A tokusatsu show that was produced as the 30th anniversary work for Tsuburaya Productions, Hyper Agent Gridman was a curious little show that emerged during the Wilderness Years of the Ultraman series. Gridman, much like it’s more famous sister series, featured a giant hero taking on menacing kaiju, but offered an interesting twist to the proceedings: You see, Gridman’s battles with the kaiju all took place in cyberspace, with the kaiju themselves being malevolent computer viruses that cause havoc with real world technology! It’s a unique, fun premise that was ahead of it’s time in my eyes, perhaps even a bit too forward for the quaint year of 1993.
Gridman concerns three pre-teens, Naoto, Ippei and Yuka who are fascinated with computers, and build their own computer out of spare parts called Junk. One day, they get the attention of a Hyper Agent known as Gridman. Fusing with Naoto, Gridman battles the monsters sent out by the gang’s antisocial classmate, Takeshi Todo and the evil Khan Digifier. However, much like Ultraman, Gridman only has a limited amount of time to battle, since he’s connected to Junk, if Junk crashes during Gridman’s fights, he’ll be deleted from the computer world!
Monster designers on this show consisted of Masayuki Fukagawa and Kazumitsu Akamatsu for the show’s first half, who designed the kaiju to make for marketable toys. The monsters seen in the show’s final half were designed freely by Tsuburaya Productions staff without the need for making them into toys. In addition, to help save budget, many of the kaiju we see here get remodeled into newer forms, allowing monsters to return with new features and powers. The monster suits were also made larger than Gridman, in order to make them imposing, and to prevent Gridman from seeming too cruel, whenever the monsters get cut, rather than seeing blood, we see circuitry underneath their skin, making these guys really unique among the pantheon of Tsuburaya’s kaiju.
As a brief aside, this was probably my first exposure to the world of Tsuburaya’s tokusatsu, as the show was brought over to the United States and adapted by DiC into Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad to ride the coattails of Saban’s Power Rangers. I admit, I watched a bit of it as a kid, but it never really caught the attention of younger me, so if you were expecting me to go into detail about how each monster differs from their American counterparts, it ain’t gonna be here. Sorry!
TAKESHI TODO
Ok, ok, perhaps I’m cheating by including Takeshi here, but I feel like Takeshi’s role as an antagonist is pivotal to the show, and of all the main cast members in the show, Takeshi is perhaps the one with the most depth, and development. Takeshi is also unique as villains for these shows tend to go, as while he’s a classmate of the main heroes, none of them are aware that they are in conflict with each other.
Teaming up with the evil Khan Digifier virus (a character we’ll get to in a bit), Takeshi creates the show’s kaiju by illustrating them in his computer’s paint program before Khan Digifier gives them life. The perfect example of a basement dwelling loser, rather than desiring world domination like many of his fellow tokusatsu villains, Takeshi’s schemes are all born from him being at worst, mildly annoyed by the world he inhabits. Anything from people not baking him cakes, to merely bumping into him on accident at the supermarket is enough to get Takeshi to vow vengeance on you. He’s so cartoonishly petty, that he easily becomes the most entertaining part of the show. Takeshi isn’t completely one dimensional either, as he’s got plenty of hidden depths to his character, and rather than being evil, he’s someone that’s isolated and alone, making him vulnerable to the corrupting influence of Khan Digifier, and the show often posits that if Takeshi had true friends, perhaps he’d be a better person.
GILARUS
Our first kaiju sent out by the villains is Gilarus. Angered that he was interrupted in handing over a love note to Yuka, Takeshi and Khan send out Gilarus to attack the computer systems of the hospital Yuka’s parents for revenge.
Gilarus is a pretty good kaiju to kick off the kaiju seen in this show! He’s got a really cool, crystalline look to him that just makes him pop against the surreal cyberspace setting of the show. He really feels like in my eyes, a kaiju that could easily pop up in something like Ultraman 80, perhaps this is due to Osamu Yamaguchi helping out with the design here?
Gilarus would return in episode 14 as Mecha Gilarus, now being sent by Khan Digifier and Takeshi to attack the Standard Time Center at the Greenwich Royal Observatory to throw humanity’s sense of time into a tizzy. This upgraded Gilarus isn’t too different from the original, but I love his mechanical hands and feet, but best of all, he’s got a striking new profile thanks to that upgraded horn on his head, replacing the one Gridman kicked off after their first battle!
BAMORA
Sent to hack the advanced LAH-9000 computer, Bamora turns it into a warp device, creating a portal to the real world, allowing Khan and his kaiju to attack humanity more directly! It’s definitely one of the more dangerous plans Khan cooks up in the series.
