I actually remember learning about this show in passing ages ago!

It's a firm "maybe." I'm not exactly a Transformers buff, so I feel like someone else would be better qualified in talking about this one.

Thank you for bringing it up though!

By random coincidence, I just finished this show yesterday.

For a Transformers show, there’s some fairly unique concepts being put into play. Our Autobot protagonist, Ginrai/Super Ginrai/God Ginrai is just a normal dude who’d rather live a normal life for much of the show. It takes the Decepticons singling him out as their greatest threat and a battle with BlackZarak (who is the only returning character from a previous series on the main cast, Though you wouldn’t know it without clip shows or side media, he’s a rebuilt and brainwashed Scorponok). And we’ve got the Decepticons themselves, who are set up more as an evil family than an invading army, with the leaders being an older man and woman who serve as a parental guiding force.

In terms of premise, the idea that a human can become a transformer as well helps set the show apart from the entirely robotic transformers of its predecessor Headmasters and its follow-up Victory. And it ironically brings the whole “master” concept closer to the original concept (ie. an organic component being added to increase efficiency in combat).

Though all of this said, the shows isn’t without its downs. Like a lot of TF shows, as new characters appear, the older ones are pushed to the side. The most egregious being episode 33, featuring the destruction of the Autobot base. The Autobot Pretenders, who were the ones the base was intended for and started the conflict of the show, are nowhere to be seen during the chaos and neither are the thee Decepticon Pretenders, despite this supposedly being a full assault. And there’s the fact the Decepticons are taking orders from a giant glowing ball of weirdness (the TFWiki suggests you could use a plasma globe, or steam from a kettle to represent him) for barely explained reasons (even in the clip shows), who has a bunch of absurd powers, such as possessing BlackZarak and turning him into a “hydra” and separating the Deception Headmasters and Godmasters from their human component. About the best thing I can say about him is that he’s got a great voice (provided by Hidekatsu Shibata, who in the world of Tokusatsu, was a major villain in KR Stronger, Gaoranger and Gekiranger and the big bad for Sun Vulcan, Kakuranger and Gingaman).

Overall the show does have a lot of good ideas that it uses well, but it still has quite a few of the pitfalls of 80s shows with an edict “to sell toys”. Though on the plus side, it also gave the world this song.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=vQGeGCMEopY

You should check out the 1972 Devilman TV show. It's pretty much a demonic Ultraman show.

It certainly sounds like you had a good time with it! I'll add it to the list as a potential one, but uh... like I said, probably better covered in detail by someone else, haha.

I mean, if you guys are willing to count it, I have been wanting to check out Devilman Crybaby for some time now; I just keep pushing it back for other stuff. So if you guys count it, lemme know and I'll add it to the list.

---

Oh, and I also added Samurai Flamenco to the list as well. Can't believe I forgot that one when I first typed the list up.

Samurai Flamenco is what really lit a fire under me to start watching toku. I'd already had a passing interest, started watching Samurai Flamenco because it looked similar, and realized I should really watch actual toku first to understand the homage/parody.

I have to thank both dreamcastegirl and Guyver Spawn for me recently coming to an epiphany when it came to this.

When I first watched SSSS.Gridman way back, I had just assumed that Akane had Yuta's' parents killed for some reason, seeing as they had been on a "business" trip for the entire show.

But then, at the very end, during the credits, we see the two actually return home, meaning that it couldn't have been them. This I felt created a loose hanging plot thread that, granted, isn't incredibly important to the narrative as whole, but it did really bug me that it was never answered.

Then Guyver Spawn revealed to me that Devilman and Ultraman have alot of similarities.

That, combined with dreamcastegirl's' recent watching of both Gridman and Syber Squad got me thinking; What if Akane's' original target was actually Yuta? There's nothing saying that the attack didn't happen right after Yuta snubs Akane for Rikka, and I could definitely see Yuta only having been saved due to Gridman's' intervention.

Now, this isn't a perfect explanation, as Akane never expresses surprise that Yuta is alive, and doesn't at all seem concerned with his amnesia either. One might then think that perhaps she caused Yuta's' amnesia in the first place, but I'd argue that that would be out of character considering Akane's' go-to was always murder with no exceptions. Still, I suppose this theory is better than nothing. Atleast to me.

That is to say, unless Dynazenon ends up answering this and I'm just unaware.

What do you all think?

Was just made aware of Concrete Revolutio, and thus it shall be added to the list of potential candidates.

And yes, I do plan to get back to doing these again; I just wanna finish my Let's Play of Memory of Heroez first, haha.

GUESS WHAT'S FINALLY GETTING DUBBED!?

