User:Zero stylinx/sandbox 2

Gridman (グリッドマン) is the titular character of the 1993-1994 tokusatsu series Gridman the Hyper Agent, produced by a joint collaboration between Tsuburaya Productions and Takara. The show features Gridman, an agent from Hyper World who was sent to apprehend the Overlord Kahn Digifer by merging with Naoto Sho and fought against Kahn and his monsters created by the social misfit Takeshi Todo. Gridman coincided in Tsuburaya Productions' 30th anniversary and the company's first television series in 12 years since the end of Ultraman 80.

Due to its immense popularity in Japan, Gridman the Hyper Agent was adapted a year later in the United States as Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad featuring the Gridman counterpart Servo transformed from Sam Collins to fight against monsters sent by Kilokahn and Malcom Frink. The original tokusatsu series gets its 2018 animated sequel SSSS.Gridman where the Hyper Agent bonded with high school student Yuta Hibiki in saving the city of Tsutsujidai against Alexis Kerib.

Gridman is voiced by Hikaru Midorikawa (緑川 光) in the Japanese media  and by Robert McCollum in the Funimation English dub of the 2018 animated series. His suit actor in the 1993 series was Hiroyuki Okano (岡野 弘之) and Akira Ohashi (大橋 明), the latter acted as Gridman's dream world iteration in episode 21.

Character conception
The show's setting of Gridman fighting against monsters terrorizing the Computer World and affecting the real world was due to the frequent use of personal computers at that time while anticipating problems such as computer viruses. Unlike the Ultra Series, which is Tsuburaya's popular tokusatsu genre, the transformation isn't done simultaneously by the main character and the title hero combines with support mecha into his armors.
 * Gridman the Hyper Agent

In the middle of the series, Gridman was supposed to have his schematics stolen by Takeshi Todo, who used it to transform into Kahnknight and becomes a rival character before he redeemed and turned into Gridman's ally, Gridknight. Gridknight was depicted as a duplicate of Gridman and can also combine with the Assist Weapons, hence this would allow the situation for both Thunder Gridman and King Gridman to coexist and fight side by side. Additionally had the show received the green light to create a sequel series, Gridknight would become its main character. This plan never came into realization due to production problem, but remnants of this idea were recycled into Gridman the Hyper Agent: The Overlord's Counterattack as Gridman Sigma.

In the 2015 Japan Animator Expo, Akira Amemiya wanted to do an animated adaptation of the Ultra Series but was declined by Tsuburaya Productions. The company instead proposed him with two alternatives, either Andro Melos or Gridman. Although Andro Melos is a media which had a closer continuity to the Ultra Series, Akira choose Gridman due to his sense of nostalgia in watching the show as a young boy. Series writer Keiichi Hasegawa also related the title hero's fights against virus monsters akin to his past work, Mega Man NT Warrior. Several of Gridman's performances in the anime is based on Masami Obari's animation technique, which Amemiya acknowledges as a love letter to the animator for his involvement in the Brave Series and other mecha animation in the 1990s, which coincided with Gridman ' s airing at that time.
 * boys invent great hero and SSSS.Gridman

The idea of this series and its main characters (Yuta Hibiki and Gridman) was recycled from a rejected proposal, Denkou Choujin Gridman F (電撃超人グリッドマンF（ファイター）), which would have been the sequel to Gridman following its season finale. Studio Trigger's participation in this series is due to having animated boys invent great hero in 2015.

