Otoko-gumi dayo! Gurren Lagann

'''Otoko-gumi dayo! Gurren Lagann' (男組だよ！グレンラガン Otoko-gumi dayo! Guren Ragan) is the concluding chapter of the Otoko Series, following Otoko Ippiki Gurren Lagann and Otoko Do-ahou! Gurren Lagann''.

''Otoko-gumi dayo! Gurren Lagann was released in Japan with the DVD release of Gurren Lagann The Movie: The Lights in the Sky are Stars''.

Story
Lordgenome Teppelin introduces himself to the listener as the soon-to-be-victorious head of the Teppelin Foundation, but Kamino Kamina cuts him off, and introduces himself. Hotta Shimon introduces himself, as do Utsuwa Yoko and Nia Teppelin. Kamina then announces the title of the final installment of the Otoko Series: ''Otoko-gumi dayo! Gurren Lagann''.

Shimon finds himself being accosted first by a runaway car, then by a steel frame falling from a construction site, then by a falling telephone pole. He suspects that these three "accidents" happening in a row are not a coincidence. Meanwhile, Kamina is freaking out about how the store in Dai-Gurren Academy has run out of yakisoba bread. Yoko is disturbed, because she thought she and Reite-sensei had had plenty stocked. Apparently, while she went to buy cigarettes, Reite left Awa &quot;Areten&quot; Tensuke in charge, but he does not recall the face of the person who bought all the yakisoba bread. Shimon arrives, attempting to tell Kamina and Yoko of the attempts on his life, but Kamina, insulted by Shimon's belittling of yakisoba bread, runs off with Yoko to protect yakisoba bread from the Teppelin Foundation. Despondent, Shimon is soon met up with a girl he thinks is Board Chairman Nia Teppelin, but is actually her younger twin sister Kuro Nia. She convinces Shimon that he is belittled by his peers (by comparing him to miso lees), and leads him away, arm in arm, saying that there is something she can only trust to confide in him.

Kurono Kiyou is spending a lot of time with Daya Kaizou-sensei, affectionately feeding him large quantities of yakisoba bread. Her big brother, Kitan, is freaking out about the time she's spending with Daya-sensei, but his and Kiyou's younger sisters, Kinon and Kiyaru, are not as perturbed. Kamina and Yoko wonder why the Kurono siblings are hanging around Dai-Gurren Academy; Bachika High was bought out and demolished, so the Kurono siblings transferred to Dai-Gurren Academy. As for Kiyou & Daya-sensei, they hooked up shortly after Kamina and Daya-sensei saved the Kurono sisters from the Ginbu Clan in ''Otoko Do-ahou! Gurren Lagann''. Kamina and Yoko note that, while Kiyou has more yakisoba bread than one would need, she did not buy the complete stock; they split up to cover more ground. Meanwhile, Nia (and her pet, Buuta) are quite saddened by Reite's news that their yakisoba bread is sold out. Rino Ronta-sensei leads Nia outside, to inform her that a five-kilometer wide area some twenty kilometers away was bought out and demolished, and remind her that the Teppelin Foundation has not attacked since Lazengann fled some time ago, so they must be preparing for a final battle. He then leaves to teach his next class, and Nia (and Buuta) follow a trail of yakisoba bread to a box filled with yakisoba bread. The box is then slammed shut by Rossiu Dekoi and Viral Sassoon, who are enacting this plan by Kuro Nia. Loading the box into their car and driving away, they almost run over Areten when they lose control due to Viral's poking fun at (and poking at) Rossiu's large forehead.

