After more than 30 years, "S.H.Figuarts (SHINKOCCHOU SEIHOU) THUNDER GRIDMAN" has been commercialized from "Gridman", a work produced by Tsuburaya Productions daction that was broadcast in 1993. Tamashii web shop The order is being accepted until 23:00 on April 26, 2026 (Sun.).
We asked Mr. Hiroyuki Okano, the suit actor at the time, and Mr. Takafumi Kanabuchi, who was involved in the suit design, both of whom cooperated in the development of this product, to share their anecdotes from that time and their impressions of the product.

*The images displayed in the article are of prototypes under development. They may differ from the actual finished product.

■Looking back at the filming of THUNDER GRIDMAN in "Gridman"—

--First, Mr. Okano, could you tell us about any difficulties or memorable experiences you had while filming "GRIDMAN"?

Okano:There were so many things that happened (laughs). Before THUNDER GRIDMAN, there was God Zenon, which was a similar box-shaped suit. Up until then, I had always worn suits that showed the lines of my body, but with God Zenon, I wore a robot suit that was difficult to move in for the first time. After filming a few episodes and getting used to it, I was told that THUNDER GRIDMAN would be coming out, and I thought, "Well, I can probably do this again?" But then the form was different again. THUNDER GRIDMAN had elements that allowed for more movement than God Zenon, such as the knee area of the suit, but this time it had drills and a lot of decorations, so the director instructed me to move more than with God Zenon. I was criticized by the director for GRIDMAN and God Zenon, and just when I thought I was okay, I was criticized again for THUNDER GRIDMAN... It's a work where I only remember being scolded by the director (laughs).

All togetherlol.

Okano:When I tried to move with a bigger motion, the drill would swing due to centrifugal force, and it would take a fraction of a second longer than expected. The opponent's monster suit was also difficult to move in, so there was a difference of a fraction of a second in the timing, and once I switched to the robot suit, I remember that it was difficult to get the OK right away.

—I see! So that video was created after many takes. From watching the video, it looks like there's a lot of movement...

Okano:That's right! So the video was made after they kept saying, "One more time, one more time, one more time." When I saw the finished video, I realized that I had really moved my hips that much, and that it was the first time I had been able to move so much.

—Could you tell us about any particular aspects you focused on when creating the suits back then, and any difficulties you actually encountered?

澗 淵:Since I had just started my own company at the time, I approached this project with the determination to pour all the skills I had honed up to that point into it. Also, I was particularly good at making robot suits. The concept of Ultraman like hero wearing a robot suit was also something new, wasn't it? Mr. Okano mentioned earlier that he had a lot of trouble with the movements (laughs), but we aimed to create something that could move better than previous robot suits. The upper body and shoulders are made to be large, but each part of the body is made to fit as closely as possible to the wearer's body. Despite the design, we ensured a wide range of motion to make it easier to move. I think previous robot suits were probably much bigger and more difficult to work with.

Okano:Yes Yes.

澗 淵:Also, the head has large parts due to its design, so if we made it the normal way, it would become a very large mask, but we adjusted the balance of the face to keep it as small as possible. That being said, unfortunately it still ended up being quite large, but if we actually made the mask to fit GRIDMAN 's head, it would be almost 1.5 times this size. That's why you can see GRIDMAN 's face peeking out from inside, but we made it smaller than the normal GRIDMAN and adjusted the balance to make it look better.
Also, in terms of design, the Thunderjet part on the back is a large piece that extends down to below the waist, but if we made it as is it would restrict the movement of the waist, so we made it smaller. However, it seems that they further refined the movement and made it even smaller on set, so it appears that there were some modifications made on set during actual filming.

—In fact, once you started filming, were there any instances where you thought, "This is hitting the camera, so let's cut it out"?

Okano:Ah, yes, I remember that.

澗 淵:I didn't know about it at the time (laughs). When I looked at the video after it was pointed out to me, it was clear that the balance of the back parts was smaller in the video compared to the photo of when I first made it.

Okano:Well, if it gets in the way of the moving parts on site and makes them difficult to move, then there's the idea of filing it down.

澗 淵:In reality, we check it several times before it's finished, and we have people check the movement before finalizing it. But there's a difference between just standing and moving lightly and actually performing serious action, so those kinds of modifications are quite common.

--Thank you. In that sense, with this SHINKOCCHOU SEIHOU, we were able to recreate THUNDER GRIDMAN as he appeared in the show.

