Hai to Gensou no Grimgar

This is a spoiler-free review.

Hai to Gensou no Grimgar is a rather unique watch. Shows throughout time have had a tendency to force characters from 0 to a 100 in an unrealistic time frame. This often pertains to the widespread demands of instant gratification. Hai to Gensou no Grimgar challenges these demands by emphasising the natural growth of characters: step by step characters are built through every interaction with the plot. Closely observing this and the plot is paramount as to not miss the abundance of implicit detail dedicated to their development and characterisation. Due to this profound nature of the show, reflection is commonplace and as such, the watch is recommended for anyone who enjoys reading pensively into things.

An inherent feature of Hai to Gensou no Grimgar is its large main cast. There’s a greater emphasis on characterising and developing the group as opposed to the individuals; however, it is decently balanced between the group and the individuals such that neither don’t feel completely neglected; the viewers are briefly enlightened on their individual daily lives (roles, recreation, style of living etc.) and personalities. This opportunity to learn about how each character interacts with the group is one of Hai to Gensou no Grimgar best point. Note this orientates Hai to Gensou no Grimgar more towards those who are interested in group development.

The show starts off on a weaker foot but eventually progresses superbly, making it worth the watch if the initial set of annoyances can be endured. Such is also true for the pacing, as it evolves into superbness. Though, it is sometimes deemed ‘slow’, but slow is not bad. It is only when it is incongruously or meaninglessly slow it can be considered such. In this case, the creators have done a superb job at pacing the show such that the story and characters (development and characterisation) are often progressing and the right mood is established. Also, the isn't show is absolutely slow. Explicitly it might seem so but when explored implicitly, there is profoundness behind most interactions and moments (plot-wise and character-wise). Bluntly put, the show might seem slow or idle if one focuses on the explicit details and misses all the implicit detail, which is possibly consequential of not understanding the purpose of the show (detailed later).

Now regardless of the pacing, it is possible for something to be rushed. To rush something is to reach something without having the necessary details or time for the viewers to follow or agree with the outcome. Hai to Gensou no Grimgar is subject to such with the limitation of 12 episodes. This is especially pertinent to an important moment that coalesces some of Hai to Gensou no Grimgar major elements. Whether or not its failure can be pardoned (if it is viewed as such) will ultimately dictate one’s enjoyability of the show. It has been identified and explained it in the spoiler section.

Hai to Grimgar's paramount feature is its realism. The characters will have to manage basic needs, such as food and shelter. The characters will have to face the reality of the world. The dialogue, development, and interactions are all seemingly realistic. One example of such realism is the fact almost nothing major happens at the beginning. Though why should anything extraordinary happen? They lead basic lives and hold little significance. It is abnormal for much to happen outside of their daily struggles. Another excellent feature Hai to Gensou no Grimgar employ is not having over-the-top combat abilities. They were mostly just minor extensions of the human ability, which harmonises well with its realism theme.

Hai to Gensou no Grimgar is tailored to fans of slice of life. The combination of realism and narrative focus on character lifestyle and relatively slower progression makes it a natural watch for such people. A conspicuously common issue is approaching this show expecting an action, most likely consequential of the initial action scenes and seemingly shounen setup, and receiving a slice of life instead. It is also important to note that while the premise of the show was to toss the average teenager into a fantasy-themed world, it is not a deconstruction of the fantasy genre—the show lacks the focus on and the necessary intricate details characteristic of a deconstruction to be considered such—and is only one of its enjoyment factors. The watch is instead for those who are interested watching the growth of a group, the bonds they develop, the building of the character etc. It is much more of a character oriented show (60–70%) than a plot oriented one (roughly 35%). It is a show where learning about the characters is essentially progression. Understanding this and what a slice of life entails is critical when encountered with such works.


Story=7.7

Character=8.1

Art=9
The art was dazzling at most times. The beautiful scenery heavily complemented the story by aiding the development of the desired mood. Most noticeably, the watercolour backgrounds evoked a tranquil slice-of-life feel, similar to that of Mushishi. The backgrounds were also unobtrusive allowing a higher focus on the projected characters, which is excellent because Hai to Grimgar is a character-dominated show. However, this conflicted with the action scenes as the projection of the background with 2D art instead of 3D sometimes lacked stimulation, detracting from its thrill.

Sound=9
My praise for the audio component is similar to that for the art. Furthermore, Hai to Grimgar uniquely features many montages. They aided the conveyance of the mood and story and were fairly enjoyable to watch. There were however two misuses. They have been mentioned almost immediately below as to avoid spoilers.






This section henceforth contains spoilers. This section will offer the main criticism and other comments regarding the show.

Its first use (town settling) was inappropriate. It is only warranted once the characters have truly settled in, which was not the case.

The second use (graveyard location) clashed with the mood. The pacing of the song was too fast inhibiting focus on the melancholy scene. The usage of the scene also felt extremely abrupt as Manato’s time with them was seemingly short.

Shihoru is a frivolous character. She can be removed from the show with slight amendments and little difference. This was most apparent during episodes 1–5. She was, however, vital in combat post-episode 5. They need to rework her such that she serves a purpose (plot-wise) outside of combat.


Due to the limitations of 12 episodes, the development of the bond between Manato and the group is rather lacking. 2 episodes were certainly insufficient for evoking the desired sympathy for the characters grieving Manato’s death. The end of episode 4 is the weakest of the series (somewhat rushed outcome) as it draws heavily on Manato’s bond with the group. Common sense dictates that they were distraught but it is rather limited and superficial. This foundation of knowledge would have also fostered understanding of and sympathy for Haruhiro as he confronted his inner-conflict.