Oh man guys, I finally get to join the Dynazenon discussion! Expect the thread to be active again for a few weeks, and sorry for anyone who was hoping that something else would get covered.

But yeah, let's do this!

Episode 1: What is a Kaiju User?

...

My excitement might've been a bit premature!

Alright, so, not to sound harsh but like... I kinda got next to nothing out of this episode? Like yeah, I get it, it's only the first episode, but hear me out.

To me it felt like an episode that was very much doing its best to emulate the style of the first episode of SSSS.Gridman, but didn't have any of the substance to back it up.

They're definitely hitting alot of the same beats; A lack of music, the beats of an everyday life, a protagonist(or atleast who I'm assuming is the protagonist) who stumbles upon something kaiju related, and a blasting action sequence at the end with the theme song blaring in the background.

But what makes Gridman's' example work me is that is had a very clear direction it was going in. A very focused air of mystery to compliment its atmosphere and minimalist approach that dominated the majority of the episode, as well staying focused on only a couple of characters at first in order to give something to immediately attach to.

But here? It's almost like the opposite? Like, the best example I could think up is like, imagine if you'd never even so much as heard of Monopoly before, and a friend of yours asks you to play it with them. You ask them about it, and then rather than tell you like, anything, they open up the box, dump all the player pieces on the table and simply say "choose one." That's it, and proceeds to just kinda stare at you until you do.

Heck, even when it comes to the Kaiju battle at the end, the first season managed to really impress with its callback to real life Toku, whereas the one at the end of this episode is just kind of a standard anime giant robot battle by sheer comparison.

Again, I get it, this is the very first episode, so I imagine that things are gonna get development, but I found it hard to see anything in it other than "here are the characters in this story and they exist." So I guess with that in mind, I'll spend the rest of this post talking about my initial impressions of said characters, what little we're given?

First up is Yomogi, the blue-haired guy we're immediately introduced to and whom appears to be the main character. I gotta say, I really dig his fashion sense(I basically dress like that all the time in real life), but besides that, I think he might be the character that I have the best first impression of. Though I will say that I find his English voice kinda weird. Maybe it's just me, but it definitely isn't the sort of voice I had imagined in my head when I first saw his character design. I'm sure it'll grow on me though.

Also, it's a small scene, but man, him refusing to accept money from his mother's' boytoy? Lemme tell ya, that was huge to me; Having done so myself, and I really hope that his story goes more into that aspect of his character. Though, given the type of show the first season was, I also wouldn't be surprised if it went nowhere near it.

Next up is Yume, of whom I probably have the worst impression of right off the bat(which is probably no surprise to anyone who's read my coverage of Gridman). It's probably a plot point that she looks almost exact like Rikka from the first season, and I think the same voice actress too? I just hope that she doesn't end up as another Akane, which, to give some credit, I don't think she will, given that atleast this time the show is being very upfront about her own mental health issues. Still, her purposely preying on other's' sense of empathy kinda isn't cool!

This leads us to Gauma, who is self-proclaimed "Kaiju User." I did like how he stood up for Yomogi and chewed Yume out for her behavior, though I suppose the biggest thing his character brought me this episode was the hint that this might be a different world from the one seen in Gridman, considering no one in this town seems to have heard of Kaiju before, or at the very least doesn't think that they're real.

Last up is Koyomi, who is a shut in and has a cousin that gets him into trouble alot. And uh... that's kinda all we get. He exists, I guess.

And that's about all I got. Overall, the episode felt like you were just presented with the board without any clear idea of what the end goal is. I'm sorry if me making a direct comparison seems unfair, but I really do think that Gridman had the much better executed introductory episode. Still, it's not like I'm writing the entire show off or anything like that, and I'm interested in seeing where things will go from here.

Here's my counter for that, having seen the entire series beforehand. And as you get in, I don't know if your opinion will change but... I think Episode 1 presents the board as clear as possible when it comes to what's going to come. Cause I'm telling you this now, do not expect SSSS.Gridman 2 in like... how this series goes about presenting itself and what exactly it's going for specifically.

Like I definitely had the same feelings coming in, and these were my first episode thoughts.

And beyond that it was me going, "Oh Dynazenon can transform and has individual components it looks like? Dyna Rex go brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr."

But like funnily enough looking back on this episode in full (I would go back and have the the fight of the episode on repeat cause I really love Dynazenon) it actually sets up everything this series is going for, pretty well. It establishes the base of what we're going to be seeing basically.

Now thoughts on Dub Actors... I'd agree with Yomogi sounding a bit off? I feel like his voice is a bit too deep at some points, but he does some good line reads.

