title: Battle of Antonov Airport

text: Researchers of the Atlantic Council also argued that Ukraine's ability to defend the airport for two days "possibly prevent[ed] a rapid capture" of Kyiv by Russia. Michael Shoebridge of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute argued that "the rapid strike was meant to paralyse the central government and demoralise the Ukrainian forces", but that this operation failed. Royal United Services Institute associate director Jonathan Eyal described the initial Russian failure to take the airport as "a turning point" in the war. Journalist Patrick J. McDonnell stated that "Russia lost the battle for Kyiv with its hasty assault" on the airport. Researchers Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans argued that the operation failed not just because of the initial Ukrainian defense at the airport, but also because of the Russian advance being stalled in the subsequent Battle of Hostomel. As a result, a large quantity of Russian troops and equipment was left waiting at Antonov Airport, subject to constant Ukrainian shelling. Mitzer and Oliemans expressed the belief that the battles for the airport and city of Hostomel "broke the back of the Russian assault on Kyiv". Researcher Severin Pleyer suggested that the battle of Antonov Airport showcased the Russian military's general failures during the invasion, including difficulties with main weapon systems, failures in logistics, coordination, and planning, as well as a lack of leadership and training. According to him, the fighting for the airport also highlighted that the Russian battalion tactical groups are ill-suited for warfare, as they hinder coordination and communication. Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Syrskyi later argued that the fall of the airport "played a negative role" for the Ukrainian forces, but that "artillery fire aimed at the runway and disembarkation sites delayed the landing significantly and frustrated the plan to capture Kyiv".


title: Battle of Antonov Airport

text: Journalist Andreas Rüesch also argued that the Battle of Antonov Airport, alongside other battles during the invasion, disproved the myth of the extreme capabilities and near-invincibility of the Russian Airborne Forces, claims which had been extensively fostered by propaganda in Russia. In reference to the first day of fighting, Pleyer described the battle as the worst defeat inflicted on the Russian Airborne Forces in recent history.


title: Battle of Antonov Airport

text: Several days after the airport's capture, Russian forces were able to partially restore its landing fields for aircraft to use, though the airport mainly came to serve as a hub to store equipment and house troops.


title: Battle of Antonov Airport

text: Despite the loss of the airport, Ukrainian forces continued to engage the Russian forces in Hostomel. Eyewitnesses recorded videos of allegedly a Russian tank column burning in the distance and Ukrainian Mi-24s firing rockets at Russian positions. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov claimed that Ukrainian forces deployed BM-21 Grad in Kyiv to bombard Russian forces occupying the airport. Olevsky stated that he believes casualties for both Russian and Ukrainian may number in the hundreds.


title: Battle of Antonov Airport

text: On 26 February 2022, Ukrainian forces claimed that the Ukrainian Alpha Group unit destroyed a column of Russian armored vehicles near Hostomel. , a member of the Verkhovna Rada, alleged that Russian spetsnaz captured some members of the Ukrainian National Guard and were wearing their uniforms. She asked Ukrainian citizens and fighters to speak only in Ukrainian to help identify Russian saboteurs.


title: Battle of Antonov Airport

text: As of 27 February 2022, the airport remained under Russian control as clashes began to shift to the towns of Bucha and Irpin to the south, where Ukrainian forces claimed to have halted the Russian advances, contesting Russian forces in Hostomel amid intense fighting. On 27 February, the Security Service of Ukraine released an alleged intercepted conversation of Russian forces in Hostomel reporting casualties and requesting to be evacuated. On the same day, Ukrainian forces bombarded the airport with artillery, and claimed to have destroyed Russian equipment, vehicles, and personnel. The next day, a Russian military convoy stretching arrived at the airport in preparation for an assault on Kyiv.


title: Battle of Antonov Airport

text: As of 28 March 2022, satellite imagery showed no Russian forces inside the airport. On 29 March, Russian Deputy Minister of Defense Alexander Fomin announced a withdrawal of Russian forces from the Kyiv area, including the abandonment of Hostomel Airport.


title: Battle of Antonov Airport

text: By 2 April, Ukrainian forces had regained control of the airport following a large-scale Russian withdrawal along the Kyiv axis. In their hasty retreat, Russian troops destroyed much of their own equipment, while other materiel was captured intact by the Ukrainians. In addition, other Russian equipment had been destroyed by Ukrainian artillery strikes before the withdrawal. Overall, Russia lost at least seven armoured fighting vehicles, 23 infantry fighting vehicles, three armoured personnel carriers, one anti-aircraft gun, two field artillery pieces, three helicopters, as well as 67 trucks, vehicles and jeeps at Antonov Airport.


title: Eddie Cibrian

text: Edward Carl Cibrian ( ; born June 16, 1973) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Cole Deschanel on the television series "Sunset Beach" and Jimmy Doherty on "Third Watch".


title: Eddie Cibrian

text: His other notable television roles include Matt Clark in "The Young and the Restless", Russell Varon in "Invasion", Jesse Cardoza in "" and Eddie Valetik in "Take Two". Some of his best known films include the cult classic "But I'm a Cheerleader" and "The Best Man Holiday".


title: Eddie Cibrian

text: Cibrian, an only child, was born in Burbank, California. His mother, Hortensia (née Balaguer), is an office manager, and his father, Carl Cibrian, a banker. Both of Cibrian's parents are from Cuba. His father's family immigrated from Cuba to the United States after Castro came to power in 1959. His mother's family left Cuba about three years later. Cibrian's parents later met in California.


title: Eddie Cibrian

text: Cibrian starred in "The Young and the Restless" as Matt Clark, "Baywatch Nights" as Griff Walker, "Sunset Beach" as Cole Deschanel, "" as Jesse Cardoza, "Third Watch" as womanizing New York City firefighter Jimmy Doherty, "Tilt" as rising poker star Eddie Towne, and "Invasion" as Everglades park ranger Russell Varon. He also guest-starred in "", "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch", "Criminal Minds", and "Beverly Hills, 90210". His movie credits include "Living Out Loud" (1998), "But I'm a Cheerleader" (1999), and "The Cave" (2005).


title: Eddie Cibrian

text: In addition to acting, he sang in the soul-pop boy band 3Deep from 1998 to 2001, along with "Young and The Restless" costar and real-life best friend Joshua Morrow and Canadian singer CJ Huyer.


title: Eddie Cibrian

text: In 2006, Cibrian joined the cast of the Fox series "Vanished" midway through the season. The series was canceled after nine of the thirteen episodes produced were aired with subsequent episodes released via Myspace. The following year, he was cast as Jason Austin in the unaired pilot of "Football Wives", the ABC remake of the British drama "Footballers Wives".


title: Eddie Cibrian

text: Cibrian has had guest spots on "Samantha Who?", "Dirty Sexy Money", and "Ugly Betty". In 2009, he joined the cast of "" as an officer from the Hollywood division who joins Horatio's team in Miami. His contract was not picked up for the 2010–11 season.


title: Eddie Cibrian

text: In July 2010, Cibrian guest starred as a bounty hunter in multiple episodes of NBC's drama series "Chase".


title: Eddie Cibrian

text: In March 2011, Cibrian was cast as the lead in the NBC pilot for "The Playboy Club", a TV series set at the first Playboy Club in Chicago in 1963. In early October 2011, "The Playboy Club" was canceled by NBC after three episodes due to low ratings. In 2016, he was added to the cast of "Rosewood" as Capt. Ryan Slade. In 2018, he starred as the Private Investigator, Eddie Valetik, in "Take Two" on ABC.


title: Eddie Cibrian

text: In May 2001, Cibrian married Brandi Glanville, a former model and reality television star. Cibrian and Glanville have two sons, Mason and Jake. The couple announced their separation in July 2009 when it was revealed Cibrian had an affair with country music singer LeAnn Rimes, after they appeared together in the movie "Northern Lights". Cibrian and Glanville's divorce was finalized on September 30, 2010. The circumstances surrounding the affair and divorce were a part of Glanville's book "Drinking and Tweeting: And Other Brandi Blunders". In a 2013 interview, Glanville commented, "Marriages break up all the time. People have affairs. Happens every day. It matters how you handle yourself after and if you're actually remorseful. I've never found LeAnn to be remorseful. I found her to be like, 'Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah, I got your family.'"


title: Eddie Cibrian

text: On December 27, 2010, it was announced that Cibrian was engaged to Rimes. The couple wed on April 22, 2011, at a private home in California.


title: Seven Archangels

text: The concept of Seven Archangels is found in some works of early Jewish literature and in Christianity. In those texts, they are referenced as the angels who serve God directly.


title: Seven Archangels

text: The term "archangel" itself is not found in the Hebrew Bible or the Christian Old Testament, and in the Greek New Testament the term "archangel" only occurs in and the , where it is used of Michael, who in is called 'one of the chief princes,' and 'the great prince'. In the Septuagint this is rendered "the great angel."


title: Seven Archangels

text: The idea of seven archangels is most explicitly stated in the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit when Raphael reveals himself, declaring: "I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who stand in the glorious presence of the Lord, ready to serve him." () The other two angels mentioned by name in the Bible are archangel Michael and angel Gabriel. The four names of other archangels come from tradition.


title: Seven Archangels

text: who "stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets." Similarly, indicates: "and I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels (ἑπτὰ ἀγγέλοις): Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God into the earth." Lastly, mentions "seven Spirits" (


title: Seven Archangels

text: Πνεύματα, ta hepta Pneumata, with the capital letter) -whose identity is not well specified- who are the "seven lamps of fire [that] were burning before the throne".


title: Seven Archangels

text: One such tradition of archangels comes from the Old Testament biblical apocrypha, the third century BCE Book of the Watchers, known as 1 Enoch or the "Book of Enoch," eventually merged into the Enochic Pentateuch. This narrative is affiliated with the "Book of Giants", which also references the great archangels and was made part of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church's scriptural canon. Although prevalent in Jewish and early Christian apostolic traditions and the early Christian Fathers, the "Book of Enoch" gradually fell from academic and religious status, and by the seventh century was rejected from the canonical scriptures of all other Christian denominations, a banned and unknown work. The various surviving oral traditions recounted many differing lists of archangels.


