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12-01-2020, 02:49 AM | #171 |
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I’ve also not much to say, other than the Volcano monster basically having similar abilities to OG Gridman monster Flamelar (known in SSSS as Plexton), down to the way he shoots fire from his back.
But yeah, this was a nice little breather, before the plot gets really heated. |
12-01-2020, 10:35 PM | #172 |
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--- Episode 6: Contact Remember how I liked the little character interactions in the last episode? Well this episode is all about that, to the point that Gridman doesn't even show up in this one. It's also where the plot takes a massive turn, so if you've been following these posts without seeing the show yourself, and you're at all curious about it, I highly recommend actually watching it and seeing for yourself. So yeah, spoilers ahoy! Gonna do this one slightly out of order too, as this episode puts every major character and puts them into a pair, and so, I'll be talking about each pair one by one, in terms of what I found to be the least to the most important(note: might or might not also be influenced by my love of Anti). Pair 1: Sho and Akane. The two spark up a conversation over their mutual interest in Tokusatsu(or "Kaiju" as they specify here. Is that a dub thing?), specifically even talking about Red King. While Sho is finding joy in having something in common with the girl he's had a crush on, Akane is of course only humoring him to try and get information about Gridman. Showing off their very different ideologies, Akane emphasizes that Kaiju are the "real heroes" (not her exact words but pretty much) whereas Sho claims both sides create a balance in the medium, which Akane blatantly blows off. When Akane tries to grill him directly, Sho, well, "sho's" what a devoted friend and good secret keeper he is, saying that even if Yuta has changed due to his amnesia, they're still friends and that's not going to change. Given what we learn in this very episode, that must've hit Akane directly, so the speak. Pair 2: Anti and Rikka Again showing her fondness for outsiders, Rikka decides to look after Anti upon finding him literally digging through trash in the search of food. Anti seems to at first rather uncharacteristically just go along with it. But given his earlier scene with Akane at the start of the episode, I think it's pretty clear that he finds himself drawn to Rikka due to her being the first person to actually treat Anti with genuine kindness. Speaking of that scene, good continuity. Last episode Akane threw away Anti's scarf, and it's still gone come this one. I like to also think that the questions Rikka asked of him, while basic to any normal person, made Anti begin to wonder just what kind of life he was living. Until now, all he'd ever done was literally stand around, eat, and wait for Gridman to show up so he could try to kill him. And all for an ungrateful creator who refuses to be clear cut with him about much of anything, ontop of berating him for trying to do the exact thing that she created him for. It's harsh, and is yet another element that makes me really jive with Anti's' character(did I mention he's my favorite?). The episode even ends with a quick action scene where the Junior High Squad uses his own single-mindedness against him. I liked that scene. Pair 3: Yuta and... some girl. This is the biggest one in the episode, and before I get into it, I real quick wanna say, if FUNimation deliberately decided to not translate the credits on this episode, then good on them, because they give away a big spoiler, that being the identity of the girl in question. Granted, fans of either OG Gridman or Syber-Squad can most likely deduce who she is by the end of the episode, but it's a revelation I feel is alot better saved for later on. Emphasizing that she's here to throw everything off the rails, the girl in green comes in and reveals real fast that she is, infact, a Kaiju, and that she's here to show Yuta the truth of the world that he lives in. That truth being that there's nothing outside of the city, and everything in it is the product of one lonely heart: Akane Shinjo. The fog that covers the town from time to time? It's the same fog on the traintracks that causes people to fall asleep. It helps both hide the various Kaiju attacks as well as make sure Akane can reset everything once her tantrums are done. One nice detail of this(one I didn't notice the first time watching) is that it means the entire show started either during or right at the end of one of Akane's' resets. Interestingly, the Kaiju are what have the Fixer Beams here, rather than Gridman. It's at this point that viewers, especially fans of the previous shows, can most likely guess about another major twist, but I won't talk about it here for anyone who can't. With this new information, Yuta finds new resolve in his mission of saving the city and stopping his newfound enemy. When she leaves, the Kaiju Girl says that she owed him, as her "predecessor" was helped by Yuta in the past, and the two separate on good terms. Would you believe that this isn't even the heaviest episode in the show? Because uh, it ain't. But we'll get to that in due time.
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Last edited by DreamSword; 09-18-2021 at 08:00 PM.. |
12-02-2020, 03:47 AM | #173 |
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This is a fairly easy episode to talk about in terms of references to the source, since most of them go back to one episode in particular (the one that’ll be on YouTube from this Friday). I won’t talk about it in any great detail, beyond the fact the equivalent episode in Syber Squad was one of the episodes that were added to extend the series (it’s the one where Malcolm tries to destroy the school records so he can get out of Summer school).
