It's been roughly 5 months since I sat down with the director for the second Gurren Lagann movie, Hiroyuki Imaishi, and I finally got to see the film a few days ago at Viz Cinema in San Francisco’s Japantown. Was it worth the wait? Read more to find out!

To keep it brief without any spoilers, the movie follows the storyline of the original TV series between episodes 15 and 27. As a movie, some of the less important scenes were condensed and a few changes were made to fit the pacing of the film. Other parts that were rushed in the series were properly explained in the film. Nia's character has been expanded upon with certain scenes told from her perspective. Those were touching moments especially for fans who’ve seen the series. The supporting cast including members of the Dai Gurren Lagann Brigade, were also given additional screen time as well, mostly humorous. Some of the jokes were relatively unnoticed; however, one particular new scene that involved hacking caused me to laugh into tears. Visually the movie was cleaner than the television series with redrawn and enhanced scenes.

In regards to the theater itself, it was rather small, about the size of typical Japanese theater. There were people present who I will assume affiliated with Viz Media, as they handed out a Viz branded yellow tote bags to each person entering the theater.

Overall, the film gave a more wholesome retelling of the story, and rekindled my appreciation for the series. Undeniably, some of the changes and additions were made for the sake of fanservice (i.e. Yoko and Nia bare chests were officially unwrapped), but definitely significant enough that fans should pay attention to. As for newcomers to the series, the movie does an admirable job of summarizing the series without cutting back too much.

The movie will be released on DVD in Japan on January 27, 2010. Seen the movie already? Got questions about it? Feel free to post your thoughts below.