More application of the characters is desired; while Hai to Gensou no Grimgar does build the character, they lacked the time to further display the final product. This was most evident in episodes 11 and 12 where new details were introduced to the character but without application. This plays into the 12-episode limitation.

It was exasperating when Haruhiro uttered ‘It would be nice if you could mend clothes with magic as well.’ and proceeded to blatantly explain it. It seemed as if that line was attributed to him solely to inform the viewers. While it was natural, the interpretation should have been somehow left to the viewers.

Ranta escaping at the end was illogical. He was surrounded and barely knew the mine’s caving system as opposed to the Kobolds, which know the place inside-out. Haruhiro’s skill is essentially the visualization of that.

Experience from fighting enemies will yield knowledge about their weak points and effective engagement. The streams of light that direct Haruhiro can be interpreted as the visualization of that. However, this ‘skill’ should have not appeared or appeared so quickly against the Death Spots at the end. As he lacked combat experience specific to Elder Kobalds, it should have been a challenge not something his ‘skill’ could easily relieve him from. It was an opportunity where the creators could have explicitly and satisfyingly displayed the development Haruhiro’s combat abilities and maturity over the course of the show. However, it was wasted by rushing the fight to a conclusion.

Other comments:
They actually fully (and superbly) developed the concept of the main cast being unnatural inhabitants of the world. The main cast were evidently briefly aware of this fact, but overtime the characters neglected it such that it eventually faded. This suggests of their adaption to the world and prioritisation of their survival in the realization of the triviality of pursuing such an oddity as opposed to meeting to the demands of their daily lives; the corroboration follows. At the utter end, Kikkawa (the drunkard) shouted ‘Australia’ in a carefree manner. They could have chosen any word or omitted it all together, but why did they attribute that specific line to him? They deliberately chose ‘Australia’ to connect it with the real world and had Kikkawa, the most carefree character, utter it in such a manner to hint their accordance with and acceptance of the new world. Also, when heard in the context of the characters, the statement sounds greatly insignificant, as it was randomly blurted out by a drunkard, suggesting the same of their unnatural inhabitation of the world.

In conclusion, Hai to Gensou no Grimgar deserves an 8/10, which accordingly to MAL denotes a ‘very good’ show.

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The occasional RPG setting within an anime isn't some new, revolutionary trend. Popularized by the underwhelming Sword Art Online, they seem to be popping up a lot more frequently than before and that isn't something I'm particularly fond of. This is mostly due to the lack of originality that comes with these works. To a novice, this idea may seem spectacular on it's own, but at this point, the same thing has been done over and over again and not once did I consider one of them to be good.

With that being said, I believe that this is quite close to the epitome of what an anime should not be - from the embarrassingly awful execution to the completely obnoxious and meaningless characters. It honestly baffles me that some people see this title as average, yet alone good. From the legendary A-1 Pictures who've produced such magnificent works of art such as - Sword Art Online, The Asterisk War, The Perfect Insider, Fairy Tail, every single bad light novel adaptation and many more mind-boggling series for our entertainment over the years, comes the awe-inspiring Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash.

So the story takes place in a videogame setting, a town called Grimgar and it follows our protagonists as they each individually grow as people, go through hardships together and face the cruel reality that 10 of them can't kill 1 retarded goblin. This is not an exaggeration, our protagonists are so weak that it takes them 5 minutes to kill a single goblin. However, I thought this was a very interesting approach, as it obviously differs from the usual Jesus-kun format. Sadly, this doesn't last for long. There was no big transition in between their entire party not being able to kill a single goblin to them doing full-on raids versus an entire castle full of goblins. It just sort of happened overnight, I don't know.

While I did think it was a neat change, I see this argument used way too often. "Grimgar is special because its story is very realistic unlike the other RPG anime!" I think there is a fine line between realistic and different. A different approach doesn't mean the title is going to be good and this is what people tend to be missing. If it really wanted to be that realistic then it should have cut down a bit on stuff such as discussing a girl's breasts in front of her for 3 minutes straight. Here lies the thesis and basically anything the positive reviews ever say about this show. I wouldn't be surprised if eventually people started calling it a deconstruction of the RPG genre for this sole fact.

The world of Grimgar itself is for the most part very uninteresting and leaves a lot to be desired. It is barely touched upon within the first 2 episodes in some hasty introduction to the basics and the rest of the series is action-driven and focuses more so on the characters. All we know is that there are normal townsfolk and these adventurers who have to fight off goblins in order to survive. We don't know anything about the town, we don't know anything about the goblins, etc. Basically we don't really know much of anything and it would of definitely been better if they tried to implement some sort of interesting lore and went more in detail since it just felt lazy on it's own. Not that I find RPG settings to be particularly interesting anyway but yeah, the worldbuilding was bad.

Some people may tell you that this anime is simply not for you though, due to it's slow pacing which a shonen fanboy such as yourself cannot appreciate. As a fan of shows that take their time in properly developing it's world, themes and characters, I can safely say that Grimgar left me disappointed. It really did not have to be as slow as it was. It just felt like a mere blunder on the production staff's side, rather than a necessity for good development. So even if you do prefer slower paced stuff, I can't really guarantee you'll enjoy Grimgar.

So instead of filling up the weaknesses of the show, they go ahead and introduce irrelevant plotpoints such as: none of the characters having their memories from the real world. I thought this was incredibly useless and stupid, what would knowing anything change? Was this implemented in here just so they could have an easy way out of dealing with character backstories? It is shown early on that none of their items from the real world are transported here to begin with, so why bother? Actually why even bother making the setting a game? Why not just some fantasy world? It's because A-1 knows the demographic it's appealing to far too well.