title: Seven Archangels

text: The names entered Jewish tradition during the Babylonian captivity (605 BCE). Babylonian folklore and cosmology, and early Mesopotamian beliefs under the dualistic influence of Zoroastrianism, centered around anthropomorphic and zoomorphic representations of stars, planets, and constellations, including the four sons of the Sky Father carrying the Winged Sun, the throne of Wisdom. First the prophet Daniel, then authors such as Ezekiel hebraized this mythology, equating the Babylonian constellations with abstract forms held to be "sons of the gods", angels of the Lord of Israel, and heavenly animal cherubim. The 2 BC Book of the Parables (Ch XL) names the four angels accompanying the Ancient of Days, standing before the Lord of Spirits, "the voices of those upon the four sides magnifying the Lord of Glory": Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, and Phanuel.


title: Seven Archangels

text: The Book of the Watchers (Ch IX) lists the angels who in antediluvian times interceded on behalf of mankind against the rogue spirits termed "the Watchers": Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel.


title: Seven Archangels

text: The earliest specific Christian references are in the late 5th to early 6th century: Pseudo-Dionysius gives them as Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Camael, Jophiel, and Zadkiel. In most Protestant Christian oral traditions only Michael and Gabriel are referred to as "archangels", which echoes the most mainstream Muslim view, whereas Roman-Rite Catholic Christian traditions also include Raphael to complete a group of three. Through its Byzantine tradition, however, the Catholic Church recognizes seven archangels altogether, sometimes named, sometimes unnamed other than the three mentioned above.


title: Seven Archangels

text: Lists of characters referred to as "angels" also exist in smaller religious traditions usually regarded as occultist or superstitious. A reference to seven archangels appeared in an 8th or 9th-century talisman attributed to Auriolus, a "servant of God" in north-western Spain. He issues a prayer to "all you patriarchs Michael, Gabriel, Cecitiel, Uriel, Raphael, Ananiel, Marmoniel.


title: Seven Archangels

text: In the Catholic Church, three archangels are mentioned by name in its canon of scripture: Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. Raphael appears in the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit, where he is described as "one of the seven angels who stand ready and enter before the glory of the lord of spirits", a phrase recalled in . Three Popes rejected to authorize worship "of the purpoted names" of the Seven Archangels within the Roman Catholic Church: Pope Leo XII (1826–1828), Pope Pius VIII (1830) and Pope Gregory XVI (1831-1832). The Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy (2002) at n. 217 states that "the practice of assigning names to the Holy Angels should be discouraged, except in the case of Gabriel, Raphael and Michael whose names are contained in Holy Scritture."


title: Seven Archangels

text: Some Eastern Orthodox Churches, exemplified in the Orthodox Slavonic Bible (Ostrog Bible, Elizabeth Bible, and later consequently Russian Synodal Bible), recognize as authoritative also 2 Esdras, which mentions Uriel.


title: Seven Archangels

text: The Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches of the Byzantine tradition venerate seven archangels and sometimes an eighth. Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Selaphiel (Salathiel), Jegudiel (Jehudiel), Barachiel, and the eighth, Jerahmeel (Jeremiel) (The Synaxis of the Chief of the Heavenly Hosts, Archangel Michael and the Other Heavenly Bodiless Powers: Feast Day: November 8). The Melkite Catholic Church additionally venerates the Archangel Raguel.


title: Seven Archangels

text: As well as Uriel, the Book of Enoch, not regarded as canonical by any of these Christian churches, mentions (chapter 20) Raguel, Saraqâêl, and Remiel, while other apocryphal sources give instead the names Izidkiel, Hanael, and Kepharel.


title: Seven Archangels

text: In the Ethiopian Orthodox tradition the seven Archangels are named as Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Raguel, Phanuel, and Sachiel.


title: Seven Archangels

text: In the Coptic Orthodox tradition the seven archangels are named as Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Suriel, Zadkiel, Sarathiel, and Ananiel.


title: Seven Archangels

text: In Anglican and Episcopal tradition, there are three or four archangels in the calendar for September 29, the feast of St Michael and All Angels (also called Michaelmas), namely Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, and often also Uriel.


title: Seven Archangels

text: Other names derived from pseudepigrapha and recognized by Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches are Selaphiel, Jegudiel, and Raguel.


title: Seven Archangels

text: In Ismailism, there are seven cherubim, comparable to the Seven Archangels ordered to bow down before Qadar, of whom Iblis refuses.


title: Seven Archangels

text: In Yazidism, there are seven archangels, named Jabra'il, Mika'il, Rafa'il (Israfil), Dadra'il, Azrail and Shamkil (Shemna'il) and Azazil, who are emanations from God entrusted with care of the creation.


title: Seven Archangels

text: Various occult systems associate each archangel with one of the traditional "seven luminaries" (classical planets visible to the naked eye): the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn; but there is disagreement as to which archangel corresponds to which body.


title: Seven Archangels

text: According to Rudolf Steiner, four archangels govern the seasons: spring is Raphael, summer is Uriel, autumn is Michael, and winter is Gabriel.


title: Seven Archangels

text: According to occultist Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, the Seven Archangels were a form of syncretism between different religions: they were the Chaldeans great gods, the Seven Sabian Gods, the seven Hinduist Manus and Seven Rashi, as well as the Seven Seats (Thrones) and Virtues of the Kabbalists.


title: Seven Archangels

text: In the early Gnostic text "On the Origin of the World", the aeon named Sophia sends seven archangels to rescue the Archon Sabaoth and bring him to the eighth heaven.


title: Spidey and His Amazing Friends (2021 TV series)

text: Spidey and His Amazing Friends (also known as Marvel's Spidey and His Amazing Friends) is a computer-animated superhero children's television series produced by Atomic Cartoons (who also produced "Marvel Super Hero Adventures") that premiered on Disney Junior on August 6, 2021. The show features young versions of the Marvel characters.


text: After the series premiere, the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on August 19, 2022. In June 2022, the series was renewed for a third season.


text: The series follows the adventures of Peter Parker / Spidey, Miles Morales / Spin, and Gwen Stacy / Ghost-Spider as they fight villains such as Green Goblin, Doc Ock, Rhino, Electro, Black Cat, and Sandman. Spidey, Spin, and Ghost-Spider would sometimes receive aid from other superheroes such as Black Panther, Ms. Marvel, Hulk, Iron Man, Ant-Man, Wasp, and Reptil.


text: Marvel Animation announced its first preschool series "Spidey and His Amazing Friends" in August 2019. Disney Junior renewed the series for a second season in August 2021. On June 15, 2022, Disney Junior renewed the series for a third season. Marvel Studios took over production of the series starting with season 2.


text: Patrick Stump, known from the pop punk rock band Fall Out Boy, performed the theme song for the series and is the songwriter and composer. Stump, a longtime Marvel fan, used themes from previous "Spider-Man" media as inspiration for the series' theme song.


text: "Spidey and His Amazing Friends" premiered with a series of 11 short episodes titled "Meet Spidey and His Amazing Friends" on June 21, 2021, on Disney Channel and Disney Junior, followed by Disney+ on July 16. It also premiered on September 11, 2021, in Southeast Asia.


text: The full series premiered on August 6 with a simulcast on Disney Junior and Disney Channel, later on Disney+ on September 22.


text: The second season of "Meet Spidey and His Amazing Friends" premiered on July 18, 2022, on Disney Channel and Disney Junior, followed by Disney+ on August 17.


text: The second season of the series premiered on August 19, 2022, with a simulcast on Disney Junior and Disney Channel, later on Disney+ this fall.


text: On 10 October 2022 it debuted on CBeebies in the UK, making this the first show based on a Disney property to premiere on said network.


text: Adam Levine of "Looper" ranked "Spidey and His Amazing Friends" 19th in their "Every 2021 Superhero Movie And TV Show Ranked" list, asserting, "Bright, colorful, and wonderfully animated, it doesn't get high marks from comic book diehards, but has been nonetheless well-reviewed by parents of its young target audience for its wholesome stories and message of teamwork." Polly Conway of "Common Sense Media" rated the series 3 out of 5 stars, writing, "The whole "Marvel Babies" concept may be a little odd for parents, and more cynical viewers might see the show as a way to get even younger kids interested in the vast, lucrative Marvel franchise. But overall the show is charming, well-paced, and a solid choice for younger siblings who aren't ready for the movies or more mature cartoons." Dakota Mayes of "MovieWeb" ranked "Spidey and His Amazing Friends" 5th in their "Best Animated Spider-Man Series" list, stating, "S"pider-Man and His Amazing Friends" is different from all others on this list in that it is geared towards toddlers. This modern update of the classic 80's cartoon left out Iceman and Firestar, and traded them with other popular web-slingers like Ghost-Spider/Gwen Stacy and Miles Morales, nicknamed 'Spin' to avoid confusion with Peter Parker's alter ego. This trio appeared in two computer-animated shorts per episode that were filled with youthful fun and adventures. Each adorably animated episode featured a classic Spider-Man villain committing some mild manner of mischief. More than that, the series even included an occasional appearance from Marvel superheroes like Black Panther and Captain Marvel to add to the age-appropriate fun. This show was such a hit with its targeted age group that it earned itself a second season, which is expected to air sometime in 2022."


title: Lower Saxony

text: Lower Saxony ( ; ; ) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' federated as the Federal Republic of Germany. In rural areas, Northern Low Saxon and Saterland Frisian are still spoken, albeit in declining numbers.


title: Lower Saxony

text: Lower Saxony borders on (from north and clockwise) the North Sea, the states of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, , Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia, and the Netherlands. Furthermore, the state of Bremen forms two enclaves within Lower Saxony, one being the city of Bremen, the other its seaport, Bremerhaven (which is a semi-enclave, as it has a coastline). Lower Saxony thus borders more neighbours than any other single ". The state's largest cities are state capital Hanover, Braunschweig (Brunswick), Lüneburg, Osnabrück, Oldenburg, Hildesheim, Salzgitter, , and Göttingen.


title: Lower Saxony

text: Lower Saxony is the only " that encompasses both maritime and mountainous areas. The northwestern area of the state, on the coast of the North Sea, is called East Frisia and the seven East Frisian Islands offshore are popular with tourists. In the extreme west of Lower Saxony is the Emsland, an economically emerging but rather sparsely populated area, once dominated by inaccessible swamps. The northern half of Lower Saxony, also known as the North German Plain, is almost invariably flat except for the gentle hills around the Bremen geestland. Towards the south and southwest lie the northern parts of the Central Uplands: the Weser Uplands and the Harz Mountains. Between these two lie the Lower Saxon Hills, a range of low ridges.


