AltizGremlin Review of SSSS.Gridman

SSSS.Gridman (2018)

Explaining the SSSS.Gridman's world and why it's quite unique

[9/10 · 26 January 2019]

I know, Evangelion did the 'Monster of the Week' formula turn into an anime about escapism before and everything I'm about to say here might be very obvious to some people, but Gridman had some interesting points on that subject: This anime is about a real person. Akane is portrayed as a goddess from another world. She created a whole city inside her mind, where she could reign freely and forget reality, and that's why everything was shown as anime, a very common escape route, especially to someone with her cultural background. The fights inside Akane's mind were Tokusatsu style because those were the coolest imaginable combats she could imagine, being a Gridman fan (also, that's why something from our world was used there and not something original). The hero chosen was Gridman for that very reason, and she used that beloved heroic image as her will to recover from that sad state, a very tough internal fight she was losing constantly before, also the reason Yuuta seemed to spawn from nothing; that was her will to be freed from the seemingly hikikomori state she was living. The alien was also extremely cleverly inserted on the world, with the clear visual of a villain, but being so close to her, almost as if that place could only exist if he - her fears - was simply hanging there normally, acting as an intermediate to her powers. That shows how she was clinging on that negative feeling to keep her on a pseudo-safe world. The final fight sounded extremely corny, but every single word there was literal, so it makes sense. Some people may argue that she looked like a very weak goddess, but it was on purpose, she wanted to lose the fight, but that instill fear of leaving her room wasn't letting go, and consumed her. The moment Gridman - her will - won the fight, she was able to stand for herself and come back to our world. Akane then 'wakes up' from that state, ready to finally start her life outside the room, that was very cluttered to give us the impression she did everything from her bed. Now she's ready to be a goddess in the world of gods.