Grendizer U ep #6 Review: A canvas of various colors

Perhaps it is not an exaggeration to say that animation is the most important part of an anime series. This factor directly affects the audience’s experience. An anime series with beautiful, smooth, meaningful images is always highly appreciated and attracts viewers, while an anime series with bad animation often gives bad impression. That’s why I have mixed feelings towards Grendizer U, because the animation of the first four episodes isn’t very appealing. But episode 5 surprised me with a significant improvement in the opening’s visuals. And episode 6 doubled that surprise, with an animation outburst.
My biggest impression with this episode is the rich animation styles it brings. From the unusual looks of the main characters, Gandal’s facial gestures, the semi-realistic looks of the Norwegian people, to the 2D animations of the robots, it’s all filled with life and personality. This is due to all of the episode’s special guests, among them veteran animators and people who participated in the UFO Robot Grendizer anime such as Chiharu Sato, Hideyuki Motohashi and Kazuhide Tomonaga, and even today’s famous animators like Hirotoshi Sano (seems like he was the one who animated all the 2D Mecha cuts in the episode, this is just my guess based on director Shun Kudo’s tweet).
The animation sequence of the main characters right after the opening is very good, the characters are drawn in a very cute art style and I really wish that the rest of the anime would be animated in that style. The 2D animated Mecha battle scenes are both pleasing to Super Robot fans and look great. Although the movement is not too impressive, the Kanada-inspired shadow, highlight, proportions, effects, and impact frames (probably) by Hirotoshi Sano really satisfy me. Besides, Chiharu Sato’s direction is also extremely sharp: at the climax of the episode, viewers can see Terona’s anger and feelings of betrayal, through Aquadizer’s crying face ( Haruka Tomatsu’s praise worthy acting also contributed to heightening the emotions in this scene).
Regarding the plot of the episode, very little happened in this episode: it was simply Terona confronting Duke and Duke using rizz no jutsu to (almost) charm her. The funny thing is, even though the characters at the Photon lab know about Cassado’s escape, they continue to ignore Hikaru’s absence lol.
Episode 6 of Grendizer U really explodes with its guest animators and collaborations with Studio Z. The episode is a beautiful tribute to the generation of animators of the 70s, especially Studio Z animators who made iconic Mecha animations that inspired generations to come. The episode also serves as a mini exhibition, displaying a variety of styles from many different animators. After this episode, Grendizer U has all of my support again, making me hope that future episodes will be as special as this.

//Getter Andy//
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