SSSS.Gridman

(An Abridged Take Inside TRIGGER Studios)

Director [claps hands]: Okay. Thank you all for coming on such short notice. I just wanted to discuss some further details on the series that I thought appropriate.

[Staff members nod their heads and grunt in agreement]

Director [smiling]: Great! Okay. Masaru [Sakamoto], you are in charge of the character designs, right?

Masaru [nodding]: Yes, that is correct.

... Director: Okay. May I see how they look so far?

[Masaru nods and shows him a clipboard containing several designs of the main characters. The director takes his time glancing at each of the female designs.]

Director: Okay. I like what you have here, but I think we can make both of these female characters stand out more.

Masaru [intrigued]: Sure. What would you want to change about them?

Director [pointing at Rikka]: Okay. [leans towards Masaru’s ear and whispers in a serious tone] I want dat ass big and her thighs thicc!

Masaru [choking in absolute shock]: Uhh sir, I mean… are you sure about that?

Director [grabs Masaru by the collar]: Okay listen here bucko, I’ve been in this industry for over a decade. I was an animator for one of the most successful anime from this year, Darling in the FranXX, so I think I know a thing or two about what sells in this business. [Releases his grip on Masaru and returns to a light-hearted tone] And try and make the other girl look cute, but not with thicc thighs. Only one girl gets that.

Masaru [still stunned after what had just transpired]: Wh-what do you mean, “look cute”?

Director [walking away]: Just think what I would look like if I were a high school girl. Okay?

[Masaru has no idea how to respond and decides to ask mechanical designer Shigeto Koyama on his opinion. Koyama sees the designs of both girls and a slick smile forms across his face.]

Shigeto [amused]: Well, when all else fails, you can always make dem titties big!

Masaru: ….

(Inner Masaru [sighing]: What the hell did I sign up for?)
_____________________________________________________________
Regardless of how seriously you take the frankly awful transcript written above, it’s hard to argue just how much attention to detail went into the creation of SSSS.Gridman. While being heavily inspired by the 1993 live-action series Gridman the Hyper Agent, this version is loaded with visual references to numerous tokusetsu series and mecha anime of the past – Space Runaway Ideon, Getter Robo, Evangelion, several iterations of Gundam and more receive stunning rendition scenes that serve as quick but effective throwbacks appealing to nostalgia for the die-hard fans of yesterday. Whilst on the other side of the community, Gridman had managed to conquer the ever-present “best girl” debate of the season, with each week providing more material and support for why each girl and this series is worth one’s attention. Hell, there was even a theory made halfway into Gridman about whether or not Rikka was secretly pregnant with the protagonist’s child the entire time (there’s actually a fair amount of evidence about it, not gonna lie.) But first impressions are usually not what they seem and this saying holds true for Gridman, as the very first episode comes off as anything but the fun mecha shows its constantly compared to.

SSSS.Gridman introduces its audience with several long shots lasting for uncomfortable periods of time – focusing on rather mundane things like a pile of shoes and dozens of students leaving school for the day, with only the sounds of cicadas being heard. Our protagonist Yuta wakes up in an unfamiliar room, with an unfamiliar female sitting across from him. The unfamiliarity continues as shots continue having characters fail to dominate the frames they are in, often outsized by their environment; constrained into small spaces of scenes. And when characters are allowed to dominate frames, the camera often takes weird perspectives placed either above or below their eyelines, almost intimately close to these characters. There’s a strong, distinct direction present that forces the viewer to rarely ever feel comfortable about what is being presented, coupled by a minimalist-style soundtrack that further emphasizes a quiet, environmental atmosphere rarely ever attributed with mecha shows. Its presentation is one that is more inclined to push anime fans away given just how different the show appears to contrast with the majority of anime airing nowadays. Some may call it a series with striking directing techniques that ultimately lacks proper direction. but I would urge otherwise as Gridman still has a lot of upside that helped make it one of the most popular shows of the season.

The story focuses on amnesiac Yuta Hibike, who after finding himself in the home of fellow classmate Rikka Takarada meets a robot known as Gridman inside of an old computer. This has coincided with a sudden appearance of giant unmoving Kaiji, with one abruptly attacking the city causing Yuta to merge with Gridman to battle the Kaiju. In the aftermath however, the city around them appears rebuilt, with those having died being forgotten and people’s memories being reset around this fact, all bar the main characters. Because of this, Yuta attempts to stop the Kaiji from attacking and uncover the truth behind these disappearances. The mystique behind these events is what ultimately drives the story forward, however majority of the first half of Gridman almost rigidly follows a simple formula akin to tokusetsu monster-of-the-week: slight plot development occurs, monster appears, big hero/monster fight ensues with the heroes coming out on top, maybe some followup and repeat. This is not necessarily a detriment to the show as it works well to further establish most side characters and the setting in general, but once again it’s a tool that can easily alienate more viewers looking to see why Gridman is so well-liked.

Gridman’s cast may not be seriously complex in their characterization nor development but still remain a solid aspect of the series, especially with the chemistry between more characters. The way each of the high school students are able to bounce personalities off each other is impressive and the least someone like myself can ask for of characters barely important to the plot. Although there still are some specific characters worth mentioning: Yuta as an amnesiac portrays a relatable human response in trying to carry on as usual to the best of his ability, reflecting how many of us will often try and find a sense of normalcy, coping to the best of our abilities instead of shutting out entirely despite the desire of sometimes wanting to. Meanwhile on the other side of the spectrum, Akane serves as the main antagonist to Yuta and friends, spending most of her time inside her eerie room, creating Kaiji inspired from daily frustrations and petty grudges. Underneath her outward reputation as a talented student lies a psychologically twisted girl barely able to be kept contained. Thematically, the series dangles along threads of memory and connection and both of these characters are integral to these ideas.

