As the Super Galaxy Dai-Gurren sinks into the mysterious ocean in space, its energy levels begin to plummet, preventing them from breaking free of the ocean’s gravitational pull. Lordgenome’s head informs the crew that this area is known as the Death Spiral Field. Any Spiral energy entering the field is absorbed and converted into raw energy–the more Spiral energy you try to use, the more dense space becomes. Simon attempts to pump out enough Spiral energy to allow them to escape before they get too deep, but the Anti-Spiral units follow them into the Death Spiral Field and begin pushing the ship back down. In the hanger bay, Kittan and Yoko decide to go out in their Gunmen to protect the ship, but suddenly an emotional Gimmy demands to know why they aren’t scared of dying. Isn’t flying into a super-dense space field to fight a huge number of enemies in their worn-out Gunmen the same as looking for a place to die? Kittan calls Gimmy and idiot and reminds him that there isn’t anybody who isn’t afraid of dying. Kittan attempts to make a speech about how they have to do this, but they’re also doing it because they want to, but his words rapidly fail him. He simply concludes by telling Gimmy and Darry and Jorgun and Balinbow saved them because they wanted to, so there’s no reason to feel burdened. Kittan climbs on board his King Kittan, which climbs on board Space King Kittan while Kittan frets that, if it had been Kamina, he would have been able to cheer those two up better. Now that he’s older, Kittan looks back and has to admit that Kamina was quite the man. Hearing this from her own Gunmen, Yoko tells Kittan that the Team Dai-Gurren only got this far because of him–while Simon pulled the brigade from the top, Kittan pushed it from below. With that, the two remaining Space Gunmen launch and begin their counterattack against the Anti-Spiral units. Yoko gets caught off-guard by an enemy, but Kittan manages to destroy her attacker. He asks her if she’d let him meet her kids when the get back to Earth–despite how he looks, he loves kids. Eventually, Gimmy and Darry join the battle in their Space Grapearls, telling Kittan that they, also, are doing this because they want to.Â
Managing to clean up the majority of the enemy force, Kittan, Yoko, Gimmy, and Darry witness a strange cone of starry objects pointing down towards the center of the Death Spiral Field. Upon closer examination, they find that the field is actually made up of countless inactive Lagann-type units which belonged to other Spiral Warriors who perished here. The Anti-Spiral voice booms out to remind them that they aren’t special–among all the battles that have taken place between the Spirals and the Anti-Spirals, this particular conflict is nothing more than a speck. As the Super Galaxy Dai-Gurren is pulled deeper into the field, Leeron detects an energy reaction near the field’s center. Lordgenome identifies it as the Death Spiral Machine, which maintains the Death Spiral Field. Leeron notes that this ocean is where the tears of the Spiral races gather. Simon promises to take their regrets and turn it into power, and orders Dayakka to fly straight at the Death Spiral Machine–if they can’t escape it, they will destroy it. Lordgenome reports that the ship will not hold out long in the super-dense area surrounding the Death Spiral Machine, but if they can inject enough Spiral energy into the conversion field protecting the machine, it will be disrupted long enough to allow a conventional attack against the machine itself. Unfortunately, they only have enough energy for two Super Spiral Missiles, as Simon is rapidly becoming exhausted. Descending even further, several areas of the ship begin to flood, and one of the large drills connecting Gurren-Lagann to the ship’s core overloads and breaks off. As Reite sends a team in to replace the drill, Viral tells Simon to rest for a bit. Viral curses his inability to produce Spiral energy, but is surprised when Boota suddenly jumps onto Gurren’s face. Realizing that Boota wants him to open up, Viral complies. Boota jumps into the cockpit and unleashes a huge surge of Spiral energy, immediately repairing the broken drill and restarting the energy flow. The bridge crew is shocked by this odd turn of events, but Lordgenome reminds them that Spiral life is not limited to humans–perhaps some of Simon’s power rubbed off on the little molepig. Finally within firing distance of the Death Spiral Machine, a Spiral Missile is launched, but before it makes it to its target, it is crushed by the pressure. Down in the hanger, Reite desperately attempts to reinforce the last missile’s outer casing, but knows they most likely won’t make it in time. Yoko approaches Reite with a look of determination, but is suddenly interrupted by Kittan, who tells her that this is his job, and orders Reite to load the missile onto Space King Kittan. Without warning, he then embraces and kisses Yoko. Kittan apologizes for his selfishness, but Yoko returns his embrace, saying that he’s doing this because he wants to, so there’s nothing she can do to stop him… As Space King Kittan launches towards the Death Spiral Machine, Kittan yells back that he won’t say anything like ‘farewell, my friends.’ Approaching the edge of the conversion field, Kittan fires off the Spiral Missile, which strikes true, leaving the machine venerable. Unfortunately, as Kittan attempts to launch a volley of missiles, the pressure suddenly crushes Space King Kittan. A deadly silence falls over the crew of the Super Galaxy Dai-Gurren, but a small energy reaction is detected where Space King Kittan was destroyed. King Kittan, carrying Gurren-Lagann’s broken drill bursts out of the explosion of Space King Kittan and rushes towards the Death Spiral Machine. With Spiral energy coursing through him, Kittan prepares to launch the drill, declaring, “This is Simon’s… the Team Dai-Gurren’s… humanity’s.. No! This is my soul! I’ll make you regret this! Take this, King Kittan Giga Drill Breaker!” Expanding to an enormous size, the drill pierces the Death Spiral Machine, which explodes as King Kittan is crushed by the pressure. As Kittan is enveloped by the explosion, he notes that this Spiral power is quite something… With the Death Spiral Machine destroyed, all the converted Spiral energy surrounding them turns into a sea of pure Spiral energy. As the energy flows into the Super Galaxy Dai-Gurren, Leeron tells Simon that they can transform whenever he’s ready. Simon tells Kittan that he has accepted his dying wish, and as the Super Galaxy Dai-Gurren surges towards the surface, the transformation begins. As the new, massive mech breaks the surface in front of the two Anti-Spiral warships, Simon declares, “My comrades’ feelings have been etched into my body. I will change this eternal darkness into light. Heaven and Earth. One body, one soul. Super Galaxy Gurren-Lagann! …I’ll show you the power of mankind…”Â
Kittan grew a lot over the course of twenty-one episodes, starting out as kind of a lesser Kamina, but eventually coming into his own as second-in-command of the Team Dai-Gurren in all the ways that counted. I was really hoping that the title of this episode simply referred to those who died in the previous episode, but if Kittan really had to go, this was certainly the way to do it. I would not have thought it possible, but Kittan’s death was in the same league as Kamina’s–giving all he has to save his friends, and going beyond the impossible to do it. Not to be totally overshadowed, Boota’s sudden power up was both amusing and awesome. I never thought the ‘token cute thing’ would actually have a useful part to play in the end of this. Now with two episodes left, it seems that Simon is finally going to take the fight to the Anti-Spirals. Â
Gurren-Lagann Info
Director:
Hiroyuki Imaishi
Writer(s):
Kazuki Nakashima
Hiroshi Yamaguchi
Shouji Saeki
Kurasumi Sunayama
Masahiko Otsuko
Mechanical Designer(s):
Yoh Yoshinari
Character Designer:
Atsushi Nishigori
Musical Composer:
Taku Iwasaki
Format:
27 episodes; 2 compilation movies
Airdates:
Japan 04.01.2007 – 09.30.2007
U.S. 07.28.2008 – 11.11.2008
Theatrical Release:
Japan 07.01.2008 – 04.25.2009
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