They managed to snag a good one for Gauma though, that being said it's a shame they didn't keep what the original Japanese version did. Which was right at the peak of the "Rex Roar!" callout for the finisher the Gauma's yell of the word "Roar" echoes constantly while going lower right up until before the monster explodes.

Ooh! Really happy you weren't kept waiting any longer than you were for this! I have a million things I could say about Dynazenon. I'm not sure how many I'll end up saying as you go through the show, but I'll tell you this much upfront – there is only a single episode of this show I didn't adore with all my heart, and you've already watched it.

Hey, if future episodes have me looking back with a better opinion later on then hey, all the better! It's just that as of current, I'm not really sure what to make of things, other than possibly the show being about broken homes? Would certainly be an interesting angle, if nothing else.

Yeah, I expected Yomogi to sound a little bit younger. Not saying the actor himself is at all bad, just that I think the voice itself doesn't fit the best, currently.

Gauma's' voices fits pretty well though, and that is such a shame that they didn't keep that little bit from the sub!

Well then I certainly have alot to look forward to! Not just an improving show, but your various in-depth thoughts too!

Episode 2: What's Your Reason for Fighting?

I'll say it upfront, this episode was alot more of my cup of tea.


But before we get into that, this episode features the opening for the first time! And yeah, I like it!

I don't think it's as much of a banger that Union was, but that's kind of unfair competition, you know? I did however like how much energy the OP had, as well has the handful of shots that were blatant callbacks to the OP of season 1.

Moving onto the episode itself, like I said, I got alot more out of this one than I did the first episode. This one has a little of everything, just about! The mystery aspects are still present for one: What is Dynazenon, who trusted Gauma with it? Who are the Kaiju Eugenists? What's up with the Kaiju parts dissipating? etc.

The action is alot better too. The fight at the end is alot more dynamic then what the first episode's' was, and it even goes to emphasize the importance of teamwork and training. Which, granted, this isn't the first anime to do such a thing, nor was it handled in my favorite way, but it's always nice to have such things acknowledged.


I really loved the comedy in this one too. Gauma's' antics were great, which helps to lean into the thing I appreciated most about this episode, in that it put more effort into getting me to warm up to these characters. Gauma's' bombastic personality is certainly infectious, for starters. Koyomi also gets to bounce off his cousin a bit more in this one, establishing their dynamic and giving the audience a bit more to work with.

The biggest improvement for me though is Yume, whose broken home is emphasized a bit more without revealing literally everything upfront, thus giving me more to sympathize with ontop of not killing the pacing. I also liked that Gauma's' words did actually get through to her and that she apologized for her behavior before, thus showing growth ontop of giving her a redeeming trait. Really, the only one who lacked in this episode was Yomogi, which is quite the turnaround from last episode where I shined to him most.

There are a few bits here and there that I feel are gonna serve as foreshadowing, but I'll save that for another post. Overall though, this was a big improvement from before for me, and goes to show why you shouldn't judge an entire show by just one episode. Is it the best episode of anything ever? No, but there was clear effort put it, and the improvement is noticeable, and I do really appreciate that. Looking forward to what the rest of this show has to offer more than before now!

Oh, and there is one other thing that really stood out to me.

Ah see, while I adore Union, I actually like Imperfect a lot more for certain reasons? I think both are pretty top tier OP's. But Imperfect just vibes with me more, there's certain beats, certain tones in the singing that just hit more to me. Also just the high energy in the song and the OP itself compared to the Union OP's.

Now onto the episode itself, while at the time I was still sort of trying to find my vibe with the series, this was a big step up from Episode 1. Rewatching it now I appreciate how mundane the usage of Dynazenon is. The fact that they just carry the parts around on person, them using it for simple things like traveling, and just the training. It's probably why I attach to Dynazenon more than the Gridknight Alliance in general in terms of giant heroes?

Like while I love Gridman and the Neon Genesis Junior High Crew, you really wouldn't be able to do what they do here with them given the sentience. While Dynazenon is clearly some kind of living entity and has some degree of awareness, it's still a bunch of components that form a machine. Like Dyna Wing isn't talking, neither is Dyna Soldier, so it ends up working well since you get to focus on the characters who are the pilots. Though also this might just be my love of giant robots seeping through as instead of Gridman who did Mecha Homages, we now have an actual Mecha.

Now I won't do this all the time but I will plug certain Voice Drama's that I can find with subs just because they're interesting to take a gander to. While 1.1 I could take or leave, 2.2 gives us a look at Gauma and Yomogi's "sleepover" before the hard cut to Gauma snoring.

