Follow TV Tropes

Following

Anime / SSSS.GRIDMAN

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ssss_gridman.png
boys reinvent great hero

You have to remember what your calling is.
Gridman

SSSS.GRIDMɅNnote  is the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the original 1993 toku TV series Denkō Chōjin Gridman (which came to English-speaking countries by way of Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad) and is the first animated series of the greater Gridman Universe. The old show was about a group of three kids who had built their own computer named Junk in the dawn of the Internet age and were thrust into the fight between the Hyper Agent Gridman, protector of the Computer World, and the evil Kahn Digifer, a being who brought their classmate's digital kaiju virus creations to life to exact revenge on petty slights against him. Sounds familiar.

A collaboration between Tsuburaya Productions and Studio TRIGGER (with Graphinica handling the CGI), it is a Continuity Rebootnote  that makes many homages to the original toku (and its American adaptation), and is a Spiritual Successor to Trigger's previous homage to the series, Denkou Choujin Gridman: boys invent great hero for the Japan Animator Expo in 2015 (the show's lead director/animator, Akira Amemiya directed it).

Yuta Hibiki wakes up in his classmate Rikka Takarada's room having lost his memories. After getting him checked out and having their classmate Sho Utsumi help him out the next day, Yuta is only sure of two things: he can see a bunch of Kaiju hidden in the clouds, and someone calling himself Gridman is talking to him through an old computer in Rikka's mother's junk shop, telling him that he has a mission to complete. That mission, it turns out, is fighting the Kaiju that his classmate Akane Shinjo is sending out to take revenge on people who have slighted her, with the help of her own computer-bound companion Alexis Kerib. With the help of Rikka, Sho, and a group of alleged middle school students wearing business suits, Yuta and Gridman save the city from Akane's Kaiju creations; otherwise, people get written out of history and they're the only ones to know about it.

SSSS.GRIDMAN was released worldwide in October 2018. Veteran anime composer Shiro Sagisu (Neon Genesis Evangelion, Bleach) scores the show, while Masayoshi Ohishi (Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun, Ultraman R/B) and Tom-H@ck together as OxT (Ace of the Diamond, Overlord (2012)) and Maaya Uchida perform the theme songs.

2019 saw a few novelizations of the series, but taking place in an Alternate Universe. In the same year, two Neon Genesis-focused Spin-Off manga, Hime and Samurai and Neon Genesis Junior High Diary, began serialization in Monthly Comic Alive.

  • SSSS.GRIDMAN: Another God (2019): An Innocent Bystander Series spinoff novel focusing on how the people of Tsutsujidai handle the frequent kaiju attacks, as well as the story of "Another God" hiding within the town.
  • Shinseki Chuugakusei Nikki (2019): A comedy spinoff manga focusing on the Shinseki Shuugakusei students.
  • Hime and Samurai: A spinoff manga focusing on Gridman's Samurai Calibur and a high school girl named Hime Kuzuki who is given Calibur's fifth sword.
  • Chuugakusei no Shitsuji Cafe (2020-21): A Slice of Life manga concerning the Neon Genisis gang running a butler cafe.
  • Sengoku Gridman (2020-21): A Jidaigeki AU manga in which territory is fought over using medieval mecha. Runs in Monthly Shonen Champion.
  • Diaclone VS. Gridman, a four-chapter Web Serial Novel focusing on the crossover with Diaclone toy series. It's also the prequel to SSSS.GRIDMAN.
  • Super Robot Wars 30, the 30th anniversary installment of the Super Robot Wars franchise, features the story of the anime and has Rikka, Yuta, Utsumi and Gridman teaming up with legendary mecha heroes such as Amuro Ray, Kouji Kabuto and Ryoma Nagare.

The English dub of the show premiered on Toonami in January 2021.

Check its website here, as well as its announcement and teaser trailers.

A second work set in the same universe, SSSS.DYNɅZENON, began on April 2, 2021 with most of the same crew returning. On Dec. 13, 2021, Trigger announced a theatrical work originally called "GRIDMAN x DYNAZENON," later renamed GRIDMAN UNIVERSE. Releasing on March 24, 2023, it features the same staff once again, with characters from both works being featured. It was later announced that the series would get a Compilation Movie released in theatres on January 20, 2023.


SSSS.GRIDMAN provides examples of:

