| Episodes: 1 | Score: 8.6 (106360)
Updated every at | Status: Finished Airing
Type: Movie
Producers:Aniplex
Synopsis
Humans have enjoyed their lavish, peaceful, and prosperous lives for seven years since the day the almighty Spiral King was defeated—the day they reclaimed their homeland, Earth. However, the boon of this lifestyle leaves them unprepared when an unknown, hostile threat arises due to the ever-growing human population. This calamity is the Anti-Spiral—a fearsome enemy with unparalleled power. As the Spiral King's prognosis postulating the destruction of "The Spiral's World" begins to come true, the pieces are in place, and Team Dai-Gurren is ready. With his late brother's hope to see a better future for mankind, Simon—along with Nia Teppelin and the rest of the team—is determined to overthrow the mighty Anti-Spiral in order to revive humanity's lost hope. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Voice Actors
Kakihara, Tetsuya
Fukui, Yukari
News
07/01/2024, 03:21 PM
Here are the North American anime, manga, and light novel releases for July. Week 1: July 2 - 8 Anime Releases Bungou Stray Dogs 4th Season (Bungo Stray Dogs 4) Comp...
04/16/2010, 03:34 AM
According to Anime!Anime!, Aniplex will set out for DVD sales business in US in July. The initial line-ups are Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Movie: Gurren-hen and Lagan...
Reviews
CaptainSalty
The Lights in the Sky are Stars was an unforgettable theater experience that will stay with me forever. Unlike the first movie, this almost has its very own story in comparison to the show. Much is changed due to time constraints and narrative focus. In some regards, it does things worse than the show in terms of side characters like Rossiu. The other thing I didn't like as much was the decision to not kill off almost any character in this portion of the show. Without diving into spoilers, the absolute despair felt in the show is hindered a bit due to the less lifelost and tensions not being as high as a consequence. However, with its downsides compared to the show, this movie does something astronomically better than the show. The ending. The final conflict somehow is raised even more through the roof than the show, when I thought nothing could match the hype I had in the show I was wrong and right. Only Gurren Lagann can match or even surpass Gurren Lagann. This conflict is much better executed, metaphorically and physically speaking. Therefore it stands on par with the show's version of the second half. I can't in good faith lower it to 9 for how much better it does this ending. When I watched the show for the first time, its when I needed it most in my life. When I watched the movie, I needed that feeling once more to spark hope again in my life. Bless this movie for making me cry for the first time in over 17 months. Gurren Lagann has the power to change your outlook on life, maybe not for long, but enough to really spark a change in you.
Pezguy97
This is a really good movie. I was really (pleasantly) surprised by the direction that the movie took from the first. As with the first movie, the animation quality and soundtrack were top notch. Some aspects of the movie were a little bit confusing compared to the first, but it is still easy enough to follow without ever having watched an episode of the anime. My only gripe with this movie is that it is clearly trying to be more philosophical than is maybe helpful. To me, the key of Gurren Lagann is how cool it looks, and I prefer it a lot to thetypical Mobile Suit Gundam melodrama.
Maru12
I didn't like the Gurren Lagann final arc. I could elaborate on why I didn't like it, but that's not the purpose of this review. Overall, I was disappointed with the pacing and how the characters were treated.However, this movie is a complete rebuild of the final arc, addressing every single problem I had with it. For me, this is the true Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann ending, as it treats the characters I slowly fell in love with with love, and provides a satisfying conclusion for all of them.This movie fills the void of disappointment that the anime left me with, showcasing Gurren Lagann atits full potential. Lagann-hen is the finale that will remain in my heart forever.
