Movies / Animé and Toons

Gurren Lagann the Movie: Childhood's End

By Chris Zimmerman
January 9, 2011 - 21:19

Gurren Lagann has gained itself a considerable following since debuting on Japanese television back in 2007. Since then it’s spawned a multi-media franchise including manga, CDs, video games, and even a pair of films. After its success here in the states, Aniplex USA decided to keep the ball rolling by bringing over the films in their introductory effort of carving a place for themselves in America’s anime market.

As with most movies based on popular franchises, Childhood’s End is essentially a retelling of the first half of the series, with some events shifted around to better suit the pacing of a film and some new animation sprinkled into the mix. In all, there appears to be around twenty minutes of new scenes added here.

Set in a world in which mankind is forced underground as a result of a form of beast men claiming the earth, Gurren Lagann follows the story of Simon, a young digger that is overly timid and somewhat content with his situation. On the polar spectrum is his best friend Kamina, a loud mouth teen with a brash attitude and dreams of returning to the surface.

While digging, Simon discovers a small mecha. Initially, he has no clue what to do with it until a beautiful girl named Yoko falls into their village with tales of the surface world. Of course Simon is hesitant to follow her, Kamina is raring to go and as such, the pair find themselves using the robot to drill their way to the surface.   

To their surprise, the surface world is teeming with similar robots to Simon’s, only bigger and much more menacing. Kamina vows to help liberate the world from those controlling it, and along with Simon and Yoko forms team Gurren Lagann. Along the way, the group picks up another robot and combines it with Simon’s to form an even more devastating weapon. They then resolve to confront the Spiral King, the ruthless entity responsible for the earth’s devastation.

Considering this is really a condensation of 13 episodes, the pacing can feel a bit choppy and rushed. Important moments such as Simon’s and Kamina’s discovery of the surface world and their growing friendship with Yoko are glossed over as the film opts to hit its main plot points and move on. Still, the film manages to pack an emotional punch, with the departure of a major character and an explosive battle scene that see’s everyone pushed to their limits.

The animation is top notch as one would expect from Gainax. Colors are vibrant and the character’s movements are fluid. The widescreen presentation is sharp, sporting an awesome transfer.

The standard release has the bare minimum when it comes to extras. Aniplex brought over a special edition of the film but that wasn’t provided for review. What we got here are essentially trailers for the film and a few other properties heading stateside. For those who enjoyed the English cast, the exclusion of a dub will surely disappoint, though the Japanese cast is just as fun.

Gurren Lagann the Movie: Childhood’s End can be considered a cliff notes version of the first half of the series. While its nice to get the key story moments in one package without any downtime, the hectic pacing of the film gives the sense that the audience is watching a clip show. Fans of the franchise will undoubtedly want to pick this up, but everyone else should probably check out the series first.

B

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12