Review of SSSS.Gridman

SSSS.Gridman is so focused on delivering homages to the mecha genre and tokusatsu that director Akira Amemiya so clearly loves, that at times it risks tipping over the precipice and becoming purely derivative. Arguably it does do so at various points. And yet while so much here is plainly unoriginal, there's enough that genuinely is to save the whole thing from disaster. The plot has its twists, though mostly they're delivered gradually and without any big reveal moment, so they lack a certain punch to them. Nevertheless, they're there and they had a certain complexity to a story that could have easily fallen into apurely episodic, monster-of-the-week nostalgia-fest.

There's a lot of corny, cringe-worthy material here, that seemingly belongs to a more innocent age, but this is somewhat mitigated by the winking, self-awareness of the writing - not a guaranteed save, but we can at least appreciate that thought went into this aspect. I suspect some of this might add to the whole thing for those with a deeper and longer running familiarity with the genre conventions being displayed here than I do, but it certainly didn't derail the whole thing for me.

What's done very well is the start, which manages to be moody and atmospheric, with compelling visuals. Sadly this stylistic standard isn't maintained. I'm aware of some who have criticised the first episode for being slow, but to my mind it was one of the better entries with its pacing meaning I cared more about these characters more by the time buildings started getting smashed up in robot vs kaiju fights.

There are other times too, later on that the show isn't afraid to slow down and build on its characters and the end result is a main villain who feels a lot more fleshed out and human than most. It does this just as I was on the verge of giving up on the show for its repetitive, seemingly low-stakes action sequences in the series' first half.

Indeed, whilst some elements of the climax will leave many less than satisfied, if not downright disappointed, in general the back end up these twelve episodes is stronger than the front.

I must say, many of the action sequences felt entirely generic and I often grew bored during them, which may be a problem for a show that is ostensibly about these big fights, but there's enough on the side that the overall product still manages to be entertaining.

Ultimately, though, I probably would have given this a 5 rating, but it gets an extra point for Rikka Takarada's thighs. They are indeed thicc. And let's face it, a good deal of the viewers are just in it for the thighs.