Warning spoilers and rabid fanboy action follows. I don’t fag often, but for TTGL I am the second biggest fangirl in the universe. If you have not watched the movie or you are allergic to people flipping out over the franchise please for your own safety don’t read on.

After almost a year of waiting, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Lagann-hen, the second TTGL movie, is out. I saw it Saturday night and by now I expect most TTGL fans have given it a gander by now. If you’ve seen the first movie, you know the general formula for the TTGL movies: the same basic story happens except some details are changed to played around with. The movies are meant to augment the series, not to replace it, after all, so you can’t really compare it to the show itself. That said, oh my god that was freaking awesome.

I don’t really like to rant or fanboy in blogpost form, but excuse me for this incident. I have been a fan of the franchise for years and if I had to pick, I would say Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is my favorite anime of all time. Yes, I know that’s not very original or elitist but fuck that shit. This show rules and the haters can hate if they want. I’m just keepin’ it real, yo.

I could go on and on about how much I love this franchise but I’ll spare you today. The movie was basically an overall redo of the latter half of the series. Simon and the gang go off into deep space to beat the anti-spirals and save Nia. At first there were just small changes like a battle being skipped and thus certain characters not dying. Near the end, however was where the big changes to the fight took place. Spoilers follow.

Excuse me for getting some of the finer details of the movie rather fuzzily, as my erect penis was obstructing my view of the screen. But I’m pretty sure Simon just garred the gar out of gar itself, if you get my jist.

Blatant disregard for physics is, faithful to the series, ever present here in the movie. Not only do the two galaxy-sized mechs stand on a galaxy (and move at thousands of light years per second), but blood drips off the edge of the galaxy. Lord Genome’s head also hacks an advanced computer system by running down a virtual hallway, smashing a box, and eating the ball inside.

One interesting, though rather cheesy little twist they put on the epic final fight is all the other individual characters briefly having their own epic galaxy sized mech, after Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann breaks apart. The mechs of course reflect each character’s themes and personality and are powered by the crew’s individual spiral power. It’s a pretty cool reinforcement to show that Simon’s not the only one running the show and that everybody there is dedicated 1000% to rowing and fighting the power.

And then Viral.

“They can’t possibly make the final fight more epic,” they say. “They’ve been throwing galaxies, how can they increase scale from that?” Well, here’s how.

And then

But wait, there’s more!

And then how is the ultimate fight decided? With a freaking FIST FIGHT.

So that’s basically the jist of it. As the Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann franchise writes its final chapter, who knows what Gainax will cook up next. It’s been a good couple of years and this has been a great ride. I give props to Gainax for not milking the franchise for all its dough yet still satisfying fans with reimaginations, parallel works, and all sorts of other media to sink into. TTGL is truly a series that has left its mark on anime forever. As always, pierce the heavens.

Love, kevo.

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