SSSS.Gridman (stylized as SSSS.GRIDMΛN) is a Japanese anime television series jointly produced by Tsuburaya Productions and Trigger. It is the first installment in the shared Gridman Universe media and an adaptation of the 1993–1994 tokusatsu series Denkou Choujin Gridman. It was broadcast for 12 episodes from October to December 2018. A sequel, titled SSSS.Dynazenon, was broadcast from April to June 2021.
The story focuses on Yūta Hibiki, an amnesiac first-year high school student living in the fictional Japanese city of Tsutsujidai. He meets the Hyper Agent Gridman in an old computer, who states that the boy has a mission he must fulfill; Yūta sets out to find the meaning to those words and his memory loss. The sudden appearance of kaiju eventually changes the usual dynamics of Yūta and his classmates. Yūta is able to merge with Gridman to fight kaiju, but after the kaiju attack, people's memories are reset and those who die are forgotten. As the "Gridman Alliance", Yūta and his friends now seek to stop the kaiju and uncover the truth behind the disappearances, with assistance from mysterious friends of Gridman who can transform into weapons that Gridman can use in combat.
The series aired from October 7 to December 23, 2018. The series is directed by Akira Amemiya, written by Keiichi Hasegawa, and animated by Trigger. Masayuki Gotou designed Gridman with Masaru Sakamoto handling the other character designs, many of which are directly inspired by characters from the Transformers franchise. Shirō Sagisu composes the music. The opening theme is "UNION" by OxT, and the ending theme is "youthful beautiful" by Maaya Uchida. During their Anime Expo 2018 panel, Funimation announced they licensed the series for streaming on FunimationNow and an English dub. The anime was also licensed by Funimation in the United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The anime was simulcast by Crunchyroll in those countries.
On December 14, 2019, a sequel series titled SSSS.Dynazenon was announced at Tsuburaya Production's own convention, Tsubucon. The animation project is a continuation of SSSS.Gridman set in the same shared "Gridman Universe". It premiered on April 2, 2021. A compilation film was released in cinema on January 20, 2023 before the premiere of Gridman Universe anime film.
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