cringeylazy
(This review does not have spoilers for the movie, but it will have spoilers for the original anime to make comparisons, so read at your own risk.) Bigger mech, bigger impact, bigger boobs, better fights, and better closure Positives: -Fixes closure for Simon (The best change in my opinion) -Improved fights -New fights -Faster more engaging pace -TitsNegatives: -Rossiu being saved by alterations - Not as powerful as the original series. No longer uses the parallel with Simon and Kamina. However, the change is a more realistic approach to the situation, so it is not inherently bad. -Nia being saved isn't quite as fleshed out and satisfying as in the original series. Although that's natural as it is a movie. Conclusion: This movie makes a lot of minor but significant changes to the plot of the original show, almost all of which I'm in favour of. I can highly recommend it to all fans of the original series.
lamaraptor
This is pretty much the same story as with the first Gurren Lagann film. It's a rehash of the tv series with mostly recycled animation, but I think this time it's different enough from the source material to warrant further examination. There are a few lines of dialogue that are changed to better direct the audience's attention and foreshadow events from the ending, and pretty much the whole ending sequence gets a huge revamp. The animation in the show was already fantastic, so I can't say for sure whether this movie is an improvement over the original or not, but it's at least as good andthat's already high praise. The cranked-to-11 nature of the show is turned up just a bit more... maybe not to 12, more like 11.5. Bit of a sloppy metaphor but you get the idea. It goes just a bit further beyond how out-of-this-world the original ending was, like a drill opening the whole just a bit wider. A few characters that died in the original managed to live all the way to the end here, I won't spoil who but don't get your hopes up that it's someone you cared about a whole bunch. I think watching this a second time having a better understanding of spiral energy and how that all works made it a whole lot easier to understand, and like I said I think they added or changed some dialogue here and there to make it generally less confusing. The last thing I'd want is for a mecha anime to get really weird and hard to understand toward the end. Luckily none of them have ever done that. Anyway like the first movie I'll give it 9/10. It's just as good as the original, but then why does it need to exist in the first place.
Canlaoch_312
I remember me and my classmates singing the intro in class with pride and we don't care if we get fun of because we enjoy it, I laugh, I cried, I got hyped with this movie. Spoilers Though it is a summary but it is a good summary because it has endings better than the anime like you didn't see Super TTGL in the anime but just TTGL and I love the change because it became the most largest hunk in the whole observable universe with the GIGA drill break. It gives a lot of Kill la Kill vibe, knowing kill la kill its a goodanime as well and making it more action while lore is being in the middle which you can pick it up, its just hype hype hype and fighting with big giant robots that can destroy the universe effortlessly. Since they get their power by fighting spirit and friendship (duh) it makes you feel to give them power as well because of how intense the fighting is Highly recommend it, its a 10/10 action anime, maybe non-anime fans can enjoy it as well
mayoking
SPOIELRS AHEAD Only yesterday did I finish my first rewatch of the original TTGL series and with the series fresh in my mind I decided that it would be a good opportunity to watch this movie. I skipped out on the first movie after reading reviews that it was mostly a compilation movie. Story: 7/10 This movie begins at the Battle for Teppelin, and the main majority of the show takes part after the time skip. I think the story is where I feel the most disappointed. The main plot points remain the same and from what I could tell many scenes were re-used. There were somegood points, particularly how they redid Nia and Simon's scene after he proposed. You could also tell the effort put in to really tie in the slightly looser plot points, things like adding in one or two dialogue lines to explain Nia's eventual disappearance or how the gunmen fit into the cockpit of the Space Gunmen found on the ship. Small things like these I appreciate because they help fill in the small question marks you get when you watch a show sometimes However, the main problem I had with this movie was what they changed. I think many pivotal moments for character development were removed or greatly changed. Scenes that were added sometimes felt jarring and didn't fit in with the character or the general motif they were building for characters. Simon getting beat up in the prison and not retaliating felt