I Watched 39 Episodes of Denkou Choujin Gridman in One Week and This is What I Learnt
 

I have this hang up where I can't stand the idea of beginning a story in the middle; if an earlier iteration exists, I can't just dip in at the point that has arrested my attention, I have to start at the beginning. I'm also notoriously bad at engaging with new things, so when I first saw information regarding the Gridmancartoon from 2017, it took me a while to decide that, yes, this was something I wanted to watch.

Therefore, in order to get to the point where I felt I could watch the more recent cartoon, I have spent the last few days watching the original Denkou Choujin Gridman in order to prepare myself. This is what I learnt:

Firstly, decidedly unintentionally, viewing the world of Gridman from 2021 is a very nostalgic experience for me, and there are a number of situational details in the setting that truly make me feel wistful. I was roughly the same age as our three protagonists, Naoto, Yuka, and Ippei, in the years in which the show was produced and the story is set, but despite this, I genuinely assumed the three protagonists were far younger due to the manner in which they are portrayed; certainly I wasn't as innocent when I was 15-years-old. Regardless of this slight dissonace, one of the show's genuine strengths is in how likeable these characters are... well, how likeable at least two of them are. :p

Naoto is probably considered to be the lead character, a young man whose sense of justice resonates so strongly with the spirit of Gridman—a "Hyper Agent from Hyper World" that he merges with in order to fight giant monsters within infected machines—and whom the stories mostly revolve around. He is initially contacted by Gridman via a homemade computer he has constructed after school with the aid of Yuka, his childhood friend and the real brains of the operation, and Ippei, who is just... brash and loud and annoying. Please don't get me wrong, I absolutely understand the reasoning for Ippei's character type and the kind of drama he brings to each story, it's just he's so obnoxious whilst doing it. Most of the time, his role seems to be to complain in a whiny voice and half-heartedly vie with Naoto for Yuka's attention, so, I guess, in that respect, this portrayal of adolescent boyhood is somewhat authentic?

The blurring of identities between Naoto and Gridman is a lot less prominent than in Tsuburaya's other more famous production, Ultraman. Whilst Gridman shares a lot of the same elements in play with the older series—a giant hero from another realm who must merge with a human host to fight monsters within a certain time limit before his power runs out—it is notable that, unlike some of the protagonists in Ultraman, Naoto is not dead, and his real function is pretty much to serve as an anchor or battery for Gridman's presence in the world. Though Ippei and Yuka seem very clear on the fact that Naoto is independent of Gridman, Yuka in particular seems to attribute Gridman's triumphs to Naoto, and really gives him more credit than he actually deserves. It's like rewarding your plug socket for the fact that a band you liked made a really good record and you enjoyed listening to it.

The story revolves around the initial contact made between these three children and the fourth dimensional construct, Gridman, as he pursues the rogue programme, Kahn Digifer, who is at once a malevolent force within the story, yet also acts as a source of somewhat naïve amusement in the unfolding narrative. It is he who empowers the monsters that each week, Gridman/Naoto must face, and yet it is only through his own relationship with human antagonist, Takeshi, who serves as an anchor for evil in the world, though both he and Kahn Digifer remain distinct and individual, the latter only encouraging the former's misanthropy, and taking advantage of the resulting inspiration to create new monsters.

If you are a loser like me, and you watched Digimon 02 when younger, you'll be aware of what is going on here; Takeshi, reprehensible as many of his actions are, misguided as he often is, is never truly depicted as evil—in fact one of the great strengths of the series is the way in which it addresses Takeshi's social awkwardness, the perceived slights he feels in regards to the people around him, especially Yuka, who he has obvious feelings for, yet who remains oblivious to this as he can never convey his emotions in a way that is considerate of how she might feel about the matter. Perhaps, if you're reading this, you too might have had such an experience in adolescence, I know I certainly did.

