Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann/Heartwarming

"I'm here for you, Nia! Just like I promised! D'AAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWEEEEE!!! :'-D
"Why are you still wearing that ring?"
In the first episode: Before any of the real action begins, there's an earthquake in Giha Village that freaks Simon out. He begs Kamina to find shelter until the point of tears and screams "I don't want you to die!" It makes Kamina remember that Simon lost his parents in an earthquake and allows him realize that he's all that Simon has. While still in handcuffs, Kamina gives Simon a hug to comfort him as the earthquake ceases. It's an Establishing Character Moment for them both as well as a perfect introduction for the dynamic of their relationship. Also qualifies as a Tear Jerker considering what happens in later episodes.
- To elaborate further, Kamina has just been slapped in irons after trying to break free of the village, and abandoned by his first 'Brigade', and is about to start a 'rage against the heavens' speech after stoically and badassly standing still during an earthquake; but Simon's desperate pleading shakes him out of it abruptly, and he takes the moment to show how much he cares about his 'little bro'. No matter how hot-blooded he gets, Kamina's first desire is to care for his loved ones.
- At the conclusion of the first episode, Simon, who has been shown to be introverted and lacking self-confidence, breaks into a confident grin as he, Kamina, and Yoko finally pierce through the surface.
- There was a special part right before the earthquake that this troper found especially heartwarming. Just as Kamina's first Gurren Brigade abandons him he yells at them for betraying him and tells them that he doesn't want to see them again but when the chief tells Simon to go too and Kamina sees the doubt in Simon's face he actually tells the little guy to do as he's told this means that Kamina cares so much about Simon that he doesn't care if he has to suffer through being cooped up alone as long as he knows Simon's okay.
Kamina breaks Simon out of a slump with the words, "Don't believe in me, who believes in you. Believe in yourself, who I believe in." That this is accompanied by a punch to the face and a Heroic Sacrifice drops it solidly into Crowning Moment Of Awesome territory as well.
When Kamina performs the Giga Drill Breaker, my chest tightens up a little.
Simon's story of how Kamina encouraged him to dig the way out after they were trapped in an earthquake, told in episode 10 of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Especially heartwarming in the next episode when we get to hear Kamina's side of the story. He had always relied on Simon in turn and Simon directly inspired him to become the Hot Blooded Determinator he was.
Nia to Guame: "Just as Simon believed in his bro, I believe in my Simon!" The fact that this is almost immediately followed by Simon wiping the floor with Guame and casting off his grief for Kamina in the same motion, in one of the biggest Crowning Moments of Awesome of the whole series, only makes it fuzzier.
- When Simon finally shows up to rescue her, Nia almost cries tears of happiness and jumps onto him with a big hug... even though he's hanging upside-down from the ceiling in Lagann. And after the awesome battle, it's shown that Nia had placed her hands on top of Simon's the whole time, in part because he'd injured his digging out of imprisonment.
For this troper, Simon's " My bro is dead" speech is the CMOH for the entire series:
During Simon's Hes Back speech, everyone of the Dai-Gurren Brigade is looking on in shock...except for Leeron, who's just nodding his head in a "about time you got out of that slump" sort of way.
Speaking of Episode 11: " Rossiu! Let's combine!"
- Rossiu's reaction sells it- not just the look on his face, but the fact that hearing Simon's voice gives him the strength of will to flip Guame on his back. In the movie, it lets him hold off Viral until the combination.
When Simon performs his own Giga Drill Breaker, does the screen get blurry for anyone else?
The conclusion of the battle for Teppelin. Beaten and weary from the fight, Simon and Nia are flying back to the team, and Nia gazes at the sunrise. Simon puts his hand around her shoulder, and Nia rests her hand on top of his and nuzzles into his shoulder. The scene contains no dialogue, but it's even more effective that way. It's also because it's obvious that it's that exact moment when they truly fell in love with each other.
Kamina and Simon meeting again in the same alternate universe, Yoko getting married to Kittan and meeting again with Kamina in said AU... that whole sequence is a Crowning Moment Of Heartwarming. Libera Me (From Hell) playing through the sequence makes it just plain awesome.