Designing
Before Gridman, Takara had once collaborated with Toho in 1988-89 to create the tokusatsu series Dennou Keisatsu Cybercop. Then-Takara designer Kazumitsu Akamatsu (赤松 和光) was not involved in Cybercop, but was instructed to design a Kyodai Hero named Cyberman, who will become a 4 m tall hero by combining with support mechas. The decision to include support mechas and robots was made in anticipation for the Christmas shopping season. When Takara established the Bigman production team in summer 1992, Kazumitsu was transferred into that department due to his experience with tokusatsu shows. As Bigman was renamed into Gridman, Kazumitsu proposed this idea to Tsuburaya Productions, knowing full well that the company had experiences in Kyodai hero genre.
 * Gridman the Hyper Agent

Close-up on guard-like parts and others used on the initial suit had its armored parts painted with metallic silver, with the chest crystals being transparent. There was also suits used during the filming which had gray armored parts, alongside translucent materials in eyes and chest crystals. The scene which Gridman arises to enlarge himself was recycled from Ultraman 80. Some of his armored forms with Assist Weapons took cues from Enban Sensō Bankid, a tokusatsu show which veteran Ultra Series designer Tohl Narita participated by designing the main characters. During the filming, the transition from Gridman to Thunder or King Gridman involves the suit itself wearing armor parts. Manufacturing said armor parts were recreated with Gridman's flying doll prop with minor enlargement of the toy versions of God Zenon and Dyna Dragon. Originally, both armored forms were meant to use weapons in the live action filming but this concept was omitted in order to conserve budget and reduce additional weight.

There are also plans to combine both armor parts into Gridman X, but the idea was reworked into Full Power Gridman during The Overlord's Counterattack. Gridman's suit, including those of the Assist Weapons and combine form parts were manufactured by an employee of Tsuburaya Productions named Tanibuchi.

In The Overlord's Counterattack photo novel, an attraction suit of Gridman was modified and repainted into Gridman Sigma, Gridman's younger brother. The character was designed by Hideo Okamoto (岡本 英郎), but since the paint was still wet during the photo session, the suit's movement was very stiff. Gridman Sigma's inclusion was proposed by Kazumitsu as a way to include both Thunder Gridman and King Gridman at the same time. The 2015 animated short boys invent great hero has Gridman and the entire characters drawn by Yūsuke Yoshigaki (芳垣 祐介).


 * SSSS.Gridman

Gridman was redesigned by Masayuki Gotoh (後藤 正行) under the opinion of young employees. Masayuki drew Gridman with three color patterns, the chosen one being the default color of Primal Fighter. In order to get a better understanding of Gridman, the original tokusatsu version was presented to children in the company to capture their reaction on its appearance. Goto also drew the appearance of Gridman's original form in the final episode of SSSS.Gridman.

Naming
As with his titular series, Gridman was tentatively named Bigman (ビッグマン), which remained in the scripts of episodes 1 and 2 of the series. The title "Bigman" refers to the proto-Gridman's concept of becoming giant by fusing with his Assist Weapons.

Gridman the Hyper Agent
Gridman originally started as a CG model designed by Ippei Baba within the computer Junk created by the three teenagers. A from the Hyper World (ハイパーワールド) assimilated with the model as his body and bonded to Naoto Sho in order to fight against Khan Digifer and his monsters designed by social misfit Takeshi Todo. As Naoto bonded with Gridman to fight monsters in Computer World, his two other friends Ippei and Yuka supported him by supplying with programs and Assist Weapons. In the same manner with Kahn materializing his monsters, Gridman can materialize Ippei's schematics of Assist Weapons into actual objects in order to gain a better advantage against his foes. Initially Gridman's existence was kept secret in the eyes of the public until Kahn Digifer announced his existence in episode 25. In the final episode, Khan Digifer abandoned Takeshi to conquer Earth with his own hands. The trio teenagers lure him into Junk's Computer World where Gridman fought Khan in a losing battle that resulted with all Assist Weapons destroyed as most of the Junk sustain damages. Gridman was forced to bring the Demon King into Takeshi's computer, where Takeshi created a program that allows Gridman to kill Khan Digifer and save the Earth. After severing his bonds with Naoto, Gridman congratulated the teenagers and returned to the Hyper World.

