Gurren Lagann

Overview

The Gurren Lagann series was originally titled as Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann in Japan. It's an action-adventure anime series set on a devastated world controlled by beastmen. The series was produced by GAINAX, directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi, written by Kazuki Nakashima, and the music composed by Taku Iwasaki. The first episode aired on April 1, 2007 on TV Tokyo and BS Japan. The series ran for twenty-seven episodes, the last airing on Sept 30, 2007. It became a break out hit for GAINAX and went on to become a media sensation that spawned various manga, light novels, video games, and other products.

The company ADV Films was originally the older for licensing the series to the United States. They announced this during the Anime Expo 2007, and at AmeCon 2007 revealed they also had the rights for the United Kingdom. Though after only five episodes, it was removed from their catalog for unexplained reasons. At New York Comic Con in 2008, an announcement was made that Bandai Entertainment had acquired the licensee. The UK license was taken up by Beez Entertainment.

Plot

In their closed-off underground village, Kamina and Simon chafe at the limits imposed by the village elder. Yet all this will change, when Simon stumbles across a fantastic device - just as the village's peace is broken by a violent intrusion. What follows is a grand adventure that will shake the earth, heavens, and the very galaxy to its core.

Characters

Simon

Kamina

Yoko Littner

Nia Tepplin

Anime

Gurren Lagann (2007)

Gurren Lagann JPN (2007)

Gurren Lagann series was originally titled as Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann in Japan. It's an action-adventure anime series set on a devastated world controlled by beastmen. The series was produced by GAINAX, directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi, written by Kazuki Nakashima, and the music composed by Taku Iwasaki. The character design by designed by Atsushi Nishigori and Kazuki Nakashima. The first episode aired on April 1, 2007 on TV Tokyo and BS Japan. The series ran for twenty-seven episodes, the last airing on Sept 30, 2007.

The production of Gurren Lagann would be shaken after only five episodes when series producer and GAINAX co-founder Takami Akai made disparaging remarks on the Japanese forum site 2channel with another Gainax employee, Keiko Mimori. This was in regard to the animation of the fourth episode's animation direction. After fans became aware of his comments, he announced he was leaving GAINAX.

ADV held the original licensing rights for Gurren Lagann in both the US and UK, but for unexplained reasons the rights were dropped after producing only five episodes. The rights were then claimed by Bandai Entertainment for the United States and Beez Entertainment for the UK. Manga Entertainment would later host the entire series on both HULU and YouTube,

DVD Release:

The series was released on a monthly basis on as the series was continuing to air. The first volume was released on July 25, 2007, and a total of nine volumes were originally produced. The final was released on March 26, 2008.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann DVD Volumes

Gurren Lagann Parallel Works (2007)

Gurren Lagann Parallel Works (Sep 2007)

Gurren Lagann Parallel Works is an animated music video project that was produced by GAINAX in conjunction with the release of the original anime series. Each are music videos that use music from the Gurren Lagann original soundtrack and tell alternate stories using the series' cast. Eight were produced in total staring in June 15, 2008, and the final was released on September 14, 2008.

This series has not been released officially in the U.S.

Gurren Lagann Parallel Works 2 (2010)

Gurren Lagann Parallel Works 2 (May 2010)

Gurren Lagann Parallel Works 2 is the second animated music video project that was produced by GAINAX. Each are music videos that use music from the Gurren Lagann original soundtrack and tell alternate stories using the series' cast. Unlike the original Parallel Works, this series was released as a complete collection on May 26, 2010.

This series has not been released officially in the U.S.

Light Novel

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2007)

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann 01 light-novel JPN (Aug 2007)

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is a short collection of light-novel series of the Gurren Lagann franchise. It's authored by Kurasumi Sunayama and illustrated by Hiroki Shinagawa. It was originally published by Shogakukan in their Gagaga Bunko imprint, and the first edition was released on Aug. 17, 2007. Four were printed, and the last was published on Dec. 19, 2008. The series hasn't been licensed for release in the US.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Drill Novels (2007)

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Foundation Work - BASIC DRILL JPN (Aug 2007)

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Drill Novels is a two part book series based on the Gurren Lagann franchise. Each are a collection of interviews behind the scenes of the anime production. The first, Foundation Work BASIC DRILL, was released a month before the anime's finale, and the final book, Final Excavation Completed - FINAL DRILL, was released in March of 2008.

Manga

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2007)

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Vol. 1 JPN (Sep 2007)

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is the manga adaptation of the Gurren Lagann anime. The manga series is a direct adaptation of the events from the anime but fills in some of the gaps in the story. The manga is written by Kazuki Nakashima and illustrated by Kotaro Mori. It first began publication on April 27, 2007 in the magazine ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Comic Gao! magazine,but was later moved to Dengeki Daioh in April 21, 2008. The collected volume was published in September 27, 2007. As of January. 27, 2012, eight volumes have been published in Japan.