Okay, gotta give credit where credit is due. The artstyle used in Grimgar is very original and nice, with a watercolor/painterly feel to it. This was definitely a breath of fresh air due to how bland I thought most of the art in these recent seasons looked like so a change of pace was much appreciated. The backgrounds look especially nice, as if you're looking at a painting of some sort. The animation is alright and it clearly excels when the girls' tits bounce. You can just see how much time and effort was put into those jiggles.

Unlike the art and animation, the sound isn't anything spectacular. Sure, you've got some good songs thrown in there, but for every good song you have the same amount of poor utilization and engrish vocals. This is quite a problem as Grimgar tries rather hard to make you emotionally invested, and when such scenes came along, they mostly felt underwhelming due to the mediocre musical direction. For a series that takes itself seriously, I thought the voice acting was rather lackluster. None of the performances stand out and most are just borderline annoying. The only decent performances were Yume, Mary and Haruhiro (although this is probably my bias due to his role as Shichika in Katanagatari).

All aboard the cringe train. This is no doubt the worst part about Grimgar, showing further how A-1 has no clue how to make decent or even half-decent characters. This luckily changes as the series progresses but I still felt like touching upon it - every character interaction between members of the opposite sex has sexual themes or implications in it which makes me wonder if the writer is out of his early teens yet. Adding on to this, it is very impressive when in the first scene of the series it is able to portray the females as useless and clumsy damsels in distress, unable to do anything on their own apart from scream and cry until their beta-male white knight companions come to the rescue. This makes for some of the cringiest scenes I have ever seen, like talking about Shihoru's breasts for a good 3-5 minutes.

You could say that this is just taking the easy route since no matter how bad the actual series in question may be, it's bound to garner some sort of audience. However, I still feel as though it is a very big problem and is ultimately what a lot of modern anime suffer from. While I guess that it just knows what demographic it's appealing to and it's not so bad on it's own, it also means that we have to depend on the male cast to be good or get the proper development. Feel free to take a guess on how it's handled in Grimgar. Yes, not very good...

A lot of people would argue this point because of how well developed they all become upon facing loss! No! The characters can grieve all they want but it won't make them more likable or realistic. Coping with sadness is a great characterization tool if utilized properly and on good characters, but despite these characters being borderline terrible, they barely develop! Most of the characters don't even have a personality that defines them to begin with, apart from Ranta. And, well.. Ranta is just Ranta.

For example, one of the characters was only memorable for his death, nothing else. They didn't even bother to make us feel anything for the character, he was just a bland teenager who got killed off in order to "develop" everyone else. You aren't supposed to remember a character for their death, you're supposed to remember them by their life and their accomplishments BEFORE their death. The drama also felt awfully forced and doesn't work 90% of the time. " Hey guys, let's go to that place where most of Mary's party got brutally murdered which left her scarred for life :D :D :D Oh Mary why u mad bro?? "

I giggled a couple of times when the goblins were screeching so I guess some enjoyment was to be had. Sadly it was all just nullified by Ranta and the female cast's cleavage. The pacing also played a key factor in this but it did get noticeably better as the series went along. Despite this, it is not an exaggeration to say that I was forcing myself through most of the show as in the end, Grimgar struck me as incredibly bland and boring.

This is a series that had a lot of initial potential and sounded pretty good on paper but A-1 went the wrong way of doing it. Especially if the characters were handled properly, Grimgar could of been the highpoint of the RPG genre, covering stuff like how detrimental loss can be in some cases. Sadly, the script looks like something from an otaku's basement, the pacing and execution are incredibly poor and the characters are very bland, uninteresting and have no defining personality.

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Moderator Edit: This review contains spoilers.
--

(If you couldn’t give a tuna glass about this review and just want to know if you should watch this, skip all the way to the “What to expect and enjoyment” Either way, read this review if you want an insight of the flaws it had. This is my first review so don’t judge and give me a break lol. My usage of words might come off as wonky so sorry for that)

Grimgar is an anime that doesn’t necessarily bring anything distinctive to the tables. I personally believe that Grimgar was just an anime of progression, where we would have an insight on a group of six and the enhancements to their amnesia and how they develop from it. Even then, an apparent anime like this had its deficiency and I’m astonished to know it does.

Negatives

Despite the very slow adaptation, there was no exhilarating tension or motivation to the anime till the very few episodes. Grimgar was a story that was going nowhere till they picked up an objective that wasn’t even enthralled upon at the few last episodes. Very repetitive episodes as only a very few things would happen as it’s a part of the progression within the anime, which it would conventionally be the party just going out to kill some goblins then coming back.

As the other reviewers stated, it’s very hard to not reference a spoiler so yeah, spoilers up ahead in the next paragraph.

The characters felt very disengaging because of the lack of condolence felt for them. The fact that they killed off Manato in just four episodes immediately created a plot hole because of the lack of profundity put into Manato. I didn’t get to know him as a character; we didn’t get in depth of him at all hence why I couldn’t empathise for him. The fact that the characters would consistently drag Manato throughout the plot and weep for him made me feel excluded. It’s as if the plot was trying to renounce me to comprehend them or empathise for them in the slightest. They were trying to make Manato as pertinent to the story as possible because it’s the only thing they were dependable towards. Also the foreshadowing of Manato’s death was too heavy; which made his death very obvious, and yes, in a bad sense.

End of spoilers

Grimgar fails to give any cognizance or impression of the world the group of six are living within by constantly focusing on them and nothing outside of their party. We are not given an perception of how other parties evaluate and evolve in the world they are living within a.k.a the world we are being shown. When the group of six are struggling to kill goblins, how are another party handling this? How did they handle this when they were or are in their position? Sure, this anime is not deliberately trying to focus on other people but just by describing how other parties are doing within the narrative occasionally would have been justifiable. Also there’s no clarification as to why Haruhiro and the rest were chosen to be summoned within the world we are shown. Why is it that they are chosen but no one else?