Gridman the Hyper Agent: The Overlord's Counterattack
In the 1994 serial photo novel, Gridman returned to Earth when Kahn Digifer's younger brother, Neo Kahn Digifer proceed to continue the former's plan. Gridman bonded to Naoto again and received help from the Assist Weapons in against Neo Kahn's monsters. When Mad Texas was about to defeat Gridman, his younger brother Gridman Sigma joined the battle by bonding with Takeshi Todo and finally defeating the new overlord. The photo novel featured Masaya Obi's return as Naoto and Tsuyoshi Sugawara as Takeshi Todo.

Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad
In the 1994 adaptation, Gridman is presented as Servo, an alter ego of Team Samurai bassist Sam Collins. The armor and the "Assist Weapons" were created when a lightning bolt struck Sam's computer. In 37th episode "Kilo is coming to Town", Sam and the Team Samurai band members were struck by Kilokahn and left incapacitated. Although Sam gave Malcolm the Digital Communicator, it was revealed that Sam's consciousness was transferred into Servo and fight against Kilokahn to save Christmas. Despite Servo's departure and claim that the Team Samurai were beyond saving, the show returned to its original status quo by the end of the episode. Additionally in the final episode "Take a Hike", Team Samurai drummer Tanker used the Digital Communicator to become Servo in Sam's stead when he went on a date with Jennifer while the rest of the band members joined Yoli in hiking.

Denkou Choujin Gridman: boys invent great hero
A 2015 short animation which served as a continuation to the photo novel above. In it, Gridman was featured in a series of flashbacks experienced by an adult Takeshi Todo before he transforms into Gridman Sigma to face the mirage monsters. The final fight against Kahn Digifer was played out differently than the TV series, in that Gridman assumed King Gridman and used the Dragonic Cannon to attack before he burst away from said armor upon destruction.

SSSS.Gridman
After losing a battle against Alexis Kerib, Gridman was separated from the Assist Weapons and regressed into a weaker form and inhabited the computer Junk in the Takarada family's Junk Shop Aya. At that moment, a portion of Gridman assimilated with amnesiac high school student Yuta Hibiki, which provided the Hyper Agent a temporary restoration to his physical form. Gridman teams up with a trio of high school students named Gridman Alliance and the Neon Genesis Junior High School quartet to defend Tsutsujidai in against monsters sent by Alexis Kerib and created by a mentally-ill teenager Akane Shinjo. As the show progressed, Gridman learned that Tsutsujidai is actually a simulation world created by Akane as solace from her real world issues while the monsters function to eliminate unwanted objects. Near the finale, a depressed Akane stabbed Yuta and destroyed the Junk, but the NGJHS quartet's restoration caused Gridman to fully assimilated into Yuta's body, hence his yellow pupils. With the help of Anti, Gridman and the NGJHS fused to restore Gridman's true form from his original series in a heated final battle against Alexis Kerib. Gridman uses the Fixer Beam to mend Akane's heart (giving her the resolve to free from Alexis), transforming Tsutsujidai into a copy of the Earth and defeating Alexis Kerib once and for all. As Akane returned to her real world, Gridman congratulated Sho and Rikka for their assistance and leaves Yuta to join the NGJHS in delivering an imprisoned Alexis to the Hyper World for his trial.

Forms, powers and abilities
Although most of Gridman's screen time were situated in the, his girth of height is noted to be gigantic (standing at least the height of 70 meters when compared to real world measurements). Usually after the end of each battles, Gridman would release from his chest to repair the damages in the Computer World.