Kahn Digifer, however, well, he's a different kettle of fish, and despite being responsible for bringing Takeshi's monsters to life each week, it would seem his budget for evil is severely reduced, as a lot of the time the series rolls out the same creature designs more than once, often within the space of five episodes or so. I understand the financial consideration here, all of these monster designs seem to have been original to the series, and it can't have been cost effective to only use them once, but, at the same time, it makes the series feel as if it is treading water at times. Perhaps though, this is my fault for not only watching the series over a condensed period, but also for not being the intended audience for whom this might well not have been such a big deal.

Yet for all that might be deficient in regards to Gridman's monsters, the designs of our hero's power-ups—a fleet of tanks, jets, robot dinosaurs, and armour created by Yuka and Ippei—are fantastic, and harken back to concurrent designs in things like Transformers; the additional armour, God Zenon, who can also be controlled independently of Gridman, is especially striking, appearing more than a little like 1988's Powermaster Optimus Prime.

With all this technical knowhow going on, I continually found myself wondering how Ippei's parents did not notice the rise in electric bills with these three kids down in the basement continually running their massive homemade computer. Also, there is the issue of phone bills. In 1993, staying online during peak hours must have cost Ippei's family a small fortune!

One of the things that really stood out to me throughout the course of these 39 episodes was how well-rounded some of its characters are. Whilst it is undoubtedly dated, whilst it was clearly produced as children's entertainment, and I'm sure that no one making the show really considered the kind of legacy it might leave behind, I found Gridman's inclination towards sensitivity when dealing with disability and social issues to be truly rewarding, a great example of this being in episode #17, when Shigeru, a boy injured during an accident playing football who feels increasingly isolated from his former life, attempts to hold the team to ransom by hacking their computer and stealing the data for one of Gridman's power-ups. The resolution to this, the way in which our three heroes go out of their way to include Shigeru, how they recognise that his actions are bad, but his motives come from a place of sadness and frustration really moved me. I kind of wished that both he and his sister had become regular characters.

There are a number of good episodes, to be honest, absurd as the stories are; do you want to watch a drama where a monster turns everyone into stereotypical delinquent Yankiis? Gridman has you covered. How about an episode where a cram school brainwashes students ala Sailor Moon, and the teacher starts dressing like a Nazi war criminal? Again, Gridman has got your back.

Over and over again, the show commits itself to telling fun stories within the limitations of its medium and budget. According to wikipedia, this was one of the first productions in which Tsuburaya used digital cameras, and had I seen the show at the time of its initial broadcast, I would have disliked this completely, associating the look and feel with it with news shows, the quality of the image lacking all of the warmth and familiarity of celluloid. In 2021, however, having seen Iwai Shunji's Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom? countless times, and being afforded the chance to witness the world of 1993 realised again in such crisp and clean detail, I find myself feeling far more kindly towards the use of such cameras. Perhaps, this is also a symptom of the ubiquitousness of digital media nowadays, but the look and feel of Gridman does not feel now as dissonant as I once would have accused it of being.

During the finale of the show, and at several moments before, when Kahn Digifer puts into action plans that damage the environment and the air quality, there is not only the shadow of our awareness during those times of just what we have wrought with pollution, but the disturbing recognition of a disaster that would come to a head in 1995 with the attack on Tokyo's subway system by the religious cult, Aum Shinrikyo. Seeing moments in this television show from 1993 - 1994 when commuters and shoppers are forced to crawl on their knees beneath a cloud of poison as the police rush to aid them with oxygen tanks is... poignant at best.

So, what can I say in closing in regards to the show? Gridman is very much a product of its time, and in many ways is very typical of Tsuburaya's approach during the '90s as they cast about trying to develop new ideas whilst not straying too far from their familiar formula. It would not be unfair, I think, to refer to Gridman as Ultraman with the serial numbers filed off, and yet there is sadly an element of this in play. Despite this, it is a surprisingly concise and self-contained show that offers the audience a lot of sentiment and enjoyment if you're willing to take it for what it is and not ask too much of it. It also has an absolutely cracking theme tune too.

Okay, now, I've watched all of this, I can go on to watch the cartoon, right? I mean, I don't have to watch Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad, right? Right?

*looks at you pleadingly*

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

Erm.. You don't have to, I think? Syber-Squad is only referenced a few times in SSSS Gridman. Only ones I can recall is the "SSSS" itself.

