SSSS.Dynazenon

Episodes 1-3

SSSS.Gridman being one of my favorite anime in recent memory means I'm pretty much immediately grateful to SSSS.Dynazenon simply for existing, and am chomping at the bit to try and unravel the depths and details of its connections to its predecessor. However, I also recognize how that kind of focus on theory-crafting can result in falling into a trap of diving too deep into parsing references and shallow speculation that we end up missing the show on its own terms. To their credit, Akira Amemiya, Keiichi Hasegawa, and the rest of the crew at Trigger absolutely know this. They're still reveling in how good they got us when they finally showed off what was inside SSSS.Gridman's mystery box, so they recognize that we're really going to be keeping an eye out this go-around. It manifests in a metatextual mind-game between creators and audience: Sure, they obviously want us to suspect that the mysterious woman Gauma is searching for is Akane, but is that actually some kind of fake-out or double-bluff? Episode 3 sees Trigger potentially break their record for how quickly one of their shows makes it into space, revealing that the computer-world sky barrier from SSSS.Gridman is not present in this world. It surrounds the singular burning question we have going into this new series and its ambiguity in setting compared to the previous one: What is real?

But as I implied, those kinds of revelations are but a veneer of distraction that Amemiya and crew have deployed. The most ‘real’ thing we know about SSSS.Dynazenon at this point is that it is its own story to tell with its own characters. The presence and focus on those characters as characters is in fact the first element that most immediately sets Dynazenon apart. The kids who are destined to be drawn together by the machinations of its mecha have their own clearly-illustrated lives with issues apart from Kaiju attacks they have to fend off. It's to the point that in the first episode, Chise is the only one even nascently aware of the monstrous background badness brewing, while characters like Yomogi and Yume are too entrenched in their familial and social issues to take notice. Even manic pixie dream boy Gauma at first inserts himself into Yomogi's life due to the latter's kindness, and escalates his involvement between him and Yume on account of their initial interpersonal conflict. Them getting drawn into the battle between Dynazenon and a Kaiju is merely a case of adjacency, a catalyst to kick off their internal growth instead of a mere external plot acceleration.

I know, I know, “This mecha anime is about the characters!” isn't exactly the most astute analysis of a series, but the cavalcade of connecting themes around this newly-assembled Syber-Squad speaks to the show's multiplied thematic ambitions. SSSS.Gridman was ultimately about a single teenager moving past trauma with learned self-love and an understanding that we are never truly alone. SSSS.Dynazenon, then, is about...getting a job! I'm only partly joking with that—the concept of employment, responsibilities that we must fulfill as we grow into independence is threaded through almost everything we've gotten of the characters so far. Yomogi struggles to balance his modest earnings at a store with the robot-riding responsibility suddenly thrust on him. Meanwhile, Koyomi is shouldered with the ‘job’ of being a Dynazenon pilot as a sudden contrast to his preceding NEET lifestyle. And Yume, so desperate for some control over her aimlessly spiraling life that she was sabotaging her own social standing to fulfill that need, seems to discard that destructive hobby entirely once she has the responsibility of stopping Kaiju to step up to. Even Gauma gets himself a gig in construction out of some seeming need to fulfill a contribution in his life, as we learn in the third episode that fighting monsters in Dynazenon is something he wants to do (the most surprisingly personal detail we get from a guy who also lets slip that he's a 5,000-year-old mummy). It's an interesting angle that is not just here to explain to the big kids watching this show that they need to make money to buy all the cool toys they're showing off here, but also fits into the desperate search for necessary purpose so many young adults find themselves saddled with.

That's another major contrast Dynazenon makes against SSSS.Gridman: Wherever this world is, it no longer seems to be one revolving around a single sad girl. It's declared right at the beginning with the new SSSS acronym defined as ‘Scarred Souls Shine like Stars’, uniting people as a plural compared to the singular soul Gridman defined as its charge at its very end. There's no center of the universe in Akane here; The people of the town, city, world, wherever they are find themselves with roles bigger and more interconnected than they could think. Yomogi's superior at his job turns out to be Koyomi's old classmate. Yume finds herself pursuing a chain of people she was previously unaware of who may assist her now-driven desire to uncover the mystery of her sister's death. The recognition of these civilians and all the other people we've seen as ‘real people’ to be protected from the frankly-depicted devastation of Kaiju battles motivates the responsibility to pilot Dynazenon in characters like Yume, which in turn pushes her to start working to resolve her own issues. It's Gridman's idea of ‘You Are Not Alone’ seemingly expanded to the concept of the entire human collective, an obvious sequel escalation if there ever was one.

