>ACCESS CODE: ‘WAKE UP THE TOYS!’
In the very beginning of #SSSS_GRIDMAN, I had said that if we got a “Jissoji Episode” before the end, I would absolutely lose it. This week, in addition to a multitude of toy references, we got one. And I still can’t believe it.
THE TERM, “JISSOJI EPISODE,” stems from one of the most prolific directors to ever work on the Ultra Series, Akio Jissoji (1937–2006). Helming six episodes of ULTRAMAN, Jissoji brought a distinct visual flair to the show’s Special Effects Fantasy world.
While Jissoji had a sense of humor, he also was capable of stark dramatic storytelling. Compare Episode 15, “The Terrifying Space Rays” in which a child’s harmless kaiju drawing comes to life, to the absolutely heart-breaking Episode 23 “My Home Is Earth”. Some of ULTRAMAN’s most dramatic and iconic episodes were ones that Jissoji helmed.
It’s also worth noting that Akio Jissoji’s style was very much rooted in the avant-garde & theatrical, pulling in sensibilities from Japanese New Wave. He worked on several Ultra Series after ULTRAMAN, and it was always incredibly clear when he had the reins — hence the phrase “Jissoji Episode”.
Jissoji’s style has been heavily homaged over the years, especially by Hideaki Anno whose framing and composition style is clearly influenced by it. It can especially be seen in EVANGELION, SHIN GODZILLA, and even the Daicon Films RETURN OF ULTRAMAN short.
The one thing Akio Jissoji excelled at is dream-like scenes. Several of his projects, like RAMPO NOIR and DIE SILBERMASKE, revolve around this kind of illusory imagery. His later Ultra Series episodes are rooted in scenarios that are either implied to be dreams or involve dream-like states. This is why this week’s SSSS.GRIDMAN was the perfect story to use the Jissoji Episode aesthetic. The keyword this week is “Dreams”, and like everything else in the series, this gets foreshadowed in the first few minutes of the episode!
The hint comes in the form fo the two toys Akane is playing with as Yuta wakes up: Robot Chief-kun, an exclusive WE LOVE ULTRAMAN Pop-Up Shop sofubi figure based on ULTRASEVEN Episode 43, and MOUNTAIN GULLIVER #5 from ULTRAMAN DYNA, Episode 42!
The Robot Chief is from “Nightmare of the Fourth Planet”, an episode directed by Akio Jissoji. The story sees Dan and Soga test piloting a rocket & waking up an Earth-like planet ruled by robots. Though they manage to escape, the Ultra Guard questions the reality of that world.
Meanwhile, Mountain Gulliver #5 was a robot built by Masami Horii (formerly of GUTS) to combat space pirates on Mars. However, it turns out that everything was just the dream of our hero, Shin Asuka. Though it’s not a Jissoji-directed episode, there are clear nods to his style.
Speaking of which, Jissoji also worked on ULTRASEVEN Episodes 45, “The Saucers Are Coming”, Episode 12, “From A Planet With Love” (which was banned in Japan — long story), and the iconic Episode 8, “The Targeted Town”
With that said, Episode 9 of SSSS totally nails the vibe of the Jissoji Episode: Total style and tone changes with the animation, the metaphorical shot composition, and framing…it was all there in spades.
The other thing this episode had in abundance? Ultra Series nods! During the scene in the bookstore, Akane name drops several classic kaiju to try and charm the hell out of Sho:
Akane also mentions some fan-favorites! First up, Red King III: Appearing in Episode 46 of ULTRAMAN 80, Red King III is wished into existence via a bully who steals a magic jar. As crazy of a moment as it is, the battle is unfortunately really quick…
Next up, Gomora! Specifically, the Reionic Burst version from the ULTRA GALAXY series. Gomora originally appeared in Eps 26 &27 of ULTRAMAN for the “Monster Prince” two-parter! In later years, he’s become more of a heroic kaiju…also the best friend of Daichi in ULTRAMAN X. You can see a poster of Gomora in Akane’s room on the back wall. Remember it, we’re coming back to this later on.
