*A failed attempt to surpass the “unsurpassable”.*
“Men put their souls into their drills when breaking through!”
Some obvious advices/facts before we dive into the review.
1.
This is NOT a standalone movie thus having knowledge from the TV series is highly recommended and also beneficial to your mind.
2.
Do NOT compare the pacing of the TV series with the movie. One is called a TV series and the other is called a movie for a reason, k? Both the TV series and the movie are by the original director and script editor so they know what they are messing with.
... 3.
Do NOT expect to see a lot of new footages. Does this mean this is a “recap” of the TV series? Not exactly. There are enough plot differences in the battles for this movie to be considered an adaptation instead of a complete “recap”.
4.
Is the movie rushed? To a large extent, yes it is. There is simply too much material to cover in too little time. This is probably what most people are complaining about.
5.
Is it worth your time to watch this? Only if you can distinguish what to expect between a TV series and a movie.
The problem with trying to remake a masterpiece level of work (and that applies not only to anime) is that people will only be curious to see how the new work can surpass the previous work. Often people will have a pre-set level of expectation for these works and more often people will find themselves expecting too much and ended in disappointment. For example, after rating the original TV series 10/10, viewer X eagerly awaits the movie adaptation. But what can he really expect? That the movie worth 11/10? No, that is not possible. This is all thanks to something called human prejudice. Everyone who has seen the TV series first will consciously/unconsciously be comparing them. So please be mindful when watching the movie not to compare it bit by bit with the TV series. It is not fair for the movie.
Those of us who have seen Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (TTGL) will know what it means when I say the show as a whole defies the Laws of Physics. While there are plenty of examples for that type of shows, TTGL is by far the most outrageous, thus the term “epicness” is seen wherever TTGL appears. The story of TTGL is a prime example of the “underdog” battle. The main characters began with very little fighting chance but every time they seem to turn the impossible possible. And how do they do that? With a DRILL of course!
The movie has some great new battle scenes. Animation wise it is the same as the TV series (for those who like to compare the two). Most scenes were pretty consistent but lacking in details from time to time which is to be expected from the sketchy and cartoonish-looking animation. What truly makes TTGL “epic” though is that the scenes match well with the “mood” at that particular moment of the show. This is partially due to the great soundtracks and theme songs by Shoko Nakagawa. Overall those of us who are familiar with Gainax’s previous works will not be disappointed in TTGL.
Character wise, there was a slightly heavier emphasis on Yoko in this movie which is great for all Yoko lovers. Simon and Nia also have a decent character development throughout the movie. Unfortunately, because of time constrain, there was not much character building for the secondary characters like Rossiu and Kittan who ended up being quite hollow. Thus if all you ever care about is Kamina, Nia, Simon, and Yoko, then there shouldn’t be anything wrong for you. For the rest of us … brace ourselves for some disappointment here.
The following is targeted to those who have concerns with regard to the pacing of the movie. Ask yourself this, how long as it been from the end of the TV series to the airing of the movie. Answer: 11 month and 1 week (give or take a few days). Do you honestly expect to see tremendous differences (next to what it has presented already) given the time? Do you honestly expect to see a whole new story with the same awesomeness produced in 51 weeks? Given the time, though of course we can argue that they could have delayed the movie if things didn’t work out, I think it was a fairly decent job. Hopefully you will find it a good enjoyable watch too!