The series is licensed for the U.S. by Bandai Entertainment. They released the first volume on May 5, 2009.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Comic Anthology (2008)

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Comic Anthology Vol. 1 JPN (Jan 2008)

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Comic Anthology is the second manga series based on the Gurren Lagann franchise to be published. It's a collection of shorts written and illustrated by various artists. Originally published by DNA Media Comics in Japan. The first of three volumes was released on January 25, 2008. and the last released in March 28, 2008.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Gurren Gakuen-Hen (2008)

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Gurren Gakuen-Hen Vol. 1 JPN (Mar 2009)

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Gurren Gakuen-Hen is the third manga adaptation of the Gurren Lagann anime. This series is a spin-off manga that retells the original story in in a school setting. The manga is written by Ashi Zaitsu and illustrated by Kabao Kikkawa. It first began publication on August 26, 2008 in the magazine Kadokawa Shoten's Comp Ace magazine. The collected volume was published in March 26, 2009.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann 4-Koma Kingdom Yoko's Belly Button Collection (2008)

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann 4-Koma Kingdom JPN (Jul 2008)

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann 4-Koma Kingdom Yoko's Belly Button Collection is the fourth manga series in the Gurren Lagann franchise. This series is a collection of four paneled comics that are called 4-koma. It was written and illustrated by GGC and published by Futabasha's Action Comics imprint. The collection was released on July 28, 2008.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Spiral Boy Talk (2010)

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Spiral Boy Talk JPN (Feb 2010)

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Spiral Boy Talk is the fifth manga series in the Gurren Lagann franchise. It was written and illustrated by Takuma Tomomasa and published by Kadokawa Shoten's Comic Ace. The volume was released on February 10, 2010.

Films

Gurren Lagann the Movie: Childhood's End (2008)

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann the Movie: Childhood's End JPN (2008)

Gurren Lagann the Movie: Childhood's End is the first movie of the Gurren Lagann franchise. It was directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi, the anime series director; and produced by GAINAX. It was written by Kazuki Nakashima. The music is produced by Taku Iwasaki. The film is a dramatic retelling of events from episodes 1-15. The movie was released in Japan in September 6, 2008. It had it's first official release in America at the VIZ Pictures Cinema in San Francisco, California on September 8, 2009. Aniplex released the movie on DVD in regular and special edition on July 1, 2010.

Gurren Lagann The Movie 2: The Lights In The Sky Are Stars (2009)

Gurren Lagann The Movie 2: The Lights In The Sky Are Stars JPN (2009)

Gurren Lagann The Movie 2: The Lights In The Sky Are Stars is the second movie of the Gurren Lagann franchise. It was directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi, the anime series director; and produced by GAINAX. It was written by Kazuki Nakashima. The music is produced by Taku Iwasaki. The film is a dramatic retelling of events from episodes 16-27. The movie was released in Japan in April 25, 2009. Aniplex released the movie in America on DVD in regular and special edition on July 30, 2010.

Merchandise

Music

Gurren Lagann Ending Theme (single)

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann ED CD-Single "Underground" JPN (May 2007)

The ending theme song of the anime Gurren Lagann was released as a CD-Single a month after the series began airing. It's titled as "HIGH VOLTAGE「UNDERGROUND」". Three tracks were included on the single. They include "UNDERGROUND", "RUNNER", and the instrumental version of "Non-Verbal-Communication". It was released by the label of SONY Music Records on May 2, 2007. The price was ¥1.223.

Gurren Lagann Opening Theme (single)

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Opening Theme CD-Single JPN (Jun 2007)

The opening theme song of the anime Gurren Lagann was released as a CD-Single and is the second single released. It's titled as "'Sorairo Days' (空色デイズ Sorairo Deizu)" by Shoko Nakagawa. Two different CDs and one CD/DVD pack was produced. Four tracks were included on each version of the single. The main version includes the tracks "Sorairo Days", "Happily Ever After", "Sorairo Days (of construction)", and "Sorairo Days (of realization)". It was released by the label of SONY Music Records on June 27, 2007. The price was ¥1.300.

The second edition of this single used the image of Shoko Nakagawa, and the song listing replaced the final two tracks with "Mitsubachi no Sasayaki (みつばちのささやき)" and the instrumental version of "Sorairo Days". It was released by the label of SONY Music Records on June 27, 2007. The price was ¥1.223. A CD/DVD edition was released on the same day that included a DVD with extra content that included both a music video of "Sorairo Days" and a video about the making of the song. The price for this version was ¥1.575.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Character Song

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Character Song JPN (Jul 2007)

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Character Song is the title of a CD that includes songs performed by the voice actors in the role of their characters. A total of six tracks are included on the disk. It was released by the label of Aniplex Inc on July 25, 2007. The price was ¥1.155.

Osen Toppa Gurren Lagann Radio

Osen Toppa Gurren Lagann Radio is a three part set of separate CD releases and each included two discs. The cast of Gurren Lagann returned to reprise their roles in this audio collection. They were released by the label of Sony Music. The first was released on July 25, 2007, the second on November 28, 2007, and the third was on March 19, 2008. Each CD retailed in Japan for ¥3,000.

Osen Toppa Gurren Lagann Radio