SSSS.Gridman Episode 10

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It’s time for yet another episode of crippling depressio- I mean, SSSS.Gridman! Rikka finally tells the rest of the Gridman Alliance about how the world, or at least the city, along with all its inhabitants was created by Akane Shinjou.

Although nobody wants to believe it, it soon becomes clear to them all that this is a very real possibility. However, what about all of their memories of the outside world? Are they all manufactured as well? And, if this is the case, when exactly did their memories stop and their “life” begin?

For now, it seems to be implied that the world “began” with the appearance of Yuuta. Yuuta has no recollection of anything before he awoke with amnesia, and the Kaiju weren’t noticed by anyone else until this point as well. This points towards a reality in which everything anyone remembers before Yuuta’s appearance is actually just an artificial memory.

But does that mean those memories should be disregarded? Do all those years-worth of memories suddenly mean nothing? All the friendships created through these memories are real, so doesn’t that make those memories worth something in the end?

And, on the other end of the spectrum, when will this “life” end? If everything and everyone can be created or revised in an instant, can’t everything and everyone be erased in an instant? This is exactly what Utsumi begins to worry about upon hearing the “truth” of the world.

All’s Right with The World

After not meeting up with the rest of the Gridman Alliance or showing up in school for a few days, Utsumi reappears and acts as if nothing has happened. He deflects questions about his whereabouts by saying that he was studying for the upcoming exams, but when we see his notes this doesn’t appear to be the case.

The fact that the entire world as he knows it could suddenly disappear at the whim of a teenage girl (not Haruhi Suzumiya) has clearly shaken his resolve. Does anything he does really matter in such a world?

To answer this question, it’s time to get philosophical.

Let’s say we live in this world and we learn that our existence can be terminated at any given time. Would we do anything differently than we normally do? Some of you may like to believe you would, but the truth of the matter is that you wouldn’t.

This is because whether your existence is “real” or not and whether it can end suddenly or not, it’s still the same world you’ve always been in. Utsumi actually brings up a good counter-point to his own feeling of dread when he says, “there’s no knowing when a Kaiju will show, but our test dates are set in stone.”

What this really means is that something bad can happen at any point, and yet you still have to go about your life as if nothing ever will.

God’s in Her Heaven

Last week we began to see the breakdown of Akane, and this week we continued to see her inner struggle play out. Fey Griffith commented on last week’s post to mention that the dream timelines we saw following our three heroes weren’t actually how Akane wishes the world would be, but how she believes it should be.

While this may not seem like much of a distinction at first glance, it does clear up some of the confusion I had regarding the conflicting Yuuta and Utsumi timelines.

Some of the creators have specified that the dreams are what Akane thinks relationships are like. Therefore, they have little to do with what Akane herself wants, but more to do with what she thinks others want and how she thinks relationships are meant to be.

Boys are meant to be in love with her and date her, while girls are meant to love her and be her friend. That’s how she thinks relationships are meant to be and so she tries to make their (Yuuta, Utsumi, and Rikka’s) dreams reflect this. So, I don’t think Akane has feelings for Yuuta, but instead she thinks he has feelings for her. – Fey Griffith

However, while this makes sense to me, I still feel like Akane has romantic feelings for Yuuta based on other evidence throughout the series so far such as how she acts around him when the two of them are alone. Also, he’s the protagonist, so it’s only natural for girls to like him.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand, these dreams were the first sign that while all might be right with the world if God is in her heaven, all is not right in the world when she’s walking among us. And, this episode, we see Akane wandering the destroyed streets of the city wondering just where she went wrong when creating her utopia.

I’d also like to point out that the floating, alien city may be a physical representation of “heaven.” I’m still sure it has something to do with the origins of both Alexis Kerib and Gridman, but we also see that Akane retreats there to create her Kaiju. While in previous episodes her curtains were shut, this time around they’re open just enough for us to see the city outside.

Gridknight

I told you so. Or at least that’s what I’d like to be able to say here, but it seems that we’ll have to wait yet another week before Anti “officially” joins the Gridman Alliance. But, I think at this point there aren’t likely to be any naysayers anymore.

After Akane’s despair physically manifests in the form of a new, super-powerful Kaiju, Anti comes to Gridman’s rescue (once again I might add). However, this time around he isn’t starting a three-way fight, he’s actually protecting Gridman so that he can live to fight another day.

Yes, Anti’s goal is still to destroy Gridman, at least on the surface, but it seems that he’s now accepted that without Gridman he has no purpose. So, to that end, he needs Gridman to continue to fight so that he too has a reason to be alive.

And, speaking of being alive, it’s revealed that while Kaiju aren’t actually living beings, Anti is. He wasn’t always this way, but through constant contact with humans, he’s actually developed a heart of his own and is now more human than Kaiju.

That’s great and all for Anti I suppose, but does this actually have anything to do with the rest of the story so far? Possibly, yes. Remember the female Kaiju who thanked Yuuta for saving her predecessor? She was very human-like as well, so perhaps she’s from the future and Anti is the predecessor who she was talking about.

After writing that sentence, it seems like a long-shot, but let’s be honest, that wouldn’t be the craziest thing Trigger has ever done.

Oh, and also Anti’s Kaiju form now resembles Gridman, but he’s called Gridknight. I should have mentioned that sooner considering it’s the name of this section, but honestly for now the exact implications of this aren’t entirely known. Hopefully we’ll get some answers soon, because there aren’t many episodes left.

Conclusion

So what are your thoughts on this week’s episode of SSSS.Gridman? What do you think will be the final fate of both Anti and Akane? As I mentioned, I still think they’re both going to come over to the side of justice, but tell me your thoughts in the comments.

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As a final note, my review of the next episode of SSSS.Gridman is scheduled for next Thursday rather than next Wednesday.