What Is This Wavering Emotion? (揺れ動く気持ちって、なに？, Yureugoku kimochi tte, nani?) is the eighth episode of the SSSS.DYNAZENON.
Monster of the week: Zaiohn (ザイオーン, Zaiōn)
Synopsis[]
A Kaiju spreads confusion throughout the city. Gauma and the others make their first attempt to capture a Kaiju.[1]
Summary[]
The episode begins with Shizumu stumbling upon three young boys surrounding a strange, multicolored small creature by the riverside he then dismisses as a failed kaiju, leading it to crawl away from them. Shortly afterwards, Gauma is awakened from his nap by something tickling his face. Dismissing it to be a stray cat nearby at first, nearby mothers' teasing of him prompts Gauma to check on his face through his smartphone only to see much of its color had been changed in bizarre way possible.
At Earth Cable Network, Yomogi and Yume meet the building's manager for the information of Futaba Senda in which they are informed that he already quit for quite a while. Upon being inquired by Yomogi whether he still has the man's contact info, the manager states that they still have it, but it is technically a private information. Even so, they managed to get the contact nonetheless as we later see Yomogi reassuring Yume that Futaba will answer her message eventually while the two are sitting together in a bus. Yomogi then awkwardly asks Yume whether she wanted to go somewhere with him in that meantime before Gauma phones them about his situation.
Meanwhile, Koyomi is skipping stones at the school he and Inamoto used to enroll at together. Though he apparently had since moved on, part of him still hurt because he turned out have squandered the chance to be with her all those years ago. We then shown another flashback of the two's past which explained why Koyomi fled from Inamoto when the latter showed her the content of her ominous-looking back. Inside of it was a huge amount of money with Inamoto too greedy to care from where the bag came from; the only thing that mattered for her at that time was sharing the money with Koyomi as they spent it for everything they wanted together. Thus, the reason why he ran was because he was too wary with the prospect of the money being originally acquired via. robbery or similar crime. Just then, Chise phoned him to inform that Gauma called them for an emergency meeting. With that, he departs for Gauma's residence, leaving the building behind which turned out patched with colors in.
In the rather awkward meeting due to Gauma's predicament, the former Kaiju Eugenicist stresses that they have a kaiju on the loose since it already showcased its power (partially warping colors of things it comes across) as they speak; not just his face and the aforementioned school, parts of the bridge he lived at being affected as well. Chise suggests that they should catch the beast while it still nearby upon hearing Gauma's deduction of it being smaller than those before it. Nevertheless, Gauma warns that they must not lower their guard though, or else they got their color warped as well.
Though winced by Gauma's embarrassing situation, Yomogi is still uncertain whether there are kaiju with such power until he and Yume find the creature near a number of junks by the river; a vaguely white and crimson salamander-like creature with long flat head that sports a pair of protruding crab-like eyes and mouth with multiple ribbon-like tongues beneath, limbs made of ribbon/wires, and fake head on the tip of the tail. Yomogi wastes no time to approach it so he could think of the way to ambush it while Yume reports to Gauma through her phone only to see it comically fell flat on its face before he could think of one. As baffled as he was, Yomogi nonetheless wastes no time to secure the small creature which Yume almost remarking it cute.
Soon after, the rest of the group show up to meet Yomogi and Yume with the creature has been tied up. Gauma attempts to kill the creature because of its destructive potential, but Yomogi stops him since he wonders whether kaiju like it only wreaking havoc because of Eugenicists' influence. Seeing the others also have their own share of points (Yume thinks killing it while it still small being a cruel idea while Koyomi and Chise state that it only warping colors so far), Gauma changes his mind and decides to try to control it instead with his Instance Domination to no avail. Hilariously, his friends attempt to do the same thing starting from Chise and Koyomi who do so no serious enough (Gauma states that one requires constant training to fully master it like he used to be). When it's eventually Yomogi's turn, however, the small kaiju unexpectedly stands still as if it fell under his control, though that only lasted for a moment or so, much to his friends's mild astonishment. As soon as he dismisses it as a tough luck, Yomogi suddenly experienced a vision of something akin to pebble with roots growing from it like a seed surrounded by neon lies, leaving him confused. Eventually, Gauma decides to keep it with him for a time being.
As per Shizumu's suggestion, Kaiju Eugenicists decide to have fun at a sports center called Ground the One instead of looking for kaiju as usual. Juuga is least thrilled by such idea out of prospect the better kaiju appeared without delay as much as mildly surprised by the improvement in the dynamic between Onija and Mujina that they flatly denied at the same time.
Just then, Gridknight Alliance duo show up upon the group's discovery and share them everything the two know about kaiju in general. Drawing a doodle of kaiju on the concrete pavement near Gauma's residence as part of her lecture, Nidaime explains that every kaiju has a source that had been purposely scattered around possibly by Kaiju Eugenicists as Gauma suspected, explaining their frequent attacks so far. Knight adds through the same source, kaiju come to being and grow by feeding on human emotions. Such tidbits pleasantly surprised Gauma who reveals that kaiju users don't need to know the origin of kaiju under their control. Gridknight Alliance duo remarks the small size of kaiju in Dynazenon pilots' custody being incomplete as much as the human whose negative emotions it feed on, but nonetheless still dangerous if it eventually grows. Gauma reassures that he will watch over it just in case, a decision Knight agrees despite his doubts.
Back to Kaiju Eugenicists, the group continues having fun until very late with Juuga plagued by doubts whether they should loose up a bit at the moment. Meanwhile, Gauma is reminiscing about his female benefactor who turned out to be a kind princess who gentle towards living beings.
