[DreamSword]

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Originally Posted by Daikaijuman54

But seriously, there's nothing wrong with not being a fan of something like this. If anything, I'm sorry we might have over-hyped Dynazenon for you. I'm not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I can still follow this at least a little better than you (again, nothing against you or anything, you're opinion is perfectly justifiable).

Oh no, no one is really to blame for over-hyping it for me. If anyone did that it was me. I went into Dynazenon mostly cold.

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First off, the producer stated when Dynazenon was announced that it wasn't a Season 2 or sequel, but as you mentioned about Star Driver and Captain Earth (haven't seen either), they are set in the same universe, hence the "Gridman Universe" in the title. Sure, I wasn't expecting Anti to show up, but he's still able to stand in this show well enough without any context to SSSS. Gridman. I know what I'm saying here kind of contradicts what I just mentioned about whether this is a second season or not, but you can see that there's almost no direct reference to the SSSS. Gridman, at least nothing that requires you to have seen it to understand it.

Yeah, definitely, but on the other hand, Dynazenon was announced/teased with this image:



Not that it matters either way. The show is what it is, and for many, it worked out great.

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Next: The cast. I can perfectly see why some of these characters didn't quite leave much of an impact for you, but I can definitely see how this cast feels more "developed" compared to their predecessors. Where the Gridman cast were mostly innocent bystanders trying to wrap their head around the situation, with Yuta being the only "driving force" while the others saw themselves as "useless." Nothing wrong with that, they still have some great moments, but when you look at some of the other characters and their role in the story, some of them lacked backstories or motivations, which does work with the style of show SSSS. Gridman was going for, with the cast being more grounded and awkward, in an almost realistic sense, instead of something you normally see in Anime or even Tokusatsu.

The two casts are very much polar opposites of one another, with Gridman focusing on people who are more closed off and take effort to fully understand, while Dynazenon pours out practically everything front and center. Both result in the same ballpark of a message on the theme of why creating bonds is important, they're just executed in different ways.

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The Dynazenon cast were a group that "grew" throughout the season, starting off as these complicated strangers with rocky lives (I know how that feels), to facing their past and scars to unite alongside Gauma, which feels symbolic to the Gattai Mecha that is the title. It's also worth noting, that Gauma never mentions the third thing most important thing, which I've always felt was either something they say in the end (which they didn't), or it was an answer you, the viewer, had to discover for yourself. The popular belief being memories, which is foreshadowed across the show, and even having (mostly) an entire episode based on reliving those memories. This show was not about the title character like last season, but more about the people who make up the mech, which is probably not the best way to say it, but the show demonstrates throughout, that together they are Dynazenon, not it's allies. Even Chise, is a good example of the show's theme on that, where she doesn't feel like part of the team because she's not part of Dynazenon (the mech), which fits for her arc, which even with how much I liked Dynazenon, feel she could have had more.

The problem is that, atleast from my perspective, the show did not do a good job on giving everyone equal amounts of attention in how they contributed to the group as a whole, and instead most time is spent on the Yomogi and Yume romance. Which, if you find them adorable together, great, but there's no reason some time couldn't've been taken away from that aspect in order to give some much more needed focus on everyone else in the main cast.

I really wanted to like these characters, and it was such a shame that balanced screen time wasn't granted to them all. It's part of what made the Goldburn episode so special to me; We were finally focusing on something else.

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And of course, we can all agree the action for the Gridman Universe is indeed, the best aspect. It goes beyond what is capable of Tokusatsu, and comes up with the most over-the-top ways to reinterpret it here. Something I enjoy from Trigger's work. We can also agree that we all saw the Gridman X Dynazenon coming a mile away.

Yeah, it's one thing that most of these shows have an advantage of when comparing them to their live-action counterparts; Animation can get away with alot more and look much more dynamic alot easier.

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I think I've gone on for long enough. But it's perfectly fine if this wasn't to your liking, and your reasons are (even if you're not very smart, like you say) perfectly understandable. There is much this show leaves to be desired, and maybe some things could have been pulled off better, but it was still a fun experience for me, and I look forward to Gridman X Dynazenon for what they bring around this time.

Thank you for taking the time to read my thought process on digesting this piece of media. I am also certainly going to be there when Gridman x Dynazenon drops, though I imagine I'll be finishing it months after everyone else, given FUNimation's' track record with Dynazenon's' dub.