  • Ambiguously Bi: Akane teases Rikka the same way she does with Yuta, Anti and Utsumi, with Rikka reacting the same way she does when Gridman informs her about Yuta's crush on her. Although there's no explicit confirmation, an LGBT poster in a dream that Akane sets up for Rikka to break her spirit hints that they swing both ways.
  • All There in the Manual:
    • The show has "Gridman Voice Dramas," short audio dramas posted weekly on Tsuburaya Productions's YouTube channel, in between episodes, and each one expands upon the ending of the episodes or the characters in general. note  Especially notable is how Namiko and Hass interact a lot more with Yuta and Sho in the Voice Dramas, whereas in the anime itself there just isn't time to show them doing so (since the anime generally focuses on the kaiju-related happenings and so doesn't spend much time on school life).
    • Two other students from the protagonists' school get a short web novel explaining the human side of the conflict.
    • The nameless kaiju girl's identity remains a mystery throughout the series unless you have knowledge of the original series (or if you take a look at the official website and end credits), which can allow you to infer from the hints the kaiju girl drops that she's a descendant of Anosillus, who was spared by the original Gridman and therefore in his debt. The finale makes this even more clear when Anosillus himself makes a cameo appearance.
    • The reason why we never got to see the inside of the Assist Weapons Unusual User Interface is because Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad covered that already.
  • Arbitrary Skepticism: You would think that, with kaiju attacking the city, Gridman appearing inside the junk computer, history changing every time a kaiju attacks, and the Neon Genesis Junior High group being able to transform into power-up vehicles, that Rikka and Utsumi would be a little less quick to dismiss Yuta when he tells them about Anosillus the 2nd revealing that Akane is in control of the kaiju and using them to rebuild their city to her whims. That they still have reservations after Max tells them he eavesdropped has even less of an excuse.
  • Arc Words: For both the protagonist and antagonist, “Something only I can do” and “Something I must do”.
  • Artificial Human: During Zegga's rampage, Alexis・Kerib explained to Rikka that the entire population of Tsutsujidai were Repli-Compoids, artificial humans created by Akane to inhabit her virtual town as part of her escapism from reality.
  • Art Shift:
    • Whenever Gridman is inside Rikka's computer, the animation applied to his movements are much more fluid compared to the rest of the CG animation.
    • Twice over in the final episode. First, the final battle is entirely done in traditional animation and makes use of Trigger's own distinctive animation style, in contrast to previous battles being primarily done in either CG animation carefully replicating the motions of a tokusatsu show or references to various super robot shows, primarily those animated by Masami Obari. The final shot in the series is Akane getting out of bed in the real real world, in a live action sequence, complete with the special cellphone case that Rikka bought for her and a ton of shout outs to other Studio Trigger projects.
  • Autobots, Rock Out!: The final battle kicks off with the return of "Yume no Hero" — the original Gridman theme song — which also heralds the return of Gridman's original form.
  • Bait-and-Switch: Voice Drama 7.7 has Hass and Namiko look through Rikka's bag and discover a rather flashy item in it. From their dialogue, they seem to be insinuating that the item is pretty raunchy (only "boys have it," it's a kind of item you don't casually carry around with you, it made the girls see Rikka in a less than pure light), but it turns out to be a tokusatsu magazine.
  • Beach Episode: Episode 5 acts as one as the kids go river rafting and we see both Akane and Rikka in their swimsuits the entire episode.
  • Berserk Button: From the Voice Dramas, Hass is shown to not take kindly to people (or at least Utsumi) mocking her videos.
  • Big Bad: Akane Shinjo, classmate of Yuta Hibiki, is the one building the kaiju that she sends to attack those whom she feels have wronged her, with the help of her computer program Alexis Kerib who makes them real. Until Alexis Kerib turns out to be manipulating Akane Shinjo to relieve his boredom, and disposes of her once she stops being useful.
  • Bishōnen Line: Gridman himself. The Assist Weapons are each layered on top of Gridman's body, creating a bulkier design. Full Powered Gridman takes this to an extreme, appearing to be a heavily-armored robot more than a superhero. Gridman's final form is based on the design from the original series, which is much sleeker.
  • Bland-Name Product: A blatant rip-off of supermarket chain "7-Eleven" called "Seven Two One". It's also a reference to the Ultra series character Ultraseven Two One.
  • Bookends:
    • The series as a whole starts and ends on a shot of Akane overlaid with the SSSS.GRIDMAN logo.
    • Yuta's first and last appearance involves him waking up in the Junk Shop with no memory of past events.
    • Utsumi and Rikka input commands into Junk that changes the tide of Gridman's first and final battle.
    • The piece "BELIEVE" by Ryuichi Sugimoto can be heard at the beginning as Akane first appears being sung by a choir faintly in the background while Rikka sings it as Yuta wakes up. The last thing you hear in the anime is a piano version of said piece.
