Naturally, finding out that there’s one last kaiju left in the world remotivates Onija, Juuga, and Mujina. Sizumu has his kaiju absorb the three and that somehow gives it a second, more powerful form. This plan is a bit dumb as the Kaiju Eugenicists will go down with the ship if it’s destroyed (and you safely take a guess who wins and loses in the end). Then again, this is the last kaiju so they might as well go for broke. Also, having them “pilot” the monster is a neat parallel to Dynazenon and it puts them in a more direct confrontation with its archenemy.
As for the good guys, Knight has been fighting Sizumu as Kaiser Gridknight. Even though Gridknight can combine with Dynazenon and Goldburn on his own, his firepower appears to be nerfed when there’s no one piloting Dynazenon and he gets his butt kicked as a result. When Dynazenon’s pieces separate, the crew heads over to pilot them. Gauma is obviously in no condition to fight but he decides to fight anyway, which admittedly is very in-character of him to do.
Having now seen SSSS.DYNAZENON in its entirety, I’m not sure what to make of the villains. I do think they’re entertaining, especially early on in the show. It’s their motivations that I don’t get. The Kaiju Eugenicists claim they want to make a world where kaiju is needed but all it seems to boil down to killing people with kaiju. I suppose that’s also what Akane’s motivation boiled down to but at least with that character, there was a disturbing quality to it that really added to her character. This just feels cartoonish to me.
The show tries to inject some more personal drama with the villains but most of it feels rushed. There’s nothing nuanced with Onija. He just wants to kill people. Juuga apparently wishes that Gauma acknowledges him but this was never really established before the finale, let alone addressed. Mujina says she came to the realization that kaiju is all she has in life and she blames Koyomi for this. That’s a little more interesting but it’s undermined by how little Mujina interacted with Koyomi and the fact that she jumps to this conclusion without actually branching off and trying something new.
Oddly enough, I think Sizumu ended up being the most interacting of the four. I initially didn’t think much of the guy but I like how despite interacting the most with humans, he’s ultimately the most distant member of the Kaiju Eugenicists. He wasn’t very sociable to begin with and while he does see many of the emotions Yomogi and Yume go through, he still draws the wrong conclusion that emotions are a hindrance to one’s life and that it’d be better to embrace the unnatural perks provided by kaiju. Even as Dynazenon beats the crap out of his kaiju and Yomogi explains to him that his experiences are what shape him for the better, Siziumu still doesn’t get it.
Not going to lie, the final fight is freaking awesome. Trigger brought their A game throughout the whole show but this really does have some of the best animation across both GRIDMAN and DYNAZENON. I also love that this fight incorporates various forms/combinations. It starts with Kaiser Gridknight. Partway through however, Dynazenon separates and tackles the kaiju alongside a new combination between Gridknight and Goldburn. The fight ends with Dynazenon assuming its Dyna Rex form and that’s the best decision made in this entire fight. It’s a robot dragon. You got to use that for the finisher.
During the fight, Yomogi manages to throw the kaiju off by taking control of it. Turns out, he’s a Kaiju User after all. The show obviously lacks time to explore this but I do buy into the idea that Yomogi doesn’t care about this latent ability of his. He’s content with where he is in life and there isn’t anything that he wants to change. In other words, he has no reason to be tempted into becoming a Kaiju User. I also just dig this moment as a really cool power move. Not only does this turn the tide in Dynazenon and Gridknight’s favor, it’s also giving the Kaiju Eugenicists a taste of their own medicine.
I was curious if Gauma would survive or not. I mean, Yuta managed to cheat death so I figured that might be the case for Gauma. But no, the poor guy does kick the bucket in the end. That does make me a bit sad as Gauma has been a fun and interesting character throughout the show. Something that I find curious is that Gauma ultimately doesn’t meet the Princess in the end. There’s still no indication in regards to this character’s identity, let alone its status. Who knows, maybe the movie sheds light on this. I do like however that Gauma accepts that he doesn’t reunite with the Princess. He knew it was unlikely once his body was running on fumes and he’d rather exhaust all of that to ensure victory over the Kaiju Eugenicists and secure a future for his friends.
After the fight, the show fast forwards to three months later. The gang pays their respects to Gauma before going their separate ways. Koyomi has changed his look, he’s practically unrecognized now, and he’ll be working with Inamoto’s husband for a job. That’s a satisfying ending to his arc. He’s escaped the rut of being a NEET and he’s fully let go of his resentment towards Inamoto, calling her a friend and accepting her husband’s job offer.
I wish I could say the same about Chsie’s arc. Her school closing down due to damages caused by the final fight isn’t unrealistic. With all the fighting that’s happened in the show, you’d think some place vital to the plot would become collateral. But by shutting down the school, you give Chsie an easy out of her struggle as an outcast. Without seeing her interact with people outside of her immediate circle, Chsie displaying her tattoo in the public doesn’t feel earned. There’s also the fact that Chise barely gets to do anything. Poor girl is barely involved in the action, including the last stinking fight in the show, and her best contribution to the plot is her kaiju OC that only appears for one third of the show’s cour.
Yomogi and Yume participate in their school’s culture festival. There’s one last parallel to GRIDMAN! Are these two a couple now? It’s not explicitly confirmed but judging from how they interact with each other during the festival, it’s pretty safe to say they are dating. I’m glad that these two get the lion’s share of screen time in the aftermath. Watching Yomogi and Yume’s relationship develop over time ended up being one of my favorite parts in the show so I say this is well deserved.
Earlier in the episode, both characters get injured while retrieving their Dyna components. During the festival, we learn that they still have scars from those injuries. However, both Yomogi and Yume are fine if their scars don’t heal. It’s a memento of their final battle and more importantly, it perfectly sums up their journey. Yomogi and Yume aren’t perfect but they’ve grown a lot since then. As the show established with its title, “scarred souls shine like stars” and that’s very much the case with these two.
As for Knight and the Second, we see them depart from the world with both Goldburn and Dynazenon. I still have no idea if the show took place in a digital environment or the real world but whatever the case may be, we see the Gridknight Alliance back in cyberspace. There, Dynazenon seemingly activates on its own. I’m not sure what to make of that since the whole show presented Dynazenon as machinery that needed people to pilot it. For all I know however, this is probably how the mech functioned back in Gridman the Hyper Agent. But whatever, Dynazenon appears to be working fine again so this finale is probably not the last we’ve seen of it.
I think I like SSSS.DYNAZENON more than SSSS.GRIDMAN. I’m not entirely sure. It definitely has better animation and action scenes compared to its predecessor. It’s the other departments I’m less sure on. DYNAZENON has better character-driven scenes but I still think GRIDMAN has a better plot and more concise lore. If I’m comparing main couples, I much prefer Yomogi and Yume over Yuta and Rikka. If you ask me who the better villain is however, I’d say that honor goes to Akane and I took issue with her arc so that’s saying something. I may have to think this over some more. Regardless, I quite enjoyed DYNAZENON. It’s a solid sequel series and one of Trigger’s best shows. I’ll definitely watch the movie once I get the chance.
Watch SSSS.DYNAZENON on Crunchyroll and Funimation
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