Voice Drama 2.2: http://streamable.com/zp370t

Also

The entirety of the dub casting for the Kaiju Eugenicists lives and dies on how well they say this line. Juuga's was alright but it was lacking a certain umph, but I have to hear all of them to make any further judgement.

Trust me, you'll love the Kaiju Eugenicists. They're nothing like the villains you're expecting them to be. I initially thought the Instance Domination was kind of funny, thinking about them using the Vulcan hand gesture to control Kaiju.

You are in for a wild ride with this one.

Okay, so, thank you a whole ton for linking this. That voice drama basically secured Yomogi as my favorite character for this show. Gonna be hard to top at this rate.

Wouldn't expect anything less!

Episode 3: What is a Traitor?

This episode really didn't do anything for me.

Like, there were certain aspects to it that I liked, but overall the majority of the episode left me with a very "meh" feeling.

I liked how everyone's' character arcs got progressed, even if only a little. I liked how Yomogi and Koyomi are connected. I also liked how the girls on the Kaiju Eugenicists seem to really only think of their positions as a simple job.

But that's kinda where it stops. I really disliked how a majority of this episode's' plot hinged on a distrust everyone has for Gauma when, frankly, they have zero reason to distrust him or anything he's said. I'm sorry, but you can't pull "Are the KE really the bad guys?" when they've been actively blowing everything up.

Not to mention that Gauma was right in that there are other things at hand that should've taken priority, and that it was a conversation that not only was none of their business, but even if it were there wasn't really any reason it couldn't wait until after the battle was over. And in the end Gauma totally dodges answering the question properly anyway.

But beside all that, the action was basic, the animation took a noticeable step downward(chopping the explosions in half was so cheap looking I laughed), and the overall atmosphere really didn't grab me at all. Sorry for ending all of this on a negative note, but I really don't have much positive to say about this one. Do I think it was an out and out bad episode? No, but I can't say I exactly had a good time with it either, ya know?

Yeah, I can’t say this episode stood out to me either. I had to look up that Dyna Soldier Diver Combine debuted here. And other than looking more distinct compared to the other Combine forms (which are straight reuses of Gridman’s combination system), I can’t really call it a favourite (you’ll see that near future)

That's thinking with your brain! You're supposed to be using your heart, darn it!

Words are really failing me with this show, and I wish I could be contributing more (especially about that second episode!), but please remember everything I said about the theme of closing distances in SSSS.Gridman, and then consider that this is a show about a combining super robot – individual pieces that come together to make something greater. You will very quickly realize how genius and totally on-point it was to have a climax revolving around everyone refusing to focus on the fight until Gauma opens up to them the tiniest bit.

Not that I'm trying to say you aren't allowed your opinion, of course; I just want to get across how passionate I am about this. That sequence did a WHOLE lot for me, and I was immediately bummed out to see it didn't do much for you. I personally consider it a shining example of how impeccably tight Dynazenon's thematic core is, and how it always makes that the focus, even if it doesn't seem "logical".

Wait, there was a unique combination this episode? I musta totally missed that.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I totally get what appears to be the overarching theme of the show, especially if we're using SSSS.Gridman as a base.

But like, and this is gonna make me sound super old, but I've seen it done alot better in other shows. Including other Combining Super Robot ones. Dancougar, Super Robot Monkey Team Hyper Force Go, Voltron, just to name a few.

And I totally get putting thematic and emotional weight over logical sense; The ending of Kikaider-01 is a shining example of that and I absolutely love it, afterall. It's just that, for this particular episode, my heart wasn't latched onto in the right ways.

...Speaking of SRMTHFG, I really should add that to the list, shouldn't I?

It's a shame you didn't jive with this episode as much cause I did enjoy it a bit. I did find it a bit odd that we were doing this plot but it works out. We get some real good music work on certain scenes, and we get our full Gattai Sequence for Dynazenon. Oh also Diver Soldier Combine is a thing... yeah tbh it's very underwhelming but also it's so hard to really think of much to do with it given it's so specific. Saying this now but Wing Combine is probably the best of the combination modes.

I will say though that I really don't blame them for being too skeptical and given two of our team are teenagers... of course they're going to hyper focus on bickering and stuff. Not to mention Gauma's kind of like "Here's the deal, now let's do this" without much else. Onto that fight though, while the first part of the Dynazenon fight was a bit funny, I still will never get over the cutting explosions in half...