very at odds with his character.Rossiu's "redemption" if you could call it that, was greatly changed, from being belted by Simon to being slapped by Kinon. The importance of being belted and being belted specifically by Simon had real significance in both their character's growths. Despite this, I felt that the greatest change they made was in the two most impactful scenes of the final few episodes. Kittan's sacrifice and Kamina's return. In this movie, they took a different route where the rest of the team didn't die and Kittan was the only sacrifice made. I feel it really took away from the impact of the original scene, Kittan's back was against the wall after all his friends had died in various forms of sacrifice, he was sad and guilty not being able to save his friends or do something meaningful. When the opportunity presented himself, to do his duty and take the job from Yoko, it really meant something. In this scene, all the bros are there and he does the same thing but it just hits differently. The emotional build up and guilt was what made the scene. When he kisses Yoko in front of all the others and the scene deliberately shows them in the background. It just didn't feel right. Kamina's return in turn, was affected by the earlier decision. The scene was mostly the same, however, when Kittan showed up with Kamina, it just didn't fit the vibes of the scene. With this scene it was supposed to show how Kamina had played such a vital role Simon's life, the values he taught him and how they would drive him now and forever. Kittan suddenly showing up, despite his new big role in the series, just kind of ruined the moment. Art: 10/10 The art for this movie is what I can really get behind. I really liked the added scenes and especially the scenes where new "Teggen Toppa" Gunmen appeared out of nowhere. Though kind of detrimental to the pacing and emotional beats of the original story, they looked really sick. The designs were hella cool and the fights involving them were taken up to 11. I especially loved the final scene where we are shown a one to one fight between Simon and the Anti-Spiral. What a beautiful fight it was Sound: 7/10 This was also something that I found very jarring in this movie. Along with the changed story points, I think the music really changed how I viewed this movie. Many iconic scenes were changed, and clearly weren't as poignant. When "Libera Me From Hell" was removed from Kittan's final scene or when the track was taken out from the moment when Kamina appeared on top of the box behind Simon. "My heart i feel it crack" Character: 9/10 The same old characters from TTGL. I didn't think they changed much other than with the removal of Rossiu's scene, but noteworthy improvements include Nia's post proposal scene which built her up even more. The inclusion of her dream of covering the world in flowers was nice as well and made the post credits scene even more impactful. Enjoyment: 8.5/10 In the end I did enjoy watching this movie. I felt the creators really tried to shake things up this time around but missed here and there. Despite all the demerits. I still love TTGL and the fight scenes were what really bumped up the score for me, they really were that great. Though I would be lying if I said I haven't hoped this movie would be better than what it was. Overall: 8.5 A twist to the original show, I still much prefer the original over this, but I must say that it was enjoyable, both for it's new take on some scenes and especially for the over-the-top fight scenes nearing the end
Krav40
"Listen, Simon. Don't Believe in yourself, Believe in ME! Believe in the Kamina who believes in you!" Don't get me wrong here. I fucking LOOOOVE Gurren Lagann! For the past 8 months, it's been my all-time favorite anime. Everything about TTGL is brilliant including the plot, characters, music, and art, in which Gainax had done an excellent job of making sure all of these factors were amazing. However, beyond that, I love the themes about evolution and ambition, two values which hold up very high to me. This show inspired and uplifted me, made me think about my life in a different way and made me realizethe goals and dreams I had deep within me, that's how powerful this show was to me! But, let's not beat around the bush, this is going to be a review on the second movie, NOT on the excellent series. The second Gurren Lagann movie recaps episodes 17 to 27 of the original series and includes some new stuff as well. As I said in my review of the first movie, I wasn't a big fan of that. It felt rushed and I disliked the divergence from the original series. However, in this movie, the divergence was handled much better with an epic and mouth dropping final 10 minutes which was 100x better than the original ending. This movie succeeded in trying to do its own thing. Like the first movie, it also succeeded at throwing new information like f.ex Nia writing a letter to the