Tachi
Mushi-shi
“REMEMBER THIS, you fuzzball! Combining is all about one fighting spirit slamming into another! A combining of COURAGE... that sets a man's soul on FIRE! ... JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM FUZZBALL!? From now on, the name of this mecha is GURREN LAGANN!.” - Kamina
Having no experience watching Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann I consulted with Andrew from Beez at the May London Expo 2010, after little convincing the title sounded completely different to the typical “Mecha” shows around (such as the Gundam series or evangelion). The dvd casing alone shows that this series is like nothing else on the market right now. In place of the normal dvd case, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann comes in a book-like case with beautiful artwork on all sides, the casing comes with a removable sleeve should you ever want to display the cases for just the artwork.
The first volume contains 2 discs illustrated with the “Gurren Laggan” Logo and 13 episodes, The show starts with 2 unlikely characters in an alternate world where humans live underground. The first few episodes introduce the timid Simon (Yuri Lowenthal English Dub / Tetsuya Kakihara Japanese ), the outgoing Kamina (Kyle Hebert, English Dub / Katsuyuki Konishi Japanese) and the lively Yoko (Michelle Ruff English / Marina Inoue Japanese) In the first disc you learn more about the lives and lifestyles of this alternate world, the reasons behind why humans live underground are explained by Yoko to Kamina and Simon within the first few episodes. Your introduced to the “Mecha” of the series early on as Simon, who’s profession in underground life is as a lonely digger who’s only friend and “bro” is the eccentric Kamina who’s goal in life is to break through the underground communities ceiling and see the world above as he did as a child, stumbles across a face in the ground. After breaking Kamina free from prison (from his latest failed attempt to reach the world above) Simon tries to take Kamina to the face, but suddenly the earth trembles violently before a huge mecha with the “face” of a bull comes crashing through the ceiling. This is where Yoko is introduced to the story and the trio first become a team. With the newly titled “Lagann” Simon pilots the face he’d found buried in the ground and manages to fight off the Mecha, But for how long?
The characters designs are excellent, rather than typical mecha shows where protagonists usually wear skin tight “hunter/battle suits” the characters in TTGL wear their usual clothes which is a refreshing change. The first volume alone left such a positive impression. I couldn’t help but laugh, I was enthralled to see more and the spurring speeches from Kamina where really “punch the air enthusiasm” worthy. The emotional Factor really hits you in the last episode of the volume, but leaves the story in such a way that the immense cliff-hanger leaves you inpatient to see the second volume.
There’s never a dull moment in the show so no need to worry about the story dragging out, the pacing is spot on, resulting in action and hype, building to a climax of flawless battle scenes that have you on the edge of your seat wondering what move will be pulled out of the bag in the next fight. Events from the past whirl into the future (especially Kamina’s history) to create well planned interest on what’s to come.
The opening “Rap is a Man's Soul! Team Dai-Gurren Theme” (by Iwasaki Tarou) is a medley of hip hop meets classical music, I can’t fault the song as it works really well for the title. And the Ending Underground" (by High Voltage), You can also see textless versions of opening and closing themes in the disc extras.
In Summary
This series takes the boundaries between fans that like mecha and those that don’t and throws them out the proverbial window, fans of all genres will enjoy this title I can guarantee that, TTGL combines action, adventure, comedy, mecha and sci-fi into a recipe for amazing entertainment. So you’re looking for something to watch that keeps you entertained, emotionally compelled and hungry for the next episode, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann will not disappoint!
Visual – 9.5
Audio – 9.5
Overall – 9.5/10
Having no experience watching Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann I consulted with Andrew from Beez at the May London Expo 2010, after little convincing the title sounded completely different to the typical “Mecha” shows around (such as the Gundam series or evangelion). The dvd casing alone shows that this series is like nothing else on the market right now. In place of the normal dvd case, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann comes in a book-like case with beautiful artwork on all sides, the casing comes with a removable sleeve should you ever want to display the cases for just the artwork.
The first volume contains 2 discs illustrated with the “Gurren Laggan” Logo and 13 episodes, The show starts with 2 unlikely characters in an alternate world where humans live underground. The first few episodes introduce the timid Simon (Yuri Lowenthal English Dub / Tetsuya Kakihara Japanese ), the outgoing Kamina (Kyle Hebert, English Dub / Katsuyuki Konishi Japanese) and the lively Yoko (Michelle Ruff English / Marina Inoue Japanese) In the first disc you learn more about the lives and lifestyles of this alternate world, the reasons behind why humans live underground are explained by Yoko to Kamina and Simon within the first few episodes. Your introduced to the “Mecha” of the series early on as Simon, who’s profession in underground life is as a lonely digger who’s only friend and “bro” is the eccentric Kamina who’s goal in life is to break through the underground communities ceiling and see the world above as he did as a child, stumbles across a face in the ground. After breaking Kamina free from prison (from his latest failed attempt to reach the world above) Simon tries to take Kamina to the face, but suddenly the earth trembles violently before a huge mecha with the “face” of a bull comes crashing through the ceiling. This is where Yoko is introduced to the story and the trio first become a team. With the newly titled “Lagann” Simon pilots the face he’d found buried in the ground and manages to fight off the Mecha, But for how long?
The characters designs are excellent, rather than typical mecha shows where protagonists usually wear skin tight “hunter/battle suits” the characters in TTGL wear their usual clothes which is a refreshing change. The first volume alone left such a positive impression. I couldn’t help but laugh, I was enthralled to see more and the spurring speeches from Kamina where really “punch the air enthusiasm” worthy. The emotional Factor really hits you in the last episode of the volume, but leaves the story in such a way that the immense cliff-hanger leaves you inpatient to see the second volume.
There’s never a dull moment in the show so no need to worry about the story dragging out, the pacing is spot on, resulting in action and hype, building to a climax of flawless battle scenes that have you on the edge of your seat wondering what move will be pulled out of the bag in the next fight. Events from the past whirl into the future (especially Kamina’s history) to create well planned interest on what’s to come.
The opening “Rap is a Man's Soul! Team Dai-Gurren Theme” (by Iwasaki Tarou) is a medley of hip hop meets classical music, I can’t fault the song as it works really well for the title. And the Ending Underground" (by High Voltage), You can also see textless versions of opening and closing themes in the disc extras.
In Summary
This series takes the boundaries between fans that like mecha and those that don’t and throws them out the proverbial window, fans of all genres will enjoy this title I can guarantee that, TTGL combines action, adventure, comedy, mecha and sci-fi into a recipe for amazing entertainment. So you’re looking for something to watch that keeps you entertained, emotionally compelled and hungry for the next episode, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann will not disappoint!
Visual – 9.5
Audio – 9.5
Overall – 9.5/10