About Gurren Lagann
Gurren Lagann, known in Japan as Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (literally 'Heaven-Piercing Gurren Lagann'), is an original mecha anime animated by Gainax and produced with TV Tokyo, Konami, Dentsu and Aniplex. Hiroyuki Imaishi directed it and the playwright Kazuki Nakashima wrote the series composition, and its 27 episodes aired on TV Tokyo and its affiliates from 1 April to 30 September 2007. It won an Excellence Prize at the 11th Japan Media Arts Festival and Best Television Production at the 7th Tokyo Anime Awards, where Atsushi Nishigori also won the character design award. Two films, Childhood's End (2008) and The Lights in the Sky Are Stars (2009), retold the story with new animation, and the series' success led Imaishi to found Studio Trigger in 2011.
In the far future, the Spiral King, Lordgenome, rules the Earth and keeps people in isolated underground villages, while his Beastmen, piloting face-shaped robots called Gunmen, hunt down anyone who reaches the surface. In the village of Giha, the timid young digger Simon spends his days extending the tunnels, and his friend Kamina, a loud, fearless young man Simon calls Bro, dreams of the surface he saw as a child with his father. One day Simon digs up a small drill-shaped key and then a little face-shaped Gunmen. When a giant Gunmen crashes through the village roof, chased by Yoko, a sharpshooter from a nearby village, Simon uses the key to start the little machine, which Kamina names Lagann, and the three break through to the surface. Kamina soon steals a Gunmen of his own, Gurren, and when the two machines combine they become Gurren Lagann.
The first half follows Team Gurren, renamed Team Dai-Gurren as more and more people steal Gunmen and join it, on its way to Lordgenome's capital, Teppelin. Kamina's death in episode 8 leaves Simon to step out of his shadow, helped by Nia, a sheltered girl who turns out to be the Spiral King's daughter. The second half jumps seven years ahead to Kamina City, where the old team now runs the government, and a far stranger enemy, the Anti-Spirals, appears once the human population reaches one million. Each arc is bigger than the last, and so are the robots. Critics loved it: Anime News Network gave it a full A grade, IGN scored it 9.7 out of 10, and the writer Kazuki Nakashima has named Ken Ishikawa, co-creator of Getter Robo, as one of its influences.
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What the Gurren Lagann Quiz Tests
Our Gurren Lagann quiz covers the 27 episodes of the 2007 TV anime and nothing else: the two films, the Parallel Works music videos, episode 5.5 and the manga are left out. Easy levels cover the basics: who made it, Giha village, Gunmen and Beastmen, Lagann, Gurren and the main cast. The middle levels follow the story from the first half's road to Teppelin, through Kamina's last battle and the Spiral King's generals, to the seven-year jump to Kamina City and the arrival of the Anti-Spirals. The hard levels are for close watchers and are the only place the final arc's spoilers appear: who speaks the episode titles, where the generals' names come from, the name Yoko teaches under, and how the series ends.
Key Characters
Simon begins as a small, timid digger who follows in Kamina's footsteps, and the series is the story of him growing up: after Kamina's death he sinks into despair, then, helped by Nia, decides to be himself rather than a copy of his Bro, and leads Team Dai-Gurren from then on. Kamina is the spark, a loud, fearless dreamer whose speeches and catchphrase, 'Just who the hell do you think I am?!', turn a few runaways into a rebellion. Yoko, a sharpshooter from Littner village, is the calm head of the group and becomes a sisterly support for Simon, while Nia, the Spiral King's abandoned daughter, is polite, curious and disarmingly honest. Around them are Kittan, the hot-tempered eldest of the Black Siblings; the serious Rossiu, who later carries the weight of government; the mechanic Leeron; and Boota, Simon's pet pig-mole. On the other side stand Lordgenome, the Spiral King who has kept humanity underground for more than a thousand years, his four generals, and Viral, a proud Beastman whose rivalry with Kamina, and then with Simon, runs through the whole series.
Available Quizzes
Gurren Lagann Trivia
50 hand-crafted questions across 5 categories. 10 levels of increasing difficulty.
Which Gurren Lagann Character Are You?
Answer 10 questions to discover which Gurren Lagann character matches your personality!