deceased Kamina, Simon figuring out that she will die and Nia being much more of a badass! Nia in this film got her own mech and she becomes way cooler and much less of a damsel in distress which she was a bit in the OG series. But just a bit, she was still a fantastic character in that as well. But that wasn't the case with the other characters. Simon, Yoko, Kittan and Rossiu had the exact same things happen to them as it happened in the series, which I felt they could've given us more information about these characters. I would've really liked to know more about Simon and Kamina's deceased parents, which they had given us no information about. I would also really like to have known more about that first scene in the OG series, which I speculate is Kamina's father and Boota in the first war before the anti-spirals took over. However, I think a prequel would be great because it would explain Kamina's father, Lordgenome and the anti-spirals. Which we only got 10 minutes in the first film. Furthermore, another issue that I had in this movie is that like the first one, It feels way too compressed. Gainax could've made these two movies a bit lengthier. To conclude, this movie was great all around but could've elaborated on some more things e.g anti-spirals, most of the main cast, Lordgenome, Kamina & Simons parents, etc. But, I highly recommend you watch this, mostly for the new stuff that's added and for the final battle, which was all around glorious. Still, though, it's not as fantastic as the real thing and you have to watch the series before these movies! It was still a tearjerker, especially that wedding :(
Marinate1016
I didn't think it could get better than episode 25 and 26 of Gurren Lagann. My God, was I wrong. Not only is TTGL a worthy conclusion to the series, it completely blows the anime away. The redone animation, updated visuals, fightscenes and new scenes are just perfect. In the anime, I didn't really feel any connection to NIa nor sad when she died. This time around, I was legit crying. I'm glad they changed a few other character deaths around too. My one complaint is the Kamina scene from episode 26 is not quite as sad here. The music was perfect and Iam glad that I watched this. I really hate how I missed Gurren Lagann when it first aired, but the past week or so I have definitely made up for that. If you are a fan of the series, unlike the first film, it is completely worth watching the full 2 hour film here. It's faithful and different enough to warrant a rewatch and the feels will hit you all the same.
theonlybruce
"Get going, Simon. Don't let the what-ifs, maybes, and if-onlys distract you. The one thing that you choose yourself, that is the truth of your universe." The Good: Part two of the Gurren Lagann movie adaptations, this film covers the final act of the first and all of the second cour of the TV production, in a similar fashion to the previous part, although it includes more film unique scenes, with a revamped final showdown (if it's even possible to ramp the ending up even further). Lagann-hen succeeds in reminding us of all the successes of its predecessor, with the unique ability to always being able toraise the stakes higher then they ever were. The story is mostly intact with slight alterations that result in no major deviations. We see the end result of Simon's coming of age, and watch as he becomes his own person, shaped by the unyielding belief of his Aniki. The core ideas of "kicking logic to the curb" and going beyond resonate succinctly, yet permeate the entire show to its core, making easily clear what TTGL has to say. It's said that 40% of the TTGL TV budget was spent in its last 5 episodes, and it really does show, with nearly frame-by-frame animation used in glorious excess when it matters most. The characters really make the show come alive, and those upset in the screen time reductions in side character cast in Gurren-hen will welcome the film exclusive scenes towards the end. The soundtrack is mostly similar to that of the TV series, with classic unforgettable songs seeing altered arrangements for new punches. The Bad: Lagann-hen works with just under two hours of run time, compared to the roughly three times that of the related TV material. Several events take place without enough time for the emotion to stick with us, and the whole production has a clear sense of urgency that it never manages to shake. New scenes do great work later in the film, but leading up to that point consists of nearly exclusive old footage, which still maintains the strength of the TV series but may disappoint hard core fans. The Bottom Line: If someone came to me with 4 hours left to live, I might recommend the pair of Gurren Lagann movies, because a tale like this is criminal to miss. To all others, however, you're much better off watching the original TV series, a definitive anime classic that will go down in history as a masterpiece.
