After a successful collaboration with the Boys Invent Great Hero short for Animator Expo 2015, Tsuburaya and Studio Trigger would team up once again for SSSS. Gridman, a brand-new anime adaption for the 2018 anime season. The show would become a massive success after it’s release, and would even get it’s own sequel series in the form of SSSS. Dynazenon in 2021. Though while the show’s success was based on the female characters and all the -ahem- creepy merchandise based around them, the show itself is a massive love letter to not only the original show, but Tsuburaya’s tokusatsu as a whole, and even brings back some classic monster designers such as Shinji Nishikawa, Hiroshi Maruyama, Osamu Yamaguchi, Ichiro Itano and Mahiro Maeda, a who’s who of some of the most prominent kaiju designers of the last few decades and because of that, we get some real bangers.
Recycling story elements from the unmade sequel Gridman F, SSSS. Gridman is set in the fictional city of Tsutsujidai, the story follows Yuta Hibiki, an amnesiac high schooler who becomes the host of Gridman, and together with his fellow classmates Utsumi and Rikka try to uncover the mystery of why kaiju are attacking their city…as well as why those killed by the monsters are forgotten by everyone else. As a heads up, there’s gonna be some massive spoilers here in this retrospective, so I gotta give a huge SPOILER WARNING right out the gate. If you haven’t seen the show yet, but you’re interested, definitely watch it before you continue reading this article…
GHOULGILAS
The first monster Gridman battles, Ghoulgilas appears one night to kill several students from the local high school, Ghoulgilas is a fine monster to start things off with. I recall when SSSS. Gridman was announced, I was worried on how interesting the show’s kaiju were going to be, but when Ghoulgilas was unveiled before the show’s premiere, I knew we were going to have some real winners.
Ghoulgilas was designed by Shinji Nishikawa, who had previously designed the monsters for Ultra Tactics Special Squad Go!. Nishikawa based the monster’s body shape after Femigon, and the body’s bellows were made in order for the monster to emphasize the design aesthetic of the Tsuburaya Productions kaiju. There’s a lot of stuff I personally like about this guy, like his blue and pink color scheme, but my favorite aspect about him are the wires poking out of his hands, feet, tail and horns. Much like the original show, the kaiju in this show are created by the main villains, but instead of using a computer program, they’re sculpted!
Ghoulgilas would return several episodes later as Mecha Ghoulgilas, paying tribute to the various mecha variants of the kaiju from the original Gridman. While I prefer the original Ghoulgilas, I think Mecha Ghoulgilas is quite the upgrade! Nishikawa designed Mecha Ghoulgilas around the idea that his creator (who we’ll get to in a moment) isn’t quite as skilled in designing mechanical objects, and also incorporated elements of King Joe into the design as well. Mecha Ghoulgilas himself even gets a new, fun ability where his head can become a giant drill!
AKANE SHINJO
I’m sure you’re saying “Easter, why are you covering an anime girl on this kaiju site?”, which fair question, sure, but while Akane doesn’t seem to be monstrous, she’s actually one of the show’s main antagonists, and is Takeshi Todo’s successor.
While Takeshi was a loner nerd, Akane here is a successful and popular girl at the local high school, someone you wouldn’t peg for being the show’s take on Takeshi. But, while she’s beloved at school, Akane uses that to hide her personal life. Living in a massive house by herself, Akane hides out in her room surrounded by kaiju dolls (including some fairly deep cuts such as kaiju from Towards the Future, Ultimate Hero, and even Nerogiras from Fireman!) and bags of garbage, one gets the sense that the true Akane is a very lonely and isolated individual. Much like Takeshi, Akane works with an evil computer dwelling being by the name of Alexis-Kerib, who transforms her homemade kaiju figurines into giant beasts. And like Takeshi, Akane is just as petty as her live-action counterpart. However, while Takeshi’s schemes were usually over the top, Akane prefers to be more direct, sending out kaiju to murder specific people rather than make cash registers explode or turn people into punks. And those killed by Akane’s monsters are seemingly erased from reality itself, with no trace or even memories of the dead remaining. In addition, while Takeshi remained unknown through the entirety of Gridman, our heroes find out about Akane at the halfway point, giving an extra bit of edge to their conflict. One notable instance of this is when Akane comes up to them during school to show them her model of Mecha Ghoulgilas, cheerfully daring them to just try and stop her when she sends the monster out during the school’s cultural fair.
Akane and Alexis-Kerib originally hailed from Gridman F, a proposed sequel to the original Gridman that SSSS. takes quite a bit of inspiration from. Akane herself would become one of the show’s biggest breakout characters because, well, she’s an anime girl. That being said, while I find the attention that’s often laden on her by horny anime fans to be a bit skeevy to say the least, I can’t deny the fact that she’s a great successor to Takeshi, and manages to make herself just as dangerous, but also just as sympathetic. Plus hell, the idea of a kaiju otaku as the main villain for one of these shows speaks to me.