title: Lower Saxony

text: Lower Saxony's major cities and economic centres are mainly situated in its central and southern parts, namely Hanover, Braunschweig, Osnabrück, , Salzgitter, Hildesheim, and Göttingen. Oldenburg, near the northwestern coastline, is another economic centre. The region in the northeast, the Lüneburg Heath ('), is the largest heathland area of Germany. In the Middle Ages, it was wealthy due to salt-mining and the salt trade, as well as, to a lesser degree, the exploitation of its peat bogs, which went on until the 1960s. To the north the Elbe River separates Lower Saxony from Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, , and Brandenburg. The banks just south of the Elbe are known as the ' (Old Country). Due to its gentle local climate and fertile soil, it is the state's largest area of fruit farming, its chief produce being apples.


title: Lower Saxony

text: Most of the state's territory was part of the historic Kingdom of Hanover, and the state of Lower Saxony has adopted the coat of arms and other symbols of the former kingdom. It was created by the merger of the State of Hanover with three smaller states on 1 November 1946.


title: Lower Saxony

text: Lower Saxony has a natural boundary in the north in the North Sea and the lower and middle reaches of the River Elbe, although parts of the city of Hamburg lie south of the Elbe. The state and city of Bremen is an enclave entirely surrounded by Lower Saxony. The Bremen/Oldenburg Metropolitan Region is a cooperative body for the enclave area. To the southeast, the state border runs through the Harz, low mountains that are part of the German Central Uplands. The northeast and west of the state, which form roughly three-quarters of its land area, belong to the North German Plain, while the south is in the Lower Saxon Hills, including the Weser Uplands, Leine Uplands, Schaumburg Land, Brunswick Land, Untereichsfeld, Elm, and Lappwald. In the northeast, Lower Saxony is Lüneburg Heath. The heath is dominated by the poor, sandy soils of the geest, whilst in the central-east and southeast in the loess "börde" zone, productive soils with high natural fertility occur. Under these conditions—with loam and sand-containing soils—the land is well-developed agriculturally. In the west lie the County of Bentheim, Osnabrück Land, Emsland, Oldenburg Land, Ammerland, Oldenburg Münsterland, and on the coast East Frisia.


title: Lower Saxony

text: The state is dominated by several large rivers running northwards through the state: the Ems, Weser, Aller, and the Elbe.


title: Lower Saxony

text: The highest mountain in Lower Saxony is the Wurmberg () in the Harz. For other significant elevations see: List of mountains and hills in Lower Saxony. Most of the mountains and hills are found in the southeastern part of the state. The lowest point in the state, at about below sea level, is a depression near Freepsum in East Frisia.


title: Lower Saxony

text: The state's economy, population, and infrastructure are centred on the cities and towns of Hanover, Stadthagen, Celle, Braunschweig, , Hildesheim, and Salzgitter. Together with Göttingen in southern Lower Saxony, they form the core of the Hannover–Braunschweig–Göttingen–Wolfsburg Metropolitan Region.


title: Lower Saxony

text: Lower Saxony has clear regional divisions that manifest themselves geographically, as well as historically and culturally. In the regions that used to be independent, especially the heartlands of the former states of Brunswick, Hanover, Oldenburg and Schaumburg-Lippe, a marked local regional awareness exists. By contrast, the areas surrounding the Hanseatic cities of Bremen and Hamburg are much more oriented towards those centres.


title: Lower Saxony

text: Sometimes, overlaps and transition areas happen between the various regions of Lower Saxony. Several of the regions listed here are part of other, larger regions, that are also included in the list.


title: Lower Saxony

text: Just under 20% of the land area of Lower Saxony is designated as nature parks, i.e.: Dümmer, Elbhöhen-Wendland, Elm-Lappwald, Harz, Lüneburger Heide, Münden, Terra.vita, Solling-Vogler, Lake Steinhude, Südheide, Weser Uplands, Wildeshausen Geest, Bourtanger Moor-Bargerveen.


title: Lower Saxony

text: Lower Saxony falls climatically into the north temperate zone of central Europe that is affected by prevailing Westerlies and is located in a transition zone between the maritime climate of Western Europe and the continental climate of Eastern Europe. This transition is clearly noticeable within the state: whilst the northwest experiences an Atlantic (North Sea coastal) to Sub-Atlantic climate, with comparatively low variations in temperature during the course of the year and a surplus water budget, the climate towards the southeast is increasingly affected by the Continent. This is clearly shown by greater temperature variations between the summer and winter halves of the year and in lower and more variable amounts of precipitation across the year. This sub-continental effect is most sharply seen in the Wendland, in the Weser Uplands (Hamelin to Göttingen) and in the area of Helmstedt. The highest levels of precipitation are experienced in the Harz because the Lower Saxon part forms the windward side of this mountain range against which orographic rain falls. The average annual temperature is ; in the and in the district of Cloppenburg.


title: Lower Saxony

text: Between 1946 and 2004, the state's districts and independent towns were grouped into eight regions, with a different status for two regions ("Verwaltungsbezirke"), comprising the formerly free states of Brunswick and Oldenburg. In 1978 these regions were merged into four governorates ("Regierungsbezirke"): Since 2004 the Bezirksregierungen (regional governments) have separated up again.


title: Lower Saxony

text: On 1 January 2005 the four administrative regions or governorates ("Regierungsbezirke"), into which Lower Saxony had been hitherto divided, were dissolved. These were the governorates of Braunschweig, Hanover, Lüneburg and Weser-Ems.


title: Lower Saxony

text: The name of Saxony derives from that of the Germanic confederation of tribes called the Saxons. Before the late medieval period, there was a single Duchy of Saxony. The term "Lower Saxony" was used after the dissolution of the stem duchy in the late 13th century to disambiguate the parts of the former duchy ruled by the House of Welf from the Electorate of Saxony on one hand, and from the Duchy of Westphalia on the other.


title: Lower Saxony

text: The name and coat of arms of the present state go back to the Germanic tribe of Saxons. During the Migration Period some of the Saxon peoples left their homeland in Holstein about the 3rd century and pushed southwards over the Elbe, where they expanded into the sparsely populated regions in the rest of the lowlands, in present-day Northwest Germany and the northeastern part of what is now the Netherlands. From about the 7th century the Saxons had occupied a settlement area that roughly corresponds to the present state of Lower Saxony, of Westphalia and a number of areas to the east, for example, in what is now west and north Saxony-Anhalt. The land of the Saxons was divided into about 60 "Gaue". The Frisians had not moved into this region; for centuries they preserved their independence in the most northwesterly region of the present-day Lower Saxon territory. The original language of the folk in the area of Old Saxony was West Low German, one of the varieties of language in the Low German dialect group.


title: Lower Saxony

text: The establishment of permanent boundaries between what later became Lower Saxony and Westphalia began in the 12th century. In 1260, in a treaty between the Archbishopric of Cologne and the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg the lands claimed by the two territories were separated from each other. The border ran along the Weser to a point north of Nienburg. The northern part of the Weser-Ems region was placed under the rule of Brunswick-Lüneburg.


title: Lower Saxony

text: The word "Niedersachsen" was first used before 1300 in a Dutch rhyming chronicle ("Reimchronik"). From the 14th century it referred to the Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg (as opposed to Saxe-Wittenberg). On the creation of the imperial circles in 1500, a Lower Saxon Circle was distinguished from a Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle. The latter included the following territories that, in whole or in part, belong today to the state of Lower Saxony: the Bishopric of Osnabrück, the Bishopric of Münster, the County of Bentheim, the County of Hoya, the Principality of East Frisia, the Principality of Verden, the County of Diepholz, the County of Oldenburg, the County of Schaumburg and the County of Spiegelberg. At the same time a distinction was made with the eastern part of the old Saxon lands from the central German principalities later called Upper Saxony for dynastic reasons.


title: Lower Saxony

text: The close historical links between the domains of the Lower Saxon Circle now in modern Lower Saxony survived for centuries especially from a dynastic point of view. The majority of historic territories whose land now lies within Lower Saxony were sub-principalities of the medieval, Welf estates of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg. All the Welf princes called themselves dukes "of Brunswick and Lüneburg" despite often ruling parts of a duchy that was forever being divided and reunited as various Welf lines multiplied or died out.


title: Lower Saxony

text: Two major principalities survived east of the Weser after the Napoleonic Wars: the Kingdom of Hanover and the Duchy of Brunswick (after 1866 Hanover became a Prussian province; after 1919 Brunswick became a free state). Historically a close tie existed between the royal house of Hanover (Electorate of Hanover) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as a result of their personal union in the 18th century (the personal union was dissolved when Victoria became the Queen of the United Kingdom in 1837 because Hanover did not allow female rulers).


title: Lower Saxony

text: West of the River Hunte a "de-Westphalianising process" began in 1815. After the Congress of Vienna the territories of the later administrative regions ("Regierungsbezirke") of Osnabrück and Aurich transferred to the Kingdom of Hanover. Until 1946, the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg and the Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe retained state autonomy. Nevertheless, the entire Weser-Ems region (including the city of Bremen) were grouped in 1920 into a Lower Saxon Constituency Association ("Wahlkreisverband IX (Niedersachsen)"). This indicates that at that time the western administrations of the Prussian Province of Hanover and the state of Oldenburg were perceived as being "Lower Saxon".


title: Lower Saxony

text: The forerunners of today's state of Lower Saxony were lands that were geographically and, to some extent, institutionally interrelated from very early on. The County of Schaumburg (not to be confused with the Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe) around the towns of Rinteln and Hessisch Oldendorf did indeed belong to the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau until 1932, a province that also included large parts of the present state of Hesse, including the cities of Kassel, Wiesbaden and Frankfurt am Main; but in 1932 the County of Schaumburg became part of the Prussian Province of Hanover.


title: Lower Saxony

text: When the Nazi Party seized power in 1933, they quickly transformed Germany into a highly centralized state and divided the entire Third Reich into "Gaue" which largely superseded (but did not outright replace) Germany's traditional federal system. Nevertheless, some changes to the old state and provincial borders were made in 1937, notably including the city of Cuxhaven being fully integrated into the Prussian Province of Hanover under the Greater Hamburg Act. The effect of this Nazi-era change was that in 1946, after the Third Reich had collapsed and when state of Lower Saxony was founded, only four states needed to be merged. With the exception of Bremen and the areas that were ceded to the Soviet Occupation Zone in 1945, all those areas allocated to the new state of Lower Saxony in 1946, had already been merged into the "Constituency Association of Lower Saxony" in 1920.


