What anime are you enjoying this season? One I’ve been keeping up with is SSSS.Dynazenon, a thoroughly enjoyable tokusatsu anime by one of my favorite studios, Studio Trigger. It’s a follow-up to 2018’s SSSS.Gridman, creating an outstanding blending of the classic sentai hero fighting team series with a complex anime story for modern audiences. Read why it’s the perfect Trigger anime ever!
Dynazenon is the story of Yomogi, a boy who gets recruited by a bizarre man named Gauma who claims to be a “kaiju user” — one with the ability to control the giant monsters that are spontaneously being created in the city — however, his skills seem to have diminished for some reason. When a monster suddenly appears, Gauma summons a giant robot called Dynazenon and together he, Yomogi, classmate Yume and unemployed otaku Koyomi defeat the beast. Rather than focusing on a single hero as Gridman did, Dynazenon is a “vehicle sentai” show in which each member has a part of the Voltron-style robot that will eventually be formed. The robot is based on Dyna Dragon, who’s part of the Denkou Choujin Gridman sentai series by Tsuburaya Productions.
Are you a fan of tokusatsu movies and TV shows from Japan? Read this article I wrote!
SSSS.Dynazenon is The Perfect Trigger Anime
I’m an old-school fan of Gainax anime, having grown up as a fan of classic Hideaki Anno works like Aim for the Top! Gunbuster, Nadia of the Mysterious Seas and Evangelion. Then one day FLCL exploded onto the scene, bringing a bizarre new design language to Gainax’s works, with over-the-top designs and characters who do impossible things on screen, striking ridiculous poses and being impossibly cool. This “new” Gainax visual style frankly took time to grow on me, as I preferred the more grounded approach of the classic Gainax works.
The fresh visual approach that FLCL initiated would show up in other works, in Tengan Toppa Gurren Lagann and Diebuster…and when Hiroyuki Imaishi left Gainax to form Studio Trigger, we could immediately see it in works like Kill la Kill and Darling in the Franx. And of course in Gridman and Dynazenon.
Great Character Designs
We expect great character designs and aren’t disappointed with this show. The high design of each of the characters somehow makes us accept that it’s normal for monsters to appear and start tearing up a city. I especially love the super-stylized uniforms of the Kaiju Eugenicist villains.
The recent episode of #SSSS.Dynazenon was over the top.
(Mild spoiler warning.) pic.twitter.com/kH9p9Eeh1c
— Peter Payne (@JListPeter) June 9, 2021
A Complex Story to Enjoy
As expected of a good Studio Trigger anime, the monster-of-the-week formula is mixed up with a heavy dose of character drama, as we learn the background of the various characters. Yume, searching for hints about her sister’s suicide. Why did Gauma turn on his former Kaiju Eugenicist comrades? What happened to Koyomi and Chise in their past to cause them to reject from society? The most recent episode dialed the drama up to 11, with a kaiju capable of erasing characters randomly, sending them into their own pasts to relive dramatic events, and giving viewers the perfect “origin story” for each character.
The Voice Acting is Incredible
Whoever is responsible for voice direction at Trigger is really doing his or her job. The performances of the first series were amazing, with performed so well every scene seemed to really pop out at me, but the second series is somehow even better.
Trigger Anime Figures are Coming!
I love it when anime studios go out of their way by making figures and related products for fans to buy while the show is currently airing, rather than waiting 6-9 months for the series to end before commissioning them. It shows a dedication to the works by the studio, that they’re 100% behind it, and want fans to be able to show their support by collecting the figures. Best of all, these figures are the affordable Pop-Up Parade series. See the SSSS.Dynazenon figures we’ve got on the site here!
Here’s one more reason to watch the show: Yume’s butt!
Thanks for reading this post about reasons why SSSS.Dynazenon is the perfect Trigger anime that cans should watch. Got any topics you’d like to see us write about here, or questions about Japan that you have? Post them below, or talk to us on Twitter!
Go big or go home, we always say, and the new Senran Kagura full-sized oppai mousepads we have for you are definitely big enough for you. They’re available for pre-order for a limited time right now!