On the next day, Gauma finds the small kaiju has escaped its cage and rally his fellow Dynazenon pilots to find it after awkwardly inform them of their situation. Kaiju Eugenicists are definitely have no part in this turn of events, as they set out to watch a movie instead, much to Onija and Juuga's dismay. As they do, the pilots split up in their search each exploring different corners of the city affected by the escaped kaiju's power. Back to Kaiju Eugenicists, they see the theatre features one of its latest movies, Tarabaman.
While continuing the search, Yomogi cross-paths with Knight and informs him of their situation along with his uncertainty regarding kaiju he and his friends encountered so far in the light of information the latter and Nidaime shared to them. Somewhat begrudgingly, Knight decides to help. As Chise complains about her smartphone's low battery at the mall while she and Yume search the building and Kaiju Eugenicists enjoying their movie, Knight explains to Yomogi that there are indeed two types of kaiju; the first being mindless yet destructive monstrosities that would likely fool them and the other sentient beings with heart, citing himself belonged to the latter before advising Yomogi not to hesitate against hostile kaiju should it proved to be a legitimate threat. That is when Gauma phones Yomogi that he and Koyomi have located the beast, now grown into titanic size.
Shortly after enlarging their respective Dynazenon component, Gauma attempts to obliterate the kaiju with Dynadiver's Burst Missile, but is stopped by Koyomi who points out he cannot do so without causing collateral damage. Koyomi then attempts to lull it to the outskirts of the city with Dynastriker's hands, but the plan failed comically as the kaiju unexpectedly grabs Dynastriker and shakes it around like a baby who doesn't know how to properly play with toy cars. In the ensuing chaos, Chise and Yume got separated by the panicked crowd that indirectly dragged the latter with them as they evacuate from the kaiju's destructive path. Yomogi and Knight eventually located the kaiju as well and step into action, but not before the latter reminds the former not to hesitate and asks to lend him Dynasoldier's power.
Knight transforms into Gridknight while Yomogi enlarges Dynasoldier at the same time. To Yomogi's pleasant surprise, Dynasoldier reacts to Knight's Hyper Agent form by reconfiguring into a massive cannon he wields, Dynamic Cannon! Before he and Gridknight could aim at the beast, Chise, who managed to sneak out of the mall, cries out to Yomogi that Yume is still trapped inside. To make matter worse, when he manages to contact Yume through his smartphone, Yomogi learns his girlfriend lost Dynawing in the ensuing chaos as the beast begins to climb atop the mall, further panicking the terrified crowd that she wind up lost her phone as well. Recalling how he seemingly influenced the kaiju with Instance Domination, Yomogi decides to try it one again in a bid to make it an easy target for both him and Gridknight. The attempt barely succeeds, but nonetheless managed to get its attention unlike the previous one leading Gridknight exclaims that they should attack at the moment. The kaiju doesn't stop right there, as its suddenly opens its mouth wide to reveal a huge, bulging eye within to see into Yomogi's soul in response. Horrified at first, Yomogi steels his resolve by charging Dynamic Cannon, leading Gridknight to pull its trigger to unleash a concentrated fiery beam that pulverized the kaiju in one blast as Shizumu watches.
The victory appears to be bittersweet for Yomogi, both because of his newfound Instance Domination skill and the kaiju's reaction when he used the ability on it. Yume meets up with the rest of the group and Gridknight Alliance as the sun sets, apologizing for losing Dynawing in the midst of chaos but managed to recover it quickly since it didn't stolen unlike Koyomi's. Gridknight Alliance part ways from Dynazenon pilots once again, but not before Knight punching Gauma at the gut for his part in their troubles. Gauma has no hard feelings to Knight for it since he deserved it, but Yomogi argues that it's his fault instead for suggesting to spare it out of his own doubts. Yomogi also felt he didn't do his job better due to being faltered, but Gauma nonetheless reassured it not to be the case as kaiju are kaiju to begin with. Meanwhile, Onija happily talks with Juuga and Mujina about their latest movie while Shizumu looks on, indicating him deliberately distracted his comrades from finding out that their next kaiju being a lost cause.
While on board of bus, Yume praises Yomogi for his part in saving her along with everyone else in the mall from the kaiju, though Yomogi argues it was Gridknight who did most of the deed. Finding their current situation paralleled to the yesterday afternoon yet their position switched, Yume decides to do the same thing Yomogi did; asking to go somewhere. This time, however, it is Yume who comes up with the answer of her own; "Anywhere is fine." This answer pleasantly surprises Yomogi as the episode ends.
Characters in Order of Appearance[]
Gallery[]
Voice Drama[]
- 8.8: Just Saying the Facts (事実を言ったまで, Jijitsu o itta made)[2][3]
- The 2nd meets up with Knight and Yomogi while they look for the escaped Kaiju. Yomogi asks about the relationship between the two of them but is unable to get a satisfying answer and frequently gets his arm hurt by Knight.
Trivia[]
- The episode fulfills a purpose very similar to Episode 6 and in lesser extent Episode 3 in SSSS.GRIDMAN:
- It involves Anosillus the 2nd revealing the true nature of attacking kaiju to protagonists.
- The episode shows one of protagonists becomes hesitant to destroy the attacking kaiju due to its apparent sentience before getting over it eventually (Yuta becomes faltered in his and Gridman's first battle against Anti who reveals his sentience just as Yomogi felt the same way when the seemingly harmless kaiju becomes a major problem later on).
- The episode also reveals that Instance Domination, the ability to mentally control kaiju, can be learned by anyone and mastered through training, though only those with sufficient aptitude in it can master it at its fullest. Out of Gauma's comrades, Yomogi alone has an aptitude for it.