title: Lower Saxony

text: In a lecture on 14 September 2007, Dietmar von Reeken described the emergence of a "Lower Saxony consciousness" in the 19th century, the geographical basis of which was used to invent a territorial construct: the resulting local heritage societies ("Heimatvereine") and their associated magazines routinely used the terms "Lower Saxony" or "Lower Saxon" in their names. At the end of the 1920s in the context of discussions about a reform of the Reich, and promoted by the expanding local heritage movement ("Heimatbewegung"), a 25-year conflict started between "Lower Saxony" and "Westphalia". The supporters of this dispute were administrative officials and politicians, but regionally focussed scientists of various disciplines were supposed to have fuelled the arguments. In the 1930s, a real Lower Saxony did not yet exist, but there were a plethora of institutions that would have called themselves "Lower Saxon". The motives and arguments in the disputes between "Lower Saxony" and "Westphalia" were very similar on both sides: economic interests, political aims, cultural interests and historical aspects.


title: Lower Saxony

text: After the Second World War most of Northwest Germany lay within the British Zone of Occupation. On 23 August 1946, the British Military Government issued Ordinance No. 46 ""Concerning the dissolution of the provinces of the former state of Prussia in the British Zone and their reconstitution as independent states"", which initially established the State of Hanover on the territory of the former Prussian Province of Hanover. Its minister president, Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf, had already suggested in June 1945 the formation of a state of Lower Saxony, that was to include the largest possible region in the middle of the British Zone. In addition to the regions that actually became Lower Saxony subsequently, Kopf asked, in a memorandum dated April 1946, for the inclusion of the former Prussian district of Minden-Ravensberg (i.e. the Westphalian city of Bielefeld as well as the Westphalian districts of Minden, Lübbecke, Bielefeld, Herford and Halle), the district of Tecklenburg and the state of Lippe. Kopf's plan was ultimately based on a draft for the reform of the German Empire from the late 1920s by Georg Schnath and Kurt Brüning. The strong Welf connotations of this draft, according to Thomas Vogtherr, did not simplify the development of a Lower Saxon identity after 1946.


title: Lower Saxony

text: An alternative model, proposed by politicians in Oldenburg and Brunswick, envisaged the foundation of the independent state of "Weser-Ems", that would be formed from the state of Oldenburg, the Hanseatic City of Bremen and the administrative regions of Aurich and Osnabrück. Several representatives of the state of Oldenburg even demanded the inclusion of the Hanoverian districts of Diepholz, Syke, Osterholz-Scharmbeck and Wesermünde in the proposed state of "Weser-Ems". Likewise an enlarged State of Brunswick was proposed in the southeast to include the "Regierungsbezirk" of Hildesheim and the district of Gifhorn. Had this plan come to fruition, the territory of the present Lower Saxony would have consisted of three states of roughly equal size.


title: Lower Saxony

text: The district council of Vechta protested on 12 June 1946 against being incorporated into the metropolitan area of Hanover ("Großraum Hannover"). If the State of Oldenburg was to be dissolved, Vechta District would much rather be included in the Westphalian region. Particularly in the districts where there was a political Catholicism the notion was widespread, that Oldenburg Münsterland and the "Regierungsbezirk" of Osnabrück should be part of a newly formed State of Westphalia.


title: Lower Saxony

text: Since the foundation of the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Hanover on 23 August 1946 the northern and eastern border of North Rhine-Westphalia has largely been identical with that of the Prussian Province of Westphalia. Only the Free State of Lippe was not incorporated into North Rhine-Westphalia until January 1947. With that the majority of the regions left of the Upper Weser became North Rhine-Westphalian.


title: Lower Saxony

text: In the end, at the meeting of the Zone Advisory Board on 20 September 1946, Kopf's proposal with regard to the division of the British occupation zone into three large states proved to be capable of gaining a majority. Because this division of their occupation zone into relatively large states also met the interests of the British, on 8 November 1946 Regulation No. 55 of the British military government was issued, by which the State of Lower Saxony with its capital Hanover were founded, backdated to 1 November 1946. The state was formed by a merger of the Free States of Brunswick, of Oldenburg and of Schaumburg-Lippe with the previously formed State of Hanover. But there were exceptions:


title: Lower Saxony

text: The demands of Dutch politicians that the Netherlands should be given the German regions east of the Dutch-German border as war reparations, were roundly rejected at the London Conference of 26 March 1949. In fact only about of west Lower Saxony was transferred to the Netherlands, in 1949.


title: Lower Saxony

text: The first Lower Saxon parliament or "Landtag" met on 9 December 1946. It was not elected; rather it was established by the British Occupation Administration (a so-called "appointed parliament"). That same day the parliament elected the Social Democrat, Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf, the former Hanoverian president ("Regierungspräsident") as their first minister-president. Kopf led a five-party coalition, whose basic task was to rebuild a state afflicted by the war's rigours. Kopf's cabinet had to organise an improvement of food supplies and the reconstruction of the cities and towns destroyed by Allied air raids during the war years. Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf remained – interrupted by the time in office of Heinrich Hellwege (1955–1959) – as the head of government in Lower Saxony until 1961.


title: Lower Saxony

text: The greatest problem facing the first state government in the immediate post-war years was the challenge of integrating hundreds of thousands of refugees from Germany's former territories in the east (such as Silesia and East Prussia), which had been annexed by Poland and the Soviet Union. Lower Saxony was at the western end of the direct escape route from East Prussia and had the longest border with the Soviet Zone. On 3 October 1950 Lower Saxony took over the sponsorship of the very large number of refugees from Silesia. In 1950 there was still a shortage of 730,000 homes according to official figures.


title: Lower Saxony

text: During the period when Germany was divided, the Lower Saxon border crossing at Helmstedt found itself on the main transport artery to West Berlin and, from 1945 to 1990 was the busiest European border crossing point.


title: Lower Saxony

text: Of economic significance for the state was the "Volkswagen" concern, that restarted the production of civilian vehicles in 1945, initially under British management, and in 1949 transferred into the ownership of the newly founded country of West Germany and state of Lower Saxony. Overall, Lower Saxony, with its large tracts of rural countryside and few urban centres, was one of the industrially weaker regions of the federal republic for a long time. In 1960, 20% of the working population worked on the land. In the rest of the federal territory the figure was just 14%. Even in economically prosperous times the jobless totals in Lower Saxony are constantly higher than the federal average.


title: Lower Saxony

text: In 1961 Georg Diederichs took office as the minister president of Lower Saxony as the successor to Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf. He was replaced in 1970 by Alfred Kubel. The arguments about the Gorleben Nuclear Waste Repository, that began during the time in office of minister president Ernst Albrecht (1976–1990), have played an important role in state and federal politics since the end of the 1970s.


title: Lower Saxony

text: In 1990 Gerhard Schröder entered the office of minister-president. On 1 June 1993, the new Lower Saxon constitution entered force, replacing the "Provisional Lower Saxon Constitution" of 1951. It enables referendums and plebiscites and establishes environmental protection as a fundamental state principle.


title: Lower Saxony

text: The former Hanoverian Amt Neuhaus with its parishes of Dellien, Haar, Kaarßen, Neuhaus (Elbe), Stapel, Sückau, Sumte and Tripkau as well as the villages of Neu Bleckede, Neu Wendischthun and Stiepelse in the parish of Teldau and the historic Hanoverian region in the forest district of Bohldamm in the parish of Garlitz transferred with effect from 30 June 1993 from to Lower Saxony (Lüneburg district). From these parishes the new municipality of Amt Neuhaus was created on 1 October 1993.


title: Lower Saxony

text: In 1998 Gerhard Glogowski succeeded Gerhard Schröder who became Federal Chancellor. Because he had been linked with various scandals in his home city of Brunswick, he resigned in 1999 and was replaced by Sigmar Gabriel.


title: Lower Saxony

text: From 2003 to his election as Federal President in 2010 Christian Wulff was minister president in Lower Saxony. The Osnabrücker headed a CDU-led coalition with the FDP as does his successor, David McAllister. After the elections on 20 January 2013 McAllister was deselected.


title: Lower Saxony

text: At the end of 2014, there were almost 571,000 non-German citizens in Lower Saxony. The following table illustrates the largest minority groups in Lower Saxony:


title: Lower Saxony

text: The 2011 census stated that a majority of the population were Christians (71.93%); 51.48% of the total population were members of the Evangelical Church in Germany, 18.34% were Catholics, 2.11% were members of other Christian denominations, 2.27% were members of other religions. 25.8% have no denomination. Even though there is a high level of official belonging to a Christian denomination, the peopleespecially in the citiesare highly secular in behavior.


title: Lower Saxony

text: As of 2020, the Evangelical Church in Germany was the faith of 41.1% of the population. It is organised in the five Landeskirchen named Evangelical Lutheran State Church in Brunswick (comprising the former Free State of Brunswick), Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover (comprising the former Province of Hanover), Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg (comprising the former Free State of Oldenburg), Evangelical Lutheran Church of Schaumburg-Lippe (comprising the former Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe), and Evangelical Reformed Church (covering all the state).


title: Lower Saxony

text: Together, these member churches of the Evangelical Church in Germany gather a substantial part of the Protestant population in Germany.


title: Lower Saxony

text: The Catholic Church was the faith of 16.3% of the population in 2020. It is organised in the three dioceses of Osnabrück (western part of the state), Münster (comprising the former Free State of Oldenburg) and Hildesheim (northern and eastern part of the state). The Catholic faith is mainly concentrated to the regions of Oldenburger Münsterland, the region of Osnabrück, the region of Hildesheim and in the Western Eichsfeld.


title: Lower Saxony

text: 42.6% of the Low Saxons were irreligious or adhere to other religions. Judaism, Islam and Buddhism are minority faiths.


title: Lower Saxony

text: The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the state was 229.5 billion euros in 2018, accounting for 8.7% of German economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 33,700 euros or 112% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 100% of the EU average.


title: Lower Saxony

text: Agriculture, strongly weighted towards the livestock sector, has always been a very important economic factor in the state. The north and northwest of Lower Saxony are mainly made up of coarse sandy soil that makes crop farming difficult and therefore grassland and cattle farming are more prevalent in those areas. Lower Saxony is home, in 2017, to one in five of Germany's cattle, one in three of the country's pigs, and 50% of its hens. Wheat, potatoes, rye, and oats are among the state's present-day arable crops. Towards the south and southeast, extensive loess layers in the soil left behind by the last ice age allow high-yield crop farming. One of the principal crops there is sugar beet. Consequently, the Land has a big food industry, mainly organized in small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). Big players are Deutsches Milchkontor and PHW Group (biggest German poultry farmer and producer).


