SSSS.Gridman

Two month or so ago back when the first episode of SSSS. Gridman came out, it was met with a mixed reaction and many people didn't continue the show. This is due to a huge chunk of present fanbase only tries to find context on surface material. In fact, a huge part of anime fans thinks any show with giant mechs fighting have no other theme or story other than cheap monster-a-week fights. Everything that happens in the show is part of a meta-narrative. As the story progresses the narration slowly expands and by the end you'll view every incident of the story in adifferent angle. Although you'll probably be able to guess what the meta-narration is for by Episode 10,it still doesn't make the ending any less emotionally powerful. The cast of the show is a perfectly balanced mixture of Goofy Side Characters and Emotionally driven protagonists. Something Hiroyuki Imaishi does in a lot of his works. It's hard to get into the characters without giving away spoilers so,I'll just point out my favorite two characters and their brilliant dynamic. Akane and Rikka are my two most favorite characters and their relationship has the best development in the entire show. Rikka had thousands of reason to turn her back on Akane but she didn't. She reached out to Akane and was genuinely able to get through.The most amazing thing is this brilliant character arc never played second fiddle to the show's actions. Neon Genesis Evangelion's influence in the show is very evident.It's a mecha driven narrative with underlying themes of loneliness, isolation and escapism.In fact,the SSSS Gridman team is called Neon Genesis Junior High Students. This is the beauty of the show to be honest. This show is made by people whose passion for the shows that inspired them sips through each and every frame of the show.

If there is one thing that will always be associated with Japan it's Kaijus. Kaijus are a mainstay in popular culture due to their massive size and their ability to level entire cities with their overwhelming strength. They are pop culture icons with monsters like Godzilla being easily recognisable. But you know what also is associated with Japan? Giant robots. With series like Ultraman or mecha series like Gundam helping to strengthen that idea, it is no wonder we have had robot vs Kaiju shows and movies before. Even today, shows like this one are still being made. With Trigger at the helm of thisanime as well as being a homage to older kaiju movies like the Godzilla and the Ultraman series, it made for some interesting results. Sit back, relax, put on a rubber costume and roar as loud as you can as I present to you the anime review for SSSS.Gridman. Lets begin. Story: 6.5/10 Set in modern day Japan, the story follows Yuuta Hibiki who wakes up in Rikka Takarada's (a fellow classman) house while also suffering from amnesia. He is then shocked to see massive Kaiju just standing in the distance with the city covered by a massive fog and for some reason, aw well as a human looking robot in a very old computer. The next day, the city is attacked by a Kaiju and with the help of the robot in the computer who calls himself Gridman and the help of his classmates Rikka and Shou Utsumi, they managed to defeat the Kaiju. From there "The Gridman Alliance" is formed and vows to stop every Kaiju from destroying the city and find out where they come from. Predictably, the structure for the story is very much a monster of a week type setup. Every episode, they encounter a new Kaiju, smack it around a bit, then get smacked around themselves, only to find a new power and defeat the Kaiju. Meanwhile, the plot is more developed and more is unveiled as they slowly learn the point to all of these Kaiju attacks and why there are massive Kaiju just standing there in the distance. While the plot starts out slow as it is establishing its characters, it starts to pick up and get real interesting, real fast. This is supported by the significance of the characters in the story and some nice curveballs to keep the viewer hooked. It is pretty standard affair because I would say it doesn't do anything unique or does anything to make itself unique. But it does things that we have seen before pretty well. The fact we get the villains' perspective early on as well help see both sides and what these characters are essentially fighting for and what they desire. However, it does have a plot dump halfway through the show as to why the things are the way they are. So instead of finding these things out naturally, we essentially just get and exposition dump just so we can move the plot forward. Yeah, that's not good storytelling. If we were told these things in small handfuls, then that's fine, but to tell it all at once leaves the story in a state of mind of "where to go now?" Thankfully, it does know where to go next with a greater perspective on the villain and how the villain feels about everything that is happening around his/her perspective. Characters: 7.5/10 Yuuta is the bog standard protagonist of the show and along with Gridman, is the character that fights the Kaijus. His amnesia allows him to basically make him a blank slate for the story to help develop his character (even if it is a bit cliched). Just like a standard protagonist, he's naive, too