Sort of out of character for me, but as a protest to the aburdly long posts in the
Clannad discussions I'll keep this short and sweet.
Gurren-Lagann is the best super robot show since Y2K, I'd say the best since
GaoGaiGar. Truely "the" defining super robot show of the decade, much like GGG,
Gunbuster and Mazinger were in previous decades.
The animation, while in "new style" for mech productions, was absurdly well done and very action-packed. Typical for super robot shows, the story had just enough depth to keep people from passing it off as being mindless, but was shallow enough for people to just turn off their brains and enjoy.
GL is perhaps one of the most "imaginative" stories of recent years, it gives the impression of a super-long manga getting compressed into a rather short anime. Everything from the Ganmen designs to the character looks, philosophy and whatnot look like they took years to plan, yet they were presented flawlessly on the first act without moments for the "author" to pause and think about the direction desired for the characters.
However, I cannot give GL full marks - some characters were under-developed, namely, the Gurren Gang front soldiers who perished in twenty four, only to get "glorious deaths" not reflecting their status in the show. They were cool but...we didn't need that wasted time. Additionally, Ark Gurren-Lagann and Chou Ginga Gurren-Lagann, while with sufficient introduction time, did not get enough fight time - their designs were rather put to waste. Oh, Yoko's costume was horrible, too. I liked her Arc III clothes a lot better.
Finally, we get to the matter of the epilogue/prologue, the latter of which was out of character for the story. GL was an "epic", it rapidly increases in scope and importance each episode, but the epilogue was a reversal of that. Additionally, the prologue, which baited most people into watching the series, was never elaborated on nor animated again - arguably, the prologue's scenario, whatever it was, is far more interesting than the GL story we got to see.
I for one was long waiting for "boy scout" Simon to evolve into the legendary, confident and cocky space pirate god-like captain we saw in the opening, as well as Boota's rise to being a sub-commander. That, if it had been the epilogue, would have been a suitable ending to an "epic" series. But what we got...the protagonist living in humble obscurity, doing good deeds and spreading his wordly wisdom, was not acceptable as a conclusion. Heck, having Starlock walk into the sunrise would have been better than the epilogue alone. Also, needs less man-jaws.
Overall, 9/10. Easily best series of the year, spot-on acting, visuals, music, sound effects, imagination, heart. Just a pity Gainax's offending influence had to manipulate that ending.