Gurren Lagann

Review by JoshB

Here we are, piercing the heavens again with Gurren Lagann. This time, its the Super Robot Chogokin interpretation. It’s a controversial release due to the liberties taken with the design.

You can get your Super Robot Chogokin Gurren Lagann at HobbyLink Japan

The box is the standard SRC box, nothing to write home about here. If anything, the graphics are a bit too busy for my tastes.

Inside you get the figure, variant chest piece, variant hands, variant faceplates, drills, sunglass weapons and a Tamashii Stage adapter.

Right away you can tell that something is off. It’s not bad, it’s just different. The waist and limbs are too spindly, and the kneepads are enormous. If you are a stickler for anime-accuracy, better turn back now, this isn’t for you.

However, if you can overlook the inaccuracies in the sculpt, it’s a rather fun dynamic toy.

Articulation is the name of the game here with more joints than you could ever need.

The head is on a double-ball joint that pops off a little more often than I would like it to. The head also features swappable faceplates to show a few different expressions.

The shoulders are incredibly dynamic, so much so that you actually have to pay attention to several different joints to make sure it looks good in posing. In addition to the standard extending shoulder joint that many SRC’s have, there is also a swivel for the shoulder armor (which then connects with a ball joint) and a small, double ball joint that connects the shoulder pad. I found myself constantly having to check the shoulder pad for placement as it just moves all of the time.

The elbows swivel with a double joint, and they are also removable at this point for use with the Drill of Manliness set (sold separately). The wrist is also on a double ball joint and the hands are easily interchangeable.

The chest / torso joint is sort of insane. When I first pulled the toy out of the box it looked odd but then I realized that it needed to be compressed a little. It was then I realized that there was a lot going on with this joint mechanism, or series of joints as it is.

First off, the jaw opens and closes, and you can see the second innner jaw inside. That panel moves, but does not open.

From there you can bend the waist in many extreme ways. I’m not sure why you would need to do this, but you can.

But check this out, you can bend the torso forward also, revealing a sort of spine out of the back.

The hips are covered with movable skirts, but I’ve removed them here so you can gaze at the glorious metal hip joints. Once again, a remarkable range of motion, but extreme poses will pop the skirts off.

The knees are absolutely huge and are one of my biggest nitpicks with the design. Who thought these were OK? The oversized knee pads do cover a phenomenal double joint with collapsing back panel.

Finally, the ankle joints do not disappoint with another intricate joint. It’s almost impossible to count the points of articulation on this figure. This in itself is a great gimmick. However there is more to Gurren Lagann.

Two additional faces are included that can be swapped out. You don’t need to remove the crest, but it helps a bit. You also might as well remove the entire head, because it’s going to pop off during this process.

Variant hands are included, giving Gurren Lagann the ability to point furiously at things!

Open hands!

The chest plate swaps out for a set without sunglasses, and also included are two large sunglass blade weapons. These sturdy clear plastic weapons can fit into the variant holding hands.

Gurren Lagann does his best Wolverine impersonation with the addition of small drills that attach to either side of either hand. Four drills are included, but there are several connection points all over the figure. This is to represent “Full Drillized” mode. The extra drill bits are included with the optional “Drill Set of Manliness” set.

What is included is the Gurren Wing, the large, foldable flight unit. To attach it, you have to remove the back panel and plug the wing assembly in. The wing has foldable wing sections but it never really collapses fully. I think this is more of the design of the character than a flaw in the engineering.

In order to make Gurren Lagann take flight, a Tamashii Stage Stand adapter is included. You need to have your own stand to utilize it, but it does safely hold up the figure.

There’s no denying the thing looks dynamic. It’s not without flaw though.

Firstly, there are a LOT of parts that can either be popped off or mis-aligned when handled. There’s a lot to think about when posing and it’s an effort to get it looking just right.

Then there is the overall appearance. It’s a very lean, stylized look that may not appeal to anime purists. They pulled this before with the plastic Version Ka Gurren Lagann. I wonder if there is some kind of weird licensing in place that prohibits them from making an anime accurate version?

If you don’t mind the stylized look then you will probably dig this toy.

You can get your Super Robot Chogokin Gurren Lagann at HobbyLink Japan