko seems to kill off everyone who kisses her earlier in an episode? Well, it can't be a coincidence. Why? Because she's a spoof of Yoko Ono, who many people blame as the primary reason The Beatles fell to pieces. It's quite possibly the most elaborate (and sneaky) Take That I have ever seen. - User:The Albino Primid
  • About Yoko killing everyone she kissed.... I realized Kittan kissed her, and he had already signed up for the 100% suicidical mission before said kiss. Just a little thing to say in her defence. - Shradow
  • I found it weird that the Anti-Spiral had a humanoid body, when that body plan is that of Spiral races. Then it turned out that it was made of the collected minds of a Spiral race, and I saw that the writers had been subtly foreshadowing this twist.-User:Gorank
  • The four Beastman generals are introduced one or two at a time; not all at once, with Adiane only ever referring to Thymilph and Guame only ever interacting with Cytomander. It wasn't until I perused through Wikipedia that I realized that they were named after the four nitrogenous bases in the DNA molecule: adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine. And in the DNA molecule, adenine always bonds with thymine and guanine always bonds with cytosine. - 2writeis2life
  • I just realized that Boota wasn't just giving Simon and Kamina his tail to eat for nourishment, he was giving back some of the spiral energy that he had absorbed from them like he does in the final battle. Simon is the method to Kamina's madness, but Boota is Simon's backup. - User:Alphacat
  • Anyone else notice that Nia's ring was the one thing keeping her connected to Simon through the entire Anti-Spiral events... then its the one thing she leaves behind? Her wedding dress disappears with her, but the ring stays behind and falls on the floor. After thinking about it for awhile, this troper realized... it was sort of her way of saying goodbye for good this time. -User:Roccie
  • Rossiu's decision to arrest and execute Simon in order to save his face post-timeskip seems like an immensely Genre Blind move (and it is)- but in fact it's a good illustration of how their society has changed since before the timeskip. In the beginning of the series, Simon, Rossiu, and all their friends live in a more or less tribal society, like some of the first cultures that ever existed, where it's necessary to fight enemies all day to survive (and thus, all the fixings for Humongous Mecha battles are in place). After the timeskip, though, there's a more modern civilization established, and it's not necessary to fight for your life anymore- so the mecha becomes more like a wartime tool not to be used around civilians; and furthermore, Rossiu knows that the new government (like modern governments) must stay in the people's favor. It's like the evolution of government in general over the centuries and another approach to the show's general evolution motif. -2writeis2life
  • I have been trying for quite a while to explain why Kamina's sunglasses had nothing to keep them on his head, and I realized that they could have been designed like that with the intent of making the wearer more bold and confident. The glasses could only be kept on if the wearer held their head high, and it is quite possible that when Kamina was little, the sunlight from the surface damaged his eyes, making the tinted glasses necessary for proper vision underground. When you have your head up 24/7, people start to assume you think highly of yourself, so Kamina's later childhood up until the series' beginning might have been spent with him constantly assumed to be a proud leader. Needless to say, he became the mask...or shades, in this case. -Zach
  • Minor one, probably, but the wimpy Kamina in the penultimate episode was exactly like Kamina's "friends" from the very first episode, selling out their pride to avoid getting in trouble, and using Simon for their own gain. And in the first episode, Kamina is absolutely disgusted with them, just as he later says there can only be one real Kamina. Then when the village chief lets Simon go because he was a digger, Kamina told him to go ahead, but Simon stood by Kamina even when an earthquake was going on and it would be smarter to hide. Later in the last episode, the real Kamina tells Simon to choose whichever Kamina he wants - either the one alive he could always be with, or the dead one he could see again. Both choices have Simon have facing an emotional crisis and risk his life for his bro, the manly leader of Team Gurren, by his own choice. -User:The Personas
• If you think about Lordgenome's abandonment of Nia and his previous daughters from the protagonists' points of view, you would only think of Guame's explanation that he got bored of them once they began thinking intelligently (Nia was abandoned after asking about the reason she was born). It would seem as one huge crossing of the Moral Event Horizon by the Big Bad; also it would look like serious Character Derailment when seeing Lordgenome with the good guys and actually apologizing to Nia before his Heroic Sacrifice. But if you remember that Lordgenome was actually a Well-Intentioned Extremist who felt like he needed to hinder spiral power to prevent The End of the World as We Know It, then it would actually make sense why he dumped all his daughters like trash: Nia and her sisters thinking intelligently is the first sign of the growth of spiral power. ~User:Wanderingwonderer
  • Another possibility- the creating and discarding daughters might have just been to keep himself in Despair, so he didn't build up too much Spiral Power and draw undo attention from the Anti-spirals.