kind for his own good and just wants to help people. He doesn't really have qualities that make him stand out but doesn't do things that make me groan in annoyance. He's just there to be the main protagonist. Shou acts as the comic relief character and is pretty much the enthusiastic one due to his love for Kaijus. Honestly he doesn't have too much relevance to the plot and acts as more as a right hand man for Yuuta to lift his spirit and to motivate him. But it is something that develops later on in the show so you could say it was intentional. But instead lets talk about best girl Rikka as she has some of the best character scenes in the anime and some of the best thighs in anime history due to them being EXTRA THICC. But seriously, she has some interesting development as she doesn't know if everything they are doing is right due to her friendship with the show's villain. She also acts as the middleman when she needs to get some sense into Yutta and Shou or to support them. She slowly becomes a character that stands thighs first above the cast of the show due to her being somewhat relateable. In fact, the show does a nice job of treating these three like actual high school teenagers and not a veteran defence force in stopping Kaijus. It's some nice realism that these are characters that would act like this in real life. My favourite character in this show though is the shows main villain named Akane Shinjou. She is another character with some delicious thighs as well. But other than that obvious statement, her character arc throughout the show takes some twists and turns as she sees her world slowly crumble around her thanks to Gridman. Being the one that creates the Kaijus along with her accomplice, Alexis Kerib, in order to shape the city to her liking. She essentially has a god complex as she believes everything is done because she is making everything better. So when The Gridman Alliance appears to defeat the Kaijus she helps create, she doesn't know what to do because the everything is not going her way. This makes her fall from grace throughout the show a rather tragic one because she is only doing what she believes is right to make a better place. Anti is the final character I want to talk about. He is one of the created kaijus by Akane and Alexis designed specifically to defeat Gridman. All he wants to do is to defeat Gridman because that is his purpose in life. So throughout the show, we see him get told that there is more to life than fighting Gridman and that he is more than just a Kaiju. The show makes us question how much humanity Anti has and if he can have a change of heart by embracing it. He makes a good rival and foil for Gridman by being somewhat of a sympathetic character and you hope he can have some redemption. Animation: 8.5/10 Now this is where things get interesting. Trigger; I will type it again, TRIGGER. The same studio that brought us shows with great animation like Kill La Kill, Little, Witch Academia and Darling in the Franxx uses, in this series, CGI animation...AND IT WORKS. Let me explain. If this show was done using traditional animation, then you wouldn't be able to see all the little details put into the fight scenes to make it feel authentic. The entire show is an homage to all of the Kaiju related movies and TV shows that uses props, rubber suits and wires to make the fight scenes feel like two people fighting in rubber costumes in the studio full of paper mahce buildings and toy cars. To the way the Kaijus are designed and how they attack using flailing parts of their rubber suit to how Gridman makes his entrance, making it look like it is all on a green-screen. The attention to detail put into this must be applauded because Tigger has clearly done their homework on this. Traditional animation just wouldn't work because of how the Kaijus are designed and how they attack just wouldn't feel as authentic. Now for the rest of the animation, it does look good with plenty of colour to make it vibrant and the character designs are unique from one another (even if Rikka's mother looks like a character out of flcl). I could go on about Rikka and Akanes' thighs and how you just want to look at them all day but it would make this review too long so I won't dribble on about these "unique" features. But I do have a gripe with the animation and that there is still images throughout the show with the characters doing nothing and you just hear background noises or they are just talking. This is especially noticeable in earlier episodes. How bad is it you may ask. Well I would say it is Evangelion bad but just lasts a little bit shorter. Sound: 8/10 The Soundtrack can also be considered an homage to shows like Ultraman with its rather cheesy power up moments, its fast beat music in fight scenes, and the fact that the main theme of the show plays whenever Gridman is close to victory. So not only do the fight scenes and designs are authentic, the music is also trying to be authentic by playing the right music at the right time. Sound effects as well help with explosions, sound of collision between Gridman and the Kaijus and how the Kaijus roar also help add to the authenticity. The opening "UNION" by OxT is made to be more like an opening that you would see in a Saturday morning