Random Curiosity

Summary:

In bringing out the Chouginga Gurren Lagann, Simon grabs the main face of the enemy ship and digs into it, creating a large explosion. The other battleship then starts bombarding them with planets, but Simon responds with the Gurren Boomerang which rips through the enemy. The Anti-Spirals answer right back with a barrage of missiles that manage to hit the Chouginga Gurren Lagann through its spiral field because the enemy shells are of the probability variation type. According to Lord Genome, this type of attack neutralizes the probability of them defending against it, causing Darry to point out that controlling probability is in god’s domain. When a bright light then appears in front of them, it is accompanied by the Anti-Spiral voice questioning if they’re going to move ahead at the expense of their comrades. The voice claims that the spiral power which only thinks about evolving will conclude in the destruction of the universe and explains that it’s the power that connects life and the universe. The growth of the galaxy is proportional to the growth of life, and developing forms to gain more spiral power is evolution. However, this power is uncontrollable, and it will lead to a black hole that will return the universe to nothingness - this is the Spiral Nemesis.

With Simon completely shocked upon hearing this, Lord Genome confirms it as truth and suggests that Simon had intuitively realized it because he had been using the power. However, Lord Genome also says that there is one more truth: Nia is waiting for him. Simon feels that Lord Genome is right and regains his fighting spirit, and when the Anti-Spiral voice wonders if he’d destroy the universe for short-lived emotion, Simon replies that he’ll protect both the girl and the universe. Not knowing what’s going to happen tomorrow but not wanting to regret right now is what the Dai Gurren-dan is about. He then directs a twister type ability at the enemy ship, but the ship disappears through a portal. Lord Genome warns the crew that their enemy is using Random Schrödinger Warping where they control multidimensional probability variation, though fortunately the Chouginga Gurren Lagann has a weapons system that can launch a barrage of fire into the space and time axes. This succeeds in flushing out the enemy ship, and Simon finishes it off with the Chouginga Giga Drill Breaker. The avatar of Nia smiles at this, but she soon disappears. Lord Genome then reports that the interference is gone, so they can go to the real Nia now, and Simon is able to visualize where she is.

Nia is happy to see Simon, but a dark face suddenly clouds his view, and the Anti-Spiral voice decides to make them pursue the same fate as the spiral warriors of old times. Before Simon realizes what’s going on, he’s taken back to his younger self back on Earth digging holes. He and Kamina are jewel thieves, and Simon’s drill allows them to break into places to steal. Yoko is also in this alternate universe, and her identity is that of the famous bounty hunter Yoko Ritona. In fact, the entire crew of the Chouginga Gurren Lagann is there, and Lord Genome and Boota are the only ones left unaffected. Taking the form of a black, featureless, and shadowy being, the Anti-Spiral voice confirms that the crew is trapped in a multiverse that they can’t get out of as long as they have their intelligence. After a brief chat about how Lord Genome is here to settle things after his past fight, the black Anti-Spiral prepares to fire a blast at the head. However, Lord Genome notes that the Anti-Spiral is being too polite and thinks that if the Anti-Spirals were acting serious, they would have no trouble annihilating the Spirals. The Anti-Spiral admits that it was because they felt an unidentifiable spiral power, and the analysis was marred by holes.

Before the Anti-Spiral can fire, Boota jumps into the path of the blast and starts powering up. His attack having been blocked, the Anti-Spiral recognizes this power as the strange one they had been feeling. Boota then changes into humanoid form, and Lord Genome attributes it to his individual growth energy changing into species evolution energy. Such a rapid change would have been impossible if it hadn’t been for Lord Genome’s own spiral power, and Boota quickly gets to work punching the Anti-Spiral. Unfortunately, the black Anti-Spiral appears again behind him, and since Boota is now human, the Anti-Spiral sends him into the multiverse. With all the holes in the analysis now been filled, the Anti-Spiral declares that this is the end for the crew and disappears. Meanwhile in that universe, Kamina and Simon have gotten caught by the authorities, and Kamina is on his knees begging for his life. Behind them is a glowing container with a hole for a core drill, but Simon notices that it’s no longer hanging around his neck. A voice from behind Simon suddenly asks him what’s wrong and if he lost his drill, and that voice belongs to Kamina.

This Kamina, however, is the Kamina of the Gurren-dan, and he tells Simon to choose whichever Kamina he likes. He reminds Simon that his drill is inside of him, and he asks Simon what purpose his drill is there for. The other Kamina then pulls Simon down to make him bow his head too, but Simon declares that his drill is the drill that pierces the heavens, and he punches the other Kamina. The core drill then reappears in Simon’s hand, and he opens the chest behind him to find it filled with light. After this light clears the skies, Kamina urges Simon to go without letting feelings of “if” mislead him - his one chosen thing is his truth in the universe. Back in his adult form now, Simon agrees, so Kamina tells him not to forget that his universe is in Simon’s universe. It’s not just him either, it’s all of their fallen comrades too. When Simon decides that it’s time to go, Kamina says that this time is really goodbye, but Simon feels that it’s not goodbye because they’ll always be together inside of him. Simon then uses his core drill to transform himself into the Gurren Lagann and takes off into the sky. Yoko meanwhile sees herself getting married on TV to Kittan, but she then turns it off and finds Kamina holding the TV. After thanking him, she grabs her own glowing core drill and joins Simon in the sky.

Across the world, each of the Dai Gurren-dan members does the same, with the final one being Viral who is with his family but realizes that it’s all a sweet dream. Unaware of what’s going on, the black Anti-Spiral is currently interrogating Nia about why she opposes them to that extent. Nia believes that Simon will definitely come, but the Anti-Spiral places his hand on her head and causes her a great deal of pain as he drains her. In the middle of this, however, Nia notices her ring pulsating light. She struggles to point it forward, and the pulsating changes to a constant light from which the Gurren Lagann soon emerges. Inside the Gurren Lagann is Simon who has come to save her.

Preview

Wow…just wow. The alternate universe dream sequence was amazing and almost made me want to cry, particularly everything that happened after the insert song started playing (which I love now). I’ve always wanted Kamina to come back so that he can interact with adult Simon and provide one last bit of inspiration since they give him some of the best speeches. It was icing on the cake to see him get to interact a little with Yoko too, even if it wasn’t for real and even if they barely said anything. Instead, that television was heavily symbolic, but I’m not sure whether it was a mirror into Yoko’s own feelings or a look into what she could achieve to remind her of her true self (those two things might not be mutually exclusive). Although it showed her getting married to Kittan, I think it’s also important to note that it was Kamina who was switching the channels for her, and that’s what ultimately brought her back to her normal self so that she could join Simon. She can’t end up with either of them, but it suffices to say that they both have an important place in her heart - Kamina as her first love and Kittan as the dependable one she would have ended up with if he hadn’t died.

Anyway, I’m just impressed that the topic of Yoko and her relationships was revisited again in a way that gave a lot of closure. The same could be said for the part with Viral and his family - which I thought was a beautiful scene - and you could interpret that as a go-ahead for Viral to die in next week’s finale. With the bar set so high now for his happiness, I think there’s now a better-than-before chance of him getting a grand warrior’s death instead. Actually, who knows if anyone is going to survive at all or how the writers are going to end this series. It kind of feels like there’s too much to resolve in any conventional way, but I’d rather not think of what kind of unconventional ending a GAINAX series could have. Anyway, I expect that they’ll somehow work in that scene from the very beginning of episode one now that Boota has turned humanoid, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed for the finale to be even better than this episode, though I’m not sure that’s possible.