  • Yet another possibility - Lordgenome knew that his massive badassery would be passed on to his daughters. If they grew up too much, they would call him out on his tyranny and overthrow him. He couldn't trust his daughter with being queen of the world; she would probably inadvertently have the population reach one million and doom the world to a Colony Drop. Oh, and since the Anti-Spiral genetic code was inscribed in his daughters, humanity would lose their queen at the worst possible moment.
• At first I thought it was a bit hypocritical for the Anti-spirals to use so much spiral energy after pushing other spiral races to near extinction for using spiral power. But I realized that that was the purpose of the pocket dimension (not including tactical effectiveness): to exert their spiral power without risking the accidental destruction of the universe they were trying to save! -User:Dthe B
• The Anti-Spirals used a slightly different/altered form of spiral energy to fight Simon. Spiral Energy comes from the will to move forward, or will power in general. The Anti-Spiral comments on how much resolve, will, and fortitude it took to halt their own evolution. While Spiral power comes from the will to move forward, Anti-Spiral power might come from the will to stop moving. 2 sides of the same coin, like the force.
• One point that struck me was something that Lordgenome said concerning the Anti-Spiral. He said that it always sought to fight Spiral warriors on a level field, so as to cause despair, but that might not be the only reason. The Anti-Spiral itself said that its race had stopped its evolution...in other words, they couldn't grow, and thus it couldn't grow. It mimicked humanoid bodies, copied moves and designs, and even copied the Giga Drill Breaker in Lagann-Hen. No wonder it was always mimicking its opponents' designs and tactics. It couldn't think of new ideas on its own.
  • Ah! And that's how Simon kept winning in every encounter! His speech about the drill symbolism ('with every revolution we move forward a little... we're stronger now than we were a minute ago') means that the uncreative and unchanging anti-spirals will always be a step behind: unlike all the spirals that came before, Team Dai-Gurren evolved faster than the anti-spirals could keep up.
    • Adding to that again, Why did the Anti-spirals get so Hot-Blooded despite seemingly being unemotional beings? There are 3 reasons: First, because having been a spiral race themselves, they knew they would need that power to fight the spirals. The fight is won by the one who wants it more. Second, adding on to the first point, just because you suppress your emotions doesn't mean it's gone. It's like riding a bike; you never really forget how. And finally,Their method is to fight their enemies equally. Which means being equally Hotblooded as well!
