Part three of "Gurren Lagann" ends with a spectacular battle that trumps all others as the most visually explosive two hours of destruction, sacrifices and joy.
Considering how simple the story has progressed, there isn't too much to explain about this robot show that hasn't been explain in previous posts. After Gurren Lagann literally stopped the moon from colliding into the Earth with a drill, the spaceship is now headed deep into space to defeat the Anti-Spirals. The leader of the Earth-bound Spiral army, Simon, is hell-bent on saving the world from destruction and saving his girlfriend from the opposing army.
Of course, an epic anime battle takes place with people sacrificing their lives. Like "Wolf's Rain" and many other shonen anime shows, this robot series ends with plenty of people dying to help the heroes in their journey. As sad as I was to see these guys out of commission, they didn't go without a good fight.
The storyline for the last two episodes takes a complete twist into the alternate dimension realm. The characters literally get sucked in alternate realities, where they are living completely different lifestyles. When all is said and done though, this is a distraction that is blocking the heroes path of ultimate destiny.
To say the least, the last episode is a surreal, otherworldly battle. The unnamed Anti-Spiral demi-god literally throws the Gurren Lagann through galaxies and supernovas. After a certain point, I thought this cosmic battle of gigantic proportions would never end. Honestly, it was almost too much adrenaline for me to handle.
When all is said and done though, the series is a worthwhile journey. The animation studio, Gainax, managed to cram in a dense amount of abstract visual symbolism. It is a bizarre, symbolic battle against the self-enclosed alternate worlds that we immerse ourselves in. It looks very much like an epic battle against our universe of worlds within the television.
Most importantly, this series is all about the difficulties of adolescence. Simon has to make one especially big sacrifice in the last episode before growing up into an adult. For a series about the excitement of childhood and growing up, "Gurren Lagann" has some of the most touching, tear-jerking moments. As much as I loved the violent orgy of battles, this show is most memorable for its courageous characters, who worked hard to find some inner peace within themselves.
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