  • Breather Episode: Episode 6 seems to start out this way, with no Kaiju attack underway, while the kids of the Gridman Alliance have more or less normal lives. Rikka finds Anti and befriends him. Sho finally gets to talk to Akane and both nerd out over Kaiju. Yuta meets someone who may hold some information about his past. Subverted when it becomes a Wham Episode- Yuta's companion is a descendant of Anosillus, a Kaiju the original Gridman spared in Denkou Choujin Gridman, who reveals that Tsutsuji-dai is some sort of self-contained universe or simulation in which Akane Shinjo is the creator and destroyer god, with her Kaiju as her tools to remake it in her image, specifically killing people who she hates. The reason everyone fell asleep while traveling to the riverside the previous episode is because some sort of gas surrounds the town to hide the fact that there is nothing else out there. Akane, who is almost positive that Yuta is Gridman, tries to pry information out of Sho to confirm her theory, but Sho lies to her to keep Yuta's secret and to "protect" Akane from the truth, unaware that she is directly responsible for everything. She has also already ordered Anti to kill Yuta, who has only been temporarily thwarted in his actions because of Rikka's kindness. When Anti finally does find him, both Samurai Calibur and Max defend Yuta, while saying he isn't Gridman, but Yuta finally realizes that that Anti is the purple Kaiju he has constantly faced in battle, now sure of his identity because of his meeting with Anosillus the 2nd. And Alexis Kerib isn't confined to Akane's computer.
  • The Cameo: Episode 5 has a girl who suspiciously has an extreme resemblance to Akko hitting on a boy.
  • Company Cross References:
  • Continuity Reboot: Of Denkō Chōjin Gridman. The title's "SSSS" even pays homage to the American version of Gridman, Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad.
    • Later subverted, in that SSSS.GRIDMAN is a proper sequel to the original series when Gridman is restored to his original form.
  • Conveniently Seated: Akane sits in the back next to the window. Yuta sits next to her. Sharp-eyed anime fans may be familiar with Akane's seat as being the so-called "Protagonists's Seat", while Yuta's is the seat traditionally used by the love interest.
    • In the denouement of the final episode, Sho and Rikka wonder if part of the reason Gridman chose Yuta as his host was precisely because Yuta sits next to Akane.
  • Cool Versus Awesome: The below mentioned crossover with Symphogear XDU. Specifically, Hibiki combines Gungnir with Gridman to make a unique form for her, and even gains a Full Powered Gridman form. Tsubasa, meanwhile, gains a Gridknight form.
  • Cowardly Lion: Yuta Hibiki in both his role as Gridman's host and his romantic interest in Rikka.
    • He isn't keen on risking his life by joining with Gridman to battle kaiju, but, well, who else is there? This thinking is reflected in his arc words "Something only I can do" and his Image Song "Only I Can". This reluctance to fight does play against him, most notably during Gridman's first fight with Anti, but he normally pushed forward anyway.
    • In terms of his feelings for Rikka, he's hobbled by the fact he recognises that Rikka is way, way out of his league (something Namiko and Hass tease him about in the Voice Dramas), but at least is able to admit that he likes her and makes an attempt to ask her out to dinner at the end of Episode 4... though Rikka mistakenly believes he was suggesting the whole team go out to eat after an exhausting battle. Namiko and Hass actually give him a push in this regard, pointing out that if he doesn't make a move, someone else will.
  • Cut the Juice: After having Gridman and all four of the Assist Weapons freeze due to Junk not being able to handle all five at the same time in episode 4. Rikka pulls the plug on Junk to reset it and then did some Percussive Maintenance to boot it up. While Utsumi is horrified, luckily it fixes the problem without harming Gridman, Yuta, or any of the Assist Weapons.
  • Crashing Dreams: In episode 9, Yuta summoning Gridman to beat up the Kaiju-of-the-week in the dream world corresponds to the Kaiju becoming susceptible to physical damage in the waking world.
  • Crossover: Has an official one with the Symphogear mobile game, XDU unlimited.
  • Dark Reprise: In episode 6, we are treated to a melancholy piano version of "Yume no Hero", the original show's iconic theme song. As it plays from the headphones of the direct successor to a kaiju from the old tokusatsu show, this is rather significant.
  • Darker and Edgier: Both Denkō Chōjin Gridman and Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad were aimed at children with only a few dark moments sprinkled throughout. SSSS.GRIDMAN, however, is aimed at those who grew up watching the shows with a more serious storyline. That said, the show never loses its sense of wonder and justice.
  • Dénouement Episode: The live action music video for Union, the Opening theme, acts as a denouement epilogue for Akane in the real world, showing her experiences have caused her to move forward.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: The reason for the Kaiju attacks. Akane has Alexis Kerib turn her clay creations into kaiju to exact revenge for those who slighted her earlier in the day, just like Takeshi Todo in the original Gridman series. She has Ghoulghilas kill Tonkawa and others in the entire volleyball club in her class because of an accident that day giving Yuta a special hot dog, and then she wants Devadadan to kill her homeroom teacher for bumping into her in the hallway and not apologizing for it. Her reaction and the camera's Fish-Eye Lens focus on her are identical to Takeshi's in the original series.
  • The Dreaded: As the Voice Dramas continue, Sho and Yuta develop a certain level of apprehension towards Namiko and Hass. Part of this is because the boys really don't know how to handle them, partially because they somehow know things like how Yuta claimed to want to become a seiyuu in future (from Drama 2.2, when the only people present were Sho, Yuta, Samurai Calibur and Rikka's mother), and also because they can be very perceptive (such as realising based on things the boys were saying that they had followed the girls on their group date with Arcadia in Episode 4).
