Welcome to the world of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann!

Enter, Boota the mole-pig!

The unofficial mascot of Team Dai-Gurren, Boota is a small mole-pig from Giha village, who Simon keeps as a pet. Boota is characterised by his sunglasses and star pattern surrounding the tail in his rear end. No matter how many years pass, Boota's physical appearance does not change. Although he can't talk, he can understand humans, and even has seemingly near-human intelligence.

Enter, Yoko the gunner!

Yoko is a girl from Giha's neighboring village of Ritona who had been chasing the Gunmen that crashed into Giha village during the events of episode 1. She wields an extensive range of firearms, most frequently of which is a long range sniper rifle modeled after the Barrett M82. Although she is of the same age group as Simon, she is very mature for her age and she is one of the most rational members of the group. Despite initially always badmouthing Kamina for his reckless behavior, it did not take long for her to confess her feelings to him. She was also Simon's love interest until he discovered that she was in love with Kamina.

Enter, Kamina the bad-ass!

Kamina is a young man from Giha village who dreams of leaving the village and go to the surface, which he saw as a kid. He's very passionate about his goals, expressing his wishes through energetic speeches, which seems to affect all those who hear him. He convinces Simon to help him with his plan to drill through the roof of the village and get to the world above, but the plan failed and he was put in prison. He left the village shortly thereafter with the help of Simon and a young girl named Yoko, as a result of fighting a Gunmen, who broke into the village from the surface. His plans are rarely well thought-out but for some strange reason or another, they seem to work most of the time.

Enter, Simon the digger!

Simon, as a boy, was physically underdeveloped for his age, standing at little more than 4-feet tall. Though valued as one of the most skilled diggers in Giha Village by his Chief, Simon was ignored by the adults and snubbed by the girls, who considered him disgusting because of his peculiar habits and odd smell. Lacking parental figures to help him mature, along with his fear of earthquakes, Simon was plagued by low self-esteem and had many cowardly tendencies. Even after his friendship with Kamina, he continued to act cowardly and doubted his own abilities. However, Kamina's inspirational speeches would give Simon just enough confidence to endure his own fears and to accomplish something.

The Story of Gurren Lagann

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is a Japanese shōnen anime television series animated by Gainax and co-produced by Aniplex and Konami. It lasted for twenty-seven episodes and premiered on April 1, 2007 on Japan's TV Tokyo network. It is directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi, written by veteran playwright Kazuki Nakashima and has been in development since the participation of the famed animator in the Abenobashi mecha themed episodes by the same studio. A video game based on the series, for the Nintendo DS was released in October 2007 bundled with a special episode of the anime series, and a theatrical feature is currently in production. Licensing for a North American release of Gurren Lagann was announced by ADV Films at AnimeExpo 2007 on June 30, 2007.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann takes place in a fictional future where human beings have been forced underground and thrive in isolated subterranean civilizations on Earth. These "villages" have no contact with the surface world nor other villages. Since frequent earthquakes damage infrastructure, the villages must constantly expand deeper into the earth—individuals designated to this task are known as "diggers".

Giha Village is the home of Simon, a fourteen year old digger who was orphaned when his parents were killed in an earthquake. He is respected by the village elder as the best of the diggers, but is ostracized by his peers. After discovering a special drill key deep in the ground, he is recruited by an eccentric fellow orphan named Kamina into his group, The Gurren Brigade. Kamina dreams of the surface world, which he visited as a child with his father but had to return home because he was too weak to survive.

After a failed attempt at reaching the surface, Kamina is jailed by the elder and Simon resumes digging, only to discover "a big face" deep in his tunnel. As he excitedly fetches Kamina to show him the discovery, he is caught by the village elder, but Kamina's punishment is interrupted by the ceiling of Giha Village collapsing as an enormous robot falls into the cavern. A girl named Yoko appears and tries to fight the robot with a large rifle, but initially cannot do much. Simon takes Kamina and Yoko to the "big face" he found earlier and discovers that the small drill key can be used to activate the small robot, which he uses to end up destroying the much larger robot and effectively break through to the surface.

It is on the surface that Simon and Kamina discover that there are more large robots known as Gunmen piloted by "Beastmen" that terrorize the surface dwellers during the day. Simon and Kamina help Yoko and her village destroy three more Gunmen and Kamina takes one for himself, naming it Gurren. Eventually, Simon and Kamina decide that they will go on a journey to end the constant struggle between Beastmen and humans. Simon and Kamina are initially accompanied by Yoko and a mechanic from Yoko's village named Leeron as they head out to find the Beastmen's Human Eradication Army main head-quarters, while dealing with various Beastmen warriors, including the vicious Viral.

Along the way, Simon and the others are joined by more humans, including the "Black Siblings", led by Kittan, and Rossiu, a strict young man from an underground village, forming the "Team Dai-Gurren", leading up to a major battle with the Human Eradication Army. Then the arrival of Nia, the mysterious "daughter" of Beastman leader, Lord Genome, and the population of Earth's surface.

The second half of the series moves seven years into the future, where mankind has become prosperous and led by Simon and the other members of the Team Dai-Gurren. Though all seems well, after 1,000,000 people populate the surface, a new catastrophe begins with the arrival of the Anti-Spirals, including Nia's sudden "transformation" into the Anti-Spiral's messenger, and the threat of the moon literally falling onto the Earth. Simon, along with the reformed Team now lead the battle to defeat the Anti-Spirals and save Earth.