[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Specific lines of dialogue and and visuals sometimes as specific as entire shots are frequently repeated and recreated, given new meaning through new context, even in situations where not much else is altered. The purpose of it all, of course, being how drawing those explicit connections between moments can help get the viewer thinking about the story in a certain way, and hopefully making the experience that much richer.

Of all the disarming and disorienting ways this episode approaches its narrative, I think my favorite is how it speedruns the first episode's plot between Rikka and Yuta, mostly for how unnatural and forced Akane's attempts at warmth and caring are. She just... like, she can only ever fake it, in the hopes that it'll turn into something; it's like the kaiju models that she wants to be real, but this little world of dreams and lies instead. Really, really fun use of our attachment to these character relationships.

[Androzani84]

During this thread’s two days off, I rediscovered that they put out a repaint of the Assist Weapons to match the blue, black and silver form Gridman has in the first episode (dubbed “Primal Fighter” by the toys, while his regular form is “Initial Fighter”)

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

During this thread?s two days off, I rediscovered that they put out a repaint of the Assist Weapons to match the blue, black and silver form Gridman has in the first episode (dubbed ?Primal Fighter? by the toys, while his regular form is ?Initial Fighter?)

Neat! Thanks!

[Kamen Rider Die]

SSSS.GRIDMAN EPISODE 10 - “COLLAPSE”



Fittingly for a series that so expertly balances its teen melodrama heart with its tokusatsu aesthetics, this episode about explosive personal growth and nightmarish self-immolation is more about the way your life only really improves through the steady accrual of small moments; an atomized henshin sequence as reflected through the prism of your daily life.

That’s sort of it, the lesson: just show up, let yourself be open to the world, and you’re more likely than not to turn into the best version of yourself. It’s not a key to unlocking your dreams or anything – things’ll be hard, you won’t necessarily be the You that you thought you’d be – but it’s how you live impossible goals and existential quests for meaning: You meet people; you get to know people; you go to school; you study for tests; you take a shower and eat and all the million little things that make up a day that isn’t about fighting a giant monster that may or may not be the yonic manifestation of a teenage girl’s suicidal ideation. You do the invisible hard work until it becomes the visible upgrade.

On the other hand, the surest way to close out the ability to change and grow is to cut yourself off from the world, to lose yourself in depression and self-loathing. (There’s an entire sequence where Akane’s talking to Anti about kaiju, and she’s basically just talking about herself.) If every other character on this show has been building up scar tissue and memories and bonds, Akane’s been decluttering herself of everything but building kaiju – which is now so rote as to not even require her to acknowledge their existence verbally, turned in like they’re a bit of grudging homework – and sitting in the dark. It’s as blatant a visualization of her tortured and miserable mental state as you could imagine, and it leads to an episode of her giving up on her hobbies, destroying the ability to start anew, and languishing in a shattered dream world.

It’s bleak! It’s a bleak episode, despite the mounting positivity through the Gridman Alliance’s heads-down Do The Work mentality and Anti’s eventual shining upgrade into Gridknight. I guess… maybe melancholy is the better way to put it? I’ve harped on about how much this show reads like a metaphor for the transition of children into adults through the universal crucible of high school, and this episode is replete with examples of how the process becomes the result, while opting out of that process only makes the future seem hopeless. The other kids and Anti don’t know what the future holds for them, but they’re going to face it, and that makes them more prepared to mold their future into what they want it to be. Meanwhile, Akane literally molds the present into a weapon stave off the future, and it’s gotten her nowhere but crushed by her own fear and isolation.

All of that makes for a fight sequence that’s one of the show’s best, where the monster feels appropriately menacing and nihilistic, and the hero feels overmatched, until a former adversary learns enough from our heroes to stop seeing himself as a monster, and start seeing himself as his own kind of hero. It’s a power-up transformation that gives us the briefest hint of sunlight, before the clouds roll back with a broken Akane stabbing Yuta in the chest. It’s a shocking ending, but still with that Gridman mixture of grounded consequences amid the world of gods and monsters. Horrifying, but maybe hopeful? God knows there’s precedent for a monster to recognize that they want to be more than what someone else talked them into…

[Androzani84]

So before I translate the kaiju’s cry and tell you its name, I should mention that this anime has some elements that were originally devised for the live action version. Specifically, Yuta, Akane and Alexis Kerib hail from Gridman F, an unproduced sequel idea for the original show, with the role Utsumi played being filled by Ippei Baba, his equivalent from said original show. Anti is similarly based on an old concept that never got used. Specifically, before the new mosnter suit budget ran out prematurely, OG Gridman would've introduced an evil counterpart to Gridman named Khan Knight (Khan because the antagonist was “Khan Digifer”), who would’ve copied Gridman’s abilities to become stronger, before eventually making a face turn and becoming Gridknight. The major difference Anti has is that he’s a pure monster, whereas Khan Knight would’ve been the resident misanthropic kaiju making teen transforming in the same manner as the hero. If the concept had gone through, Syber Squad would’ve adapted the character as “Black Servo”.

Also, my comment from two episodes ago was mistaken. We do get an explanation for the name “Full Powered Gridman” - he’s Gridman operating at his full power, with strong implications that the Assist Programs are fragments of his conscience (which would explain why they’re sentient and can take on human form this time around). And while not in the episode proper, the tie in audio drama for this (which I’m sure can be found somewhere) has Yuta mention he’s never heard of Doujinshi (basically the equivalent of a kid from a major town in America having no idea what fan fiction is).

And for the usual stuff, for once, this mosnter has no name. The Japanese credits call it “Nanashi” (literally “nameless”), while English language material referred to it as “Anonymous”. As for the cry, neither of them is dialogue this time around. The first form’s cry is Akane crying, while the second form has her laughing.

And last but not least… what a cliffhanger.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

And last but not least? what a cliffhanger.

A cliffjumper cliffhanger, even!

[DreamSword]

Hate to be that guy, but all I could think of when it came to that final sequence was how incredibly contrived the entire scenario was.

Cool episode otherwise though.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

Hate to be that guy, but all I could think of when it came to that final sequence was how incredibly contrived the entire scenario was.

Sorry it didn't work for you!

[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

God knows there?s precedent for a monster to recognize that they want to be more than what someone else talked them into?

...Which is definitely the beauty/tragedy of the narrative structure here and all -- that Akane so strongly identifies herself with kaiju, that the kaiju she creates herself are such direct reflections of herself, and that she still can't see/doesn't want to see the real significance of how Anti has changed -- but even putting aside some of the deeper storytelling type reasons why it happens... the Gridknight hype is *unreal*???

I've mentioned a few times how I wasn't that into this show at first (to put it mildly), but now would probably be a great time to note Anti in particular was always an exception to that? The OG Gridman monster he's based on was a favorite of mine in that show, I always love Kenichi Suzumura in basically anything, the idea of a rival monster character with bootleg versions of the hero's powers is always a great time, and the sheer childlike innocence with which he diligently pursues his goal of murdering the protagonist was very charming. He already had so much going for him that I simply couldn't hate, but to see that copycat shtick taken to the logical extreme in this specific way? I mean, come on, dude's basically a Kamen Rider at this point, on top of everything else. Was *insanely* gratifying to see, even with the episode surrounding all this being so (compellingly) dour.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Was *insanely* gratifying to see, even with the episode surrounding all this being so (compellingly) dour.

It's a real blast, that whole sequence. Any antagonist who goes through the I Want To Defeat You So Badly That I Accidentally Became You arc is always going to pop, and Anti's path to get there is as baffling and ridiculous as it is relatable and memorable. Real high point for this series.