And then Akane drops the ultimate easter egg: CHAOS JIRAK. This is a throwback to Episode 16 of ULTRAMAN COSMOS, “The Flying Whale”…which was actually written by SSSS’ head writer Keiichi Hasegawa!
In “The Flying Whale”, Musashi/Cosmos has to save a depressed young girl named Akane after the Chaos Header virus makes her project a vengeful illusion monster. What’s especially notable about “Flying Whale” being referenced here? Several scenes in that episode are shot and composed in a way befitting a Jissoji Episode.
Also, remember this reference too. It’s coming back later in the series. In a big way.
Later in the episode, Akane namedrops even MORE THINGS to charm Sho:
- Ultra Force — ULTRAMAN USA/”The Adventure Begins”. Co-produced with Hanna-Barbara, this was intended to be a pilot movie for a new animated series. Sadly, it never materialized past the film.
- Ultra Coliseum — ULTRAMAN BOY’S ULTRA COLISEUM. Airing from 2003~04, this show featured the title character going through various shows of the Ultra Series. In many ways, it was the predecessor to ULTRAMAN RETSUDEN and the filler ‘Chronicle’ series that take over in the wake of each concluding show (i.e New Generation Chronicle, Zero The Chronicle, etc.)
- Nice — ULTRAMAN NICE — a series of 1-minute infomercial sketches that aired with ULTRAMAN TIGA re-runs in 1999.
- Technicolor Q — The colorized re-release of ULTRA Q from 2011.
We even got hard nods to the toys of the Ultra Series! The big one being the holy grail that Akane helps him get: Ultra Mecha Selection II. THIS WAS PART OF AN ACTUAL SERIES OF TOYS. And it is just as hard to get your hands on a full set.
Move Out! Ultra Mecha Selection II was released in 1996, packed with small Micro Machines-esque versions of Ultra Series mecha from Ace, Taro, Leo, 80, Great, and Powered. For a full rundown on the contents & box art, hit up this review from @CollectionDX . Like Akane mentions to Sho, there WERE, in fact, Mecha Selection toys based on Super GUTS. These were released a focused 4th set. The last Mecha Selection-related sets to be released (as far as I can tell) were based on Ultraman Cosmos and Nexus, now named “Ultra Mecha Series EX”.
Akane’s lament that the Mecha Selection never included any Hexa Wings is a small shoutout to ULTRAMAN NICE. The Hexa Wings were the smaller aircraft that, when combined, formed the Hexa Jet —the main mecha for Nice’s support team, the Gokazokutai.
THE SCENES OF AKANE AND Sho’s date all take place in “Sevendarake” — a very painfully obvious pun on the actual Nakano Broadway otaku goods store, Mandarake. In the front window: MIGHTY JACK’s Mighty, the Ganbare!! version of Robocon, X-Plus Ultraman figures, fleeting Kanegons from ULTRA Q, & Jumborg 9, the upgrade of JUMBORG ACE.
Out front is a statue of Teranoid, the man-made copy of Ultraman Dyna from Episode 49 of that series. He’d later be corrupted and turned into the eveil Zelganoid. Again, remember this reference for later.
Also a quick note about the name “Sevendarake”: There’s a bit of a double-pun happening here: Seven-darake — Clearly named after Ultraseven. But the original name of the store? Mandarake? “MAN-Darake”.
Man is a fan nickname for the original Ultraman.
Also featured in the Sevendarake date scene: The actual box for the Fewture EX Gokin MAT Arrow 1 and a toy of Baranda V — A monster from FIREMAN! For Ultraman Zero fans, FIREMAN was the basis for Ultimate Force Zero member Glen Fire!
The Dream Monster Series toy that Akane tries to give Sho is a that of Bakugon — Which brings us full circle. Bakugon was the kaiju from Episode 40 of ULTRAMAN TIGA, “Dream”, directed by, you guessed it, Akio Jissoji.
