Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Movie 2: Lagann-hen

Humans have enjoyed their lavish, peaceful, and prosperous lives for seven years since the day the almighty Spiral King was defeated—the day they reclaimed their homeland, Earth. However, the boon of this lifestyle leaves them unprepared when an unknown, hostile threat arises due to the ever-growing human population. This calamity is the Anti-Spiral—a fearsome enemy with unparalleled power.

As the Spiral King's prognosis postulating the destruction of "The Spiral's World" begins to come true, the pieces are in place, and Team Dai-Gurren is ready. With his late brother's hope to see a better future for mankind, Simon—along with Nia Teppelin and the rest of the team—is determined to overthrow the mighty Anti-Spiral in order to revive humanity's lost hope.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Simon Main

Kakihara, Tetsuya Japanese

Teppelin, Nia Main

Fukui, Yukari Japanese

Kamina Supporting

Konishi, Katsuyuki Japanese

Littner, Yoko Supporting

Inoue, Marina Japanese

Viral Supporting

Hiyama, Nobuyuki Japanese

Bachika, Kittan Supporting

Taniyama, Kishou Japanese

Boota Supporting

Itou, Shizuka Japanese

Lordgenome Supporting

Ikeda, Narushi Japanese

Littner, Leeron Supporting

Onosaka, Masaya Japanese

Adai, Rossiu Supporting

Saiga, Mitsuki Japanese

Toba, Yousuke Producer

Takeda, Yasuhiro Producer

Imaishi, Hiroyuki Director, Storyboard, Animation Director, Key Animation

Ootsuka, Masahiko Episode Director, Assistant Director

Reviews

Aug 12, 2009

puddingmilk

Recommended

This movie was INCREDIBLE. It was definitely worth spending 1500 yen at Akihabara's sunshine theatre.
The movie included much more different scenes than the first movie Gurren-hen, and the last battle was so intense, one couldn't blink to miss anything. The background music for this movie was as well different than from the series, and very fitting with each scene of the movie.

Very enjoyable and brilliant.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Aug 14, 2022

Touka

Mixed Feelings

Lagann-hen is an exhilarating production with a setting of monumental proportions, though not without its flaws, which - in some cases - are unfortunately more apparent than in the first installment.

The movie picks up right where Gurren-hen left off, though the opening sequences have been hugely condensed in order to quickly drive the plot into the second arc of the story. The setting expands in Lagann-hen, we travel from Earths surface into interstellar territory, in line with the TV show, although small sections of the story have diverged from the series, some understandably and others disappointingly. Certain new ideas seem extremely rushed, dragging what was ... a fairly engrossing - if manic - plot downwards. Nevertheless, the scale of the story is as ever admirable and thrilling, though the developmental issues carry over from Gurren-hen, making it clear the Gurren-hen/Lagann-hen film double was more an excuse to cash in on the series, rather than create a coherent piece separate from the TV show. The dialogue, at times, also encountered issues; present simply to move the story along without any natural flow to it.

As in Gurren-hen, the rehashed sequences barely differ - if at all - from the series, but the new scenes go above and beyond. The new ending sequence is a powerhouse of action and zest, which will leave you wishing there was more, but unfortunately, there aren't as many new additions to Lagann-hen as there were in Gurren-hen. The staff really rely on the climatic sequence to blow you away, and while it may do just that, they don't really attempt anything deserving of praise throughout the opening and middle acts.

Taku Iwasaki's score returns for its third outing with no changes, yet the sound and music is a noticeable drop from the first installment. The music felt poorly timed, jumbled and out of place during much of the film, and often it was at such a low volume it may as well have been absent. Even the sound effects, which could have been turned up a couple of notches it give it that extra umph, were disappointing. The sound department manage to redeem themselves a little towards the end with larger emphasis on the music, but it's a shame an aspect presented so well in the series wasn't handled better in Lagann-hen.

Developmental issues mean that Rossiu and Kittan are still very much unknown characters to the audience of the movies, and Lagann-hen does little to remedy this. The film makes use of its supporting cast, more so than in Gurren-hen, but extra screen time doesn't equal development. They are still empty shells with a single trait, which isn't far below their series counterparts, but disappointing nevertheless as they lack any kind of background or character motivation, and the movie absolutely requires you watch the series in order to comprehend the characters' depth.

The stand-out segment in Lagann-hen is the climatic sequence, which delivers and then some, and is probably the sole reason to venture into the second installment beyond just re-watching the series. Pushed for time, Lagann-hen is always moving, but even so it begins to tire. Undoubtedly, far more could have been done to create a more coherent adaptation of the series, and it's unfortunate the studio behind such an enjoyable work would rather cut corners and cash in, than create a comprehensive piece both long-time fans and those new to the franchise can enjoy.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Apr 1, 2025

Bob_Clampett

Not Recommended

After watching the movies, as usual leaving out a lot of context of the story is the most painful in these two movies, makes it unenjoyable and awful to follow along, I thoroughly enjoyed watching the series as it laid out the context of everything much better, along with using debunked evolution theory makes it laughable, but that is the lame secular society we live in today, and the moral of the story in believing in yourself, i also find that funny but that is an expression that very rare seen today, the art style is good, all distinct characters for the most part, the ... dark and grey tones for sad and the happy being super vibrant is cool, the fan service is cringe but i get it, sex sells, the music is awfully repetitive and done to death. The sound effects are good though. The colors is too wild in all directors, making one potentially getting a seizures, if your prone to seizures, avoid this for sure as its a incoherent mess.
Really enjoyed the series and had high hopes for the movies which led me to reviewing this, you're best off watching the series, than waste your time watching both the movies.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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