Toybox REVIEW: THE GATTAI Infinite Combining Gurren Dan Lagann

Release Date: December 2022

RRP: 24000 yen

2022 marked the 15th anniversary of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and as one might expect the popular Gainax series received plenty of new merchandise in celebration. While a lot of these announcements were certainly nothing to scoff at (a new transforming Riobot version from Sentinel, a long overdue articulated Kamina figure from BUZZmod), it was Good Smile Company that truly thought out of the box to mark the occasion. Teaming up with the production staff behind the series (including director Hiroyuki Imaishi) they came up with THE GATTAI Infinite Combining Gurren Dan Lagann – a brand new combination that incorporates nine mecha from Team Dai Gurren. Raw raw, fight the power.

If there's one thing that THE GATTAI line does well straight off the bat it's delivering some incredible packaging, and Infinite Combining Gurren Dan Lagann is no exception. On the front of the box is some absolutely gorgeous artwork of this brand new Gurren Lagann iteration, flanked by a close up of its head and the (Japanese) name written in the same bold font seen across the series itself. Both sides of the box breakdown the various components of the mecha along with their names in English, and then on the back are some of the CGI renders of the toy that were shown off when it was first revealed. Inside the box, the various Gunmen are neatly laid out on a moulded plastic tray. A detailed instruction booklet has also been included to guide you through the transformation.

First up out of the box is Gurren Lagann itself, which is a very good – if not a little squat, representation of the titular robot. Naturally some concessions needed to be made in order to make this the central component of a combiner so the proportions aren’t perfect, but at the same time there are plenty of other affordable Gurren Lagann figures at this scale on the market if you just wanted to a good figure of that – the combined mode is the most important thing here. The structure of the figure however is extremely solid, with the only real area of fragility being the thin head crest. The figure also comes with two swappable sunglasses pieces for the Gurren chest plate – either a clear plastic version where you can still see the eyes behind it or a completely opaque black version.

Being both the largest figure in the set and the central component of the transformation, Gurren Lagann is naturally the most articulated figure here. Altogether it includes; 

- Ball jointed head 

- Swivel hinge shoulders, elbows 

- Hinged knees and feet 

- Wrist and shoulder pad swivels 

The skirt parts are also all individually hinged to maximise leg articulation. While some sort of waist joint would have been nice (and would have benefitted both the individual figure and full Gurren Dan Lagann combination), overall it's still a pretty good range of movement for a figure that didn't make articulation its main priority. Of course it wouldn't be a Gurren Lagann figure without some sort of Giga Drill Break part, and while previous figures have included much bigger drills this one fills that void nicely. It couldn't be too big since it's part of the combination as well, but it's big enough to remind you that drills are what Gurren Lagann is all about. In packaging the drill comes in two parts, but the pieces are hinged and fold/connect to form a complete drill around Gurren Lagann's hand. Even with the slightly more limited articulation, it's still a pretty good little figure in its own right. Far from the best Gurren Lagann out there, but enough to show that these components have some individual value as well.

As always not too far behind Gurren Lagann itself is the King Kittan, the spiked yellow Gunman of Kittan Bachika and the second Gunman to join the Team Dai Gurren arsenal. While the King Kittan hasn't received anywhere near as many toys as Gurren Lagann, it did however get a Kotobukiya model kit all the way back in 2007. While overall the figure remains extremely faithful to the design of the King Kittan in the show itself, on closer inspections quite a few accommodations have been made for the way it transforms and combines with the rest of the Gunmen in the set. In addition to all the seamlines running down the face, there's also a rather egregious Lagann head poking out from the top when the robot is viewed from the side. The King Kittan also has VERY limited articulation, with only shoulder swivels and ball jointed sj to speak of. It's a bit of a shame since after Gurren Lagann this would be the one you'd expect to have a little more poseability, but for the sake of the combined mode it is what it is.

Kittan isn't the only member of the Black siblings represented in this set either! Although the full Gunman itself hasn't been included, the weapon components of the Kiyalunga have also been included as additional accessories for the King Kittan. In the show this seldom-seen Gunman had the ability to transform into a spear and shield, with these accessories also having been included with the Kotobukiya kit. Here both accessories are relatively simple but nicely painted and accurate to their appearance in the show. The shield can clip onto either of the King Kittan's forearms, while the spear neatly pegs into the figure's tiny hands.

