It seems like Yomogi's biggest issue is just...being awkward about his mom dating someone new. Which doesn't seem like something he dwells on as much as the rest of the cast do their respective pasts.

But I also think his feelings for Yume helped a lot.

You know, at this point, I'm kinda liking Dynazenon more than Gridman. (^.^') The standout moment for me this episode is the reveal that Kano's death was really an accident. Everything Yume did (the investigation, the interviews, etc...) was just a way for her to rationalize Kano's death as a coping mechanism. She needs to have something to blame it on. The beautiful thing is that, now that she has friends, she doesn't need to be haunted by the ghost of her sister any more. This was rather beautifully paralleled and foreshadowed with Yume herself accidentally falling off the roof in a previous episode (trying to hold on to the only memento she had left of her sister's), but unlike with Kano, who distanced herself from others, there was someone there to catch her (both literally and figuratively).

Simply amazing. Not to mention, dat Akane cameo freaking destroyed me.

So, I guess Kano was bullied but not to death. What Futaba(that his name?) was likely true and she fell as an accident. And Actar said it perfectly, that it was just Yume trying to rationalize her death in more than just a simple accident.

With that out of the way, I'm a bit miffed this had nothing to do with Chise. It seemed like the perfect way for us to know what's up with her, but I guess with last week, we didn't need another Chise-centric episode.

Yomogi and Gauma's I find interesting. It didn't take long for Yomogi to get out of his, probably maybe because he's not too hung up on it (I think we see this kind of thing in the audio drama?), and Gauma's where it didn't really change. Gauma still ends up betraying his kaiju user friends anyway. As for Knight, we didn't see much of his apart from having Akane and him just getting into the dream sequence, most likely because he probably knows they'll get out of it anyway.

Ikarashi's animation is as always very unique and erratic, it's so great to see.

Now, Sizumu is definitely the final villain, right? We only have 2 episodes left and we haven't had any figure that is obviously villainous like Alexis, so I'm banking on it being Sizumi since he's been aloof in the voice dramas and in the show. Plus, he's been very cryptic too. The "Kaiju users don't need to sleep" and "Now everyone will be free." kind of deal.


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

Okay that's a great edit. Also yeah, I'm definitely in this line of thought too. Just the way he's essentially non-existent in any of the Flashbacks we see with Gauma. His cryptic lines, the fact that he's been the only one to really confront both Yomogi and Yume.

Also just other minor things, how he's gently pushing things along without making it too obvious. The fact that he see's a failed Kaiju and corrals his gang into just having two days off to keep them distracted. I'm curious if this particular Kaiju was his end goal, or if killing it will have repercussions that'll be brought up next episode.

I just found it eerie how we don't get to see the Kaiju Eugenicists side of things after the Kaiju this week dies. Like, we usually get a brief bit of them after their plan goes up in smoke, but not this time.

What an episode... We got some backstory and peace being made with regrets, and some fantastic animation, and Yomogi being the MVP.

It's interesting to note that Shizumu hardly shows up at all in Gauma's flashback(?), he's always been one of the outliers when it comes to the cast, so seeing what his deal is will be interesting. Though it seems he just wants to end everything, judging from his lines and what we now know from Gauma's past. Also, it appears the princess is old Japanese themed, maybe they're referencing the one episode from the original Gridman where Khan summoned Benkei to bodyguard Takeshi, I don't know.

Okay, I was expecting something darker from Kano, but I guess I was overthinking it, not that I'm disappointed, I really liked seeing them make peace with each other. From Koyomi's flashback, it seems nothing would have changed if he took her up on her offer or not, funny how Yomogi recognized her, though I still wonder if there's more to their story, it's been nagging at me for some reason. Maybe I'm overthinking things again, but whatever.

I like how they don't show any specifics about Knight's past, they really succeeded in not making a season two, while still bringing in these characters, props Trigger. And Gauma's animation when he snaps out of his past was very nice, and Yomogi doing the rise animation, perfect.

And that Kaiju's vanish ability had a somewhat unsettling feel to it, just seeing things grey out before just fading adds a little something to the fear factor, at least to me.

Wonder how things will go from here, now that we're running low on Kaiju, will the Eugenicists turn into Kaiju like Akane did?

The voice drama is about Gauma and the Kaiju Users. Very cool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZm_bEkZ8FI

I really need to catch up on those voice dramas, especially before the finale. Just keep forgetting they're a thing, but it does sound like they're adding a decent amount of context and nice additional interactions.

Oh my god yes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-7aH5_iGEs

OH MY GOD YES??

The Dynazenon crew go to fight in the quarry like everyone else!! This is perfect!!!!