DEVADADAN
Angered by a teacher who bumps into her in the hallway, Akane creates Devadadan to kill the poor guy. The monster itself is met by Gridman, and while things look bad for our hero, Gridman’s ally, Samurai Calibur, arrives and becomes a giant sword (go with it) so the monster can be vanquished.
We’re already fairly early in, but Devadadan might just be my favorite of all the monsters seen in this show, with his clear dome covering up the mis-matched eyes, as well as his cracked body revealing all of his cybernetics underneath. He’s an eye-catching, unique monster, and while Ghoulgilas is a wonderful throwback, Devadadan feels like a step in a bold, new direction, something that was intended by Nishikawa. Devadadan’s unique, clear head was inspired by the real life barreleye fish, a creature that Mother Nature definitely created so it’d be used as a tokusatsu monster at some point.
ANTI
Akane’s third monster, Anti, breaks the mold of the monsters we’ve seen so far, being a creature that first appears as a silver haired boy. While he certainly looks human, Anti has some awful table manners, gobbling up any food that comes his way like a wild animal, and being single-mindedly obsessed with one mission alone: Killing Gridman.
Anti’s monster form itself is definitely one of the show’s most iconic, if not the absolute top of the pile. Nishikawa drew upon Shinobilar from the original show and designed Anti as if he was a modern take on the character. He’s a great update too I might add, and I think it does a good job paying tribute to Shinobilar without just being an outright copy of him. In addition, I also detect quite a bit of Zetton in Anti as well, with the black hands, white, bellows on his arms and legs and the yellow orbs on his body, incredibly fitting since Anti is actually able to defeat Gridman in their first encounter and Gridman is only able to overcome him thanks to the help of the Neon Genesis Junior High Students (guys who transform into the support vehicles that can become armor for Gridman. Yeah, just go with it). Anti isn’t killed after his debut however. Much like how Gridman can only manifest for a certain amount of time, Anti can only be in his monster form for just as long.
Anti continues to be a thorn in the side of our heroes for much of the series, even after Akane abandons him for multiple failures. It’s a bit out of the ordinary for a monster of the week to become a main antagonist, but it’s something I always welcome. Plus, we get to see just how crazy Anti’s adaptation capabilities are, spouting large amounts of missiles, and even creating huge jet boosters in place of his legs. As the series goes on, Rikka shows some kindness towards Anti, and the kaiju soon decides to fight on the side of the heroes…
By evolving into Grid Knight! Anti becomes the show’s secondary hero in what is perhaps one of the coolest twists in the show. Like, could you imagine someone like, Zetton just becoming an Ultra hero? It’s insane in the best possible way and I recall getting really excited when this transformation finally occurred.
Grid Knight’s concept actually originates from waaaaay back in the original show. Grid Knight was originally intended to be Takeshi Todo’s own hero form, starting off as the villainous Khan Knight before Takeshi would join the heroes as Grid Knight. While this concept was never used in the original show, it did lay the groundwork for Gridman Sigma, as well as Anti himself. Grid Knight was designed by Masayuki Gotoh, the man responsible for all of the Ultra hero designs from Ultraman Zero and onward. Gotoh gave Grid Knight a mono-eye because Anti’s kaiju form has one, which is a really fun touch.
GONGLEE
Sent to kill an older boy for mistaking her Regulan icon for Baltan (which I can’t blame Akane for this one), Gonglee is a very terrifying opponent, armed with long tentacles for arms, but most deadly of all, the power to create a concealing mist that Gridman can’t even detect the monster in.
Gonglee’s designed by Heisei Ultraman designer Hiroshi Maruyama, who designed the monster’s tentacles as if they would’ve been operated by the suit actor’s hands, which is a wonderful design quirk. I really love how Gonglee is a good update to the general Twin Tail design, but adds in a lot of unique elements to the archetype such as the metallic body, and the large, red veins on the front of the monster.
GO’YAVEC
While Go’yavec is overlooked mainly by the fact he appears in the show’s ‘beach episode’, there’s quite a lot to like about this guy. Go’yavec, unlike the kaiju we’ve seen so far in the show, is massive, being about as large as an entire mountain range, making him a challenging and memorable opponent for the Gridman team. The monster is also animated as if he was part of the scenery, so he comes across as very, very slow, perfectly befitting a monster that’s just this huge.
Go’yavec was designed by Osamu Yamaguchi, the man behind the monsters of Ultraman 80. I think it was really cool that they brought a veteran monster desiginer from one of the Showa era shows back into the fold, and Go’yavec really screams “80’s Tsuburaya” to me.