Kamina, exhausted from his search for the Teppelin Foundation, goes to his favorite ramen restaurant, where he is shocked to meet up with Lordgenome, partaking in tanmen. Kamina derides Lordgenome's attempts to conquer Japan, speaking of how he has Shimon and his Dai-Gurren Academy comrades at his side, how they will never surrender, and mocking Lordgenome's flawed usage of the Japanese language (using the word 'running water' in place of 'as expected'). Distracting Kamina with food, which leads to Kamina praising how effective the spices turned out to be, Lordgenome mocks Kamina in turn, speaking of how his daughter (not Nia) is preparing a fine meal for him elsewhere, leaving with an evil laugh. Kamina finds that his sandals were nailed to the floor, and eventually pulls himself free, running into Shimon, who is acting strangely hostile. Kuro Nia (pretending to be Nia) shows up, declaring Kamina a traitor, and Daya-sensei, Kitan, and Yoko arrive as well, shocked, enraged, and heartbroken, respectively. Kuro Nia plays an (edited) audio recording of Kamina foreshadowing the surrender of the Dai-Gurren Academy, and praising how effective spies turn out to be, "revealing" Kamina as a Teppelin spy. Shimon accuses Kamina of having tried to kill him at the start of the audio drama, citing (obviously planted) evidence at Kamina's house. A police car arrives to arrest Kamina, and he willfully gets in to clear his name downtown. As it turns out, Rossiu and Viral are the policemen in the car; the police force has been bought out by the Teppelin Foundation. Using the nails in his sandals, Kamina escapes the car, taking shelter in the nearby restaurant Snack Zorthygaya (he's still hungry). The master, Zorthy, greets him, and Kamina takes in the customers: a short, bald guy wearing a haramaki, and a man dressed entirely in black clothes and a black ski mask. The black-clad man orders ankake spaghetti, leading Kamina to dub him the "AS guy" (Ankake spaghetti (あんかけスパゲティ in Japanese) is shortened as "anspa" (あんスパ) in Japan, the same as the Anti-Spiral (アンチスパイラル) (アンスパ), thus creating a pun). Kamina orders yakisoba, but the AS guy warns him that Zorthy, no matter what you order, will always give you ankake spaghetti. Kamina, upon receiving his ankake spaghetti, praises its taste, but is soon shocked to realize that this was a trap, just before the paralyzing additive to his ankake spaghetti knocks him out.

Kuro Nia speaks to her father Lordgenome of how she has converted Shimon to their side, and he cautions her that "with such complex recipes, if you get just one step wrong, the entire flavor will be ruined". In a secret chamber, Kamina is awoken by Ohba Jougan and Ohba &quot;Barinbou&quot; Rinbou, who are still following Ginbu Rei, even though it transpires that the Ginbu Clan have long since been dissolved. They have a new boss: the AS guy, the chief of the Teppelin prison Kamina was apparently sentenced to life imprisonment in while he was unconscious. The AS guy bids that Kamina fall into absolute despair while in the ensuing solitary confinement, while Kamina bellows that he will never give in...

TO BE CONCLUDED WHEN CSAKURAS RELEASES PART 2 OF HER TRANSLATION...

