It ended T.T

I want more..... Please Trigger baby.....

Good ending, and glad they left it open for spin-offs.
That was really good.

And didn't stray at all from what was planned, and was done so magnificently.
Really proud of how it turned out.

Though damn, I still want more. xD Wish it hadn't been limited so much, but with what it had, that was perfection. Definitely something to revisit again.

For 12 episodes, that was perfectly satisfying and heartfelt.
Absolutely loved it.

That was kind of expected after the spoiler leak of the ending. *Sigh* Though I really wish people would stop doing that. Paying to have stuff like this made, even if the joke leak was sanctioned, kind of sucks to have those big moments ruined because of the internet. Though I did appreciate the embedded reminders. The show really did that well.

Luckily I was never spoiled and was surprised by the revelation, but trust me, I know exactly how you feel. With the Internet, you can't keep things a secret anymore, there's always someone that wants to spoil things.

Its over... for now and boy am I glad it ended how it did. This show was nothing but fun from A to Z and TRIGGER deserves all the respect and cheers it can get. A solid 12-episode run is hard to come by and this delivered. If you are someone who still have not seen this, I beg you, PLEASE WATCH THIS SHOW. This is a straight-up over 9000 of a show.

I called it! Now we just need a live action sequel or second season to round this out.

Ever notice that the wallet thing Akane got has the matrix of leadership on it?

That was probably the most satisfying finale I've seen in a long time. Gridman did what few shows ever do and managed to live up to the hype; I'm going to miss it.

As I recall, Rikka's design is based on SG Megatron and Akane is SG Optimus. So... Symbolism!

That was the absolute perfect finale. It was so good.

It had everything: The original Gridman nostalgia, a satisfying end, great action - this show really went beyond everything I ever expected from it, and I can only imagine how great it must've been for fans of the original series.

I really can’t wait to see where this leads for Trigger - either in the Toku realm or by finally letting them adapt Transformers. One could only imagine how awesome that would be.

Also, head canon: Anti now protects Akane’s digital world as the new Gridman, to pay back his "debts".

No doubt about that. I mean, after all, Gridknight is
https://i.imgur.com/seCqL5H.jpg

TRIGGER created a classic with this series.

Give them more toku licenses to work with. They proved they can handle this stuff perfectly.

Give me Kamen Rider BLACK manga adaptation.

I also hope this leads to a full-fledged Transformers series, especially if Peter Cullen And Frank Welker reprise Optimus and Megatron yet again.

I really enjoyed this series and the live action ending was a really nice touch to end the show.

It's good that the series ended on a really high note. These last few episodes were the best in terms of animation and story/plot. Overall, Gridman is a good-ish series IMO. It started off good but really suffered from a lot of slow episodes where it just seemed to take forever for anything to happen. But it definitely improved near the end. 7 out of 10 from me overall.

Trigger, you glorious bastards. Everything about this episode was fantastic. A perfect way to end the show.

That Ultraman anime has some big damn shoes to fill.

Spoilers: It won't.

Even if it adapts the manga perfectly. As much as I like it, it's average Shonen-stuff at best. Nothing about it is really unique or mind-blowing.

I would rather like to see Trigger themselves adapting Ultraman instead.

After being busy at uni all term, I decided I'd check this out over Christmas. Being 5 episodes in, and yeah, it's pretty great. Now I'm annoyed I didn't watch it all sooner.

Yeah but you probably had to study like crazy so that is a fair reason to not be able to see this every week, and besides binge watching this is worth it. :)

Yeahhhh..... yeah, you're probably right. I've read a bit of the manga and it's ok except that it basically takes out everything I like about Ultraman.

I really, really enjoyed this series. The finale pulled out a lot of stunts I was not expecting and made for a thoroughly enjoyable conclusion. Usually I end a short seasonal series like this wanting more, but I'm actually feeling pretty satisfied with what we got.

So, this might seem a bit out of nowhere considering I haven't made so much as a peep about any of the news for this series, or posted in here while it was airing, but if you'll all be so kind as to indulge me for a bit, I have a lot of thoughts I've wanted to get off my chest for about four months. About how I thought this show was going to be terrible. About how I thought it WAS terrible.