- The second movie makes that scene even more heart wrenching. When Simon uses his Core Drill to open the box he found Nia in, Kittan jumps out and says "Don't forget me!" Simon and Kamina look at him for a second before Kamina asks "Who are you again?", the same way he did when Kittan and Team Dai-Gurren met up with Gurren Lagann for the first time. As Kittan gets steamed up for being forgotten a second time, Kamina breaks into a grin and grabs him in a noogie, yelling "Idiot! As if I could forget!", as Simon watches his deceased comrades with a smile.
Simon and Kinon use the Power Of Love and the Power Of Friendship to open a wormhole so that the Gurren Lagann can go through, and they can stop Rossiu from committing suicide to atone for his betrayal of Simon. Simon than gives him a Get A Hold Of Yourself Man punch, and stops him from making another mistake, as Kinon embraces him. Simon than leaves Rossiu and his men in charge of the civilians, and city so the soldiers can go off to war, proving that friendships can survive betrayal.
- Simon's speech to Rossiu encouraging him to keep living is a great one, since not only is he openly forgiving Rossiu, but he's also quoting Kamina, essentially showing the same level of faith in Rossiu that Kamina showed in Simon.
Don't forget the trip back, with Rossiu co-piloting Gurren Lagann for the first time in seven years, proving his friendship with Simon can last through anything, even Rossiu trying to put Simon to death.
Don't forget the conversation between Kinon and Rossiu where Rossiu says that Kinon (who is sitting on Rossiu's lap) is heavy but would like her to stay put so he can feel the weight of one human life. She then calls him a jerk.
Revealing that Viral's heart's desire is to have a family, impossible due to beastmen being made by cloning. It's an extra shocker since Viral is portrayed as a total grumpy hardass the whole series. And extra sad, since Viral's immortality would probably have him outliving any family he could hope to have.
- Congratulations, Gainax, for making This Troper cry with only ten seconds of animation.
Nia writing Kamina a letter in Lagann-Hen. She never met him and he'd been dead for seven years, which finishes with her asking "Kamina, has this city named after you become what you dreamed it would be? Is our future heading toward the one you showed us?"
This troper can't be the only one that thinks the post timeskip opening contains a significant one. Particularly, the scene where the lyrics are going "I have come this far by following your shadow", and the scene is basically the Dai Gurren Brigade, with Kamina at the top facing away from the screen, acknowledging him as their inspiration.
Episode 25, I Accept Your Last Wish! Has possibly the most heart-wrenching Heroic Sacrifice of the series. After finally showing Yoko how he feels, Kittan is willing to sacrifice his own life to allow Team Dai-Gurren to escape the Death Spiral Field and form the Super Galaxy Gurren Lagann. This after it's been made clear that he probably has long-term intentions involving Yoko. Because of his awesome speech it also doubles as a Crowning Moment Of Awesome.
Also, Kamina's spirit advisor scene in Episode 26. The whole damn thing. Simon being trapped in a Lotus Eater Machine in which he witnesses a fake life where Kamina and Simon, instead of becoming freedom fighters, settle down as thieves. After some confusion, Simon realizes he isn't wearing his Core Drill anymore. Cue the real Kamina asking him if he has lost his drill, and a lot of encouraging, cumilating in Simon punching fake Kamina in the face and then the real Kamina and now-adult Simonn standing side-by-side. Kamina's comment? "You have grown taller than me". Do also note that he does not just mean that in a literal sense.
- Also, he tells Simon "the truth of your universe is what's in here," pointing to Simon's heart. At the end of the conversation, when it's time for Simon to go, Kamina tells him "This time it's really goodbye." Simon corrects him, stating "It's never goodbye. You're always with me- in here." and gestures to his heart again. You may find it cliche but I loved how it showed how much Simon had grown since the two had been separated.
Episode 27: Lordgenome's "Nia, I know I don't deserve to be called your father-"
- And then she calls him that anyway. D'awwww.
1st episode after the Time Skip, when Nia accepts Simon's proposal: Simon, to Kamina's monument, "Yes! I did it, Bro!"
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann also gets big credit for the relatively happy ending. After carving a hole through the Anti-Spiral boss and killing him once and for all, every single Anti-Spiral in the universe dies or vanishes due to No Ontological Inertia; Nia, however, hangs on by pure defiant willpower and her love for Simon, and they finally get married. Then, after sharing her first on-screen kiss, she vanishes in the air, smiling to him, and Simon puts on his cape and spends the rest of his days Walking The Earth. Not exactly a cheerful ending, considering that Gainax loves... well... Gainax Endings for a reason, but still a great way to end the continuous series of Crowning Moments of Awesome.