I will take a moment here to engage in just a slight amount of pre-emptive theory-crafting regarding Chise's real role in all this. The character occupies an odd space in the cast and narrative so far, being clearly grouped in with the Dynazenon pilots without acting as one herself, the opening animation casting her in fleeting, curious contexts that could mark her as the key to the show's ultimate mysteries. How she's situated is just too conspicuous to ignore, and at least she's marked out as a new cast member in service of some potential later revelation, as opposed to a surprise continuity reference as that kind of lynchpin. Or she'll just end up being the one to pilot Dynazenon's mid-series add-on upgrade vehicle, what the hell do I know.

All that focus on colliding characterization cascading into catastrophic kaiju clashes wouldn't be half as earned without the presentational aspects that Dynazenon knows we're all really here for. The grounded, almost languid pacing of the portions depicting the characters' daily lives isn't as shocking here after we all got familiar with Amemiya's style back in Gridman, but it still comes off so damn distinctive that those returning for it will surely welcome it. Being able to take in the scenery in this wide, leisurely-presented way only lets us appreciate the differences from Gridman even more: So much of the claustrophobic clutter overhead (to say nothing of the omnipresent Kaiju in the skyline) are missing, the haze and oppressive heat of summer giving way to freshly-presented, clearer days. It's yet another clue to keep us second-guessing about the nature of this world, sure, but it also looks lovely and lets the show communicate the various moods and tones taken by the characters as they list through this odd adventure.

And as with SSSS.Gridman, that style is also here to play a perfectly complementary contrast to the mecha-action scenes once they get going. They're bigger and louder than ever, just starting with Dynazenon itself and its significantly more ostentatious design (it is a GIANT ROBOT that transforms into a DINOSAUR!) and continuing through this series' take on Kaiju, which so far have all sported gaudy, multicolored designs like they were early-90's Transformers toys. There's still some sense of trying to mimic the weight and movement of actual tokusatsu suits like in Gridman, but Dynazenon is willing to flex those limitations for the sake of flair: the robot engages in leaping wrestling moves that would be near-impossible with such a bulky costume in real life, with tons of high-flying aerial action and dynamically-drawn 2D animation supplementing the mainstay CGI models. And even then they keep finding ways to punch up the escalation with stylistic indulgences like the displays for the pilots projecting on the inside of Dynazenon's teeth, or the theme song apparently being played diegetically in-show as we hear it muffled inside of Yomogi's cockpit at the beginning of the second episode, or the glorious choir that sings out the name of the title robot when they successfully combine, or...you get the idea. If there were any concerns that Dynazenon would have trouble escalating Gridman's sheer cool factor, they were misplaced.

Three episodes in, and it feels like there's a lot going on with Dynazenon so far, oddly outweighed by how much we still don't know is going on. The story, setting, and setup of the plot so far seem secondary to all the character work going on, which feels like an embarrassment of riches compared to the stiff smokescreen the supposed leads of Gridman presented by this point in its run. In some respects that makes even better use of the distinct pacing we're now used to; I feel like I could watch these kids just discuss their part-time jobs and family drama all day. That we get sweet robot/monster punch-ups and an unravelling mecha-mystery alongside some aside classic series fanservice (here's your big bullet point for this week: by the third episode Gauma is confirmed as basically a walking, talking reference to episode 18 of the original Denko Chojin Gridman) basically just solidifies this as everything returning fans of the previous anime want. And for new viewers, thus far I'd say this seems like a pretty good place if you want to jump in and see what all the hype is about.

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SSSS.Dynazenon is currently streaming on Funimation.

Chris is a freelance writer who appreciates anime, action figures, and additional ancillary artistry. He can be found staying up way too late posting screencaps on his Twitter.