And more than anything, about how wrong I was.

You see, pretty much everything about SSSS Gridman was rubbing me the wrong way from the start. The name barely made sense and rolls off the tongue so poorly it might as well be unpronounceable. The animation was going to be making use of CG for the action scenes, and I can count on one hand the number of anime I've seen pull that off successfully. Nothing I was seeing made me excited. I think the singular announcement that actually made me happy was hearing Hikaru Midorikawa was still voicing the title character.

Then comes the premiere. All my worst fears realized and then some. A dreadfully dull 24 minutes spent with hollow, unlikable characters engaging in overly drawn out conversations with stilted, awkward direction that was blatantly more concerned with saving on budget than actually looking visually interesting. Perhaps the big fight at the end would've salvaged it for me, if only the story up to then had created enough emotional investment in anything happening for the obligatory theme song power up to actually elicit some kind of response. If only the haphazard mix of 90's-inspired traditional giant robot animation and modern computer effects weren't distracting me from each other.

This was the big, unexpected reboot of an oft-forgotten hero that was supposed to knock all our socks off? Worse yet, most people who weren't me seemed to be loving it. My feelings were only getting more sour with each episode. There was the occasional moment that stuck out as surprisingly well done, such as the ending to the second episode, but none of it was enough to convince me my first impressions were anything but accurate. I felt like I was going crazy. So many people were head over heels for this thing and for the life of me I couldn't see it. It was quite the position to be in given how often the exact opposite of this happens when I watch something. But all I was seeing was a misfire of a series with an unresolved identity crisis. Does it want to be some ultra slick, modern high school drama anime? Because the giant monsters all over the place are inherently at odds with that idea. Does it want to be a throwback to super robot shows of decades past? With all the CG and pretentious all text, one word title cards for the episodes it's not doing a great job at that. Does it even want to be Gridman? Then why replace the proactive, excitable leads of the original with lethargic high schoolers and bastardize the premise to make the series even more of a low-rent Ultraman?

Almost everything about the writing infuriated me. Nothing about it was dramatically satisfying. The character development was razor thin. The characters talk at length about the many mysteries of the plot, including ones the audience has already been given the answers to, without making any actual progress. The action, supposedly the main draw, never quite seemed to grasp how to make me feel like Gridman was truly in danger. It seemed like Keiichi Hasegawa was putting in all those Ultraman references as more of a cry for help than anything.

After 8 episodes, I couldn't stand it anymore. I was sticking with the series out of a belief that I would warm up to it eventually, but it just wasn't happening. I pretty much hated it at this point. My animosity was such that I couldn't help but think of SSSS Gridman as exactly the kind of anime that makes Hayao Miyazaki retire every couple of years. A passionless shell of a story with zero humanity, made by and for the kind of nerds that enjoy drawing lewd images of the female characters more than they enjoy the series itself. A whole lot of style and no substance.

Yeah, I know, I'm kind of an a-hole.

After all, that just couldn't be right, could it? I know from all of Hasegawa's work on the Ultra series that he's generally quite good at injecting some real emotion into his scripts, and while I'm less personally familiar with the work of most of the other staff, it's glaringly obvious this project was anything but passionless for them. But I still couldn't see what exactly they were trying to accomplish here. Whatever soul this show had, I still hadn't found.

And so, after an impromptu sabbatical of about a month, I went back to finish up the last 4 episodes. Inspired by my favorite character, Anti (the only one I felt had a discernible goal he was actively working towards), I decided I, too, couldn't let myself keep losing to Gridman. One way or another, this was gonna end. And as I sat down to settle things once and for all, the strangest thing happened. I started to see it. The cohesion in the narrative. The reasons the characters were written how they were. The strengths of the animation style. An honest to goodness satisfying payoff for all the things I had been complaining about. Then I got to the finale. I was so floored by what I was watching I no longer had any choice but to take back all the things I said. The one with the identity crisis was me the whole time. I spent the show's entire run being uncharacteristically cynical about it, and in the end it gave me pretty much everything I wanted, right down to bringing back Gridman's coolest move from the original show in a climax so spectacular it finally got that fist-pumping excitement out of me. All of a sudden this felt like a series that actually had a purpose, and something it honestly wanted to say to the viewer. I could see the connection to and love for the things it was paying tribute to, and looking back on the series as a whole, I found myself free of all that resentment. Indeed, all I could think about what how much I actually enjoyed it. It was a bizarre and profoundly pleasant feeling.

