Product Details

• Actors: Gurren Lagann
• Directors: Gainax
• Format: Animated, Color, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled
• Language: Japanese
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Bandai Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: July 8, 2008
• Run Time: 225 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001934SSM
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #124,318 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The fantasy-adventure Gurren Lagann (2007) bursts onto the screen in an explosion of color, action, and energy. Quiet, resigned Simon works as a driller, expanding the claustrophibic cavern that houses his subterranean village. One day, he finds a glowing drill bit that serves as the ignition key for a large humanoid robot. At the urging of his best friend, hyperactive gang leader Kamina, Simon fires up the mecha and the two misfits head for the forgotten realm of the Earth's surface. Humanity retreated below ground centuries earlier, to escape the Beast Men who pilot mecha called "Gunmen." While Kamina yells about what a man's gotta do, he and Simon beat the enemy Gunmen into scrap metal. Travelling through an endless desert, they pick up various allies, including Yoko, a buxom red-head who's a crack shot, effete technical wizard Leeron, and the mismatched Black Siblings. The result is thenuttiest mecha action since Gekigangar III in Martian Successor Nadesico. Although Gurren Lagann has been dubbed into English twice, this release is only in Japanese with subtitles. A Gurren Lagann feature is slated to debut in Japan in fall, 2008.(Rated 13 and older: violence, nudity, risqué humor, alcohol use, stereotypes) --Charles Solomon

Product Description

Studio: Infinity Resources Inc Release Date: 07/08/2008

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great anime, weak CD, August 10, 2008

By 

H. Marcus "That guy" (Watertown, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gurren Lagann 01 Special Edition (DVD)

While the others sing the praises of this anime, and they are well deserved, I feel the need to speak out on the CD. For an extra $10 you get a sountrack CD. Normally this is a good value, but not in this case. The CD is 4 tracks. The first is the long version of the opening theme, the 2nd is another different piece, and the other 2 are short versions of the first track that are virtually indistinguishable from each other. Basically, you will be paying $10 more for 2 tracks of music. Not a good deal at all. Save yourself some money and just get the regular edition.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome release package for an insanely awesome series., July 15, 2008

By 

E. Carden "Gurren-dan member" (Kamina City, Surface) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gurren Lagann 01 Special Edition (DVD)

If this is your first foray into the realm of "Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann," then shame on you. If you've already shed many a manly tear and generally been blown away by this series, then the R1 release you've been waiting for is finally here in all it's glory. Long story short, this DVD is one heck of a deal. You get 9 episodes where most releases give you 4, at most 5. While the only language is Japanese, the translators at Bandai did a great job of capturing the essence of each character in the subtitles. For those of you that watched the fansubs, you might chafe at the different wording of some favorite lines. Don't. No translation is ever going to be "the right one," and the meanings come across loud and clear in any case. The menus are great and fit the show perfectly. The extras are a little sparse, clean OP and ED only, but that's to be expected.
The bonus-CD with this edition is short but sweet. It contains the full opening song, "Sorairo Days," along with the edits for the first and second set of OP's. "Happily Ever After" makes an appearance as well, rounding out the Shoko Nakagawa contribution to TTGL. The sound quality is clear and crisp, making this CD a small but welcome contribution.
For the fans of the series, this edition is a must-have. The extra price is worth the CD, and the DVD is just a good deal in general. For first-timers, WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! Turn off your terrible reality-show reruns, buy this, and begin your foray into one of the most colorful, explosive, exciting, and GAR-feeling inducing shows for years!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's released! Finally!, July 11, 2008

By 

R.B from KC - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gurren Lagann 01 (DVD)

For those that don't know, ADV originally licensed Gurren Lagann and was set to release it this past February. Unfortunately that didn't happen, and the fate of Gurren Lagann was in limbo as far as a US release date was concerned. Luckily, ADV sold (or dropped..not quite sure on the specifics) the license to Gurren, and Bandai entertainment picked it up. This is good for two reasons, the first being that Bandai upped the amount of episodes from the Japanese standard 3 per release, to a more palatable 9 episodes per disc (For a 27 episode series, it should be 3 sets total, which is great news) for an even cheaper price than the 3 episode releases go for in Japan. The second is that Bandai has recently aquired Bandai Visual, and hopefully, their knack for putting things out on Blu-Ray. Gurren Lagann was aired in HD in Japan, so a Blu-Ray release seems like a no brainer. Unfortunately, at this time, there doesn't seem to be any planned Blu-Ray release, but if the DVD sales are good, it should spur them on to announce something (hopefully).

This DVD set includes episodes 1 through 9 in Japanese only (with subtitles). The English voice over release is supposed to come out later in the summer, or in the early fall. If dubs are your thing, this isn't the release for you.

I'll leave others to give a synopsis of the story, because I don't trust myself to leave out spoilers, and this is truly one of those anime where there are megaton spoilers that can be dropped if you are unsuspecting. I will however say that this is one of the best shows I have seen in the past couple of years (if not ever) thanks to it's memorable characters, memorable fight scenes, truly emotional plot twists and turns, and excellent voice work by the Japanese cast. The true strength of any anime (in my opinion) is the connection to the characters that you develop throughout the process of watching the show. In the case of Gurren, you will wholeheartedly root on Simon, Kamina, Yoko and the rest of the Gurren Dan (Gurren Brigade), that is, unless your heart is made of stone. I would easily consider Gurren Lagann to be Gainax's best for-television series ever created (Their OVA FLCL gives it a run, though it's incredibly short) and it would be a shame for anyone that loves Gainax, action, and memorable characters to miss this one.

The only thing slightly holding up my purchase, is the impending re-release of Gurren Lagann with English voice overs. I don't care for English voice overs, but that should bring a collectors edition, and extras like commentary, or behind the scenes looks, etc. Though there is a special edition of this release, with the themesong on a CD, I feel like I could get more if I wait. That said, at 21 dollars for 9 episodes, it's a very hard price to pass up (considering that's 63 dollars for the entire series. For a new series, that's unheard of). If you give this show a chance, and refrain from writing it off as just another giant mecha show (it's more of a giant mecha parody underneath it all) then you won't be sorry with your purchase. I'm greatly looking forward to a Blu-Ray release in the future (come on Bandai..) but this will satisfy me for now.