These designs translate to suit very well. First Sevengar, now Gridknight, love how the Ultra Fight style is making a comeback.

OH HECK YEAH!

I love it, I absolutely love it. I like how they're bringing back this style and doing short little things for their projects. This is... I love it so much.

I knew they didn't just make the Dynazenon suit for promos!

https://news.tokunation.com/wp-conte...non-Suit-1.jpg

It's so beautiful!!

So I watched a translated version of the Voice Drama for Episode 10. I love these one's where we get a bit more insight on the Eugenicists. Especially given this is during the time Gauma was still with them. They face their most deadly foe in this drama... stairs near the bathroom that they trip over.

Will say though, yeah I'm going to continue to call out Sizumu as being the most sus and likely to be our big bad guy when things come down to it. He was still saying some pretty cryptic and dangerous stuff back then. Even Gauma calls him out on it to which Sizumu says "Just kidding" as if to blow it off. You may fool them but you don't fool me! You are up to something!

Also from what little I read of the stuff on Gridman, yeah they're just completely going all the way, the five talking about how other countries talk about them like their a clan of dragon controllers. I find it fascinating how Trigger just based the entire backstory and premise of this off of one OG Gridman Episode. It's pretty impressive.

This was glorious.

I didn't even know they made a Gridknight, Kaiju Anti, Alexis, or Dynazenon suit. They should find an excuse to do more with those and Gridman's SSSS suit (does the OG!Gridman suit still exist?).

Like there should be at least one episode that maybe culminates this whole universe where it shifts into live-action and they bring out the suits.

I think they remade it, but the OG suit was used for promo shots for SSSS.Gridman:

https://www.moshimoshi-nippon.jp/wp/...SS.GRIDMAN.jpg

SSSS.Gridman/Dynazenon for the next Ultra Galaxy Fight please.

Also in the UNION video.

Found another picture of the Dynazenon plushie! I neeeeeed this

https://s1.zerochan.net/Minami.Yume.600.3277466.jpg

So interesting to note, the subs I ended up watching, did they translate mummy wrong? Cause I think they kept translating it as mirror for some reason.

Okay yeah, looks like we were right to be suspicious! Sizumu is our end game villain, and an interesting case in that too. Looks like he was growing a Kaiju in side of him and what a monstrous one it is.

If it wasn't apparent from last week, this week goes full on blatant reference to the fact that yes, Dynazenon's backstory and plot stem from the Mummy Episode of Gridman.

Overall a nice quieter episode with everyone slowly coming to terms that Kaiju are going to stop appearing. Though of course Sizumu isn't going to have any of that. I'm really curious as to what he was going to attempt to do to Yume and Yomogi. It's clear he wanted them for something, and I don't thing Instance Dominating himself was part of the plan. Curious to see how this is all going to end.

Also interesting set up, given the idea of Goldburn leaving, and the fact that Knight can utilize the combination of Kaiser Gridknight without Dynazenon being piloted. I can only assume that Knight's going to be taking Dynazenon with him after this whole thing.

The Opening finally returns, now showing off Kaiser Gridknight.

What are Kaiju Eugenecists without Kaiju? Just normal humans like Gauma is now (which is why he couldn't control them anymore)? I guess that sucks for the Eugenecists now that they've "lost."

The Dynazenon team are moving forward with their lives and trying to change for the better, with Koyomi looking for a job again, Yume apologizing to the guys she stood up, and Chise trying to go back to school...although she only makes it to the gate. But A for effort Chise, you even put your uniform back on!

I feel bad for Chise finding out she'll have to give away Goldburn because they can't really leave a Kaiju there. Like, she just got him, and now she has to give him back?

Poor Gauma. He went through so much for the princess, hoping they would reunite, and now he thinks it might never happen. Not to mention his body is starting to give out because apparently a Kaiju Eugenecists without any connection to Kaiju can't survive, but I wonder what that means for Yomogi?

Oh hey, is that actual audio from the OG!Gridman episode Gauma is from? And I think that image was his mummy form too. Continuity!

Mujina telling Koyomi it was over made sense given their prior interaction, although it ultimately ended with her saying she despised him...maybe there's no future for those two.

I love how Onija says he's going to kill people without Kaiju and gets himself arrested while trying to steal a gun from a police officer. And then the running gag of his near deaths actually breaks him out of jail.

Yomogi and Yume were really cute in this episode, just casually hanging out and walking with each other and ribbing Gauma together...and it all came together as Yume asked Yomogi to come with her to finally see Kano's grave. Which for Yomogi is perfect because it takes him away from his mom trying to put him together with his potential new dad (thanks grandma), but the fact that she wanted him with her there means a lot.

