SSSS.Gridman is an anime TV series adaptation of the 90’s
live-action tokusatsu TV series Gridman
the Hyper Agent. The “SSSS” in the
title is a reference to Superhuman
Samurai Syber-Squad, the 90’s American TV series that used footage of the original
show (similar to how Power Rangers used
footage of Super Sentai), although it’s
revealed in the end that it also specifically means to the anime as “Special
Signature to Save a Soul.” The
12-episode series is a collaboration between Tsuburaya Productions, the studio
of the original show as well as the various Ultraman
series, and Studio Trigger.
The plot follows Yuta Hibiki, a
first-year high school student who wakes up one day without any memories. He also begins to see figures of kaiju
towering over the city, which others around can’t see. Soon, he meets Hyper Agent Gridman through an
old computer, i.e. Junk, who tells him that he has a mission to fulfill. When kaiju monsters begin regularly attacking
the city – this time, something which other people can see – Yuta merges with
Gridman to fight them.
Assisting Yuta and Gridman are his classmates
Sho Utsumi, a huge tokusatsu fan boy, and Rikka Takarada, whose mother’s
junk shop houses Junk and serves as their base; along with the Neon Genesis
Junior High Students (NGJHS) – the quartet of Samurai Calibur, Max, Borr, and
Vit – youths in black uniforms who can transform into weapons/vehicles to support or combine with Gridman during battles.
Utsumi names their group “The Gridman Alliance.”
Strangely, each time Gridman
beats a kaiju, the memories of everyone in the city – save for the Gridman
Alliance – get erased, and the damaged structures revert back to normal, as if
nothing happened. Meanwhile, people who
are killed by the kaiju are retcon out of existence. Later, it’s revealed that, through the help
of an “alien” named Alexis Kerin, their popular classmate Akane Shinjo is the one
creating the kaiju so she can get rid of the people she dislikes.
SSSS.Gridman caught my attention immediately after it debuted
because I had never seen the tokusatsu formula fully applied on anime
before. I can’t remember ever seeing Gridman the Hyper Agent as a kid, but I
did watch a couple of Ultraman shows
(on top of my head: Ace, Tiga, Dyna, and Gaia). So, I got interested because it
was an “Ultraman” anime of sorts. And
that was exactly how this series felt like during the first episodes – a dose of riveting
“Ultraman vs. Kaiju” action – so I was pleased.
However, I was also a bit wary
because it was co-produced by Trigger. For, as my previous experience with a Trigger anime proved, even if the first 80% or so of the story has been terrific, it’s
no assurance that it won’t drop the ball horribly in the latter 20% – ruining what could have been a potential classic.
Thankfully, this time around, Trigger
manages to do a solid job from start to finish.
I like how it hits many familiar tropes of the tokusatsu genre, but
still avoid succumbing to stale storytelling.
It follows a “monster of the week” structure in its first few episodes, but
it lays nuggets of information that makes one think, “What the heck is really
going on here?” Just when it gets to a
point that one may feel it’s getting predictable, the focus shifts to the peeling
off of the overarching mysteries of its plot.
By the time it gets to its final episodes, the twists and turns have made
it into something more complex than your traditional tokusatsu.
As a whole, I found the plot to
be both confusing and brilliant. In the
end, one will have a general sense of what the finale’s plot twists mean for
the story – they will completely make you view what the series is differently. However, the extent of “how much differently” is a
bit indefinite. There are certain details
that aren’t as firmly confirmed as I would want to. This is why it’s “confusing.” But if my interpretation of the information
revealed is correct, then the story is actually kind of genius. The ambiguity in some parts is the only thing
preventing me to describe it as purely “brilliant.”
The anime can be understood and
enjoyed without any familiarity with Gridman
the Hyper Agent. However, by the
time it reaches its finale, it’s quite obvious that it’s more rewarding to those who did
watch the source material. It can be
even said that it’s connected to it.
After watching the finale, I had to do some looking up to make a few things
clearer to me.
In the end, SSSS.Gridman is a fantastic anime by itself. It successfully delivers
the best things about its genre – and then some!
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