There were a very few illogical clarifications for the people’s amnesia. How is it that they are well efficient of remembering their names but nothing else? There’s something about that that is very impactful on the characters. Does anything remind them of their name or something? And how is it that they remember the particular words they use but nothing else? Does anything remind them of the words they use? Grimgar fails to justify this. But even then, Grimgar badly brings the significance of that if we’re not going to know about the life the characters had before they came into this world. It’s pretty obvious that the characters came from Earth but Grimgar doesn’t really make that transparent.

The fan service within this show is what I’m truly dissatisfied about. At first, this anime gives you the intuition that it’s one of those soothe animes that seems to have some kind of abhorrence towards ecchi and all that sort, till you watch it, only to find that it adds a lot of unnecessary fan service itself. Oh but the art style of this anime definitely gives you a sense of suspicion. When it comes to wanting to be goofy and thrilling, Grimgar is very dependent with its fan service and jokes about Yume’s flat- chest for that, which it’s very subjective whenever you like it or not (Which I didn’t really) It’s just the fact that Grimgar would execute these at the wrong time, which is where the issue lies.

The pacing of this anime felt like complete torture. Grimgar didn’t manage the time of the twelve episodes properly and just tried to slowly progress the anime, most of the time being way too sluggish. Grimgar was way too enthralled on developing the characters that they completely overlooked everything else, which is giving the plot a resolution and getting into depths of the characters perhaps?

The amnesia concept completely stripped the opportunity to get in depth of the characters to begin with. However, even though the anime had the chance to tell us about the back-story of each character before they came within the world of Grimgar, something is telling me that that will barely bring any significance to the tables. Their amnesia gets in the way of getting in depth of the characters because there’s nothing to say about the characters within the party of six except Mary. The amnesia concept brought a huge plot hole among the characters at the very start. The characters only came off very one dimensional expect Mary, who was the only three dimensional character.

No character within the show was likable. This is more of a personal preference, keep that in mind. Every character was just pure mediocre. Even their character design was so generic. Each character just had that stereotypical role of their own. With Mary being that cold one but really when you get to know her, her attitude is very justifiable, Yume being the flat chest yet humble, Shihoru being the shy one who always cries, always has the oppais, Manato being the “Justin bieber” a.k.a the perfect, Moguzo being the quiet, peaceful, Ranta being the obnoxious and the Haruhiro being “the MC”. Heck, even the outside characters had their own stereotypical roles etc, Barbara = Fan service, Renji = the brave, admired.

Positives

Despite Mary, Haruhiro was a well executed character regardless of his lack of back-story (Something good about Grimgar?) Haru was nicely done depiction of the current reputation of the group. Haru alternatively came crucial; I’m quite astonished to see how the anime was capable of making Haru essential to the plot and the group. He is what created the perception put into the party. Haruhiro claimed his own hindrance and concerns as much as he represented that of the whole group’s, and he overcame his own as much as the group did as a whole. Some of you may be thinking “What about Ranta?” Sure, I will applause Ranta for his mentality and perspective on the group and how he’s just doing his part, however because of how unlikable he is and how this mindset completely changes within episode twelve, Ranta is just as mediocre as a character could get within his type.

Grimgar had rather good characterization (Yes, finally, something positive about Grimgar again) Why is it that they have good characterization? Well, because the plot was much focused on this that they received good results. However, don’t get the wrong idea, it’s not really anything bewildering, it’s just that Grimgar was capable of handling this without any issue. Grimgar was very victorious with what it wanted to do here and it’s very comprehensible with what they were trying to depict, how the struggling, amateurish and primitive managed to develop into a tactful and rational. Very simple and nicely exposed.

The water colouring a.k.a art of this anime was very heart-warming and made me feel comfortable and pleasant. I could go on describing it. As an artist, it was very admirable and motivates me into doing some water colouring with its warm colours. I adored how the background was done as well. Little to no effort put into doing it but in a respectful way.

Even though the opening and ending song has a very tedious tune to it, it’s very memorable. It’s something I hum from time to time and I think that’s a good thing. Something about the opening and ending was very clingy and addictive to listen to. It’s even more memorable than the Erased opening and I love that opening more than the Grimgar opening. The first half or the series and the ending song has very lazily done visuals and the second half of the series opening has some effort put into it but I still find something indolent about it. I’m not really concerned about the OSTs; it’s okay.

What to expect in Grimgar of fantasy and ash and Personal enjoyment -

But the real question is, is this anime enjoyable? Honestly, this may come off as anticipating but it depends. Yes, this is one of those “It depends” types of animes. If you enjoy looking at very slow progressive anime, this is the anime for you. However if you want a nicely done anime but it gets to the point and it has an objective, stay away from this anime. Be bound to expect a very slow anime with very torturing pacing, one dimensional characters expect one, unsympathetic death (not telling who), nicely done MC, nothing happening between the episodes and much more!

What makes this anime special is how it’s very considerate with its development so kudos to that! “But Pramma, did you enjoy this anime?” Honestly, no. It was so boring and it wasn’t really convincing or motivating to make me binge it till the very end. I wasn’t capable of watching episode 11 or 12 because it was that boring but I pushed myself to finish it lol.

Grimgar had bright potential but just didn’t use it to its full extent. A lot like to say how pragmatic this anime is but if you look into it, it’s not really that realistic. If you look through the flaws this anime had, the realism of it just suddenly vanishes. For a very straightforward concept like Grimgar, I’m rather disappointed that it has this much mistakes.

