(originally written 12/8/18)
>ACCESS CODE: “Nice Boat.”
The time has come for another #SSSS_GRIDMAN Reference Recap! Episode 10 aired today and it’s a bit of a whopper. Here’s your last spoiler warning before I dive in.
Episode 10, “Collapse” marks the beginning of the end for the series. And while not as heavy as the last two weeks, the episode carried with it just as deep of cuts.
I promise I’ll stop making puns, I swear.
As always, the main theme/motif of the episode is alluded to in Akane’s room. In this shot, you can see a poster of fan-favorite Ultra Kaiju, Gomora. Gomora was mentioned last week by Akane and as I mentioned previously, the poster has been visible for a few episodes. It seemed like this would be foreshadowing her own Heel-Face Turn. This ended up not being the case.
For a bit of history: Gomora first appeared in Episodes 26 and 27 of ULTRAMAN, Parts 1 and 2 of “The Monster Prince”. Though he’s the antagonist of this two-parter, he actually didn’t do anything totally evil. In the story arc, the Science Patrol cooperates in taking Gomora from his habitat for a Japanese exhibition ala KING KONG. However, the sleeping gas isn’t strong enough. And Gomora reacted as anyone would upon waking up and discovering they’re being kidnapped — by destroying ancient Japan architecture.
Gomora would return several times over the years as a villain: ULTRAMAN 80, Episode 22; ULTRAMAN MAX, Episode 21; and ULTRAMAN MEBIUS, Episode 42. However, Gomora’s antagonist status in Ultra Series canon would start to shift as of MEGA-MONSTER BATTLE: ULTRA GALAXY. In this show, Gomora was the main kaiju of choice for series hero Rei, who controlled him via the Battle Nizer. (ULTRA GALAXY was referenced last week via Akane name-dropping Gomora’s Reionic Burst version.)
Gomora’s hero status was firmly set by ULTRAMAN X, where a version of him was the best friend of Daichi. Suffice to say, the relationship between the two is adorable. Gomora’s Spark Doll would serve as the basis for Xio’s secret weapon later in the series, Cyber Gomora!
So to recap: We have a poster of a kaiju who is misunderstood, who ultimately becomes a hero. Yeah. They went there.
Speaking of going there, after weeks of speculating, we got a hard confirmation: The fog monsters causing the city resets are in fact VENORAS from GRIDMAN: THE HYPER AGENT!
To recap, Poison Smoke Kaiju Venora is seen in Episodes 25 and 26 of HYPER AGENT, “The Decisive Battle! The End of the Hero! (Parts 1 & 2)”. The confirmation comes in the form of Venora’s kaiju description being name-dropped.
Venora would appear in a clip during Episode 29 of SUPERHUMAN SAMURAI SYBER-SQUAD, and years later, in “boys invent great hero” re-enacting the climax of “The End of the Hero”.
It’s also worth noting that Venora was, like Gomora, one of the few kaiju to ever beat Gridman completely. It took the intervention of Dyna Dragon & King Gridman to take it out. Some sources also say Venora’s design has homages to Gomora but I couldn’t find anything solid.
This episode’s kaiju, Anonymous A, is more than unique, being the brainchild of series character designer and animation director Masaru Sakamoto. It shares similarities to the kaiju in Episode 31 of GRIDMAN THE HYPER AGENT, Teleboze. Said kaiju starts out looking rather docile and even apologizes for its rampage. But after Takeshi rewrites its code, it becomes violent. Much like Teleboze, later on in the episode, this week’s kaiju does indeed turn out to be something worse. But believe it or not, this was also alluded to via a classic tokusatsu kaiju suit feature!
If you look at Anonymous A’s neck, you see small, freckle-like spots. These are actually eye holes! You can see these in stage show suits, as well as the Showa era Ultra Series — (especially in ULTRA FIGHT). Sometimes, cleverly hidden, other times, they’re right out in the open.
For a bit of extra weirdness with Teleboze, his story was adapted into Episode 27 of SUPERHUMAN SAMURAI SYBER-SQUAD, “Pride Goeth Before A Brawl”. In this episode, Kilokhan, tired of Malcolm’s failures, gets Syd’s help to make a virus under the guise of trying to make a peace offering. Which is basically what Alexis does with Anti to spur Akane’s kaiju creation in Ep 7 of SSSS.
