#ssssdynazenon

[valtharr]

If I wanted TO RENT (wink, wink) the Gridman Universe movie, would anyone be able to point me to a place TO RENT (wink, wink) it?

[hobbylinkjapan]

From "SSSS.DYNAZENON" comes a POP UP PARADE figure of Yume Minami! She's come to life in figure form in her classic school uniform look. Add her to your collection today!

POP UP PARADE Yume Minami (SSSS.DYNAZENON)

[nudonichan]

Twitter / Pixiv / Deviantart: Nudoniichan

[animangacloud]

[valtharr]

Oh my God (Zenon), he looks adorable with glasses

[c2-cinemaconnection]

CINEMA CONNECTIONシネマKING週末映画情報 ▶︎劇場総集編『SSSS.DYNAZENON』3/10(金)→ミッドランドスクエアシネマほか http://www.riverbook.com/C2/CINEMAKING.html #SSSSDYNAZENON #CINEMACONNECTION #シネマコネクション #シーツー https://www.instagram.com/p/Cplw2yYPkV5/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[animangacloud]

Good things come to those who wait 💙

[curestardust]

if you want: mechas and their cheesy, over-the-top “transformation” sequences / tokusatsu based / ...honestly, I’ve no clue what the audience for this anime is besides already existing fans oops

Alt: (x)

I’m giving the same disclaimer here as I did with my Gridman review: I don’t have any prior knowledge of the source material so I’m reviewing this as I’d any other anime.

So, I’m disappointed. I might not be into mecha stuff but I still do remember some things from “SSSS.Gridman”: the antagonist and the ending. While I wasn’t the biggest fan of that show in and of itself, there something there to still make me think that watching it wasn’t a complete waste of my time. Here though? Just to show my experience, as I clicked on episode 8 I asked myself “Has anything of substance even happened so far?” and when I finished it I was yet again left with the question “What was the point of all this?”.

It seems the unique way the dialogue is delivered in this franchise (well, unique when it comes to most anime) is somehow making people think that this anime is smart, meaningful and realistic. The dialogue does feel more natural with its frequent pauses during conversation and barely wavering energy with how the lines are delivered. There’s no sudden shouting or exclaiming like you see in most anime. But the dialogue only captures everyday normal conversations properly. People don’t act and speak the same way with everyone. You get more energetic with your friends, put on a face in front of employers or co-workers etcetc. but the characters here seem to have the exact same tone, manners and reactions whoever they’re talking with or whatever situation they’re in. Yes, the writing is interesting but it’s not as smart or realistic as people are making it out to be. I realize now that even if the characters have interesting personalities, this “stick to one way of speech” thing is limiting how much they can show. Which is a huge problem as VA’s often bring characters to life through their performance.

Speaking of the characters, they’re yet again superficially “deep”. The theme of this anime would be “letting go of the past and starting anew”. Out of the 5 main characters, there’s Yume (whose story the anime most focuses on) who lost her older sister and realizes that she barely knew anything about her. Koyomi is a NEET who just stays at home and doesn’t have a job who is also troubled by an event that potentially could’ve changed his life in the past. Chise, his cousin, hangs around Koyomi constantly and wants to “be like him” by not going to school but really, it’s just an excuse to how she doesn’t feel like she belongs.

All of these stories have potential and could be relatable for a lot of people but the anime doesn’t do much with them. Yume’s journey through the acceptance of her sister’s passing is the most interesting to watch I guess but Koyomi and Chise are really brushed to the side with only a few notable scenes that focus on them.

Now, the ones who really get the short end of the stick are typical no personality male protagonist Yomogi and Gauma (surprisingly). Yomogi literally has no personality, yet he gets the center role for whatever reason. I literally don’t have anything else to say about him, he is insanely boring. Gauma on the other hand, I’ve no idea how they managed to make him so... nothing. 

Shortly about the story, Gauma and 4 of his old comrades who’re kaijuu users get revived 5000 years later for some reason. Kaijuu start appearing around the city and the kaijuu users control them to wrak havoc while Gauma, who has lost his ability to control the kaijuu, was entrusted with the Dynazenon. A small mecha toy which splits into 4 parts and needs to be controlled by 4 people. The guys I’ve speaked of just now get involved with this whole Dynazenon/Kaijuu business by pure chance. With the 4 antagonists also having *some* potential for an interesting backstory or personality, I’m literally floored they did as little with Gauma as they did. 

The structure of the story also confuses the hell out of me. The first half of the episodes focus on the characters. These are usually very slow and maybe even boring, depending on how invested you’re in the characters. The second half are your usual monster-of-the-week Kaijuu vs Giant Mecha fight scenes. There’s such a HUGE discrepancy between the tones of the first and second halves of the episodes that I don’t know who this is for. Was this just made to bank on the nostalgia factor of old fans? The slice-of-life sections are too boring for kids, and the mecha scenes are too cheesy and over-the-top for people not used to this stuff.

Yes, as expected from Trigger, the animation, sound design and art all are very well done (but Gridman’s was better). Still, in the end I haven’t gotten anything out of this. No enjoyment, no life lessons I haven’t known already, no characters that’d stay with me longterm, nothing. There’s one thing worse than a bad anime: a boring one.

[4/10] (x)

Recommend: HELL Yeah! | Yes | Eh??? | Nope | There was actual money spent on this