It’s wonderful to see what Gridman has turn out to be. Due to Studio Set off’s SSSS.Gridman and SSSS.Dynazenon, we’ve had a franchise revival that’s a love letter to its origins as a 90s tokusatsu collection (Gridman the Hyper Agent) whereas telling new and attention-grabbing tales. As somebody who beloved Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad as a child (and at all times feels somewhat giddy on the inclusion of “SSSS” in Set off’s anime titles), it feels nice. So after all I’d wish to see the most recent film, Gridman Universe, which promised from the begin to convey collectively the characters of each SSSS collection.
I needed to marvel about one problem, nevertheless: Whereas SSSS.Dynazeon is a “sequel,” it was by no means clear how precisely the 2 collection join. Actually, the finale of SSSS.Gridman makes totally reconciling it with different works appear unimaginable. Nicely, the film does deal with this discrepancy, and the answer is each apparent in hindsight whereas nonetheless being pretty elegant, nevertheless it’s in the end a much less vital issue.
Gridman Universe is a compelling work whose success has little to do with concerns for “canon” and “lore.” Actually, it nearly completely eschews these parts. Relatively than concentrate on them, it foregrounds three facets particularly which have turn out to be the soul of the franchise in more moderen occasions. First, there’s the characters, whose tales of therapeutic are bolstered by how pure they really feel, to the purpose that they generally don’t sound like anime characters. Second, there’s the sense of play that comes from its tokusatsu roots: infinite transformations and superior combat scenes, but in addition being automobiles for creativeness and marvel. Third, there’s the Gridman identify itself as an idea, model, and supply of nostalgia.
The film begins with two of the characters making an attempt to put in writing a play for his or her college pageant about Gridman. Takarada Rikka and Utsumi Sho are the the one ones left who keep in mind the occasions of SSSS.Gridman—specifically that monsters saved attacking town, solely to be defeated by the enormous hero Gridman, and that collection antagonist Shinjo Akane was truly an IRL human who created their very world as a option to take care of private trauma. Rikka desires greater than something to inform everybody about Akane, whereas Sho is a tokusatsu fanboy who prioritizes monster combating and funky motion. In that distinction alone, the primary two facets of Gridman are evident. The issue is that their classmates hold rejecting their scripts as a result of they assume it’s too unrealistic and far-fetched, notably the story of Akane because the forgotten “god” of their world.
The third aspect comes into the highlight by means of the character Hibiki Yuta, the very man who merges with the entity generally known as Gridman to combat. Regardless of being the “hero,” he has no reminiscences of what transpired, and solely is aware of as a result of Rikka and Sho have instructed him. This film is definitely the primary time we actually see Yuta’s true character, as a result of the ending of SSSS.Gridman reveals that Gridman had truly taken over Yuta’s physique throughout that point. His personal story includes not solely making an attempt to admit his emotions for Akane that have been delayed attributable to that amnesia, however making an attempt to see if his significance was diminished to simply being a vessel for Gridman.
When the monsters begin attacking once more, Gridman returns, adopted by Dynazenon characters and extra as worlds collide. These occasions all contribute to the push-and-pull that exists between the characters’ objectives for his or her play and in Gridman Universe as a complete. Not solely does having everybody collectively imply extra alternatives to see cool crossover moments, however paths speak in confidence to deal with unresolved feelings of all types, see how the forged of 1 present responds to the character dynamics within the different, and even usher in sudden figures and divulges whose presences take the movie even additional into the territory of meta-commentary about what’s vital to the factor we name Gridman.
There’s a second within the movie that I believe speaks to the core of Studio Set off’s Gridman works, the place a villain talks about understanding every part that the heroes are able to, and may thus predict every part they do with ease. The heroes reply by mainly simply devising random new concepts on the spot, making an attempt out each totally different mixture sequence they’ll consider, as in the event that they’re the toys of children who’re taking part in fake and simply making stuff up as they go alongside. Whereas this scene most clearly connects to the tokusatsu aspect, it additionally carries the drama and the model by being the end result of Rikka’s hopes and Yuta’s self-reflection.
I truly had an opportunity to observe Gridman Universe just a few years in the past, however I wasn’t in a position to. Whereas I want the wait hadn’t been fairly so lengthy, I’m glad that it’s accessible to observe now. Gridman Universe is a superb film that merges many seemingly disparate elements right into a harmonious entire that actually encourages viewers to consider how they interact with their favourite works, all whereas celebrating the straightforward enjoyable and creativity that comes from the franchise itself, the creators who assist convey it to life, and the followers who elevate it.