Thus ends my somewhat melodramatic journey with SSSS Gridman. If nothing else, I hope this post can serve as a reminder of how strange subjectivity can be. Because the funny thing is, no matter how different it seems now, the show never changed. I did. I've gotten to this point, and I've yet to mention the thing that truly kept me determined to watch this show. It's a quote from the second episode of Ultraman 80, believe it or not, but this whole experience has done a lot to convince me there's some real wisdom in it:

"This isn't complicated. You need to like things first."

https://i.imgur.com/hJIzPGS.jpg

"If you hate it, then it'll hate you back."

https://i.imgur.com/dsyARis.jpg

"But if you like it, then someday, it'll like you, too."

https://i.imgur.com/LplQV9x.jpg

I'm not reading this thread because I'm only seven episodes in and I don't want to spoil the show for myself, but I am resurrecting it, because I'm sure you are all eager to know how much I like Shinjo Akane. :p

Never read the part of my anime thread where we talked about the show then. Cuz uh... let's just say I had words about Akane, haha.

I legit saw the SSSS and thought that the Dynazenon thread got unpinned and was confused then I read Gridman and then I knew. Ah... yeah this makes sense.

I should be surprised, but somehow, I’m not.

I'm fairly sure I'm developing some kind of villainess fangirl reputation or something. :p

Seeing this thread revived made me look back at some of the reactions here. I joined these forums in 2020 so I didn't see them until now.

Fish's post up there is eerily similar to my own experience with the show. I really disliked it at first. I felt like I was watching it for the wrong reasons and then suddenly it all clicked and even the early issues were redeemed somehow.

And like I kept saying once it was over, I think the show gets better over time. 2 years later it certainly feels like it does. I hope you enjoy it Dreamcastgirl!

Oh, thank you! I'm really liking it so far, have no fear. It has that level of discomfort and thoughtfulness that I assumed I was going to get from Darling in the Franxx, but which never truly actualised in that show.

I'm pretty easy to please, I think—strong antagonists and existential dread are my bread and butter, and so far the show is absolutely delivering on those fronts.

Oh man, it is a very surreal feeling seeing that post I made back right after the show ended thrust into the spotlight again years down the line. I've always felt a bit embarrassed about it for... whatever reasons. I think a lot of it is that half of my initial apology to the show is taken up by me complaining about the show, which is a pretty rude way to say "I'm sorry" to it!

While this thread is active again, I'll take the opportunity to link to what is essentially a second take on it from over in DreamSword's aforementioned thread, which I'm a lot happier with. I was deeply unfair to this series for a long time, and writing that post honestly felt like completing my own personal redemption arc or something.

(I am watching Dynazenon by the way; and that's all I'll say about that for now.) ;)

It's always crazy to look back at our thoughts during different times. That's why journaling can be a very good way to grow oneself.

As an aside, I now think Dynazenon is the superior show, even though its not even over at the time of this writing.

Ah yes, I remember...

I saw this when it first debuted and continued to watch each week. I was slightly disappointed R/B wasn't getting subbed fast enough (Nothing against ColorSubs, they had a lot going on at the time, I hear), and this show was something... different? It had an interesting contrast between mundane, dull, and ordinary, to high octave, full-throttle action, in a way I constantly puzzled how I was possibly enjoying this show.

Initially, after the final episode, I left off thinking "what a nice show, I whould watch the original Gridman." then I found all 39 episodes on YouTube (Appropriately uploaded by a GRIDMAN ALLIANCE) , and everything clicked together, and I thought back on SSSS. Gridman, and thought "This was a great show!" And to tie everything together, I re-watched the "Boys Invent Great Hero" animation they did when they first announced the series, and I found the whole Gridman experience to be one of the best experiences I have ever witnessed.

