SSSS.GRIDMAN

"You’re not alone. Whenever, forever."

- Series catchphrase

SSSS.GRIDMAN is a 2018 anime series produced by Tsuburaya Productions and, based on the titular character of the series, Denkou Choujin Gridman, Denkou Choujin Gridman: boys invent great hero and the American adaptation of the former, Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad. Despite having characters and themes based on the original series, this series is stated not to be a reboot. The series has also been licensed by Funimation, and is streamed in Fall 2018 with an English Dub via their streaming service, FunimationNow. It is also available for viewing on Crunchyroll, with English subtitles.

Plot
You’re not alone. Whenever, forever.

Yuta Hibiki is a first-year student in high school living in Tsutsujidai. One day, he woke up without his memories.

Yuta later meets "Hyper Agent Gridman" who was inside an old computer.

Gridman told him to fulfill his purpose. Yuta's quest to understand the meaning behind those words and to find his memories began.

While all of this was sudden, Yuta had helpful assistance from his classmates, Sho Utsumi, Rikka Takarada, and Akane Shinjo, but...

Those peaceful days were destroyed mercilessly by a monster that suddenly appeared.

Marketing Campaign
For a limited time starting 6 October, Gridman appeared on every screen in Akihabara Electric Town. A suit actor wearing a suit of the new Gridman also walked around town.

Hyper Agents

 * Gridman

Gridman Alliance

 * Yuta Hibiki
 * Sho Utsumi
 * Rikka Takarada

Neon Genesis Junior High Students

 * Samurai・Calibur
 * Max
 * Vit
 * Borr

Antagonists

 * Alexis・Kerib
 * Giant Alexis・Kerib
 * Akane Shinjo

Other

 * Rikka's Mother
 * Namiko
 * Hass
 * Sakiru Tonkawa

Good

 * Anosillus the 2nd
 * Anosillus

Evil

 * Illusion Monster
 * Ghoulghilas
 * Mecha Ghoulghilas
 * Dévadadan
 * Anti
 * Gonglee
 * Go'yavec
 * Diriver
 * Bujack
 * Nanashi
 * Zegga

Neutral

 * Anti/Gridknight

Episodes

 * 1) Awakening
 * 2) Restoration
 * 3) Defeat
 * 4) Suspicion
 * 5) Provocation
 * 6) Contact
 * 7) Scheme
 * 8) Confrontation
 * 9) Dream
 * 10) Collapse
 * 11) Decisive Battle
 * 12) Awakening

Voice Drama
As a follow up to each episode, an original Voice Drama is uploaded to Tsuburaya Productions' YouTube channel, for a duration of one week though from the eight episode and onward, they are uploaded to Pony Canyon's channel instead. They normally contain dialogue that foreshadows certain things in the next episode and the overall plot.

Cast

 * Yuta Hibiki (響裕太): Yuya Hirose (広瀬 裕也) (Japanese dub)/Brandon McInnis (Funimation Dub)
 * Gridman (グリッドマン): Hikaru Midorikawa (緑川 光) (Japanese dub)/Robert McCollum (Funimation Dub)
 * Sho Utsumi (内海 将): Soma Saito (斉藤 壮馬) (Japanese dub)/Greg Ayres (Funimation Dub)
 * Rikka Takarada (宝多六花): Yume Miyamoto (宮本 侑芽) (Japanese dub)/Jill Harris (Funimation Dub)
 * Akane Shinjo (新条 アカネ): Reina Ueda (上田 麗奈) (Japanese dub)/Lindsay Seidel (Funimation Dub)
 * Samurai・Calibur (サムライ・キャリバー): Ryosuke Takahashi (高橋良輔) (Japanese dub)/Ian Sinclair (Funimation Dub)
 * Max (マックス): Katsuyuki Konishi (小西克幸) (Japanese dub)/Cris George (Funimation Dub)
 * Vit (ヴィット): Masaya Matsukaze (松風雅也) (Japanese dub)/Chris Burnett (Funimation Dub)
 * Borr (ボラー): Aoi Yuki (悠木碧) (Japanese dub)/Apphia Yu (Funimation Dub)
 * Anti (アンチ)/Gridknight (グリッドナイト): Kenichi Suzumura (鈴村健一) (Japanese dub)/Stephen Fu (Funimation Dub)
 * Alexis・Kerib (アレクシス・ケリヴ): Tetsu Inada (稲田徹) (Japanese dub)/Barry Yandell (Funimation Dub)
 * Rikka's Mother (六花ママ): Mayumi Shintani (新谷真弓) (Japanese dub)/Anastasia Munoz (Funimation Dub)
 * Namiko (なみこ): Suzuko Mimori (三森 すずこ) (Japanese dub)/Sarah Wiedenheft (Funimation Dub)
 * Hass (はっす): Akari Kito (鬼頭明里) (Japanese dub)/Amber Lee Connors (Funimation Dub)
 * Sakiru Tonkawa (問川 さきる): Kaede Yuasa (湯浅 かえで) (Japanese dub)/Dani Chambers (Funimation Dub)
 * Anosillus the 2nd (アノシラス（２代目）): Karin Takahashi (高橋花林) (Japanese dub)/Monica Rial (Funimation Dub)

Music

 * Opening Theme: UNION
 * Artist: OxT (オクト) (Masayoshi Ooishi (オーイシマサヨシ)xTom-H@ck)
 * Ending Theme: youthful beautiful
 * Artist: Maaya Uchida (内田 真礼)
 * Insert theme: Yume no Hero
 * Artist: Norio Sakai

Trivia

 * The release of this series coincides with the 25th anniversary of Denkou Choujin Gridman, which premiered in 1993.
 * Several elements of the series were reused and modified from a scrapped Gridman series, Denkou Choujin Gridman F. These include:
 * Yuta Hibiki appearing, as a classmate to Ippei Baba and bonds with Gridman (who may be another of his kind).
 * The main antagonist being Alexis・Kerib, who came from the Demon World as opposed to the Hyper World.
 * Akane working with Alexis.
 * The Ultra Series is an in-universe entertainment program and is referenced many times in several ways.
 * This is not the first time in the Gridman franchise where the fight is taken to the real world. That honor goes to Denkou Choujin Gridman: boys invent great hero, where Gridman Sigma appeared in a city at the end of the anime short, which was also produced by Studio Trigger and directed by Akira Amemiya.
 * Most of the characters in the series have their designs based on characters in the Transformers franchise, mostly from Shattered Glass. Expanding on this, every main protagonist has blue eyes and the antagonists have red eyes, similar to how Transformers' eyes are color coded according to their allegiance.
 * Several characters in the show have their names inspired by the names of toy manufacturers; Hass (Hasbro), Kena (Kenner), Sakiru Tonkawa (Tonka), Namiko (Bandai Namco), Toiko (ToyCo), Takarada (TakaraTomy) and Doi Hako (Toy Box).
 * The series' Opening and Ending songs were awarded First and Third places respectively in AniUta's top 100 anime songs for October 2018. UNION also won First place again in November 2018.
 * While it has not been explicitly stated, there are hints of this series being a sequel to Denkou Choujin Gridman.
 * It is thought the SSSS in the name stands for "Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad", referencing the American adaptation.
 * According to the twelfth and final episode, the SSSS actually stands for "Special Signature to Save a Soul".