Aside from that, there’s two major cameos. The magazine Sho reads features Andro Melos, another obscure Tsubaraya character (though more connected to the Ultra Series than Gridman, due to the presence of iconic monsters like Baltan and Ace Killer). He was also one of the choices the director was given when he requested to do an anime based on a Tsubaraya show (Ultraman was off limits due to the Netflix series being planned). The guy buying the keyboard is voiced by the star of the og Gridman in the Japanese version. Last edited by Androzani84; 12-02-2020 at 06:34 AM.. |
12-02-2020, 09:53 PM | #174 |
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Episode 7: Scheme Yuta is bad at explaining things. No really, half this episode could've been skipped had he simply said "Kaiju Girl took me to the edge of the city and showed me that there's nothing there except fog." That aside, I did still overall like this episode. Not just because it features more Anti, but it has some fantastic comedic timing too, ontop of what we've come to expect in terms of character interaction. Like, seriously, just check this frame. Seriously, that image alone is comedy gold to me. Other highlights include the awkward silence before Sky Vitter gets deployed, and Anti running away from Yuta... only to run back to grab the Special Dogs that Yuta dropped. It's all simplistic sure, but that's all it really needs to be. So as you might've guessed from that still, this episode is mainly about Yuta getting to bottom of just about everything in terms of the bigger plot at hand. All while his friends display some interesting skepticism and Akane continues to be the creepy demon she's always been. Her finding nothing wrong in outright murdering people over petty nonsense says it all. Speaking of demons, Anti is back, and this time he managed to convince Alexis to let him create his own Kaiju. I found the Kaiju he came up with says alot about Anti. Not only is its method of attack incredibly swift and direct(much like Anti himself), but it's also a puppeteer. I feel this is Anti expressing how he feels like nothing more than a puppet to Akane and Alexis, which is incredibly justified, given how he's treated constantly. Heck, going with him being controlled by others, he apparently can't even transform into his Kaiju form unless Akane gives the order or Gridman is around. He's not even allowed to be himself. The fight at the end is also pretty cool! Sky Gridman is the combination done this time, and while it's not exact, Sky Gridman's' helmet resembles the pilot helmets that Team Samurai would wear whenever they'd pilot their various vehicles. Sky Gridman's' attacks are also references to Amp and Lucky, the two pilots of Vitter in Syber-Squad. The Amp Lazer Circus also doubles as a reference to Eureka Seven and its signature Homing Lazers. Topping everything off, the Gridman Alliance makes an interesting discovery once Sky Gridman flys so high that he hits the skybox. No, seriously. Fans will immediately recognize this as the Digital World, the exact city that Servo/Gridman would always fight in in the old shows. And with this another aspect of the plot becomes incredibly clear, and lemme tell ya, as someone who only saw SSSS before this, I found this show's' overlaying question of "What if people actually lived in those digital cities?" incredibly fascinating. Will it actually fully delve into and deliver interesting responses to that question? Well, we'll see in future episodes.
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Last edited by DreamSword; 09-18-2021 at 08:12 PM.. |
12-03-2020, 03:56 AM | #175 |
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Well today’s shout outs are remarkably simple. It mostly consists of reused footage from Studio Trigger’s early attempts at a Gridman based animation.
Honestly, I think Sky Gridman is my favourite of the SSSS combinations. I just love how sleek it looks. Last edited by Androzani84; 12-03-2020 at 07:14 AM.. |
12-03-2020, 06:54 AM | #176 |
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Ah, Anti-kun! Love him. Was always unsettling how Akane treats him, throwing stuff on his face, while he stands there firm.
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12-03-2020, 07:47 AM | #177 |
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Quote:
Of the 3 combinations we've seen so far, I actually think I like the Borr combo the most. The missile spam brings to mind great memories of Robotech and Macross. Quote:
Man I feel so bad for Anti.
