Gridman Universe Anime Film Unveils Visual, Returning Cast, 2023 Premiere
Tsuburaya Productions and Trigger revealed at the "SSSS.GRIDMAN×SSSS.DYNAZENON Special Night" event in Tokyo on Friday that the new Gridman Universe anime film will open in 2023. The film's official website unveiled returning cast members and a visual with Yuta Hibiki from SSSS.GRIDMAN.
The returning cast from SSSS.GRIDMAN and SSSS.DYNAZENON includes:
- Hikaru Midorikawa as Gridman
- Yūya Hirose as Yūta Hibiki
- Yume Miyamoto as Rikka Takarada
- Sōma Saitō as Shō Utsumi
- Junya Enoki as Yomogi Asanaka
- Shion Wakayama as Yume Minami
- Yuichiro Umehara as Koyomi Yamanaka
- Chika Anzai as Chise Asukagawa
The visual on the right features Gridman and Dynarex together.
Akira Amemiya is returning to direct the film at studio Trigger. Other returning staff members include scriptwriter Keiichi Hasegawa, character designer Masaru Sakamoto, and composer Shiro Sagisu.
The SSSS.Gridman anime was the first anime in the "Gridman Universe." The 12-episode series premiered in October 2018. The anime was a collaboration between the anime studio Trigger and Tsuburaya Productions — the creator of the Ultraman franchise and the original 1993-1994 live-action tokusatsu (special-effects) series Denkō Chōjin Gridman. Crunchyroll and Funimation streamed the anime as it aired, and Funimation also streamed an English dub for the anime.
The SSSS.Dynazenon anime premiered in April 2021. Funimation streamed the anime as it aired in Japan. The anime is listed as being part of the "Gridman Universe." The anime ended in June 2021 with a teaser card for the "Next Gridman Universe" and the words "Gridman x Dynazemon.
Tokusatsu studio Tsuburaya Productions produced a live-action video series titled "Gridknight Fight" for the Blu-ray Disc and DVD home video releases of SSSS.Dynazenon, with one episode for each of the four home video volumes. The home video volumes of SSSS.Dynazenon shipped in June, July, September, and October 2021, respectively.
The franchise has also inspired a stage play adaptation, a manga adaptation, multiple manga spinoffs, and a novel spinoff. The stage play was slated for spring 2020 but was canceled due to the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
Sources: Gridman Universe anime film's website, Comic Natalie, MoCa News