ANOSILLUS THE 2ND
I know, I know, yet another anime character, but like Anti earlier, Anosillus here is a bonafide kaiju, just one who is in human form.
The offspring of the Anosillus from the original Gridman, Anosillus the 2nd is the one who reveals the nature of Tsutsujidai: it’s a world of Akane’s creation, and the kaiju attacks are just her modifying things she doesn’t like about it, namely by killing people who upset her.
While it’s a bit disappointing that Anosillus isn’t in her kaiju form this time around, I do think it adds a bit of mystery to just how this character is related to the original, and with the implication that this is a digital world, no wonder Anosillus looks so different here, after all, a being made out of data can probably change how it wants to look. It also is reminiscent of the Compoid from the original Anosillus episode, something that is also referenced by Anosillus’s music note shirt, and briefly mentioned by name by Anosillus herself during the episode.
Anosillus the 2nd was designed by Masaru Sakamoto, who designed the main human characters for the series, and I think he did a pretty good job getting inspiration for the monster’s design for her clothing. The character was originally named Anosillus III (likely counting the Fake Anosillus Takeshi made in Gridman), before becoming Anosillus Jr., and then Anosillus the 2nd. While the younger Anosillus does not reveal her own kaiju form, her parent does show up at the very end of the show.
FOG MONSTERS
While the Fog Monsters are seen starting with episode 1, they don’t get fully explained until episode 6, where Anosillus explains that they are the custodians of Akane’s realm. Every time one of Akane’s monsters kills someone, the monsters spring into action, using their special gas to erase the memories of all the city’s residents, as well as repairing any damage caused by one of her creations. It’s a simple, but also genuinely eerie and freaky concept, and I find the thought of kaiju that just exist alongside one’s everyday life undetected and able to erase any evidence of their brethren to be unnerving.
If these guys look familiar, then it’s because their appearance and powers are based off of Venora from the original Gridman.
DIRIVER
A monster created by Anti, Diriver at first appears to be a UFO, moving and bobbing through the air almost as if it’s on a string. It’s a funny and cute idea, and harkens back to how such craft were realized in Showa tokusatsu. This UFO also has the ability to regenerate itself after being destroyed, exhausting Gridman. While this is fun enough, there is a bit more here…
Diriver’s true body is this gaunt being that floats above the city, akin to a puppet master. It’s a really strange design, and doesn’t feel in line with the tokusatsu man-in-suit aesthetic the other kaiju have, which I think is a plus. Ultraman Max and Mebius kaiju designer Ichiro Itano worked on this guy, and designed Diriver around the concept of a kaiju designed by another kaiju, giving Diriver a really alien and eerie vibe.
BUJACK
Akane’s latest creation, Bujack, is certainly one of her stranger ones. Bujack has the ability to trap people in a dream world, and does so to Yuta, Rikka and Utsumi, placing them in their own ideal worlds, making Gridman unable to transform and battle the monster. In addition, the monster doesn’t exist in the real world, causing it to pass through buildings like a ghost, making it virtually untouchable. It’s only after Gridman uses his Gridkinesis to destroy Bujack’s wings, does the creature materialize in the real world for it to be defeated by the Neon Genesis Junior High Students.
Bujack’s a fun monster, mainly since his dream world ability allows us to have a great character study for our three main protagonists and Akane. I’ve always been a sucker for tokusatsu stories that take place in dream realms, so Bujack automatically gets points in my book. Bujack was designed by Hiroshi Maruyama, and was based off of several monsters Maruyama had designed previously, such as Guwam from Ultraman Tiga and Drengeran from Ultraman Neos. Bujack crawls on his hands and knees, meant to be evocative of how quadruped kaiju are portrayed by men in suits. The monster’s mechanical look was inspired by car chassis which helps the monster feels in line with the monsters seen in the original Gridman, particularly their mechanical counterparts. All in all, Bujack is a kaiju that screams “90’s Ultra kaiju”, which, as someone who views the early Heisei shows as one of the best periods for Ultra kaiju in terms of design and concept, I think is one of the highest compliments one can give to a kaiju.
ANONYMOUS
With the truth of Akane’s world revealed, Akane experiences a mental breakdown, and produces a kaiju that is is crude and unfinished to the point that it doesn’t even have a name. This anonymous creature is too awkward in combat, and is easily defeated by Full Power Gridman, but things don’t end there…
Emerging from the corpse of the dead monster, is a truly freakish beast, unlike anything we’ve seen so far in the show, and a drastic departure from it’s original form. This monster kills off the Fog Monsters, shattering the illusion of Akane’s city to the populace, and almost kills Gridman himself, until Grid Knight manages to intervene.