- This Troper kept bawling his eyes out even ten minutes AFTER the last credits. It's a worthy finale for this series. An all-around Happy Ending might have felt cheap and anticlimactic.
The ending credits of the second movie manages to be a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming and a Crowning Moment of Awesome. Everything combines together to form a beautiful summary of the very essence of the series. Just look at the lyrics!
Even though it was All Just a Dream (sort of), the fact that Boota's greatest wish is to be able to transform into a humanoid so he can help out Simon more is rather touching.
In Gurren-hen, the Four Generals attempted to destroy the Dai-Gurren brigade. Simon not only blocked the shot, but then told his friends not to falter. Followed up by Kittan with something resembling this: "Of course not! How can I with all these friends?"
This.
- Warning: Manly Tears are likely.
  - Thank YOU Kamina, for giving us someone who will believe in us, even when no one else will.
The uncut version of Episode 6, which is practically CMOF incarnate, does have a genuinely heartwarming moment in it. The boys and girls are separated by a giant wall while in the hot spring, and Kamina convinces Simon to peep on the girls who are presumably naked (they aren't). Simon drills through the wall and manages to make a small hole through the other side, only to overhear what the girls think of him: a young, ineffectual boy who is too dependent of Kamina and has no real identity of his own. However, Yoko says she believes Simon has the potential to be a great man and always pulls through for his friends in the end. As a result, Simon respectfully covers the hole he made and makes no further attempts to peep on them. Not that it stops him from seeing Yoko's boobs by mistake in the end...
In episode 10 the fighting members of Team Dai-Gurren, most of whom considered Nia their enemy just a few minutes earlier, rush into battle to save her, inspired by her standing up for them and enraged by Lordgenome's Parental Abandonment. After the battle they give her a loud cheer, showing that they accepted her as one of them. Even this troper, who had not been spoiled about any of the events after Kamina's death and was expecting Nia to pull a Face Heel Turn any second, could not help but feel happy for her in that scene.
- Two episodes later, we have Yoko finally getting over her misgivings toward Nia in and the two becoming friends, with Yoko helping fix Nia's hair. Awwww....
For this Troper, It was after the forming of Tengen Toppa Gurran Laggan, where the Anti Spiral is just beating the hell out of the Brigade, to the point that it rips open a hole to Earth and starts his Evil Gloating. You just KNOW Simon is going to rally the team and start the proper ass-kicking... But it's not him, it's Dayakka, the only member of the brigade to become a father, who not only breaks out of the slump, but delivers the first big hurt on the Anti Spiral. Papa Wolf at it's finest.
- what makes it even better is that dayakka, who is normaly rather calm and meek, is going into a screaming, Hot-Blooded RAGE here, showing his Papa Wolf instincts even better. And yes, he is telling him not to lay a finger on his Earth, but we all know what he really means.
- Notably in the regular TV series, the exact moment that Dayakka made that come back? The Anti-Spiral made his kid cry. Giant Eldritch Abomination or not, he was not going to stand for that.
When Nia meet a Gunman for the first time, Simon eventually decide to make a Last Stand to allow her to escape. Then ensue the following dialogue :

Simon: I'm sick of it! I am sick of watching people die! I don't care what happens to me, just so long as no one else dies!
Nia: Do you really want to die? If you are frightened, you should run. You mustn't die.
Simon: N-no, I'm not scared.
Nia: You mustn't lie, either. Come, let's escape. Together.

Then she takes him by the hand and go. Really, at that moment, she saved him.

Seriously? No one has Nia and Simon's wedding (which also goes into Tear Jerker territory as well) here? For shame.
Simon is talking with Anti-Spiral Nia about the chances of her coming back to normal, she replies that the chance is infinitely close to zero, Simon replies with; Well to me, that's as good as 100%.
Shortly after Simon is named leader of the Dai-Gurren he is talking with Nia about something or another. Then Yoko comes in screaming at Simon about not having eaten in the past few days; it was at that point that this troper Abandoned Ship on SimonxYoko, because they were just too much like real family for it to seem right in my mind.
MY-WIFE-IS-THE-BEST-IN-THE-UNIVERSE-SWING!

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