SSSS.Gridman Episode 7

Scheme

At this point in the season I’m surprised that SSSS.Gridman isn’t rated higher than it currently is on MAL. The Japanese audience seems to understand how good this anime is, but for some reason it’s failing in the West as actual bad anime, like That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, do well.

To be fair, SSSS.Gridman is rated as a 7.10 and I have it rated as a 7 as of right now, so it would seem that I’m being hypocritical. However, an average of 7.10 on MAL is roughly the equivalent of me rating something a 4. MAL users don’t understand the concept of a 10-point system, so most anime lie between 6 and 9.

Unfortunately, I think that first episode really turned a lot of people off from this series. I know I had the first episode rated as a 4, but it’s been improving with every consecutive episode. If Western viewers stuck past the first episode, I think they would understand how good it is.

While I understand that first impressions are important, and SSSS.Gridman didn’t give a very good one, I don’t think that’s the only reason people aren’t watching it. The fact that it’s a monster-of-the-week super robot series based on super sentai shows probably has more to do with it.

I can understand not watching an anime because it isn’t “your type,” but I still don’t consider mecha anime my type and I enjoy SSSS.Gridman. I’d say that fantasy and drama are my main two genres, but that doesn’t mean I can’t recognize and enjoy a good mecha series as well.

Although, perhaps my choice in mecha series isn’t to be trusted considering I think Eureka Seven is a 5/10 and everyone else seems to love it. I still need to give that series a rewatch at some point, but there’s just not enough time in the day for that.

Either way, if you never started SSSS.Gridman, or if you dropped it after the first episode or two, I highly recommend giving it a shot to show its worth. It’s also a great way to end the 2018 year for the mecha genre after the disaster that was Darling in the Franxx.

The Melancholy of Akane Shinjo

This week’s episode focused on one of the two rival best-girls, Akane Shinjo. Last week we were told that Akane was actually a god and that she uses the Kaiju she creates to destroy the things she doesn’t like in the city, and then rebuilds it how she wants.

Akane herself verifies this in this most recent episode, but I’m not so sure this is actually the case anymore. The more I think about it, the less likely it seems that Akane is actually a god in the same way that someone like Haruhi Suzumiya is.

Haruhi doesn’t realize that she’s a god, and yet she can drastically alter the universe on a whim. On the other hand, Akane recognizes that she’s a god, and yet has to take roundabout actions to change a single city to her liking.

For example, Akane informs Yuuta that she had the girls from episode 1 killed because they stepped on the food she gave to Yuuta. However, to kill them, she had to create a Kaiju, then have Alexis bring that Kaiju to life, and then hope the Kaiju accomplishes its mission.

If Akane were really a god, wouldn’t she just be able to erase the existence of the other girls without all those steps? I’ll get to talking about him more in the latter portion of this post, but I think Alexis is actually the one manipulating Akane, as I said last week, and that he’s deceiving her into believing she’s a god.

God or not, Akane is still the antagonist of the series for now.

None of the other members of the Gridman Alliance, aside from Max, believe Yuuta’s story about the Kaiju child who told him of Akane’s true nature. Because of this, Yuuta attempts to confront Akane about it personally, but chickens out at the last second.

Interestingly, it’s Akane who then later confronts Yuuta at his house and affirms all of his suspicions about her. During this interaction, we see a slightly different side of Akane, one which seems to be in love with Yuuta, possibly to the point of obsession.

Akane has always shown interest in Yuuta, though up until this point it mainly felt that she was interested in him because he was teaming up with Gridman. Now it seems that she’s actually been interested in him this whole time in spite of him teaming up with Gridman.

Her goal ever since Gridman first appeared was to destroy him, but in this episode she actually asks Yuuta to join her. This could be due to her recognizing that Gridman is too powerful for her Kaiju to defeat, or it could be due to her feelings for him.

I know, she told Anti to go kill Yuuta in an earlier episode, but pink-haired yandere girls are nothing new. From conversations between Akane and Rikka, it’s implied that these two were once friends, and they may have drifted apart after Akane realized Yuuta liked Rikka instead of her.

Let’s also not forget that Akane broke into Yuuta’s house and room, then laid on his bed while inhaling his scent off his pillow. If this doesn’t tell you that she’s obsessed with Yuuta, then I don’t know what will.

Alexis Kerib

The primary antagonist has finally been formally introduced to our hero. Alexis Kerib is the supposed alien who’s working alongside Akane to create the Kaiju. His motive is still unknown, but in this episode we see him act on his own for the first time, hinting at the fact he isn’t merely subservient to Akane.

While Akane was out with Yuuta, Alexis let Anti into Akane’s room and allowed him to create a Kaiju to be brought to life. Since Anti is a Kaiju himself, he’s unable to go against his “mission,” which is to destroy Gridman. However, if Gridman doesn’t appear, he can’t change into his Kaiju form to defeat him.

Instead of waiting for Akane to create another Kaiju so that Gridman would appear, Anti took matters into his own hands and created a Kaiju to draw out Gridman. Since Alexis allowed him to do this, it hints towards his true goal having something to do with Gridman’s defeat.

I find it likely that it was originally Alexis who gave Akane the idea of defeating Gridman, and Alexis is probably Gridman’s original enemy from before he lost his memories. The giant city in the sky also probably where Alexis is from, and perhaps may be the origin of Gridman as well.

What does this mean for the relationship between Akane and Alexis going forward? I’ve been a constant proponent for the theory that Akane will eventually change sides and become a member of the Gridman Alliance, and this betrayal by Alexis may be the first step towards that.

I’ve also expressed my prediction that Anti will join the Gridman Alliance in the end as well, and I believe we’ve also seen the first step towards this happen as well. At the end of the episode, Alexis attacks Anti for failing to defeat Gridman once again, and this may show Anti that Alexis is his true enemy, not Gridman.

As a final remark on Alexis, it’s interesting that he meets with Yuuta at Akane’s request. Considering he appears to be the driving force behind the destruction of Gridman, it’s strange that he would meet Yuuta in such a way and not attempt to do anything to him.

There’s definitely more going on behind the scenes that’s yet to be uncovered about Alexis Kerib.

Conclusion

What did you think of this recent episode of SSSS.Gridman? Are you even watching Gridman? Let me know the answers to these questions in the comments as well as your predictions for the series going forward.

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My review of the next episode is available here.