Yomogi confessed! And just before Yume can respond, Sizumu shows up to mess everything up because he sees between the two of them the same bond Gauma had with the princess. Worse. Timing. Ever. Sizumu.

So, yeah, to the surprise of probably no one, Sizumu is the final boss and had a Kaiju inside him the entire time. And I would say his Kaiju form is pretty fitting final boss for the series, and to no surprise Kaiser Gridknight without everyone in there wasn't enough to stop him. Looks like it's going to be an epic fight and conclusion next week.

The end is nigh...

We have the Dynazenon crew preparing to move on with their lives, and the Kaiju Eugenicists finding a way through this world without Kaiju, which is an interesting premise. And team Knight is taking Goldburn with them, which honestly, I thought they were setting up for the final boss, but what we get is still great.

I guess now that we know Gauma is just a normal human because he's not connected with a Kaiju explains why he couldn't use Instance Domination, meaning there's going to be something going down with Yomogi next episode. I have a feeling Gauma's going to pull off something in the next episode, but maybe I'm just overthinking it.

And boy, does Shizumu's Kaiju form look amazing, if that gets a figure, I'm getting it. Now I'm wondering if the other Eugenicists are going to do the same thing since they're connected to a Kaiju, unless it only works for him. And Onjina is definitely my favorite of the group.

And as we've all guessed, Gauma is the mummy (psh Mirror... Someone didn't know what they were doing) from the Original Gridman, of course, I now realize they might also be doing a double reference, as the Original Ultraman as featured an episode with a Mummy who had a Dragon, so props Trigger.

Next week is the finale, and I am excited for it!

Oh something I didn't point out though that I just noticed after thinking about it. How both Episode 10's of Gridman and Dynazenon manage to make a perfect pair regarding the destruction of the Kaiju. Despite the fact that Dynazenon 10 is very clearly the Gridman 9 of its series.

Mostly how when Nanashi B's destroyed, it's destruction blows away the foggy sky to reveal the Computer World and all the big twists and turns that come with that. While when Garnix is destroyed, it's destruction turns the barren wasteland back into normal ever day life, the battle "ending" as everyone works to restart their everyday lives. Just something I noticed on a rewatch before watching Episode 11 today.

You know that feeling of every road trip where you pack your stuff and get ready to leave? That's what this feels like. It feels kinda melancholic what with everyone prepping up for their normal lives. I feel bad for Gauma for not getting what he wants, though, that hurt real bad.

Also I needed time to understand what Mujina meant by her despising Koyomi (dude needs some pants btw). And I figured it out that it was because he could move on with his life after the kaiju fighting and grew with it whilst Mujina grew during the kaiju fighting but could not find much after it.. Something something like when Sizumu said they were only in it for the kaiju fight cuz they wanted to fight.

Also, glad to see Chise taking the steps too to go back to her- oh no she can't. Still not enough, huh. Wonder if her ending is coming with Knight and Second cuz she wants to be with Goldburn.

Also, Yomogi was about to goddamn confess! I was at the edge of my seat and had fireworks in my eyes, but that bastard Sizumu had to swoop in and ruin it! Boy turned into a kaiju and it's up to Kais- oh no, he lost. Where's Gridman?!

Oh yeah, here's this week's voice drama as well. This features Yomogi and his dad. The biological one. Dunno who the VA is, but it somewhat sounds like Koki Uchiyama.

And yeeesshhh I can see why Yomogi's parents divorced. Yomogi's dad sounds like a teenager here or something here. I guess he isn't the talkative type to like what Yomogi mentioned before. There's really long awkward pauses too. Maybe the relationship I guess was incompatible. However, the two do seem to get along anyway at the end.

Edit: Yep, it is Koki Uchiyama. Same voice as Shizumu.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E3ry7x6V...name=4096x4096

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQZircOKeBs

That picture of Desast and Yomogi has the same energy of Juggler riding in the back seat in Ultraman Z.

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/E3sBxj0Xw...jpg&name=small

Lol yeah, Funimation translated mummy as mirror. I was so confused at that part. Fortunately the mummy on the phone cleared that up.

Love that picture of Desast.

Koki Uchiyama is also Tomura in My Hero Academia, and Roxas in Kingdom Hearts. So now I have an image of Desast eating Sea-Salt Ice Cream in my head.

Hey! I should draw that!

Loved the callback to Yuka talking Gauma down back in the original Gridman series. Watching the original series before this series really makes some things hit harder as a result.

Dynazenon's soundtrack is out so if you'll excuse me I'm just going to be jamming to this all day.