• Remember how in Simon's epic speech to the Anti-Spiral, he mentions how the hopes of those who have fallen and the dreams of those who will follow "wind together in a double helix." And I thought about it, and realized this show really revolves quite a bit around that concept along with all the drill metaphors. Ultimately, the path the heroes take at the end is a combination of two entirely opposing viewpoints- Kamina's "kick reason to the curb and make the impossible possible" and the Anti-Spiral philosophy of "Spiral Power dooms the universe." As explained above, the Anti-Spirals completely lost the concepts of evolution and creativity, becoming completely stagnant and ultimately genocidal. Had Team Dai-Gurren kept pushing their power forward and forward, it would have spiraled (excuse the pun) out of control and end with the Spiral Nemesis. So these two different ideals are combined, so that Earth can cooperate with all the other Spiral races to find a way to keep evolving but also avoid becoming drunk on their Spiral Power and ending the universe. That's the only way to keep heading for tomorrow- we saw what happened with the Anti-Spirals (complete suppression of any advancement), and the opening of Episode 1 is the exact opposite: the team going out of control and eventually causing Spiral Nemesis by making "every light in the sky" their enemies. This is what Simon realizes, and why he tells the Anti-Spirals that they can both win the battle and protect the universe, because he now understands this drill/DNA concept, and that the only way to save the universe is to pull the natural opposites of Kamina's and the Anti-Spiral's philosophies into a single structure, that double helix that drills a path toward tomorrow, whereas alone neither of those concepts would be able to pierce the metaphorical heavens. That's why Simon's drill creates the heavens in the end, because he can break the "endless cycle of violence" repeatedly referred to in the narration- the until-then conflict between the pro-Spiral and, well, anti-Spiral philosophies. THAT is Tengen Toppa, and THAT is Gurren Lagann... and this was a really long explanation as to how I came to understand exactly what the show meant. - User:Dominus Temporis
• As awesome as the final battle in Lagann-hen was, I was a bit confused during Simon's fistfight against the Anti-Spiral, due to the fact that the latter was bleeding just as much as the former. I wasn't really sure why the collective Hive Mind of an entire alien race would be able to shed blood. Then I realized that the Anti-Spiral was still trying to fight Simon on even ground as part of his Despair Gambit. In other words, he just tried to give himself the same limitations as his opponent. -Qmark.
• The shield that Gurren Lagann used to defend Arc-Gurren was almost exactly the same as the one Viral used to block Littner village's missiles... which essentially means Viral was protecting humans with a technique he'd learned during his time as a villain, indicating his journey to the path of light was complete.
  • That wasn't the only time, he also was using the shield to protect a human settlement that didn't want to leave the underground, another possible indication to his path to the light.
• You know that attack the Anti-Spirals use in the final battle? The one where it turns into a spear-like form and crashes Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann through several galaxies? That attack mirrors the one that killed Kamina.
• At first I was wondering why too much awesome would destroy the universe? Then I figured it out. What would happen in our universe if the law of conservation of energy was broken in real life? The mass of the universe would keep increasing, and the described Spiral Nemesis would actually happen!
• The spacetime portal to Earth during the fight against the Anti-Spiral seemed at first to be just a way to increase tension/raise the stakes, and so the main cast would fight harder. But I later realized that the people watching from Earth had Spiral Power too. They're seeing the heroes of humanity fighting for the very sake of the planet. They're channeling their Spiral Power into Team Gurren.
• I only just recently started appreciating the symbolism of the final charge. Starting out large at the base, extending and shrinking until the end while still keeping the same shape. Yes, going from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann to Simon while charging forward, the final attack took the shape of a drill.
• If you stop and think about the purpose of the Core Drill, you will notice that it is meant to enhance Simon's ability to use his Spiral Power. Simon seems to have far more latent spiral power than anyone else in the series, but he has trouble tapping into it earlier in the series, without getting a pep talk from Kamina. The more spiral energy he is using when he turns the Core Drill, the more power he is able to obtain. If you think about it, the Core Drill doesn't create more spiral energy. It just focuses and condenses it into a single point, just like a drill does with kinetic energy, focusing it and making it more useful!!
  • I actually don't think Simon had any innate special amount of spiral power. He just became very good at accessing it(in other words summoning his fighting spirit), in large part thanks to Kamina. At least I like that idea, it goes with the whole theme of choosing one's own destiny.
• In Lagann-hen, when the Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann was formed, I couldn't help but wonder, besides the fanservice aspect, why we have naked Yoko, Nia, and I assume Simon ...then it hit me. Their souls are pretty much merged with Gurren Lagann. Everyone inside at this point freakin' IS SUPER TENGA TOPPA GURREN LAGANN!
  • Also, Giant Naked Kamina. Well, he's not naked, but still...