Definitely up there as one of the eeriest monsters in Tsuburaya’s vast monster menagerie, this unnamed kaiju is a great late-stage boss, perfectly encapsulating Akane’s frustration towards Gridman tearing down her “perfect” world. If there was any kaiju to perfectly embody one’s emotional well-being spiraling out of control, this guy would be it, and I love how in both forms, he just seems totally unnatural. Either he looks like a malformed vinyl toy with that sideways head and peach color scheme, or he looks like something that feels more at home in something like Ultraman Nexus. He’s unnerving, especially in his second form where his movements are unnaturally smooth for a creature of his size. Overall, he’s my favorite monster from the anime, mainly due to just how nightmarish he is.
This anonymous monster was designed by Masaru Sakamoto, who based the monster’s first form on the kaiju costumes seen in 1970’s Ultra Fight, with the holes in the monster’s neck being evocative of the holes used by the suit actors, almost as if the first form is just a costume worn by the real monster underneath. The second design was inspired by shellfish to give it a repulsive appearance, which I think it hits the mark wonderfully. I do feel like there’s some Metron in there as well as Zetton and Greeza, given his frightful reputation.
ZEGGA
Filled with despair, Akane soon finds herself transformed into a kaiju by Alexis-Kerib, becoming the massive Zegga. Inside the creature’s body, Akane finds herself tormented by the grief of those she has killed.
SSSS. Gridman‘s final kaiju is a very impressive one, easily dwarfing Gridman and Grid Knight in terms of sheer size. In addition, Zegga, much like the anonymous monster from above, perfectly embodies Akane’s pit of despair and guilt with that dark color scheme, and long, spine covered limbs. What really sells it though, is that unnatural face, as well as the monster’s cry, which is just a distorted version of Akane’s screams! Zegga is kaiju that deserves such a horrifying reputation, and I can’t think of any monster to perfectly embody these negative emotions. In addition, the show teases this monster as early as episode 2 in the opening credits, and I recall wondering for the longest time just what the payoff for that was going to be, and boy, I was not disappointed. Additionally, Mach Dent of Vintage Henshin also points out that a girl named Akane becoming a kaiju is a call back to episode 16 of Ultraman Cosmos where that occurs. The writer for that episode Keiichi Hasegawa, is the main writer for SSSS. Gridman, and Akane even mentions that particular episode in the show, making what seemed to be a cute little Easter Egg a huge piece of foreshadowing.
Zegga was designed by Masahiro Maeda, who previously did work on Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero. Maeda based the monster’s design on Gatanthor, the final boss of Ultraman Tiga, as well as Takkong from Return of Ultraman, blending the two designs together in a damn cool final kaiju.
ALEXIS-KERIB
The true villain of the show, Alexis-Kerib is the successor to Khan Digifer from the original Gridman. After defeating our hero, Alexis-Kerib comes across Akane’s “perfect” computer world, and helps her create kaiju using his “Instance Abreaction” ability. While he pretends to be Akane’s ally, Alexis-Kerib intends to feed off of her negative emotions to empower himself.
While fulfilling the same role as Khan Digifer (which isn’t a bad thing), Alexis at first is much, much more affable than Khan ever was with Takeshi, but that sort of makes him more evil in my eyes. While it was obviously only a matter of time before Khan would get tired of Takeshi’s petty hangups and failures, Alexis presents himself as someone Akane can trust, which makes his ultimate betrayal so much more awful. Alexis is the ultimate toxic friend. In addition, his design is a nice throwback to Khan, though I must say, I think I prefer Alexis’s flaming, skull-inspired face over the wannabe Shredder look Khan had.
Alexis-Kerib, much like Akane and the protagonists of the anime, originate from the unmade Gridman F sequel concept. Alexis was voiced by Toru Inada, who lent his voice to many tokusatsu productions, most notably as Doggie Kruger from Dekaranger. Aside from Khan Digifer, Alexis-Kerib’s design takes inspiration from the character of Over Justice from Studio Trigger’s 2016 anime Space Patrol Luluco. In fact, there’s a common misconception that Alexis is actually a corrupted Over Justice, which originates from an interview where Inada jests that Over Justice became the villain before being restored with Gridman’s Fixer Beam. While this isn’t factual, Mach Dent suggests the possibility that Alexis took on the form and voice of Over Justice, as many nods to Trigger’s other anime works are seen in Akane’s (real) room, to manipulate the girl further. While I haven’t seen Luluco so I can’t comment too much on the theory, it’s one that I can get behind. Additionally, one thing I loved about the dub was that Alexis’s English VA, Barry Yandell did a great Tim Curry impression for the character, a wonderful little homage to the original SSSS.
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