As far as Gridman's production value is concerned, this is where the series really shows off its strengths. Distinct character designs and colour palette that never overwhelms a single scene, detailed backgrounds that give off an ominous sense of uncertainty, subtle edits to further keep the audience away from any settled feeling. Its animation is somewhat limited considering the number of stills used in Gridman but does utilize a significant amount of 3D animation in conjuction with 2D animation, and here is where opinions can get easily divisive. From the time of Gridman’s airing, anime still has a long way to go with improving CG animation to looking anywhere near as appealing as traditional-style animation, and when both styles are used in the same show, the consensus thought is that it comes off clunky, immersion-breaking and overall detrimental to the show visually. But Gridman stands as an exception to this, with the CG-animated fights coming across more reminiscent to that of tokusetsu battles. In this way, these action scenes give off a similar sense of scale of larger-than-life monsters duking it out, destroying vehicles and buildings as if they were mere toys. These moments also encapsulate what I feel are the best parts of SSSS.Gridman.

Whenever a Kaiju attacks and Gridman, the hero and giant ass-kicking robot enters the fray, everything regarding the purposeful directing fades out: the unsettling camera angles, the absence of music, the alienation – all of the uncanniness is annihilated for this moment courtesy of the triumphant emergence of the hero confronting the evil. All of the sudden the cameras move into action, the music blares out, frames are completely dominated by the two behemoths. It doesn’t last very long but for this moment we as viewers finally are at ease and it becomes a glorious release of pent-up emotion. Expert manipulation of the audience that while it may sound simple on paper, could only work under the guise of splendid filmmaking ability. And that, is where SSSS.Gridman truly shines.

SSSS.Gridman is a truly bizarre experience. After the monumentally disappointing Darling in the FranXX and the surprisingly worthwhile Planet With, this show completes the year’s holy trinity of super robot anime by being a confusing mixed bag that is a nightmare to discuss. While it doesn’t exactly go full Evangelion, there are still references to it as well as stylistic similarities between the two. However, there’s more to this peculiar anime than just being another run-of-the-mill mecha series.

First and foremost, this is both a tokusatsu and super robot anime. Sparing you the lengthy history of both concepts, it’s clear that the trappings of the two ... genres aren’t easy to deal with in contemporary anime—or any anime in the case of tokusatsu. Case in point: while reused animation is common in mecha series, they’re mainly utilized for robot transformations and special attacks. However, SSSS.Gridman goes as far as to rewind even non-action scenes, creating unnecessary repetition. Studio Trigger also decided to render the Gridman and its Kaiju foes using CGI, and the jarring blend between these 3D models and their 2D environment causes a serious case of the uncanny valley. Not helping matters is how these hulking titans continually swap between 2D and 3D, making everything they interact with --i.e. the road, the cars, the debris, etc.-- become a visual disaster. It’s a shame these graphical problems make the fights harder to follow given their cool choreography and sakuga moments.

The art style of this series is far from appealing. Aesthetically, the show is incredibly bland. The inconsistent animation can sometimes make the faces look like deformed potatoes, which are further accentuated by the uninspired character designs. The characters look incredibly plain apart from their vibrant eyes, and even the more appealing individuals such as Anti and Rikka seem lacking. Another problem is the awkward movements, specifically the hand and arm motions. Long story short, this show has a bunch of visual oddities that dampen the experience.

In spite of all the aforementioned problems, SSSS.Gridman has a striking direction. There are moments between fights that highlight a sense of discomfort and eerie quietness, similar to the atmospheric pauses in Evangelion. These scenes feel pretentious at times, but the clever framing of shots that illustrate the emotional distance of the characters makes them more engrossing than not. Film buffs might find this directing standard fare, but such a thing is noteworthy in the anime landscape. The dream sequences in episode nine are particularly fun to witness and showcase the creative talent of director Akira Amemiya.

S^4 Gridman heavily restrains its usage of background music. Most non-action scenes lack an accompanying soundtrack. You would think the absence of music makes their purpose more meaningful, but sadly this isn’t the case. Since the soundtracks aren’t utilized frequently, none of them are memorable as a result. However, there is one track that stood out: the opening theme “Union” by OxT. As an uplifting song, it works as a call to action that plays when the main cast is gaining the upper hand against their Kaiju opponents. The song doesn’t always mesh properly with the sequence since it’s sometimes too quiet, but when it does, be prepared for some epic moments. Sadly, all this can’t be said for the forgettable ending theme.

The cast of SSSS.Gridman is a mixed bag. For every character like Calibur, whose quirkiness comes from his silent, dorky attitude, we have someone boring like Yuta, our unremarkable protagonist. Most of the main characters, including the titular Gridman, are one-dimensional; the most interesting thing about them is their genuine interactions amongst each other. On the other hand, the three antagonists are highly fascinating. Akane is similar to a child trapped in her own sandbox video game world, twisted by her own influence, loneliness, and creations. One of these creations, Anti, is a foil to Gridman. He’s an overly serious edgelord so hell-bent on destroying Gridman that he ends up being hilariously awkward in social interactions. He would even pick fights with other Kaiju simply because of his desire to personally kill Gridman. As for Alexis, his voice and demeanor make him seem incredibly humorous and lackadaisical -- even as he shoves a buzzsaw to someone’s eye.

One irksome trait the cast share is their tendency to restrict themselves for no proper reason. For example, in episode three, Yuta, Calibur, and Gridman worry the others by disappearing after a Kaiju defeats them, only for them to be on standby the entire time. One could make the argument that rushing back into battle or retreating immediately would have tipped the Kaiju off, but they could have escaped after it left since they can just warp back to the shop.

All this segues perfectly into SSSS.Gridman’s obscure narrative. The mystery surrounding the show’s existentially horrifying world is unnerving in the sense that the narrative gradually becomes more destructive as secrets begin to unravel, a la FranXX. While I don’t feel the show crosses that line enough to destroy any investment I could possibly have --at least until episode 10-- there’s a fundamental aspect of the world-building that doesn’t strike me the right way.

