Here's a 2007 classic that many likely already know about, but I'm here to spread the word for those who don't.
Gurren Lagann is a adventure, comedy, drama and mecha shounen made by Gainax. And directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi, who also worked on Panty & Stocking, Kill la Kill, and many other great anime (even as a key animator on Evangelion!).
The anime follows the story of Simon (シモン, spelled Shimon) and Kamina.
They work as diggers inside their cave-home and are very close friends. Simon is always trying to do things correctly while Kamina is a troublemaker and absolutely hates authority, made even worse by the fact that their underground village is controlled by a total douchebag.
Nothing stops him though, he's Kamina.
Giha/Jeeha Village, residence of Kamina and Simon.
Why do they live in an underground village though? Well, most there don't exactly know. Only one person knows that there is something beyond the ceiling, that it can be escaped, and that's Kamina. His father was ousted from the village for leaving, he took Kamina with him but Kamina stayed.
Since then Kamina has been trying to convince everyone that there's stuff out there, but the village chief adamantly denies it and punishes those trying to leave.
It's been so long since I watched the anime that I don't exactly remember if he knew much, but he probably knew enough as to try and keep them out of the surface.
Before we get to the surface, I might as well introduce you to Buta.
That's Buta. He's a sort of pig that resides in the underground, it's their main form of sustenance down there, but Buta became Simon's pet and Kamina even threatens to eat him once.
The English translation calls him Boota, but I watched this in Japanese back then, and the fact that his name is literally just "Pig" (豚、buta) makes it even better. He's not too relevant to the story, although something interesting happens with him near the end, but I won't spoil it.
I still like him though.
Back to the matter at hand
The surface
One day Kamina is being punished for breaking rules and talking about the surface again, when out of a nowhere, a giant beast falls into the village from the ceiling, exposing the inhabitants to sunlight for the first time and setting the story in motion.
Kamina decides to try and fight the giant beast himself... But that's a little bit impossible, and that's when we get introduced to a new character and to 2 finds Simon had made earlier:
This absolute badass and one of my first weeb crushes Yoko Littner gets into the village with her 50. cal rifle and starts fighting the beast, Kamina hits on her throughout this whole time because he's just like that and she obviously doesn't reciprocate... For now.
Even though her efforts are valiant, she still ends up needing help, and that's when Simon's earlier finds comes into play.
While digging, Simon finds a necklace that looks like a drill, alright, nothing too special here, just looks kinda cool.
The other thing he found though, is way more interesting, it's a robot-like machine that Simon has no idea how to use and that he just calls a face:
When Yoko, Simon and Kamina are escaping the "beast" through tunnels, Simon shows this "face" to the others and Kamina plugs Simon's drill necklace into a keyhole in the mech.
It turns on and they manage to beat the creature and eventually escape the village.
This is the view they have.
When I saw this, I knew I had fallen in love. I finished this anime in only 2 days and I don't regret a second of it. The first episode is already tons of fun, with action, drama and comedy, and I cannot in any way properly convey how epic this show is.
If you have good taste, by the end of this incredible journey you'll fall in love just as I did.
And why where they stuck there?
The world is infested with creatures like the one that fell into the village and so people decided to live in holes and abandon the surface.
The cast finds out more and more as to why this is happening and who is behind it.
Even the villains are likable here.
The soundtrack also adds so much to the presentation and I have all of the songs downloaded.
You won't regret this.
Row row, fight the powah.