Summary:

As the battle rages on outside the ship, Leeron takes a private moment to think about the spinning of a gyroscope and how he wants to see what’s beyond the heaven that they’re aiming for. By now, Simon and Viral have let loose a shock wave that destroys over half the smaller Mugan, but soon after, a large energy blast comes from the surface of the moon. The Gurren Lagann manages to protect the Arc-Gurren with a giant drill, and Kittan then suggests that the rest of them will protect the ship while the Gurren Lagann goes to take care of things on the moon. From inside the Arc-Gurren, Dayakka starts getting teary-eyed as he watches his friends turn the tide of the battle, though he’s a bit worried about who’s piloting his Dayakkaiser. The others inside the ship also begin feeling more hopeful about all this, and that in turn restores some of the Arc-Gurren’s spiral energy which Rossiu proceeds to use for the shields. Simon meanwhile tells Viral that they’ll destroy the enemy’s beam cannon before it fires a second time, and when Viral asks if that’s an order, Simon says that it’s a proposal. They then use the Gurren Lagann’s winged backpack as a pair of boomerangs to blow up the cannon, but several more cannons suddenly appear on the moon’s surface. All of them fire directly at the Gurren Lagann, forcing Simon to use a long drill to catch all the beam energy and throw it back at the moon, destroying all the cannons.

The two huge Mugan in the battle then make their move by separating into their component pieces and using those pieces to surround both the Arc-Gurren and the Gurren Lagann. With the ship being blasted by energy, things look bad, but Simon tells Rossiu not to give up and reminds him of how they’ve managed to pull through in the past. Leeron then remembers that the Arc-Gurren is the same type of large-scale Gunmen that Teppelin was, and realizing what he has to do, Simon – and Viral – power the Gurren Lagann out of the confines of the huge Mugan and manage to drag it all the way to the Arc-Gurren so that they can combine with it. Doing so injects a ton of spiral energy into the ship and causes it to undergo a transformation that’s capped off by Simon putting the Gurren Lagann’s Giga-Drill into the Arc-Gurren, turning it into the Arc-Gurren-Lagann. The two enemy Mugan also combine into one larger Mugan, and when it clashes with the Arc-Gurren-Lagann, Viral and Simon use their Burst Spinning Punch to send the enemy crashing through a hole before exploding. Leeron thinks that this is a space-time hole and wonders if this is the awakening of the spiral power.

With the immediate threat gone, the next task is for them to push back the moon that’s still falling towards the planet. Kittan and the other Gunmen pilots try to help, but since they’re approaching the planet’s atmosphere, Leeron advises them to return to the Arc-Gurren-Lagann. They then notice a huge face appear on the moon, causing Rossiu to wonder if the moon is a gigantic machine too. The surge in spiral power from Simon trying to push the moon back wakes up Lord Genome (who had been knocked out earlier in the fight), and he reveals that the moon is his flagship. Viral and Simon are surprised to hear that Lord Genome is still around, so Leeron explains to them that it’s a bio-computer. With only five minutes left before they enter the atmosphere, Leeron thinks that they won’t make it because the moon is too big, but Simon then receives several schematics of the moon, and Lord Genome tells him that inserting the source of his spiral power into a certain spot will let him control the moon. This moon is actually his flagship Cathedral Terra. Deciding to go, Simon leaves control of the Arc-Gurren-Lagann to Gimmy and Darry, but after the Gurren Lagann disappears into the moon, Rossiu decides that the Arc-Gurren-Lagann will disengage one minute before they enter the atmosphere. As his final responsibility, Rossiu feels that he has to protect the 180,000 people on the ship.

