A collection to pierce the heavens.
Udon Entertainment has confirmed that it will release the Gurren Lagann Archives art book in English. Pre-orders are available at a price of $59.99, with a scheduled release date of June 6.
Gurren Lagann Archives was originally released in Japan in August of last year. The 488-page collection is composed of material from Gainax, the studio originally behind Gurren Lagann, and published by Style.
Udon’s release of the art book would primarily seem to be one of convenience for western audiences, along the same lines as the publisher’s other local releases, like the upcoming Elden Ring art books. Relatively light on text that would need to be translated to English, the book archives a collection of imagery used for the series. This includes promotional artwork used for the series in magazines and on the Web, plus the series’ CD and DVD releases. Alongside that is an exhaustive collection of character and mecha designs from both the television anime and its movies. The book also includes a selection of storyboards used throughout the series. Notably, and sadly for some fans, the book does not include the unique eye-catch commercial bumpers from each episode.
This isn’t the first time Udon has dealt with Gurren Lagann. The company had previously published the Gurren Lagann Art Works book back in 2014. It also published the Neon Genesis Evangelion: TV Animation Production Art Collection in 2019. Though Gainax was the studio being the original Evangelion anime, that collection was put together by Khara, the studio founded by director Hideaki Anno to serve as the new home for the franchise.
Similarly to that situation, much of the staff that worked on Gurren Lagann in 2007, including director Hiroyuki Imaishi, split from Gainax to form Studio Trigger in 2011. While Gainax is credited on the art and collection of Gurren Lagann Archives, the studio is no longer listed in the copyright for the series. That was updated in 2021 to reference just the anime’s writer Kazuki Nakashima, and Hiroyuki Imaishi as director.