Tiptoeing around spoilers, one of the major gimmicks of this show's world is that everyone’s memories of the dead are altered when a character dies at the hands of a Kaiju, or a Kaiju gets destroyed. With the exception of the surviving combatants, everyone’s mind starts to become hazy. It’s not quite on the level of Re:Zero where society begins to doubt the existence of certain individuals, but it’s still a frustrating gimmick that doesn’t entirely make sense. As such, the show’s convoluted narrative makes it difficult to recommend. The asspulls in the second half only adds to this problem.

Despite its various shortcomings, SSSS.Gridman is still an entertaining mecha anime. The fights are fun to watch, the banters between the characters are engaging, and the twisted hellhole of a world leaves viewers with much to ponder. Maybe I would have enjoyed this more if I’m familiar with the tokusatsu genre, but I doubt such knowledge would make this show any less difficult to unpack. It’s an enigmatic mixed bag that I am glad to have watched.



Oh, and on top of the Eva references, this show makes a Gurren Lagann reference, so there’s another link between the Gridman Planet With FranXX trio.


Written/Edited by: CodeBlazeFate
Proofread by: Peregrine
Edited by: Skittles

I went into SSSS Gridman with high expectations because outside of me being big fan Gainax/Trigger I wanted to see if Trigger its wounds after they got drill blasted by Darling in the Franxx by A1/Cloverworks that left a nasty wound which needed a lot of time to recover from. I actually thought the series would go back it's Little Witch Academia/Kill la Kill days where it a nice blend of style and substance. However, after watching all 12 episodes of this show subbed and the first 8 episodes dubbed I can definitely say that this is not Trigger as it's best. In fact, this ... is one of Trigger's weaker shows.

The word dull is honestly the best word to describe the story of SSSS Girdman. While it wasn't actually awful by any means it just so dull and at times uninteresting to follow. The series basically follows your classic monster of the week formula where set kaiju comes in to cause trouble in the city then they get defeated by Girdman and the series goes back to the status quo. Rinse and repeat.
Along with the show's monster/kaiju of the week formula, the series uses a certain plot device that I have grown to dislike over the years and that is Amnesia. If you don't know what Amnesia is then is basically a person who has no memory thanks to a certain event that caused him to lose memories and they essentially walking husks on screen until set character of set series gets they memory back. It is a plot device that essentially takes a big shit of the plot for set show as set show is literally forced to follow every amnesiac plot device possible and it's honestly tedious to watch.
SSSS Gridman is no different to this and as a result, the series was a chore to watch as we just see this our amnesia protagonist defeat Kanju left and right without a second thought.

When the show finally stops being this generic monster of the week in the last couples the series is being a boring God story with our main antagonist Akame and no surprise it's generic.
Finally, you can tell that Trigger was holding back/ I understand Trigger wanted to play itself after the disaster that was Darling in the Franxx but unfortunately there is a huge difference between playing itself and simply holding back for no reason and it really shows.

If there's any silver lining to SSSS Girdman to speak of it was the show is simply a fun throwback to not only the mecha anime genre from the past but the Tokusatsu genre as a whole. While I personally cannot get into the Tokusatsu genre myself, I will admit it genre has its appeal and anyone who is a fan of the Tokusatsu genre would probably have a good time with SSSS Girdman. It's such a shame the narrative isn't all that good to back it up.

The characters in SSSS Girdman were easily the weakest part of SSSS Girdman. They aren't terrible but they don't stand out all that much outside of a certain character trait for the most part.
Yuuta is your typical mecha/high school boy shounen protagonist that we all have seen before. Thanks to his amnesia in the narrative, he has no real personality to speak off. He doesn't grow as a character all that much and just simply a bore to watch. Even more boring than Katsuhira from Kiznaver.
Rikka started off as a decent character at first but she sadly devolved into a meme as the series progressed.
Shou is just there. He doesn't offer much to the story other to be a semi-useless sidekick for Yuuta.

The only slightly decent main character in the show is Akane as she has a decent motivation of killing all the Girdman. I really enjoyed how after she had peeled her cute face as she turned into a proper psycho. She was the most entertaining thing about this mediocre series.
The rest of the characters are just there. They not terrible but they not memorable as well.

Compared to the unpolished Trigger+ Cloverworks that was Darling in the Franxx the visuals in SSSS were pretty appealing for the most part.
The characters deigns are very distant and pretty to look at thanks to the beautiful smooth colour palette that was used to colour each character, Kanj and Gridman mecha itself which was nicely designed. The background scenery was well drawn as it had a lot of detail.
The animation was pretty solid for what it was however at the time it got a bit choppy in certain fights least it's not as bad as Franxx second half although the CGI itself could have been a lot better as it was janky at times.

The soundtrack is alright for what it is but not that memorable.
The opening and ending themes were decent but nothing too special.
As for sub vs dub well, this was a tricky one because I only saw the last 2 episodes subbed as I mainly watched this show dubbed and it was great and it manages to surpass the sub which was already pretty good on its own. The voice actors really did an excellent job with the roles they were given as it was well acted and nicely directed.

I really wanted to like SSSS Girdman I really do, but the series was ultimately average at best and underwhelming at worst. The story is for the most part boring, the characters are as interesting as eating eggs with no salt and the show overall lacked energy.  The only things that were good about this show were the visuals, soundtrack and the English dub everything else is mediocre at best. 

Unless you're into the Tokusatsu genre I cannot recommend this show to people especially who are Trigger fans such as myself.
You're honestly better watching Planet With or King of Braves series over this.

Better luck next time Trigger.

Gridman is one of those shows that tries to do a lot of things at once, and fails in all of them.

The show is a reboot of the homonymous tokusatsu from the 90s. It has lots of similarities to it and tries to be a lot more ambitious at what it’s about. It’s definitely better in terms of themes and presentation, since the creators had the liberty to do a lot more with animation than what the low budget live action could allow them. It’s a shame they didn’t make it fun. And by fun I mean the battles not being exciting. They are fairly ... basic in choreography, short, and mostly predictable. Action is the main attraction of these types of shows and Gridman is not particularly good at it. They made the monsters move like people in rubber suits despite being fully CGI, but that is again nothing more than homage and not something that improves the battles.

