The "Gridman Universe" Delightfully Expands with 'SSSS.Dynazenon'

Prior to the Spring 2021 anime season, I was not aware that SSSS.Gridman was having a sequel.  It was only on the day the first episode of SSSS.Dynazenon was finally posted that I learned of its existence, and with just a glance at it, without reading any description or synopsis, I immediately knew that it was a sequel or spin-off series to SSSS.Gridman, since: a.) it has a “SSSS.” in its title; b.) I saw that it’s from Trigger, the same studio that made SSSS.Gridman; and c.) the poster/key visual (see above) has the same style as the poster/key visual of SSSS.Gridman.

SSSS.Dynazenon follows a high school boy named Yomogi Asanaka who bumps into an eccentric young man named Gauma, a self-proclaimed “kaiju user.”  But when an actual kaiju shows up and rampages the city, Gauma is unable to stop it, as he finds out that his ability to control a kaiju has apparently disappeared.  Fortunately, he has on hand a giant robot called Dynazenon.  Yomogi, his classmate and crush Yume Minami, and a NEET in his early 30’s named Koyomi Yamanaka are roped into the action, becoming Gauma’s inadvertent co-pilots of Dynazenon.

From that day on, kaiju would regularly attack the city, which is caused by Gauma’s former comrades, the Kaiju Eugenicists.  In turn, Yomogi, Yume, Koyomi, and Gauma would fight them – each one piloting respectively the four components that combine into Dynazenon: a smaller robot, Dynasoldier; a plane, Dynawing; a race car, Dynastriker; and a submarine, Dynadiver.  Alternately, the four parts can also form into Dynarex (however, they usually transform into Dynazenon first before it reconfigures into Dynarex).  Also tagging along with the main quartet is Koyomi’s cousin, Chise Asugawa, who proves to be capable of being a substitute pilot later on.

A real connection to SSSS.Gridman isn’t established right off the bat.  In the first few episodes, the possibility of it being set in a shared universe is even questionable.  One would even think that it’s more of just a spiritual successor.  However, eventually, some characters from SSSS.Gridman do show up, finally making the connection between the two shows official.

SSSS.Dynazenon is every bit of a celebration of tokusatsu as SSSS.Gridman was.  In fact, it seems like more of a tokusatsu show than SSSS.Gridman – meaning, it functions like a tokusatsu show that requires the same kind of suspension of disbelief that we give tokusatsu shows.  For example, the extensive damage and deaths caused by the titanic throwdowns between kaiju and giant robots.  During the fights, we can clearly see buildings and other structures getting destroyed.  Presumably, people are getting killed, too.  However, tokusatsu shows – being children-oriented – don’t address this at all.  In the aftermath of a battle, the inhabitants of this show’s world simply go on with their lives as if nothing happened.  There’s no widespread trauma or evident status quo shift in the society that should realistically arise from such earth-shaking catastrophe.   As far as what the show displays, everything just goes back to normal for everyone without any further elaboration.  This is also mostly what’s been done with SSSS.Dynazenon, whereas SSSS.Gridman decided to tackle this by introducing an interesting post-battle rule in place (i.e. in that world, the destroyed city returns back to normal the day after the kaiju attack, and the populace lose their memory of it.  Meanwhile, those who are killed during the kaiju attack are erased out of the memories of the people who knew them, as if they never existed in the first place).

I think that’s the edge of SSSS.Gridman.  It wasn’t content to be just a cool tokusatsu anime.  While reveling on the beloved inherent conceits and tropes of the genre, it wanted to infuse some logic and thoughtfulness into them, too.  More than that, SSSS.Gridman is simply underrated by how smart a show it was.  Its narrative was pretty meta, working on several layers and deserving of some Mulholland Drive-level analysis.

Meanwhile, SSSS.Dynazenon isn’t as multi-faceted as SSSS.Gridman with its storytelling.  But it’s every bit as exciting and delightful with its action and aesthetics.  And while it generally feels more of straightforward tokusatsu than SSSS.Gridman, it also has some attempts of depth and zaniness to make itself more than just a typical tokusatsu anime.  There are times when the pace and tone become reminiscent of earnest anime dramas like A Silent Voice, especially when the subplots are being explored. However, if there was any legit value, complexity, or depth coming from this, it was lost on me.  There might have been, but it wasn’t just apparent to me as I didn’t care much for the subplots.  Still, it did seem like the characterizations had been made richer by this.

One noteworthy dynamic, though, that I found interesting was the “peace time” interactions between the good guys and bad guys.  Outside of the kaiju battles, the two sides are somewhat amiable.  They even hang out at some points.  Yeah, weird.  The Kaiju Eugenicists’ goal is to wipe out humanity.  That’s evil as they come.  Still, they don’t come off as straightforward villains because of these “peace time” interactions with the heroes.  Truly, the Kaiju Eugenicists are epitomic anti-villains.

In the end, I think I enjoyed SSSS.Gridman more.  But I nevertheless find SSSS.Dynazenon to be notably fresh and stimulating.

I never expected an anime “Gridman Universe” to happen, nor did I call for it.  But since it’s here now, I’m genuinely excited for what the franchise is planning to do next.