title: Lower Saxony

text: Mining has also been an important source of income in Lower Saxony for centuries. Silver ore became a foundation of notable economic prosperity in the Harz Mountains as early as the 12th century, while iron mining in the Salzgitter area and salt mining in various areas of the state became another important economic backbone. Although overall yields are comparatively low, Lower Saxony is also an important supplier of crude oil in the European Union. Mineral products still mined today include iron and lignite.


title: Lower Saxony

text: Radioactive waste is frequently transported in the area to the city of Salzgitter, for the deep geological repository Schacht Konrad and between Schacht Asse II in the Wolfenbüttel district and Lindwedel and Höfer.


title: Lower Saxony

text: Manufacturing is another large part of the regional economy. Despite decades of gradual downsizing and restructuring, the carmaker Volkswagen with its five production plants within the state's borders still remains the single biggest private-sector employer, its world headquarters in . Due to the Volkswagen Law, which has recently been ruled illegal by the European Union's high court, the state of Lower Saxony is still the second-largest shareholder, owning 20.3% of the company. Thanks to the importance of car manufacturing in Lower Saxony, a thriving supply industry is centred around its regional focal points. Other mainstays of the Lower Saxon industrial sector include aviation (the region of Stade is called CFK-Valley), shipbuilding (such as Meyer Werft), biotechnology, and steel. Medicine plays a major role; Hanover and Göttingen have two large University Medical Schools and hospitals, and Otto Bock in Duderstadt is the largest producer of prosthetics and associated componentry in the world.


title: Lower Saxony

text: The service sector has gained importance following the demise of manufacturing in the 1970s and 1980s. Important branches today are the tourism industry with TUI AG in Hanover, one of Europe's largest travel companies, as well as trade and telecommunication. Hanover is one of Germany's main hubs for insurance and financial-services companies, for example Talanx and Hannover Re.


title: Lower Saxony

text: In October 2018, the Lower Saxony unemployment rate stood at 5.0% and was marginally higher than the national average.


title: Lower Saxony

text: Since 1948, politics in the state has been dominated by the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the centre-left Social Democratic Party. Lower Saxony was one of the origins of the German environmentalist movement in reaction to the state government's support for underground nuclear waste disposal. This led to the formation of the German Green Party in 1980.


title: Lower Saxony

text: The former Minister-President, Christian Wulff, led a coalition of his CDU with the Free Democratic Party between 2003 and 2010. In the 2008 election, the ruling CDU held on to its position as the leading party in the state, despite losing votes and seats. The CDU's coalition with the Free Democratic Party retained its majority although it was cut from 29 to 10. The election also saw the entry into the state parliament for the first time of the leftist The Left party. On 1 July 2010 David McAllister was elected Minister-President.


title: Lower Saxony

text: After the state election on 20 January 2013, Stephan Weil of the Social Democrats was elected as the new Minister-President. He governed in coalition with the Greens.


title: Lower Saxony

text: After the state election in September 2017, Stephan Weil of the Social Democrats was again elected as the new Minister-President. He governs in coalition with the CDU.


title: Lower Saxony

text: The state of Lower Saxony was formed after World War II by merging the former states of Hanover, Oldenburg, Brunswick and Schaumburg-Lippe. Hanover, a former kingdom, is by far the largest of these contributors by area and population and has been a province of Prussia since 1866. The city of Hanover is the largest and capital city of Lower Saxony.


title: Lower Saxony

text: The constitution states that Lower Saxony be a free, republican, democratic, social and environmentally sustainable state inside the Federal Republic of Germany; universal human rights, peace and justice are preassigned guidelines of society, and the human rights and civil liberties proclaimed by the constitution of the Federal Republic are genuine constituents of the constitution of Lower Saxony. Each citizen is entitled to education and there is universal compulsory school attendance.


title: Lower Saxony

text: All government authority is to be sanctioned by the will of the people, which expresses itself via elections and plebiscites. The legislative assembly is a unicameral parliament elected for terms of five years. The composition of the parliament obeys the principle of proportional representation of the participating political parties, but it is also ensured that each constituency delegates one directly elected representative. If a party wins more constituency delegates than their statewide share among the parties would determine, it can keep all these constituency delegates.


title: Lower Saxony

text: The governor of the state (prime minister) and his ministers are elected by the parliament. As there is a system of five political parties in Germany and so also in Lower Saxony, it is usually the case that two or more parties negotiate for a common political agenda and a commonly determined composition of government where the party with the biggest share of the electorate fills the seat of the governor.


title: Lower Saxony

text: The states of the Federal Republic of Germany, and so Lower Saxony, have legislative responsibility and power mainly reduced to the policy fields of the school system, higher education, culture and media and police, whereas the more important policy fields like economic and social policies, foreign policy are a prerogative of the federal government. Hence the probably most important function of the federal states is their representation in the Federal Council (Bundesrat), where their approval on many crucial federal policy fields, including the tax system, is required for laws to become enacted.


title: Lower Saxony

text: The Minister-President heads the state government, acting as a head of state (even if the federated states have the status of a state don't establish the office of a head of state but merge the functions with the head of the executive branch) as well as the government leader. They are elected by the Landtag of Lower Saxony.