As we seem to be moving down the list of components in order of importance/exposure in the show itself, next up we have the Dayakkaiser – the heavily armed Gunman of Dayakka (and later Kiyoh after Dayakka became the Dai-Gurren's captain). Like King Kittan, the Dayakkaiser was released as a model kit by Kotobukiya back in 2007. While the design of the Gunman remains largely similar to its onscreen version here some adjustments have been made, such as the shape of and extra flourishes on the cannon. Articulation on the figure is pretty good too, with the Dayakkaiser sporting ball jointed shoulders as well as hinged hips, feet and elbows. You won't get a whole lot of poses out of it, but you can rest the hands on top of the cannon as if it were holding it in place to fire.

Now we begin to move into some of the lesser-known Gunmen of the series, i.e. the ones piloted by the supporting characters of Team Dai Gurren. These include the Twinboekun, piloted by the rowdy Jorgun and Balinbow Bakusa. Again the design has been changed too much from the onscreen model, with the exception of the robot's horns being replaced with translucent green (aka spiral energy coloured) drills to create some more consistent theming on the combined mode. Articulation is also much more limited here, with the figure only supporting swivel hinge elbows, wrist swivels and moveable thumbs. While this means you can pose the arms a fair bit, the design and shape of the Gunman also means most poses lead to it being rather top heavy and just falling over.

Moving on we have the Sawzorthn, the large-faced Gunman of Zorthy Kanai. This one really does look like it jumped straight out of the anime (other than the drill hidden on the back that is), with both the sculpting and colours of the figure extremely crisp and lively. The figure has hinged shoulders and knees as well as ball jointed hips, giving a limited yet somewhat respectable range of movement.

Next up is the Einzer, the bi-pedal dinosaur-like Gunman of Iraak Coega. The Einzer is a particularly unique mecha amongst the team not just because of its more unorthodox design, but also the addition of an outer passenger seat which was used by Yoko on occasion. The seat isn't really all that visible on the toy, but otherwise it's a great little model that captures all of the robot's main details. Articulation-wise it has hinged knees as well as hip and ankle swivels, giving it some decent leg movement which again can be a little difficult to utilise because of the design's top-heaviness.

The Kidd Knuckle is easily one of the more memorable designs of the ancillary Team Dai Gurren Gunmen, thanks to simian-like appearance and giant legs mounted above its gun-slinging arms. Those latter arms may be fixed into position but they visible and nicely moulded, and there's also some good articulation on the larger arms to make up for it. Swivel hinge shoulders as well as hinged shoulders make them very nice and mobile.

Rounding up the Team Dai Gurren Gunmen is the Mo-Shogun, the personal mecha of the stoic Makken. Unfortunately however it's easily the least notable component of the set, having no articulation whatsoever and no unique qualities or accessories either. Adding the various clear plastic drills to the mecha is fine since it works toward a more cohesive combination, but it's a shame that the Mo-Shogun's katana couldn't have been worked in here somewhere as well. Still, even with its complete lack of individual features it’s still great to see all these supporting characters from the series finally getting their dues when it comes to merchandise.

The Giga Drill, along with all the other remaining parts needed for the combination but not the individual robots themselves, can also be combined into a weird display-plinth thing. There's not really a whole lot to it (in fact it's just a helmet balancing on top of a drill) but I suppose it is a way to do something with all the leftover parts without just leaving them in the box. That said, the Giga Drill Spark effect (which acts as the base) takes up a lot of room, so maybe leaving them in the box when not in use is a little more space economic.

Even before getting into the main event, simply seeing these eight (nine if you include the Kiyalunga) Gunmen lined up together is more than worth the entry price. Given that so many of these haven't had toys before this is a HUGE deal for long-time Gurren Lagann fans, and even if the little flourishes GSC have made here and there they mostly look like they've jumped straight out of the show. Scale-wise the supporting Gunmen are perhaps a little smaller than they would be onscreen, but to the untrained eye it looks like a pretty solid line-up – with larger Gurren Lagann as the star attraction and the rest all roughly the same size.