It had one of my favorite sequences of CG, which made me wonder if heroes doing cool flips in Episode 3 is a standard. First Gridman with his punch and then grab to slam Anti into the pavement. Now this... but I'm not talking about the Ultraman Taro reference Dynazenon pulls, I'm talking about right before that...

http://64.media.tumblr.com/aca81fc7a...d4010ee3b7.gif

There is just something incredible about Dynazenon grabbing a Kaiju with two legs. Transitioning itself to handstand and then using its boosters to help toss the Kaiju away from it. While I do love me some good hand drawn stuff, there are CG Moments like this that end up being super cool. Expect me to do put out gifs for every cool moment I see from now on, there's quite a few that I took a liking to.

Also while Voice Drama 3.3 doesn't offer too much depth, we do get some fun talk on the logistics of souvenirs and more mundane Dynazenon usage.

Voice Drama 3.3

If that was the angle they were going for, I feel it would've been better had it been done during the previous episode, rather than have it be where the only one who had doubts after the initial fight be Yomogi(who then gets past them by the end of said episode).

Please do! I know it's something I really should've kept up past the Kikaider posts, haha.

"There aren't any convenience stores in space!"

"You don't know that."

:lol

Episode 4: What is this Thumping Heart?

I liked how they remembered to make Yomogi's' shoes squeak due to them being wet. That aside...

A majority of this episode deals with something that frankly does not interest me.

As such you can probably once again guess that this was another episode that, while I don't think it's terrible or anything, it really doesn't gel with me.

I think what it mainly comes down to is that this show keeps dropping new elements into the bucket without really making any big steps towards its other lingering threads, and thus feels like it's meandering.

Case in point, alot of this episode deals with Yomogi having a sudden crush on Yume, and not only is romance not at all something I'm keen on, but the two really don't share any chemistry and it highly distracts and takes away from the much more interesting plot threads that the show has already presented.

I really wish that this episode had focused mostly on Yume discovering more about her sister Kano, because that was not only far more interesting to me, but something that I feel would be alot more powerful and would get me to like her character more than simply an episode where she makes literally only a single step while a boy crushes on her.

It didn't do Yomogi's' story any favors for me either. The first episode made it seem like his parent's' divorce was going to be some major driving force in his arc, but so far outside of the voice dramas it's been a total non-entity, which double sucks for me since I was really interested in seeing how a show this would handle that; Especially considering I've never actually seen such a plot thread brought up in this style of anime before.

As for everyone else in the cast, they don't really get much outside of some very slightly funny moments. I still take issue with how the show is pushing this question about if the Kaiju Eugenicists are bad or not. Not only is this a thread that should've been tied up twice over now, but again, I feel like we're headed towards another Akane situation and I'm not gonna bother you all with my thoughts on her again. I guess that bonding moment at the end of last episode really wasn't good enough for Yomogi, huh?


Also I'm calling it here. Whatever this chick's' name is, she's totally Yume's' imaginary friend. She's never seen interacting with anyone else, and only seems to hover around Yume in private. I will be very surprised if she actually exists in-universe.

But yeah, in the end, I'm sorry to say that this was another episode that I just didn't find very engaging. It's not terrible; I've seen far worse. But when it comes to my own personal tastes and how I like my character arcs to flow, it did nothing to satisfy that.

Atleast the fight at the end was cooler this time.

See, okay, this was my exact same reaction, I wasn't sure about this either at this point. My mind was changed on this dynamic later on.

Time for a gif of my favorite move this time, Burst Missile Kick! Very creative, having missile launchers on the legs so just deciding to kick while launching them.

http://64.media.tumblr.com/80118f33f...f71f595a3c.gif

Also remember kids, if your sick you probably shouldn't be around your co-workers, otherwise they might catch something too.

Voice Drama 4.4

Well this was the first I’ve noticed of Sizumu’s dub voice. At the risk of sounding like a purist, I prefer his JP voice.

Also, never give Chise control of a robot.

Man, why couldn't this have been the end of the episode itself? It was alot of fun and would've been a nice payoff at the end.

Seeing a t-rex do the typical anime girl squeel was quite the sight I will say.

Episode 5: What's Lover-Like Mean?

That title does not inspire confidence in me.

Infact, I'm sorry to say this but, this entire episode did not inspire any confidence in me when it comes to the entire rest of this show.

I'm actually finding it really hard to talk about this one without just kinda repeating what I already said about the previous episode, so instead, lemme see if I can get my point across in a really quick and simple way:


I found this episode incredibly frustrating to watch because it constantly flipped back and forth between grabbing my attention and then immediately taking me out of it. There'd be a character arc or story hook that I'd instantly be down for, only for it to get ripped away and instead focus on things that are boring.