Alternative Titles Synonyms: Gekijouban Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Guren-hen, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann the Movie Japanese: 劇場版 天元突破グレンラガン 紅蓮篇 Information Type: Movie Episodes: 1 Status: Finished Airing Aired: Sep 6, 2008 Producers: Aniplex Licensors: Aniplex of America Studios: Gainax Source: Original Theme: Mecha Duration: 1 hr. 52 min. Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older Statistics Score: 8.171 (scored by 83,221 users) 1 indicates a . Ranked: #4312 2 based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #1424 Members: 166,177 Favorites: 418 Available AtResources | ReviewsApr 26, 2009 *A failed attempt to surpass the “unsurpassable”.* “Men put their souls into their drills when breaking through!” Some obvious advices/facts before we dive into the review. 1. This is NOT a standalone movie thus having knowledge from the TV series is highly recommended and also beneficial to your mind. 2. Do NOT compare the pacing of the TV series with the movie. One is called a TV series and the other is called a movie for a reason, k? Both the TV series and the movie are by the original director and script editor so they know what they are messing with. ... May 7, 2009 Gainax have turned their series into movies before with Gunbuster vs. Diebuster and more recently the Rebuild of Evangelion tetralogy, now they've decided to give Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann the same treatment. Unfortunately, the runtime doesn't allow for a sufficient amount of development and many elements have been lost along the way, though there are saving graces in the new material. The original series is twenty-seven episodes long, or - minus the openings and endings - around about nine hours. Gurren-hen follows the events of the first thirteen episodes and so is just over two hours shorter than its source material. As you would expect, much ... May 8, 2009 Gainax is one shrewd animation studio. With the reuse of 95% of the footage including the "infamous due to crap animation" episode 4 Gainax truly maximized their earnings. In addition to this, there are moments in the movie that felt diluted in contrast to the TV series. Maybe it's due to Gainax compressing half of the series to an almost 2 hour mark. Maybe it's poor directorship. I don't know. To be honest. The recap episode (ep. 16) owns the movie format. Then again. That was a recap. On the bright side. There is the Spiral King intro and the climactic battle between Gurren Lagann and ... Mar 14, 2015 8 - Very Good all around. Hard to compact a season of 27 episodes down into a 6 episode run-time, but for what it's worth, it pulled it off well. I gave it an 8 as I feel that is realistically what it was worth, I wouldn't have given it anything lower than a 7. But when compared to the anime series, it is (while there is a decent amount of new content), just simply falls miles short. Miles short and yet I'd still give it an 8. I'm trying to give a score that is not relative. If this was relative to the anime series, it would ... May 29, 2009 yeah I know the score doesn't add up. How can one like so much yet give it such a low score? Well Gainax gave me a huge punch to the face when they decided to rehash almost every scene in the movie with scenes from the anime. The only part that was new was the last 20 minutes. Other than that it was all just a shortened version of the anime. Basically if you have already seen TTGL don't watch the whole movie. You're just wasting 2 hours. Only go for the last 20 minutes since that's all that's new. Hopefully the second movie ... Mar 13, 2010 I must say I didn't enjoy the movie as much as the anime. They took out too many episodes where you didn't even get to know some characters. It seemed to rush too fast and a battle that never happened in the anime. Overall, even though I've seen the anime, I was quite confused on what was going on. The movie was all over the place. Mar 30, 2023 Gurren Lagann: Childhood's End, is the first Gurren Lagann movie and more or less acts as a recap and retelling of the first half of the plot from the anime combined into one. The movie, as mentioned, mainly serves as a retelling, putting all the major episode plots into a single story which amounts to just under two hours, while the minor elements are either not present or combined into a montage, with one exception by the end. However, depending on how one felt about the main series and their patience level, this can either come off as a blessing or a curse. Themes and ... Dec 27, 2009 There's one thing I have to say before you start reading this. This is a "made-for-fans" movie. If you haven't seen the series before, you'll probably find it to be pretty hard to follow. And frankly, it loses out on a lot of the epicness you'd have gotten from the show. So before watching this movie, go watch the TV series. Trust me, no matter who you are or what anime you're into, you'll enjoy it. Done? K, let's move on. And this isn't gonna be your standard review, cause this isn't a standard anime. As I said, Gurren-Hen doesn't