Gurren-Lagann Ep. 7: You’re Gonna Do It!

After giving the humans a moment to put their clothes back on, Viral has his duel with Kamina and Simon. Kamina mockingly tells Viral that it was nice of him to wait for them, but Viral responds that annihilating naked apes would not be worthy of his skill. Moreover, when he defeats Kamina and Gurren-Lagann, he’ll be remembered as a legend among the soldiers at the capital. Kamina wonders if by ‘capital’ he means the beastmen base that they’re tracking down, but Viral scoffs at him, telling him that the capital is the one and only civilization on the surface and it is governed by Lordgenome. As the fight continues, Viral once again loses his swords to Gurren-Lagann’s drills, causing him to decide that it’s time for them to feel the full power of the capital. An artillery strike rains down on Gurren-Lagann and off in the distance, it looks as if an entire mountain is lumbering towards them. Leeron reports that the ‘mountain’ is Gurren’s return point, and Viral introduces it as a fortress Gunmen–the Dai-Gunzan. True to form, Kamina walks right up to the staggeringly large Gunmen and excitedly notes that it is the first guy to cast such a huge shadow on him. Simon thinks that it may be prudent for them to escape, but Kamina isn’t planning on running. The commander of the Dai-Gunzan introduces himself as Thymilph, one of Lordgenome’s Four Generals. It seems that Lordgenome is displeased with how Gurren-Lagann has been allowed to run amok on the surface, so Thymilph is here to take care of them. Kamina tries to attack the Dai-Gunzan, but simply cannot reach any vulnerable spot on the massive fortress, which unleashes a barrage which badly damages Gurren-Lagann’s left leg. Yoko, Simon, and Rossiu try to convince Kamina to run, but he angrily refuses–no retreats, no regrets, and no turning back is the spirit of himself and Simon. Simon wonders why he’s been lumped into this, but Kamina’s fury causes Gurren-Lagann to power up, which results in its leg miraculously fixing itself. Back on the move, but still unable to do any damage, Kamina gets an idea and allows the Dai-Gunzan to get a clear shot at them. Gurren-Lagann then rides the resulting explosion into the air and performs a fiery flying kick which hits Viral’s Enkidu which such force that the machine is embedded into the Dai-Gunzan’s deck. In the distance, Yoko, Leeron, Rossiu, Gemmy, Darry, the Black Sisters, and the mysterious old man, Coco, wonder if Gurren-Lagann survived the explosion. Suddenly, the Dai-Gunzan hurls three Gunmen at them–Thymilph is determined to not like anyone escape. Yoko attempts to fend them off, but without her rifle, she can’t even scratch their armor. Just as all seems lost, a mysterious yellow Gunmen appears and quickly dispatches the three Gunmen. Though she’s not sure what to make of the new Gunmen, Yoko pleads with it to please go help Kamina. The Gunmen’s cockpit opens, revealing a smirking Kittan. 

Gurren-Lagann stands tall on Dai-Gunzan’s deck as Kamina tells Thymilph that he plans to grasp the sun–even if it’s hot, he’ll endure it–his name is Lord Kamina, and Thymilph better remember that. Simon admits to be a bit scared, but Kamina reassures him that there’s no way they’d fire on their own deck. Thymilph smirks as Kamina launches Gurren-Lagann at him, and has Dai-Gunzan’s catapult arms start batting Gurren-Lagann around like a toy. Eventually, Dai-Gunzan grabs each of Gurren-Lagann’s legs and starts to pull the machine apart. Just as the joints are about to give out, a shot rings out and Gurren-Lagann falls back to the deck. In the distance, Dayakka, now piloting a blue Gunmen, tells Kamina and Simon to escape while they can. Kittan and his King Kittan are also here to help. Surprised, Kamina wonders how they got Gunmen. Dayakka explains that since word got out that a human was able to steal a Gunmen and is using it to take the fight back to the beastmen, many other people have been following his example–reinforcements are on the way. Not content to just sit back and watch the human’s power grow, Thymilph orders the Dai-Gunzan to fire on the two new Gunmen, while Viral rallies their Gunmen forces to attack Gurren-Lagann on the deck. Despite being outmatched by a full squad of Gunmen along with Enkidu and Dai-Gunzan’s arms, Kamina is still unwilling to turn his back on the enemy, even to join up with the reinforcements. Yoko pleads with him, telling him that if he dies now, who will be able to pull their allies together? Gurren-Lagann is knocked off the deck by Dai-Gunzan as Simon tells Kamina that everyone is waiting for him. Kamina calms down a bit, but tells Simon that if they run, they’ll be an easy target for the Dai-Gunzan’s guns–as long as Dai-Gunzan’s legs are moving, they simply can’t escape. Simon looks at the surrounding landscape and tells Kamina that he has an idea. Kamina looks questioningly at Simon for a moment, and then relinquishes control of Gurren-Lagann to Simon, and tells him he’ll leave this fight to him. Simon begins to run Gurren-Lagann away from Dai-Gunzan, dodging its shots and occasionally firing small drills in seemingly random directions. Finally, Gurren-Lagann comes to a dead end and turns to face its pursuer . From the deck, Viral tells them that its over, but Simon doesn’t seem worried. Viral notices too late that they’ve been surrounded by small drills embedded in the rock in a circular pattern. Gurren-Lagann smashes its fist into the rock, causing the ground under the Dai-Gunzan to collapse, sending the fortress and its Gunmen into a seemingly inescapable pit. As they fall, Viral yells that they haven’t seen the last of them, and promises to come back and finish the job tomorrow. As they head back to where their new allies are gathering, Kamina congratulates Simon on a job well done. As night falls, Leeron works on repairing the damage to Gurren’s leg, which, despite having miraculously fixed itself during battle, reappeared after Lagann separated. Kamina is introduced to their new allies and gives a speech congratulating them on making it this far and informing them that that huge Gunmen will doubtlessly attack again tomorrow, so why don’t they all team up and beat it to a pulp together? Simon asks how they’re going to do that, causing Kamina to point at him and tell him that that’s what he’s going to do. Leeron explains that Gurren-Lagann’s union works because Lagann takes over Gurren’s system. So if they have Lagann unite with Dai-Gunzan, they should be able to take the fortress for themselves–if Simon’s spirit is strong enough, anyway. Afterwards, Yoko goes to see Kamina. Sensing her worries, Kamina tells her that they’ve got no choice but to win and to keep on winning until the beastmen give up. It would be nice if the children like Gemmy and Darry were given the chance to grow up without worries. Yoko smiles, noting that Kamina actually has a brain after all, and teasingly introduces him as Lord Kamina, demon leader of the Team Gurren. Kamina corrects her–now it’s the Team Dai-Gurren. Yoko smiles, but then becomes serious once more, and warns him not to repeat what happened today. Though he’s been doing absurd things since the beginning and winning out due to guts and luck, today it was close to suicide. If it hadn’t been for Simon, he’d probably be dead. She pauses for a moment, and seems about to admit something, but she is interrupted by the sudden eruption of several volcanoes in the distance. Impressed by the sight, Kamina notes that a burning mountain is rather appropriate for this generation.