But I do urge "Boys invent great hero". Cool little short by Trigger featuring Takeshi and the lost-but-found Gridman Sigma. I haven't gotten far into Gridman yet, around 10 episodes, but I do like Takeshi.

Pains me I can't find a good figure of classic Gridman in a decent size. Minipla just too small.

Also, considering the original Gridman toys were made by Takara, it's quite funny that years later, it would be Bandai who would go and make modernized toys of Gridman in the ultra-act line. A line's Gridman I sadly can't find.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETpejXR_Bm8

Glad you brought up that episode with the monster who turns people into delinquents. That’s one of my favourites (the other being the one with Evil Gridman).

I am relieved. Not because I want to pooh-pooh anyone's nostalgia, but last year, I had both VR Troopers and Big Bad Beetleborgs on in the background at times (to help me sleep!), and whilst those shows weren't awful per se, I feel that that is really quite enough of that.

I was planning to start here with the cartoon, again, out of that sense of having to watch everything in an orderly fashion, so thank you for the link, I'll check this out over the weekend!

It is one of the highlights, I feel. I was also very fond of...

https://i.imgur.com/QUhT5YA.png

SSSS Gridman is very good. The more I look back on it, the more I like it.

I'm excited to be joining the party... albeit several years later than anyone else. :p

I'll probably end up doing a full watch of Gridman whenever we get like full episodes with... not Toku HD subs... cause I can only handle those kinds of subs for so long. (Hoping the eventual Blu-Ray by Millcreek does not have these subs) And then after that probably do a Gridman Universe Marathon.

For now, I'll just work on people pointing out references and stuff and making me go "Wow, Trigger really lovingly homages things in SSSS"

Still, good on you for watching all of Gridman. It looks like a fun unique show, it's just well, I've attempted to watch it a few times but the furthest I've gotten to is Episode like 7 or so each time. I attempted to do a watchalong with Tsuburaya's weekly uploads. But well I'm glad I stopped since they seemed to have just stopped airing those in America for the most part.

Oh, I can absolutely understand why! The show is very, very much of its time, and whilst I consider myself to be somewhat inoculated in regards to '90s pop culture, Gridman isn't really like that one series you would rush in and rescue if your house was on fire. This isn't to say I didn't enjoy watching, and I didn't develop a fondness for its cast of characters, because I absolutely did, but there were definitely times where, not being the biggest fan of the Ultraman formula, I found myself a little tired of it all.

I'd never seen anything from TokuHD before this, but I remember recently seeing the Faiz thread here, and I have to say... yeah. I mean, I don't feel that it diminished my enjoyment of the show—in fact it kind of reminded me of the subs on HK bootleg discs from the early '00s—but I can absolutely see that this is not the optimal way to watch the show, and I think you're far more sensible than I was in waiting for more competent translation.

This thread definitely reminds me that I need to get back to watching Gridman especially since I’m seriously loving what I’ve seen so far. Managed to get up to episode 23.

I encourage you to do so! There's a lot of fun to be had with the series!

Well, you did the smart thing by watching this before the Anime. Me? I honestly thought it was a reboot (Which it was, sort of), then after enjoying it, I found all 39 episodes on YouTube and binged it, where my appreciation for it skyrocketed.

Anyway, back to Denkou Choujin Gridman, it is indeed a very 90's show (That opening just screams 90's), it has it's ups and downs, it's flaws and successes, but overall, it had a different feel from other Tokusatsu productions, at last as far as I've seen.

Between the two, the original and SSSS, I think both present some really good experiences. The former presents a unique formula for the monster of the week, despite how ridiculous some of them were. The latter, while improves on some of the original's weaknesses, still respects, or even reveres, it's source material, just showing how much love they have for it, despite being a product of it's time, and I adore it for that reason. But like I said, both of them have their own strengths and weaknesses, that I won't go into in case some of you haven't seen SSSS. Gridman.

Okay, thanks for mentioning that, I haven't seen Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad, so I wouldn't know about any of that, other than it's an adaptation of Gridman (With Tim Curry as Kahn Digifer).