Negatives –

- No exhilarating tension or built up -
- No story or point was made till the very end -
- Disconnecting characters; lack of sympathy -
- Repetitive episodes ;nothing happens in between those episodes -
- Lack of information about the world of grimgar or their way of life. -
- Illogical clarifications for their amnesia -
- Shows nothing besides group of 6 -
- Awfully slow progression and pacing -
- Unnecessary fan service -
- Trying to make dead character relevant to the story -
- Too dependent towards this dead character; killed off too fast -
- Characters amnesia strips the purpose of characters and getting into depth of who the characters are -
- Unlikable characters -
- Don’t get an insight on every single character –
- No reasoning for Haruhiro and the rest that were summoned presences. They’re just there.

Positives –

- Good Characterization -
- Good art -
- Memorable opening and endings -
- Okay usage of OSTs –
- Despite Mary, Haru = nicely done character

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash = Overall 4

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--The review contains spoilers--


The show of it's season that everybody likes despite it's pretty bad. We have a group of teens who gets into a world based on RPG ruleset and shortly after this, they forget their previous life... and that's all. We won't get to know who they are, why did they get there, what is that place anyways, why does it operates like a video game, what should they do there. They just live their everyday life, learning some new skills, killing the low level creatures for the loot which they use to cover their living expenses and equipment.

There are some conflict, they lose a teammate, hire a new one who lost her team and slowly move on after their loss, but this doesn't start a real character improvement. It's trying, but doesn't goes anywhere. During their fights, because of this is a team, we might expect it'll be shown from a strategic point of view. They build up the tactics of their ambushes, comment how the teammates use their class' special skills to effectively operate as a team, but no. They just show their newly learnt skills without any deeper concept. We could think that after these they focus on giving the world some depth, who are these goblins and kobolds, are there any relation between them, what kind of society do they live in, why must they fight with them, why are they hostile by nature, by the way what kind of society do humanity live in this world. But no, we wont get to know anything about these either. The main issue with this show is NOT the slow pacing. The slow pacing can not be an excuse for the lack of world building and plot improvement. At the end there were some improvement in the representation of characters and the fight choreography, then, SLIGHT SPOILER, it ended with a terrible plot armor execution, END SPOILER.

The art design is correct. The character design follows the typical A1 Pictures design. One of the main characters looks exactly like a brown haired Kirito. Not quite unique. The environment and backgrounds are a bit better. With this sketchy looking, hand drawn like appearance it's easily distinguishable from the other series of the studio. It's a matter of taste if you like it or not, I found it a bit self-serving, but a creative way to work with low budget, the main issue isn't this. The animation seems really cheap. The fight scenes are dull, there isn't any tension in them at all. It's nowhere near UBW or even SAO. Oh, and SAO, do you all remember the fight against the first boss with Asuna and Kirito? It was a good fight, they were working together, they looked like a team. I'm not an SAO fan, but that scene was alright in concept and visuality. Don't expect anything even remotely like that from Grimgar.

To summarize, when I've seen the first promotional image, I knew I have to have low expectations. And thus fortunately or more like sadly I couldn't get disappointed. Not even pleasantly though. It sticks out downwards from average quality. Maybe the light novel was decent, I didn't read it, but there never were a moment when I felt the anime could be any better than a mediocre fantasy shounen. You won't lose anything if you skip it.

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THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

Hai to Gensou no Grimgar, I had some pretty mixed reactions and feelings with this series. It had its' moments in various episodes where character growth, or the story & plot would standout.. then a few moments later an episode it would do a 360. I don't want to call the show a roller-coaster though because I do not think that is the right term to describe.

Moving on from that though, considering where the Light novel left off and where the anime stopped, I think that A-1 Picture's team did a pretty good job with pacing. They were successfully able to cover maybe 94-97% of the original story which is great. Now the story, It had it's moments. Feels, excitement, comedy etc, all of it was in between "Great" and "Meh" I honestly felt like it lacked quality. Now, when I use the word quality I mean that the overall feeling that Hai to Gensou no Grimgar gave off to me, felt like it had everything together, however when things unfolded or events would take place it just seemed like things needed a little extra boost. I felt like most of the times the producers made things feel slower rather than fast paced because they were trying to add a little more emotional elements and moments especially when Minato died.

I was really glad that most the characters personalities, were drastically changed. Well, to be honest, I'm glad that they changed Yume's personality because I wanted to strangle her character in the novel. Her speech was so damn annoying "Yume thinks" "Yume likes" UGGGHh!! I am just so happy that they changed the way she speaks. Now, Haruhiro, I'm glad his profile was changed too because I hated his whiny, lazy, useless ass. Now he's still a bit useless at times in the anime, however to be fair, he is changing, he's finally going through that phase most characters go through.... "CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT"... OR "CHARACTER GROWTH" :) Which ever you prefer to call it. Compared to their original designs, I have to give A-1 major kudo's. I love it when I look at the original illustration designs for either Manga's or Light Novels, then look at the anime adaptions because they change so much to (In most cases) Look a lot better. This is one of the many cases where the anime adaption of the characters look far more superior than the original designs and illustrations. Overall in the characters department I actually wasn't that impressed. I felt like even though most of the characters have potential to be greater than what they are, most of Haruhiro's team was "Non-assertive" or they just had a hard time serious taking action. Except Ranta.. however he was just a reckless S.O.B.


