Gurren Lagann: Complete Collection (Anime Legends)

This is a modification of my original review. Originally, I gave the Gurren Lagann dvd a 1 star because I had bought two copies of it, and each had the first disc scratched. But I found a better place to post that info, so now I can give Gurren Lagann, my all-time favorite anime, the rating it deserves.Gurren Lagann is what happens when you ask Studio Gainax, of Evangelion and FLCL fame, to make a saturday morning cartoon. It is a mecha anime made in the spirit of legendary shows like Getter Robo and Mazinger Z. The plot starts off with blood brothers Kamina and Simon fed up with life in their underground village, when suddenly a giant mecha known as a "gunmen" crashes through the roof, followed by a buxom babe by the name of Yoko fighting it with an oversized sniper rifle. And over the course of 27 episodes it spirals out of control and turns into the most over-the-top crazy awesome show in existence. To put it bluntly, in the Gurren Lagann universe, sheer force of will is enough to break the laws of physics. That is not an exaggeration, that is canon.Most of the talk of this show refer to it's sheer badassery and fanservice, so some poor individual with no knowledge of the show might think it's nothing more than a Michael Bay movie put in animated form. That is utter bull, for Gurren Lagann has some of the most memorable characters I've seen in an anime, as well as a rather interesting plot, two things lacking in most Bay films. Characters like Yoko, who you would think would be nothing more than eye candy, are given some very good character development. You become so attached to these people that when some of them are killed, you feel it. It honestly made me cry. And if it can make my cry, I consider it art. Gurren Lagann is something everybody, not just anime fans, need to see.Here's my original, 1 star, review:NOTE: This is not a 1 star review for the show. In fact, Gurren Lagann is my all-time favorite anime. This is 1 star for the dvd. Apparantly, whoever manufactures the actual discs doesn't believe in quality control. I have bought two copies of this show, and each one had the first disc scratched. The first one wouldn't play half the time, and the other stopped working when it got to episode 5. So when you buy this, watch it right away to make sure it isn't scratched, otherwise you lose your money.

This is a great anime to watch for a morale boost or a warm fuzzy feeling because there is a lot of emotion in the characters compared to other action anime and to most anime in general.It manages to overcome the typical cliche characters in anime and if you manage to get the whole way through the series it explains quite a lot about why the characters do what they do.It's missing a lot of the typical filler which is also a plus.Gurren Lagann has a lot of great lines and inspiring moments in it, but some really irritating fan service from time to time--especially the bath house episode.If it wasn't for the irritating fan service and some of the other anime weirdness (like how the characters look and act about 5 years older than they are said to be in other sources... meaning the girl on the cover with huge boobs appears to be like 18-19 and is really 14 according to a source about the manga....) It'd be perfect for about everybody to watch. I just pretend they're the age they seem to be -_-; lol....Even if you don't like mecha anime, it's a good series since I'd say the focus is on ideals and emotion. It's about a lot of human themes such as moving forward in bad times, believing in yourself, and "being a man!"I'm a woman and I still relate so I put it in quotes.This particular collection and seller was really good to me and my item arrived in perfect condition and such. I had issues with the super saving shipping which was supposed to be like 2 days and came out to be like 5, but that had nothing to do with the seller or the item quality itself.

This 26 episode anime series is about a little kid named Simon, a young boy that lives in an underground city that is unbelievably talented at making tunnels. As well as a charismatic trouble maker whom is quite frankly crazy in my opinion, but whenever he speaks you feel pump, named Kamina! They come across this little head looking robot that they named Lagann, and when they do it unleashes a fury of hell rained upon them as a monster looking giant robot called a Beastman falls down upon their city. That is when they also come across a femme fatale freedom fighter, and probably by far one of the hottest and sexiest woman in Anime history, Yoko. Together all three of these heroes band together to free the humans from the oppression from the Beastmen!It is a very good show to say the least, and it got me in a few awe as well as touching moments too. But the second half of the series will seriously screw with your senses! Not to give too much away, lets just say it involves throwing entire galaxies like their frisbies (and no I'm not joking nor is that a metaphor). Also the pacing of the series in general is way too fast. There are so many characters you want to like but there is so little time to feel a connection for, or to feel like you experienced the long journey with them. In my opinion, the only one you really feel a strong connection for is Kamina within such a short amount of time!The animation kind of starts out choppy at first but it soon starts to really get flowing as the show progresses, it has an awesome sound track in my opinion, and the dubbing by the people of Bandai is pretty good. But most of all I will admit, you will hear some awesome as well as just as many corny speeches in this show, but they will all have you shouting through gritted teeth, "F-Yeah!"So I highly suggest you rent this first wherever you can find it, or watch it on Netflix as it is on the instant watch, do that first. Or if you already watched and liked the series, or just a hardcore anime fan in general, then buy it because I did and I don't at all regret.