It gets weirder because, at Anime NYC, Trigger staff stated at their panel that no one involved has actually SEEN episodes of SYBER-SQUAD…
Anonymous B, the kaiju inside the kaiju, bears resemblance to the arch-nemesis of ULTRAMAN X, Greeza, in terms of fighting style. In terms of that roar that will be the stuff of my nightmares, it reeks of Zetton. Both of these kaiju are Ultraman killers.
Never mind Anonymous B’s main beam weapon is a flat-out nod to the Angel beam attacks in EVANGELION, and the strobe explosion effect seen in most modern building destruction scenes. Which is kinda-sorta foreshadowed in the episode via an Eva nod. That also sets up the theme of the episode.
The birth of Anonymous B is backed by the faintly heard school choir song “Kokoro no Hitomi” (Eye of the Heart). Penned by Ryu Sakamoto, the singer/songwriter of “Sukiyaki”, this one also has a bit of significance to the scenes playing out once you look at the lyrics…
It speaks of one learning what it means to truly love someone else, and how the feelings are there, even if they aren’t fully recognized. The song is literally talking about Anti’s personal evolution and Akane’s realization that a failed creation truly cares about someone like her. At the same time, it’s Akane realizing that maybe she doesn’t care about the crumbling world around her as her depression takes her to her lowest point.
And speaking of Anti’s evolution…
Desperate to fulfill his purpose, Anti pushes his copy ability to the brink, transforming himself into another Gridman: Grid Knight!
The foundation of SSSS.GRIDMAN is built upon what would’ve been a sequel to GRIDMAN: THE HYPER AGENT had things worked out, GRIDMAN F. Alexis Kerib, Akane Shinjo, and Yuta Hibiki all come from this un-produced plan. However, there was another unproduced plan for HYPER AGENT…
According to sources, midway through the series, Takeshi Todo (the antagonist working with Karn Digifer) would have found a way to steal and copy Gridman’s schematics. He would’ve then gained the ability to transform into the evil Karn Knight to fight our heroes. But toward the end of the show, Takeshi would have seen the error of his ways, joined with Naoto and his friends, and renamed himself as Grid Knight.
While this didn’t happen, Takeshi Todo did gain the ability to transform into Gridman Sigma in the magazine comic, GRIDMAN: THE DEMON KING’S COUNTERATTACK. This comic was the basis for “boys invent great hero”.
But the plot thickens when you look into the plan of GRIDMAN which, reportedly, would have seen the return of Grid Knight as the main hero, joining with Yuta Hibiki against Alexis Kerib.
So what we are left with (in addition to another nod to Episode 1 of DANGAIOH with GridKnight’s intro), is a fusion of the Karn Knight/Grid Knight arc from the abandoned series plans and another element from GRIDMAN F.
All of which, having been set up by the Gomora poster on Akane’s wall.
God. Damnit. Gridman.
Bit of a side note as well, the final attack utilized by Grid Knight is a nod to not only Ultraman but as well as Anti’s character design base, Rodimus Prime. ‘Man utilizes a similar weapon, the Ultra Slash (otherwise known as the “Dismembering Halo”) as one of his signature moves. It’s been homaged and upgraded to hell and back, most notably by Ultraman Ace with the deadly Space Guillotine attack.
As for Rodimus, specifically his Shattered Glass counterpart, both he and his G1 counterpart utilize a circular saw from their left hands. But whereas G1!Rodimus’ saw was something he could interchange in and out of, SG!Rodimus is forcibly given one by Rachet in the comic “Dungeons and Dinobots”.
Last but not least? A fleeting glimpse of Totally Not An Autobot Logo on Yuta’s phone, tying back to his character design base, G1 Cliffjumper. Kind of an anti-climax in the wake of double-decker meta, but then again, how the hell CAN you top that?
And that is is for this episode’s Reference Recap! To take us out, here’s Malcolm Frink’s Best Revenge Plot Ever. (And you thought, Akane was petty…)
This is part ten my twelve-part SSSS.GRIDMAN Reference Recap. To go back to the master page, click here, or click here to go to Part Eleven.
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