work if you haven't seen the show. Because for ... Sep 4, 2014 If you're expecting an original, stand alone movie, don't. That isn't what this is. Instead, this is a retelling of the first half of the series I came to love known as Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Story: 7 What I liked about this movie was that it told the essentials about the story to progress the plot a lot faster. So for me, at least, it was a great way to rewatch the first half of the series condensed in 2 hours. However, since it was condensed so much, it assumes you've already watched the series first and that's why a first time viewer might feel the ... Nov 1, 2019 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, 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 realize the goals and dreams I had deep within me, that's how powerful this show was to me! ... Jan 16, 2024 First 15 episodes but on cocaine. Really solid recap movie that did a lot more than I expected. I watched up to the 15th episode, so going in I was well aware of the plot beats. The additional scenes that were added though really bring a lot of flare to the OG series. I will say that it’s highly recommended to watch the whole series before seeing this, at-least up to episode 15 so you get the plot. Also wanna mention that watching this in a theater is an amazing experience and was surprisingly packed. Seeing this in 4DX is an absolute treat. Can’t wait for part ... Aug 9, 2017 This movie recaps the first half of the TV series, with 90% r use materials and 10% new. It is still very much enjoyable and epic as it is TTGL. However, since most of it was reused materials, the story has serious pacing issues and the storytelling is very choppy. I'd argue even the new materials at the end the movie is worse than the tv series. Due to the shorter runtime, all of the side character plus Nia were not well developed, if at all. They did a good job developing Simon, Kamina and Yoko's characters though. Overall good movie. Not as great as the ... Jun 24, 2023 [Spoiler-free should-you-watch review for both movies] I’ll be brief, because I absolutely love the Gurren Lagann series, and my review (which I haven’t written yet to date) would probably read something like “I don’t care who you are, stop what you’re doing and just watch it.” These movies are are fundamentally a retelling of the same story. They are very good, but 90% or more of them are just reused parts of the show. There are some new sequences they added, and some changes in the plot, both of which I thoroughly enjoyed and would recommend. However, I do *not* recommend the movies as an introduction to ... May 9, 2019 This review is intended for those who've seen the show, as is the movie itself. All of the positives of Gurren-Hen are also positives of the 2007 show. Unfortunately, the reverse is not true. A lot of stuff from the original that was important to character development and narrative structure was cut out from this version somewhat haphazardly. It was certainly not an exercise in good adaptation, unlike its 10/10 counterpart, Lagann-Hen. Nevertheless, the movie has value, and I think it's a worthwhile watch for anyone who's seen the show. Despite my frustration for the way it was adapted, it still remains true that from ... Jan 18, 2024 Gurren Lagann the Movie: Childhood's End (2008) is an entertaining and novel recap of the first 13 episodes of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2007). GLTMCE is an amazing showcase of animation ability, every scene within the film is stunning, and the animation sequences (while sometimes repetitive) are gorgeous. Scenes that didn't make sense in TTGL are removed and replaced with ones that better explain the lore of the series which is a welcome change. However this is all there is to GLTMCE, since the film covers 13 episodes worth of content in just over two hours the pacing feels off, and the viewer isn't able ... Feb 4, 2022 Gurren Lagann: So good I watched it twice. When I booted up this movie I wasn't sure if it was going to be a shot for shot retelling or some kind of re-imagining. The opening sequence is all brand new, and foreshadows the story of the spiral king in a way the original series never did. But then what follows is basically a trimmed down version of the regular series without even any new animation, up until the ending which was a little different. I was almost going to stop watching it when I realized how little new content there was. I had just finished watching the ... Jan 27, 2024 I went to the theatre to watch this without ever watching Gurren Lagann, and I am a fan. I have never watched the show before, but I felt like everything in the movie made sense, and it never really felt like anything was missing which is pretty impressive considering how many episodes of the show were covered. The soundtrack was really good, and the animation quality felt like it was really ahead of its time. I recommend this for people who don't have enough time to watch the entire series. I did not really care for all of the characters, but Simon and Kamina were ... |