show with simple zoom ups of the characters and their personalities somewhat to the catchy lyrics that you could sing along to. While it still has some action to get hooked to, it's main selling point for this opening is to kick back and relax as you sing along to the opening. OxT knows how to make a catchy opening song (just look at the first two Overlord openings) and here, I would say there is no exception. It also updates with slight changes to the scenes to keep up with the plot of the show. It is a nice touch. The ending sequence is used to highlight the two best girls in the show, Rikka and Akane and their friendship. It uses live action backgrounds with the girls being their animated selves. It likes to show the more good side of Akane and how thoughtful and kind Rikka can be. It is just a nice, pleasant ending sequence. Conclusion: SSSS.Gridman is a show that wants to pay homage to old Kaiju shows and films and I would say it does that. The animation and sound do that very well with a story that doesn't require alot of thinking and you can just relax while you watch it. Its characters as well are all likeable (well, except the ones you're supposed to hate) and never rubbed me the wrong way. The show is a complete package with not one aspect dragging the others down as they all compliment each other. I think this is the kind of show Trigger needed to make after Darling in the Franxx. Something that they can have fun making and have people who can make it enjoyable for the viewer. Girdman does this and I would recommend this to someone looking for some good old robot on Kaiju action. My personal enjoyment: 8.5/10 Overall score: 7.8/10 Recommendation: Watch it

After 25 years since the original Gridman TV series debuted in 1993, Studio Trigger and Tsuburaya Productions, the company behind Gridman and Ultraman, have collaborated to produce the magnificent tokusatsu inspired reboot SSSS.Gridman. For those who are new to Gridman and tokusatsu entertainment, it is the Japanese term attached to any sci-fi/fantasy live-action series that uses an abundance of special effects. More specifically, practical effects; think people wrestling in rubber monster suits smashing through model cities and stop motion animation. That leads us to SSSS.Gridman, the love child of first-time director Akira Amemiya and Keiichi Hasegawa, famed screenwriter of the 1990s Ultraman. It is overflowing withreferences and callbacks to the live-action series, SSSS is a lovingly crafted modernized take on the original series. The new story takes a theme relevant to today’s audiences and focuses on the youth of Japan and their relationship to technology. The show opens on Yuta Hibiki, an amnesiac first-year in high school who’s just woken up in the home of Rikka Takarada, a girl in his class. With no clue who she is, or who he is for that matter. His standard introduction no doubt had people rolling their eyes, including me, and it does detract from the story, at least until we learn why he lost his memory. Yuta sees hallucinations of a robot named Gridman in an old computer in Takarada's family store, later called ‘Junk’ in reference to its name in the original show. Afterward, he meets Sho Utsumi, his friend before getting amnesia. Sho helps him with his memory loss, which is more or less his role in the series, being Yuta's support. He's a decent character, with a minor arc and some development. Throughout the first episode, the information we’re being fed by the characters is incongruous with what we observe from Yuta’s perspective. Rikka and Utsumi easily accept Yuta’s amnesia and when he sees Kaiju looming in the distance they assume he’s joking because—like his Gridman hallucinations—he is the only one who can see them at first. In spite of the mundane reactions of people around Yuta, the directing of nearly every scene communicates dread. It constantly feels like danger is just off the frame and the next scene will change everything. Amemiya lingers on long shots too long for them to feel normal, instead, they communicate anxiety, you constantly are waiting for something to happen that will break the mundanity. Lighting is oversaturated during the daytimes to convey the crushing heat of the summer, and at night is subdued with fog and the monsters are constantly shown looming in the distance over the heroes. In the first episode, a radio playing is placed in between scenes to shift the tone. It bears so much similarity to Neon Genesis Evangelion. It’s no surprise considering the director is a Gainax veteran. No doubt, SSSS.Gridman's greatest strength is the tone, it balances the mundane life of high school students with the dread of a Kaiju attack. Eventually, when the Kaiju do attack, it is equally satisfying to watch play out. The three main characters are together in Rikka’s family store when the first Kaiju begins wreaking havoc on the city, forcing Yuta to work with Gridman fight off the monsters in giant robot form. Together they create the Gridman Alliance, dedicated to defeating any Kaiju that threatens to destroy their city. The animation is fluid, characters are incredibly expressive, storyboards are filled with detail, shots are excellently framed. The camera work is dynamic making the action always exciting and