Random Mix
Questions from all 63 anime including Gurren Lagann. The ultimate challenge.
Characters
Simon
Kamina
Yoko Littner
Nia Teppelin
Viral
Gurren Lagann Fun Facts
- The episode titles are lines spoken by the characters: Kamina speaks the titles of episodes 1 to 8, Nia those of 9 to 15, Viral the preview of the recap episode 16, Rossiu those of 17 to 22 and Simon those of 23 to 27.
- The names of Lordgenome's four generals each blend one of the four bases of DNA with an elemental spirit: Thymilph (thymine and sylph), Adiane (adenine and undine), Cytomander (cytosine and salamander) and Guame (guanine and gnome). Lordgenome's own name joins 'lord' and 'genome'.
- During a debate about adding the Welsh dragon to the Union Flag, The Daily Telegraph ran a contest for readers' designs for a new flag. On 11 December 2007 the winner was announced: a Gurren Lagann-based entry sent in from Norway, with 55% of the vote.
- The opening theme, Shoko Nakagawa's 'Sorairo Days' ('Sky-Blue Days'), uses the song's first verse and chorus in the first half; from episode 17, where the second half begins, it switches to the second verse and chorus.
- Shigeto Koyama, a mecha designer who did design work for Gurren Lagann, later worked on the concept design of Baymax for Disney's Big Hero 6 (2014), and Japanese audiences compared the film with Gurren Lagann when it opened there.
- Gurren Lagann's success led its director, Hiroyuki Imaishi, to found Studio Trigger in 2011, a studio often seen as Gainax's successor. As of 2021, Trigger owned the rights to the series along with Imaishi's other Gainax work.
Gurren Lagann Quiz — Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes of Gurren Lagann are there?
Twenty-seven, broadcast weekly on TV Tokyo and its affiliates from 1 April to 30 September 2007. Episode 16 is a recap of the first half, and episode 17 starts the second half after a seven-year time skip. There are also two specials outside the count: an alternative cut of episode 6 released on home video, and episode 5.5, a short bonus episode that came with the 2007 Nintendo DS game.
Is Gurren Lagann finished?
Yes. The story ends with episode 27, 'The Lights in the Sky Are Stars', and the staff wrote the ending to complete Simon's journey without setting up a sequel. No second series has been made. The franchise carried on with two compilation films in 2008 and 2009, the Parallel Works music videos and a manga drawn by Kotaro Mori, which ran from 2007 to 2013 in ten volumes and has also finished.
What order should I watch Gurren Lagann in?
Start with the 27 TV episodes in order. The two films are best saved for afterwards: Childhood's End (2008) retells episodes 1 to 15 with about 20 minutes of new scenes, and The Lights in the Sky Are Stars (2009) retells the second half with more new animation and some changes to the battles and the ending. Episode 5.5 is a light side story set early in the series, and Parallel Works (2008 and 2010) is a set of music videos telling alternative stories to songs from the soundtrack; both are optional.
Where can I watch Gurren Lagann?
Aniplex of America holds the series in North America and has released the TV series and both films on Blu-ray, Anime Limited distributes it in the United Kingdom and Crunchyroll Store Australia (formerly Madman) in Australia. Adult Swim's Toonami block began airing the English dub in the United States in August 2014, and for the 15th anniversary the films returned to US cinemas in January 2024 with a new English dub. Availability differs by country and changes over time, so check your local services.
What is Gurren Lagann about?
It follows Simon, a shy digger from an underground village, and Kamina, the brash young man he looks up to as a big brother, who break through to the surface and lead a growing band of rebels against the Spiral King, Lordgenome, and his Beastmen, fighting in face-shaped robots called Gunmen and the drill-powered Gurren Lagann. It is a loud, funny and emotional story about courage, believing in yourself and pushing past every limit, and its battles keep growing until, by the last episode, they are fought on the scale of galaxies.
What does Tengen Toppa mean?
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is the full Japanese title, and it translates literally as 'Heaven-Piercing Gurren Lagann'. The idea of piercing the heavens runs through the whole series, from the title of the first episode, 'Bust Through the Heavens with Your Drill!', to Kamina's belief that Simon's drill is the one that will pierce the heavens. Gurren and Lagann are the names of the two robots that combine to make the title machine.