The show also tries to be homage to tokusatsu in general while smiling at the camera, as if it tells you it’s self-aware. For example, any buildings that get destroyed by the monsters are instantly repaired. That is what was supposed to be happening off screen in all tokusatsu. It doesn’t improve the show in any particular way. It makes it more self aware to its silliness but it also ruins the tension and can be very immersion breaking for the same reason.

It also tries to double down on the homage and have a meta-commentary on the escapism nature of technology. Despite the buildings getting repaired, the same does not happen for the people who get killed. They stay dead and even disappear from the memories of the living. It sounds very creepy when described that way, but it has little to no impact when nobody seems to be bothered by it. The population of the city is literally seeing giant monsters being frozen in the distance and everyone runs away to save their hides on a daily basis, but life is otherwise exactly the same as it would be if there weren’t monster attacks.

The characterization is not much better for the major characters. It’s very bland and even eye-rolling when you have to suspend your disbelief with what they are doing all the time. Yuta for example is a cookie cutter boy scout type of protagonist, suffering from amnesia and the one who has to fight the monsters with no motivation other than to protect his friends. Gah! More generally speaking, male characters are defined by a single trait (usually an emotion or an ideal) while females have the camera constantly ogling all over their feet and thighs.

Down to it, Gridman is not a good tokusatsu. You can still appreciate the visual directing, which is stuffed with easter eggs of the previous version, the genre as whole, and even a few shot-by-shot recreations of Neon Genesis scenes. It’s all about the meta than the actual in-story experience. And even then, it’s not very successful, since the only thing most people remember from this show is Rikka’s thighs.

This anime is inspired by Ultraman, And its the reason the animation of Gridman and Kaiju looks shit and slow because they want to follow the same fighting style of Ultraman which is to be honest kinda stupid and i wish they just go with fluent animation.
The story is pathetic even a child can write a Ultraman fan fiction such as like this.
The art is good, the sound is also good and then lets get to the first reason why i decided to watch this anime *takes a deep breath* The waifus, the character design is very good especially Rikka the best waifu ... in this anime *THICC*
Its kinda boring cause fights like this only like a couple of minutes with little action predictable outcome like how gridman/ultraman get defeated first and when there light is flashing (indicating they are at their limit) then win it because they awaken some bullshit power.

Overall its a shit anime with good waifus, Its a bad anime "yes" but does it mean u cant enjoy "no". Its funny to see how bad the anime is and thats wht this anime slightly watchable

This is the height of mediocrity and confusion. The characters are boring. The plot is confusing. The art is nice. The music is okay. The animation is okay.

Every single one of them were uninteresting, the only thing I can remember was their pretty designs, there was little exceptional about them, their chemistry non-existent and "FRIENDSHIP" was painful to sit through even though in the end they [potential spoiler] actually defeated the main shadow villain with the power of their friendship, yes, really.[potential spoiler ends].

Even the villain, who's motivations is flimsy and inexplicable because it is coupled with the confusing plot, one really has ... no idea what the villain is. Human, God, Dreaming? What? It doesn't matter but I thought there was some other huge twist coming at the end but turns out that was all and I was like suppose to know the settings on my own already. The only thing that carried the series forward is the character design and the anticipation of a twist that never came. And that was the other reason I watched it for.

It is really excruciating as there was a clear buildup for a twist but the multiple twists are so absolutely nonsensical because the settings itself is unexplained and it really has no effect on the overall story.

There is also this theme about Grid and computers, and Hyper World, blah, blah, blah, but it is again, unexplained. I would assume probably because this was based on an old TV series from the 90s, this is like a spiritual sequel and you are just supposed to know what it's about? I don't see why they can't explain the settings either for new watchers because that was the only thing I can wonder about as the plot trots forward confusingly.

It's a confusing mess. I thought it was going to get better because of how little they explained at the start and how there were so many random things going on in the city, I thought there were going to be hints littered around about the settings here and there, but no, there was fucking nothing. The settings remained unexplained, and the twist was something that happened within the settings.

It's mediocre. I want to call it bad but the design, music, art, and animation elevates this a lot. So, I suppose it is just mediocre.

You know, at some point we’re really going to have to retire the meme of Studio Trigger supposedly “saving” anime every time it puts out a production. Yes, I was as blown away by Kill la Kill as everyone else, and the studio’s resolute embrace of the creative, freeform ethos of classic anime (especially its roots in the Gainax style of aesthetic as narrative) makes it arguably the strongest keeper of anime’s history today. But just because its creative process is steeped in tradition and it’s one of the few animation houses regularly putting out original works at a far higher rate than adaptations doesn’t ... make it the best or most important studio, and it certainly doesn’t give it the exclusive keys to anime’s future. Lest we forget, the year that Kill la Kill supposedly saved anime for the first time was the same year that Attack on Titan blew the medium’s relative profile into the stratosphere like never before, easily eclipsing any negligible impact Ryuko and Senketsu had on the broader popular culture. Trigger is a studio like any other, as capable of succeeding or failing as the likes of Bones, Madhouse, A1 Pictures, Production IG, and all the rest. Perhaps it may at one point in the future create a story worthy of this hyperbolic praise, something that truly changes the anime landscape for the better as opposed to just helping carve out its own little eclectic niche. But it isn’t going to be this year, and it isn’t going to be with SSSS.Gridman.

SSSS.Gridman is a particularly difficult show to talk about, because it’s a show where the long con of figuring out exactly what you’ve gotten yourself into is very much part of the point, and it’s nearly impossible to get into the details of what that entails without slipping into spoiler territory. From the first episode, it’s clear that there’s a far bigger picture at play than what we’re immediately made aware of, and it asks us to stick with it as it slowly lays all its cards down on the table. Yuta Hibiki wakes up with no memories of who he used to be, in a city where giant kaiju are part of the skyline. In absence of answers, he tries to fit normally back into his daily life, going to school and reconnecting with his friends. But it quickly becomes apparent that there is trouble afoot: kaiju have begun materializing within the city to wreak havoc, and the only one who can stop them is Gridman, a classic tokusatsu-style giant robot who Yuta is somehow able to connect with through a broken-down computer. Thus, it’s off to the races as Yuta and his friends tackle a series of weekly invasions by giant monsters, and the show only lets you get comfortable with that monster-of-the-week dynamic long enough to yank it out from under you as it starts pulling the mask off and revealing what it’s really about.