Primary example being the new combination between Yomogi and Koyomi shown off right at the start of the episode. With such an emphasis being put on it, you'd think that maybe the growing friendship between the two would be the center focus of the episode right? Well if you were at all interested in seeing a bond outside of Yomogi and Yume, I have unfortunate news.

No joke, I was actually super interested in seeing Koyomi's' date, because I wanted to see him finally get something. See him finally get some backstory. See him finally be in the spotlight and learn more about him. And right when it's about to be delivered with an incredibly atmospheric flashback... NOPE! Everyone's off to an indoor pool with more focus on Yomogi's' crush on Yume; Which is something I already said I'm not interested in!

I found the stuff about Yume alone interesting atleast. The idea that she's the one creating the Kaiju as well as the reveal of her sister's' suicide would be great... if the entire episode weren't bogged down by comedy that didn't make me laugh or more "conflict" about how to handle the Kaiju Eugenicists. I find it so fascinating that I've been finding so much more to enjoy in the voice dramas than anything that the episodes themselves have had to offer so far; And those are way shorter!

Thinking about it, I suppose that's another big complaint I have so far: The pacing. Don't get me wrong, I am not an impatient guy. I understand the idea of a slow burn, and I also understand that I shouldn't expect the entire story to be fed to me right off the bat. But here's the thing. This show is only 12 episodes long. When your anime is short, it's all the more important that your writing be tight and the pace of your tale move at a steady flow, otherwise you risk creating the feeling of wasted time. That above screenshot? Prime example. 90% of this episode felt like padding to me.

I guess the short version of all of this is that, currently, it feels like Dynazenon is a show that just doesn't appeal to me specifically. Please don't misunderstand, I'm not saying that the show is bad or that you're dumb for liking it or anything like that, and sure, there's certainly still time to change things around, but as someone who's seen plenty of other 1-cour anime that managed to hook me so well and so quickly, SSSS.Gridman included? Bit of a letdown. And yes, regardless of how I end up feeling as we go, I will still see this anime through to the end. Because hey, if I can make it through Blassreiter, then there's no reason I shouldn't be able to handle this.

Shame you aren't finding much to enjoy. It's interesting how Dynazenon was able to hook me to make me watch every week compared to Gridman where I fell off for a bit and had to do catch up.

I suppose it might be because I actually care about more than two characters in Dynazenon? I don't know I just find the cast more entertaining to me. Also that second screen shot, honestly, that was probably the best part of the episode aside from all of Gauma's antics. It's such a mundane as hell moment, so mundane that it loops around into comedy because God, have I been there before.

Also it might just be because these characters are very relatable to me? They have this aura of things that could have been for me, are happening to me, or things that might happen. Koyomi especially. But I won't really say much more than that honestly.

Anyway I don't have a gif this week for a fight, while the fight was cool I didn't find anything striking. So let's talk about the insert song that is actually used twice. First during the water park montage.

All This Time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fpZMDoW7q8

I suppose you could say Shiro Sagisu and Hazel Fernandes are a great duo considering this isn't the first time we've seen them collaborate. She's most famously known for Ichigo's main theme from Bleach, "Number One". It was such a weird thing jiving to this song but hearing the familiar voice and trying to figure out who it belonged to. It wasn't until the Soundtrack released that I found out it was her. And also it wasn't until the Soundtrack until I found out how many variations of All This Time there is. So much so that it takes up nearly half the track list.

Of course one of my favorite version (for now) ends up being the battle theme we've heard time and time again.

All This Metal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANgUy3qR84E

It's got a good punch to it and it makes a good companion piece to the fight scenes when they have it play.

Now then I suppose I should end this on a Voice Drama because I did actually enjoy this one quite a bit. Remember, don't apologize, give thanks.

Voice Drama 5.5

So fun fact in this one: the lifeguard in this episode is a caricature of the actor who played the OG Gridman’s human partner as he appears today (the guy himself even provides the voice in the Japanese version). He previously appeared listening to music in episode 6 of S4 Gridman.

Yes, I’m reviving my recurring “thing” from the Gridman watch. Since I don’t know when Die will actually begin the “Tokunation watches Decade” thread, I might as well get some practice in, since I’ll be doing the same there.

I really hope I remember this point come the end of this Watch, because if Dynazenon ends up going the direction that I suspect it will, then I'll have alot to talk about in comparison to SSSS.Gridman.

Neat! I actually like the first one alot better, which is ironic given that Metal is one of my favorite genres of music.

Once again I gotta ask, why couldn't these just be part of the episodes themselves? I've had a way better time on average with the voice dramas than the actual show; Including this one! In five minutes it did alot more to warm me up to our antagonists than what 3 episodes worth of content have.

