Review of SSSS.Dynazenon

Studio Trigger is a studio I always want to root for because of their flare, ambition, and their frequent anime originals. However, many of their anime stumble in the latter half of their episodes because they forgot that there is a plot that needs to get going, and as a result I am always doubtful of any of their work these days. All of my usual gripes with the style of Trigger shows seems to be minimized whenever they are paying homage to classic shows, as seen in SSSS.Gridman (which until now I thought was the studio's best TV anime) and most recently its sequel,SSSS.Dynazenon.

I enjoyed Dynazenon for a lot of the same reasons as Gridman. The art style is utterly gorgeous - from the colors, to the detailed background art, to the dynamic lighting. It is all top notch. The normal everyday world character designs show off a trendy and modern style very characteristic of how people of this past decade would dress, while the designs for Gauma and the Kaiju Users are stylish, zany, and eyecatching.

What really enamored me about this anime was the naturalistic dialogue that is carried over from its prequel. Coupled with great voice acting, the dialogue in Dynazenon is incredible. The way people talk as well as not talk at all feels unforced and real. The budding relationship between Yomogi and Yume slowly starts off awkward as the two tip-toe around each other, probing the other to get a grasp of what the other person is like. As their relationship progresses, they gradually become more comfortable with each other, confiding in their personal issues and cracking teasing jokes at each other. Unlike other anime, Dynazenon embraces silence. There are long breaks between lines of dialogue or just still set pieces with people going about their day where only ambient noises are heard. The amount of silence throughout the show lends itself greatly to capturing the monotony of life... And then when it's time to fight the Kaiju enemy, all of a sudden the anime gets LOUD. Fight scenes are filled with the impassioned screams of our heroes as they pilot towering machines that shake the ground as it walks, firing high powered missiles and lasers at the bellowing monster doing the same, all while the city around them crumbles and topples from the sheer destructive force of the battle. When they are not fighting, a beautiful silence permeates every scene. And when they are fighting, the music is bombastic and the dialogue becomes markedly more campy. I thought the juxtaposition of everyday life and city-destroying battles through sound and dialogue was brilliant.

One aspect that differs between Gridman and Dynazenon is which characters they chose to put the most focus on. In Gridman, most of the time was spent on Rikka and the antagonist Akane. As for Dynazenon, Yomogi and Yume undoubtedly receive the most development in the show. While I quite loved the romance between the two as they slowly grew to understand each other better, the lack of development for the rest of the cast is my biggest knock on the anime. I felt that Koyomi's story progressed pretty decently despite it feeling sidelined. Chise's story on the other hand felt a tad rushed, with the tiny crumbs of foreshadowing in earlier episodes being its saving grace. Gauma's search for his princess is pretty straightforward, but is bogged down by the lack of background for his former allies, the Kaiju users. The Kaiju users themselves are quite entertaining throughout the show, but the fact that not much is revealed about their past makes their ambitions as villains rather flimsy and half-baked. I thought that more could have been done between Mujina and Koyomi, as well as more for Shizumu rather than just mysteriously standing around every episode.

Overall, I super enjoyed this anime for its character-focused plot and beautiful directorial framing. The story isn't anything exceptional or deep, but it is entertaining. I have always had a thing for using the supernatural or otherworldly to drive real-life and relatable character drama. To me, Studio Trigger is at their best when they are put on a leash like this, and I hope that they do better in suppressing their bad habits that have plagued their past work.

INSTANCE DOMINATION!