  • Dream Sequence: The Kaiju in episode 9 puts the human members of the Gridman Alliance into a deep sleep, during which they each dream of themselves interacting with Akane in some way.
  • Escapism: The entire point of the show's setting, created by Akane so she wouldn't have to face reality. While everybody in the city is a real, breathing person, the city we know is actually a digital world where she's perfect and beloved by all, rather than a flawed human being among so many. The problem is that it's a simulation, and not something she controls every aspect of... so when something starts going off the rails from the script of her ideal life, that's when the kaiju come in.
  • Everyone Can See It: Yuta's crush on Rikka. He's hilariously unsubtle about it, with things like staring at her number on his phone while sighing because she's absent from school (to the point Utsumi teasingly presses call for him). Max bluntly asks him if he likes her in Episode 4, and in Voice Drama 1.1 Namiko and Hass outright tell Rikka that they've noticed him staring at her in class a lot. This is followed up in Drama 3.3 when Namiko and Hass manage to corner Yuta and demand to know if he and Rikka are an item, and when he shakily responds that they aren't the duo at least manage to force him to admit that he'd like to be one. Drama 10.10 has them once again confront Yuta to find out if he's made any progress, and are more than a bit annoyed that he hasn't managed to accomplish anything.
  • Everything Is Online: Unlike the original in 1993, at least it makes sense that everything is online now that everyone has smartphones and plenty of new devices have wi-fi capabilities. However, in SSSS.GRIDMAN the monsters attack the real world. Both live actions counterparts almost tapped into the real life when Bamora (in SSSS, the monster is Sybo and brain-switched with Malcolm) try to escape to real world only for Gridman to stop it. The series is later shown to entirely take place in some kind of virtual simulation, which is why Gridman now seems to be fighting in reality. Specifically, they're in the Computer World in some fashion, confirmed once they find the ceiling in the sky covered in Tron Lines like in the 90s series' Computer World fights.
  • Evolving Credits: Every few episodes, the opening scenes change.
    • Starting from Episode 2, the Neon Genesis group, their forms, and the opening's ending sequence are included.
    • Anosilius the 2nd appears just before the chorus episode 4 onwards.
    • Gridknight replaces the Neon Genesis group in their part after the chorus, and the dropped utility knife is bloodied following Episode 10.
  • Expository Theme Tune: A somewhat more subtle example than most, but every line in the opening theme turns out to directly describe the plot and themes of the show as it goes on.
  • Fog of Doom: The Kaiju of Episode 4 uses fog to hide from detection as it kills the members of Arcadia.
  • Footsie Under the Table: Akane does this to Anti in Episode 3. As he has No Social Skills, it doesn't register.
  • Foreshadowing:
    • Some to Episode 11's reveal of the current Yuta actually being Gridman:
      • The opening juxtaposes Yuta's determined glare with the rising of Gridman before the credits begin.
      • In the 5.55 drama, Gridman and Yuta both respond to the name Gridman, although in context the latter used it as a pseudonym for a restaurant order.
      • Another audio drama (10.10) has Yuta not recognize light novels. Every boy his age would be familiar with the literary genre, so it comes off as odd. However, it makes sense if Gridman isn't familiar.
      • Episode 9 features Gridman primarily on reflective surfaces whenever Yuta is in proximity to them.
    • Episode 9's conversations about escapism and living in a dream where you get everything you want reference Akane using the whole city as her personal escapist fantasy.
      • In the same episode, Yuta’s garbled images of Gridman not only show him in traditional animation, as opposed to the usual 2D Visuals, 3D Effects approach, but he also looks remarkably different and is wielding a different sword to the Gridman Calibur. Anyone with knowledge of the original series will recognise it as the original Gridman, wielding the Gridman Sword, hinting at the ending twist.
    • The opening starts like a computer or TV turning on, then ends with a shot of Akane before the screen zooms out to reveal that she's, and the entire opening was playing inside of a computer, which is specifically Junk. This foreshadows that the entire world is in Cyberspace.
    • Akane is the first character to appear in the series, with no one else around her. The real protagonists are usually the first characters to be shown on any type of story.
    • A subtle example: in episode 3, when Akane and Rikka are standing side by side, their heads have the same general silhouette and facial outline… and the show is NOT one that suffers from Only Six Faces, hinting at the reveal at the end.
  • Funny Background Event: The girl who might be a transplanted Akko in Episode 5 can be seen trying to confess her feelings to a boy in the background in multiple frames. That last panel indicates that she was successful.
  • Fun with Acronyms: The SSSS of the show's title is shown to be an in-universe acronym in the final episode, which stands for Special Signature to Save a Soul.
  • Gainax Ending: For those not familiar with the original Gridman series, the finale of the anime can catch them off guard when The Stinger shows a live action segment of Akane waking up in the real world.
  • GIS Syndrome: The end credits have real world locations as the backdrop for Akane and Rikka's school days. As Episode 12 shows, there is a reason for this.
