'Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad Gridman' Anime Debuts New Trailer

Studio Trigger - the production company behind Kill la Kill and Little Witch Academia - has teamed up with Tsubuyara Productions - which has notably produced the Ultraman franchise - for a new anime based on Gridman for a release later this year.

Gridman, which fans in the West would know as Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad, just got a anime makeover with this new trailer revealing his full look

The series will be directed by Akira Amemiya (Ninja Slayer), Keiichi Hasegawa (Zoids, Rage of Bahamut Genesis) is writing the scripts, and the new Gridman design will be provided by Tsuburaya Productions' Masayuki Gotou, who has contributed designs for many of the currently running Ultraman designs. It will also feature an original story not pertaining to events of the original series, which is further teased in the trailer where several mysterious looking high school kids interact with one another before a large stone beast appears in their city.

While the route to Gridman's appearance is unclear, to see that the character will be receiving both traditional hand-drawn animation as well as a CG transformation sequence will definitely be great news for fans hoping the new series would capture the nostalgia of the original series yet offer something new for anime fans of Studio Trigger.

The series has also confirmed the first member of the voice cast. Hikaru Midorikawa will provide the voice of the titular Gridman. Fans should recognize Midorikawa from his performances as Heero Yuy from Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Ryuho of s-CRY-ed, and Lancer from Fate/Zero, and Android 16 and Tien from Dragon Ball to name just a few examples.

This is not the only tokusatsu production getting a new anime adaptation as Tsubuyara Productions' own Ultraman is getting an anime translation in 2019.

For those unfamiliar with Denkou Choujin Gridman, it is a Japanese tokusatsu series created by Tsuburaya Productions. A series in the "Giant Hero" subgenre, the series ran from 1993 to 1994. It follows three boys supporting a giant hero in the "Computer World." The series was licensed in the United States by DiC Entertainment and released as Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad and ran from 1994-1995. It was one of the series caught in a wave of new children's entertainment in the United States where Japanese footage was spliced with new Western footage.

The last time Gridman was seen was a short produced by Studio Trigger for the Japan Animator Expo, Denkou Choujin Gridman: boys invent great hero in 2015.