Now here we are with Dynazenon, and I am still loving it.

I watched the end of the series today, and, you guys, I really enjoyed it. My whole life is about endlessly searching out something to make me feel like Evangelion did when I was younger, and this series obviously did not do that, but I really enjoyed the nods to Eva, the little visual cues and naming choices, I thought that was really cute.

I also, predictably, really liked Akane, I thought she shone throughout the whole narrative, and whilst the last episode felt a little wonky with the pacing at times, I was really touched by the final scene. I don't want to get a reputation for being the-girl-who-only-likes-villains (too late!) but I found her frustration and doubt to be very human, very relatable, and I think that this would have made a tremendous impact on me had I seen it when I was an awkward teenager.

I have a whole bunch of thoughts churning about at the back of my head regarding heroes like Ultraman and Gridman and the very nature of identity and otherness, but perhaps 2:32am is not the right time to attempt to convey these feelings to you all. Please look forward to further discussion of this later. :p

The UNION music video acts sort of like an epilogue of the series, as you can see Akane going about in her daily life. https://youtu.be/b4CIYS1Bme4

Three things I appreciate about this show.

1. Shattered Glass. The characters in the show all share the same color scheme as the Shattered Glass transformers, a Transformers universe that started from Botcon if I recall and is basically a parallel universe where Autobots were the bad guys and Decepticons were the good guys. The only good Autobot is a Cliffjumper from another reality and happens to share the same color palette as Yuta. Rikka is Megatron, Sho is Sideswipe, Akane is Optimus Prime, and Anti is Rodimus just to name a few.
2. Masaya Obi cameo! The man who gifted us with his performance as Naoto in the original 1993 Gridman cameos as a customer in episode 6. Nothing big, but a nice short and sweet cameo.
3. The Neon Genesis Junior High Students. All four of them are voiced by Toku alumnis. Samurai Calibur is voiced by Ryosuke Takahashi who was Takuto/Lio Sazer in Sazer-X. Max was voiced by Katsuyuki Konishi who voiced Gosei Knight in Goseiger, Borr was voiced by Aoi Yuuki who was Mari in flashback scenes in Kamen Rider 555 and the voice of Yurusen in Kamen Rider Ghost, and Vit was voiced by Masaya Matsukaze who was Shun/Mega Blue in Megaranger, Masataka Shiba/17th Shinken Red in Shinkenger, and voice of Endolf in Kyoryuger. And as most of us know, Konishi has worked with Trigger and Gainax previously voicing Tsumugu and Kamina in Kill La Kill and Gurren Lagann respectively.

OH gosh, I really, really like this! This is super cute, thank you for sending it my way!

There's this theory I read somewhere, I'm misremembering if it was actually here or somewhere else, but IRL Akane is actually Rikka in the Youthful beautiful ED. Something about IRL Akane looking like Rikka, and Rikka looks surprised to Akane showing up in the ED, different uniforms than the one in the Gridman world, and the use of IRL background.

I don't know it seemed interesting

edit: btw, I think this image is really cute
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZprNchZMYUM/maxresdefault.jpg

I really like this idea a lot. I feel it really speaks to the intensity of friendships when you are young, and the way in which identity blurs when you feel so close to someone that you almost remake yourself in their image.

Yeah, I am absolutely treating this as canon, it's wonderful.

My favorite theory is that Rikka is a representation of IRL Akane. It just adds up when you think of why Gridman chose Yuuta, because he had eyes for Rikka, thus he had eyes for the real Akane.

So new here, and just finished watching this series. Found the thread when looking up info on the series.

Really enjoyed this, even though I'm more familiar with SSSS then Gridman. Though I do love how the basic plot of the series takes the format from the american show, and love that the dub voice of Alexis is clearly going for a Tim Curry vibe as another nod to SSSS.

Even with being a fan of the american adaptation, I was still hyped for a lot of the reveals, like seeing Powered Xenon and classic Gridman/Servo.

I'd been meaning to watch this for awhile now, as a transformers fan I was made aware of it mostly due to all the TF references in it. But I'm glad I've watched this as its now certainly a favorite of mine. Likely will get to Dynazenon tomorrow.