• In Lagann-hen we see Nia with a drill staff and look at what Simon is walking with at the epilogue. - Indefinity
• Viral's name sounds a lot like "Virility". This is an extremely manly show, but guess what? Viral is not a man and also, he cannot achieve the goal he truly wants: to have a family of his own. His name in and of itself lets you know what his true nature is.
• During the Final Battle of Lagann-hen, I couldn't help but notice that, when Simon makes a drill and goes in for the finishing stroke, the Anti-Spiral charged at him as well, with a grin on his face. Then it hit me; the Anti-Spiral, having seen enough of Simon's determination, decided to entrust the future to him, and was basically saying, "Strike me down and show me you are ready to protect the universe in a better way than I did!"
• I was floored by Libera Me From Hell, and wondered why it wasn't used more often in the show. On rewatching it I realised, that theme is used twice, in specific circumstances: when the team is trapped in a hell-like place (the Death Spiral Field and the Dimensional Labyrinth) and needs to escape. That's what the song is really about, and why the two different melodies are juxtaposed- there is the woman lamenting their entrapped state, and the rap lyrics exclaiming the will to break out. Notice which melody overtakes the other at the end.
  • The song plays in the prologue to Gurren-hen, which is essentially a remixed Parallel Works 8 with sound effects. It lacks the rap portion of the song. Guess why.
  • This other troper did some research - "Libera Me From Hell" was remixed from "Libera Me", a song part of the Requiem, a Mass in honor of the recently deceased. The fact that "Libera Me From Hell" plays when Kittan performs his Heroic Sacrifice is his way of saying " Yeah, yeah, I know I'm gonna die. That won't stop me!"
• I'm just realizing how much darker and meaner this show could have been if it wanted to. What if Rossiu had not realized the depth of his mistake in trying to execute Simon, or Simon did not forgive him? What if Viral's hatred kept him from joining Team Dai-Gurren post-timeskip, or worse, turned him into yet another enemy? What if Kittan had not been brave enough to go on the suicide mission? What if Nia had not encouraged Simon to accept her eventual demise and defeat the Anti-Spiral? He could have fallen into despair and been defeated, dooming humanity, or he could have had to make the heart-wrenching choice to sacrifice her...alone. How easily the characters' self-interests could have sabotaged their own cause, even by mistake. The Anti-Spiral's outlook on humans - self-obsessed creatures seeking exponentially more power, even at the cost of their own kind - could have been depicted as "true," but instead the series chose to portray humans as genuinely caring for each other. There is also a "forgiveness" theme that doesn't seem to be recognized very often.
• Spiral power is literally dividing by zero. It actually solves the mathematical problem with division by zero - it can divide something into zero parts by violating the law of conservation of mass.
• For a little while I wondered why Viral called the humans "naked apes". Then when I saw Thymilph I thought,"Of course, if there are weird cat/shark beastmen then there are ape beastmen too! Therefore, naked apes."
• Why does Viral undergo Badass Decay? Simon and Kamina developed an immunity to him.
• Has anyone else noticed how much the overarching plot resembles that of Dune+Dune Messiah?
  • To fully recap: Boy leaves home to a barren wasteland world. His mentor/father figure is killed in battle. He bands together with the other inhabitants of the barren wasteland and ends up leading a revolution against the ruler of that world. They emerge victorious after a great battle. Several years pass, boy is now a man and he and his comrades have established a government and have cultivated a great city. A character who died in the first arc is artificially resurrected. Our hero faces new trials that allow him to reach his full potential. Artifically-resurrected character becomes his old self(briefly, in the case of Gurren Lagann). Our hero's "wife"(Paul and Chani never married and Simon and Nia were married for about 10 seconds) succumbs to an inevitable, necessary death. Hero wanders off on his own. He leaves his legacy to a set of boy/girl twins.
• Notice that when Kamina takes off his Triangle Shades, he doesn't look as awesome as he does with them on. Later, we find out that his Crazy Awesomeness and Badassitude was all a mask; he was every bit as scared as everyone else. He puts on his Badass Facade (Note to self: make that a trope) to encourage everybody to not give up hope. So when he puts on his shades, he is literally and figuratively putting on a mask of awesomeness to inspire everybody into giving their all.