Now with Grimgar, I did think it was worth watching however, I also think it was a title that didn't need to be over-hyped. I felt like I expected too much out of it. In fact, I would say that, that was my biggest issue with the series. I kind of felt like it lacked quality. Now, when I use the word quality I mean that the overall animation, soundtrack, story/plot and character was lacking in various ways.
Animation felt very lackluster. Background settings and quality didn't stand out at all or too much. I feel like if the animators made things pop out and look more visually appealing then I would not have had an issue. However, I personally think with shows like these, background settings add more of a "realistic" type feeling. The terrible painted, water-coloring-ish background settings -practically faded, just didn't work out for me. The ending song, with the water-color-ish animation, that looked great. Very beautiful, plus the song sort of complement the art used.


Overall I believe that Hai to Gensou no Grimgar was overrated , not over-hyped, I take that back. If you're going to watch it, do not expect nothing but great things because the series, like many before and after it, is full of disappointments or faults... I have to give this title an 8/10 because I really liked the story and plot. I am a sucker for adventure and fantasy anime so I love seeing titles like these get noticed and put in the spotlight.. but with Grimgar.. maybe not so much. I hope to see a season 2 later in the future.

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[Spoiler Free Review}

Story (8):
Hai to Gensou no Grimar tells the story of a group of people who all of the sudden see themselves in a completely strange and fantastic world, with no memories of where they come from, or who they where. The only thing they can do is try to survive by forming parties and hunt down monsters to gain enough money to get through the day. The anime shows the struggles of the group in this world. There is nothing really new to this kind of story, but what stands out is the way the story is told. Compared to the light novel or the manga the director chose to produce a more slow paced anime. This resulted in a lot of slice of life/drama aspects that got to be explored more deeply. And also helped to get to know the characters better, seeing some things that usually are not shown at all in this kind of anime.

Art (8):
The production was rushed and some times it gets pretty obvious. But overall the art is beautiful, the landscape looks a lot like paintings making it different and really stunning. The animation at the beginning was great, but as the anime progressed it started to show some flaws, but again, overall it is decent, and hopefully getting fixed in the blue-ray.

Sound (8):
Its enjoyable, I liked the soundtrack, it gets the job done. It is pretty good.

Character (10):
If the slow paced storytelling the director chose to follow helped something it was the character development. It is really great. You get to know the characters really well for a 12 episode anime. Character development is probably one of the strongest in the genre.

Enjoyment (10):
I rushed through this anime in about 2 or 3 days. It does not have cliff hangers but for me it made me want to watch the next episode just because it is good. Really enjoyed it. Hopefully looking forward to a second season hehehe

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Mature version of any "rpg like shows" the done right.
I'll keep this short but informaive as I can.


Many misunderstand what the show is really about and what it's trying to be. They complain "just when will they get over with this and go start adventuring?!" and claim "nothing is happening bs!" what they didn't know is it's not aimed to be that. Grimgar is all about the group of people who have been thrown in a world they don't know, adapting their new environment bit by a bit. So as you can see, action is not the highlight of the show. It's how they adapt the world and how they do it is what makes the conflict. And that's where the interestingness comes from.

The idea of "adapting the world" seems so Log Horizon yet it's far from being exactly the same with Grimgar. the reason why is because Grimgar has a mature theme mixed with. it's realistic, more of portraying the struggle of being in that situation. the struggle of having no money to buy what you need, adjusting to the people you have no relation with and so on.

Though I kind of Implying the series is somewhat of a "survival of the fittest", an opposite side existed. It has a slice of life vibe that gives you this country side feeling. The way it's done is just amazing! it doesn't feel like out of the place and I even find it pretty relaxing to watch and with the the calming music that plays along with the heartwarming backgrounds even make it more refreshing. How the characters respond to this SoL part is just amazing as well. You can totally see what they do when they are not in a hunt or that how they do their personal lives. through this, it helps them flesh out their character and make it complex the way that even if you try to remove the conflict of the story the existence of characters won't feel empty they would still have something in them.

About the characters, many find them boring. I kind of agree that they don't have any interesting side but what makes up for it is their interaction and development(the strongest points of the series actually) and if I have to defend it more, my reason would be because they are not supposed to have an odd or a special personality. They're designed to be realistic. To make you relate to them. Which explains why their team spends so many time to get stronger. Because no normal teenagers would desparetly want to fight for death. which is what I realy like from the series. you can just clearly see their growth. Of how at first they can't kill a single goblin and becomes just like a murderer, the first time they face the act of killing they get nervous and tremble but the afterwards they loses their sense of guilt.

Speaking of the character development greatness, it's just really top notch. It's realistic, way more believable than any shows does. It doesn't happen right away making a huge jump, it's carefully taking its time progressing their development to make sure it will look real and it doesn't completely change their character which some shows or books seems to always get wrong. Their development to their friend's death, is just so good! each of them shows different signs of reaction and develops differently according to how close they were to their friend. Which proves the uniqness of their character. It flows perfectly not missing any phases. From denial to mourning to acceptance and to learning and you can really see the changes of their actions, reactions, and interactions little by little as they repeat the same thing over and over(killing goblins). They start adjusting-- trying to adjust themselves more to each other.(Especially after Mary, the best girl, was introduced) their teamwork becomes better, they get stronger and their relationships gets tougher. It would just really surprise you that the boring characters you thought were actually complex. Just try to compare the whole character development of most of the show they always works the opposite always getting things wrong lmao.

Overall, instead of cool fantasy action shit, what you're going to get in Grimgar is what I wrote above. It's aimed for those people who wants to see something different. Just a reminder though, the series is so slow which most has a problem with. But it's because it's inteded to be that. Slow pacing doesnt really mean bad it depends if the show needs it or not. Like here in Grimgar it's slow paced because the anime focuses at depicting the growth of a character which have to have long exploration. So if you're the guy who would choose to fall asleep when traveling by a plane instead of enjoying a beautiful view then this might not be for you but if you're that guy who would like to window watch to see that beautiful view you should probably try this.