  • Humongous Mecha: Like the original, the new Gridman has access to several Assist Weapon programs, one is a sword that looks very similar the original series' Gridman Sword, the others are mechas that look very similar to the components of the original God Zenon and by extension, to Thunder Gridman and King Gridman. Three heads that look very similar to those aforementioned mechas are also shown in the key visual.
  • I Choose to Stay: Anti decides to stay in Akane's creation/the computer world, leaving it defended by a hero. Anosillus the 2nd and her predecessor keep him company.
  • Identical Stranger: In voice drama 12.12, Rikka and Sho meet a girl who looks strikingly like Akane, clothes and all, but with none of her interests; they speculate that she was a model for Akane's body.
  • Identity Amnesia: The series starts with Yuta Hibiki waking up from a blackout in Rikka Takarada's place with no memory of his past or who any of his friends are.
  • "I Know You Are in There Somewhere" Fight: The finale is one big one for Akane. The Gridman Alliance throw everything they have at fighting Akane's kaiju form, Alexis, and Akane's psyche in an attempt to rescue her and show that, despite her flaws and all the things she's done, there are still people who genuinely care about her and want to help her get better.
  • Illness Blanket: Parodied. Hass always wears a blanket and a surgical mask, but according to Rikka, this is only for kicks and she's actually fine.
  • Intimate Lotion Application: In Episode 5, before going to the beach Akane asks Rikka to put sunblock on her back and as the latter does so she comments admiringly on Akane's skin. After the back is done, Akane then asks Rikka to do her front, which startles and embarrasses Rikka but Akane soon laughs it off and admits she was just messing with her.
  • Invisible to Normals: The Kaiju that surround the town can't be seen by regular people until the end, but Yuuta, Akane, and Utsumi are able to perceive them. In the novelization continuity, only Yuuta retains this ability.
  • Karmic Transformation: Alexis turns Akane into a Kaiju in Episode 11.
  • Le Film Artistique: The first two-thirds of the premiere tick many of the boxes: inexplicably long static shots, no background music, weird visuals only the protagonist can see (which he immediately brushes off like he's in a dream), odd camera angles that make everyday things look alien, and jump cuts in an otherwise-normal dialogue scene. Then the orchestra starts blaring at the fifteen-minute mark, and it becomes a tokusatsu series.
  • Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Episode 6 features Akane ranting at length about how there should never be an episode without a kaiju fight in these kinds of shows, because after all that's what everyone's here for. Naturally, Gridman doesn't show up this episode, and the only kaiju fight that happens is with Anti's human form.
  • Local Hangout: To Rikka's annoyance, it's her family's shop/cafe as that's where Junk is held. Lampshaded when Rikka’s mother asks the Neon Genesis Junior High Schoolers if they have jobs or somewhere to be besides her shop.
  • Lost in Translation:
    • Crunchyroll and Funimation have taken to translating the name of the Assist Weapon Hyper Agents as Neon Genesis Junior High Students. The original Japanese 新世紀中学生 does use the same kanji as the title of Neon Genesis Evangelion, but more likely in reference to the premiere episode of the original Gridman which was titled "The Birth of a New Century Hero!" (新世紀ヒーロー誕生!).
    • In the finale, Alexis Kerib refers to Rikka and the rest of the city as Repli-Compoids; Compoids are the denizens of the Computer World, further cementing the series in the continuity of the original Gridman show. The "Compoid" part got lost in the official subtitle translations on Crunchyroll, leaving English-speaking viewers in the dark with regards to this Shout-Out and simply using "replicas".
  • Lotus-Eater Machine: The Kaiju in episode 9 traps the Gridman Alliance in dreams that have Akane as the main focus, i.e. Yuta's dream had Akane take the place of Rikka and became his girlfriend. Thankfully, Gridman goes to the dream plane and fights the kaiju which allows the Alliance to realize they are in a dream and willfully break free of it. Makes sense that Gridman can enter the dream plane if one considers that the opening theme song of the original Denkō Chōjin Gridman was "Yume no Hero"note  and he did something similar in the original show.
  • Love Epiphany: According to information revealed in Voice Dramas 1.1 and 9.9999, Yuta realised he liked Rikka when they happened to chat in their classroom during a ball game rally and he was smitten by the sight of her hair flowing in the wind like the curtains in the classroom.
  • Loving Bully: Downplayed. In the Voice Dramas, Hass enjoys needling Utsumi, like nicknaming him "Turbo-senpai" in Drama 10.10 based on the letters on his bag. However, the Stage Shows reveal she does it because she likes him, and in the Compilation Movie Voice Drama when her teasing goes too far and he snaps at her, she's meekly goes over to apologise shortly after.
  • Master of the Mixed Message: A mild played for laughs example in the first episode, when Rikka approaches Yuta and mentions that her friends are teasing her about him. He offers to avoid talking to her at school, but she tells him that she isn't asking him to completely avoid her, just to give her some space. Yuta is naturally confused by what she means, and she eventually gives up in a huff.
  • Monster of the Week: Like its predecessor, Kaiju are created to attack, sending Gridman to take them out.
  • Mundane Made Awesome: In the original show, the Fixer Beam repaired whatever damage the kaijus inflicted to the computer world and was done at least once an episode. Here the technique is saved for the final episode and is what allows Gridman to defeat Alexis Kerib once and for all.