I won’t get into any explicit spoilers, but safe to say there is a lot going on underneath the surface here, a sprawling network of ideas and themes weaving in and out of each other connecting to what exactly the kaiju are, where they’re coming from, and what it even means to be fighting them. There are a million different ideas bouncing around, a million little details hinting at the big picture lurking just beyond the horizon... and in a way, that ends up doing more harm than good. The show demands a lot of trust from you as its setting up its dominoes, giving you little teases of its master plan to keep you invested in finding out the truth. But it runs into an issue that a lot of similar puzzle-box narratives run into: it isn’t quite sure how to keep things engaging while it’s still teasing out all the details. The early few episodes of this show are honestly kind of uninteresting once the initial intrigue of the premise wears off; neither Yuta nor either of his friends are interesting enough on their own to wring real dramatic stakes out of, nor memorable enough personalities to coast by on the strength of their banter and interactions. In absence of finding any truly interesting directions to take them in, we’re pretty much just stalling for time until the show can get where it’s going and give something of substance to get attached too. And even by the end, none of these characters end being textured or engaging enough to warrant hanging the story off of them.

But therein lies the clever little trick that clicks into place once Gridman finally stops playing coy; this isn’t actually the story of three kids using a giant robot to fight giant monsters. Again without getting too spoiler-y, it’s actually the story of their opponent, the person making the kaiju in the first place. And while the Gridman Alliance, as they come to call themselves, don’t have that much going on, the story of their classmate Akane Shinjo (who is revealed to be the kaiju’s creator in the second episode, so that’s not much of a spoiler) ends up packing some real goddamn punch. It’s in her that Gridman reveals its true game plan, and the result is a fascinating, almost abstract at times exploration of the human psyche that feels like a truer successor to Evangelion’s crown of philosophical robot-punching than pretty much every other pretender to the throne that’s cropped up in the past two decades. Not many stories I’ve seen have pulled off the “antagonist is actually the protagonist” switcharoo as well as this one does, and I just wish the show trusted itself enough not to leave that thread dangling for so long without much of interest to pass the time until it was ready to reveal its hand. The resonance of the later episodes really does end up throwing the emptiness of the early episodes into even greater relief; there really had to be a more efficient way to sneak in this genuinely great story without making the hook to its eventual reveal so lacking.

It’s a damn good thing, then, that the production as a whole does its best to make up the difference and keep the proceedings from slipping into outright boredom while the story is still hemming and hawing en route to its destination. The Evangelion comparison I made earlier wasn’t just for lack of a more original comparison point; Gridman’s direction really does call back to it, using a lot of atypical shot compositions and heavily moody, off-kilter editing to leave you in a constant sense of unease. This is a show where there’s always something important happening on screen, always an important piece of information being conveyed by the cinematic language, and it helps keep your eyes glued to the screen lest you miss something important. And when the action kicks up for the big kauji battles, Trigger’s willingness to push boundaries truly shines through; this might genuinely be some of the best CG I’ve seen in an otherwise traditionally animated show, using the medium’s unique properties to give its titanic combatants a real sense of weight and momentum. You can tell how much love Gridman has for the tokusatsu series that inspired it; almost any one of these battles could easily be recreated by a pair of actors in rubber suits, save for the chaotic whirlwind of cool-ass street debris these lumbering titans kick up with every step.

But I think this show’s real secret weapon is its cast; where the writing leaves Yuta and his friends distressingly bland, their voice actors do a hell of a job wrangling some genuine depth into their empty shells. Relative newcomer Yume Miyamoto, in particular, is really goddamn fantastic as Yuta’s friend Rikka Tarakada, capturing a kind of lived-in, weary teenage authenticity that feels as immediately star-making as Tomoyo Kurosawa’s similarly grounded turn as Kumiko Oumae in Sound Euphonium. Ditto Reina Ueada as Akane, delivering a performance that feels like emotional razor wire bleeding itself raw in poignant gashes. Forget the discussion around thicc thighs and big breasts that’s dominated the conversation surrounding this show; these two ladies’ best assets are the stirring power of their voices, a glimpse of the beating heart that I wish we could’ve seen more of. I wanted this entire story to be as good as when these two interact. I wanted every character feel as genuine as the connection built just through their performances. Gridman had the potential to be not just good, not just great, but genuinely special in a way that might have actually earned the “saving anime” moniker. And against all that, having to just settle for “good” feels like a waste.

And yet, Gridman is still good. It’s lumpy and lopsided and takes far too long to get to the point, but once it gets there, the result is really kickass, really touching, and really goddamn powerful. The journey absolutely has its rough spots, but the destination is well worth it.

It's the first time I write a review on MAL, so please forgive my eventual naivety. I will be as honest and clear as possible.
I'm finding extremely hard to decide if I'm enjoying this show or not.
It has some really strong points: it's beautifully crafted, pleasing to the senses. Even the apparent junkiness of the 3D animation has its charme. The main theme is catchy enough, and the OST does a good job overall, even though it doesn't really shine.
Gridman isn't just well presented, it's a homage to the tokusatsu genre, and it does it well. The tropes are there, from the repeated transformation scenes ... to the episodic cadence of new enemies to defeat.
The issues are the characters and, most importantly, the story.
Some characters have their moments, but they're mostly generic, and the only things keeping them from being completely flat are a few recurring gags. There is very little in terms of development and they don't feel human at all. They try from time to time, but any attempt at sentimentalism ends up feeling underdeveloped at best, affected at worst.
"Underdeveloped" may very well be the keyword when it comes to describing the show's shortcomings.
The story hints from the very beginning at some hidden mistery, it makes you feel like something is wrong and needs an explanation, it makes you want an explanation, but when the revelations come they feel arbitrary, abstract, disjointed. It's a story where anything can happen without a proper reason, and we're asked to simply accept whatever it tells us. Some themes are potentially interesting, but they're never properly developed in a cohesive and logical storytelling. This has left me with a feeling of estrangement, and I couldn't really connect with the shallow characters or the incongruous storytelling, despite its potential.
SSSS.Gridman can still be an enjoyable show, if seen as a love letter to the kaiju genre. Just set your expectations right.