Having reached the core of the moon, the Gurren Lagann rushes towards the spot to drive it’s drill into, but Simon stops it just short of the hole because Nia appears in front of it. Simon tries to get her to move out of the way, but Nia refuses because she is the Anti-Spiral’s messenger. When Viral wants to drill through her, he learns from Lord Genome that Nia’s body is made of the same stuff a Mugan is made of. This means that destroying her would cause an explosion that would also destroy the control system. Nia calls this absolute despair and says that since the spirals have strong instincts for survival, the Anti-Spirals have to crush their hopes. She feels that terror and despair are the best deterrents for them, but Simon knows that they’ve stood up against hopeless situations and have become stronger through difficult situations. That’s why he’s here now, and he thinks that Nia had hoped for that too. Nia, however, declares that all things of her past are fiction and says that his words won’t reach her, but Simon then points out the ring she’s still wearing. He feels that it’s her will that prevents her from discarding her past, and he then realizes that the real reason she’s been appearing in front of him is because she’s wanted him to save her.

Simon remembers that when they defeated Lord Genome, Nia had said that she’d head towards tomorrow. They had created that tomorrow together, so Simon questions if Nia would destroy that. He now holds that tomorrow, and he yells for Nia to get out of the way as he plunges the Gurren Lagann’s Giga-Drill into the hole. This succeeds in stopping the moon from falling and causes it to transform instead into a huge ship that’s even bigger than the Arc-Gurren-Lagann. Everyone is then able to breathe a sigh of relief as the Cathedral Terra rises back up into orbit. Inside of it, Simon thanks Nia, but she tells him that this doesn’t change destiny. With the neutralization of the humanity eradication system, the Anti-Spirals will enter into a state of war, and Nia thinks that if they become serious, even Simon is no match for them. Simon, however, wants to know if Nia will return to being her original self if they manage to win, so she tells him that there’s close to a 0% chance. Simon feels that as long as it’s not exactly 0%, it’s the same as 100% for him. Changing back to her old self for a moment, Nia asks if he’d come to get her – which Simon of course intends to do – but she then starts to disappear. Nia’s last words tell him that she’s being recalled to the Anti-Spiral homeworld, and Simon cries out her name after she’s gone.

Back on the Arc-Gurren-Lagann, as everyone else is talking amongst themselves happily, Rossiu feels that he’s no match for Simon who he felt turned everything upside down after all. The Arc-Gurren-Lagann then returns to Kamina City where the sun is rising, and Simon looks towards it while thinking about Nia.

Preview

As expected, the episode had a lot of Simon + Viral kicking ass and taking names (I was amused by the Gunmen piloting a Gunmen concept), though the second half was a bit more subdued with Simon facing Nia and finally putting the ring stuff into play. In terms of returning her back to normal though, I wonder if Simon saying that stuff about not-0% being the same as 100% was a bit too overconfident. I still have my doubts that Nia will die, but there may yet be some plot twists in store for us. For now, since Nia is being recalled to the Anti-Spiral homeworld, I guess that’s where the group will go now.
On a different note, I didn’t expect the Death Star moon would turn into the giant ship seen in the OP and in the beginning of the first episode. For some reason, I had assumed that that’s what the Arc-Gurren-Lagann was going to be like, but it seems that it was Lord Genome’s flagship instead. I’m sure it’ll become Simon’s flagship as we enter the final arc of the series that appears to have shifted focus to him since he now voices the preview instead of Rossiu. A lot can happen in the five episodes Gurren Lagann has left, though for next week, it looks like at least part of the episode will be Rossiu visiting his old village and perhaps rediscovering himself.

64 Comments

  1. Next arc is the last one. It doesn’t seem they killed Nia off yet, maybe in the next arc she’ll die or be saved or whatever. If he saved her though, I think it’d be kinda lame, but that’s just my opinion.

    Anyways, MORE YOKO!!!!

    GP
  2. oi. From the looks of it, Nia wont be returning, be it alive or dead, evil or good, she just ain’t budging. I know how you feel simon! And simon might be even more gar/similar to the beginning of the first ep than b4. Horrah for another arc!

    klazyguy
  3. Another climax episode and did not end yet? I think is good Nia’s end, I don’t like her at all, but fine if she returns. And Will Rossiu still try to push Simon to execution?

    dukemon
  4. My summary: Omni’s one is not here yet; so you can read while waiting for his better one.