  • Mythology Gag: So many that there's a page all about it.
  • No Endor Holocaust: At the start of Episode 2, the Gridman Alliance believe that this is the case for the Kaiju attacks, since all the physical destruction has disappeared overnight. This impression of theirs is dispelled when actually get to school and find that several of their classmates, who would have been at the epicenter of the previous day's attack, have been wiped from existence.
  • Oblivious to Love: Rikka in regards to Yuta's not-at-all-subtle crush on her. She misinterprets his attempt to ask her out to dinner in Episode 4 as a suggestion for the whole team to grab something to eat after an exhausting battle, and blushes when in Episode 12 Gridman outright tells her that Yuta has feelings for her. That said, the Voice Dramas suggest there's a bit of Obfuscating Stupidity at play, as when confronted about Yuta liking her Rikka is prone to changing the subject (e.g. when Utsumi asks in Drama 12.12) or acting so suspicious the people interrogating her get distracted (with Hass and Namiko in Drama 1.1).
  • Opening Shout-Out: The last shot of the show is Akane doing the same neck-craning-up-to-the-sky motion Gridman does in the opening.
  • Peerless Love Interest: In the Voice Dramas, Namiko and Hass enjoy playing Rikka up as one of these to stress to Yuta just what an uphill battle he's facing if he wants to be her boyfriend and how he seriously needs to up his game. In Drama 10.10, they express shock and disgust when he describes his attempt to ask Rikka out to dinner (at the end of Episode 4), pointing out that Rikka is much too fancy to be taken to some cheap family restaurant, even giving him a teasing What the Hell, Hero? when he admits he also tried to use a coupon.
  • Playing Sick: Downplayed; Hass wears a white mask over her mouth that would indicate she's sick, but she still attends school and Rikka notes she's just wearing it for fun.
  • Power Copying: As a kaiju, Anti is able to copy Gridman's abilities to a certain extent, like growing Wolverine Claws in response to the Gridman Calibur.
  • Power Limiter: Gridman himself. As it turns out, his new design is actually an outer shell that covers his original 1993 suit. Once released he gets all his old abilities back, including the Fixer Beam which was needed to save the day.
  • Power of Love: The denouement of the final episode implies that at least part of the reason Gridman chose Yuta as his host is because, in a world created by Akane to love Akane, Yuta still fell in love with Rikka. This is more significant if you prescribe to the theory that "Akane Shinjo" represents Akane's idealised self (e.g. pretty, glamorous, popular) while Rikka represents Akane's actual self, meaning Yuta fell in love with the "real" Akane.
    • In Drama 9.9999 (which takes place during the time when Yuta is in the dream world where he and Akane are a couple), Yuta describes the moment he fell in love with Akane note . However, he's actually describing something Rikka mentioned to Namiko and Hass in Drama 1.1 as an example of the first time she and Yuta had actually ever spoken to each other. In other words, despite his amnesia being so strong he didn't even remember his name, Yuta still remembered the moment he fell in love with Rikka.
  • Reconstruction: Of Gridman as a whole, as even amid the more mature storyline, Gridman is represented as a symbol hope and justice seeking to pull Akane out of Alexis' dark grasp. In essence, the show aims to highlight why we loved tokusatsu growing up, as the action symbolizes us overcoming barriers both external and within.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: All of the kaiju have red eyes and are sent out by Akane to satisfy her petty grudges. When Alexis resurrects them en masse to overwhelm Gridman in Episode 11, they gain Black Eyes of Evil instead.
  • Rejection Projection: Akane Shinjo has little use for people, and when the transforming kaiju she created (named Anti) repeatedly fails she begins abusing him and cursing him for his uselessness at his given task i.e. killing Gridman. When Anti switches sides thanks to Rikka's kindness to him, Akane accuses him of abandoning her. This is partially explained by Akane's belief that as Anti's creator, she is literally his God and so expects his loyalty no matter how badly she treats him.
  • Relationship Sue: In-universe example. Episode 9 (and the accompanying voice drama) suggest that Akane meant for Yuta to be one of these. In the idealised dream world, she and Yuta are Sickening Sweethearts, and it's brought up that while Yuta is a completely average guy, he always does his best for Akane. This also explains why Akane was so angry with Tonkawa in the first episode she specifically created a kaiju to kill her: Tonkawa had interrupted what was looking to be a perfect Meet Cute moment note , and so she had to die.
  • Reset Button:
    • After every fight between Gridman and a Kaiju, any destruction to the city is seemingly completely reversed and no one has any memory of what happened except for those directly involved with Gridman (Yuta, Sho, Rikka, the Assist Weapon guys) or the Kaiju (Akane, Anti, and Alexis Kerib). Episode 6 reveals it's the job of the illusory Venora loitering in the background to apply this trope. Episodes 11 and 12 show that destroying these Venora also destroys the Reset Button.
    • Gridman's Fixer Beam. Not only does it completely restore the entire city to its former glory, but its highly implied that it also brings back everyone who had died in the Kaiju attacks.
  • Restraining Bolt: In a meta sense, Junk is this. In episode 4, all four Assist Weapons tried to join Gridman in battle but Junk doesn't currently have the processing power to handle all five and it causes all of them to freeze. It is circumvented by lowering their output (becoming smaller).
