Back in 2007, Gainax released its then latest anime work, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. A modern day super robot anime series, it took what had made the genre so popular and injected it with large amounts of optimism. The result was a series that feels as fresh today as it did 10 years ago.
Gurren Lagann starts with us meeting Simon, a diminutive tunneler in an underground village. Encouraged by his older friend Kamina to break through to the surface, all this is expedited by a large mecha crashing through the roof of the village and the arrival of Yoko, a bikini clad sniper.
Upon reaching the surface, it seems that humanity is hunted and what was once a great world spanning civilization lives in small villages under constant threat of attack.
Kamina, being the proactive individual he is, manages to capture an enemy mecha called a Gunmen and renames it the Gurren. Simon in his smaller Lagann mecha aids his friend and even ends up combining his Lagann with the Gurren, in probably one of the most memorable combination sequences in recent memory.
It’s here we begin to learn that humanity has access to something called Spiral Power and that this conflict is, in fact, something far larger and reaches beyond just our meager Earth.
Like all good Gainax shows, the series starts small and ends up epic in scope. Gurren Lagann is very much part of that tradition but the manner in which it scales up the conflict is uniquely exponential.
At each stage where our protagonists face a major challenge, they have to believe in themselves to overcome this new hurdle. So with each new enemy they face, the optimism the characters exhibit grows and makes for wondrously cheerful viewing.
This is not to say that Gurren Lagann is not a series without tragedy but how it deals with it is both sobering and uplifting.
Gurren Lagann is definitely part of the super robot tradition though, especially in regards to series such as Getter Robo. The emphasis on drills and Spiral Power is more than just a simple nod to the work of Go Nagai and Ken Ishikawa, as they are almost direct parallels to how Getter Robo deals with things like Getter Rays.
While the setting in Getter Robo is arguably bleaker and the presence of the green hued Getter Rays are lethal in the extreme, the sheer force of will used to tame such power can be similarly seen in Gurren Lagann and how the characters master their use of Spiral Power.
To say that Gurren Lagann is simply derivative of Getter Robo would be both inaccurate and probably more than a little petty, as Gurren Lagann’s focus and narrative deals with the ramifications of Spiral Power in a unique and refreshingly honest way.
Rather than use the sheer force of gruesome will that drives the pilots of Getter Robo insane, Simon and his compatriots have to find confidence within themselves in order to overcome the challenges they face. While Getter Robo is still a fascinating series and hugely engrossing with it, Gurren Lagann’s ongoing appeal is its refreshing optimism, even in the face of almost certain death.
Back at the end of 2014, I reviewed the Ultimate Blu-ray box set of Gurren Lagann. This contained the TV series and the two movies, as well as some other spin-off animated releases. It was a very comprehensive set but it also wasn’t cheap.
Now that this year marks the tenth anniversary of Gurren Lagann, Aniplex has released a more reasonable box set that again contains the TV series and movies.
While it lacks some of the extras from the earlier Blu-ray releases, this new Aniplex box set contains all the major animated works related to Gurren Lagann in a handy and compact set.
Featuring both the original Japanese audio along with English subtitles as well as a very good English dub, this set is very nicely done. Both the picture and sound quality are similarly pristine as to the earlier releases. This set also contains the broadcast version of the sixth episode but bar that there is not much in the way of any other extras.
Admittedly, Aniplex could have gone all out to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Gurren Lagann but I think they took the wiser route here by re-releasing the series and movies on Blu-ray at a more accessible price point, especially as their previous release cost over $500.
Overall, this is a much-needed re-release of a well-loved anime series. Not only does it look and sound great on Blu-ray but it also is reasonably priced. While the Ultimate Edition obviously has more bells and whistles in terms of its extras but this box set is still nicely comprehensive, as well as handily compact.
So if you want to see one of the best super robot anime ever made and one that will leave a huge grin on your face, then you should definitely get a hold of this Blu-ray box set. Row Row Fight The Power!
Gurren Lagann Complete Blu-Ray Disc Box is now available via online retailers such as Right Stuf Anime for $149.98.
Disclosure: Aniplex sent me a copy of this Blu-ray box set for the purposes of this review.
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