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Here I am writing my first review. I am not an expert with writing a review but I will try my best to depict the selling points of this anime. I always give every element a 10 and then take a point off along with any setback I find in each of these aspects.

Story: 9. The story would have been a masterpiece if the first three episodes have been squeezed into one. Nothing much happened. It should have dedicated the second and third episodes to explaining a bit more about the characters' past. However, from episode 4 onward the plot keeps up with the audience's expectation - those who still choose to give a chance to this anime up to the 4th episode will definitely finish it to the end. Although one might argue that the plot is very much cliched, it does a great job in bringing all those fun I had in the earlier years when I used to play MMORPG Game, Ragnarok, with my friends. The thrill of the battle from episode 4 onward will keep audience wanting to watch more. However, the anime does so without focusing much on the technicalities of gaming, unlike SAO, which preserves the beauty of the fantasy world.

Art: 10. Beautiful drawings on the background. The strokes and colours really brought up the laid-back fantasy setting to life. Attacks, being physical or magical, were excellently depicted.

Sound: 9. Nice soundtracks. Peaceful music fits right into the laid-back setting of the fantasy world.

Character: 9. I took one point off from one of the characters who has been unnecessarily annoying. I did appreciate his presence as it stirs the conflict in the story but I would have appreciated it more if this character is that smart annoying guy. Otherwise, you have the Miss. Shy, Miss. Happy-go-lucky, Miss. Tsundere, Mr. Considerate, Mr. Perfect, Mr. Clueless Protagonist, and Mr. Annoying all in one bowl - just the right mix to keep the interactions among them interesting.

Enjoyment: 10. Reminds me of the teamwork and fun playing MMORPG with my friends. which is great. Unlike SAO, the anime brings the memories back without spoiling the beauty of the fantasy world by bringing up all the technicalities of gaming. Excellent job.

Overall:10/10. I would strongly recommend this anime.

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I enjoyed Grimgar! Did you or should you? Well take a look here to find out.

Pros
+ Exceptional Character development
+ Rich Character Interactions
+ Great approach to to the theme of Tragedy
+ Dark take on the "Trapped in a Video Game/Fantasy World"
+ Video Game world with Realism

Cons
- Easily bored or "Mindless Action" fellows may not like this show
- Very slow paced
- Insert Songs
- The character of Ranta (At times)
- Random and Unnecessary Ecchi

Overall, Grimgar of fantasy and Ash is a astounding take on the "trapped in a world" genre. I honestly can say it is one of the best if not THE best of the genre. It's like a deconstruction of it. Instead of our MC's being happy and excited for the new world, everything just feels dark and demoralizing, JUST LIKE I LIKE IT ლ(ಠ益ಠლ).

Give it a 5 episode rule

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Lately I've been watching only handful anime shows, to be more precise for the past 3 months I finished only 3 and currently follow 2. Each one had to met my profound expectations and they are very strict.

When I chose to watch first episode, I didn't expect much , mostly because this kind of anime never has real plot and everything expected action and violence is put in second plan. First thing I noticed is how beautiful art is, I haven't had seen such good looking anime for a long time, later came I noticed good animation, voice acting, heck even though main characters are kids, they lookes unbelievable human as possible.

What you would expect from this premise is OP group or group that "knows it all" but really that's not what it's about. It's about a struggle for survival, finding place in the unknown world, friendship and loss. Man, there were times when I barely hold my tears and people call me person with stone hearth because I don't express positive or negative emotions deliberately , that's how emotional it can get. Also presentation of anime is done well, there were scenes without voice but carefully crafted scenes with nice ambient music, that left much deeper impression on you, deeper than voice acting ever would.

Characters are lively and likable even stereotypes , each with unique personality and charm. Main plot is not revealed yet but few first episodes give you a hint. It's virtual world but unlike in other similar anime, propagandists don't know how did they end up there or from where, nor do they remember anything before "awaking" .

If you ask me this a true gem and everyone should give it a go.

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Getting transported to a game world with fantasy elements. You’ve heard of these type of stories before in recent years. From Log Horizon to the infamous No Game No Life, it’s a recycled idea that has becoming a growing trend. What’s different about Hai to Gensou no Grimgar? Nothing really at first until you look a bit into the show. Well it’s not vastly different anyways. In essence, this series crafts a refreshing fantasy show with some intruding ideas but also ones that are unbecoming.

Adapted from the light novel of the same name, the series takes place in fantasy world of Grimgar. We don’t get much inside scope on how the characters exactly arrived there but just the fact that they are now stuck in this world. Survival is what should be on the first thing on their minds as the party of strangers have to adapt with their newfound life. Consisting of a group of six members (Manato, Haruhiro, Ranta, Yume, Mogzo, and Shihoru), they are also told to be part of the Reserve Army forces and defend the world from monsters. I guess in a simpler way to say this, it’s their way of making a living and try to make the best of it in this new world.

I have to confess a few things though. First of all, the series’ focus on its world fiction is fantastic. By all means, it is rich in resources from the dense forests to the lush landscapes with a decent amount of wildlife. Plus, civilization is exactly what people may picture from a fantasy game. There’s old fashioned towns, rural caves, mountainous regions, and starry skies crafted with high fantasy elements in this imaginary world. Whatever the author was thinking at the time definitely got the general ideas right for the show. Secondly, the story is what I’d describe more as fusion of fantasy, action, adventure, but also feeling that borderlines slice of life. To sum it up clearly, the slice of life part depicts the every day adventures of the party. Of course, this includes forging new weapons, fighting new enemies, and unlocking new skills to survive. It also adapts character interactions which seems to be a pivotal part of the show. It’s easy to see that the party members become close as time passes on.