Boys Invent Great Hero was what ultimately got me into Gridman as a whole. I remember seeing that when the announcement of SSSS. Gridman began circulating, and comparing it with the original, fills me with joy with how faithfully they recreated every scene down to the cheesy effects.

There's apparently going to be a Figma of the Original Gridman. The shoulders were weird on the other Gridman and Gridknight, but siince it's based on his original form, it should turn out better. Don't know if I'll still cave in and get the others (Gridman and Gridknight).

So uh...how far do you take this? Did you watch every single season of Super Sentai leading up to Kiramager?

You're too kind, because I really don't know if I can consider watching all of this show at once to truly be smart, haha. But I'm even more excited about the cartoon after reading your comments, because a.) it justifies me having spent the last few days living in 1993 again, and b.) I love it when these kind of things connect together. I know absolutely nothing about the 2017 cartoon save for having glimpsed a picture of Gridman himself, and seen that there is mention of Anosillus being in it—which I'm really, really pleased about as I felt that it's kind of a shame that the 1993 never went back and discussed the "Spirit of the Sound"—so I was kind of prepared for this exercise to have been a waste of time, but I'm pleased to hear mention that my awful obsessive behaviour might have paid off.

I'm quietly excited. Like you, I think there's a lot you can say in Gridman's favour, and despite it being of its time, it has a certain amount of charm.

Stay tuned for me finally reaching 2017, haha.

Oh, believe me, I tried! The first show I really started watching was Gingaman and it was only the lack of information and availability that stopped me from doing this. It's an absurd way to involve yourself with media, and I try not to be so weirdly specifically obsessive with things that interest me, but, well, here we are. :p

Color me impressed. I couldn't make it through one.

Couldn't deal with the kid protagonists.

Trust me, there were moments when I wanted to bury Ippei in concrete. :p It's definitely not everyone's cup of tea, and I really don't blame you, and whilst the kids never really develop too much beyond what you see in the first episode, I think there are moments that provide them with greater depth though.

In the end, I found myself kind of rooting for them, perhaps simply because I had invested so much time watching the show and wanted it to be for something, hahha.

Oh yes, I just watch whatever interests me at a given time (I’m still two Sentai shows and 3 Rider shows from “total coverall”)

I could well learn from this approach!

Just imagine if you never discovered Yodonna because you were too busy trying to get through the 80s, lol.

But I feel that. I started Sentai with Zyuranger and felt weird moving into another season, so when I got into Kamen Rider I tried starting from the original...that didn't work so well either.

Anyways, on the topic of Gridman....I've got nothing. SSSS was good, I guess.

I mean, you don't have to.

But hey, you can find the entire thing here on YouTube.

You know, incase you're ever curious.

Because the show is really fun and worth it if only for the Lunchlady.

You know, no pressure or anything.

*stares*

I have both of those figma and I highly recommend them.

I agree with this but I also add to the table, Tim Curry as Kilo Kahn, who was so iconic in his role it affected certain aspects of the SSSS.Gridman dub's voice direction.

Yo are we talking Gridman right now!?

Disagree! I adore this show to bits, despite it not being some objective super masterpiece, and, well— you know what, I'm just going to quote what I wrote about my history with it from in DreamSword's anime thread when he was covering SSSS.Gridman:

...it's a show that kinda means a surprising amount to me, basically. I think it's just a very fun, energetic series that has a wonderful kid fantasy premise behind it. Really cozy, is maybe the single word that sums it up best. Probably not the best fit for binge-watching(!), but it's a great series to just have an episode of every now and then. I'm really glad you found a lot to like in there, even if I'm definitely a bigger Ippei fan than you apparently were. :lol

(I think I mostly just liked that his specific tech shtick was 3D modeling? Like, I don't know, there's just something really endearing about that being his chosen artistic medium in the early 90's. Kid was ahead of his time if you ask me.)

I'm also really glad SSSS.Gridman seems to still be kicking people towards the original show? The connection between them isn't ~that~ significant as to make the original required viewing, so it's nice how often I see people at least giving it a chance because of their interest in the reimagining anyway.