title: Lower Saxony

text: The coat of arms shows a white horse (Saxon Steed) against a red background, which is an old symbol of the Saxon people. Legend has it that the horse was a symbol of the Saxon leader Widukind, albeit a black horse against a yellow background. The colours changed after the Christian baptism of Widukind. White and red are colours (besides black and gold) of the Holy Roman Empire symbolizing Christ as the saviour, who is still shown with a red cross against a white background.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: Gurren Lagann, known in Japan as , is a Japanese mecha anime television series animated by Gainax and co-produced by Aniplex and Konami. It ran for 27 episodes on TV Tokyo between April and September 2007. It was directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi and written by veteran playwright Kazuki Nakashima. "Gurren Lagann" takes place in a fictional future where Earth is ruled by the Spiral King, Lordgenome, who forces mankind to live in isolated subterranean villages. The plot focuses on two teenagers, Simon and Kamina, who live in a subterranean village and wish to go to the surface. Using a mecha known as Lagann, Simon and Kamina reach the surface and start fighting alongside other humans against Lordgenome's forces, before fighting the forces of their true enemy.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: In North America, although initially announced to be licensed by ADV Films in 2007, the license was transferred to Bandai Entertainment in 2008 and then transferred to Aniplex of America in 2013. In the United Kingdom, it was licensed by Manga Entertainment in 2007, then transferred to Beez Entertainment in 2008, and then transferred to Anime Limited in 2013. The Sci Fi Channel acquired the broadcasting rights of "Gurren Lagann" and began airing the anime in July 2008, as part of Sci Fi's Ani-Monday anime block. A manga adaptation was published by ASCII Media Works between 2007 and 2013. Bandai Entertainment licensed the manga and released it in English in North America. A series of four light novels was published by Shogakukan between 2007 and 2008. A Nintendo DS video game was released in October 2007, bundled with a special episode of the anime series. Two animated film versions were produced; the first premiered in Japanese theaters in September 2008, and the second premiered in April 2009.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: "Gurren Lagann" has received several awards, including the 7th Tokyo Anime Awards, the 12th Animation Kobe and the Excellence Prize at the 11th Japan Media Arts Festival.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: "Gurren Lagann" takes place in a future where Earth is ruled by the Spiral King, Lord genome, who forces mankind to live in isolated subterranean villages. These villages have no contact with the surface world or other villages and are under constant threat of earthquakes. Selected villagers called diggers are conscripted to expand their homes deeper underground. Simon, a meek young digger ostracized by his peers in Giha village, finds solace in his best friend, an older brother figure who is an eccentric delinquent named Kamina. Kamina encourages Simon to join his gang, Team Gurren, to help him achieve his dream of visiting the surface world. One day, Simon unearths a drill-shaped key called a Core Drill, followed by a small mecha resembling a face called a Gunmen. Shortly thereafter, a huge Gunmen crashes through the ceiling and begins attacking the village, followed by a girl named Yoko, who attempts to repel the Gunmen. Simon uses his Core Drill to activate the smaller Gunmen (which Kamina names Lagann) and its drilling-based abilities. He successfully uses it to destroy the larger Gunmen and break through the ceiling to bring him and Kamina to the surface world.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: Simon and Kamina learn from Yoko that humans on the surface are attacked each day by Gunmen who are piloted by Beastmen, humanoid creatures who serve as Lordgenome's army. Kamina hijacks a Gunmen and names it Gurren, combining it with Lagann to form the mecha Gurren Lagann. Their actions inspire other humans to steal their own Gunmen and join Team Gurren, which makes Kamina rename it Team Dai-Gurren. Eventually Team Dai-Gurren captures an enemy Gunmen fortress to use as their base of operations, though Kamina is killed in the preceding battle by one of Lordgenome's four generals. Rossiu, a boy from another village, takes over the job of piloting Gurren, but Kamina's death causes Simon to sink into depression until he meets Nia, who is revealed to be Lordgenome's daughter. Team Dai-Gurren is initially distrustful of her but they allow her to join them when it becomes apparent that she was abandoned by her father, like many who came before her. Nia helps Simon come to terms with Kamina's death, and the rest of Team Dai-Gurren prompt him to take up the role as the team's leader, leading them and other teams of humans, who had captured other Gunmen and Gunmen fortresses, to Lordgenome's palace. As the palace itself turns out to be a gigantic Gunmen called the Teppelin and launches armies of other Gunmen, the human forces engage them while Simon, Nia, and Rossiu pilot Gurren Lagann against Lordgenome himself, who fights them in a similar Gunmen called Lazengann. When both Lazengann and Gurren are damaged, Lordgenome fights Simon in Lagann with his bare hands, and emerges victorious, until Simon uses his Core Drill to defeat him once and for all.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: Over the next seven years, mankind prospers on the surface world with Simon and the other members of Team Dai-Gurren serving as the world's government in their new capital of Kamina City. As soon as the human population reaches one million people by the amount on the surface, an alien race called the Anti-Spirals emerges and uses Nia to announce their intentions: they have sent the Moon onto a collision course with the Earth as part of their effort to wipe out all life on the planet, so as to prevent them from evolving to such an extent that they will risk destroying the universe in a cataclysmic event called the Spiral Nemesis. It turns out that Lordgenome, having since been resurrected as a bio-computer, was once part of an intergalactic army of warriors that failed to stop the Anti-Spirals, and so forced mankind underground to protect them from the Anti-Spirals. With guidance from Lordgenome and help from Viral, an old enemy of Simon who pilots Gurren, Simon, Gurren Lagann and Team Dai-Gurren prevent the Moon's collision, in the process revealing it to be Lordgenome's flagship that was reprogrammed by the Anti-Spirals. Using it, they retrieve the real Moon from the pocket dimension the Anti-Spirals had hidden it in, and go to the Anti-Spiral homeworld. After a journey with significant loss, they rescue Nia, and in a one-on-one Gunmen battle that virtually spans the universe, Simon in Lagann finally destroys the Anti-Spirals. This, however, causes Nia to fade away into nothing, as her own existence is tied to that of the Anti-Spirals, a fate she and Simon accept. With his life in battle finally over, Simon hands his Core Drill over to Gimmy and leaves his friends to spend the rest of his life wandering the planet as a nameless vagrant, saying his destiny was merely to "dig the tunnel to the future", not to travel down it himself.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: In the epilogue, twenty years have passed since the team's victory over the Anti-Spirals. With many of Team Dai-Gurren having since finally retired, it is up to the new generations of pilots to prevent the Spiral Nemesis and ensure the safety of the universe. Other races across the galaxy, having contacted Earth upon being freed from the Anti-Spirals, have joined forces with President Rossiu of Kamina City and during the twenty years, created the Galactic Spiral Peace Conference. Yoko, now as Miss Yomako, has become the principal of the small school she worked as a teacher at during her seven years absence from the team. One of her students, Nakim, has become a representative of the galaxy in the Grapearl Squadron. Gimmy and Darry have used Simon's Core Drill to become the new pilots of Gurren Lagann. Viral has become the captain of the Super Galaxy Dai-Gurren and an emissary for Earth. Nia's memorial and her engagement ring are shown to have been placed next to Kamina's grave. Simon, still living as Simon the Digger, watches over them as a squadron of Gurren Laganns flies overhead through the night sky on their way to join their Spiral brethren in the stars.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: "Gurren Lagann" was first announced in July 2006 with Aniplex and Konami assisting Gainax in its making. Konami director Koichi Natsume suggested possibilities of the series getting multiple sequels. The series was directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi who was a fan of the mecha genre, having previously done animation work for "Neon Genesis Evangelion", and ever since he started working he had wanted to work in a mecha series. After working on "" with Kazuki Nakashima, Imaishi appointed him as the writer, believing him to be the best choice. Imaishi was surprised with how much material Nakashima could condense into 27 episodes. Imaishi had finished writing the main storyline long before reaching the end which facilitated the staff in making the episodes. According to Gainax president Hiroyuki Yamaga the series was in planning phases for a long time. Animation producer Yasuhiro Takeda used the time to research how would the characters live underground although this aspect is briefly used. Once the series started production, the team did not have much time to research materials.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: In contrast to other popular series, Imaishi decided to include drills as the robot's main weapons despite its impact on the suspension of disbelief. Imaishi also wanted the series to only have robots. The robots were made organic so that they would be easier to animate. Nevertheless, animating episode 15 was challenging to the staff due to the number of shots it required. Its animator Sushio called himself the "super animator" for his work. Deciding the design of the Gurren Lagann was complicated since it was the basis for the other mechas appearing in the story.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: In the making of the series, the team wanted to focus more on the underground life and Simon's imprisonment but their ideas could not be used. In the eighth episode Kamina dies to provide Simon character development and make him become the main character. Simon's development kept on going until the final arc when staff planned ideas to make him surpass Kamina. The ending was written to finalize Simon's growth and not leave signs of a sequel. The finale had the pre-planned tragic event of Nia's death which left several staff members saddened. While the staff acknowledged how people were not satisfied with the sad conclusion, they noted that there were still issues that made her survival difficult for the characters. Once the series ended, Yamaga had the idea of releasing a film that retells the events of the series to expand the audience.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: In an interview, the writer Kazuki Nakashima cites Ken Ishikawa, co-creator of "Getter Robo", as one of "Gurren Lagann"'s influences. "Gurren Lagann" occasionally pays homage to Ishikawa's "Getter Robo", particularly towards the end of the series, where the scale becomes absurd, with the robots steadily becoming bigger and bigger, much like "Getter Robo" more specifically, the manga version of Getter Robo Go. The final enemy also bears a striking resemblance to La Gooth of "Records of Nothingness", another work by Ishikawa. Nakashima, however, wanted to conclude the story of "Gurren Lagann" in a more reasonable fashion than what Ishikawa usually does in his works. According to Jason Green from Anime News Network, the anime was influenced by previous Gainax anime, particularly in the character development of the protagonist Simon, who goes through three stages in his character development during the three arcs of the series. Each of these stages in his development were influenced by protagonists from several previous Gainax anime: Shinji Ikari from the "Neon Genesis Evangelion" franchise, Noriko Takaya from "Gunbuster", and Ken Kubo from "Otaku no Video". The animation on the show pays special tribute to the animation and character designs of Yoshinori Kanada.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: Takami Akai, an animation producer of the series and a co-founder of Gainax, announced that he would resign his position effective episode five, which aired on April 29, 2007, over comments that he made regarding posts on the Japanese textboard 2channel. Akai and another Gainax employee, Keiko Mimori, made disparaging remarks about comments criticizing the animation style of the fourth episode of "Gurren Lagann", which was completely directed by guest and friend Osamu Kobayashi. With regard to reading the fan criticisms, Akai stated that it was "like putting [his] face next to an anus and breathing deeply." Fans later became aware of his comments, and he announced his departure from the company he helped found.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: As a result of the series airing at a child-friendly time slot, the staff members had problems with episode 6. Although that episode had a subplot involving peeking into the women's bath, the television stations believed it was suitable when reading the script. After seeing the finished episode, the station said that it could not be aired, and a revised version of the episode was produced.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: Produced by the animation studio Gainax and directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi, "Gurren Lagann" aired in Japan on TXN stations between April 1 and September 30, 2007. The anime has 27 episodes plus two specials, the first being the uncensored version of the sixth episode, and the second is episode 5.5, a bonus that came with the Nintendo DS game.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: The English version had been previously licensed by ADV Films, but was later acquired by Bandai Entertainment. A subtitle-only version was released in three volumes from July to September 2008, and an official English dub, with the episodes collected in three DVD sets, was released from November 18, 2008, to May 5, 2009. The show premiered on the Sci Fi Channel on July 28, 2008, as part of Sci Fi's Ani-Monday anime block, airing two episodes each week (and three the final week). The European distribution branch of Bandai, Beez Entertainment, distributed the series in the UK and Europe but has gone out of print since January 2012. In 2013, Anime Limited announced that they have the distribution license for "Gurren Lagann" on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK. In 2014, they released a limited Blu-ray Ultimate Edition on October 20, 2014, featuring the entire series, both film adaptations and the complete "Parallel Works" series, as well as a hardcover artbook. A standard edition Blu-ray containing the complete series was also released on the same day with the DVD release following later that year. The English version also aired on Animax across its English-language networks in Southeast Asia and South Asia starting on May 22, 2009. It was broadcast in Italy on Rai 4 between September 24, 2009, and April 1, 2010. Aniplex of America re-released the series in a limited edition DVD box set on May 9, 2013. A Blu-ray Disc box set, which includes both the television series and the two film adaptations, was released on June 26, 2013. Adult Swim began airing the series in English as part of the Toonami block on August 16, 2014.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: Taku Iwasaki composed the show's main background music. Four theme songs are used for the episodes; one opening theme and three ending themes. The opening theme is by Shoko Nakagawa. Starting from episode 17, the second verse and chorus was used, as compared to the first verse and chorus used in the previous episodes. For episodes 1 through 15 the ending theme is "Underground" by High Voltage. "Happily Ever After" by Shoko Nakagawa was used in episode 16. by Afromania was used for episodes 17 to 27.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: "Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Character Song" was released on July 25, 2007, by Aniplex, including image songs by the main voice cast, with songs sung by Tetsuya Kakihara (Simon), Katsuyuki Konishi (Kamina), and Marina Inoue (Yoko), the latter of which is a playable song in "Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA 2". In addition, several music compilation albums have been released, most consisting of background music.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: The "Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann" manga, illustrated by Kotaro Mori, started serialization in the June 2007 issue of MediaWorks' magazine "Dengeki Comic Gao!". The manga ended serialization in "Dengeki Comic Gao!" with the April 2008 issue when the magazine was discontinued, but continued serialization in ASCII Media Works' manga magazine "Dengeki Daioh" with the June 2008 issue and continued until the July 2013 issue. Ten "tankōbon" volumes were published between September 27, 2007, and June 27, 2013, in Japan under ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Comics imprint. Bandai Entertainment licensed the manga and released an English translation of the first six volumes in North America. The manga follows the same basic story as the anime, although there are some changes to the order of events, and the addition of character backstories that had been cut from the anime, such as the relationship between Dayakka and Kiyoh.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: A spin-off manga entitled was serialized in "Comp Ace" between August 26, 2008, and January 26, 2009; a single "tankōbon" volume was released on March 26, 2009. The manga takes the characters from the original story and puts them in a school in a parallel world. In the manga, Simon attends with his childhood friends Kamina and Yoko. Simon, who lives in a run down apartment building, wishes for a normal life, and meets the mysterious Nia one day when she trips down the stairs. She immediately takes a liking to Simon and declares him her husband. Kamina finds another "sister" in Nia, who shares his hot-blooded style. She enrolls in Dai-Gurren Academy, and all three must deal with the threat of students from Teppelin Academy, who wish to bring Nia back to her father, the principal.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: Another spin-off manga titled was published by Futabasha in 2008 as a compilation of various short stories.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: An online video game was developed by Konami called . Beta testing had ended on April 16, 2007. The player takes up the role of a driller and drills for treasures in first person view. There is a shop to purchase drills—the shopkeeper is an original character named Asaki. The player can also collect digital trading cards. The game was canceled at the closed beta stage, as installing the game crashed Windows indefinitely. Konami even had to send out 500GB external hard drives to beta users so that they could back up files while reinstalling their operating systems.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: A game for the Nintendo DS was released October 25, 2007, not only featuring the characters from the series, but also containing a special episode set in the early stages of the story as a pre-order bonus. In June 2010, Gainax re-acquired the video game rights to the series from Konami, which allowed Banpresto to include it in the latest installment of its storied "Super Robot Wars" franchise, "2nd Super Robot Wars Z: Destruction Chapter", released in April 2011.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: An animated film entitled , once again directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi, and written by Kazuki Nakashima, was produced by Gainax and released on September 6, 2008, in Japanese theaters and the DVD was released on April 22, 2009. The film is a compilation of the events of the first arc of the series (episodes one through fifteen) with around 20 minutes of newly animated scenes. In conjunction with the release of the film, Gainax released a series of music videos entitled "Gurren Lagann Parallel Works", which contains alternative stories of "Gurren Lagann" set to songs from the original soundtrack. The film had a limited theatrical release on 11 screens, and grossed () at the Japanese box office. The film had its first official English release at the Viz Pictures cinema in San Francisco, California on September 8, 2009.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: A second film, was released in Japanese theaters on April 25, 2009. It focuses on the second half of the series, contributing more new animation than the first film. The Japanese DVD for "The Lights in the Sky are Stars" was released on January 27, 2010. For both films, Shoko Nakagawa sang the theme songs: for "Childhood's End" and for "The Lights in the Sky are Stars". Taku Iwasaki returned to compose the films' scores.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: Aniplex of America distributed both films on DVD in regular and special editions. "Childhood's End" was released on July 1, 2010, while "The Lights in the Sky are Stars" was released on July 30, 2010. Aniplex of America released the films on Blu-ray Disc as part of the "Gurren Lagann" Blu-ray box set on June 26, 2013. Aniplex of America re-released the films in a separate Blu-ray Disc set on July 15, 2014.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: "Gurren Lagann" received widespread critical acclaim since its release. The show currently sits at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 17 reviews, with the critic consensus reading, "This subterranean romp blazes on the screen with brilliant animation, charismatic characters, and subversive writing – making for a humorous spectacle that any anime connoisseur can appreciate." It is one of several science fiction anime to receive a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: "Anime News Network" gave "Gurren Lagann" a full 'A' rating, with reviewer Theron Martin describing it as "one of the liveliest series of the decade" and concluding that "Gainax's paean to boisterous, macho mecha action delivers in triumphant fashion." "Anime News Network" also gave the dubbed version of the first volume an 'A' rating. IGN gave the series a score of 9.7 out of 10, with reviewer Ramsey Isler describing it as "an inspiring story" and concluding that "overall it succeeds at being a great tale of the indomitable spirit of determined people." Anime World Order also gave the series a positive review, noting that it has become one of the most popular mecha anime on the Internet, which reviewer Clarissa Graffeo ascribes to its crossover appeal among various audiences who do not usually watch giant robot anime, by combining aspects from a number of different anime genres, including elements of the Super Robot, Real Robot, Shōnen, Shōjo, Seinen and Josei genres.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: "THEM Anime Reviews" gave the anime a score of 4 out of 5 stars, with reviewer Tim Jones describing it as "Almost five-star material," and stating that it is "chuck full of action, comedy, drama, adventure, and sci-fi elements, managing to even entertain a person who couldn't care less about mecha in the process." UK Anime Network gave the first third of the series a score of 8/10, with reviewer Ross Liversidge noting that from episode 7 onwards, "the show's newfound edge makes it far more gripping," and concludes that it is a "high quality release" and "a fun, punchy series that stands out from the crowd." On the review website Mania.com, reviewer Chris Beveridge gave the first two-thirds of the series a full 'A' grade. He described the first third as "chaotic, magical and engaging," and then described the second third as captivating "with non-standard storytelling ideas for an anime series" and concluded that it was "fun, exciting, unpredictable and filled with the usual positive messages but done without any serious preaching."