 * Original series
 * Gridman's original form, obtained in episode 1 when the Hyper Agent first entered the Junk and assimilated with Ippei's CG design.  In terms of physicality, Gridman is capable of exerting enhanced reflexes and utilized Assist Weapons such as Gridman Sword and Dragonic Cannon. With the Gran Axepter (グランアクセプター) on his left hand, he can execute various beam techniques, including the finishing move Grid Beam (グリッドビーム).  In the final episode, Gridman executed, an attack which was created by Takeshi to put an end to Kahn and simultaneously destroying his personal computer.
 * In SSSS.Gridman, it was revealed that Gridman was regressed into Initial, later Primal Fighter after his defeat from Alexis Kerib. This form was restored in the final episode of SSSS.Gridman thanks to the possessed Yuta, NGJHS quartet and Anti transforming with their Axepters. Gridman uses it to fight against Giant Alexis Kerib in Tsutsujidai, capable of keeping up in terms of speed, agility and combat strength. The Fixer Beam becomes his greatest move when it not only healed Akane's heart, but also the entire Tsutsujidai and finally transforming Computer World into an actual copy of the Earth.
 * An armament formed by fusing with God Zenon's parts; Thunder Jet, Twin Driller and God Tank. In addition to sturdy protection, Gridman can use all three Assist Weapon components' arsenals and extrasensory perception at the cost of his original form's speed and flexibility. The twin drills on his shoulders can be launched as Drill Break (ドリルブレイク) missiles that hit his opponent before returning. His finishing moves are Thunder Grid Fire (サンダーグリッドファイヤー) and Thunder Grid Beam (サンダーグリッドビーム). In Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad, this form is named as Synchro.
 * An alternate formation made with King Jet. Whereas Thunder Gridman focuses on strength, King Gridman prefers to fight with full use of speed and agility. He also obtained an oxygen mask that allow him to counter poison gas-based attack and a pair of on his arms to shoot King Grid Launcher (キンググリッドランチャー). His finishing moves are King Grid Fire (キンググリッドファイヤー) and King Grid Beam (キンググリッドビーム). Although this armored form requires no weaponry, the anime special boys invent great hero had King Gridman wielding Dragonic Cannon in an alternate fight scene against Kahn Digifer. In Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad, this form is named as Phormo.
 * Ultimate Fusion Full Power Gridman (究極合体 フルパワーグリッドマン): The combination of Gridman with all vehicular Assist Weapons, portrayed as Thunder Gridman riding the King Jet in the same way as a hoverboard while wielding the Dragonic Cannon on his right. This form allows Gridman to use multiple bombardment attacks in addition to greater flight speed, which he uses to defeat Neo Kahn Digifer's monster, Glavas.


 * SSSS.Gridman
 * Initial Fighter/Primal Fighter: As a result of his defeat from Alexis Kerib, Gridman becomes trapped in an incomplete form that was bounded to the computer Junk. He was initially the light-blue/purple-colored Initial Fighter, where Gridman's performance is sluggish and his presence can only be perceived by Yuta. Once Samurai Calibur optimized the Junk, Gridman becomes Primal Fighter, a coloring based on his original form and restores his original performances. This form has similar capabilities as Gridman's original form, while using the Gridman Calibur sword as an occasional weapon.
 * Heracles Combine Max Gridman (剛力合体超人 マックスグリッドマン): A formation with Battle Tracto Max forms a pair of gigantic forearms, and increases his brute strength. His finishers are Max Grid Beam (マックスグリッドビーム) and Super Lightning Kick (超電撃キック).
 * Full Armor Combine Buster Gridman (武装合体超人 バスターグリッドマン): A formation with Buster Borr, granting him a chest armor and a set of ranged weapons from his caterpillar threads and Twin Drills in Buster Mode (バスターモード). His finisher is Twin Buster Grid Beam (ツインバスターグリッドビーム).
 * Empyrean Combine Sky Gridman (大空合体超人 スカイグリッドマン): A formation which occurs when Sky Vitter forms as Gridman's helmet, waist and leg armor. In this form, Gridman gains superiority in high-altitude combat and disorient his opponents with Lucky Smokescreen (ラッキースモークスクリーン).
 * Sky Buster Gridman (スカイバスターグリッドマン): A formation with both Buster Borr and Sky Vitter, granting Gridman the arsenals of both Assist Weapons at once. His finishing move is Sky Grid Beam (スカイグリッドビーム). This form appears exclusively in SSSS.Gridman Novelizations 1.
 * Hyperlink Combine Full Powered Gridman (超合体超人 フルパワーグリッドマン): Gridman's ultimate formation attained by combining with all four Assist Weapons at the same time. In this case, both Gridman and the Assist Weapons are deployed in half their usual size to conserve energy, forming a full-sized robot once combined. After the NGJHS fixed Junk to full optimization, Full Powered Gridman is capable of manifesting at full size in episodes 11 and 12. In this form, Gridman has all the abilities and techniques from his other formations at his disposal. His finisher is the Grid Full Power Finish (グリッドフルパワーフィニッシュ), Breast Spark (ブレストスパーク) and Full Powered Super Lightning Kick (フルパワー超電撃キック).
 * Full Powered Gridman Initial Fighter (フルパワーグリッドマン Initial Fighter): An alternative variation of the Full Powered Gridman that appears exclusively in SSSS.Gridman Novelizations 2. This form is based on the similarly named Gridman's Initial Fighter.