    – Arc Gurren was under heavy attacks and when all hope is about to be lost, Gurren Lagann appears. With Simon + Viral power, they beam spam like crazy.

    – Kittan + co joins in the protect Arc Gurren. Their pilot skills are legendary even if its their first time in space. Yoko is piloting Diakka’s ex-Gunmen. She helps Gimmy out of a pinch, Darry comments that Yoko seems like a teacher.

    – Arc Gurren’s power back up again because people has hope. After seeing this Rosui questions himself and his action. Spiral Shield is back up again.

    – A huge beam energy was shot from the moon towardsArc Gurren, however GL defected it using the drill. The moon is equiped with a huge ass beam cannons. Simon left Arc Gurren’s side to deal with the cannon, leaving Kittan and co to protect Arc Gurren.

    – There appears to be more than one beam cannon in the moon, Simon use his drill to gather their beam energy and refect them back, which totally wipe all the cannon.

    – Anti-Spiral changes target to Arc Gurren. They forms themselves as a cage and began electric shock Arc Gurren. And soon, another cage capture Gurren Lagann too. They both get electric shock. Spiral King loses consicous, Spiral power rock bottom.

    – Everything seems to turn bad again, however Leeon sees what is coming next, he began modifying his system to accept what Simon going to do next. Rosui is losing hope, Simon tell him that they will come through. Simon + Viral transform GL buttom half into a huge drill and ran GL into Arc Gurren creating a GATTAI. Arc Gurren Lagann. The electric cage was instantly broken.

    – Anti-Spiral cage part gather to form a huge ship and it charge towards Arc Gurren Lagann. However Arc Gurren Lagann detroy it using super punching move powerful enough to break dimension.

    – All the anti-spiral Ship are dealt with, Arc Gurren + Kittan + co. head towards the moon to stop it. People in the earth are watching the fight of Gurren-dan from TV. They have 5 minute to stop the moon however the moon is too big and most likely they do not have enough time.

    – Spiral King gain consicous, he tells everyone that Moon is actually a HUGE Gunmen and that in the middle you can activate it using Giga core drill. Simon and Viral was surprised that Spiral King is still alive.

    – Simon + Viral in GL left Arc Gurren and let Gimmy and Darry pilot Arc Gurren instead. GL heads towards the core of the moon. They do not have much time left, Rosui order that they will abadon the earth and escape with Arc Gurren if Simon can’t complete his task in one minute. (moon will hit the earth in 3 min). Gimmy and Darry accept his order.

    – In the center of the moon, when Simon was about to put his Giga drill towards the core. Nia appears in his way. She refuses to step asides claiming that it is the part of a plan for absolute dispair. Viral was about to drill her himself however Spiral King stop him. He tells the crew that if Nia is killed, her body will explode like Mugen causing a chain reaction at the center of the moon destroying the control system of the moon thus make it unable to be stopped from the fall.

    – Nia tells Simon that his word can no longer reacher her, however Simon refused to believe it. Simon tells her that she still has his ring with her and that her true self is calling for him. The reason why she appears in front of him is because Nia is trying to communicate with Simon. Believing that Simon pushes the drill into the center of the moon which activate Moon engine to change its shape into a Gigantic ship: the one you see in ep 1. Simon was right about Nia.

    – Nia who let Simon activate the ship tells Simon that, the fight has not end yet and that if Anti-Spiral is serious Spiral race has no way of survival. Simon asks Nia that if he wins, will Nia comes back to him. Nia tells him that she is Anti-Spiral, and that it is almost impossible to be so. Hearing that Simon is glad, he claims that as long as its not impossible, its the same as 100% for him and that he will deffinitely help her back. Nia disappear telling Simon where she was kept. Simon cried out her name.

    – People in the ship are happy, Rosui quietly leave noticing that Simon was able to gain everything back. GL and Arc Gurren in transform mode comes down to earth greeted by the people. Simon looks up to the sky saying to himself “Wait for me, Nia”.