■After more than 30 years, following GRIDMAN, THUNDER GRIDMAN is now being made into a 3D figure using SHINKOCCHOU SEIHOU!

--You were involved in the production of S.H.Figuarts (SHINKOCCHOU SEIHOU) GRIDMAN. What was your impression when the decision was made to commercialize THUNDER GRIDMAN?

澗 淵:From the moment I heard about the possibility of GRIDMAN appearing, I had the desire to continue it as a series. So, when THUNDER GRIDMAN was decided, I was extremely happy. Also, I was really looking forward to seeing how THUNDER GRIDMAN would turn out using the current SHINKOCCHOU SEIHOU.

—Could you share your honest impressions after seeing the actual factory-painted sample?

Okano:This goes beyond the concept of toys our generation could imagine (laughs). I'm very happy that it's made with such care. It's more of an object than anything else; it almost feels a shame to play with it.

—I'm very happy to hear you say that. But I hope you'll have a lot of fun playing it (laughs).

Okano:That's right (laughs).

澗 淵:I've seen it several times during the process, and I was very satisfied with the finished product, but as you can see, the closest thing to the final product has even better surface detail and marking precision. The gold parts on the chest have a really nice color, so it looks even more luxurious than the real thing (laughs).

All togetherlol.

澗 淵:Also, regarding the drill part that we were talking about earlier. The actual suit didn't have the "drill break" structure incorporated into it, but THUNDER GRIDMAN made using SHINKOCCHOU SEIHOU incorporates that effect, making it look even more like a suit than the actual suit, and I'm very satisfied with it.

--Thank you. When creating the three-dimensional THUNDER GRIDMAN using SHINKOCCHOU SEIHOU, we initially planned to reproduce the distinctive patterns through sculpting, but you kindly agreed to allow us to incorporate the original suit's expression techniques into the figure and reproduce them using tampo printing, which allowed us to further improve the level of accuracy.

澗 淵:Well, I was just worried about how well they could reproduce such intricate patterns at this size (laughs). Since pad printing doesn't allow for shadows, the way they've used fine dots to create gradients is really well done.

—Reproducing the details, especially on the curved surface of the drill, using this many pad prints was an unprecedented challenge in the history of our Collectors Division.

澗 淵:The shadows are just right. Really. The caterpillar tracks are also very well reproduced. It's a shame that this doesn't come across well in the photos.

――There were opportunities to exhibit THUNDER GRIDMAN 's suits at events such as the anime "SSSS. GRIDMAN", so we dared to stick to the way the suits were expressed this time, assuming that users would also receive the attention to detail of the suits made by Mr. Kanbuchi at the time.

澗 淵:Yes, that's right. They've really recreated the suits from that era perfectly. I doubt we'll see anything comparable or even better in the future.

--When you created the previous work "S.H.Figuarts (SHINKOCCHOU SEIHOU) GRIDMAN", we adjusted the balance of each part based on the body data we scanned of Mr. Okano. How do you feel about the reproducibility of the design from the skeleton when you actually see it?

Okano:The form is really cool! Putting my own body aside (laughs). In terms of size with a person inside, it's slender, or rather, it's really well-made and looks great.

—Compared to GRIDMAN, I thought THUNDER GRIDMAN was taller and bulkier than I expected.

Okano:In reality, the difference was about this big.

--So, could you please actually touch the factory-painted sample and tell us your impressions?

澗 淵:The range of motion is about the same as a real suit.

Okano:Exactly! I remember how difficult it was when I wanted to stay still because it was hard to move, but then I'd get told to move more because my knees could move (laughs).

澗 淵:The hip joints and arm joints are exactly as in S.H.Figuarts (SHINKOCCHOU SEIHOU) GRIDMAN, plus the slight difficulty in moving due to the armor has been well reproduced. Some fans may wish for a little more movement, but the actual suit could only move so far, so in a sense it is very realistic, including that.

--Thank you. As you mentioned, during the design phase we did consider creating a highly poseable THUNDER GRIDMAN, incorporating features like pull-out joints, similar to those found in typical robot figures. However, we decided to use SHINKOCCHOU SEIHOU Seihou GRIDMAN as the base and then add restrictions to the articulation by layering sculpting on top of it, as this would better recreate a sense of realism. That's how we arrived at the current specifications.

澗 淵:In that sense, it's great that when you move it, it takes on the same pose as in the show. If I had to point out a difference, the range of motion of the neck is greater than that of the suit. With the suit, you can only really turn it sideways (laughs).

--Speaking of posing, do you have a favorite THUNDER GRIDMAN pose, Okano-san?