Characters

 * Kamino Kamina (神野 神名) - A yakisoba bread-loving roughneck in Dai-Gurren Academy, Kamina pilots Gurren, the Gunmen his father constructed to oppose the Teppelin Foundation. He finds himself framed as a spy from Teppelin, and finds himself on the run from the law.
 * Hotta Shimon (堀田 志門) - The Maintenance Department in Dai-Gurren Academy. His father was a scientist who worked in the Teppelin Foundation. He pilots Lagann, which can combine with Kamina's Gurren to become Gurren Lagann. When he finds his life on the line, and Kamina seems to be more concerned about yakisoba bread, Shimon is suddenly close to considering that his Aniki may be a spy from the Teppelin Foundation.
 * Utsuwa Yoko (宇津和 庸子) - Kamina's childhood friend, and the president of Dai-Gurren Academy's Newspaper Club, Dai-Gurren Academy's Motorcycle Club, Dai-Gurren Academy's Air Rifle Club, Dai-Gurren Academy's Long-Range Bombarding Club, Dai-Gurren Academy's Purchasing Department, etc. She is a member (and possibly the president) of every club in Dai-Gurren Academy, and is the gunner for Dai-Gurren. She is heartbroken when it appears that Kamina was actually a Teppelin Foundation spy.
 * Nia Teppelin (ニア・テッペリン) - The board chairman of Dai-Gurren Academy, and daughter of the president of the Teppelin Foundation. She left America and fled to Japan with Professor Kamino, Professor Hotta, Dayakka and Leeron when her father made clear his ambitions to conquer Japan. She founded the Dai-Gurren Academy to oppose the Teppelin Foundation. Her fondness for yakisoba bread leads to her kidnapping by the Teppelin Foundation.
 * Buuta (月ー豕) - Nia's pet, which no one can tell if it's a pig or a mole.
 * Kuro Nia Teppelin (黒ニア・テッペリン) - Nia's younger twin sister, and one of the Teppelin Foundation's top assassins. She kidnaps and impersonates her older twin to trick Shimon into believing that Kamina is a traitor to the Dai-Gurren Academy.
 * Lordgenome Teppelin (ロージェノム・テッペリン) - The chairman of the Teppelin Foundation. He gives his younger daughter license in her bid to divide the Dai-Gurren Academy with her machinations.
 * Viral Sassoon (ヴィラル・サスーン) - A Teppelin Foundation agent, he is the Japan Subjugation Project Team's General Manager. He takes a liking to yakisoba bread when he and Rossiu use it, by order of Kuro Nia, to kidnap Nia.
 * Rossiu Dekoi (ロシウ・デコイ) - A high-ranking Teppelin Foundation agent, he is the Japan Subjugation Project Team's leader, though Kuro Nia has undermined his authority recently. He is often the brunt of jokes about his forehead and unfortunate surname by Viral.
 * The AS guy (あんスパ野郎 Ansupa-yarō) - a man dressed all in black, a chief in the police force of the new Teppelin administration. He wears a black ski mask over his scarred face, and has a powerful affinity for ankake spaghetti.
 * Kurono Kitan (黒野 騎丹) - A roughneck transfer from Bachika High, and Kamina's rival. He antagonises Kamina for being indirectly responsible for his sister hooking up with Daya Kaizou-sensei (even though he was the one who told Kamina to save his sisters from the Ginbu Clan in the first place).
 * Kurono Kiyou (黒野 キヨウ) - Kitan's eldest younger sister. She hooked up with Daya Kaizou-sensei, and transferred to Dai-Gurren Academy with Kitan.
 * Kurono Kinon (黒野 キノン) - Kitan's middle younger sister. She is a new transfer from Bachika High along with her brother and sisters.
 * Kurono Kiyaru (黒野 キヤル) - Kitan's youngest sister. She transferred to Dai-Gurren Academy with her older siblings.
 * Daya Kaizou (打屋 海蔵) - A sensei at Dai-Gurren Academy, originally called Dayakka, he & Kiyou hooked up after he saved them from the Ginbu Clan.
 * Rino Ronta (理野 論太) - The physics sensei at Dai-Gurren Academy, originally known as Leeron.
 * Ginbu Rei (銀部 礼) - The former head of the now-dissolved yakuza group known as the Ginbu Clan. He serves under the black-clad chief of police.
 * Ohba Jougan and Ohba "Barinbou" Rinbou (大場 丈岩 and 大場 林望, respectively) - A bumbling pair of twins who serve under Ginbu Rei, and the "AS guy".
 * Reite (レイテ) - The woman who runs the store at the Dai-Gurren Academy. She leaves Areten in charge when she goes to buy her cigarettes.
 * Zorthy (ゾーシィ) - The head of Snack Zorthygaya, and an assistant to the AS guy. He only knows how to cook ankake spaghetti, and will cook that whether you asked for it or not.
 * Makken (マッケン) - A customer at Snack Zorthygaya, and a possible co-conspirator with the AS guy.
 * Awa Tensuke (阿波 天助) - a classmate of Kamina and Yoko's, also known as Areten. He oversaw the Dai-Gurren Academy store when Rossiu or Viral bought out all the yakisoba bread (though he did not see their faces).

Trivia

 * Otoko-gumi dayo! Gurren Lagann gets its name from the 1974 manga series Otoko-gumi (男組, also known as Gallant Gang), created by Ikegami Ryōichi.
 * Miso lees (味噌粕 miso kasu) carry the double meaning of a person who has no value, and can be used to describe a child who gets excluded by his peers during playtime.
 * Otoko Ippiki Gurren Lagann is 34 minutes long, and Otoko Do-ahou! Gurren Lagann is 41 minutes long. Otoko-gumi dayo! Gurren Lagann is as long as both others combined, at 75 minutes long. There was some fear from Nakashima Kazuki that it would be too long to be put on a CD, and would need to be the "first Drama DVD", but since it was under 78 minutes, it fit onto a CD handily.

Links

 * CSakuras's 'broad strokes' summary of Otoko-gumi dayo! Gurren Lagann
 * CSakuras's translation of the first five tracks of Otoko-gumi dayo! Gurren Lagann