“Dream” revolves around an over-stressed salaryman afflicted by cosmic rays, and an immaterial dream kaiju that only attacks at night. This episode has all manner of similarities to this week’s SSSS. Especially with how Tiga has to enter a dream state to actually beat him.
Akio Jissoji also directed Episode 37 of ULTRAMAN TIGA, “Flower”. The following year he would direct Episode 38 of ULTRAMAN DYNA. His final Ultra Series episodes were Episode 22 and 24 of ULTRAMAN MAX.
TIME TO TALK ABOUT the big reveal of Episode 9 of SSSS: POWERED ZENON! After being teased in the opening credits, the New Century Junior High team does the same shrunken output trick to allow a four-way combination!
Powered Zenon is an updated version of God Zenon from GRIDMAN THE HYPER AGENT. God Zenon was reportedly inspired by the design of another famous robot, Optimus Prime/Convoy from TRANSFORMERS. This tracks largely because of toys for both Transformers & HYPER AGENT were made by Takara. That said, the design of Powered Zenon has taken the influence of Optimus Prime/Convoy one step further, with (what I believe to be) a blatant nod to both the name & head design/color scheme for POWERED CONVOY.
For the unaware, Powered Convoy is the original Diaclone incarnation of Ultra Magnus. Its color scheme was seen on Ultra Magnus in early promotional footage for TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE. It would later serve as inspiration for the comic character, Delta Magnus.
There’s also a hint of GOGOFIVE’s endgame mecha, Victory Mars in the face vent design. While it may seem out of nowhere, you have to remember that the Assist Weapon designer was Tsuyoshi Nonaka. Formerly the lead designer for PLEX, he was involved with the material design for the Super Sentai series, as well as working with Bandai of America for POWER RANGERS. His greatest contribution to the PR side of things was the design of the Titanium Ranger for POWER RANGERS: LIGHTSPEED RESCUE.
Best guess with this information in mind? It’s another callback.
(Fun side trivia: The name “Powered Convoy” was also, at one point, the Japanese name of Optimal Optimus — the upgraded form of Optimus Primal from BEAST WARS: TRANSFORMERS.)
And then, the deepest cut of them all, as pointed out by my ally-in-arms on Twitter, @strongest_human: The Jumbo Saber Slash.
Remember how Takara did the toys for GRIDMAN THE HYPER AGENT? At the time, Takara was also doing toys for the Brave series. By 1993, the current Brave Series was MIGHT GAINE (mentioned last week) but its predecessor was another fan-favorite, THE BRAVE FIGHTER OF LEGEND DA GARN. Amongst the different robot teams featured in DA GARN were the Sabers, a team of jets that combined into Sky Saber (and later, Pegasus Saber). The leader of the group, the jumbo jet-based Jumbo Saber.
A re-colored Jumbo Saber toy appears in Episode 12 of GRIDMAN THE HYPER AGENT and becomes a plot point. Because in the climax, the toy gives Ippei the inspiration to create God Zenon!
So long and short of it? The Jumbo Saber Slash is a double-decker callback to both the origins of God Zenon and the Brave Series!
One more thing to cap off this portion: Pay attention to the scene with Sho in the bookstore and you’ll notice a Cat’s Eye camera. This is not a reference to the classic 80s anime, but instead, another throwback to Episode 12 of GRIDMAN THE HYPER AGENT!
Cat’s Eye was the name of the security company being pushed onto the residents of Sakuragaoka. Unfortunately, the Cat’s Eye salesman, Ishikawa, turns out to have been secretly acting as the cat-burglar, Matti, to increase system sales. It’s during this chaos that Ippei’s sister offers him the re-colored Jumbo Saber as a cheer up.
That’s it for this episode’s reference recap. For more on Akio Jissoji, I totally recommend watching his ULTRAMAN Episodes. While the quality isn’t that great, you can legally buy ULTRAMAN on DVD from Mill Creek.
This is part nine of my twelve-part SSSS.GRIDMAN Reference Recap. To go back to the master page, click here, or click here to go to Part Ten.
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