title: Gurren Lagann

text: Ian Wolf of "Anime UK News" stated, "when you look at the way that it was made as a whole, the story that was created, the characters that were portrayed, and the sheer scale of the entire project, it all combines into what is probably one of the greatest anime of all time." Guillermo Kurten of "Comic Book Resources" ("CBR") called it one of the "modern classics" of anime, praising the art style and animation, the action, the mechs, the cast of characters and their emotional relationships, the world-building with gradually rising stakes, the "over-the-top and light-hearted" tone, and for dealing with real-world issues. Michael Iacono of "CBR" also praised the anime's use of hip hop music, including "what might be the greatest hip-hop song in the genre" of anime in hip hop.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: In an April 2019 interview with Diego Molano, creator of "Victor & Valentino", he said that the series is "one of my all-time favorite series to watch," and even puts it in the background when he draws or writes. He also called the series brilliant, as he always finds "new things to admire" and praises the storyboards of the show for being "incredibly energetic, expressive and appealing."


title: Gurren Lagann

text: The "Gurren Lagann" anime series received an Excellence Prize at the 11th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2007. Its director Hiroyuki Imaishi received an individual award for "Personal Best" at the 12th Animation Kobe Festival that same year for his work on the series. In 2008, during the 7th annual Tokyo Anime Awards held at the Tokyo International Anime Fair, "Gurren Lagann" won the "Best Television Production" award. In addition, the "Best Character Design" award was given to the character designer Atsushi Nishigori for his work on the anime. The series was also nominated for the 39th Seiun Awards in the Best Media category in 2008.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: "Japanator" named "Gurren Lagann" the fourth best anime of the 2000s, calling it "a flawless execution of storytelling". "Android Authority" ranked it the second best anime on Netflix. "Paste Magazine" ranked it among the top 40 anime of all time.


title: Gurren Lagann

text: Influences from and references to "Gurren Lagann" can be found in popular culture ranging from Japanese anime and video games, to American comics and animation, as well as politics in Europe. During a political debate over whether the British Union Flag should be updated by incorporating the Welsh Dragon, "The Daily Telegraph" newspaper held a contest for readers to submit their designs and have other readers vote for the winning design. On December 11, 2007, a "Gurren Lagann"-based design submitted from Norway won the contest, winning by a wide margin of 55% of the votes. "Gurren Lagann" has had an influence on the "Transformers" franchise, with the creators of "Transformers Animated" citing it as an inspiration. The art director and lead character designer Derrick Wyatt stated that, while he "hadn't seen "Gurren Lagann" until after" they "had finished most of the first season of "TFA"," he confirmed that the creators have "definitely been inspired" by it ever since, particularly during the second and third seasons of "Transformers Animated".


title: Gurren Lagann

text: The success of "Gurren Lagann" led to the creation of Studio Trigger, founded by director Hiroyuki Imaishi. "Gurren Lagann"s visual humor and style defined their work, and the studio is seen as a successor to Gainax. Mecha designer Shigeto Koyama, who did design work for "Gurren Lagann", later worked on the concept design for Baymax in the 2014 Disney film "Big Hero 6". Upon the film's release in Japan, comparisons were drawn to "Gurren Lagann" from Japanese audiences. "Gurren Lagann" is frequently referenced in the 2016 video game "". The French television show "Wakfu" also pays homage to "Gurren Lagann". In "League of Legends", Rumble's "Super Galaxy Rumble" skin, as well as many of the quotes with the skin, is based on the anime. In "", one of Stan Marsh's catch phrases is from the anime.


title: Monster Energy

text: Monster Energy is an energy drink that was created by Hansen Natural Company (now Monster Beverage Corporation) in April 2002. As of March 2019, Monster Energy had a 35% share of the energy drink market, the second highest share after Red Bull.


title: Monster Energy

text: As of July 2019, there were 34 different drinks under the Monster brand in North America, including its core Monster Energy line, Java Monster, Zero Ultra, Juice, Hydro, Extra Strength, Dragon Tea, Muscle, Import, and Rehab.


title: Monster Energy

text: Monster Energy is known for their sponsorship and support for extreme sports events, such as Bellator MMA, Ultimate Fighting Championship, MotoGP, BMX, motocross, Motorcycle speedway, skateboarding, snowboarding and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (2017–19). Monster currently sponsors the FIA World Rallycross Championship, two of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing's Nitro Rallycross drivers, the PBR: Unleash the Beast Professional Bull Riders tour, the bag of golfer Tiger Woods, as well as the helmets of the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 drivers. The company also has a strong presence in the music industry, promoting a number of music bands around the world in the Monster Energy Outbreak Tour, like Fetty Wap, Iggy Azalea, 21 Savage, Asking Alexandria, Anthrax, Strange Music, The Word Alive, Machine Gun Kelly, Suicidal Tendencies, Maximum the Hormone, Korn, John McHale (booking agent who formulated Java Monster Farmer Oats), Poppy and Five Finger Death Punch.


title: Monster Energy

text: The caffeine content of most Monster Energy drinks is approximately 10 mg/oz (33.81 mg / 100 mL), or 160 mg for a 16 oz can. The packaging usually contains a warning label advising consumers against drinking more than 48 oz per day (500ml per day in Australia). The drinks are not recommended for pregnant women or people sensitive to caffeine. The ingredients include carbonated water, sucrose, glucose, citric acid, natural flavors, taurine, sodium citrate, color added, panax ginseng root extract, -carnitine, -tartrate, caffeine, sorbic acid, benzoic acid, niacinamide, sodium chloride, Glycine max glucuronolactone, inositol, guarana seed extract, pyridoxine hydrochloride, sucralose, riboflavin, maltodextrin, and cyanocobalamin.


title: Monster Energy

text: Monster Energy is advertised mainly through sponsorship of sporting events, including motocross, BMX, mountain biking, snowboarding, skateboarding, car racing, speedway, and also through sponsorship of esports events.


title: Monster Energy

text: In 2006, Caleb (Strongjaw) Johnstone Corporation announced a distribution agreement with Anheuser-Busch in the United States and Grupo Jumex in Mexico.


title: Monster Energy

text: Monster became the title sponsor of NASCAR's top series starting with the 2017 season, renaming it to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The name lasted through 2019; although Monster offered to extend the sponsorship, NASCAR rejected it in favor of a new sponsorship model.


title: Monster Energy

text: In 2012, Colton Lile Corporation announced that they were switching distributors from Anheuser-Busch to Coca-Cola.


title: Monster Energy

text: In 2012, a Monster Jam monster truck sponsored by Monster Energy debuted in El Paso, Texas, with Damon Bradshaw driving. A second truck was introduced in Las Vegas at the Monster Jam World Finals in 2015, and is driven by Coty Saucier and Steven Sims.