  • Ret-Gone: Those who die as a result of a Kaiju attack are essentially erased from recent history.
    • After Akane's first Kaiju attack kills off the girls' volleyball club, the Gridman Alliance finds out that Tonkawa, Tokiko, and the others were retconned to have died some years before.
    • Only Yamato remains alive after the fourth episode's attack, turning the Arcadia webcast he did with his three other friends into a one-man show.
  • Ridiculously Average Guy: In Voice Drama 1.1, Namiko and Hass observe that except for Yuta's brilliant red hair, he's absolutely one of these. Rikka reluctantly goes along with it to convince them that there's nothing going on between her and Yuta.
  • Running Gag: Kaiju stink. Akane smelling Anti's scarf, Rikka smelling Anti, and Yuta smelling Anosillus the 2nd, all have the same reaction: "It stinks".
    • Borr keeps kicking Utsumi in the shin until the final episode where Utsumi is able to dodge it. Rikka gets in her own kicks when Borr isn't available.
    • From the Voice Dramas, Yuta has a tendency to put his foot in his mouth. An example is as early as 2.2, where he keeps saying things concerning the kaiju to Rikka's mother to the point Utsumi outright tells him to just shut up.
    • Also from the Voice Dramas, Rikka's absolute refusal to respond to any questions about how she herself feels about Yuta. She normally brushes them off, but the problem is she usually does it in such a blatant and clumsy manner people actually call her out on it... which may very well be the idea.
  • School Festival: Episode 8 revolves around the school preparing for one, Akane wanting to destroy it and the Gridman Alliance trying to convince her not to but in the end have to fight the kaiju.
  • Sequel Hook: A possible one. The ending has Akane Shinjo waking up in the real world. This might imply that there will be a new live-action series. There is more evidence for this happening thanks to an exert on Alexis Kerib's page from the wiki: "His voice actor Tetsu Inada mentions in an interview that director Akira Amemiya once said that Alexis is Over Justice. According to him, after the events of Space Patrol Luluco, Over Justice wandered the multiverse for thousands of years and became corrupted in the process. Gridman's Fixer Beam restored his original self, and he may return as Gridman Justice (グリッドマンジャスティス Guriddoman Jasutisu)."
  • Shipper on Deck: Rikka's friends Namiko and Hass tease her about her new closeness with Yuta, and Gridman and Max openly support the couple. Gridman goes as so far as to outright tell Rikka that Yuta has feelings for her, feelings strong enough to bleed through even while he was possessing him.
    • Namiko and Hass being this is made more clear in the Voice Dramas. In 1.1 they first interrogate Rikka, only for her to deny anything going on, in 3.3 they manage to corner Yuta and get him to admit that while he and Rikka aren't dating, if he had the chance he'd like to (to their howls of amusement), and in 10.10 they intercept him and Utsumi to find out if he's made any progress.
  • Ship Tease: Yuta/Rikka gets the most teasing during the series, but Rikka's feelings aren't entirely revealed even at the end. When Utsumi straight up asks her how she feels about Yuta in final voice drama, she tries to deflect before brushing it aside as quickly as possible once someone else captures her attention. Most of it is downplayed on Rikka's part, such as a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment in the first episode where she seems fixated on Yuta's conversation with Akane (with Namiko grinning at the sight), or feeling guilty over ignoring his call in episode three and smiling softly to herself when it turns out he's safe.
    • Oddly enough, between Samurai Calibur and Rikka's mum. In one scene everyone else but Rikka's mum finds his laugh cute, and at the end of the episode, she ends up in a Bridal Carry in Samurai's arms.
    • The Voice Dramas give Sho and Hass a bit of Belligerent Sexual Tension, with them sniping at each other in Drama 10.10 in particular. The Compilation Movie Voice Drama also has a bit where Sho gets so annoyed with Hass teasing him that he snaps at her and stomps out of the karaoke establishment they're all in (to celebrate the end of the school year). She meekly follows him outside to apologise, and he convinces her to sing the song she wanted to (Bohemian Rhapsody) but didn't due to not wanting to trouble the others. She even removes her mask, to Sho's surprise, and the drama ends with them laughing together.
  • Shout-Out: From other Studio TRIGGER and Tsuburaya Productions creations to Transformers of all things, all detailed on the ShoutOut page.
  • Show Within a Show: Ultraman is canon within the universe of this show, as lampshaded by multiple characters. Just think about that for a sec.
  • Small Role, Big Impact:
    • Sakiru Tonkawa dies in the first episode, has barely any lines, and has no significant connection to any of the main characters. Her murder is called back to very frequently throughout the rest of the show as a symbol of Akane's petty cruelty and why she has to be stopped.
    • Anosillus the 2nd only shows up for an episode, but manages to complete turn the series on its head by revealing to Yuta that the world he resides is merely a construct created by Akane, who is essentially its God.
    • This trope ultimately goes to Sho Utsumi. Near the end of the series, he becomes frustrated with the fact that he has no abilities to transform into Gridman of has useful ties to Akane and was unable to do anything useful to help. Yuta and Rikka remind him that he did do something useful: he brought everyone together to fight Akane's kaiju.