Hey man, I welcome it. I certainly haven't noticed any references here like I did for the previous anime.

Because Japan loves their audio drama's and sticking fun pieces of things in them that don't fit into the normal run time. At least it ain't like some series where they're super essential to plot and they aren't translated so we're stuck.

Like I know SSSS.Gridman had a bunch of fun ones from what I recall, and that's not counting the Blu-Ray exclusive ones where the last of them was an epilogue Voice Drama post SSSS.Gridman. Now I'm just curious to see what Dynazenon's post series Voice Drama will be about.

I was unaware Gridman even had voice dramas. Have they been subbed? Would love to see them.

This link

Will take you to a guy who has full script translations for all of the Voice Drama's released for both SSSS.Gridman and Dynazenon. I'm not sure where to find like the actual audio drama's subbed for Gridman, but the script is the best I can do.

The only reason I'm finding Dynazenon's is because I bookmarked a forum where someone was constantly releasing streamable links of em.

Episode 6: What is this Pain?

ANTI!


ANTIANTIANTIANTIANTIANTIANTIANTI!!

ANTIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!

...

...

...

...

Anti.

I'm so happy right now...

And no I'm not just saying that because Anti showed up at the very end(although MAN did I lose it when he did).

This was actually a legit great episode for me! At long last we get a giant push on the character arcs for Yume and Koyomi. At long last, we get back to addressing Yomogi's' family life. At long last, we have an actual atmosphere!

Unlike the last few episodes, this one didn't waste any time. It's an episode all about harsh truths and synchronicity, as well as how the people we surround ourselves with play a major influence on how we grow. I was super into this one, which is a total first for this show!

I loved how this episode finally continues the sort of commentary that Gridman and SSSS.Gridman had; About how technology can be used for great good or great harm. The commentary on YouTube harassment videos? Very appropriate thing to bring up after the previous season's' talk about the distance between people the internet can create.

It even goes in a common trope for combining super robot shows: That being of the pilots needing to not just be in sync with one another, but to also be focused, of which Yume and Koyomi clearly can't be right now. It's not the best example of it I've seen, but the timing was good and it helped in creating the dread of the overall situation, ontop of keeping in line with the general atmosphere of the episode itself. From the animation to the voice acting, they nailed it.

Just... man, this post is gonna be a short one, and I'm sorry that I really don't have any sort of intricate analysis, but all I can really think to say is that this was a huge step up from the previous bunch for me, and almost made those last few episodes worth it. Episodes like these where almost every character gets the chance to shine make me very excited now to see where the show is gonna go from here!

I basically spent the entirety of the day it aired just replaying those last 30 seconds. If anyone was going to come back for Dynazenon I was hoping it was Anti and I'm so glad it was.

Aside from that, speaking on synchronicity, that ties into the gif I'm sharing this week!

http://64.media.tumblr.com/61676d799...01cbb5532e.gif

I don't include it here but I love the very jarring and deliberate cut between the stock footage and this new real time footage here. Dynazenon just flailing about in mid-air and while sticking the landing in a cool fashion, awkwardly runs forward, really helps sell that something's wrong. Not to mention everyone's voices being entirely out of sync.

So you got to the episode where I basically declared Koyomi as my favorite character this season. Dude's super relatable honestly, oldest of the group, doesn't really have any kind of direction on what to do or where to go, etc. And of course him seeing the person he might've gotten with in the past, alongside her husband.

That dinner scene was an absolute crusher of a scene where you just keep going, "Oh... oh no..." the entire time.

So how about we ramp up the awkward tension even further by making it the topic of the Voice Drama?!

Voice Drama 6.6

But yeah this was definitely the episode where I started to get hooked more. Probably because we finally moved past the first two sections of the show. Which was the Introduction/Pulling the Team Together and Seeing the Dynazenon Crew work normally for two episodes. Of course it does make sense, since six is usually the turning point of these things.

Well now that they’ve advertised all but one of Dynazenon’s gimmicks (you’ll see what that is soon), it’s time for advertising of the toy company’s second set for this series: Gridknight and REDACTED.

And an interesting fact is that while most monsters in the SSSS franchise are animated as if they’re a guy in a rubber suit, this week’s is animated as if it’s one suit with two guys in it. I’ve seen at least two real stances of this in Tokusatsu (Jumbo King in Ultraman Ace and the Gomoryu in Kiramager), so it remains one of those fascinating ideas.

I'm just glad that nearly everyone agrees that Anti is the best character in SSSS.Gridman.

