what show better GURREN LAGANN or death note

They've obviously stayed away from the internet...


Do you base ratings of anime's off characters alone? If so, I'd hate to think of some of your favorite shows.


Death Note is popular, but I seriously don't think it's as popular as Gurren Lagann. I'm also pretty sure many people have not heard of DN as well.

I said that based on my experiences. I live in europe, and here in the past year or so, anime has been getting a lot of attention, JUST because of Death Note.

I guess there it's more popular (GN), but here Death Note is all around.

You're blind? If you actually visited forums during the time it aired it would be pretty much impossible to miss all the sigs, quotes & threads dedicated to it.

Lol no.

This is pretty much the only forum I visit, so.

Just take my word for it then, the attention TTGL got was massive.

Just as an example, On Narutofan.com's forum there was like 1000 posts made in under a minute in the TTGL thread while one of the new episodes came out.

Just asked my friend who is on the internet all the time and who hates anime if he's heard of Death Note. He responded "Oh, that gay show about the magic book and the faggot detective guy?". I asked if he's heard of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and he says "What the fuck are you even saying?"

You be the judge.

What does your anime hating friend's knowledge of the two shows have to do with TTGL being overrated?
And how does it matter if he's on the internet all the time if he hates anime? Just because i said it's hyped as hell and massively famous among anime fans it doesn't mean someone who ain't interested in it will have heard about it.

One of my m8's knows of Berserk but have no idea what One Piece is, Berserk > OP in popularity?

According to ANN (AnimeNewsNetwork.com), Death Note pulls ahead slightly of TTGL in terms of excellence/popularity, but I must the note the difference is very slight. TTGL has a better standard deviation/mean than Death Note, but Death Note has more user reviews/ratings.

Also to note, Death Note aired earlier than TTGL by a full year, and that also includes American/foreign TV networks:
DN - Japan aired late 2006/Adult Swim aired late 2007
TTGL - Japan aired mid 2007/Sci-fi channel aired late 2008

It's more than likely that more people are acquainted with Death Note than TTGL due to respective airing dates, and of course Death Note would have an edge in popularity.

According to Anidb.net, TTGL holds a slight edge in ratings, though not by much.

I have to say, after crunching the numbers, TTGL is the better show if not by much, and that's taking into consideration that Death Note has been around longer than TTGL, a relatively new series while Death Note manga also traces all the way back to 2003. You can take my word for it, but the numbers are on the sites, and I'm being as objective as possible.

Yeah i know that thing that you're talking about, but no i didnt get that far. It must have been a few chapters before that. I kinda had to force myself to keep reading even as far as i got up to because everyone said that it was amazing, and i failed to see how it was.

It just seemed a little ludacris to me. I havent read HnG yet, so i cant comepare it to that.

I couldnt get the fact that Light was some sort of god because he could write peoples names in a notebook through my head. I thought it was kinda weird.

I dont know, to each his own i guess. :/

About the TTGL/Death Note popularity argument:

Death Note is well-known right now partly because it came on Adult Swim. TTGL came on American TV, too, but it was the Sci-Fi Channel, which is watched by roughly two people.

Also, while Death Note is well-known, I have occasionally run into people who like the show but don't think it's the best thing ever. I don't think I've ever (before this thread) run into a person who feels that way about Gurren Lagann. Every single person that has seen the show seems to love it to fucking death and say that it is the best show ever. I have never (before this thread) heard a bad thing said about the show. I have heard plenty of bad shit said Death Note, which doesn't mean that it's bad; it just means that people are willing to get off of DN's dick (figuratively speaking).

TTGL is the more overrated show, simply because it is impossible for any show to live up to the hype that hovers around TTGL. People who aren't otaku may not know the show, but that doesn't matter. People who aren't otaku only know about DN because it came on Adult Swim and has merchandise for sale in Hot Topic.

Furthermore, the opinions of non-otaku don't matter in a discussion between otaku. It'd be like talking about porn and caring about the opinion of a guy who only watches the softcore shit on Cinemax and has never used the internet.

i know people say death note good but, watch http://www.megavideo.com/?v=KMCOMYBK

Shaggy has it right

I'd like to add that this is in no way the climax of the show xD

Seeing TTGL somewhat under attack and having a bit of free time on my ass, I decided to throw in my 2 cents.

First of all, I find DN being the more overrated show. Clearly.
Don't get me wrong, I watched and enjoyed it. What I'm referring to is the fact that I often found myself reading how intelligent and clever the show is while personally thinking that it only tried to make us believe that. The prime example for that would be the strategies and schemes Kira used to ass the world. I may be missing out on some genius here but I still found many of those unimpressive and strongly based on luck and opponent predictability. It's still thought-provoking though, I'll give it that.