WARNING: This review does contain spoilers

SSSS Gridman is a fun, short mecha show that has a good amount of flaws but is still enjoyable. It’s more directed towards fans of older super robot or tokusatsu shows, but it’s a fine watch even for people who aren’t into that stuff.

--STORY—
Gridman’s story is both fairly standard, and goes for some unique stuff here and there. Pacing is solid enough, and I don’t particularly have any qualms with it. The first half is mostly your average monster of the week toku style show with Gridman getting to show off its various forms, and you get some slight ... plot development but nothing major. The 2nd half actually starts to get interesting, but I wouldn’t call it anything amazing. I like the concept of a god trying to make their own ideal world, and not being able to control it as it steadily falls apart and even entraps them before being saved by the very creations she toyed with. The actual execution of the concept isn’t particularly great or anything, but it does the job well enough. Seeing the characters try to find out the mystery behind the world and what is even going on is mostly engaging, but I can’t lie and say I wasn’t more interested in the actual fights/action most of the time. Though the main reason I find it hard to stay engaged is the characters, and speaking of…

--CHARACTERS—
The protag characters are quite frankly boring. The character designs themselves feel average, and the only somewhat cool designs are the Neon Genesis squad peeps however there are wasted on fairly one dimensional characters. The main trio themselves get good enough growth, but I wouldn’t call it compelling or anything.
On the flipside however, the antags were actually quite enjoyable. Anti’s growth from basically being an animal made human, to his own individual who decides what he wants to do beyond just fighting Gridman is nice to see. Alexis is quite enjoyable since what he lacks in depth, he makes up for in an entertaining personality. Akane in particular was a really great antagonist, and her close relations to the cast made for a great catalyst for her growth. Overall, she easily has the best growth of any character in the show, and while I’m not too fond of her basically being forgiven in the end despite the numerous people she killed…I mean what is anyone gonna do lol. It’s implied she can be killed in the world, but considering Akane seems to be a real life girl who retreated into her own world instead of facing reality head on I just wonder.
I’ll make one last note saying I do like the rather natural dialogue. There are pauses in conversation, normal reactions, etc. It works well, but it would’ve worked much better if I didn’t find the cast mostly boring.

--ANIMATION/ART--
I honestly don’t really have any problem with the 2d animation of Gridman. I could be extremely nitpicky and maybe point out a few examples where the animation had some QUALITY going on, but it’s pretty consistently great. Most of the backgrounds are quite pleasant to look at. I’d say my biggest issue is the cgi animation. I don’t have too high expectations when it comes to cgi mecha action admittedly, but here it can just come off as jarring. I can’t really complain about the large reuse of stock footage as that is the norm for this genre, but what I can say is that a bunch of very clearly cgi buildings and cars coming towards the screen does take one out of the experience. It’s a shame too since there are sometimes great 2d shots of Gridman, and the final battle is nearly entirely 2d animation and is beautiful to look at. In the end though, the cgi animation is “good enough to work, and there are some great action moments trickled across the series.

--SOUND—
Gridman’s music is pretty good. The OP is very catchy. I would’ve preferred maybe a slightly larger amount of songs to listen to during scenes, but it does the job. The actual ambience and sound effects during the silent, convo focused moments are great. I watched dub for this, and all the actors did a great job on their performances. They were able to do reserved, emotional, and intense scenes all well. Akane, Alexis, and Max’s va’s in particular were my favorite.

--Enjoyment—
Despite my flaws with Gridman, it’s still a nice modern mecha show to watch. If it was any longer I might have more complaints, but the ep count is just about perfect. Watch it if you enjoy old mecha, tokusatsu, or just some good Trigger mecha. Dynazenon has now started, and while there’s only 2 eps out I’d say it improves on problems I had with Gridman already.

No Spoilers*

First off to give you a basis I watched the whole series on different nights and every single night I was Drunk so my opinion is based vaguely off what I remember.


Story: I had`nt watched anything from the original series so I honestly didn`t know anything of the story, But I think it could have been better if they made it into a 24 ep series. Toward the last couple episodes certain aspects of their setting/world just isnt properly explained well enough for my satisfaction.
But I do have to say the story is interesting and kept me on edge.

Animation: Before watching ... I had my doubts in CGI, But in my opinion it looks awesome and they did a great job.

Soundtrack: there doesnt seem anything that really stands out to execpt the intro which is pretty good.

Characters: so some of the characters motives don`t make sense, But lets be honest Rikka is the best anime girl of 2018 lets go!!!!

Overall: I gave it a 6/10 which doesn't make any sense due to my aspects I reviewed, But No Spoilers the ending didnt satisfy and I`ll leave it that to anyone who still hasn`t watched this.

I would still recommend it though thank you for reading

Watch my Drunk Review videos on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnQgUunFHoK8PyuVPvlVL8Q

This is going to be short and concise. May include spoilers.

SSSS. Gridman would be a much better anime if it wasn't a mecha. Simple and clear. The plot and characters, if giant robots and transformers were excluded, would have shone more. I'm not implying I don't like mecha anime, if I did I wouldn't have even started watching Gridman. I just feel like the robot fights are so out of the blue, and it could be replaced with another kind of plot, like a mind/time-controlling power held by Shinjo.

Also Yuta, being the main character, is even simpler than some secondary characters. How so?

