The North American distributor Bandai Entertainment has announced at New York Anime Festival 2008 on Friday that it acquired Kotarō Mori's manga version of Gainax's Gurren Lagann anime series. The company has not announced a release date yet for the manga, but its website reports that the manga will ship in 2009. Kotarō Mori draws his manga version in ASCII MediaWorks' Monthly Dengeki Daioh magazine. Kabao Kikkawa (Queen's Blade -Rurō no Senshi-) draws the separate Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Gurren Gakuen-Hen (Gurren School Edition) manga that re-imagines cast of Gainax's robot mecha anime in a school in a parallel world. Kikkawa's version has not been licensed for North America yet.
Bandai Entertainment staffers indicated an interest in acquiring Mori's Gurren Lagann manga at convention panels, but they also noted that other companies were interested as well.