Yuta Hibiki has a case of amnesia who finds himself waking up in the home of Rikka Takarada, one of his classmates. Other than that, he had no memory of who he was at all. Fortunately his friend and Rikka are both kind enough to stay by his side while he worked on regaining his memories. However, Yuta was seeing things that his friends weren't such as silhouettes of Kaijus, giant monsters in town and an alien being named "Gridman" was calling out to him from an old computer in Rikka's family junk store. Thinking it was just a hallucination, Yuta tries to get on with his forgotten life but soon finds he must fight as Gridman to protect the world while his friends support him through the computer.

Watched this because of the hype knowing that it was a collaboration between Trigger and the Tsuburuya Productions "tokusatsu (special effects)" team best known for their Ultraman franchise. You'll even notice the resemblances between Gridman and Ultraman. Since it it was a Trigger show, you'd be expecting some fun silly action show and you're not far.

At first it seems like your run-of-the-mill transforming superhero show but, as you watch on you can see they've taken the show further as Yuta and his friends discover that only they remember what happened after every attack so there's plenty of mystery to pique your interest even if the superhero idea isn't your thing any more. While Yuta and his friend are excited about becoming superheroes, the easy-going Rikka just wants to get on with her everyday social life. There's an interesting twist on the villain too.

If you watch closely you can see a lot of attention to detail despite the superhero-like setting and the twists just continue through the short season. It picks up quite a bit half way through as mysteries are cleared up. There's a part of it that feels like Haruhi in a way. Maybe with a bit of Evangelion even.

Direction's quite good in that only those associated with Kaijuus or Gridman can see the giant silhouettes looming around the skies. It's quite a surreal world setting. There are moments that seem surprisingly everyday but make quite a big impact, enough to make you care about the supporting characters. The studio must be fans of Juroku-cha which I had when I was at Takyama because it keeps making an appearance.

And fan service? It's Trigger so yes there's your usual fan service with a whole swimsuit episode.

The only downside for me is the Ultraman hommage during the fights which were fun when I used to watch as a kid but not not quite as fun to watch now. Evil monster shows up, unleash your cheezy move, strike a victory pose kind of flow. So the show's great with Trigger's usual dynamic characters in it until you get to the actual battles. Fortunately Trigger's touch and the added mysteries make up for it.

Gridman Universe movie is a sequel where you get a recap of the events since everyone has forgotten the events apart from Rikka and Utsumi (and probably the viewers of Dynazenon too). When Yuta suddenly starts to hear a voice again, another Kaiju appears to wreak havoc. Seeing his friends in trouble, Yuta rushes back to the Junk store to find Gridman and borrow his power once again without hesitation.

Before long, people from the Dynazenon universe begin to appear and they learn a "Big Crunch" is happening bringing together worlds which may eventually destroy them all.

It kicks off like a romcom but manages to create that surreal atmosphere where things contantly feel a tad out-of-place. Action scenes are smooth and done yet again in very slow movements similar to the the SFX shows.

Even if you're not a big fan of the special effect super hero shows with cheezy moves, it's an entertaining watch.