Defeat

Defeat (敗・北, *Haiboku*) is the third episode of *SSSS.GRIDMAN*.

Monster of the week: Anti

## Summary

The episode starts off with Akane Shinjo and Anti standing in the rain. Akane wishes Anti good luck and telling him she has hopes for him, and hands him a plastic bag of food.

As Rikka Takarada goes outside, ready to go to school, she looks at the pouring sky, and states she wants to skip that day.

Yuta Hibiki comments that the city has been destroyed and restored twice, with civilians taking no notice of the events. He also states he hasn't gotten his memories back, and feels out of place. His train of thought is interrupted by Sho Utsumi, who startles him and points out Samurai Calibur outside the window, standing in front of their school. Yuta then notices that Rikka isn't at school. She has actually decided to skip, and goes to Kamesan Park, where she runs into Anti.

Back at school, Yuta contemplates calling Rikka, but Sho taps the call button on his phone before he can decide. Rikka's phone goes off in her pocket, but she avoids answering. Sho makes a comment about how kaiju might actually be humans, causing Yuta great distress at the thought that he killed people as Gridman. Sho then exclaims it was a joke, to Yuta's disapproval. Their teacher enters, and Hass and Namiko point out that Rikka is absent.

Back at Kamesan Park, Rikka notices that Anti is eating the food Akane gave him very hungrily, and is without an umbrella, so she walks over and asks if he needs an umbrella. She then offers him her lunch as well, but as he is about to take it, Anti's phone goes off. Akane calls him, telling him to "go wild".

Anti transforms into a kaiju, causing Yuta's sensor to activate. As the rest of the class is gathered around and making a commotion at the appearance of a kaiju, Calibur comes in through the window, shattering the glass. He picks up Yuta and Sho, and jumps out the window with them. The three navigate through the city, and land in front of Rikka, who is also picked up. The four go to Rikka's shop, so Gridman can fight the kaiju.

The fight between Gridman and Anti is very one-sided, since Yuta is worried that he might be hurting another person. Rikka urges Calibur to turn into a sword again in order to support Gridman, but both Yuta and Calibur are defeated, and presumed dead. Akane shows great joy and excitement as she was able to kill Gridman, and as the city is restored once again, Yuta and Calibur are nowhere to be found. Rikka and Sho decide to stop by the Hibiki household before heading to school, but Rikka worries that he might be dead, just like Tonkawa and Toiko.

After school, the two mope around at the shop, and Sho makes the decision to disband the Gridman Alliance. They start to argue, but are interrupted by Borr entering the shop, along with several other people. They tell Rikka to contact Yuta if she is so worried, so she calls him. To their delight, Gridman, Yuta, and Calibur turned out to be still alive with Gridman just have recovered from the battle: The three turned out had faked their deaths and intentionally remained inside the seemingly inactive Junk in hopes of ambushing Anti, much to Borr's dismay as Anti doesn't reappear at all that Calibur decided to exit the Junk. With Calibur now reunited with the strangers that turned out to be his fellow Assist Weapons, the largest Assist Weapon, Max, told Gridman through the Junk that they had gathered and asked whether he can fight. To Sho and Rikka's delight, the hyper agent revealed that he has recovered and makes his move for another round.

Meanwhile, Alexis told Akane that Gridman is still alive and has appeared, prompting her to contact Anti to deal with the hyper agent. A second fight between Anti and Gridman ensued, but once again the kaiju swiftly overpowered him. This time however, the heroes are better prepared: Transforming into his Assist Weapon form, Battle Tracto Max, Max enters the battle and fires his Tanker Cannons on Anti, temporarily disoriented him long enough for both him and Gridman to combine via. "Heracles Combine: Max Gridman". With his new form, Gridman fight Anti in equal terms where they even use Max Grid Beam counter Anti's mega beam attack. The fight ends in stalmate, but Gridman wins by default due to Anti ran out of time and reduced into his human form, having reached his limit.

Yuta returns to the shop, and as they reunite, Gridman introduces the others as being part of the Neon Genesis Junior High Students.

Back in front of Akane's, Akane and Anti stand in the rain again. Akane has another bag of food, but instead of offering it to Anti, she throws it at him.

## Characters in Order of Appearance

* Akane Shinjo
* Anti
* Rikka Takarada
* Yuta Hibiki
* Sho Utsumi
* Samurai Calibur
* Hass
* Namiko
* Gridman
* Rikka's Mother
* Borr

## Voice Drama

* **3.3: But the truth is (でもでも本当は, *Demo demo hontō wa)*)**
	+ Namiko and Hass tease Yuta, Rikka and Utsumi because of their recent interactions.