It's in the usual spots.

Edit: So the song I love the most is All This Time and it makes perfect sense why I latched onto this song during the course of this show.

The vocalist is Hazel Fernandes, probably the most notable anime track she's done was Ichigo's Theme in Bleach, Number One.

That was a pretty satisfying conclusion. I still have a lot of questions but I think that's a good thing.

The themes of regret and choice hit and hit well. There's a lot of loose threads and some might even call red-herrings, but I think that's accurate to the way life is. Sometimes we fixate on a singular aspect of our lives and convince ourselves that figuring out that one thing will sole all our problems. Whether it is finding love, solving the mystery of your sister, or coming to terms with a past relationship, these things make us who we are for better or for worse. You need the lows to experience and appreciate the highs.

There were a lot of small references that they brought back from prior episodes and it felt really nice to see those. It was also cool that they went fairly straight forward with the Final Battle, no fancy new tricks (Aside from Gridknight and Golburn), just the good old fashioned stuff that worked before. All while everyone yells out their emotions and pathos as they beat the shit out of each other.

And what a way to end it huh? Going basically the reverse of how most of the episodes in the season had gone. You get a huge emotional bombastic start before slowing down towards a more normal and quiet finish. A good bookend given how we started right?

The thing about the various questions we have around certain circumstances... well, it is Gridman Universe after all. I don't think we were really supposed to ask about the "Who's" and "Why's" when it came to certain aspects. Such as who even dropped the Kaiju Seeds to begin with, who revived the Eugenicists, Gauma, etc. I think we'll be getting to that soon enough... no, not think, rather, we will.

Cause I mean, if the final shot of Dyna Rex rising up in the Computer World isn't enough of an indicator. While Funi's vod did not contain this, this showed up in the broadcast version.

I don't understand why you'd omit such a tease from this finale. I would have lost my mind if that final teaser card popped up after such an electric ending like this series had.

I was like legitimately confused at first when I watched the subs cause I saw a flash of it on twitter before averting my eyes. The most I caught was "Next Gridman Universe" before clicking away. Then I don't see anything at the end of the subs I watched so I did some digging, I even waited a while to post just so I could be sure and not spout lies. But I managed to find the Raw Version of the episode which was the TV airing and that had it at the end before the sponsor roll.

The series ended and I still haven't found out what the inspirations for the characters' designs are!

This finale was certainly a good one. We got that amazing boss battle, with all of the Dynazenon crew vs. the Kaiju Eugenicists, with parallels in the animation between them, which I really liked. Even more so with how they used every last bit of Dynazenon's arsenal against them, which I hoped they would, and Yomogi using Instance Domination, made for a spectacular fight.

Then we have the slow, mundane slice-of-life portions, with Yomogi and Yume together, Koyomi's haircut, and the GridKnight team leaving with Goldburn, all really sweet stuff. Yomogi even seems to be on good terms with his new dad, and Koyomi got a job from the husband.

Now what was the third thing Gauma said people need to protect? People are still asking, but I have a good guess as to what that might be. And that's something the series itself probably tells you but doesn't explicitly say it (What? You thought I knew?). And yet, there's still unanswered questions.

Also. What the heck!? Gridman X Dynazenon? I saw that floating around here before I saw the episode, but didn't see that teaser at the end of the episode. I'm excited, but it's still a lot to take in.

It really does show how far the team has come when this basically started out with Yomogi casually helping out Gauma, Gauma interfering in Yomogi and Yume's relationship, Gauma bothering Yomogi...and in the end Gauma has become such a precious and important friend to the both of them, and Yomogi doesn't want to see Gauma go.

Sizumu's Kaiju devours the rest of the Eugenicists and they end up piloting it like a Mecha, making it and them even more of a dark reflection of Dynazenon and company.

Koyomi got dragged into this by accident, but now he's a willing participant in helping others and fighting Kaiju.

Figures Kaiser Gridknight would fair better once we had the whole team together.

So Juga apparently still really looks up to Gauma even after the whole betrayal and killing thing, while Koyomi and Mujina bicker like a couple where the girl blames the guy for making her feel the way they do...still feel like there's some unresolved feelings between these pairings.

Yomogi uses his abilities to control Kaiju to distract it long enough for the team to form Dynazenon for a combined attack with Gridknight and Goldburn! We even get a new Gridknight + Goldburn combination form! And then they come together for an awesome Dyna Rex + Gridknight final attack combo to save the day.

