Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Mitee Mono wa Miteen da!!

Gurren Lagann, some people love it, some people hate it. If you are in the first category, then these OVAs should satisfy you if you are looking for a bit more Gurren fun.

Story: 7/10
Well since these two episodes take place during the series, it just won’t have the charm from the actual anime, nor do they really fill any kind of gap in the story. They are simply meant to be fun little stories for the Gurren fans.

The first OVA (episode 5.5) shows a few extra things that happened to Kamina and the gang while they were crossing the wilderness. The key point here is ... that two new faces are lurking in the shadows, who's true motives are unknown to the gang. "Are they friend or foe?" Now don’t expect this episode to have any extreme action in it, in fact it actually plays more along the lines of an actual comedy episode, all done with the same Gurren charm. Though you do get some fun action in it as well. The only real bummer I had with this episode, is that it’s only about 12 minutes in length, it would have been much nicer to have a full episode length. It’s fun, and will put a smile on your face afterward, but it’s a bit too short.

The second OVA (episode 6 - Director’s cut) takes us back to the infamous spa episode, which most fans probably remember from the series. If you were dissapointed at the fact that the original episode contained mostly flashbacks, then you will be happy to learn that this Director’s cut version, is all 100% episode, with all the flashbacks removed. It even has many "uncensored" parts to it. So if you are looking for some fan service, this should satisfy. There are a few niches though. The first one being the obvious--this isn’t exactly a new episode, it’s basically a more fuller version of episode 6. And secondly--considering that it’s suppose to be "uncensored", it doesn’t really go that extreme distance like you would expect. In fact only the male characters actually appear nude in this episode. With the females in somewhat more exotic style scenes, but no nudity from them. So if you were expecting some steamy Yoko scenes, you might be dissapointed. But there are a lot of laughs to be had here too, and I feel that it makes up for it quite nicely with that. Despite these episodes having some small problems, they should still end up leaving you with a smile.

Animation: 9/10
Not really much to say regarding this, it’s the same stylized animation from the series. Characters are colorful and well proportioned, yet they have their own exaggerated features to them. And you also get the trademark goofiness in the art when the comedy is playing key role (ie the characters have huge facial and body movements). If you have never seen the show before, then the art really will stand out for you. It looks like a traditional anime, but has a style all it’s own.

Sound: 8/10
You get the same opening theme from the first part of the anime, with a few extra scenes thrown in from the OVAs. The ending is exactly the same though. Character voices are well matched, and seem to hit the right key notes at the right time. Some of it does come off as a bit "too acted out" in some scenes, but it’s not all that noticeable.

Characters: 8/10
They are still funny, still charming and very fun to watch. Kamina plays more of a comical role in these two OVAs than he probably did in the actual series, and tends to steal the show from the other characters. The supporting cast are all present, but don’t play much of a role in these. Basically they keep all their trademark antics from the anime. If you loved them before, then you will love them again now, and visa-versa of course. It is also interesting to note that two new characters are introduced in this episode. However, there is little to no back story on them, and they never show up again afterwards.

Overall: 8/10
When it comes right down to it, they are enjoyable OVA titles, and still manage to capture the charm from the show. Due to the fact that episode one is short, and episode 2 is simply an expansion of another, not all fans will be pleased. Still, if you liked the series, you owe it to yourself to check these out. While they may not blow you away with anything, they certainly aren’t a waste of time either.

Judging from other reviews it looks like MAL used to have this special episode and that other OVA together as one entry but then separated them at some point, so as a point of clarity this review is specifically for the alternate but of episode 6.

First I have to say that this episode having an alternate cut at all makes it a real headache to know what version you're watching. I initially tried to watch this uncut version only to find that it was the actually the censored version, just mislabeled. Equally I've found several sights that just have the uncensored version in the normal ... lineup of episodes and make no distinction that there even is a censored version out there. I even found one version that had the uncensored footage but the subtitles were from the censored version and didn't sync up at all. It was a real mess.

Why the censorship in the first place? And if you're going to censor it, why half-ass it like they did? The censored one is just a bad recap episode, like what is there to even recap this is only episode 6, and it still has a lot of the hot spring stuff anyway. Why not just cut it entirely or just leave it as it was and add more of those stupid pink censor bars all over the place? Really bizarre choices all around.

The episode itself is fine, I don't mind fan service episodes. I give it a 6 for the fact that it needed to exist at all. If you're watching Gurren Lagann and you come to episode 6 and it's a recap episode for some reason, find a different streaming sight that has the real version, even if you have to find it listed as a separate episode. If you come to episode 6 and it's not a recap episode, you're golden and you don't need to look for the recap version. Trust me, it's not worth watching both, even for a 100% category speedrun. Just wrong warp right past it.

People are likely to disagree with this review and that's fine but I did not like what this episode did with Kamina's character. And considering Kamina being a likable character is a major part of what makes the story of Gurren Lagann work I am glad they cut this episode out of the original version. The audience has to like Kamina and look at him as a cool mentor figure in order to identify properly with the protagonist Simon for emotional impacts to land as well as they do later in the series. We have all seen the comedic pervert characters in anime and I ... get it's a major trope that Kamina falls into (even in the original) and that's fine but using comedic tropes to the detriment if the story or themes of an anime is what really bothers me. In this case they significantly harmed an aspect of Kaminas character that made him incredibly likable in the original version. That being his willingness to always fight and risk his life never backing down for the sake of other people including his friends. So to have him give up on a fight so easily for the sake of getting to see breasts when in this case it meant putting the lives of not only himself but his friends on the line felt like such a major betrayal to what his character is supposed to be and it makes him significantly less likable. The only thing it does is create an opportunity for overused tropes/jokes and fanservice. But it's not worth it at all when this anime already has plenty of fanservice and the joke is simply not very funny. It honestly pains me to write this a bit as Hiroyuki Imaishi is one of my favorite directors but in this case I am glad he did not get to put this cut of the episode into the final show. If I have anything positive to say about this episode it's that I do simply appreciate seeing more Gurren Lagann animation that I previously never got to see. This show has by far some of the best visuals of any anime out there and this is absolutely no exception. Loved the animation hated what they did with Kamina's character in this. 2/10. Only watch it if your curious to see more animation/art from this show but don't expect to like the story of the episode.