Bamora’s design is a winner in my book, and he feels like one of the most iconic kaiju from the show. He really has a sort of Red King vibe to his design, perhaps this is due to Yamaguchi again assisting on the design for Bamora. The creature’s original color was supposed to be yellow, but thankfully changed to red, which just looks great in the cyberspace scenes and really gives Bamora a real threatening presence. I also really like the spikes going along the sides of his head! He just feels like he should be one of the show’s most memorable critters.
Bamora would reappear in episode 16 as Mecha Bamora, this time attacking the local police station’s computer systems, freeing a bank robber and plunging the station into disarray in retaliation for some cops mistaking Takeshi as a bike thief. The upgraded Bamora isn’t nearly as nice looking as the original, but there’s some fun twists to his design such as his spines pointing upwards now, and a mace in place of his left hand and at the end of his tail!
VOLKADON
Sent out to attack the city’s main telephone network, Volcadon here is another really pleasing looking kaiju. Living up to his name, Volcadon sports a really cool, craggy design, with all those craters cover his body which he puts to good use in firing off fireballs and lava showers against Gridman. He’s one of those kaiju I feel is one of Gridman‘s more iconic monsters, and the perfect example of how to do a volcano monster right.
Volcadon was originally going to be named either Magna or Magmas. Additionally, while Volcadon was designed as a quadrupedal monster, special effects director had the monster stand in his battle with Gridman so it’d be more exciting.
STEALGAN
Created after Takeshi heard of a supposedly “unhackable” computer controlled car, Stealgan takes control of the vehicle and nearly kills Naoto’s father and his boss who are the passengers. Stealgan himself gives Gridman some trouble thanks to his ability to become invisible, but after Yuka creates a special program to help the Hyper Agent locate the monster, Gridman makes short work of him.
Stealgan’s not among my favorites of the kaiju seen in the show, but I can’t deny that he’s a monster that probably feels like one of the bigger threats seen in the show so far, thanks to his stealth powers (fittingly, his name is derived from the word stealth). His design is pretty good, being a fairly decent reptilian bird monster, and I love how his eyes are so close to the end of his beak, giving him a very bizarre face compared to his fellow flying kaiju.
Stealgan would return as Mecha Stealgan as part of a plan by Takeshi to steal all the color in the world after he doesn’t win a digital art contest. Mecha Stealgan isn’t quite as a fun as the original in my eyes, but he’s a decent upgrade, bringing to mind Gyeronia from Andro Melos thanks to those robotic wings and head crests.
BAGIRA
Alright! We’ve hit one of my favorites! Bagira is created in response to a grocer accidentally bumping into Takeshi with a bunch of oranges, decides that he must take revenge and disrupt the supply chains for food and medicine. Bagira himself is a kaiju that always caught my eye whenever he showed up in the SSSS, and he’s still commands attention, He’s got perhaps the best design out of all the monsters seen in this show, and quite honestly, I could this guy headlining as a Godzilla opponent for an entire film. There’s so many great features about him, such as that long tail, his blades on his arms, but I think I love that hunched head with that craggly mouth and long nasal horn. Bagira just looks outright mean, and it’s no wonder Gridman needs an upgrade in the form of the Plasma Blade and Barrier Shield to win.
Bagira would escape Gridman (only after literally being disarmed), before meeting his demise in the following episode by the hands of the monster Anosillus. However, Bagira would return as Mecha Bagira, and while I usually don’t think you can improve on perfection, somehow lightning struck twice and we got an amazing upgrade for our bladed friend. Armed with some new blades, and a boomerang at the end of his tail, but my favorite feature has to be how the dude has only one mechanical eye:
Like, look at that mean mug! This is a kaiju who doesn’t like to mess around at all. He just looks so intimidating. Mecha Bagira proves to be enough of a challenge to necessitate yet another upgrade: the Dragonic Cannon. No matter what form he’s in, Bagira just kicks ass.
Mecha Bagira is also the monster behind what is probably among the show’s most insane plotlines: Hacking a mummy into reviving by taking control of the machines analyzing it! Bagira will kick your ass, and then revive the dead to boot! Don’t mess with Bagira, man!
