It’s really hard to describe Gridman Universe, especially when we’re talking about it in the form of a review. For those not in the loop, Gridman Universe is the third chunk of the SSSS Project- crossing over SSSS.GRIDMAN with its B-side follow-up SSSS.DYNAZENON.

A lot of this difficulty in describing Gridman Universe comes from the fact that describing the appeal of Gridman itself is quite hard. On paper it’s easy enough- it’s an anime about an old tokusatsu character doing hype tokusatsu things without having to worry about hazard pay for suit actors. But I think a lot of what gave the original SSSS.GRIDMAN its cult following was just how indulgently weird it was, and it’s something we’re seeing less and less of with other entities.

Not Quite A Multiverse But Also Yes

The plot for Gridman Universe is really simple- worlds are colliding, and characters from Dynazenon have found themselves in the setting of Gridman. Also, Yuta, having rebuilt his life after losing his memories, has a crush on the infinite merch-generating Takarada Rikka. I don’t hate its simple premise, it’s kind of perfect as far as crossover bait goes.

Kaiju start appearing again, though this time there’s no Shinjo Akane or Alexis Kerib to make them. Similarly, Gridman and the Neon Genesis Middle School students also show up again, alongside new member Rex, aka Gauma from Dynazenon. As far as a setup for fanservice, it’s here that Gridman Universe gets full marks. Gridman’s action scenes are incredibly solid, and seeing a bunch of action figures fly around doing wrestling moves on Kaiju who move like rubber suits is the experience everyone wants.

Honestly, I know people write off fanservice as cheap but it really is the movie’s strongest asset. Hearing the battle music from Dynazenon play when Dynarex is reintroduced is a genuinely thrilling experience, as is seeing the return of the SSSS Gridman design. There’s also something to say about the character writing – while not given as much screentime as the Gridman Alliance, the Dynazenon kids absolutely steal the show because they’re written true to the core messaging of their series. Considering how Dynazenon ends with everyone believing Gauma is dead, seeing his reunion with various characters is actually really sweet.

It’s almost kind of jarring to put the Dynazenon gang next to the Gridman Alliance for this. The Dynazenon gang’s relationships feel so much more matured not because anything’s changed per se, but because they’re more open about their feelings. The Gridman Alliance on the other hand are still just kind of messing around like they were, because they weren’t really the main characters of their series- that is the notably absent Shinjo Akane.

Themes Vs Waifus

So here comes the part of the review where I do discuss my one big gripe with Gridman Universe. At it’s core, the original SSSS.GRIDMAN is a very introspective story. Yuta, Rikka and Utsumi are relatively bland characters because their arcs are about their relationship with Akane. The back half of the anime is this Evangelion-esque story about moving on, and at its core is Shinjo Akane, who’s called a goddess only because that’s how you’d describe the distance between a “real human” like her versus the “creations” like the Gridman Alliance.

If you’ve seen any merch for this movie you’d know that yup, she comes back. I won’t spoil the whys or hows, but it does feel fundamentally weird to have a character who’s whole existence revolves around escaping just doing a U-turn and coming back. It’d be like if at the end of Thrice Upon A Time Shinji decided to keep EVA-01 and form Neo NERV. I say this as a huge Akane fan too- but it’s part of many plot decisions that feel like they were written by the kinds of guys who think Evangelion should have had an episode that explains in full detail what Spiral Power is.

The Future Of The SSSS Project

This is my biggest concern with the SSSS Project in general- SSSS.GRIDMAN was incredibly indulgent in how weird it is, from Transformers easter eggs as an homage to Diaclone, to the entirety of Dynazenon literally branching off a single episode of the original Gridman Tokusatsu show. As it goes on, it’s only natural that it will start to get watered down- you can only pull the same tricks so many times.

You still get some genuinely good surreal stuff in Gridman Universe, but it all feels a lot more empty when you compare it to the works that came before it. I don’t think it’s unfair to hold it to that standard either- I wouldn’t recommend this movie to anyone who wasn’t already an SSSS veteran since literally nothing is explained for newcomers.

Still though, if you love these characters, it’s still an amazing watch. For all my griping about Akane once you get over the “why” her actual interactions are excellent, as are the rest of the cast. Every character reunion in Gridman Universe feels great and thoughtfully written, and I could easily spend this whole review just gushing about the interactions.

Even if the SSSS series ditches the more surreal elements, I hope they realize how much of it is carried by strong characters and keep that moving forward. Combine that with the excitement of an “all the warriors” moment featuring multiple giant robots and two giant suit men, you’ve got a really great follow up to one of my favorite anime ever.

Gridman Universe is available now in Malaysia/