Episode 24

I'll Never Forget This Minute, This Second is the 24th episode of the Gurren Lagann anime. It first aired on September 9th 2007.

Synopsis
They have launched into space with the Cathedral Terra, now re-named the Chouginga Dai-Gurren. They rip through space itself going after Nia. When they come out on the other side of the hole, they see a gigantic hologram of Nia. They try to continue but they end up being trapped in this mini-universe created by the anti-spirals. The anti-spirals launch gigantic warships that even make Arc-Gurren Lagann seem small. The huge warships dispatch a large amount of smaller ships, so the entire Gurren and Grapearl brigade launch, with their upgraded Gunmen, which now match Arc-Gurren Lagann in size. They are easily defeating the anti-spiral ships, but the large warships cannot be affected by anything, including Arc-Gurren Lagann's drill. So Simon and Viral return to Chouginga Dai-Gurren to combine with it, but it will take a large amount of time. While they do that the Gurren Brigade stays back and fights but on the battlefield, Yoko has also noticed something strange: the enemy is too weak. It’s not until all the Gunmen get an order to regroup that the Anti-Spiral ships strike. One of their first victims is Zorthy, and although Iraak and Kidd go to help, they don’t make it in time to save him from being crushed by a hand.

One of the large battleships then fires a wave of 13 missiles, so Dayakka orders Aretenborough to fire their missile interceptors. These interceptors only catch seven of the missiles, and Yoko and Darry are barely able to destroy the other six. Iraak and Kidd meanwhile have gotten themselves completely surrounded, and realizing that this is the end, they send a final transmission to Simon telling him not to make Nia cry. Back at the Chouginga Dai-Gurren, another missile gets warped in right beside the ship, and Yoko is forced to use all of the Dayakkaiser’s missiles to destroy it. When a second one appears, Darry manages to shoot it down, but the ensuing explosion destroys a good part of her Grapearl. A third one then warps in on the port side of the ship, and this time it’s Makken who sacrifices himself to blow it up. Though she senses this loss, Leyte doesn’t stop working and reports that the spiral power is at 95%.

With Darry’s Grapearl immobilized, Gimmy rushes to her aid, but the pair quickly come under heavy attack. Darry wants Gimmy to escape with his own life, and although he refuses, his own Grapearl starts taking a lot of hits. To his surprise, Jorgun and Balinbow swoop in to destroy the enemies and carry the two damaged Grapearls away. Taking a lot of damage while they try to fly back, the twins throw Gimmy and Darry towards the main ship and tell Gimmy to protect Darry. Jorgun and Balinbow then turn around and face the horde of Anti-Spiral vessels, taking them all out in one giant explosion. Finally they are ready to transform the Chouginga Dai-Gurren. They’re just seconds away from transforming the ship when they suddenly feel a gravitational pull from the port side of the ship. It turns out to all be a trap by the anti-spirals, and they end up falling into a gigantic ocean in space and lose all spiral power.

Major events

 * Debut of the Ashtanga and Mass-Produced Anti-Spiral Mecha (Hastagry and Pada).
 * Deaths of Zorthy, Kidd, Iraak, Makken, Jorgun, and Balinbow.
 * The Super Galaxy Dai-Gurren is dragged into the Sea of Despair.

Pre-commercial
The pilots of Team Dai-Gurren who will die in this episode: Zorthy, Kidd, Iraak, Makken, Jorgun, and Balinbow.

Post-commercial
The Space Gunmen of the above pilots. As the music plays, Space Sawzorthn's eyes light up.