Bringing them together is a fairly straightforward process, though not one that's likely to be deciphered first time around with consulting the instruction booklet. Bits like stacking the smaller Gunmen together to form the legs are more obvious, but there are some interesting steps along the way like revealing additional spikes on the Twinboekun arms or the way the King Kittan splits apart and then opens up to make the upper torso. Finally with the helmet in place the Infinite Combining Gurren Dan Lagann is born! Despite being a brand-new design (admittedly made up of older designs, but still) Gurren Dan Lagann still looks like something that could have existed within the show itself – maintaining that fine balance of badassery whilst also being completely over the top. The abundance of translucent green spiral energy drills and the flames erupting from the helmet give it definite Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann vibes, so it's kind of fun to think of this as some sort of alternate universe TTGL that found the Anti-Spirals instead. The most satisfying element of the design though is that although it's very obviously Gurren Lagann in the centre of the combination, every component feels visibly represented. It's just a really great design that has the exact level of audacity a Gurren Lagann combination should have, and it's a shame that it isn't something fans will likely see animated anywhere. Maybe we could get a Parallel Works 3 one day?

It's just as well that looks are a huge part of the appeal when it comes to this figure, but THE GATTAI as a line still doesn't quite hold a candle to its competitors when it comes to articulation. Granted with a name like "THE GATTAI" you'd expect combination and the act of combining to be at the forefront, but at the price this thing retails for some poseability is expected. And it's not like this doesn't have it built in, in fact altogether it has; 

- Ball jointed head

- Swivel hinge shoulders and elbows

- Hinged knees

- Wrist and thumb swivels 

Both the front skirt piece and Giga Drill skirt pieces are also hinged to give the legs a better range of motion. But rather than what’s there being the problem, it's instead that the combination is so busy that actually moving the parts becomes the problem. The arms are attached to Gurren Lagann's shoulder pads which makes them a bit stiff, and then moving them has a habit of pulling Gurren Lagann's arms out of place because they don't lock-in securely. On top of that moving the arms involves having to swing some of the King Kittan pieces out of the way, so only certain poses work without having them at an awkward angle. The legs are admittedly much better, but the lack of ankle tilts makes action-orientated poses difficult to work with. If they'd been thrown in along with perhaps a waist joint everything would be a lot better. But most frustrating of all is the Giga Drill Spark piece on the back. Again it's another piece that doesn't really lock on securely, so it's incredibly easy to knock out of place when fiddling around with the figure. While Gurren Dan Lagann looks INCREDIBLE in even the most vanilla poses, it's definitely the weakest element of the set as a whole.

Being made up of nine different Gunmen, Gurren Dan Lagann is already armed to the teeth with giant arms and a wrist mounted cannon, but of course that's not the kind of arsenal this kind of robot is going to prioritise. The Giga Drill Spark piece can be removed from the back of the combination and connected to the hand to form – you guessed it – an even bigger Spiral Energy Giga Drill. Once slotted comfortably onto the right hand, the points of the star-like Spark fold down to form a drill shape, with the circular base part extended further to look as though there's energy pouring out of the construct. Fitting the drill to the hand also requires removing the Dayakkaiser/Kiyalunga parts from the right wrist, which then plug onto the back of the robot where the Giga Drill Spark once was. The cumbersome nature of the articulation makes posing with the drill a little difficult, but even if it’s just pointing forward or piercing the heavens the size and colouring of the drill is enough to really complete the look of the robot. 

Alternatively the Giga Drill Spark can also be plugged onto the front of the robot to create a sort of forcefield effect. It looks a little strange since the sheer size of the part means it's completely covering both the head and upper torso of the figure, but points for giving it a second use I guess?

Releasing at the same time as Sentinel's perfect transformation Riobot Gurren Lagann, Good Smile Company’s offering might not been the first thing on everyone's minds, but nevertheless THE GATTAI Infinite Combining Gurren Dan Lagann is pretty much the perfect 15th anniversary Gurren Lagann release. Not only is it bringing nearly the whole of Team Dai Gurren together in one set, but getting a brand-new combination developed by the show's creators just goes is something truly magical. This isn't just an insanely cool and utterly ridiculous toy, it's an insanely cool and utterly ridiculous toy that would have fitted in the show perfectly. It kicks reason to the curb and tries to defy the impossible, which is what Gurren Lagann is all about. Any flaws the set has simply come from the fact that THE GATTAI line still doesn't quite measure up to competitor lines, and you're still paying a lot of money for what in many ways feels like a glorified DX toy. But what it lacks in articulation, it certainly makes up for in being one hell of a display piece. There hasn't been a Gurren Lagann toy like it before, and there probably won't be ever again.