  • This is two fold: Kamina was never meant to be the greatest hero in the series but the inspiration to forge the Team Gurren and Simon. If Simon is the digger who would pierce the heaven, Kamina is the drill which would pierce it and to show how humanity should be: Broken, imperfect and sometimes stupid, but always striving to be better and never giving up, no matter what.
• I was listening to a fan-dubbed version of the Opening theme, "Sorario Days", when a few lines in particular stood out to me: "I have travelled so far and learned so many things / By following your shadow / And now I can see that it is only me who can seize my fate / I listened to your words, and I can hear them even now / 'Cause they echo in this memory that I hold deep in my heart." It's a song sung from the perspective of Simon after his He's Back moment following Kamina's death, when he resolves to follow his own path and not simply copy his brother.
• In episode 12, Nia reveals herself to be quite a bit stronger than she looks when she smacks a volleyball with a-lot of power. Nothing but a joke moment right? Wrong! Remember who her dad is? This is was a subtle bit of Foreshadowing that the apple did not fall very far from the tree. And suddenly, Lordgenome beating the flying fuck out of Simon while the latter was in Lagann is even more awesome, because they were showing us it would happen. Makes you wonder what Nia would have been capable of if she could fight, or fought more often beyond the finale and the second movie.
• Ever notice that Laganns drill is different from all the other drills in the series? Instead of having grooves, it has a raised spiral similar to a screw. At first I thought this was just Rule of Cool but then I realized it's to make it where it can hold onto things since its main power is Gundamjacking!--Gamermaster
• A seriously Meta one that this troper realized awhile after watching the final battle in Lagann-hen. Watch it carefully. FIRST Tengen Toppa goes mano-a-mano with the Anti-Spiral. The two pound on each other chipping away at each other. Then ASK drops his Wham! Line and Hannibal Lecture. The result being that he tears TTGL to shreds in a gory mess. There's much Evil Gloating and further lecturing. Smacking around even the risen Tengen Toppa Gunmen. The Dai-Gurren Crew refuses to go down however, and Simon reiterates their Badass Creed. Shortly thereafter, the ASK preps his ultimate attack. In the process of which, Lord Genome steps out, but instead of blocking or nullyfying the attack. He absorbs it. Dissovels and BECOMES it, and then transforms into a massive drill. Which He commands Simon to imbibe. He does. and instead of mere TTGL the Dai-Gurren Crew becomes SUPER TTGL. What Follows is a series of Kirk Summation[s] and Shut Up, Kirk[s]. Capped off by an extremely short Patrick Stewart Speech. In short. What has just transpired is not merely an Epic Cosmic Level awesome battle between Super Robot and Big Bad. What has transpired was the figurative AND literal Deconstruction and subsequent Reconstruction of the very SOUL of Super Robot Genre! Beautiful.
• The Lazengann Overload ability may seem like a convenient Ass Pull... until you realize that it's just Lordgenome's version of the Gurren Lagann's energy-absorption ability. The Infinity Big Bang Storm was just too strong for Lordgenome to shoot it back without any harm being done to him.
• When does Simon recover from his Heroic BSOD after Kamina dies? Why, it's against Guame, whose elemental theme just happens to be Earth.
  • So...you're saying he was brought "down to earth"?
• Jorgun has red sunglasses. Balinbow has blue sunglasses. Twin-Bokun is purple.
• Kamina's motivation during the rebellion was to "allow kids to look up in the sky without a care in the world." So what did Yoko do after the war ended? Become a teacher and make sure that happened!

Fridge Horror

• Those buildings that Teppelin drops? How much do you want to bet everyone was out for the day? Even so, would you want to come home, only to find that all your Earthly possessions were now smashed to bits, courtesy of your living god?
• Upon inspecting a screenshot, this troper noticed that after that initial blow, which came through Gurren in episode eight, Kamina's left leg should've been either pierced or completely cut off.