*throws cloak back and gestures at the camera*

At last I have flushed out the true Gridman fan! Now face my monster as it attacks TokuNation's servers with my awful-opinion-kaiju, hahha.

Honestly, honestly, I am so happy you like this series, I am so happy it is someone's favourite. Again, I wouldn't want to speak badly of the series, but it didn't land for me in the way that it did for you, but it makes me smile to know that somewhere out there, this is someone's favourite show. Despite all my complaining, I had a good time with this for sure, even though it is a show that features Ippei. :p You're absolutely right about it being cozy, and I think this is one of the reasons that made me feel at home watching it as it conjured up well a world that I do have clear and palpable nostalgia for.

I'm not sure if my weird obsessive behaviour is the rule or the exception, but I am definitely pleased I encountered the show. I think one of the greatest compliments I can give Gridman is that, after watching the final episode, I spent like a day wondering what happened next, and I think any show that still makes you consider its characters long after it has departed is definitely worth its salt.

I would have so much more money than I do now! Gosh, literally I have a stack of these stupid magazines with Momotsuki Nashiko in on my bedside table, and I don't know what to do with them. They're embarrassing to look at, and yet I still buy them, lol.

DAMN IT! How is this longer than Gridman?! I'm going to control my weird behaviour, and just watch the opening.

You guys are not making life any easier for me!

Haha, it's actually due to the show doing really well at the time here in the US. As such, execs demanded more episodes despite all of the stock footage having been used up, meaning they basically had to use repeat footage which didn't fool anyone.

It's a real shame in terms of the story too, because the originally intended finale is actually really well pulled off, IMO, until the very obvious last minute change in said episode hits. Personally, I think that, whle there is some fun to be had in those bonus episodes, I support anyone who wants to stop at the proper finale, since the actual final episode is really, really lame.

Oh, that's kind of a shame when the desire for money outlives the natural lifespan of the show. I've had the show on in the background whilst I've been working, and... you know, it's actually kind of fun in it's own way. I don't want to say I am surprised because that would be cruel, but for what it is, it's actually kind of better than it really has any right to be.

More thoughts on this later—and you are entirely to blame for this.

Happy to be of service! Hahaha!

When I first watched OG Gridman, Ippei reminded me of a young Kusaka from Faiz. :D :D :D

I demand fic of Ippei going off the rails now! :p

I'm a good chunk of my way through the series... I don't know who would want to read my summation and thoughts of it, but I'm writing it nonetheless. :p

Oh, my gosh, that was stunning. When you said Takeshi, I thought that was the name of the new protagonist, I didn't realise it was the Takeshi. I love all the details in this, I love seeing Takeshi all cool and grown up. This makes even the bits that I wasn't enthusiastic about in the show worthwhile. I'm super, super hyped to watch the cartoon now!

Speaking of Takeshi, that one episode about his backstory was one of the highlight episodes for me, along with the dream one.

The former, because it humanizes Takeshi in a way many recent attempts at sympathetic villains fail at, sure, it has some weird moments, but the overall theme made a really good episode.

The latter, because it reminded me of the Hero Stage shows in Japan, and I'm not sure if they intended to make the dream a meta experience in a work of fiction, but I just now made that connection.

And I really love how they brought back some of the monsters to be turned into mecha reboots of them, as it not only allowed them to get away with making less monsters for the show's run, but it also gave an opportunity to reuse some of the fun monster designs.

Oh, that's a really good point. I would never have made that connexion, but now you mention it, it's all I can see. That's really clever if it was intentional.

Definitely any exploration of Takeshi's character was when I was most focused on the show. I think the series does a really good job of portraying him as an antagonist but also making him sympathetic. He's definitely my favourite character in the show.

Of course, I did end up watching Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad. As soon as I was informed by DreamSword that it was on youtube, I felt compelled to watch the entire series—well, I say watch, what I really mean is play in the background whilst getting on with other stuff, but it still counts, okay?