Assuming the show finally starts to pick up, I imagine Yomogi is gonna be my favorite of the new cast for similar reasons. Glad you found something to connect to in this!

And of course, the voice drama is on point as always.

It's typically why I tend to give shows 5-6 episodes before I declare if I'm signing off or not.

Oh you tease.

Has there been a Toku where the hero fights like six people wearing a Chinese Dragon costume yet? Huge missed opportunity if not.

Episode 7: What's our Reason for Coming Together?

Let's talk about Anti some more!

I was so happy to see Best Boy from SSSS.Gridman return here, and alongside Anosillus II to boot!

Their personalities were still pretty on point, and it was nice to see that their original voice actors were retained. Plus, the interactions with Gauma really made them shine. So glad to see them done justice on that front.

That said...

If I could offer some minor critique? I don't get why they now wear suits? Neither of them seemed the type. And in the case of Anti, I get it, his new look also serves as a call back to Calibur from the previous season, but in terms of personality it clashes, ya know?

That said, having his old scarf tucked away in the jacket? Very nice touch. I also love the implication of him throwing away the name that Akane gave him and instead embracing the name given to him by his comrades from Gridman. As such, from here on out whenever I refer to the character as he is here in Dynazenon I'll use Knight, and use Anti when talking about Gridman.

Knight and Anosillus II aside though, one thing I actually really appreciated about this episode was that, unlike episodes 3-5, this one had a good sense of keeping balance between everyone's' screen time. Every character and their respective interactions and arcs were given an equal amount of weight and focus, with the atmosphere to match, too. And playing into his role in the robot, it was nice to see that Gauma was essentially the thing binding it all together.

But again, if I might make a minor critique...


While I am somewhat glad that our villains are getting a bit more fleshed out, part of me also feels like if future episodes don't play it carefully, this could easily result in either rushed focus or not amounting to much? Like, I feel as though the new details we learn here, as well as some questions they raised, are really things that should've been presented 2-3 episodes ago. Again, this show is on a limited time. Introducing new mysteries this late, while it can be done effectively, rarely ever is in my experience.

With all that out of the way, you might be thinking that Knight was the absolute highlight for me, right? Well, surprisingly, even to myself, no. The piece of the plot I got most invested in was this one.


Koyomi's' conflicting feelings about, well, everything that's happened to him over the course of the show so far made for some really strong stuff. His conflict over love, his doubts about his status as hero, and internalizing his own battle to sort his own feelings out? Yeah, I'm all about stuff like that in stories like this, and I am so glad it's finally getting just as much focus as the far less interesting plot that is Yume and Yomogi's' love life. You know between this and Garo, that makes two anime I've now covered in this thread that had simultaneous love stories where one worked for me and the other didn't.

In the end, Dynazenon seems to finally be actually going somewhere with its characters, and that made me like this episode alot. I had a great time watching this one, and I hope it's a good sign for episodes to come.

(I also don't get the implication that Knight and Anosillus II are a couple but sure I guess.)

Yeah this episode continued me on the loving Koyomi train. Dude's presented with a very real and relatable choice. He could have just done nothing, it's not like anyone would have ever known, but he did the right thing despite all that and he's the bigger man because of it.

That being said this episode is when I got fully onboard the Yume and Yomogi ship and they're honestly cute together. It's just nice to see Yomogi pouring his heart out over Yume's crisis despite barely knowing much about her, and them growing closer as a result of it. The scene with them by the water really clicked for me. Like while you can tell part of this plot point is Yomogi having a bit of a crush on Yume, for the most part he's trying to prioritize her and her issues and trying to be there for her as a friend.

I also like between Koyomi spending time with Gauma, Yomogi with Yume, we start to see Chise get a bit left out, and that bead seems to be growing... hmm...

As for Knight and The 2nd, I don't know I kinda like their more cleaned up look. It shows that a genuine amount of time has passed and that the Gridman Alliance is clearly branching out. Not to mention they clearly have backing of some sort given all the stuff they carry around, the custom logo on the boat the travel on, the fixer beam? It helps add to this slowly but surely expanding universe. But I just like it because it's like a parent seeing their kids grow up and being proud of em, at least the way I feel about it. I also like the touch of Knight styling his hair to where it covers his left eye.

Now then time for the gif of the day, there were a lot of cool action shots. But my favorite is the absolute insane tactic by Gauma I like to call

Ride Em Cowboy:
http://64.media.tumblr.com/336af0947...923715a12c.gif

Meanwhile, we get a bit of background stuff given well... everyone did spend the night away from home.

Voice Drama 7.7

Gridknight is the best knight. :rock: