Denkou Choujin Gridman, translated into English as Lightning Superman Gridman, is a Japanese tokusatsu “Giant Hero” series by Tsuburaya Productions, the producers of Ultraman. The show ran from 1993 to 1994. It was the inspiration and source material for DiC Entertainment’s Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad. This would be Tsuburaya’s last non-Ultra superhero production before Bio Planet WoO. Shot on live video, Gridman was the first series by Tsuburaya Productions to utilize D-2 digital video for its special effects scenes, allowing for smoother slow-motion photography. Tsuburaya, having switched to digital techniques since then, would continue to use D-2 for all future productions.