TELEBOSE
Created after a floppy disk containing Khan Digifier is found by a college student named Haruka, Telebose is a mischievous beast, who isn’t actively malevolent compared to the rest of the virus monsters, although he does cause some trouble when he attacks the phone exchange and changes everyone’s conversations to be rude. I’m quite fond of Telebose’s design, as the pudgy shape and pink color fits his mischievous personality. What I really love about Telebose though, is that they took into account that he wasn’t designed by Takeshi, so aesthetically, he doesn’t fit in with the other Gridman kaiju at all which is really cute.
Of course, while starting off as initially friendly, Telebose gains an evil form once Takeshi resumes control. This evil form is fine enough, but not as cute and fun as the original Telebose, though perhaps that was the intention here with him. Unlike Anosillus who gets restored to his original state, Gridman is forced to put down Telebose, poor guy…
Telebose derives his name from telephones fittingly enough, and the original design proposal included giving the monster yellow coloration too, as well as a pikopiko hammer on his tail. The monster’s suit was created from the Imitation Anosillus suit, fitting enough since Telebose’s story feels like a bit of a retread of Anosillus’s debut.
GURUMBA
Wanting to take out his frustrations on those who litter, Takeshi sends the monster Gurumba to take over a remote controlled vacuum cleaner, and then have it go around town to shrink people down and then suck them up. It’s one of the sillier evil plans by Takeshi, and definitely challenges one’s suspension of disbelief, but that fact that it’s super fun really helps it out.
Gurumba himself is a good design, being made from a modified Mecha Bamora suit, and I think they did a great job disguising the suit’s origins. Fittingly enough for the vacuum cleaner motif, Gurumba’s huge mouth is able to almost suck up Gridman!
CHIDOGERAH
In what is perhaps the strangest story in Gridman yet, Takeshi feels an incredible amount of jealousy towards Takeo, a boy who looks exactly like him, but is friendly and affable. Takeo quickly befriends Yuka, Ippei and Naoto, and in his rage, Takeshi unleashes Chidogerah to take over all the watches in the city, causing people to lose control of their hands. But, who exactly is Takeo, and is it possible for Takeshi to change his ways?
Chidogerah himself is a wonderful design, clearly being based off of Seabozu (and even incorporating some of his mannerisms too). While Chidogerah himself isn’t as endearing as the innocent Seabozu, he looks cool as hell, especially with that triceratops-inspired skull, and he’s backed up by a great episode that explores Takeshi’s character and just drops a few hints that maybe, just maybe, Takeshi could be a good person if he really tried.
Chidogerah’s costume was an alteration of Jubagon’s, and once again, they did a fantastic job of making this guy stand on his own. The monster was originally going to be covered in scales similar to a sturgeon, something I’m glad they didn’t go through with.
ABUMARU
After Takeshi finds himself bullied by older kids on the way home from school, Khan decides to take matters into his own hands by taking Takeshi’s monster Abumaru and using it to sabotage the Sakuragaoka University’s super computer that specializes in matter transportation.
Abumaru’s meddling in the computer creates a time slip that brings legendary Japanese warrior Musashibo Benkei (played by Ultraman Jack’s suit actor Eiichi Kikuchi) into the modern age, with Khan intending to have the monk act as Takeshi’s bodyguard. Benkei has some trouble adjusting to modern times, especially when Khan and Abumaru somehow manage to cause the guy to go berserk and cause havoc (intended to be a test run for when Khan decides to bring dinosaurs into modern day Japan).
Abumaru takes a bit of a backseat to the main drive of the episode, which is Benkei and the various comedic situations he finds himself in, but that’s fine, since Benkei’s fish out of water story is incredibly entertaining. As for the kaiju itself, Abumaru’s pretty damn cool design wise with his single eye, more humanoid body shape and rod weapons. He feels very reminiscent of Shinobilar, and I feel like this episode was possibly supposed to star our favorite ninja virus monster, but I am glad we got a new character, even if I wouldn’t mind seeing Shinobilar for another go around.
On the subject of Shinobilar, the costume itself was a remodeling of Kung-Fu Shinobilar, and originally had a different idea for his design that wasn’t as streamlined. While I do love the final Abumaru, I feel like this one would’ve been a real cool monster to see realized in suit form. The name Abumaru derives from the word abduction, and the monster’s original name was Abdax.
GOROMAKING
Angry that Yuka is nice to her friends, while ignoring him, Takeshi creates the monster Goromaking to take control of her hair dryer. Once Yuka uses it, she’s hit by the monster’s “punk beam” and turned into a delinquent!
Goromaking’s a bit like Jubagon in terms of general idea, but thankfully, the monster manages to have a ton of personality that allows him to be his own creature. Goromaking dances, talks smack to Gridman, and just generally acts like a rowdy trouble maker, which is so wonderfully fitting for such a creature. He’s so charismatic, that I feel a bit bad for him when Gridman finally destroys him.
