GURREN LAGANN.
It’s a pretty popular show.
You might have heard about it.
Released in 2007 by the same studio famous for Neon Genesis Evangelion, Gurren Lagann
is a futuristic apocalypse of a world where disenfranchised humans learn to rise up out
of their subterranean homes to overthrow the beast men in giant robots who rule over them.
There’s plenty talk of what being a man is, gratuitous amounts of fan service, and
pretty much a textbook example of narrative power creep where they start with one guy
and a samurai sword vs a 5-story-tall robot, and end with robots the size of universes
throwing each other into galaxies.
But today, we are not focusing on the show itself.
We’re not going to discuss how it contains some of the most emotional moments from anime
in the 2000s, or the worst narrative use of a time jump from the same era.
No, today we are going to be talking about dubs.
English dubs.
And about how there are several for this show.
Several that you might not have heard of before.
Obviously if you fall on the “subs are the best and only way to enjoy anime” side of
the decades old and somewhat stale sub vs dub debate, then today’s topic won’t interest
you.
But if you are one of those who is capable of enjoying a good English dub, then I invite
you to sit back, relax, and enjoy.
Today on Glass Reflection, we are going to be taking a look at the English dubs of Gurren
Lagann for a brief view of what could have been.
Let’s jam.
First, it’s probably best to start off with some history, specifically the history that
you know.
Gurren Lagann originally aired in Japan between April and September of 2007.
While here in the West the license for the series is currently in the hands of Aniplex
of America (as it has been since 2013), the English dub of the series that everyone is
familiar with was produced in 2008, back when the license was held by Bandai Entertainment.
For the dub, although Bandai had been known to work with the production company Animaze
for their dubs, in this particular case they went with the now well-known team over at
Bang Zoom!, who have released an absolutely massive amount of anime dubs over the years.
This dub brought in a number of well-known anime voices from the California area: Yuri
Lowenthal, Kyle Hebert, and Michelle Ruff to name a few.
Overall, it was a completely solid production that went on to help the series gain even
further popularity in the west.
But this was not the first time that Lagann had been dubbed.
While Bandai had the license to Gurren Lagann in 2008, it actually wasn’t theirs first.
In 2007, it was actually picked up by the now defunct, but still recognizable, ADV films.
After acquiring the license, work began on an English dub for home video release.
The dub picked up a director, cast its initial roles, and dubbed a whole 5 episodes.
Why five?
Probably because this was around the time when dubs were produced on a disc-by-disc
basis, you know, back when they only put 4-5 episodes on one disc and sold it for like
$40-50 a pop.
That stuff got expensive REAL FAST.
Shortly after this however, due to “contract disputes” that we will probably never know
the full details of, ADV lost the rights to Lagann and the dub was never completed.
However!
Episodes still exist in some form and eventually made their way into my hands through a totally
not back-alley transaction with unsavory types.
SO LET’S TAKE A GANDER SHALL WE?
So for the main trio of characters in the early episodes, instead of the more familiar
Lowenthal, Hebert, and Ruff we instead got Josh Grelle as Simon (not See-mon), Brett
...oh dub translations.
Weaver as Kamina, and the lovely Tiffany Grant as Yoko.
Here’s the thing though, this dub is really weird to listen to nowadays, mostly because
it was not a bad dub.
I have no problems with the Bang Zoom! dub and am quite happy that it got produced in
the end, but the ADV dub and cast were solid and the performances, while very different
from the Bang Zoom! cast, was still quite in line with the characters as we know them.
Of course, there are some noticeable differences.
Take for example the character of Leeron, the colourful mecha mechanic.
For comparison’s sake, here’s a clip of the Bang Zoom! dub
Now, same character, but this time in the ADV dub
Very different takes on the same character.
Neither is bad and it would all come down to personal preference.
Or would if the ADV dub was ever fully completed.
There are also some roles we don’t have examples of.
Frequently mentioned in cast listings is Luci Christian as the artificial girl Nia, however
since Nia doesn’t show up until Ep9, that episode never got dubbed by ADV and so we’ll
never know her take on the character.
But who knows, it could have sounded, like perhaps that other other dub of Gurren Lagann:
*sigh* So Animax is an anime licensing company that mainly works in Southeast Asia, and other
places like Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
They too produced a dub for Gurren Lagann.
However, as you might have guessed, it’s definitely not the best-produced of the bunch.
I only have one particular episode of the dub as Animax dubs traditionally have only
been broadcast on their networks, are not usually recorded, and aren’t available for
streaming in most cases.
But they have a particular history of dubbing shows on a shoestring budget,
So we can only imagine how this dub might have sounded in it's entirety.
But before we go, here’s a pallet cleanser with Tiffany Grant as Yoko.
Honestly, as much as I do love Ruff’s take in the Bang Zoom! dub, out of the actors available
for ADV in Texas, Grant sounding like Auska Soryu from Evangelion is just great casting here.
So there you have it.
Some examples of what could have been and a brief look into the history of dubbing for
one of the best mecha anime around.
If you want to watch a really old video of myself talking about Gurren Lagann the show,
then there will be a little thing in the corner there for you to click on.
While the dub highlighted here unfortunately isn’t available in full anywhere legally,
the official Bang Zoom! dub IS!
And that can be purchased via the show’s current licenser Aniplex at all places where
good anime is sold.
Plus it’s available for streaming over at Crunchyroll!
And if you need a 14-day free trial feel free to click the link in the description, always
happy to help out if you need it.
Thank you very much for watching this video!
If you liked it and want to see more in this style, be sure to give the video a Like and
let me know down in the comments.
Very special thanks to our patrons, specifically Joshua Garcia, Calhoonboy , Matthew Robertson,
Hector Mon-te-mayor, Siri Yamiko, Ryefan Boneapart, and Rune Jachobson who are especially awesome.
And until next time, ladies gentlemen and others, watch more anime and Stay Frosty.