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Speaking of the Garo Anime adaptions, I've still yet to finish the original Garo and I don't know if or when I'll see the Anime adaptions. But as of now, I've been watching a clearly Toku-Inspired Anime, Shikizakura. Unfortunately, two episodes in, and I'm not exactly thrilled with it. Aside the action scenes, the CG characters feel robotic, something I feel the Netflix Ultraman did better with MoCap, despite my feelings for the show itself, and the characters and story are not great. Even if there are references to Sentai and Ultraman, I'm not really enjoying it, despite how much I love the aesthetic. Here's a little sample for anyone else who's curious.

Yeeeaaahh, that trailer does not do the show any favors. But hey, if you finish it and feel like sharing your thoughts in this thread, then by all means!

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Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

...I kind of deliberately avoided mentioning this back in July when you started covering Dynazenon, but I actually have a partially-written big post about it I was planning to put in the show's thread right after it ended, before I ended up abandoning the whole thing when it was like half done. Or maybe a third done. Or a fourth. I have no idea how bloated it would've ended up being, because it was already nearly as long as that post I put in here after you covered Gridman, and yet I had barely started talking about the show itself.

...Well now I'm just curious.

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I gave up on finishing that post because I realized all I was talking about in all those words was myself, and once it came to actually analyzing Dynazenon... I just kind of couldn't? Really, I still can't, but I think I at least figured out why that is. Again, I realized I was talking about me, and now I realize that's a sign of how deeply I connected with this show on a personal level. Of course it's hard to put into words! The feelings I have about it are just like, implicit, you know? But still, even though that big post never ended up going anywhere, I will quote a bit from it that I think would probably be most relevant to share:

Okay so, first off, you put the wording of that post really well, kudos for that. Next, that's all entirely valid! Not only is Dynazenon's' second episode really good, but both it and Gridman are shows that very much want you to make that emotional connection first and worry about the logic later. So if it grabbed you, then hey, the show's doing its job. In other words, reflecting on the show via reflecting on yourself? I think it works out.

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This show clicked with me to a degree that's almost absurd, and if I'm being completely honest, it made reading you having pretty much the exact opposite experience a little sad at points. If I could point to one instance that sums it up best, it'd be you calling out that bit with the churro in episode 5. Uninteresting for you, but for me... well, here's another quote from what I managed to write about Dynazenon:

Hey man, I spent a chunk of my final thoughts post citing two characters literally just sitting next to eachother on a train as a major highlight; I am by no means above it all, haha.

It's interesting, because the two moments are so similar, but yet so different. The churro thing, while it didn't do anything for me, I can see why it stuck out to you, En-chan, and other people who were enjoying every second of the show.

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...And I wrote that before you ever started watching this show! Dynazenon was this show I wasn't even sure I was going to watch at first, and it ended up being like one huge present to me for not running away. I remember listening to the soundtrack while I was writing that stuff up, and while it isn't 1:1 or anything, the lyrics to All This Time felt weirdly pertinent to my experience with the series. SSSS.Dynazenon is like someone saw all the complaints I had about SSSS.Gridman and decided to make a version of it built entirely around my tastes. Everything it did felt so purposeful to me, and right to the end, I thought it was exactly the masterpiece I remember everyone making its predecessor out to be.

"All This Time" really does just perfectly capture the emotional weight that the show was gunning for, doesn't it? It's easy to see why the team behind Dynazenon decided to have it remixed so many times for the soundtrack. Heck, I think it makes for a better overall main theme than what "Imperfect" does, though I see the purpose of having that as the OP specifically.

If the next SRW game has Dynazenon in it like I suspect it will but not a single version of "All This Time" that will be a HUGE wasted opportunity.

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So yeah, it's a bummer those same decisions Dynazenon made with its storytelling didn't have the same resonance for you. For what it's worth, though, despite you claiming to be a simpleton, I think you've done a good job getting at your own feelings about the show, and it certainly takes some intelligence to recognize how subjective these things can be instead of just leaving at it "SHOW AM BAD 0/10" or whatever. It was a bummer that you didn't end up liking Dynazenon all that much, but it was still fun reading your thoughts on it all the same.

ah i see die showed you my unposted review of decade

In seriousness though, thank you for the kind words, and I'm glad I was able to get across why exactly this sort of show typically doesn't work out for me, specifically. And don't get me wrong, reading everyone else's' thoughts on the show, I did find some other aspects of it to appreciate; You all helped! It's just... yeah, personal taste and a lack of a strong emotional link like what most others had. It happens. And hopefully this thread can find another show that we all love the same.