  • Stealth Sequel: While the show initially appears to be a reboot/reimagining of the live-action Gridman series, direct references to the original continuity start to crop up beginning with episode 6, where a monster from the 90s show, Anosillus, appears to tell Yuta the truth about Tsutsuji-dai. Over subsequent episodes, the city is revealed to be suspended in what looks a heck of a lot like the original's Computer World. The finale makes it explicit: the animated Gridman is the same character from the live-action show, and fusing with the Neon Genesis team and Anti restores him to the original design. Akane is revealed to be a human who had entered the Computer World of the original series and may have played some part in wiping out most of it. At the end of the series, Akane returns to the human world, Gridman to the Hyper World, and the Computer World is restored as a copy of ours, fully functioning as a true world. We also see the original Anosillus watching over his descendant and Anti whose eye has healed and turned blue.
  • The Stinger: At the end of the series, Akane's real self wakes up in her bedroom.
  • Sympathetic Villain, Despicable Villain: Anti, Akane Shinjo, and Alexis Kerib play a rare 3-part variant on this trope, with the villains ranging from most sympathetic to most despicable in that order. Anti starts out as a Kaiju created by Akane to ruthlessly destroy the protagonists, only to end up pull a Heel–Face Turn after the latter's string of physical and verbal abuses wore him down in contrast to the heroes' acceptance of him despite his backstory. Akane herself starts out as a colossal misanthrope with little remorse for unleashing monsters on those who've wronged her in the slightest, but deep down, is just a lonely, manipulated girl who needs Gridman's help to escape the virtual world she's created. Finally, Alexis Kerib starts out as an Affably Evil father figure to Akane but is really just a horrible person who is manipulating Akane's emotions for his own sadistic ends.
  • Talking the Monster to Death: To be fair they do also beat the crap out of him, but Alexis is ultimately defeated not by violence, but by the cast convincing Akane that others can accept her even with all of her flaws, cutting his main source of negative emotions.
  • Temporary Online Content: The Voice Dramas were posted weekly on Pony Canyon's YouTube account, but generally stay on until the next episode airs. Eventually they all got out on the DVD sets.
  • Theme Music Power-Up: Gridman gets not one, but two instances of this in the final battle. The first is "Yume no Hero", the original Gridman theme song to kick off the fight with Alexis Kerib. The second is "UNION", the theme song to the current series, which starts once Gridman activates his Fixer Beam which leads to Alexis' defeat.
  • The Unreveal: Whatever it was Yuta said to Rikka just before losing his memories. There are a few tantalising bits of information, such as in Episode 1 where Rikka notes that if he was simply pretending to lose his memory after what he said, he'd be the absolute worst. In Voice Drama 1.1 when Namiko and Hass ask Rikka why, if she and Hibiki have no relationship at all, he'd have fainted right outside her house, she claims that he just randomly showed up at her house... but does it in such a suspicious manner they outright call her a Bad Liar.
  • Those Two Guys: Namiko and Hass are generally seen together, barring a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment in Episode 1 where a grinning Namiko is seen passing by after noticing Yuta and Rikka together (setting up the scene in school when she and Hass tease Rikka about it).
  • Tokyo Is the Center of the Universe: Set in Nerima Ward, Tokyo. Episode 6 reveals that either because of Akane's actions or something before her, this is the universe. Episode 7 further shows that it isn't a universe, but somewhere in the Computer World of the original series.
  • Ultraman Copy: As a reboot of the original show, this series' Gridman and other heroes like Gridknight take on similar traits to the Ultras design-wise and power-wise, moreso in the finale when Gridman recovers his original form.
  • Unusually Uninteresting Sight: People tend to treat Yuta's memory loss as a personality quirk rather than something serious. Most people in the show treat everything out of the ordinary as this trope by mostly glancing at whatever incredible event and barely commenting, in fact, with characters becoming more aware of the strangeness of the world around them as they break out of Akane's predetermined roles for them.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?:
    • In the finale, Gridman's Fixer Beam completely restores Akane's cyber world. However, it is left unclear whether the people Akane killed were brought back or not. That said, with the sounds of what seems to be the volleyball club, it's at least implied that those who died did return.
    • For someone who had most of their consciousness gone and their body possessed by a digital superhero, the Yuta we know hasn't had much elaboration after he comes back to his senses. At least in the audio dramas this is addressed: He's currently in hospital being checked up following his stabbing by Akane, and is otherwise fine with even his amnesia being gone.
  • Wham Line: Akane is the focal point of at least 2 of these as the show progresses.
    • First is the one she drops one on Rikka in episode 8.
      Akane: Don't you wanna get along with a god? No matter what I do, you'll never be able to hate me. I made sure you were set up that way... You were made to be my friend when you were made by my kaiju.
    • Second is the one Alexis drops on HER in episode 11.
      Alexis: I think you misunderstand me. I'm fine with you becoming a Kaiju yourself. Instance... Abreaction!
  • Where It All Began: The final battle happens in the outskirts of the city: the Computer World.
  • Wrap Around: The train leading out of the city works this way. Once Yuta's aware of it, the train signs change to show Tsutsuji-dai as the location and only destination.

Top