Denkou Choujin Gridman Tsuburaya Productions. The show ran from 1993 to 1994. It was the inspiration and source material for DiC Entertainment's Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad. This would be Tsuburaya's last non-Ultra superhero production before Bio Planet WoO.
, translated into English as "Gridman the Hyper Agent", is a Japanese tokusatsu series produced byShot on live video, Gridman was the first series by Tsuburaya Productions to utilize D-2 digital video for its special effects scenes, allowing for smoother slow-motion photography. Tsuburaya, having switched to digital techniques since then, would continue to use D-2 for all future productions.
Synopsis
Three computer-savvy kids from Sakuragaoka town, Naoto, Yuka and Ippei, create their own video game superhero, but then discover it is possessed by an inter-dimensional hero, Gridman. Pursuing an evil being called Kahn Digifer, he merges with Naoto and fights Kahn Digifer's digitized monsters created by social misfit Takeshi in order to prevent the computerized demon from wreaking havoc on the Human World.
Episodes
- The Birth of a New Hero
- The Secrets of Acceptor
- Imminent Telephone Panic
- A Runaway Car
- The Perfect Sword With A Man's Pride
- A Terror Melody
- Zero Second to Microwave Oven Explosion
- Brother's Bond
- Operation Evil Brainwashing
- The Dangerous Gift
- Is My Allowance ¥100,000?
- Beware of The Phantom Thief Marty
- I Hate Sports
- Manipulated Time
- The Distorted Target
- Ippei is Scared!?
- A Lonely Hacker
- The Legend of Dragon
- A Sexy Police Woman in Trouble
- Colors Disappear From the Planet of Earth
- The Execution, My Hero!
- Revival! Dinosaur King
- An Assassination! A Thunderclap in Hell
- My Love! Bio-Flower
- The Decisive Battle! The End of the Hero (Part 1)
- The Decisive Battle! The End of the Hero (Part 2)
- Big Surprise! A Toy Rebellion
- Spirited Away! Yuka Has Vanished!
- Pet Dog Bomb Project BLOOD
- The Day the World Died
- Monster Mama is a College Girl
- Attack of the Human Vacuum Cleaner!
- Another Takeshi
- Bodyguard Benkei Has Arrived!
- Shock! Sukeban Yuka!?
- Did It! Baby
- Huh-! The Death Penalty for Papa?
- Danger On Earth
- Farewell, Gridman
Characters
Protagonists
Antagonists
Side Characters
- Daichi Sho: Naoto's younger brother.
- Kana Baba: Ippei's younger sister.
- Soichiro Sho: Naoto's father.
- Michiko Sho: Naoto's mother.
- Hideyo Inoue: Yuka's father.
- Yoshie Inoue: Yuka's mother.
- Yoshihito Inoue: Yuka's elder brother.
- Hiroshi Baba: Ippei's father.
- Ayako Baba: Ippei's mother.
- Police Officer Koganemura: The police officer of the town in which Naoto lives.
- Police Officer Amagasaki: The police officer who appeared instead of Koganemura.
Kaiju
- Gilarus
- Bamora
- Volcadon
- Stealgun
- Bagira
- Anosillus
- Flamelar
- Blizzalar
- Shinobilar
- Terragaia
- Metallus
- Magnegauss
- Generadon
- Imitation Anosillus
- Mummy
- Dazzlba
- Clowns from the dream world
- Plandon
- Venora
- Boranga
- Jubagon
- Teleboze
- Gyurunba
- Chidogerah
- Abumaru
- Goromaking
- Devil Phazer
- Khan Giorgio
- Skubone
- Takeshi Todo's computer (transformed)
Songs
- Opening Theme
- "Yume no Hero"
- Lyrics: Akira Ōtsu
- Composition: Kisaburo Suzuki
- Arrangement: Masaki Iwamoto
- Artist: Norio Sakai
- Ending Theme
- "Motto Kimi o Shireba"
- Lyrics: Akira Ōtsu
- Composition: Kisaburo Suzuki
- Arrangement: Masaki Iwamoto
- Artist: Norio Sakai
- Insert Song
- "Futatsu no Yūki"
- Lyrics: Atsushi Aida
- Composition & Arrangement: Osamu Totsuka
- Artist: Compoid Three
Cast
- Naoto Sho : Masaya Obi
- Yuka Inoue : Jun Hattori
- Ippei Baba : Takeshi Sudo
- Takeshi Todo : Tsuyoshi Sugawara
- Daichi Sho : Masahiro Iwaoka
- Kana Baba : Kanako Nakatake
- Soichiro Sho : Edo Yamaguchi
- Michiko Sho : Miru Hitotsuyanagi
- Hideyo Inoue : Daisuke Ban (Played as Naoya Ban )
- Yoshie Inoue : Yumi Mitani
- Yoshihito Inoue : Masakazu Arai
- Hiroshi Baba : Goro Kataoka
- Ayako Baba : Yuko Tsuga
- Police Officer Koganemura : Shoichi Komatsu
- Police Officer Amagasaki : Daisuke Itsumori
- Narrator : Yuji Machi
Voice Cast
- Gridman : Hikaru Midorikawa
- Junk : Junko Shimakata
- Kahn Digifer : Masaharu Sato
Home Video Releases
VHS
- The series is first released as a 11-volume VHS by Victory Entertainment. The first 6 volumes includes 4 episodes, and the remaining 5 volumes includes only 3 episodes.
- The "NON-STOP BATTLE ACTION" edition of the show is also released, containing only the fight scenes.
- The 13th episode is released in VHS as "Thunder Gridman Appears!".
DVD
- The "DVD+CD! HYPER COMPLETE BOX", released on January 26, 2005 by Avex Inc., comes with all 39 episodes and a new CD soundtrack titled "Gridman: More Original Soundtrack", containing the unreleased BGMs.
- In January 21, 2013, the series is released in individual DVDs for the very first time, containing 8 volumes and 5 (4 in Volume 8) episodes per DVD.
Blu-ray
- In December 20, 2017, the entire series is released under the "Blu-ray BOX" box set by Pony Canyon. The box set contains all episodes and credit-less opening and endings. Despite being labelled as a Blu-ray release, the episodes are entirely upscaled from the original 480p component masters.
Trivia
- Denkou Choujin Gridman is the first series to be shot in interlaced 480i.