Dare I say it, but I might even have enjoyed the show more than Gridman, for the most part, and I think that part of the reason for that is the playfulness in which these stories are translated and reinterpreted. To be clear, this is obviously a television show aimed at children and obviously written by people in their 30s, and yet because of that, because it is clear that these adults are trying to have as much possible fun as they can during their day jobs, Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad—hereafter SSSS—is chock full of the worst possible kind of dad jokes, the kind that you cannot help but laugh at; punchlines to jokes and dialogue snippets such as "She's an active young miss" and "This even beats going to the laser light show and listening to Pink Floyd" are par for the course throughout the unwieldy 53 episodes that the show runs for. At one point, Sydney, our Yuka analogue for the series, claims to be suffering from "hallucinations brought on from studying and too much intelligence." It's that kind of series. Yet, this lightheartedness really ensures that, for the most part, it remains fun.

When watching Gridman, I spent a lot of time musing on the nature of nostalgia, the absent world of 1993, and such is just as applicable to the depiction of 1995 present in SSSS. Whilst having never been to America, it is unarguable how much American pop culture has shaped the world over the last few centuries, and the references here are all ones present that filtered down to us in the decade during which the series is set; CompuServe, Compaq computers, New Kids on the Block, the Lemonheads, references to cyberpunk books, and both the idea of "video pirates", and the abundance of boys with their hair styled after curtains all of which conspire to evoke the year of production.

Speaking of curtains, our central character in SSSS, Sam Collins is portrayed by none other than a young Matthew Lawrence doing his best Omri Katz impression. Wait, you may be asking, who is Matthew Lawrence and why should you care? Well, friends, Matthew Lawrence, who later went on to appear in Boy Meets World, is the younger brother of Joey Lawrence, one of the main cast members in the sitcom Blossom—well, technically, both brothers appeared in Blossom, the former playing a younger version of the latter's character, but the character of Joey was something of a fan favourite, meaning that, in a way, audiences were already primed to accept the character of Sam as a likeable, youthful lead in a show like this.

Having said that, despite the significance of the show's supporting cast, the real co-star is Sam's foil, Malcolm Frink, played by Glen Beaudin, who hams it up with such aplomb that he gives Tim Curry's Kilokahn a run for his money. During these opening episodes, there also seems to much more of a case for Malcolm's romantic involvement with Sam's later girlfriend, Jen, than Sam really has, with many of the episodes following the initial set up showing Sam in one of two modes, either apologising to Jennifer or telling us how cute she is. Thinking back on adolescence, actually maybe that's not too far from the truth when it comes to youthful romance. Perhaps I am somewhat biased here though, as Malcolm is initially far more akin to "bad boy" characters from movies of the time—a diet version of J.D. from Heathers being the most obvious example—and I may or may not have a preference for such characters. Of course, with how completely over-the-top Beaudin is encouraged to be in the role, he also comes across as incredibly.... Matt Berry.

Another relationship that comes across stronger in SSSS than it does in Gridman is that shared between Malcolm and Kilokahn. I genuinely like the naïveté of Kahn Digifer, and Takeshi certainly was my favourite character in Gridman, yet there is no denying the wonderful performance that Tim Curry gives as Kilokahn, nor is there any arguing with the gleeful manner in which the digital overlord and his human apprentice antagonise one another. Malcolm is significantly less subservient than Takeshi, referring to his evil compatriot at one point as a "cheap Darth Vader clone," whilst Kilokahn—who allegedly runs at an "impressive" 400 MHz—is a lot quicker to call out Malcolm's pettiness, his childish ambitions. This is what makes the sense of finality that arrives in episode #39 and the backtracking that follows shortly afterwards so much more frustrating.

I would argue that the approach taken to the "end" of SSSS is even more significant due to the lack of division between Sam and his Gridman persona, Servo. There is no reason for why, in armour, Sam is suddenly called Servo from episode #1, but as there is no delineation between his human form and his "digital form" like there is between Naoto and Gridman, when Sam's body is destroyed and he is locked in cyberspace, the moment is genuinely moving, and the sacrifices he makes to ensure that Malcolm is aware that he is not alone, that others are around him, is a moment that really elevates the show for just a brief while above its contemporaries, Big Bad Beetleborgsand VR Troopers.

