Review of SSSS.Gridman

I never watched a minute of toku as a child, teen, or adult. Since SSSS.Gridman is a heart-covered love letter to that genre, I could take that as a sign that I should recuse myself from providing an opinion. But since my overall impression is positive, I'm going to go ahead and add mine to the pile. SSSS.Gridman is a lightly metafictional take on the tokusatsu genre, injecting the classic action formula with MFA-ish storytelling priorities (e.g. depression, the nature of living in a narrative, etc). That's not a knock against it: crossing the streams takes us somewhere relatively unique. I'd call it a more straight-lacedSamurai Flamenco, and that's good company.

The focus is split between Yuuta, an amnesiac with a heart of gold (trust me, don't run away, it's set-up for a nice hat trick later on) and Shinjo Akane, a girl with both a Columbine High mentality and the ability to create Kaiju. Yuuta can turn into Gridman, who is somewhere on the all-caps JUSTICE scale between 1960's Superman and contemporary Captain America. You might guess that Akane is more interesting. You're right. But Yuuta's antics do have a classic appeal, and Trigger does their usual good job of leaning on the mechanics/standards of a genre for effect.

The style of the fights takes a moment to get used to, but works marvelously. Trigger did an excellent job of giving the movements of the kaiju and Gridman variants a sense of scale and gravity. They lumber the way something of that size should. Thanks to the animation, and show underlining these battles having very real casualties, every building that gets knocked over feels like it matters.

I have an odd relationship with the ending. I'm fine with the outline of events, wherein Akane finds some measure of autonomy and acceptance. The last fight looks great, and they do a decent job of not leaving any threads dangling. Then there's the big "but." I think there's a tendency in spec-fic to associate going abstract with a good climax. And it can be done well. But in Gridman's last episode, I don't quite feel the sense of control that it takes to make that narrative work.

I think it comes down to the pacing of the last episode. Most of this show works because of how deftly it handles it's atmosphere, and the doling out of information. That's a sharp contrast Alexis and Gridman shouting at each other about mortality, which feels a little familiar. Granted, you're supposed to see a few echoes of the past in a tribute like S.S.S.S.Gridman. But it's possible to get a little too much of a good thing.

Samurai Flamenco had similar inspiration, and handled the home stretch a little more artfully. As someone that enjoyed both, I recommend it as a companion piece for anyone that vibes with the overall tone of SSSS.Gridman.

It's a good time. Not perfect, but good. A fine choice for anyone looking for some extra optimism in their media diet.