English Dub Review: SSSS.GRIDMAN “Awakening”

“Who knew that old computers were so terrifying?”

Overview (Spoilers!)

Yuta Hibuki wakes up in a girl’s home. He can’t remember anything about her or himself, but he hears a voice and discovers that it’s coming from an old computer in her family shop. A mecha—Gridman—appears on the screen and tells Yuta to remember his calling, but the girl—Rikka—can’t see anything on the screen at all. Rikka’s mom tells her to take Yuta to the hospital, fearing he hit his head.

Through the thick mist outside, Yuta sees an enormous kaiju and a terrifying man staring at him, but once again, Rikka sees nothing. After Rikka takes him home, Yuta discovers that his parents are on a business trip and won’t be home for three months. The next morning, his friend Utsumi arrives to take him to school. Yuta didn’t think to pack a lunch, but Utsumi’s crush Akane is willing to share hers. Another girl, Tonkawa, accidentally hits it with a volleyball and profusely apologizes.

Elsewhere, a mecha is constructing a kaiju! Utsumi wants to meet Gridman, so he and Yuta go home with Rikka. Gridman says that great danger is nigh, but Utsumi can’t see him either. The mecha brings his kaiju to life, and it attacks the city, spitting massive balls of fire—and this time everyone can see it. One blast blows up the school, presumably killing Tonkawa. Yuta hears Gridman calling him, and he runs back to the shop, where he is sucked into the computer. Utsumi and Rikka can finally see Gridman, along with Yuta, on the computer screen.

Now the size of the kaiju, Gridman appears on the city streets! He and the kaiju battle it out while Utsumi and Rikka watch on the computer (which Utsumi dubs “Junk”), realizing that Yuta has become Gridman. Utsumi discovers that the kaiju’s neck is its weak point, but although they can hear Yuta’s voice through Junk, they don’t know how to contact him until Rikka tries typing the message. Yuta rips off the kaiju’s head, revealing it to be mechanical as well, and explodes the kaiju’s body. Back in the shop, Gridman tells Yuta that this is only the beginning.

The next day, the school building is mysteriously good as new…

Our Take

What an intriguing first episode! Although there’s no shortage of amnesiac plots in media, SSSS.Gridman manages to carry this one off with so much finesse that it’s drawn me in completely. Unfortunately, I’m more interested in the amnesia plotline—discovering how Yuta lost his memory, what his day-to-day life will be like if he can’t remember any necessary info—than the kaiju/mecha piece of the puzzle, which doesn’t seem to add anything new to the legions of other kaiju/mecha shows out there. But maybe this is just down to my taste—I enjoy Pacific Rim, but I’ve always been fonder of the kaiju scientists than the jaeger pilots.

The first things that stood out to me about SSSS.Gridman is the immensely detailed backgrounds. School desks have scratches on them; Rikka’s shop features a lifelike washing machine and shelves of cleaning supplies; waste bins are filled with crumpled trash bags. It doesn’t create the ambiance of a perfect world or a pretty world, but it does feel like our world, and I applaud the animation team for that.

When it comes to the animation of foreground figures, however, this episode leaves a little to be desired. Especially when Rikka and Yuta first discuss his amnesia in her shop, character motions are jerky to the point where I wondered if my computer was lagging. In the battle sequence, both Gridman and the kaiju are animated via CGI, making them feel lifeless and clinical. The animation is such an expressive medium, but the robots here move in a way that fails to give them any likability or character. At least they do look mechanical. And the kaiju’s design is pretty cool, in a creepy way.

As for the voice acting, it’s pretty well-done. I appreciate that everyone sounds… kind of tired and exasperated. Instead of making every line into a big “acting” moment, the performances here just feel like everyday people thrown around by the trials of life and trying to get through their day. Brandon McInnis (Yuta) and Jill Harris (Rikka) do a great job in this respect. I’m not sure I’m quite on board with Greg Ayres as Utsumi yet, though—he’s too over-the-top in comparison to their natural line readings. The villain’s voice is fun, though—Barry Yandell does a great stereotypical “evil” accent.

The soundtrack, too, works in this show’s favor. Quiet singing and background white noise lend scenes an appropriately ominous feeling. When Yuta runs to find Gridman during the kaiju attack, the score is nothing less than epic.

Oh yes, this show is overdramatic for sure—when Tonkawa hits Yuta’s lunch with her volleyball, the scene stops for a solid minute to let us process. And Gridman comes with his fair share of over-the-top silly poses. But all in all, SSSS.Gridman seems like it’ll be a fun romp that I’m happy to be here for.