Gurren Lagann ep. 20, "How Far Will God Test Us?" Review - Fresh Takes #19

Welcome back to another edition of Fresh Takes, with our own co-pilots of the Gurren and the Lagann, Mike and Brock! In this episode of the now-classic anime series, Simon is trapped in prison with Viral while Rossiu shoots his shot at saving humanity! Meanwhile, Leeron calculates the population’s chances of survival when the moon hits, and Nia reappears, only to be confronted by an old friend. We’re almost at the end of one of Gainax’s best series ever! Hit that play button!

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I cannot even tell you how great that cliffhanger is! Before we talk about that, however, let me just say how wonderful it was to have a sequence where Simon and Viral both fight against a bird Beastman who looks Foghorn Leghorn’s buff cousin! It was the right amount of absurdity in an episode that’s full of apocalyptic portents and possibly the highest stakes in the entire series. Also, Viral proved to be a much more formidable opponent in this episode than he ever has been before. I wonder how their inevitable face-off will go down.

So even though last week I was enraged at Rossiu, this week you can at least see a tinge of regret on his face as he sentences 80% or thereabouts of the human race to its impending doom. I mean, at least he felt the weight of leadership, even though he flat-out sucks at it and is just a horrible little douchebag.

Okay, let’s talk about that cliffhanger. Nia materializes out of thin air to taunt Simon and Viral as she shows them just what Rossiu has done. Suddenly, a shot rings out, and the camera shows us the massive barrel of a rifle we know all too well. That’s right, Yoko’s back, baby! And she’s ready for a throw-down! This show has just made me a very happy fellow! I can’t wait to find out what happens next!

Before we wrap up, I just want to thank Mike and Brock for this series of videos and for allowing us to share them here on the site! I love the passion and knowledge they bring to our site, podcast, and this video series, and can’t wait to take part on one of them in the near future! And thank you for reading, listening, and watching! We appreciate your support, and let us know how we’re doing in the comments! Be safe and see you next time, Renegades!

- Neoplasmic