Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is a 2007 Japanese Anime series in the Science Fantasy, Mecha (particularly the Super and Comedy-Drama genres by Gainax).

Plot
The anime takes place in an alternate universe where humans are forced to live underground in villages and that they have to dig deeper to avoid the earthquakes that happen frequently that effects their lifestyle. Two villagers, named Kamina and Simon must find a way to reach the surface and try to end the war between humans and beastman lead by the Spiral King with two mechs that Kamina and Simon combined that they called Gurren Lagann.

After The Time-skip
7 years after Lordgenome and the beastman army was defeated, after the death of his blood-brother, Kamina, after being warned by Lordgenome about the Anti-Spirals, and after meeting Nia. A now-adult Simon, who's now the mayor of Kamina City, must save his recently engaged fiancé Nia from the Anti-Spirals who threatens to destroy the Earth with the moon.

Why It Can Pierce The Heavens

 * 1) It's a great homage to the traditional "combining mecha" anime like Getter Robo and GaoGaiGar whilst also putting its' own spin on the story.
 * 2) Likeable and entertaining characters such as Simon, Kamina, Yoko, and Nia
 * 3) Beautiful animation comparable to a feature length film.
 * 4) Fantastic voice acting comparable to an AAA Video Game.
 * 5) An excellent execution of balancing Comedy and Drama at the same time.
 * 6) Goes so over the top it is awesome. The final battle features the titular mecha flinging FREAKING GALAXIES AS SHURIKENS at the main enemy, the Anti-Spiral Force.
 * 7) Emotional and touching moments such as Kamina's death and Simon telling Nia about Kamina prior to his death.
 * 8) "WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?!!!!!"
 * 9) Awesome character development
 * 10) Lordgenome and the Anti-Spirals are entertaining antagonists.
 * 11) Kamina is both a funny comic relief and a inspirational character that made him very memorable and is a favorite in the Anime community.
 * 12) "ROW ROW, FIGHT THE POWER!"
 * 13) Memorable but epic opening theme with the theme song itself was unchanged.
 * 14) You can watch the full series and it´s true ending through it´s film forms; Gurren Lagann The Movie: Childhood's End (Gekijōban Tengen Toppa Guren Ragan Guren Hen) and Gurren Lagann The Movie: The Lights in the Sky are Stars (Gekijōban Tengen Toppa Guren Ragan Ragan Hen).

Bad Qualities

 * 1) It only lasted for 26 episodes (not counting episode 16 as it was a recap of the events that happened before the 7 year time skip), making it short-lived. Mainly because of bankruptcy issues Gainax was facing.
 * 2) Kamina can be mean-spirited to Simon and his friends by calling them mean names such as "dumb*ss"
 * 3) Gurren Lagann doesn't transform into giant mechs until the after the 7 year time-skip.
 * 4) It ends on a bit of a cliffhanger in the epilogue as we never learn about the threat of the Spiral Nemesis the Anti-Spiral's were trying to stop.
 * 5) Speaking of the epilogue, we never really get to learn what happened to Kittan's sisters nor the rest of the Team Dai-Gurren members.
 * 6) We never really get to learn more about Yoko's past other than her being born in Littner Village.
 * 7) Kamina only lasted for the first 8 episodes before being killed off in the 8th episode.
 * 8) Some people may see Kamina as a Megward the Wizard. For example, he started to have a love relationship with Yoko, but it all soon ended when he dies.
 * 9) In the 7 year and 20 year timeskips, it wasn't explained why Boota wasn't able to grow into a large pigmole despite there being larger ones like him.
 * 10) Kamina's father is only mentioned a few times in the first few episodes, only to never be mentioned again after Kamina recovers and wears his fathers cloak.

Trivia

 * At one point, the show features Squidward from SpongeBob Squarepants as a cameo. This is due to the fact the creators of the show (who later went on to become Studio TRIGGER) are massive fans of western cartoons, to the point they regularly contribute doujinshi to this day.