Gurren Lagann
Japanese anime television series

Gurren Lagann, known in Japan as Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (Japanese: 天元突破グレンラガン, Hepburn: Tengen Toppa Guren Ragan; lit. "Heaven-Piercing Gurren Lagann"), is a Japanese mecha anime television series animated by Gainax and produced by TV Tokyo, Konami Digital Entertainment, Dentsu and Aniplex. It ran for 27 episodes on TV Tokyo and its affiliates between April and September 2007. It was directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi with series composition by veteran playwright Kazuki Nakashima. Gurren Lagann takes place in a future where the Spiral King, Lordgenome, rules Earth and forces mankind to live in isolated subterranean villages. The plot focuses on two teenagers, Simon and Kamina, who live in a subterranean village and wish to go to the surface. Using a mecha known as Lagann, they reach the surface and start fighting alongside other humans against Lordgenome's forces before fighting the forces of their true enemy.
In North America, although initially announced to be licensed by ADV Films in 2007, the license was transferred to Bandai Entertainment in 2008 and then to Aniplex of America in 2013. In the United Kingdom, it was licensed by Manga Entertainment in 2007, then transferred to Beez Entertainment in 2008, and then to Anime Limited in 2013. The Sci Fi Channel acquired the broadcasting rights of Gurren Lagann and began airing it in July 2008, as part of Sci Fi's Ani-Monday anime block.
The public source identifies “Gurren Lagann” as japanese anime television series. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Gurren, Lagann and Japanese.
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Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4277. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2007, 2008 and 2013.
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This entry incorporates text from “Gurren Lagann” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.