skrn
The 2nd TTGL movie is a big improvement over the first one. More than half of the movie is based on new materials, making the story flows much better than the first movie. With the new materials, they did a great job condensing most of the less important stories. There were a few exceptions, like Rossiu's story. But overall, they were able to preserve all of the epic scenes while maintaining a good story flow. However, there is one problem of non-stop actions. I felt the emotional impact is not nearly as much as the TV series. After all, there is only so much youcan do in 2 hours. I felt the movie would be more successful if they pick/choose further. I like some of the new scenes, like the extra ones about Nia. But there were some bad ones, such as the final fight where each character will have their own 30 minutes of fighting with the final boss. In my opinion, this is clearly fan service which weaken the emotional impact. Speaking of fan service, there is more boobs flying around, which I don't mind. Overall, I think this is a very enjoyable movie. Not as good as the TV series but clearly a step up over the last movie. Art 10 Sound 10 Story 8 Character 7 Enjoyment 9 Overall 8
Dazweg
When you thought you couldn't see anything not even close as epic as TTGL series, when you wonder how the hell could enough Spiral energy could be reunited in order to create such a brilliant masterpiece of a series, is when you notice that only one thing can beat TTGL: TTGL itself. Honestly, I was well deceived by the first film (Gurren-hen), as it was not more than a rushed overview of the series until Tepperin's battle. Furthermore, even while being willing to see more of the TTGL world, I was fondly worriedabout the fact that maybe the second film would be more of the same stuff. I'm glad I was wrong in every way I could have been wrong. Opposite as his predecesor, Lagann-hen achieves to re-tell the whole TTGL story in 2 hours from the battle of Tepperin without feeling rushed in any moment. Furthermore, literally EVERY little addition that was made before the final battle, either was a wonderful addition for the backstory, or to the characters, or just the appearance of certain characters in certain scenes (don't pretend to spoil anything to you guys) exclusively for the film, which literally put me into tears. Even though the film until the final battle was amazing, the film was actually nothing but a prologue to the GODDAMN CLIMAX OF EPICNESS that supposes the final battle. Music was epic, art was epic, sound was epic, full enjoyment, shivers down my spine, couldn't just stand the feelings, manly tears all over my face. I'm not ashamed, peeps. I must say, this is a MUST SEE, but only after watching the series, as the experience is quite more developed in a whole series than in an only film. However, it wouldn't be actually a bad idea to jump the series in the final battle and watch the film instead, as I reckon it leaves nothing behind from that point and it only adds new stuff. BUT, I highly recommend you to watch the series as I watched: first the series, then the first film (just to remember the story, but not too essential, as I dislike a little bit the spin of the end) and then Lagann-hen. Quite long for a first review, but I couldn't help to create a new account just to share my experience about these amazing series and films :3
Playcool
A great movie, for those that saw Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann anime, I have to reccomend it, most of the scenes of the are re-used were, it a couple of new ones for the final battle and others... I gave this a 9,because most of the stuff I have already experienced on the anime, even though, this movie made me relive everything I liked about the anime, which I finished a couple of weeks ago so I M was already aware of what I was going to get, it had impact, but not as much as the 27 episodes, what is perfectly fine. It consistsof summarization of 15-27 episodes of the anime, and still managed to kick the curb up to strastosphere and making the impossible possible again... they done a really good job at it, from sound to animation everything is like the anime, OVERKILL!!