• Consider the fate of the Beastmen. Post-timeskip, they appear to be living alongside the humans in Kamina City (with the exceptions of the ones in prison). This seems like a fine fate for them, until you realize that Beastmen cannot reproduce and Lordgenome is no longer around to create more of them. In other words, the Beastmen are going to slowly go extinct and there's nothing they can do about it.
  • Though, considering how Rossiu led a team of scientists to resurrect Lordgenome's head, implying that they have a lot of technology available, and how by the end of the series humanity has largely accepted the beastmen and, later, spiral power in general, it's also just as likely that humans eventually find out how to reproduce Beastmen in the same way as before. Becomes a new type of Fridge Horror if you consider that this means they can create cannon fodder, though there doesn't seem to be enough racism.
  • Not exactly extinct since Viral was given Immortality along with almost instant Healing Factor by Lordgenome himself before he died. When the time comes when the last mortal beastman dies, he'll be the last living beastman in the Gurren Lagann universe.
• Consider Paralell Works #8, where explains how Lordgenome lose the war against the Anti-Spirals. The civilization on Earth reached an advanced tech level which could support the life of billions. When it was imposed that Earth couldn't have more than one million of humans, Lordgenome probably executed a genocide to keep their numbers in check.
• The Anti-Spirals' Mind Rape of Nia was bad enough. However, remember that the Anti-Spiral is the collective consciousness of the entire Anti-Spiral species. Which means Nia was analyzed by the entire population.
• Our heroes in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann COMMIT GENOCIDE right before our very eyes! Remember that the AntiSpiral isn't just one torturer of brides to be, he is effectively a Hive Mind projection of an entire specie's will. So when Simon and Nia kill him with Gurren Lagann's drill, they destroyed the mind of every Antispiral. And the consequent collapse of the alternate universe probably didn't help matters either. Never before has mass killing been so Awesome!
  • In fairness, the entire species was trying to commit omnicide on every living thing just to stop the physical destruction of the universe. Not to mention they already crossed the Moral Event Horizon.
  • Consider for a moment that within that pocket dimension, the Anti-Spiral created a new universe and used it's BIG BANG as an attack! HOWEVER, pay attention to the fact that there are FULLY FORMED galaxies while the attack is still going on... How many of THOSE planets do you think had life when compared to the commentary in the battle aftermath? Probably hundreds of thousands. Quantum Physics is a bitch.
    • Remeber, though, that the Anti-Spirals made that whole pocket universe by themselves. Considering their objective is too limit spiral power as much as possible, making more life probably isn't the best idea.

• Fridge Logic while watching the final episode on Syfy. The Anti Spirals keep destroying Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann's drills one after the other, and Simon keep making more. But... The Anti Spiral is the collective will and intent of an entire planet. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann contains the will of less than 20 very badass and determined people, including the World's Greatest Badass of All Time, Simon. Fewer than 20 people are equaling the power of an entire planet. Simon is just that awesome.
  • If you mean the Beam-O-War at the very end, that's after the hyperspace bypass to Earth has been created, with the entire population looking up at the battle and believing in the Dai-Gurren-dan. Simon does have the will of an entire planet behind him.
• Less Horror than Squick, but think about the underground villages' population situation- a few hundred people tops (Adai never had more than 50,) no travel or immigration, and they've been down there for centuries at least: most of the cast has got to be the result of long-term inbreeding. Like, medieval royalty inbreeding. Forget badass, Simon and Kamina were lucky they weren't hemophiliacs. The Anti-Spirals would have been dead in about 15 minutes if the Universe had run on Banjo Power instead of Spiral Power.
  • No travel or immigration? Don't be so sure. Yoko says in the first episode that Littner is the neighbouring village of Giha. The two groups must have known each other somehow.
    • Giha didn't believe Kamina when he said that there was a surface, so Giha didn't know about Littner. Littner, on the other hand, may not have been nearly as restrictive in the past.
    • Not knowing about the surface doesn't equal not knowing about other villages. Remember, most villages are underground, so even surface villages would have an underground component.