Well, the Eugenicists still believe the future of the world is Kaiju and never really changed this whole series, which I guess is the point of contrast between them and the heroes, and are wiped out...Sizumu was never able to understand humans while the experience fighting Kaiju helped the humans understand each other. Will they and Gauma reincarnate again? Will the world ever be graced with the majesty of Mujina's thighs again? Who can say.

Gauma finally understands why he was entrusted with Dynazenon. So he could move on from obsessing over the princess and find new bonds to make his life worth living with his friends, and their experience together carved in scars onto their body so they will never forget their time as team Dynazenon. I still kind of wish Gauma could see his princess again though.

Time skip to three months and it's time for Anti/Knight, Second, and Goldburn to take Dynazenon with them to their next adventure. Poor Chise has to say goodbye to Goldburn, but at least she feels free enough now to finally show off her snazzy tattoo.

Koyomi as a professional guy looks near unrecognizable. No wonder Knight didn't recognize him. At least his in with Yomogi's boss and saving her husband managed to get him a job. He's finally made something of himself.

I do feel a little let down that we didn't get to see Yume properly answer Yomogi's confession, but when you see them walking with their umbrella's close together and the fact that Yume doesn't use "-kun" with Yomogi's name anymore and gets him to call her "Yume," on-top of all the casual intimacy between them, it's pretty clear they're finally together as a couple.

That ending with Dyna Rex...obviously it's still functioning, but...could Gauma perhaps have possessed it?

So I think the story for Chise is that she was embarrassed by her tattoo or she regrets getting it. Then Goldburn manifests itself in the image of her tattoo making her proud of it and no longer covers it up.

Though it is worth noting that tattoos are still kind of a socially frowned upon in Japan due to their association with Yakuza. Many public places like swimming pools and onsen will ask you to cover them up, so I wonder if that's when everyone else started to think Chise was covering up a tattoo rather than a scar.

Speaking of scars, I wonder if the third thing on Gauma's list was memories.

Maaaannn I got nothing to say besides what's already been said! This was a good episode and I feel like ties up some ends better than Gridman, but also leaving some things open for their crossover in the future! I love that they now all have SSSS. Scars besides Chise (we'll get to her in a sec) who has the dot on her mouth. The Eugenicists being dark reflections, the Gridknight alliance's whole shebang, it's all so good. I love the calm atmosphere of the end part that's pretty much the theming of the series. With Gridman, I was ready see the characters go, but this I can't let go of the cast this time! Koyomi, Chise, Yume, Yomogi, and Gauma, they're all precious! This gave quite the empty feeling after the end, especially not long that I watched Back Arrow's end episode too so this day felt like a "goodbye" kind of day.

So, now that I have pre-established that I absolutely loved the ending and place it just a tiny bit higher than SSSS Gridman. I will now speak about ONE nitpick that I take issue with.

Chise.


Chise, is my favorite design of the cast, and my favorite character at surface level. The actual favorites go to Yomogi and Yume, but Chise I initially gravitate towards and still do. Her episode with Goldburn's intro is my favorite episode, she's an artist of which I relate, and she's just GODDAMN CUTE!

BUT, her ending is disappointing to me. And it's not even about her covered arm revealing that it was just her tattoo. The Self-Harming Chise theory just grew big around discussions. No, my issue is that she should've been in the final battle since she is criminally underused in the show. Being only a package deal with Koyomi till her own episode and then back to being sidelined. She was set up as a character who wanted to be solid member of the DynaCrew, this comes to fruition kind of with Goldburn but even then the latter is an independent kaiju so she still has to hang back.

I feel she should've been in the final battle somehow. Even Second got in to the fight. At the end of it all, Chise was just a bystander. And I didn't like that. ._.

https://i.imgur.com/FOmB9Jl.png

Oh I absolutely agree on that, it felt weird how even The Second got to join in even if she wasn't a vocal participant. Like it definitely felt like Koyomi could have driven by and picked her up. I also do feel like Chise maybe has the weakest storyline out of the bunch? Granted who knows, she could end up a major player in Gridman x Dynazenon for all we know.

Regardless, I've been replaying that final battle dozens of times. And there's one moment I keep replaying over and over. There's something real special about certain Dynazenon action set pieces. Such as the one where it runs at full speed and delivers a "rocket punch" of sorts!

http://64.media.tumblr.com/70c6ca7e6...daba763336.gif

While there are totally other scenes in that final battle that are great, this one just stood out to me. That run, the missiles following along and encircling the arm, the slowdown, and then the hit connecting! Real good stuff!

You haven't seen the last of Gauma yet O.o

Check out the upper left corner where his house used to be.

Pic from @_Kikimu on twitter

Oh, snap! This completely missed me when I first watched it. Thank you for pointing this out!