Hydrazine
*I'm writing this review for people mainly who have already seen Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and will hopefully be worded in such a way that there aren't spoilers for the show for those who haven't seen TTGL. I HIGHLY encourage those who haven't seen TTGL, to see it FIRST.* This is a companion movie, a sequel to the previous Gurren-hen. Both are movie adaptations to the TV series, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. This movie picks up at the end of the first, (wow, really?) somewhere between episode 13 and 15 of the TV show. Since this is an adaptation, someof the story elements have been tweaked, leading to some difficulty matching them up. The beginning finishes out the Battle of Teppelin, and then we move on to the second half of the series, where the movie continues and concludes. Story: 7 The story, in movie form, is lackluster, and while it is still the same basic principles as TTGL, loses much in the translation. The story in TTGL is superb, and the plot and pacing are excellent, but when condensed into an over 2 hour movie, way too many things are lost. Initially, the sub-plot about population increase is removed entirely, replaced with a decent fill-in about reaching spaceflight. Additionally, most of the political subterfuge and wrangling that Dai-Gurren does, in responding to the Anti-Spiral threat is also only mentioned in passing. There are many issues with the interpersonal relationships that are altered or ignored, but to list them would be to just add to the length of this segment. After reaching space, the story stays close, but only parallels TTGL's story, since after the divergence earlier, they are similar in only in basic plot and direction. As Dai-Gurren progresses towards the end, the real reason for the movie is revealed, elaborated on later in the Art section. The conclusion is, again, similar, but there are small things changed that do make a difference in the feel of the ending. Art: 9 This is one of the highlights of the movie, and where the whole movie hangs its hat. The art is gorgeous, and the last 45 minutes or so are spectacular, evoking all of the feelings from TTGL, and more. The true reason for the movie was really to draw more awesome mecha, and this is clearly shown in the movie. Already TTGL had sweet mecha, but they apparently had ideas they never used, and needed a medium with which to express them. Unfortunately, they had to sully the good story of TTGL to get these mecha into a movie. The other reason for making the movie, one that was in their minds more important I believe, was one specific scene around 4/5ths of the way through. Everyone who's seen TTGL knows that they have stayed away from visible nudity in general (for an anime), relying on almost-hints and some humorous situations to keep from showing it. However, when the gang appears before the Anti-Spirals, and Simon covers Nia with his cloak (a very respectful and tasteful scene in the show) this work is undone soon after in the movie. Through some series of circumstances which I can't remember right now, the characters fight, and you see Simon missing his traditional Awesome Glasses and wrappings. However, when they shift to Nia, separate in her own mecha, there is ALSO no clothing around, and you see pretty much everything from the bellybutton up, for no less than 5-6 seconds as she talks. The animators lavished time and thought on this animation, and you can tell. Unfortunately, it is a cheap way to get views, and I was extremely disappointed that they put such nudity in the movie. Sound: 7 Decent, but not excellent. The sound was reminiscent of TTGL the show, and many of the feelings one got from the show are still present, but the volume level was much too low, and the emotional resonance not the same in the movie. Character: 6 As I elaborated earlier, the character development lost the most between the show and the movie, and made certain scenes fall flat. Namely when Rossiu must grit his teeth before being walloped by Simon, the movie's rendition honestly was pathetic. There was no reminiscence, no empathy, and the blow, not a punch, isn't even thrown by Simon. Additionally, the epilogue doesn't bring any of the character development to a fitting conclusion except for Simon's, and it can be debated whether he ends on a better note than in the show. Enjoyment: 8 It looks good, and its very fun to watch, evoking most of the same enjoyment the original series had. Not as good, due to the flaws, but still enjoyable. Overall: 7 Not the greatest movie, but its still TTGL, and if you really want to get a cool look at an alternate reality rendition of the story, check it out. Me? I'm going to rewatch the last 4 episodes of TTGL to refresh the true story, the one with a fitting conclusion, the one with no nudity, the one with awesome mecha that are still awesome.
DreDog
In order to watch this film one must first complete the series. As the movie would become very confusing. For those of you who have already seen the series, then you know how many people were extremely disappointed with the 2nd season. Throw common sense out the window. The movie, much like the 2nd season in the series, is over the top with its action. The movie stays true to the series with a few changes and added bonuses. Overall, the movie kept me entertained and was a fun watch. Nothing special. My rating: 7/10
LordFrumpus
I'm not the type of person to watch anime films that re-cap an already completed series. However, being the huge Gurren Lagann fan that I am, I had to make an exception for this. By the time I finished these two films, I thought it was well worth it. Both films are very well done. They hold true to the traditional storyline and yet change a fair amount of material as well as add some to give it a slightly different taste while still holding the same energized Gurren Lagann atmosphere. There were a few sequences that were greatly condensed or even removed from the originalseries to fit the four hour, two-part film. Thus I would strongly suggest watching the show before seeing this movie if you've never seen the show and are interested in seeing this film. Its good stuff. Overall, I would say that this movie is the movie that will pierce the heavens!