One ... aspect I really liked about this show is its animation. You'll say: what? It's not even that good. Indeed! But it creates some kind of soft and warm atmosphere around the city and the places where the story develops. I love the scenery, even if the quality isn't the best.

To sum up, what I'm enjoying (and think I'll enjoy) the most, are the parts of the episodes where relationships between characters (which are pretty bland anyway) are formed, and I rather skip the robot fights.

It's an anime version of the ultraman/power ranger type of Japanese live-action show that used to be popular. I used to like them as a mindless kid but they are rather cringe-inducing as an adult. It's B-movie cheesy-ness is an acquired taste. But like a lot of weird or fantastical styles of entertainment, it can become much more bearable in a less realistic medium such as anime. There is no guy struggling under an unwieldy monster suit or dorky ultraman costume, no toy guns or low budget effects, and no distorted facial expressions from actors trying to ham it up. The campiness is still there, ... but you can focus on the more enjoyable aspects, like the monster and mecha designs and transformations, the fighting, and of course the explosions and ultrabeams. It's not too serious and has it's own quirky comedy.

Until of course halfway through the series they decide to ruin the flow by introducing a whole bunch of crammed in, manufactured angst, existentialism, and drama. Not only do they have references to Neon Genesis Evangelion (a previous gainax/trigger anime), they are literally ripping the playbook from it scene by scene. Eery silence punctured by cicadas. Loud ambient noise of trains. Flashing traffic lights. Slow pans of characters laying in bed listening to music while deep in thought. Mumbling, half-baked conversations littered with confusion and trailing, abstract thought. All it's missing is the game of scrabble with bible references.

They also run wild with the weak-willed, ground-staring, passive Japanese stereotype. The villain gets away with murder, hundreds if not thousands dead or wiped out of existence, without so much as a hand raised in opposition. Even an in-person stabbing of the MC yields no reaction from the dozen characters standing around, some carrying swords and knives, and the villain just waltzes out. This passivity and hesitancy extends to any and all meaningful dialogue and actions. A giant monster is rampaging and the MC is running out the door because no way is he going to let them die, but then his friend tells him to wait, mumbles about something frivolous, people die in the meantime, and then the MC goes nonchalantly back to his hero work. You wonder how ER doctors in this world even perform operations. There's a car accident. A man is rushed in. His head is hemorrhaging profusely. The doctor starts to stabilize the patient, but his colleague suddenly starts mumbling, "eeto, eeto, ano, that thing I said yesterday. I mean, I'm not sure...but. It might be something, I'm not sure how to say this, possibly, could be, didn't really mean to, but maybe, you might understand, but I didn't mean to, truly, say it in that way, but just, hope that it wasn't misconstrued in such a manner, but was actually what I really wanted to say, or that's what I think I wanted to say but am unsure." A loud persistent beep is heard as the patient flatlines, because it would be rude otherwise to interrupt someone in the middle of them bearing their very confused soul out to you.

Either stick with the light-hearted campiness and one-dimensional characters or properly build a convincing narrative with genuine character development. Don't shoehorn a convoluted, pretentious plot at the tail end and spin your characters into something they aren't.

The animation is high quality and especially the mecha and monster fights have all the bells and whistles of 3D cel-shaded action without the awfulness of looking like inanimate video game models. It starts bogging down later on though, as you see some of the same canned animations more than once and some of the cheap canned explosions are used to cover up the screen and save the animation budget. There's even a deja vu episode that is nothing but reused assets from the first episode, as if the NGE influence wasn't beaten enough to death. As well as the sound, following NGE, is mostly ambient noise. There are some short, unremarkable tracks during initial fight encounters, and the victory theme is just the opening theme and gets grating fast.

Essentially, SSSS.Gridman is a "monster of the week" format mecha anime, with a bit of a curve ball for the overall plot. This is something that I would only recommend to fans of mecha, trigger, or CG, and probably won't be something that I would consider re-watching. I had to give this show a 6 for a few reasons, but I would have given it a 6.5 if there was the option.

The opening theme by Oxt is a complete ear worm with a filthy bass line. The soundtrack wasn't too shabby either.

The CG was goofy in my opinion, but if CG decreases a project's production ... costs enough for it to get made, then its not such a terrible compromise. Good animation, especially the backgrounds, apart from the CG.

This anime was a bit over the top, and was very reminiscent of Tenga Toppa Gurren Laggan for that reason. (They even referenced/copied the drill break and Kamina's sunglasses.) I wish they didn't call out attack names constantly, but it wouldn't have been the same without that.

The Kaiju/gridman's design felt a little underwhelming, especially considering the series is an original and not trying to remain faithful to the source material or anything. Gridman's style definitely borrowed a little too heavily from Gundam.

The show's concept was interesting and pretty original, as far as I know, and sacrificed being well explained for the sake of not over-explaining things to death.

Voice acting/casting and character design were well done. I can usually find at least one character that irritates me to no end in every anime, but the characters in Gridman were mostly reasonable.

The pacing was consistent, and with only 12 episodes, this is a quick watch.

I'll keep this short and sweet...

This anime is for the fans of the genre ONLY, it's basically a big homage to all those Sentai and Ultraman type TV shows, don't know either? Think "Power Rangers" (if that doesn't ring a bell I don't know what will).

Unfortunately it's nothing more than that, this is still studio Trigger so animation is on point and it's a pretty eye candy, but that's it. The story brings nothing new to the table. Bonus points for extra thiccness though...


tl:dr (really mate?) If you're not a fan of the sentai genre, I'd advise to save yourself some time and watch ... something else.

Just let me say, dang! I'm not sure what I think of that anime. It was good, but half the time it felt like a kid anime, but with ecch (I don't like ecch). It feels like this gets real psychological, but i can't be for sure if i'ts just us weebs reading into things.

Story:
The story was pretty good especially with the little twist they have in it, but i think it could have been way better.

Art:
Beautiful. I love how they came up with a new style for this anime, just wish it wasn't so ecchi.