I've known about the legend that is studio Gainax for a while. But I will admit that I never understood the appeal - I respect them for making Evangalion, but I thought that that anime had a few problems with haow to use the money for the production so it sadly lacks because of that - Note: Gurren Lagann doesn't have that problem. FLCL was also just to much for me to take and so was Gurren Lagann. I saw a review of the anime and while I thought the review was good and fair I just couldn't get myself to see the show, because it's was too weird - But I couldn't have been more wrong!!!!!So after knowing about the show for about a year I needed a slightly less serious anime and this came to mind and I thought why not give it a chance anyway. (I was completly hooked when I started watching).Gurren Lagann is about a young boy named Simon who lives underground(as all humans do) with his best friend and "bro", Kamina. Kamina has a lot of character and says what comes to mind while Simon doesn't have the confidence that Kamina has. Kamina believes that there is a better place for the human race on the surface. One day Simon finds a small drill and a gaint weird looking head. Slightly after that his village gets attacked by a gunmen from the surface (a giant robot) and the beautiful Yoko starts a battle with it right away. Under all this presure Simon discovers that the small drill is a type of key used to control the giant face he discorvered and uses it to fight the gunmen in his villige after that Kamina, Simon, and Yoko travels to the surface to fight the gunmen and the Spiral King who is keeping the humans from reaching the surface.The story seems a bit wacky at first and looks more like a parady of the mecha genre and while it certainly is that it gets a bigger and more epic plot as it progresses. The characters just work; even when Kamina being a bit of a cliché is still so good written that he just becomes epic with his speeches and knows the true meaning of what manly is. Yoko could be the normal fanservice girl(and while that is her porpuse for a part of the series) she still has a lot of character and is an independent woman who wants to fight for what she believes in. Simon starts of as a frightened kid, but has some of the best character development I've ever seen in anime(or anything at all) - which is why he's one of my fav characters ever(sorry Kamina, you're still awesome) he's so down to earth and the way he matures is just done beautifully!The story could be placed in two arcs where the first arc is more of a parady of the mecha genre and the latter is where the 'real' plot begins(with a time skip after episode 15) and thus it gets a more serious tone than the first part. A lot of people didn't like this, but I wasn't bothered by it personally, but that could be because I took the anime quite serious to begin with so when the series started to get more serious it just worked for me.The art style is really good and solid(except for episode 4 that seems a bit weird compared to the rest). I like it quite a lot with the character designs themselves and that the animation is smooth and filled with colors! The soundtrack was done by Taku Iwasaki and is the soundtrack that made me a fan of his work. It's just go so well with the show and has a lot of cathing tunes like Libara Me from Hell(being the most epic) and With Your Drill, Pierce the Heavens being one of the tracks that makes you happy.(Don't know how to describe it). I watched this in Eng dub and have no complaints what so ever. A lot of my fav VAs are here like Michelle Ruff(Yoko), and Simon being voiced by Yuri Lowhenthal.After I watched this anime in 3 days I can just say that I just ADORE and LOVE this show sooo much! I'm already going to rewatch it - that's how good it is. It's a fun ride with epic scale, great characters, and it really touches your soul if you are willing to give it a chance. It made me laugh out loud more than once and it also made me cry at some ponts. It's and epic adventure that shouldn't be missed! So what are you waiting for - Just who the hell do you think I am!NOTE: If you want to buy the show(I hope you enjoy it as much as I did), but buy the re-realeas of the anime that going to be released in october(you can find it on amazon).Thanks for reading I hope it was helpful :)

Tengen Toppa Gurren Langann.It's low on the "deep" storyline, but DAMN is it an AMAZING Story. The amount of fans of Anime who don't like this compared to any who would know immediately what I meant if I were to say something like the title of this review is minuscule. This is wall to wall adrenaline action and amazing visuals, the story of Simon and Kamina is one that I heartedly suggest ANY fan of Anime watch, it's got better chances of you loving it than anything I've seen.This is the Anime Series that Pierced the Heavens!

I won't say much so I don't ruin anything except it is called anime legend for a reason and it lived up to it.

very good

Out of all the tropes associated with Japanese animation, I'm a huge fan of giant robots. I've been into shows like The Big O, Code Geass, Rebuild of Evangelion and Mobile Suit Gundam 00. However, there was one particular series I heard of which many people said would be essential to fans of mecha anime. This was naturally that series.The story follows a kid called Simon who, while working to dig through dirt to expand his village, comes across a drill-shaped pendant and a mechanical head. As a bigger mechanical head falls through the ceiling, he escapes with his blood-brother Kamina and a scantily-clad assassin by the name of Yoko, defeat the giant mecha, and escape on an adventure to the surface to find out what is behind all these giant robotic heads, and why they seem determined to keep humanity underground.That, by the way, was only the first half of the series, which has a feel somewhere between Mad Max and Godzilla v. Mechagodzilla, with a Fist Of The North Star-esque desert-punk environment coupled together with spectacular mecha fights and the occasional piece of dialogue/visual humour. And just to keep the variety fresh, the genre shifts half way through from the aforementioned Desert-punk style to a more "Mobile Suit Gundam/Space Battleship Yamato" space opera tone, which, although not all may appreciate it, still lends itself to keeping the series from feeling stale further down the line.On the topic of the title of this review, to say that this anime is over the top is a bit of an understatement. Remember how Voltron popularised the idea of combining mechas? Well, without wishing to spoil anything, Gurren Lagann takes this concept and cranks it up to its logical extreme, culminating in one of the most outright ludicrous final battles in the history of story arcs (Again, without wishing to spoil anything, it helps if you avoid thinking about scientific accuracy).Overall, if you've exhausted your supply of mecha fixes, particularly the angsty, over-dramatic ones, and just want something ludicrous and engaging, I'd say give this one a whirl, for this is the box set that will pierce the heavens, as Kamina said with such chuckle-inducing foreshadowing.