As with Gridman, the world captured within the scope of stories that constitute SSSS is a familiar one, full of pagers and unlisted phone numbers, laughable computer specs, and, ah, a lot more occasions in which Sam dresses up as a girl. If you can accept it for what it is, if you can excuse the later episodes in which the show drags on and recycles footage, or if you can just avoid watching those later episodes, then SSSS actually has a lot to offer, representing a show with a much more team based dynamic than its original source material, and a genuinely fun villain. There's also a fun blink and you'll miss it cameo from Naoto, Yuka, and Ippei in episode #11.

And now that I have watched all this, now I can watch the cartoon, right?

Yay!!!

Yeah, Syber-Squad is a show that I found alot of fun, even rewatching it for the first time as an adult about 5 years ago.

Malcolm and the Lunch Lady were definitely the breakout characters for me; The Lunch Lady for her amazing snark, and Malcolm for having a surprisingly well done character arc for the type of show SSSS is.

It was also clear that the showrunners were entirely aware of the type of show that they were making; For example the episode where Kilokahn decides to take matters into his own hands for once and nearly starts World War III, and Sam is all "But guys, my exam is tomorrow!!"

And yeah, the proper finale of episode 39 was actually really well done. Malcolm's' arc coming to a head, and Sam fully realizing his heroic side in both reaching out to Malcolm as well as sacrificing himself at the end was super touching, making the really obvious last minute change at the end all the more annoying. It really makes me wish that Gridman Sigma had actually become reality; If it had, Syber-Squad would've gotten a sequel with Malcolm as the lead character.

I'm glad you had fun with it, and yes, you're all good to go when it comes to SSSS.Gridman, haha.

btw its an anime not a cartoon reeeee

It's funny how my first ever real experience with Ultraman in general (aside from the glimpse of Tiga from my Yugioh VHS Tapes because 4Kids) was SSSS. Like in terms of Tsuburaya related content that was the very first thing I ever saw, and I didn't even know it was like minorly connected to this bigger company/franchises at the time.

Ah the joys and innocence of youth... but no seriously, the most experience I have with SSSS is basically a VHS Tape my mom got me one time at a Dollar General that had like 2 Episodes on it I think? (The joys of VHS tapes am I right?) I know for sure it had like one with a piano synthesizer mishap and also taking over a watch to make someone's hand just commit crimes.

Unless there's some other obscure thing I've yet to hear of... I think you're good. Aside from just recommending to watch the Boys Invent Great Hero short because that's just a fun time to be had. But yeah I think you're all set.

That was exactly the feeling I got from it, and what I found so charming about it; stupid little details like Sam's unseen little sister, just the silliness, the warmth of it really won me over in a way that I completely was not expecting. I don't know anything about Gridman Sigma—but I just looked it and I refuse to read a book before I start the 2017 series!—but I would absolutely give anything for a series with Malcolm or Takeshi in the lead, because I love them both as characters.

Thank you for encouraging me to watch it!

Hahah, having worked comic cons for a few years back in the day, I will never not call anime "cartoons" because I know what kind of a reaction I can get when doing it. I will also always refer to Super Smash Bros. as "that Nintendo platform game" too.

You can update your definitions of Lawful Evil now. :p

Sometimes these things really stick with you though because they're the scope of your world. I remember being absolutely fixated with Minty, the G1 My Little Pony because that was all I had to play with, so, of course, she became the focus of everything and my entire perspective of MLP was shaped by just Minty.

I watched that last night, and absolutely, absolutely adored it!!

Nice, also I do hope to one day watch Gridman and I hope that day is coming this August cause guess what just popped up? Assist me in forming a prayer circle that these subs are good!

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/E2G1HQ4WY...jpg&name=large

All I gotta say is watch the SSSS shows. If I may spill one trivia the chracters all share the same color palette as the Shattered Glass universe transformers.

Oh, this is great sign, and surely evidence that the new cartoon is doing well if they're going back and putting the original out officially. I'm super pleased to see this happen!

I was going to be like, oh, I hadn't noticed that, but of course I didn't because I don't have a frame of reference, lol.