I’ve decided to make a larger and more explanatory post about the relationship between SSSS.Gridman and a yuri-themed web novella written by director Akira Amemiya titled “The uniform from a school I don’t recognize” and the reason I find it all so cool.
Back in late May 2017, Trigger director and animator Akira Amemiya published a yuri themed web novella , “The uniform from a school I don’t recognize”, on his Twitter account:
https://twitter.com/infernocop/status/868348558692425728
http://ncode.syosetu.com/n9623dz/
Note that by this point Gridman hadn’t even been announced. They were working on it, sure, but it hadn’t been revealed to the public.
He also drew a few extra illustrations depicting the characters: https://twitter.com/infernocop/status/870144750317322240
https://twitter.com/infernocop/status/870900136167129088
Here is a brief summary of the novella’s characters:
The protagonist of the novella is Furuta Ako (古間亜子). Ako is a girl that’s a bit shy and isn’t very good with relationships. When people get too close to her too quickly, she feels uncomfortable. That’s the reason why she dresses like an old-school delinquent girl. She bleached her hair blonde and wears flashy clothing, like a colorful jacket, so other people don’t approach her carelessly. Ako dislikes people that judge others by their appearance, so she is fine if others avoid her if they think she is a troublemaker due to the way in which she dresses. Ako doesn’t have that many friends in school. However, there is someone that she really appreciates and who spends a lot of time with her: Ramo Marusa, better known among their classmates as Maru-san. The person that started calling Ramo with the Maru-san nickname was Ako, but she stopped using it after everyone else in the class started to call her that way so now she calls her Ramo. Ako is explicitly in love with Ramo/Maru-san, she actually thinks to herself that she’d love to ask Ramo out and be her girlfriend, although she doesn’t dare to do it.
Ramo Marusa (丸佐蘭萌), called Ramo by Ako and Maru-san (まるさん) by the rest of the class, is a “perfect girl”, at least in Ako’s eyes. Maru-san is pretty, does well in school, is talented and participates in multiple clubs. So, Maru-san is busy all day: clubs, studying and everything else. Even then, it seems like she always has time to spend with Ako. As the story progresses, Ako’s love for Ramo/Maru-san is deepened as she discovers things about Ramo that she didn’t imagine. After clearing up certain misunderstanding, Ako learns that Ramo has difficult family life and that she is working hard at a part-time job in a shogi cafe, even if it’s against school rules. The novella ends without Ako actually confessing her love, but there is a sense of intimacy as they hold hands under the rain, with Ako thinking that Ramo is beautiful, and agree to go to Tokyo Disneyland together.
This is roughly “The uniform from a school I don’t recognize” as it was published back in May 2017. How is it connected to Gridman? They’re Akane’s friends. Yep, Ako and Ramo are two girls Akane is seen together with in episodes 1 and 3: a blond yankee-ish girl with a colorful jacked and a brown-haired straightforward girl. Their designs match the illustrations Akira Amemiya, director of Gridman, drew back in 2017. That’s not all, though. In the web novella, it is mentioned that Ako and Ramo are in class 1E. Exactly like the cast in Gridman. It is also said that Ramo is friends with a girl that’s as talented and smart as her, even if she is never named in the web novella, in retrospect that’s clearly Akane.
Of course, what really sealed the deal is that Ako and Ramo were both credited in the cast of episode 3. Ramo was credited as まるさん (Maru-san, her nickname) and Ako was credited as 古間 (Furuta, her last name), confirming that the Ako and the Ramo from the novella are indeed Akane’s friends.
Anyway, I find this really cool because I found the novella last year. Realizing that it was connected to Gridman all along is kinda wild. Like an ARG clue that suddenly clicks and makes sense. It also adds depth to the Gridman setting and its characters. So, the next time you see Akane’s friends in the background, remember that they also have personalities and their own stories.
If there is interest, I’ll see if I can get the web novella translated.