Naoto Sho
Naoto Sho (翔 直人) is the 14 year old main protagonist of the series. An easygoing and kind-hearted boy who loves computers, but occasionally prone to selfishness. Despite his constant bickering with Daichi, Naoto came to care for his younger brother and saved him from several monster attacks. After the attacks by Kahn Digifer began to occur, he was contacted by Gridman and merges with him to fight against Kahn and Takeshi's monsters.

Gridman and Naoto were constantly remain separated at two different places. When one of Kahn Digifer's monsters is at loose, Gridman notifies Naoto's Axepter (アクセプター) through the. By approaching Junk's computer screen, Naoto lifts up his left hand to unveil the Axepter and shouts. This caused Naoto to enter the Junk and appeared wearing a light-blue jumpsuit before merging with Gridman's figure while Ippei and/or Yuka were required to type the "GRIDMAN" onto the Junk in order for Gridman to exit the computer. Gridman would eventually rises towards the screen with his left fist facing forward.

After Kahn Digifer's death, Naoto accepted Takeshi into his circle and was also present in The Overlord's Counterattack, where the two joined forces by merging with Gridman and Gridman Sigma respectively in against Neo Kahn Digifer's army.

Naoto Sho is portrayed by Masaya Obi (小尾 昌也). Naoto's transformation pose with the Axepter was done differently, depending on the episode's director. Despite Masaya's popularity as Naoto (especially in the peak of SSSS.Gridman), he prefers to continue his normal life and rejects Gridman related questions and signatures when outside the entertainment business and fan conventions. Masaya also had a small guest voice-over role in episode 6 of SSSS.Gridman as a customer in Junk Shop Aya.

Sam Collins
Sam Collins the frontman and guitarist of his band, Team Samurai. He was always willing to help anyone in need or be their friend and often vies for the attention of cheerleader Jennifer Doyle, having been in and out of relationships with her, sometimes even competing with Malcolm Frink for her affections. He has even gone so far as to try to be friends with Malcolm, although Malcolm never returned the favor. He is clever and easygoing. He also loves his (unseen) little sister, Elizabeth, though often felt pestered by her shenanigans.

Sam transform into Servo by either plucking a specific string on his base or shouting "Let's Samurize, Guys!", before hitting the button on the Digital Communicator on his left arm. This action can be done either in Team Samurai's personal computer or in Sydney's laptop. Although usually transforming into Servo, Sam had once inhabited the digital hero's body when the entire Team Samurai band members (including himself) were incapacitated by Kilokahn and in the final episode lending the role of Servo to Tanker while going on a date with Jennifer.

