天下制覇

Oh, I guess that fixes everything then.

Impressions:

So, how are we going to wrap up this trainwreck? Well, Lexi and Gridman are going to have a punchup, and when the latter gets punched, that fixes literally everything. As in it sends a shockwave out that restores the entire globe to how it's supposed to be. Oh, did we mention that? I guess it wasn't really a simulacrum after all, nor was Akane a god, nor any of the random billion things it claimed in the past. That city in the sky was just, you know, nonsense. Akane was being used as a conduit for a global-remake into a computer-like monster world where… you know what, forget it. But wait, it can get stupider, because we end with a live action shot of a random girl waking up from a dream. Probably a reference to something that a real Gridman fan could tell you what, but hell if I know. It comes off like the whole thing was just Akane's… Live Action Akane's… dream and the world they saved never existed at all.

I guess at least Akane died… probably. Unless that was meant to be her waking up at the end. Abruptly disappearing ain't exactly a dead body. Obviously, they played it off as the murderous psychopath who was sad because she was no longer able to murder without compunction or reprecussions was a tragic figure that we should feel sad for. Yeah, I don't remember a redemption arc for her either. Nobody else had any kind of resolution to anything. Gridman flew back off into space, but not really. The sidekicks all reaffirmed their friendship just so they could go sit on their thumbs for the final punchup. That one monster girl came back to attaboy Anti. Also his eyes show that he's become half Earthling, half alien or something? God, who even knows. And then it was a dream. The end.

Final Thoughts:

I'm tempted to start with "leaving the convoluted mess of a main plot aside," but that's incredibly difficult. It makes no goddamned sense, and since the characters spend the lion's share of their time twiddling their thumbs, waiting for something to happen or for someone to come by and dump out increasingly nonsensical exposition on them, you can't ignore it. Not a single protagonist takes a proactive role in doing anything, and most of them do nothing but shout "Yay Gridman" or "Yay Akane," the latter being completely inexplicable since she at no point shows a single redeeming quality. That makes for a corny yet potentially fun antagonist, right up until they start trying to make you empasize with a remorseless serial killer. They throw out the excuse "we were made to act without regard to logic or sense," but that just makes it even worse.

On top of that, the protagonists never really struggle. Every single time they enter a fight, they win, usually by attaching one of a half dozen random extra attachments to themselves. When they don't, it's because the fight started five minutes into the episode, but even that only happens once or twice, and against Random Monster of the Week. There was never a real threat to Gridman, and instead of building up Akane as an increasingly cornered and desperate threat as the finale approached, or Alexis as a dangerous mastermind, it was tearing her down and all but ignoring him, leading to a conclusion that was just "Gridman punches another dude," which changes the fabric of reality. No, wait, restores the fabric of reality. No, wait, I need a drink.