    ——Next episode:——–
    – Rosui is visitng his birth place, another shot shows he has a gun in his hand. Hoho, killing yourself?
    – a shot of GARlock
    – Simon’s voice changes again. I guess another short time skip is coming up.

    Quina
  5. GARlock in next episode! But really, this who Nia bit, I think they’re keeping her around as that last bit of driving force Simon needs to beat the anti-spirals. But meh, I’ve grown tired of her character, she should’ve checked out for good with this ep. Bummer.

    GP
  6. Omg i’m sick of all these Nia haters, and ‘she should die.’ Nia is a great character and it’ll suck if she dies, she needs to go back to being the ‘old’ Nia again as someone else said but not die.

    onna satomi
  7. Russiu is going to completely become the bad guy because of his ambition. It looks like he hates Simon more than ever because he has lost all the fame and leadership he has built for so long. Kill him! Kill Russiu!

    banzemanga
  8. Let me see. If Nia dies, Simon goes insane; then he kills everyone. And it becomes a massacre ending. Kinda boring.

    Surely Yuko is hotter than ever and all but she is totally for Namina. For her, Simon is like a younger brother – i think.

    banzemanga
  9. @banzemanga:

    On what grounds are you basing your accusations of Rossiu on? He did all his “evil” deeds for the sake of the worthless citizens, taking his responsibilities as a leader head on. He actually thinks about the consequences of his actions and plans them out, unlike the Gurren-dan’s OO AN ENEMY!! LET’S BEAT ‘EM UP!! Of course, this is GURREN LAGANN, not World Politics which we are speaking of, so Simon will always eventually “BREAK THROUGH THE HEAVENS!!” no matter what. In a real life situation, it’s obbious who the better leader is. Doesn’t mean I hate Simon, by the way =p

  10. @CherylHew

    lol so True, This show is all about Simon sprouting inspiration and then he achieves the impossible all the time. *sigh* if only things were always like that in the real world. Which is why I like Rossiu’s character, he is different and adds a touch of realism to the series which otherwise will just all be CHARGE!!! ON WARDS TO VICTORY!!! =P

    Kiasu
  11. I don’t think Nia will die, but I thought so up until this episode. Simon finally has the voice from episode 1, and the last 5 episodes are gonna be KICKASS !! (sorry for my english, I’m french :P)

    Platypus
  12. MWAH, dunno what to think about this one, maybe that was an elegy to crappiness ? Basically Arc Gurren Lagann is nothing more than fanservice, the only thing it did was to destroy the Giant Mugan Duo, wich I think even being huge could have been put into the ground by GL alone… Then comes Evil Nia who fails miserably has a villain or as a self proclaim “True Nia”, her anti-spiral genes are utter shit (no turning back my ass) and she’s in fact plain dumb (how can you be so oblivious of the ring you wear ?). That was probably one of the most crappy & unoriginal scene of the show, let’s hope the last arc won’t be ruined by Dumb Nia’s return and a totally predictable conclusion like Simon-into-space-with-giant-mecha-kill-the evil-ones-then-save-the-girl-and-happily-ever-after-roll-the credits-with-happily-ever-after-playing-in-the-background… WAIT FOR ME? SPAAAAAAAAAAARTAAAAAAAAAAA !!!

    Bogus
  13. Everyone is missing the fact that, as said in the episode, Nia is technically dead already! Her body isn’t human anymore, it’s just like the anti-spiral weapons. It’s a lost cause imo. She’s no different than lord Genoams head in the bio-computer. She has her old self memories and all that shit, but she’s not what she was, and so on. Her character has more or less done her job, she got Simon out of emo mode before, and so on. There is nothing more for her to do story wise, she’s just there as a dramatic “last enemy”.

    Gainax doesn’t want to take away all your Nia hope just yet, but we’ll see, 5 eps left! Ahahahhha!

    GP
  14. it’s been #1 on mine since death note ended. and it was #2 from the first time i saw it.
    absolutely the most total freakin’ destruction and complete badassery around.

    THE MOON TRANSFORMED INTO A GIGANTIC SPACE BATTLESHIP

    O_O!