title: Monster Energy

text: The design was created by McLean Design, a California-based strategic branding firm. The logo is composed of a vibrant green "M", composed of three lines on a field of black. The "M" is stylized in such a way as to imply that it is formed by the claws of a monster ripping through the can.


title: Monster Energy

text: In August 2017, Monster renewed a sponsorship with mixed martial arts champion Conor McGregor; they are also endorsed by Cain Velasquez and Jon "Bones" Jones.


title: Monster Energy

text: In November 2012, the firm announced a long-term partnership with the Professional Bull Riders, and currently sponsors several riders including Jose Vitor Leme, Cody Teel, and Derek Kolbaba. Starting in 2018, they became the title sponsor of the PBR's premiership tour, known as the "Unleash the Beast" tour.


title: Monster Energy

text: The firm has served as the official energy drink sponsor of multiple X Games contests, including the 2017 summer games in Minneapolis and the 2017 winter games in Aspen. Among the athletes on their team are skateboarders Nyjah Huston, Ishod Wair and Chris Cole, three-time gold-winning skier David Wise, Olympic freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy and Olympic gold medalist snowboarder Iouri Podladtchikov.


title: Monster Energy

text: In December 2016, it was announced that Monster would replace Sprint Corporation as title sponsor of NASCAR's premier series. NASCAR's chief marketing officer cited Monster's "youthful and edgy" brands a driving force behind the deal, . In April 2019, it was reported that NASCAR rejected Monster Energy's offer to extend its sponsorship through 2020 in favor of a new tiered sponsorship model.


title: Monster Energy

text: Monster is endorsed by driver Kurt Busch and sponsors his No. 45 23XI Racing car. They also sponsor NASCAR Truck Series driver Hailie Deegan and the No. 1 David Gilliland Racing Team, as well as NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers Ty Gibbs and Riley Herbst. They have also had sponsored Robby Gordon, Ricky Carmichael, and the No. 54 Xfinity Series car of Joe Gibbs Racing/Kyle Busch Motorsports. They have sponsored Formula 1 team Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport since 2010 and are currently endorsed by the teams drivers, George Russell and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton also has a signature drink with the brand, ""LH44"". Monster Energy is also the primary sponsor for Yamaha Motor Racing in MotoGP since 2019 and also sponsors riders such as Valentino Rossi, Franco Morbidelli, and Francesco Bagnaia.


title: Monster Energy

text: The company was endorsed by Australian touring car driver Jamie Whincup from late 2009 to 2012. The deal was cancelled abruptly for the 2013 season, when his team Triple Eight signed rival Red Bull as sponsor. Monster partnered with James Courtney and Holden Racing Team for the 2016 International V8 Supercars Championship, and is now associated with Tickford Racing as primary sponsor of Cameron Waters Ford Mustang Supercar.


title: Monster Energy

text: Monster has also sponsored other rally drivers and motocross riders: Ken Block, Liam Doran, Nani Roma, Jeremy McGrath, Chad Reed, Ryan Villopoto, Nate Adams, Taka Higashino, and Carmichael. On May 18, 2022, it was announced that Monster Energy would sponsor Andreas Bakkerud and Robin Larsson of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing in Nitro Rallycross. It also sponsors multiple motocross race teams named "Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki", and the Monster Energy Factory Yamaha motocross team, based in Hampshire, England. As of 2016, the firm has aided the return of factory Yamaha to United States as the title sponsor of the team, officially named Monster Energy/360fly/Chaparral/Yamaha Factory Racing.


title: Monster Energy

text: Since 2010, Monster Energy has been the main sponsor of Formula Drift champion Vaughn Gittin Jr.. Monster Energy has also sponsored Brittany Force of the NHRA. The firm has also been the title sponsor of the Catalan Motorcycle Grand Prix since 2014. Since 2012, it has been the main sponsor of the Speedway Grand Prix and Speedway World Cup.


title: Monster Energy

text: In June 2015, Monster agreed to a sponsorship deal with Zayat Stables to sponsor the race horse , rumored to be the largest single-horse advertising sponsorship to-date. The deal allows the product's logo to be used on the horse sheets, on jockey Victor Espinoza's shirt and boots, as well as caps and other gear worn by people around the horse.


title: Monster Energy

text: Monster Energy also has a big presence in the off-road racing scene being the main sponsor's for the Baja 1000 and Baja 500. They also sponsor a variety of teams in different classes, including Trophy Truck drivers Cameron Steele, Alan Ampudia and Kyle LeDuc.


title: Monster Energy

text: Monster Energy also sponsors several individuals in the esports community, as well as esports associations. The company broke into esports with their sponsorship of Evil Geniuses, one of the premiere North American multi-game organizations. Monster Energy is affiliated with esports in North America, Asia, Europe, and Australia. Some of the organizations and individuals they support or have supported include the Australian organization "MindFreak", Paris Saint-Germain eSports, and the streamer TimTheTatman.


title: Monster Energy

text: Monster Beverage Corporation has been criticized for its policy of suing companies or groups that use the word "Monster", the letter "M", or the word "beast" in their marketing for trademark infringement. By 2019, the company has initiated over a thousand trademark cases that have been reviewed by the US court system or US Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, making them a poster child for "trademark bullying" which the USPTO defines as "a trademark owner that uses its trademark rights to harass and intimidate another business beyond what the law might be reasonably interpreted to allow."


title: Monster Energy

text: Examples of such lawsuits include the aquarium hobbyist site MonsterFishKeepers.com, Bevreview.com, a beverage review site that published an unfavorable review of the Monster Energy drink and Rock Art Brewery from Vermont that marketed a beer named "Vermonster". That case was even brought up by Senator Patrick Leahy in a study of problematic trademark litigation tactics. Monster Beverage dropped the lawsuit against the microbrewery due to the adverse publicity the lawsuit generated.


title: Monster Energy

text: In March 2016, Monster filed a lawsuit to revoke the company trademark of Thunder Beast LLC of Washington, D.C., a small root beer brewery, insisting the use of "beast" in the company name encroached on Monster's trademark slogan, "Unleash the Beast". The owner of Thunder Beast, Stephen Norberg, was fighting Monster's lawsuit as of 2019.


title: Monster Energy

text: In August 2018, Monsta Pizza of Wendover in Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom, fought a claim brought by Monster Energy in the intellectual property office. The claim was that the pizza firm could be mistaken for Monster Energy, leaving customers confused. The pizza firm won a landmark ruling against Monster Energy, when the court decided there would be no case of misrepresentation. In fact, Monster Energy loses many of their lawsuits, however as with other cases of "trademark bullying" the main goal of the lawsuit seem to be bankrupting the opposition at which they are quite successful.


title: Monster Energy

text: Monster Energy has occasionally been on the other side of copyright infringement lawsuits. For example, in August 2012, the Beastie Boys filed a lawsuit against the company for copyright infringement over Monster's use of their music played by Z-Trip in an online campaign. In 2014, a jury found Monster Beverage Corporation had infringed on Beastie Boys' copyright by using songs without permission, and owed the group $1.7 million.


title: Monster Energy

text: On January 24, 2018, "Huffington Post" journalist Emily Peck published an article reporting the suspected corrupted culture of abuse against women within the company such as Page Zeringue and Sara Rabuse.


title: Monster Energy

text: Zeringue began working for Monster Energy Company in February 2008 and was terminated in October 2015 after filing a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana against Monster Energy Company, claiming that the beverage company violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 She says she suffered gender discrimination and was subjected to sexual harassment in a hostile work environment. Monster was accused of being fully aware of the situation.


title: Monster Energy

text: In June 2017, Sara Rabuse of Los Angeles County filed a personal injury claim against Monster Energy Company executive, Brent Hamilton, and his employer, Monster Energy Corporation. Rabuse is suing for damages while she was violently attacked during a Monster Energy work function Hamilton invited her to attend. Rabuse Claims Hamilton, Executive of the Monster Energy Music Department, flew her from Los Angeles to meet him at the Country Music Awards in Nashville at Monster Energy's Company expense. When she arrived in Nashville at the airport, he was drunk. Sara Rabuse claims the heavy drinking led to a fight in the hotel room, where Hamilton choked her.


title: Monster Energy

text: Rabuse claims the only way to free herself from Hamilton's grasp was to poke him in the eye, but when she did, Hamilton bit her thumb. Rabuse claimed the bite got infected, forcing her to spend 24 hours in the hospital. Rabuse holds Monster Energy Company responsible because the company allegedly knew of Hamilton's drinking problem and ignored it. Hamilton was ousted from the company in May 2019.


title: Monster Energy

text: Energy drinks have been associated with health risks, such as masking the effects of intoxication when consumed with alcohol, and excessive or repeated consumption can lead to cardiac and psychiatric conditions. However, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded that an adequate consumption of Monster and other popular energy drinks is safe and that the amount of caffeine in standard Monster cans is unlikely to interact adversely with other typical constituents of energy drinks or with alcohol. Energy drinks have the effects that caffeine and sugar give, but there is no distinct evidence that the wide variety of other ingredients has any effect.


title: Monster Energy

text: In December 2011, 14-year-old Anais Fournier died of "cardiac arrhythmia due to caffeine toxicity" after drinking two cans of Monster Energy drink containing 240 mg of caffeine per can. Fournier had a pre-existing heart condition, as well as Ehlers–Danlos syndrome. In October 2012, her parents sued the company. Monster Energy has insisted that its energy drink played no role in Fournier's death.


title: Monster Energy

text: A request under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act revealed that from 2003 to 2012 the Food and Drug Administration had received reports of five deaths occurring after drinking Monster Energy. The reports did not prove a causal link between the drink and any health problems.


title: Monster Energy

text: In May 2015, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) banned the sale of Monster and other energy drinks that contained both caffeine and ginseng.


title: Monster Energy

text: Christine Weick, a controversial and outspoken American Christian activist and author, created a video that argued that Monster Energy sports drinks is associated with Satan. The November 2014 video was published on YouTube, garnering over eleven million views as of 2018. The viral nature of the video got her an appearance on the Web Redemption segment of Comedy Central's "Tosh.0".


title: Monster Energy

text: There are rumors that Monster Energy drinks contain alcohol, but the ingredients prove that there is not any volume of alcohol within their drinks. There is plenty of speculation with alcohol and energy drinks, but as stated in the health concerns, there are no direct causal links to one's health and no alcohol is found within their drinks.


title: Monster Energy

text: The energy drink also features as product placement in the video game "Death Stranding", in which it restores the stamina and can be consumed by the main character in his private room.