, known as ''Gridman the Hyper Agent'' in some English-speaking territories, is a 1993–1994 Japanese

tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live action film or television drama that makes heavy use of practical special effects. ''Tokusatsu'' entertainment mainly refers to science fiction, war, fantasy, or horror media featuring such technology but is som ...

" Giant Hero" series created by

Tsuburaya Productions is a Japanese special effects studio founded in 1963 by special effects wizard Eiji Tsuburaya and was run by his family, until October 2007, when the family sold the company to advertising agency TYO Inc. The studio is best known for producin ...

(the producers of ''

Ultraman ''Ultraman'', also known as the , is the collective name for all media produced by Tsuburaya Productions featuring Ultraman, his many brethren, and the myriad monsters. Debuting with ''Ultra Q'' and then ''Ultraman'' in 1966, the series is one ...

'') and would be Tsuburaya's last non-Ultra superhero production before ''

Bio Planet WoO is a Kyodai Hero tokusatsu series that premiered April 9, 2006 and aired at 7:30pm on NHK and ran for 13 episodes. ''WoO'' was one of many unused ideas created by Eiji Tsuburaya as story connecting to the show '' Ultra Q''. The story revolves a ...

''. It was the inspiration and source material for

DiC Entertainment DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions), branded as The Incredible World of DIC, was an international film and television production com ...

's ''

Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad ''Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad'' (or, in short, ''SSSS'') is an American television series. It was produced by Tsuburaya Productions, Ultracom Inc. and DIC Productions, L.P., with distribution by All American Television, and ran for a duratio ...

''. Shot 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. The series was released in the United States with subtitles in English on the television network TOKU on December 18, 2017. The series was also made available on Toku's streaming service and on its Amazon Prime channel. On October 30, 2020, the series began streaming episodes weekly on Tsuburaya's Ultraman Official YouTube channel to mark the second anniversary of ''SSSS.Gridman''. Episodes are released each Friday at 6:30pm JST and have English subtitles available. Two weeks after the premiere date of each episode, the episode is removed from the channel. Mill Creek Entertainment released the complete series on Blu-ray for the first time in North America on August 17, 2021.

Story

Three computer-savvy kids, Naoto, Yuka and Ippei create their own videogame super-hero, but then discover it's possessed by an inter-dimensional police officer Gridman. Pursuing an evil program called Khan Digifer, he merges with Naoto and fights Khan Digifer's digitized monsters (created by social misfit Takeshi) in order to prevent the computerized demon from wreaking havoc on the town of Sakuragaoka and the entire Human World.

Episodes

# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

Cast

*: *: *: *: *: *: *: *: *: *: (Played as ) *: *: (Played as "新井昌和") *: *: *: *: *: *: *:

Other media

''Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad''

Airing from September 1994 to April 1995 in syndication, ''Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad'' was an American adaption of ''Gridman'' produced by Tsuburaya, Ultracom (Tsuburaya's American division), and DiC Entertainment. It starred Matthew Lawrence as Sam Collins/Servo, Glen Beaudin as Malcolm Frink,

Troy Slaten Troy William Slaten (born February 21, 1975) is an American attorney, media pundit, candidate for Los Angeles Superior Court Judge, former actor, former Managing Attorney of Slaten Lawyers, APC, and Administrative Law Judge for the State of Cal ...

as Amp Ere, Kevin Castro as Tanker, Robin Mary Florence as Sydney Forrester, Jayme Betcher as Jennifer Doyle, John Wesley as Principal Pratchert,

Diana Bellamy Diana Alice Bellamy (September 19, 1943 – June 17, 2001) was an American character actress of stage, film, and television, during the 1980s and mid-2000s, who was often cast in both comedic and dramatic roles to great acclaim. Bellamy is know ...

as Rimba Starkey, Kelli Kirkland as Yolanda Pratchert, and

Tim Curry Timothy James Curry (born 19 April 1946) is an English actor and singer. He rose to prominence for his portrayal of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the film ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' (1975), reprising the role he had originated in the 1973 London ...

as the voice of Kilokahn. The story revolves around a rock band named Team Samurai, led by Collins, that fights evil Mega Virus monsters created by Malcolm Frink and brought to life by Kilokahn in the Digital World. Due to direct involvement from Tsuburaya, unlike most adaptions of Tokusatsu programs from that time period, ''Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad'' remained largely faithful to its source material and retained elements from ''Gridman'' including sound effects, character traits and arcs, plot points, and certain names.

''Denkou Choujin Gridman: boys invent great hero''

In 2015, the series inspired an animated short directed by Akira Amemiya and produced by

Studio Trigger , also known as Studio Trigger, is a Japanese animation studio founded by former Gainax employees Hiroyuki Imaishi and Masahiko Ōtsuka in 2011. It has produced anime works including '' Kill la Kill'' (2013), '' Little Witch Academia'' (short f ...

for the Japan Animator Expo. Entitled, , it debuted on January 16, 2015. It features the return of Takeshi Todo and the brief appearance of , another Hyper Agent like Gridman who has never made it to the show's final cut. The entire short took place in 22 years after Gridman's final battle with Khan Digifer. Takeshi Todo, a former brainwashed servant of Khan, reflects on the past incidents as monster attacks took place in real life. Using the Acceptor, he transforms into Gridman Sigma before facing the monster.

''Gridman Universe''

During

Anime Expo Anime Expo, abbreviated AX, is an American anime convention held in Los Angeles, California and organized by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA). The convention is traditionally held annually on the first w ...

2017, Akira Amemiya,

and Tsuburaya announced ''SSSS.GRIDMAN'', a brand new original anime series incorporating elements from both the original Gridman and its western adaptation, which aired in 2018. It is followed by a 2021 sequel called '' SSSS.Dynazenon'' with a possible crossover film, "Gridman X Dynazenon", announced.

Songs

;Opening theme * **Lyrics: Akira Ōtsu **Composition: Kisaburo Suzuki **Arrangement: Masaki Iwamoto **Artist:

Norio Sakai Norio (written: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , or in hiragana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese rower *Norio Hayakawa , is an American activist who lives in Albuquerque, New M ...

**The piano version of "Yume no Hero" made its appearance in the sixth episode of ''SSSS.Gridman''. ;Ending theme * **Lyrics: Akira Ōtsu **Composition: Kisaburo Suzuki **Arrangement: Masaki Iwamoto **Artist:

;Insert song * **Lyrics: Atsushi Aida **Composition & Arrangement: Osamu Totsuka **Artist: Compoid Three **The karaoke version of "Futatsu no Yūki" made its appearance in the fourth episode of ''SSSS.Gridman''.

References

External links

Official website
* {{Ultra Series 1993 Japanese television series debuts 1994 Japanese television series endings Tsuburaya Productions Tokusatsu television series Ultra television series TBS Television (Japan) original programming Cyberpunk television series Television shows about virtual reality Japanese action television series Japanese fantasy television series Japanese science fiction television series