UltySo
This movie wasn't that great at some parts but I must say the ending was more epic then it needed to be then in the anime. They went over epically insane that I thought it would never end. The story wasn't that bad unlike the 1st movie and the music was still great and I wasn't as disappointed as I was the first.
Touka
Lagann-hen is an exhilarating production with a setting of monumental proportions, though not without its flaws, which - in some cases - are unfortunately more apparent than in the first installment. The movie picks up right where Gurren-hen left off, though the opening sequences have been hugely condensed in order to quickly drive the plot into the second arc of the story. The setting expands in Lagann-hen, we travel from Earths surface into interstellar territory, in line with the TV show, although small sections of the story have diverged from the series, some understandably and others disappointingly. Certain new ideas seem extremely rushed, dragging what wasa fairly engrossing - if manic - plot downwards. Nevertheless, the scale of the story is as ever admirable and thrilling, though the developmental issues carry over from Gurren-hen, making it clear the Gurren-hen/Lagann-hen film double was more an excuse to cash in on the series, rather than create a coherent piece separate from the TV show. The dialogue, at times, also encountered issues; present simply to move the story along without any natural flow to it. As in Gurren-hen, the rehashed sequences barely differ - if at all - from the series, but the new scenes go above and beyond. The new ending sequence is a powerhouse of action and zest, which will leave you wishing there was more, but unfortunately, there aren't as many new additions to Lagann-hen as there were in Gurren-hen. The staff really rely on the climatic sequence to blow you away, and while it may do just that, they don't really attempt anything deserving of praise throughout the opening and middle acts. Taku Iwasaki's score returns for its third outing with no changes, yet the sound and music is a noticeable drop from the first installment. The music felt poorly timed, jumbled and out of place during much of the film, and often it was at such a low volume it may as well have been absent. Even the sound effects, which could have been turned up a couple of notches it give it that extra umph, were disappointing. The sound department manage to redeem themselves a little towards the end with larger emphasis on the music, but it's a shame an aspect presented so well in the series wasn't handled better in Lagann-hen. Developmental issues mean that Rossiu and Kittan are still very much unknown characters to the audience of the movies, and Lagann-hen does little to remedy this. The film makes use of its supporting cast, more so than in Gurren-hen, but extra screen time doesn't equal development. They are still empty shells with a single trait, which isn't far below their series counterparts, but disappointing nevertheless as they lack any kind of background or character motivation, and the movie absolutely requires you watch the series in order to comprehend the characters' depth. The stand-out segment in Lagann-hen is the climatic sequence, which delivers and then some, and is probably the sole reason to venture into the second installment beyond just re-watching the series. Pushed for time, Lagann-hen is always moving, but even so it begins to tire. Undoubtedly, far more could have been done to create a more coherent adaptation of the series, and it's unfortunate the studio behind such an enjoyable work would rather cut corners and cash in, than create a comprehensive piece both long-time fans and those new to the franchise can enjoy.
