“In this world, there’s three important things you’ve gotta keep. Promises, love, and…”
SSSS.Dynazenon – 12 + Final Thoughts
Category: SSSS.Dynazenon
SSSS.Dynazenon – 10-11
Looks like Dynazenon’s format-breaking episode arrived in its tenth week, rather than its ninth. “Which Memories Do You Regret?” was a challenging piece of work, much like Gridman’s “Dream,” and though I don’t think this season’s experiment went over quite as well as the previous one, the shake-up was appreciated. It wasn’t just the ‘kaiju of the week’ formula that received an adjustment, either. The character designs were noticeably looser – more angular in motion, yet rounder (and occasionally deformed) in close-up. “More with less” was the animation director’s mission statement for this one, as moments like Yomogi bursting through the barrier to Yume’s past were made hectic by limited frame counts, yet he still found time to slow down for a sisterly heart-to-heart in the second act. This assortment of styles put me in mind of the late Osamu Kobayashi, who surely would have enjoyed this episode for its aesthetic detours. That probably means a lot of other people didn’t like it, but hey, Dynazenon wasn’t built to be a crowd favorite.
SSSS.Dynazenon – 8-9 [What Are These Wavering/Overlapping Emotions?]
You really had me going this week, Amemiya. Chise’s Kubrickian vision at the start of episode 9 left me anticipating another extended dream sequence, like the one we got at the same point in Gridman’s run, but it never came. The previous episode even ended by tinting the frame a dreamy sunset color during Yomogi’s conversation with Yume (whose name literally means “dream”). Dynazenon’s structure is a bit different than its predecessor’s, so it makes sense that my dream went unrealized this time around – it could happen in a few years’ time, though, since there have been rumblings of a future third series in the Gridman universe (unless that was just a dream I had).
Now that everybody’s feeling nice and rested, hit the jump for some thoughts on the last two Dynazenons.
Continue reading “SSSS.Dynazenon – 8-9 [What Are These Wavering/Overlapping Emotions?]”
SSSS.Dynazenon – 6-7
I guess Dynazenon is still airing, huh? Not only that, it’s connected itself to SSSS.Gridman in explicit fashion, with two of that show’s half-kaiju characters appearing as older versions of themselves. Anti and Anosillus II brought new life to the show, I felt, breaking up the Team Dynazenon vs Kaiju Eugenicists stalemate that had formed over the course of several weeks. This series is still operating at a high level, visually speaking, but the story has been in need of new blood, and now it’s got two fresh sources. They even wore spiffy black suits, a la the Neon Genesis Junior High Students from Gridman, indicating that they’ve pledged themselves to the cause of interdimensional justice. I don’t plan to go over all of Anti and Anosillus’s dialogue with a fine-tooth comb and extrapolate Dynazenon’s conclusion (I’d need knowledge of the toku series for that), but there was enough written between the lines to assume that the Hyper Agent himself will appear at some point. I’m already looking forward to it, as the human drama has started to wear on me in spots.
SSSS.Dynazenon – 05 [What’s Lover-Like Mean?]
Though SSSS.Dynazenon has lifted a number of elements from Gridman thus far, it wasn’t content to recreate that show’s fifth episode this week. Where its parent series put a spin on the stalwart ‘beach episode’ with a river rafting field trip, Dynazenon sent its characters to Tokyo Beach Land, a water park with an underground hot spring. With the power of both pool and onsen tropes at its disposal, you’d think this episode would be a massive hit, but it was my least favorite of the month. Let’s see if I can put into words why that was, exactly.
Continue reading “SSSS.Dynazenon – 05 [What’s Lover-Like Mean?]”
SSSS.Dynazenon – 04 [What Is This Thumping Heart?]
Whenever an anime protagonist gets taken out by a Japanese cold, the resulting episode tends to be lower-key than normal, and that’s exactly what happened in “What Is This Thumping Heart?” Yomogi wasn’t taken out of commission entirely, but he spent the bulk of his screen time either zoned out in public, recuperating in bed, or coughing during his last-minute contribution to the fight against Majima. That didn’t stop his preoccupation with Yume from being a central point this week, though, nor did it prevent several other characters from stepping into the space he had vacated. The most notable riser was Chise, who took advantage of his illness to claim the position of Dyna Rex pilot, though she needed to be bailed out during her fight kaiju battle. If she’s indeed more sinister than she lets on, as I (and surely others) am predicting, then she’s adept at playing the long game – the question is, what is she waiting for?
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SSSS.Dynazenon – 2-3
We’re only three episodes in, and Trigger’s latest TV anime has already been to space.