Much like his demeanor and his modus operandi, Goromaking’s design is inspired by Japanese delinquent fashion, with his body being based on a school uniform with it’s collar flipped up, and a “mohawk” on his head, giving us a design that hits the mark of the monster’s motif and characterization. The suit itself was made from an altered Blizzler suit, which I feel like the team did a good job disguising.
DEVILPHAZER
With a monster with a skeletal, monstrous apperance, and a name like Devilphazer, you’d probably expect this guy to be a big deal, like perhaps the one last major foe before the finale or something…but he isn’t. Instead, Devilphazer here is just sent to sabotage a computer controlled mall, but instead of the level of reality breaking hijinks Takeshi has gotten into lately, Devilphazer just traps Yuka and her pregnant cousin inside an elevator. It feels like a script they had from the beginning of the show and dusted it off late in the game. That being said, at least Devilphazer looks cool, being made from an altered Chidogerah suit and certainly looking quite devilish.
KHAN GIORGIO
After a police officer reprimands him for public urination, Takeshi and Khan utilize Khan Giorgio to hack into the Ministry of Defense and replace the constitution with one of Khan’s own design, making all the police officers do things like litter, encourage shoplifting and attempt to execute people for good driving records! It’s incredibly silly, but in the best way, and Gridman at it’s finest.
Khan Giorgio is a fun monster, being a spider monster while not having any features of one (minus the webbing on his chest). I really like squat, fanged face, as well as his orange and black color scheme, which feels very Halloween-y and appropriate for a spider monster. Khan Giorgio’s suit was made from a variety of different monster parts such as Boranga, Mecha Bagira and Dazzlba, and I’m gonna sound like a broken record, but I think the team here did a fantastic job in hiding the origin of the components.
SKABORN
A gas spewing monster, Skaborn is sent to make the incinerator at the Sakuragaoka Garbage Disposal Plant spew noxious gas. Unlike the previous monsters, Skaborn pretends to be a bug in the system, thus not alerting itself to Gridman’s attention. This all goes out the window after Takeshi gives Yuka a gas mask and then she still doesn’t pay attention to him, and he then just has Skaborn wreck the place, which gets Gridman’s attention. After another plan down the drain, Khan Digifier decides to take matters into his own hands.
Takeshi’s final kaiju isn’t anything too major, hell, he sort of feels like an idea he’d have earlier in the show. But, I sort of feel that’s the point here, Skaborn really feels like something Takeshi whipped up after running out of monster ideas, but that’s why he’s cool! He’s not some major world ending apocalypse monster, but just what would’ve been another scheme if Khan didn’t decide that this was the last straw.
In terms of design, Skaborn is a solid dinosaur, if not a tad plain. His design always felt reminiscent of Red King’s personally, as well as a brachiosaurus. He just is a kaiju that feels like a good goon, like, he’s got some good goon energy going on in terms of looks. While he’s not quite as flashy as you’d expect from Takeshi’s final kaiju, he ain’t a bad one to end on.
KHAN DIGIFIER
Of course, the show’s final boss is none other than our main villain, Khan Digifier, and I feel like there’s no better character to end on than him. A criminal that Gridman has been tracking for the entire series, Khan Digifier is a great overarching bad guy, and easily one of the most memorable of Tsuburaya’s roster of tokusatsu villains. While he doesn’t step into action himself until the final episode, Khan and Takeshi’s presence in the show is perhaps the most entertaining aspect of the program, and I often find them more fun to watch than our heroes!
When Khan does finally set out to get things done himself, he’s certainly no pushover, getting a cool giant form, destroying the programs for Dyna Dragon and God Xenon, and even able to open up a portal to the real world! Gridman needs the help of all the kids, Takeshi included, to finally put an end to Khan Digifier’s machinations.
Khan Digifier name is a portmanteau of Digital Lucifer, fitting considering he’s the one pushing Takeshi into all of these schemes. Khan was originally imagined having a more human silhouette, something I’m glad was changed for the final show. Khan’s giant form is a repurposed Alien Magma suit used for stage shows, though originally, there were plans to convert Neo Metallus into Khan’s giant form, but it didn’t work out. Khan was voiced by Masaharu Sato, an actor who has lent his voice to various anime and tokusatsu productions, with some notable ones being Ultraman Tiga, Kamen Rider Agito and Dekaranger.
Khan’s American counterpart in Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad, Kilokhan, is something I wanna touch upon briefly. While he does fill the same role that Khan Digifier did in Gridman, we get a bit more elaboration of what exactly he is, this time being a rogue AI created by the United States military. Voicing Kilokhan is the incredibly talented Tim Curry.
Curry’s portrayal of the show’s villain is in my personal opinion, better than Sato’s. Sato does a fantastic job of course, but it’s Tim Curry, there’s no comparison. Curry does what he does best, and Kilokhan’s condemnation of humanity as “meat-things” is a really entertaining villain quote.
Easter's Kaiju Kompendium 