The other day I was happy to see that Shin Godzilla, the 2016 modern remake of Japan’s kaiju classic film by Evangelion director Hideki Anno, was on Japanese TV, so I watched it with Mrs. J-List. It’s a very Eva-influenced version of the classic monster attack story, with more than a little criticism leveled at the handling of the March 11, 2011 tsunamis and Fukushima nuclear disaster by the Japanese government. If you love the intense style of Anno’s characters and precision of his dialogue, you should definitely check it out.
Re-watching the classic kaiju film brought me back to my childhood, when I thrilled at Godzilla, Gamera, and (especially) Ultraman, the silver-and-red hero from Nebula M78. Both Godzilla and Ultraman were creations of special effects genius Eiji Tsuburaya, who created many of Japan’s best monster movie moments. Imagine my delight at discovering a new classic monster anime that continues this tradition, made by Tsuburaya Productions and Trigger.
The SSSS.GRIDMAN anime blends the classic monster concept with a dark and modern plot. It’s the story of Yuta, a high school student who’s lost his memory and keeps hearing voices from a being called Hyper Agent Gridman coming from inside an old computer, which tells him to “fulfill his mission.” When a monster appears in the city, the being merges with Yuta to become a hero capable of destroying the monster, to the amazement of Yuta’s classmates, Sho and Rikka. The show is great, mixing up the classic kaiju monster of the week with a twist: if the three fail in their attempts to defend the city from the monsters that keep appearing, their classmates will disappear from history, retroactively killed and forgotten by everyone.
I think Tsuburaya and Trigger have done an outstanding job with the SSSS.GRIDMAN anime, translating the classic kaiju formula for a more modern age. Also, the girl Rikka is destined to become one of the top waifus of the season. So make sure you give the SSSS.Gridman anime a try!
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We love awesome artbooks from Japan and have always worked hard to find the best books for our site, filled with awesome illustrations by Japan’s top artists. Today we posted a bunch of new titles for you to drool over, so browse the new artbooks here.