ANOSILLUS
Unlike the vast majority of kaiju seen in Gridman so far, Anosillus is actually a naturally occurring monster that’s native to cyberspace. A gentle creature, Anosillus doesn’t hesitate to protect it’s home after Bagira is sent down to hijack an electronic piano to create some seriously awful music. The existence of Anosillus does add some freshness and an organic quality to the show’s world, and makes the computer world seem like an actual world, rather than a lifeless environment. I like the design of Anosillus quite a bit as well, as the monster’s seashell based design creates a really unique look for the monster.
Poor Anosillus is converted into an evil monster thanks to Khan and Takeshi, and they use the poor thing to finish the plan originally meant for Bagira. The evil Anosillus isn’t too different than the original, this time having a spine-covered, “evil” head. It’s very reminiscent of the corrupted kaiju seen in Ultraman Cosmos down the line.
Thankfully, Anosillus is cured by a being called a Compoid, a species of beings native to the computer world. It’s a bit strange to see such a character, but if beings such as Gridman, Khan Digifier and Anosiilus are native to cyberspace, then I suppose human-like beings aren’t too out of the question.
While Anosillus would be purified, Takeshi would create a copy of the evil version of the character and use it to attack computers all over the world after Naoto and his friends bond with a hacker their age. This version of Anosillus looks the same as the “evil” one above, but now has the power to shoot a beam that transforms Gridman’s molecular formula!
FLAMELAR
One of the most prolific kaiju in Gridman, Flamelar is, as you’d anticipate, a fire kaiju. Flamelar’s created by Takeshi to blow up Yuka’s microwave because he feels jealous that she’s baking a cake for Naoto. It’s certainly one of Takeshi’s more petty schemes…but simultaneously one of his deadliest.
As for the kaiju himself, Flamelar’s a solid one. I’m always a big of elemental monsters, and Flamelar is easily one of the best, looking fantastic with that red color scheme, flame based crest, and those large hoses on his shoulders. Dude is just perhaps the best looking fire monster you can get, and it’s no wonder that he was one of the many kaiju that caught my eye when I watched SSSS as a kid.
Flamelar would manage to escape his initial confrontation with Gridman, and appear an episode later battling alongside his brother Blizzard before meeting his demise. Flamelar would be upgraded into Mecha Flamelar and used as part of a plan by Khan Digifier to sabotage a salon hair dryer to kill a police officer who took a swimsuit magazine of Takeshi’s that he was using to hide his kaiju sketches. It was a plan that even Takeshi thought was maybe going a bit too far. Mecha Flamelar here isn’t as cool as the original, but any kaiju with shoulder-mounted flamethrowers is cool in my book.
BLIZZARD
Flamelar’s brother that’s created as part of a scheme to mess with the thermostats of homes, with Flamelar making them unbearably hot, and Blizzard causing them to be dangerously cold. Blizzard’s not too different from his brother, but the cool blue color scheme he has, and the icy-like back crystals makes him contrast well with Flamelar, and just look damn cool against the computer world landscape. We also get a bit of a sibling rivalry between the two that gives Gridman a bit of an edge during their battle, which I think is a really clever and fun quirk with him and Flamelar.
SHINOBILAR
Perhaps the most iconic of the Gridman kaiju, Shinobilar is essentially the show’s answer to Baltan (incredibly fitting since both are ninjas). And I can easily see why Shinobilar is popular: Dude’s got an incredibly slick design that feels like a ninja, he’s got legit weapons and ninjitsu at his disposal, and unlike our previous kaiju, Shinobilar’s equipped with enough artificial intelligence to formulate plans on his own and even speak. Shinobilar’s the show’s dark horse and with good reason. These skills come in handy when Takeshi sends Shinobilar to take over a cram school to turn the students there into delinquents after Takeshi didn’t get the best grade on one of their tests. Shinobilar would return, with a scythe replacing his swords a few episodes later to take over VR shooting game that Yuka was playing and send her off on a rampage after Takeshi is kicked off of it after hogging it at the arcade. There were plans to modify the suit for this particular adventure, but nothing occurred from it.
Shinobilar would get an upgrade during his third appearance as Kung-Fu Shinobilar, trading in his ninjitsu for kung-fu and some nunchucks. There’s not many changes to the suit (though I feel like this version of Shinobilar is redder than his first two incarnations, or are my eyes playing tricks on me?), but he does get some cool gauntlet armor here. The plan Shinobilar is involved with here is probably among the darkest and pettiest seen in the show, as Shinobilar here takes control of computerized dog collars to make the dogs go crazy and attack their owners, only for Khan to take it a step further and turn the dogs into bombs, something that Takeshi thinks is even going too far. It’s surprisingly dark for such a lighthearted show like Gridman, especially when the culprit is an evil kung-fu monster.
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