https://i.imgur.com/QqwF3Rs.png

Only Anti is allowed to defeat Gridman.

In which Akane gets mad that filthy casuals can’t recognise different Aliens from the Ultra Series. Even Gonglee’s cries are distortions of her declaring “Disgusting”.

And going with the Transformers references, the members of Arcadia are not only based on different incarnations of Jetfire, but in keeping with several minor characters being named after toy companies (eg. Namiko = Bandai Namco, Hass = Hasbro, Tonkawa = Tonka), the individual members are all named for companies that produced Macross (the toyline the original Jetifre toy was made for) toys, with the one who survives being named for the only company that hasn’t gone out of business. Arcadia is said company’s current name.

I love a good Principled Rival! Not only does it give us some nicely escalating tension in the Akane/Anti relationship, where Anti refuses to kill humans because he only kills Gridman, but then we get a chaotic fight scene that isn't just two-on-one, but something more narratively interesting. Great episode for Core Class SG Hot Rod!

I hope the dub changed their group name to Harmony Gold.

Just had to share it, but apparently Max's face mask was inspired by Grimlock from the Michael Bay movies.

Even though it's just a tiny little moment, I'm quite fond of how the show leads into that bit of exposition with the surreal moment of this charmingly self-serious computer superhero asking in the only tone he can if Yuuta needs help with his personal problems. The extraordinary blending with the mundane like that is always fun, and it's a nice sort of buddy moment for the two of them.

Neat! Thanks!

Even though I only ever want to talk about Rikka, I definitely could've spent all of Episode 4 talking about the hysterical collection of variably helpful dudes orbiting Yuta's incredibly straightforward teenage crush: Utsumi, who is maniacally insistent about Yuta stalking a girl he likes only so Utsumi has an excuse to stalk a girl he likes; Gridman, who sees that his partner needs help and loudly embarrasses him to a level that I think Yuta wanted to Access Flash his way right out of that room; and Max, who is somehow the most straightforward and sensible compatriot, despite being a massive man with a Bayverse facemask who turns into a pair of electric arms for a giant superhero that lives in a computer.

SSSS.GRIDMAN EPISODE 5 - “PROVOCATION”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/ssss/gridman05a.png

Well, it certainly was provocative!

Teens are horny, I get it. As much as I loved last episode, this one’s, uh, male gaze left me a little cold, and that’s plenty ironic for a summer episode of bikinis. While the various fascinations and flirtations continue in earnest – Yuta/Rikka, Akane/Yuta, Utsumi/Akane, Akane/Rikka – the way this one leaned heavier on fan-service kind of… it sort of isn’t my preferred mode of anime storytelling? It’s sort of the reason I don’t watch a ton of anime, if I’m being honest.

This episode, and my ambivalence towards it setting its sights on Lingering Shots Of Akane In A Bikini as an entire genre of storytelling, is maybe the point in which I mention that my enjoyment of the previous four episodes is partially due to my initial fear that I’d mostly be confronted with character designs I’d glimpsed through merchandise listings like this one and this one, and my utter relief that the characters weren’t actually showcased in ways that I’d feel like I couldn’t talk about in public without having to defend a piece of art as Horny About High School Girls, But Still Very Smart. This was just a smart show about teens, and their hormones acted as a catalyst, not as a license.

For this one, I sort of felt like it stranded itself a little too much in the licentious zone, where I just don’t find as much story potential in lingering shots of Akane in a bikini. (Multiple times! She’s an attractive drawing, but I don’t need as much screentime devoted to that concept! Fairly well established by this point in the narrative!) The rest of the episode has some fun with the dilemma of a field trip delaying access to Gridman, and every moment of that problem-solving was a blast. (I honestly wish the train ride for the Neon Genesis Junior High cast was just twenty minutes of quick-cut montage editing; amazing, continuously hilarious.) I just… I don’t know that there was a ton else here for me? Little moments of interaction, but between swimsuit stuff and the (admittedly very funny) delays in even getting ready for a fight, I don’t feel like I can point to a whole lot that I could engage with either metaphorically or dramatically.

(My favorite story beat in the entire episode was a tossed-off line from Utsumi, about how the terror of the frozen kaiju fades as they just become scenery, and I like how that reinforced the fear of adulthood that the kids grappled with in the earlier episodes. Their future is just there, and it’s scary or dangerous or heroic or bright, but it’s not here yet, so they just sort of forget it’s imminent. That was a great line!)

I guess this one just wasn’t for me? Cute for parts, but thin on the ground in the places I most want to engage with. Glad the kids had a fun day, for the most part!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/ssss/gridman05b.png

You really haven't seen much anime if you think this beach episode was alot in terms of fanservice.

Anyway, I noted at the start of this thread that I probably wasn't going to talk much, but this episode right here is probably going to be the one exception, because it's actually my favorite episode in the entire show.

The short of it is that it stands in direct opposition to a common complaint that I've read other people give Gridman after Dynazenon came out. That being that the main trio of Yuta, Sho, and Rikka don't act like nor feel like friends. I genuinely think that anyone who believes that should stop to examine this one.

Probably the easiest/biggest moment anyone could point to would be during the episode's' climax, where Rikka runs for literal miles for the sake of Yuta and Sho. You don't just like, do that for anyone who's a mere acquaintance at best, ya know? But beyond that, there's one very specific moment that spoke volumes to me and, judging by reactions I've gotten, literally only me.

https://i.imgur.com/WlBwTkv.png

This is a moment I took for granted in my original thread, and I regret that.

Because back before I'd gotten more into the toku sphere as a whole, I just sort of assumed other people would get how huge this little moment between Yuta and Sho was, like I did. But now I know better, and I'm going to make an effort to highlight it here: It's a scene which highlights two friends who have grown so comfortable with eachother that all they really need is the warmth and enjoyment of one another's' presence.

Based on what I've read, many extroverted people sort of struggle to understand this, but for alot of people, me included, the sharing and showcasing of friendship doesn't always require those involved to be "doing" anything, per se. Just the act of being willing and desiring to be around one another speaks volumes, and that alone helps weave and strengthen connections. Sure, big trips to the beach are great fun and make memories too, but the little things in life are just as important, if not moreso, and I'll always love this episode for showing that.

This is a nice note, and I appreciate you sharing it! I also think the main trio comes off well here as believable teens that genuinely support each other, even if I found the specific execution of their trip to the train station to be slightly unbelievable -- namely, I don't believe for a single second that canonically-doughy Utsumi has better stamina than Rikka; there's no way he'd beat her to the train station! ABSURD!

Beyond that, though, there are definitely some nice moments to their friendships, from the small moments of silent companionship, to the big moments of 5k runs for justice. Thanks again for sharing your take on it!

This week’s monster’s vocabulary is “Go home”. Which is perfect considering Akane thinks going out on a field trip is too much work.

And in terms of references, the ones this week tend more towards Syber Squad than Gridman. The episode’s basic premise (the heroes are trapped in the wild and have to get online to fight this week’s monster) is mostly the same as that show’s final episode (though the differences are that they bought a laptop, an aerial and an exercise bike to power both with them and the main hero was otherwise occupied, so the secondary lead had to step in).

And we see Borr in action, and like Max’s Tanker Missiles, he has two attacks homaging the pilot of Syber Squad’s Borr: the Forrester Extinguish Bullet and the Sydney Adhesive Bullet, both derived from Syber Squad’s sole girl Sydney Forrester.