Okano:I can't help but compare it to God Zenon, but that one had a boxy design, so no matter what I did, it was hard to get it to look right. THUNDER GRIDMAN 's joints are articulated, so it can strike normal poses, and it's also tall and bulky, so even though it's difficult, the wider I spread its legs, the more stable it looks and the cooler it seems. Spreading the legs wide rather than bringing them together actually makes it less stable, but it looks cooler, so I think I ended up striking a lot of those kinds of poses.

澗 淵:That's right, it's a pose where you spread your legs really wide and lower your hips.

Okano:Spreading my legs and lowering my hips actually makes me less stable, but I also wanted to look cool, so I did my best to stay as stable as possible without falling over.

—Were there any particular difficulties you encountered during the supervision process, Mr. Kanbuchi?

澗 淵:Personally, I was okay with it from a fairly early stage, so I was actually surprised that they were still being so particular! More than anything, I just wanted them to release the product sooner (laughs).

--We had already supervised the coloring of a prototype with the pattern sculpted in detail, but then we changed our approach and decided to use pad printing, so we apologize for the inconvenience caused by having to rush the process again for supervision.

澗 淵:No, I didn't feel any stress about that at all. It was just like, "Oh, they're printing it." But this actually took several years from the start to the present, didn't it?

--Yes. When designing GRIDMAN, we had to consider how it would work together to some extent and then start designing THUNDER GRIDMAN, so it took about two to three years.

澗 淵:That said, that's a lot longer than the normal development time for SHINKOCCHOU SEIHOU and S.H.Figuarts.

—That's a long time! Normally, it takes about a year and a half from the start of creating the prototype to completion, so even a simple calculation shows that it's taking about twice as long.

澗 淵:They put so much effort into it that we actually started to worry about whether the cost was okay, and as someone who actually made the suits, we are very grateful. We are happy that they are doing it with so much love. On the other hand, we feel sorry that it is such a lot of work for them.

--Thank you. Next, could you comment on the optional parts?

Okano:It's really well done, even down to the smallest details. I'm glad back then that I only had a closed fist (laughs). If I had, they would have given me a sword, so it was good that the suit remained a closed fist (laughs).

All togetherlol.

澗 淵:When it comes to robotic suits, you have to make the fists big and strong to maintain balance, so it's difficult to make suits with movable fingers. There have been suits like that in the past, but you can't really deviate from the size of a human hand, so if you want it to be able to hold a sword, the hands end up being small. That's why I think it's good that figures allow you to expand on things that weren't possible with actual suits.

--Thank you. The weapon parts were originally made for GRIDMAN, but we made many adjustments to ensure that they could be held properly without distorting the impression of THUNDER GRIDMAN 's large hands.

澗 淵:A robot's appeal is ultimately determined by whether or not it's given a sword.

--Some parts of THUNDER GRIDMAN are removable, allowing you to enjoy unique play possibilities with the figure by combining them with the previously released GRIDMAN.

澗 淵:If GRIDMAN were to be made today, this kind of idea might have come up. Back then, just wearing the costume was groundbreaking.

—As for ways to enjoy the figures, you can display them side-by-side, like Ultraman and GRIDMAN, or Ultraman Tiga and THUNDER GRIDMAN, based on the collaboration visual that was recently announced.

Okano:I went to that filming location, and it felt strange being together in places where we couldn't possibly cross paths (laughs). But he still remembers me, so I feel honored to have been able to co-star with Ultraman!

--Finally, please give a message to everyone who is looking forward to S.H.Figuarts (SHINKOCCHOU SEIHOU) THUNDER GRIDMAN.

Okano:I'm so happy that GRIDMAN and THUNDER GRIDMAN, characters from 32 years ago, have been brought to life as figures that can perfectly recreate the movements of the original suits. I hope people will pick them up and enjoy playing with them while imagining what the suits were like back then.

澗 淵:This figure is a truly faithful reproduction of the suit from that era, so I think you'll definitely regret it if you don't buy it later. I really hope you'll get your hands on one. It's a figure that looks like it jumped right out of the movie, so I hope you'll enjoy playing with it to your heart's content.

--Thank you for today.

> "S.H.Figuarts (SHINKOCCHOU SEIHOU) THUNDER GRIDMAN" order page

> TAMASHII WEB S.H.Figuarts (SHINKOCCHOU SEIHOU) special pages

©円谷プロ

* The images displayed in the article are of prototypes. They may differ from the actual finished product.