As for TTGL, it's definitely too in_your_face with all that promotion and additional products but not overrated. There's simply little to overrate here. The fans (fanatical as they are) rarely tried to prove it's character depth or plot intelligence. They simply loved it for making the blood in their vains race like crazy. And let's face it - TTGL did that in possibly the best way in anime history. Furthermore I would never consider the show's over_the_top writing as a down side. We all know Gainax has the potential to fuck with your brain to the point of it melting and flowing out through your ears. They just decided to focus on different aspects this time around and hit a gold mine with the idea.
DN on the other hand also went over the top more than once. And in a more silly/unplanned way too. My drift :
~Look at me ! I'm writing a name on a piece of paper hidden in my watch and no one notices ! Give me fire, booming thunder, creepy light on my face and symphonic music !

The above mentioned is still worth crap though since all that matters in the end is personal enjoyment.
For me TTGL definitely wins in this category by advancing into more and more epic with each episode with a clear purpose (hype and enjoyment) and little derailment (BTW - you cannot gain such amounts of hype with a mediocre show. Not a chance). DN while good and with obvious care and skill put in it had a relatively weaker arc in the second half and didn't draw me in nearly as strongly.

Manliness, End of discussion DAMN IT!

Das, having mentioned some good points while at the same time, clearly being "on topic" in addressing his opinion on what's better of the two aforementioned series deserves rep. (later, promise)

However, as convincing as he might sound, I'm not just about to retract my statements and changed my views entirely. There's no doubt that Gurren Lagann was a very straightforward series which effortlessly impressed(WOWED) viewers of all ages. It had awesome graphics, awesome sounds, awesome bunch of characters, etc etc. BUT seriously, does that make it the better show out of the two? I would beg to differ, most probably not.

While I do admit that Death Note did have some "over-the-top" sequences, it was simply in line, simply to put it as appropriate/justifiable, just like how it was for the other(GL). Who would rather watch a bland anime right? It was basically more along that thought, if you get what I'm saying. No one ever said that this series is more over-the-top than the other or vice versa. Being labeled as "over-the-top" doesn't degrade nor upgrade a series in any way. It's kinda naive to think otherwise simply because GL is basically a "what you see is what you get" kind of series that it shouldn't be considered as one nor in the slightest should it be treated very special. It's nothing more but an anime, just like Death Note is. (there should be no exemptions)

But let's drop all that. I may seem to be arguing but I'm not. As I've said before, I don't like the idea and really, I don't care about the potential outcome of which of these two series will be declared as the winner. I don't think we'll ever get to that. In any case, this is just what I was expecting to happen. We're obviously trying to compare and contrast two VERY different series which is imo, never going to work. In the end, everything else boils down to each and everyone's own preferences: likes/dislikes, interests, comprehension/understanding, beliefs/ideology, reasoning, whatever.

Let's not take anything personal and rather take things a little less seriously. We cannot do anything about how another human being thinks right? It would only be pointless and tiring to argue. Presenting facts as to why you believe this series is better than the other should be more than enough, I guess. But that's up to you of course, not that I care.

PS: If by chance any of you had a hard time comprehending what I've said, sorry but I doubt I'll ever elaborate on that. (This is but a whimsical post to spite Das') :lol:

@Das: I wouldn't really consider the second half of DN the "weaker arc"... but that's just me right. I doubt no matter what I say will ever convince or change your opinion on that matter so I'll just keep it to myself.

I wonder if we can get Jacob to make a front poll on this... because I'm dying to know what the general populace thinks about this.

Still, I'd give the edge to TTGL due to the fact that it was just so out there, it lives up to Gainax's name, and the fact that it's only been in circulation around for two and a half years. Death Note's been around since 2003 when you consider the manga. And when you compare the ratings and time difference in airing schedules, TTGL pulls ahead slightly.

That sword cuts both ways. Anyway, this reminds of something on the ANN forums I read about a Code Geass review. The same person reviewed both Geass and Lagann, and some people wondered why Lagann got a higher rating in terms of the story grade. The conclusion that was reached was that while Geass' story was more intricate, the story of Lagann was simple, yet written well and consistent within its action-shounen framing. While Geass definitely had awkward story moments throughout its run. To put it simply, it's possible for people to objectively view even Lagann's story as superior to Death Note's.

I'd go for Death Note. A much more serious anime (which is at least within my taste), though the ending is a bit pfft. I sometimes relish anime that makes me think seriously about its whole story and plot paths.

EDIT: I think both shows are almost equally popular given that both have strong fan bases in the anime community, but here in RP Death Note is quite a strong sell in anime shops. I mean, I can still see the TTGL posters in my local comic shops but the Death Note replica notebooks have been sold out for months now. And the DVDs for Death Note in some shops are as a strong sale as BLEACH.

That talks a lot, but I have lots of friends who still enjoy watching TTGL on their Saturday anime watchfests. But I think Death Note can stay for the long run because, unlike TTGL, it built a cult fan base due to its unorthodox content and subsequent promotions, like a live action movie. Maybe 10-15 years from now, I can still see some peeps who see Death Note on the local anime stations outside Japan while TTGL can stay as another DVD collectible.