Sam Collins is portrayed by Matthew Lawrence. He was originally to be named as Zack Jason, right as the series was originally titled as PowerBoy, until it was changed under orders of Fox Broadcasting Company to avoid any connection to the popular series at that time, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

Yuta Hibiki
Yuta Hibiki (響 裕太) is the 16 year old protagonist of SSSS.Gridman and Gridman's recent host, an amnesiac young boy who wakes up near Rikka's house. He has the special ability to see Gridman and illusions of monsters within the city. By merging with Gridman, Yuta can fight against monster attacks to defend Tsutsujidai and those targeted by Akane. The transformation style of Yuta Hibiki is made in the same way as Naoto did in the original series, although he transforms with the Primal Axepter (プライマルアクセプター), an updated design of the original device. He lives by himself in his family's apartment, since his parents left on a business trip.

In the middle of the series, Yuta and other citizens of Tsutsujidai were revealed to be Repli-Compoids (レプリコンポイド), a race of pseudo-humans created by Akane to inhabit the world as part of her delusion to escape reality. After being stabbed by Akane and reawakened from his coma, Yuta was revealed to be partially assimilated by Gridman, hence his amnesia, as the real youth was in comatose state ever since then. Gridman's choice of possessing Yuta was due to his affection for Rikka, as opposed to others who admired Akane. After the fight against Alexis ended, Gridman separated himself from Yuta and the boy awakens.

Anime

 * In the tenth episode of Working Buddies! season 2, Gridman and Kahn Digifer were parodied as stage show characters where the title characters worked at. This episode is a mini collaboration between Tsuburaya Production and Hataoni, with Hikaru Midorikawa voiced the Gridman actor, Gurido Senpai.

Live-action series

 * In episode 27 of Ultraman Mebius, Mirai Hibino transforms into the title character and dives into the Phoenix Nest's system to fight against a rampaging Proto-Maquette Zetton. The scene which featured him entering the simulation world was a tribute to Gridman's constant fights in the Computer World and to prevent said damages being transferred into the reality.

Manga

 * The Primal Fighter version of Gridman is set to appear in the manga Sengoku Gridman, featuring him wearing a set of samurai armor.

Music video

 * Both the 1993 and 2018 iterations of Gridman appear in the music video for Union by OxT, alongside the real life appearance of Akane Shinjo.

Video games

 * The Primal Fighter version of Gridman appears as one of the playable characters in Gestalt Odin.
 * In a collaboration with the smartphone game Symphogear XD, Gridman appears as part of Hibiki's armor in a one time collaboration with SSSS.Gridman.

Critical commentary
Christopher Farris of Anime News Network praises the first two episodes of SSSS.Gridman for its use of combined CGI elements and Gridman's fight with Kaiju taking cues from the body movements found in the Ultra Series. The show itself on episode 8 amazed him with Gridman's presence being used to lure civilians away from an impending monster's harm, the Full Powered Gridman (which as he puts out, "Akane calling the Full Powered Gridman a straight-up robot is a wonderful acknowledgement of the show's escalating absurdity") and the fight scene's choreography being compared to the usual Saturday morning's kids show. The revelation that the amnesiac Yuta was actually a semi-possessed Gridman was comparable with the usual plot twists and tropes of the Ultra Series.

Merchandise
As Takara was the main sponsor for Gridman the Hyper Agent, most of the action figures and playset for Gridman and his series was sold under their banner. His soft vinyl figure was either sold separately or under the same package, Denkou Hero Collection, which also included figures of monsters from the show's first cour. Paralleling his combination gimmick with the Assist Weapons, a Gridman action figure was made compatible with figurines of God Zenon and Dyna Dragon to recreate Thunder Gridman and King Gridman. In terms of of playsets were his Axepter, Gridman Sword and the Dragonic Cannon. Despite the toy sales' great performance, this alone wasn't enough to guarantee the continuation of Gridman the Hyper Agent, which ended in 39 episodes. When Gridman was adapted into Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad, most of the toys in Japanese were re-released in the United States under the Playmates Toys company. The action figure of Servo had been sold multiple times with different coloration and head molds to represent the rest of the Team Samurai bandmates in their "combat uniforms".