sylvanelite
To write a spoiler-free review of lagann-hen is difficult, especially since there is quite some variation from the show. However, I will write this review on the basis that I don't want to spoil TTGL or Lagann-hen. First things to say would be, Lagann-hen is a must watch. To review Lagann-hen I think I should sum up some of the premonitions I had before watching it. I had seen Gurren-hen, and although I enjoyed it, I actually didn't like it as much as the series. Gurren-hen seemed a bit rushed to cover the first part of the series, and was chopped and changed here andthere. So coming into Lagann-hen, I was expecting this to be Gurren-hen for the second half of the show... Boy was I wrong. Like Gurren-hen it does re-use a lot of images from the anime, however at most points they are in a different order, or given new narration. Large sections were redone completely. The story is much the same as TTGL, however some minor differences persist. I won't say them in detail, lest I plague this review with spoilers, but I will say that I think the main cast is better represented in this movie. Each character is shown thinking or doing things that may have happened off screen in the TTGL anime. This sheds new light on some characters, while giving others more of a noticeable role. There was not one change I disliked about Lagann-hen. All the good bits were there, and all the bad bits were polished into good bits. Never once did the story feel rushed. The actual ending of the show is nudged off course from the anime, but not in a way that breaks any of the continuity. It seems like every opportunity Ginax had to make the show better, they took it. Some places it seems almost unnecessary to alter the little things, but the overall effect is an amazing addition of depth to the plot. As far as art goes, there are only improvements from the anime. The anime itself had great art, but the movie shook that up, turned it around and increased it to something that was a totally new, and increased it to a quality suitable to the big screen. Some of the movie is straight the same as the show, much of it is different. But not once did the animation look out of place. (Unlike Gurren-hen, where some of the new animations seemed a little too noticeable.) Sound, was brilliant. If I can make a recommendation, listen to this in surround sound. It's not just the sound effects that have been given extra "omph", the entire voice acting matched perfectly, new lines flowed into old ones, narration covered some points and none of it had even the slightest flaw. I was surprised to hear the TTGL anime theme music kick in at the right place, I don't think any other piece of music could have fit there, sure enoguh, Ginax kept it for the movie. Full points here, it's been a long time since any show has had this much music that just screams, raps and wails ROW ROW FIGHT THE POWAH! Character development was something I enjoyed very, VERY much. This was probably the biggest change to the show. Each character, no matter how minor, was given full attention and detail. Their roles never waned from their original, and only expanded the Dai-Gurren Dan feel. There are some surprising things that the characters go through in the moive, that is not present in the anime, it'll be obvious what I mean when you watch it. The characters are surprisingly human, if you cut them, they bleed, is one of the things the movie makes obvious. But it also shows, you cut a lion and you'll be faced with the claws. Dodge the claws and the fangs are next. The characters prove an unrelenting injection of determination and awesome, that the series did so well. Enjoyment is next. Woah, did I ever enjoy it! Personally, this movie had me hooked. Having seen Gurren-hen, I was a bit inclined to think "skip" for the first bit and then just watch the end. But no, it had me on the edge of my seat all the way, even though I knew exactly what was going to happen! One of the things that made this movie more enjoyable, was the inclusion of a few jokes here and there. Even at the most serious of times, they put in a little one liner that really brought it down to earth. This is TTGL, after all, was the feeling I got from these kind of moments. Overall: Lagann-hen has to be THE crowning moment of awesome for Gainax, if not all anime. I've seen a lot of mecha shows, I've seen a lot of hot-blooded pilots, cool super attacks and climatic battles, but none scratch the level of awesome exuded by Lagann-hen. Strangely, I'm not over-exaggerating here. But I will admit, Lagann-hen doesn't stand on its own. I don't think Gurren-hen supports it well enough to just watch those two on their own. And if you didn't like the series, then re-watching the ending may not cut it for you. Even though the ending to the movie covers far more plot and detail than the series did (and it did it in less time to). My overall conclusion would be, Lagann-hen is TTGL at its best. I don't think it could be perfected by even 1% more. If you even enjoyed 1/2 episode from the latter half of TTGL, you will enjoy this movie.
puddingmilk
This movie was INCREDIBLE. It was definitely worth spending 1500 yen at Akihabara's sunshine theatre. The movie included much more different scenes than the first movie Gurren-hen, and the last battle was so intense, one couldn't blink to miss anything. The background music for this movie was as well different than from the series, and very fitting with each scene of the movie. Very enjoyable and brilliant.
Animanga