Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (天元突破グレンラガン, Tengen Toppa Guren Ragan, lit. "Break-Through Heaven Gurren Lagann" or more loosely "Heaven Shattering Gurren Lagann") is a Japanese sh0nen mecha anime television series animated by Gainax and co-produced by Aniplex and Konami. It ran for twenty-seven episodes on Japan's TV Tokyo between April 1, 2007 and September 30, 2007. It is directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi, written by veteran playwright Kazuki Nakashima and has been in development since the participation of the famed animator in the Abenobashi mecha themed episodes by the same studio.
Licensing for a North American release of Gurren Lagann was announced by ADV Films at AnimeExpo 2007 on June 30, 2007; however, after an unexplained removal from ADV's catalog, Bandai Entertainment announced it held the license at New York Comic Con 2008. It was also announced for a UK release by ADV Films at AmeCon, and by ADV Films Germany for a summer 2008 release. The Sci Fi Channel acquired the broadcasting rights of Gurren Lagann, and began airing the anime on July 28, 2008 as part of Sci Fi's Ani-Monday anime block.
A manga adaptation started serialization in MediaWorks' Dengeki Comic Gao! on April 27, 2007, but switched over to MediaWorks' other manga magazine Dengeki Daioh on April 21, 2008 due to the former being discontinued on February 27, 2008. A series of light novels have also been created and are published by Shogakukan. A video game based on the series, for the Nintendo DS, was released in October 2007, bundled with a special episode of the anime series. An animated film version will premiere in Japanese theaters on September 6, 2008, and a second movie has been announced.
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann takes place in a fictional future where human beings have been forced underground and thrive in isolated subterranean civilizations on Earth. These "villages" have no contact with the surface world or other villages. Since frequent earthquakes damage infrastructure, the villages must constantly expand deeper into the earth — individuals designated to this task are known as "diggers".
Giha Village is the home of Simon, a fourteen year-old digger who was orphaned when his parents were killed in an earthquake. Respected by the village elder as the best of the diggers, but ostracized by his peers, he discovers a special drill key deep in the ground, and recruited by an eccentric fellow orphan named Kamina into his group, "Team Gurren". Kamina dreams of the surface world, which he visited as a child with his father, but had to return home because he was too weak to survive.
After a failed attempt at reaching the surface, Kamina is jailed by the elder and Simon resumes digging, only to discover "a big face" deep in his tunnel. As he excitedly fetches Kamina to show him the discovery, he is caught by the village elder, but Kamina's punishment is interrupted by the ceiling of Giha Village collapsing, as an enormous robot falls into the cavern. A girl named Yoko appears and tries to fight it with a large rifle, but cannot do much by her self. Simon takes Kamina and Yoko to the "big face" he found earlier and discovers that the small drill key can be used to activate the small robot, which he uses to end up destroying the intruder, and effectively break through to the surface.
On the surface, Simon and Kamina discover there are more large robots known as Gunmen, piloted by "Beastmen", that terrorize the surface dwellers during the day. Simon and Kamina help Yoko and her village destroy three more Gunmen and Kamina takes one for himself, naming it the Gurren. Eventually, Simon and Kamina decide that they will go on a journey to end the constant struggle between the Beastmen and humans, and are initially accompanied by Yoko and a mechanic from Yoko's village named Leeron, as they head out to find the Beastmen's Human Eradication Army headquarters, while dealing with various Beastmen warriors, including the vicious Viral.
Along the way, Simon and the others are joined by more humans, including the "Black Siblings", led by Kittan, and Rossiu, a strict young man from an underground village, forming "Team Dai-Gurren", leading up to a major battle with the Human Eradication Army, which results in the death of Kamina, the arrival of Nia, the mysterious "daughter" of the Beastmen leader, Lord Genome, and the repopulation of the Earth's surface.
The second half of the series moves seven years into the future, where mankind has become prosperous, led by Simon and members of Team Dai-Gurren. Though all seems well, after 1,000,000 humans populate the surface, a new catastrophe begins with the arrival of the Anti-Spirals, including Nia's sudden "transformation" into their messenger, and the threat of the moon literally falling onto the Earth. Simon, along with the reformed Team and former enemy, Viral, now lead the battle to defeat the Anti-Spirals and save the Earth.
- From
Wikipedia