even the CGI used during many of the fight scenes is superb. The sound design is especially amazing at giving audio feedback during these scenes, a vehicle being crushed, the ground crumbling under a monster, and all of the attacks sound so visceral and lifelike. From time to time the show's incredible opening is used as background music in fights, and this would typically grow tiresome but because the song is so good and relevant to the story it never bothered me. At times the monster's movements look janky, but it never feels unintentional, watching old tokusatsu series shows that this is how the monster/giant robot fights looked, they move in ways that make it seem as though someone is inside a suit navigating them. 2D animation could never have achieved the authenticity of the monsters they were aiming for here. Not every scene is exploding with action, but even when the pace slows down, the directing and intruiging storyboarding are still visually arresting. One qualm I would bring up is the overabundance of fanservice placed at awkward moments, this thankfully only happened in certain episodes around the midpoint of the show. All around, this show is incredibly faithful to the original series, visually, audibly, and narratively. The story is at times too standard to the genre and could have used more originality rather than reliance on the source material. It delivers it's story beats confidently and plenty self-aware of the nostalgia it's evoking, but the times it updates the script to a modern audience are worthwhile. Important information is shown to us rather than told, a characters motivation is never told to us before it is shown, a twist never comes that wasn’t foreshadowed heavily. This showing rather than telling comes across the most in Akane Shinjou's scenes, a classmate of Yuta’s. She offers the most exciting writing in the show. In the first episode alone, her scenes convey more fear than any of the Kaiju scenes. She’s subtle with her dark side and when she gets her quiet moments of angry reflection you get to see how bitter she is. Her psychotic tendencies and lack of care for others are made all the more frightening by how much power she proves to have. Although Yuta's simplistic personality is explained very well in the narrative, Rikka and Akane get far more development than him. Eventually, they even take his place as the protagonists, and the show is much better for it. Rikka gets more development than Yuta and becomes a remarkably sympathetic character right away. While Yuta and Utsumi celebrate their victories against Kaiju she worries about the fallout of the city being attacked and if her friends are safe. She's the most nuanced character in the show, and it often feels like she is a normal person who was placed into the plot of a wild sci-fi kids show. Her apprehension towards conflict and her contemplation of the effects of what's occurring in the story are what makes her so believable. Yuta and Utsumi are at first, ecstatic to escape the mundane life of being a student, then the shock of the danger they’re in forces them to face reality and change their mindsets. Whereas Yuta accepts he has to overcome challenges at face value and follows through like a typical protagonist, Rikka is constantly questioning why she’s in such a dire situation and where her place is in all of it. Her development throughout the show is intertwined with Akane's and they both change in ways that are very engaging to watch play out. The themes of Gridman are showcased throughout the story in the elaborate technology the villain has, all alone in her room, contrasted with the beat-up old computer the Gridman Alliance use. Yet even with basic technology, they prove to be formidable foes to the Kaiju, and they enjoy working together. What the screenwriter is trying to say is rather basic, but it’s nonetheless a well-reinforced theme and consistent throughout the show, you don’t need an abundance of technology to have good relationships and valued friendships. SSSS.Gridman stands as one of the best mecha in recent memory. Stylistically it is much different than the rest of Studio Trigger's anime, but it is one of their greatest works yet. It wears its love for the original series and tokusatsu entertainment on its sleeve. The story is wonderfully nostalgic, and surprisingly enough, thought-provoking. Laden with subtle details building up to every twist, every theme, it is both visually interesting and endlessly analyzable. I look forward to rewatching it time and time again in the future.

A beautiful marriage of animation and tokusatsu, with a dash of thighs thrown in. The fights are all animated in a way that mimics classic tokusatsu techniques used in properties such as Godzilla and Ultraman. The same extends to the designs of Gridman, Anti, the support weapons and the forms they provide, and all of the kaiju. This show also excels at making the villains the actual main characters while they're still antagonists. If you love mecha, kaiju, tokusatasu, or just want to see some juicy thighs then you should absolutely watch this show and if you enjoy it then check out the original showas well, you can find it on YouTube Also GRIDMAN BABY DAN DAN

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