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12-03-2020, 07:08 PM | #178 |
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Episode 8: Confrontation This episode is probably the most well known in the entire anime. It's also the one that I come really close to having a huge problem with. I don't out and out hate the episode or anything like that, but, well... I'll get into it. Here's the setup. Akane decides to basically create her own Mechagodzilla, and plans to unleash it on the school, possibly killing literally everyone who attends it. Why? Because they dared to host a school festival, and she hates those! She even goes so far as to challenge the Gridman Alliance directly, showing that she's not having any second thoughts about this and feels no remorse. Despite this, our heroes somehow still feel as though there should be a debate on how to handle the situation? Like, guys, this is dumb for many reasons. First off, why didn't they just smash the statue that Akane made? I guess it's kinda vague, but she almost blatantly tells them that it is what will infact become the Kaiju, and while yeah, she could just carve another, that'd still set her back some, ontop of basically being a slap in her face. Win-win. But none of them really think to do that so yeah, time limit is on. Next, Rikka and Sho get into an argument over how to go about combating the oncoming disaster. Rikka wants to try talking to Akane, and Sho basically tells her that that's a stupid idea because frankly, it's idealistic at best and unrealistic at worst. The big problem comes in not only when the other characters say "both sides are valid" but when Rikka storms off... everyone calls Sho an asshole for telling Rikka she's being emotional. But here's the thing about that. Sho. Is. Correct. I HATE when stories frame the complainer as the wrong one solely because they voiced their stance. ESPECIALLY when they, infact, turn out to be right, yet we're meant to sympathize with the person they upset. Heck, the Alliance even at one point assumes that Alexis MUST be manipulating Akane... even though there's not really any evidence to say Akane isn't anything other than a psychopath. And lo an behold, when Sho and Yuta try to ask Akane very nicely not to unleash the Kaiju, she laughs in their face and tells them to get lost. But yeah no, Sho is the dick for not trying to offer the person who's killed tons of people a hug. Yeah, his friggen bad. Honestly the entire thing even seems really out of character for Rikka too, considering she had zero problems helping the Team deal with Kaiju up until now. So what's different, the girl who Rikka herself admitted she hasn't really talked to in years is now proudly declaring she's a killer? Boo hoo. Auuuuuugh. Yes, I am aware of the twist presented towards the end of the episode, but the entire situation still annoys the heck out of me. It'd be different if the episode didn't frame Rikka as justified, but it does, and, well... let's just say there's something else I can't quite talk about yet. Enough complaining, let's move onto something I actually like: Anti! Yeah, he's seen better days. And even though he's not exactly prominent in this episode, what little time he does have speaks volumes. Heck, his first instinct isn't to go to Akane for help, but he actively makes a point to look for Rikka, since she's the only one who's ever shown him any sort of sympathy. Ontop of that, he doesn't even attempt to fight the heroes. And I don't just mean at the shop either. When Gridman shows up, Anti actively chooses to stay out of it for the first time. And man... that was a powerful 6 seconds to me, lemme tell ya. Love this character. ... Oh yeah I did mention a school festival, didn't I? That's a reference to the Fusion Dance from Dragon Ball Z, and it's also foreshadowing to how the episode ends. Know what? Screw it, let's just get right to that. This is Full-Power Gridman, this show's equivalent to Phormo Zenon(or "God Zenon" in the JP version) from Syber-Squad. It's cool, and how they actually get it to work via cutting the size of every component in half means that it's justified if your action figure of it is the same height as your Gridman figure! Sadly, I'll just say it here, this show does not have an equivalent to Drago. Maybe in season 2? By the way, that G in the background, as well as how the Kaiju is killed, are both references to GaoGaiGar, a mecha anime that I personally do not recommend, but hey it's popular so what do I know? With all that said, you might be thinking that it's the references or the big twist Akane gives to Rikka, or even the big fight at the end that makes this episode stand out to everyone who's even heard of this show, right? Well dear reader, you are mistaken. Allow me to show what is widely considered this anime's' most (in)famous moment: And believe it or not, the crossdressing IS a callback. See, back in Syber-Squad, there were like 3 episodes where Sam had to crossdress in order to go undercover. Mainly for petty things(like sitting in on an all-girls class), but yeah, it happened, and I found it pretty funny that the anime decided to call back to that specifically. And it's double funny reading the reactions of viewers who don't have that prior context in mind when this scene pops up during the last minute of the episode. Good times. All in all, I do still like the episode, as it does have good stuff to offer, but it sets an unfortunate precedent for events to come.
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Last edited by DreamSword; 09-18-2021 at 08:19 PM.. |
12-03-2020, 07:17 PM | #179 |
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Rikka in a captain outfit is so cool, but Yuuta in a sailor uniform is surprisingly cute. Jesus.
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12-04-2020, 03:36 AM | #180 |
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Technically, God Zenon was the name of the robot. The actual combination with Gridman was Thunder Gridman.
Anyway, onto the references. Ghoulgilas coming back as a Mecha version is similar to what the og show did with a few of its monsters in mid season, sticking armour on them to become Mecha versions (the exceptions being Anoglilas, who was reused as a fake version and Shinobilar, who was at first straight up reused, before being painted red and given a nunchuck in his third appearance to become Kung Fu Shinobilar). Syber Squad either acknowledged them as upgrades, or treated them as separate monsters. While, as stated, the combinations was based on Thunder Gridman, the name Full Power Gridman has been used before for an official combination wherein he combines with all 5 Assist Vehicles (which comes out as Thunder Gridman riding the King Jet and wielding the Dragon Cannon). It only appeared in the post show photo novels and in the boys invent great hero short’s take on the battle with Khan Digifer. |
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