    (with a big face)

    I would be disappointed that there are only five episodes left, but I think if they actually made more episodes, it might spin out (haha) of control and end up destroying the entire universe as we know it.

    @_@

    DLazLong
  15. Hate to break it out to slowpoke Nia hater.. but.. here goes.
    Show Spoiler ▼

    egas
  16. Words…can’t describe…should…have sent…a poet. Pants got tight twice during this ep.
    The Char’s Counterattack scene was awesome. Loved the Majora’s Mask vibes from Moon with a creepy face. Also, Arc-Gurren-Lagann’s face totally looks like GaoGaiGar. This ep has raised the bar so much it’s not funny.

    JP
  17. yeah i channeled gainax all right. JEEZ. I cannot recall even GaoGaiGar evoking such a response from me as what had been done in this anime. Well maybe except the last few episodes of the GGG OAV and very much the last couple episodes of Gunbuster. But man… words can hardly describe what i feel when i watched this.

    It was like…… like…. well…. unlike anything expressed so far in words. Even shakespeare would be at a loss for words to describe this anime. And the totally cool gunbuster-eque landing of the arc-gurren was very nicely done.

    Gods i don’t think there was any episodes that Gainax scrimpped on this one. OAVs and movies had these kinds of budget. But to do so on a tv series. Gods. Gainax is win win win.

    I dunno about all the NIA haters but i love nia and i think that one of the most pivotal points here is what simon will do to get her back. And man will i want to see these last 5 episodes all the more becuase of it.

    Ladies and gentlemen… we are now at the final arc. Hot blood and manliness abound. Nothing can defeat the spiral race. not when we’ve got hot blood and manliness overflowing like an exploding supernova.

    God. Even if this is an anime.. one cannot help but wonder… if the human spirit and really truly defy all odds. Gainax made me believe in it. Do you??

    sdliddo
  18. Things juz keep getting bigger and Bigger and BIgger and BIGGer and BIGGEr and BIGGER and BBBIIIIIGGGGGGGEEEERRR!!!!!

    @Barandax
    i know the blue mecha behind gurren lagann is Arc-gurren-lagann. Therefore, the yelloish one muz be Cathedral-Terra-Gurren-Lagann or sumthing. WHich means there is an even BIGGER machine that Gurren lagann can GATTAI with…man…this anime is giving a whole new meaning to the word “BIG”

    DarklynerZ
  19. it’s simple but gurren lagann pwns every mecha anime there’s ever been. It’s so cool, there’s always something new. It started just with two little ganmens and it’s now even able to be arc gurren lagann and it restored that ship.

    Viral and simon are so awesome, the speech with the background when they did arc gurren was so cool and funny…

    Man this so awesome

    legno
  20. Roughly ten minutes into the episode (including the time for the opening) there’s a pretty spanking rock song that coincides with the conclusion of the Arc Gurren-Lagann’s transformation. Anyone have a clue to the name of said song?

    katchimo
  21. Too awesome… Gurren Lagann is too awesome…

    Although, somehow I feel this will become that Simon goes save Nia, has a kid named Kamina, they jump back in time while Nia dies, and the show starts from episode 1.

    I kinda feel they are building up to that.

    yikes
  22. Episode summary:

    SIMON AND VIRAL BROKE THE SKY.

    CATHEDRAL TERRA.

    THE WORLD CRIED MANLY TEARS.

    I want to see episode 23. It will have Simon doing an epic punch, and Rossiu holding a gun. I have a sneaking suspicion it’s for Simon.

    Koji b Sadko
  23. Simon and the Gurren-Lagann remind me of Goku. =D

    No, seriously. I just started watching post-timeskip and this episode was truly epic. I hope Rossiu can return to glory as well.

    Spin Gai Gu
  24. ahhh is it me or has this got a lot of stuff that’s reminiscent of Eureka seveN ^_^ That and Gurren Lagann must be two of the best mecha anime ever, and definitely two of my all-favorite stories/universes.

    Ryoga

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