Characters:
They made pretty good characters . The character development ... was there.

Oh, if you watch this,, be sure to check out a review so you can get the psychological aspects to it.

SSSS Gridman is mediocre. The main cast is forgettable to the point that I just don't know their names after 11 episodes, aside from Akane. The battle scenes are littered with reused assets and a hefty amount of CG, leading to them all feeling 'same-y' and ending up often downright boring. Although the action is the worst part of the show, the dialogue and story feels lackluster and mediocre. There's course-correction later on with a Haruhi-esque twist, but with a completely forgettable main cast it just runs completely out of steam and falls more or less on its face.

The art direction for everything but the ... battle scenes is superb. The anime comes off as almost 'your name' esque in places, with a very interesting aesthetic to the city and with shots of our characters. Some battles are good.

I see very little potential in the coming episodes, but there might be a chance with Akane's character.

As is, it's essentially mediocre.

Something about SSSS.Gridman just feels eerily incomplete. That's a given since the show hasn't finished airing, but it's an impression that comes across loud and clear, whether purposefully or not.

To preface for anyone considering watching, SSSS.Gridman isn't a mecha anime like Code Geass, Gurren Lagann, or Trigger's recent Darling in the Franxx. Rather than the steady, continuous narrative that these series build up, SSSS.Gridman has a distinctly episodic feel in structure, like the original Gridman, or shows like Ultraman or Power Rangers. There's a consistency to each episode that you'll soon get used to, with various flavor of the day monsters/Kaiju appearing just ... like the shows of old. But oddly enough, the show's main draw is the plot outside these confrontations, which moves unrelentingly forward with new discoveries, and unexpected developments, and that's what's causing this feeling of disconnect.

We know what usually happens. As great as watching throwback fights with weird monsters is, older shows like Ultraman are nothing if not consistent in execution. But SSSS.Gridman feels like it's hinting at more from the very start, that it's more than meets the eye if you just stay tuned and keep watching. Unlike any of the shows mentioned above, which are unabashedly themselves from the get go, SSSS.Gridman feels like there's always more. That there's some secret just around the corner that will show you SSSS.Gridman's true colors. Whether you think you'll like that is the deciding factor in whether you should give it a watch.

Otherwise the show's art is sharp, but static. Characters and scenes feel well drawn and distinctive, but there's a noticeable lack of animation or movment in many scenes. You won't be getting that sweet, sweet sakuga if that's what you're after. The rest of the SSSS.Gridman also doesn't feel particularly good or bad, with a decent score, and fight scenes that you may have mixed feelings about.

If you're into mecha fusions, fights against CGI'd monsters in a big city backdrop then by all means, look no further. But the real focus of the show seems to be outside of its daily monster mash and more on setting up a string of mysteries, reveals, twists and turns. Will it payoff? We'll have to see.

Perhaps I should have watched the orginal before this.

The neon genesis quotes were what I enjoyed most about this show and reminded me that I could have been watching that instead. I'm not a big Mecca fan but thought I'd try one again after many years and I picked this one. You can tell where they took inspiration from neon genesis for certain scenes and that's about the hight of it. There is very little explanation of the world gridman and co come from and why they are fighting the. . . Aliens? Some of the fight scenes are great and that is ... where the show shines most. Story, characters and everything else is very bog standard and not very memorable. It got a bit more interesting towards the end but not enough to make it a good show.

Watch neon genesis instead or code geass of you want decent Mecca and good characters

5/10 final score.

SSSS.Gridman is so focused on delivering homages to the mecha genre and tokusatsu that director Akira Amemiya so clearly loves, that at times it risks tipping over the precipice and becoming purely derivative. Arguably it does do so at various points.

And yet while so much here is plainly unoriginal, there's enough that genuinely is to save the whole thing from disaster. The plot has its twists, though mostly they're delivered gradually and without any big reveal moment, so they lack a certain punch to them. Nevertheless, they're there and they had a certain complexity to a story that could have easily fallen into a ... purely episodic, monster-of-the-week nostalgia-fest.

There's a lot of corny, cringe-worthy material here, that seemingly belongs to a more innocent age, but this is somewhat mitigated by the winking, self-awareness of the writing - not a guaranteed save, but we can at least appreciate that thought went into this aspect. I suspect some of this might add to the whole thing for those with a deeper and longer running familiarity with the genre conventions being displayed here than I do, but it certainly didn't derail the whole thing for me.

What's done very well is the start, which manages to be moody and atmospheric, with compelling visuals. Sadly this stylistic standard isn't maintained. I'm aware of some who have criticised the first episode for being slow, but to my mind it was one of the better entries with its pacing meaning I cared more about these characters more by the time buildings started getting smashed up in robot vs kaiju fights.

There are other times too, later on that the show isn't afraid to slow down and build on its characters and the end result is a main villain who feels a lot more fleshed out and human than most. It does this just as I was on the verge of giving up on the show for its repetitive, seemingly low-stakes action sequences in the series' first half.

Indeed, whilst some elements of the climax will leave many less than satisfied, if not downright disappointed, in general the back end up these twelve episodes is stronger than the front.

I must say, many of the action sequences felt entirely generic and I often grew bored during them, which may be a problem for a show that is ostensibly about these big fights, but there's enough on the side that the overall product still manages to be entertaining.

Ultimately, though, I probably would have given this a 5 rating, but it gets an extra point for Rikka Takarada's thighs. They are indeed thicc. And let's face it, a good deal of the viewers are just in it for the thighs.

I came here for the thigh meme but was dissapointed to see that it actually didn't exist in the anime itself. Sad life...

No but seriously, i enjoyed the simplisity of the anime and the fact that i didn't have to really pay attention to everything that was going on.

If you ever just want to take a break and relax without having to think at all, this could be a path you could take. It gives of a nostalgi feeling too if that's whqt you're looking for.

Don't expect too much from it for it doesn't really have some deep meaning or story going on. The characters ... themselves are also a little generic and forgettable.