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Crunchyroll Adds Gridman Universe Film, Girls Band Cry Anime in India
posted on by Adriana Hazra
Crunchyroll will also stream the SSSS.DYNAZENON Grand Episode compilation film on December 12 at 8:00 p.m. EDT in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East, CIS, India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, and the Maldives.
The Gridman Universe film opened in Japan in March 2023. The film screened in 151 theaters, and had the highest per-screen average revenue for films that screened in more than 100 theaters in its opening weekend.
The film stars a returning cast from SSSS.GRIDMAN and SSSS.DYNAZENON.
Akira Amemiya returned 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. SSSS.GRIDMAN's compilation film opened in Japan in January 2023.
SSSS.DYNAZENON premiered in April 2021 and aired for 12 episodes. The SSSS.Dynazenon television anime's compilation film opened in March 2023 and ranked at #1 on the mini-theater rankings for the weekend.
Toei Animation released the anime in English digitally in North America and describes its story:
The main character drops out of high school in her second year, and aims at entering a university while working alone in Tokyo. A girl is betrayed by her friends and doesn't know what to do. Another girl is abandoned by her parents, and tries to survive in the city by doing part-time jobs. This world lets us down all the time. Nothing goes as planned. But we want something that we can continue to like. We believe there's a place where we belong. That's why we sing.
Kazuo Sakai (Love Live! Sunshine!!, Mushi-Uta) directed the anime at Toei Animation. Jukki Hanada (Love Live! Sunshine!!) handled the series composition. nari Teshima designed the characters. Mari Kondō and Jae Hoon Jung were the CGI directors. Kenji Tamai (agehasprings, Sing "Yesterday" for Me, Samurai Flamenco) composed the music. Yūsuke Tanaka (agehasprings) was credited for music accompaniment.
The anime is getting a two-film compilation.
Indonesia's Catchplay+ streaming service began streaming the anime on May 31 with both Indonesian and English subtitles, making it the first service anywhere in the world to have English subtitles officially available for the anime. Thai distributor Cartoon Club announced in late June it would begin streaming the anime in July, and the anime will have a Thai dub, making the stream the first announced international dub for the title.
The staff announced in July that cast members Mirei and Natsu are going on a temporary hiatus due to health reasons. The remaining three main cast members — Rina, Yuri, and Syuri — will continue performing.
Sources: Crunchyroll, Email correspondence