In the beginning, they’re complete strangers with little memory about themselves besides their first name. After living in the new world for a few days, we can see the chemistry building between certain characters. Haruhiro’s relationship with Yume and Manato is prominent as they treat each other like close friends. Manato, the leader of the party is also a role model with his charismatic personality and is able to see the positives in people. Even Ranta seems to follow his lead despite being the hotheaded guy of the group, often known for causing troubles especially with Haruhiro and Yume. Speaking of which, Yume is the brave girl. She has confidence and builds a close friendship with Shihoru, a shy mage who struggles to open to others. Then there’s Mogzo, the silent giant who often supports the party in whatever means he can. See the diverse range of character personas here? It’s hard to imagine how they can all get along at first but as time passes, the show is able to capitalize on these characters both individually and collectively as a group. Later on, they even gains new member whom they have a hard time to accept at first but still welcomes her as a valuable member of the team especially upon learning their background story.

Now, the show is pretty repetitive with a sluggish pacing. It shouldn’t take long for anyone to recognize this especially with the nature of the story. The formulaic structure is basically the group learning new skills, occasionally gaining new equipment, while trying to improve their inner relationships. Sadly, monsters are limited to goblins and kobalds in the show and doesn’t get far in that territory. If you realized this and it’s not the type of feeling up your alley, then turn back now because this show will feel like a snoozefest to you. Otherwise for sheer entertainment value, it’s actually an emotional drive after the first half of the show. The concept of death becomes reality for a certain member of the party while the show exploits interpersonal conflicts. While the series does this well, I feel like it’s spending far too much time investing on certain plot mechanics at the expense of other potentials. Given the way this series is adapted (1 cour) and limited volumes, it’s not really impressive. Furthermore, the show‘s relationship dynamics can quickly become a bore once you see how much the show pushes that every episode. Don’t expect any legitimate romance to develop either despite some obvious hints. The show seems to tease that almost every episode especially between Haruhiro and Yume but nothing really comes into fruition. And if you’re not a fan of melancholic songs, then this show could be a nightmare. As a fantasy adventure, Grimgar often feels like a mixed bag; sometimes quite impressive while other times makes you wonder if it’s worth watching.

In the meantime, the show does a fair job at demonstrating how a fantasy series should be about with its mechanics. There’s other adventurer guilds that looks credible, weapons that actually looks like it’s from a fictional world, and also various classes. (thief, mage, priest, etc) While the series isn’t like Sword Art Online with heavy game mechanics, it still knows how to execute some of them. However, the key keyword here is ‘some’. The mage class is one of the more underwhelming roles in the show with its limited spell set from what’s shown. From an objective point, I think the priest also plays an underwhelming role despite being invaluable for any party. Luckily, the action aspects saves that as it delivers some classic entertainment. It’s pretty fluid once you get used to it with a surprising amount of violence. On the other hand, the comedy is woodenly made. I forget the amount of time when the show makes lewd jokes (mostly because of Ranta). From extended dialogues about boobs to awkward misunderstandings, the show still falls into the formulaic light novel adaptations we see so often.

One of the main highlights of the series is the fantastic artwork. It’s not just elegant but feels excitingly mythical that’s painted by colorful water paint. From mountainous landscapes to old fashioned towns, the show capitalizes every detail to precision. Even character designs looks vividly convincing as the guys and girls wear gear appropriate for their class. If you’re also familiar with shows like Aiura, then it’s recognizable at who worked on these designs. The show’s action is coordinated well with a nice amount of focus on teamwork and body movements. But like almost every light novel adaptations, it’s still vulnerable to some subtle fan service like Shirou.

Music is one of the stronger dynamics of the series as well. While some say that the show’s tendency to constantly use insert songs can be an annoyance, it’s actually quite important to highlight the emotional values of the story. Character expressions matches in unison with the insert songs to show what they feel. This can be a hit or miss to viewers depending on how you take it by storytelling standards. Furthermore, character voice mannerisms aren’t too impressive in general. The most recognizable would be Yume though with her kansai-like dialect.

Ryosuke Nakamura’s return to direct the show brings us this fantasy adventure, one that I can say is a good example of portraying an imaginative world. However, the overall storytelling isn’t too impressive while characterization is lacking t times. Still, I think it’s important to address that Grimgar isn’t about conquering the world. It’s quite simple really – just a party of members trying to make the best of their newfound life while trying to survive. If that isn’t your cup of tea, then it’ll be hardly enjoyable. In introspect, Hai to Gensou no Grimgar is a well-made show at what it is but not great.

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Sometimes an anime will start very well and continue to be interesting for a while, but it ultimately falls apart when it’s time to wrap things up. In some less-common cases, an anime will start very well but fall on its face within minutes. I don’t know which of these categories are worse, but Grimgar is the latter. Grimgar gets you interested immediately, but things go downhill just within the first episode.

Grimgar starts with a fight scene; fight scenes at the very beginning of anything can often be bad since you don’t know anything and don’t care, but Grimgar’s is actually very good because it sets the tone of the series very well. For one, it’s the first time we get to see the incredible watercolor world of Grimgar, but that’s not the point. We’re introduced to the party as they clumsily fight a pair of goblins, often used in role-playing games as one of the weakest enemies to encounter. Through these clues, it’s easy to see what’s going on: Grimgar is some RPG-like world, and the players we’re watching are fucking TERRIBLE. Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash may as well be the antithesis of RPG anime, which often depict their main characters as incredibly overpowered badasses.

(There are also some other things you can point out, like the hinted personalities of each character and the overall decent animation and insert song, but I wanted to point out its drama most of all.)

The episode continues decently with some quieter scenes that introduce the characters better, and the interesting thing they throw at you is that Grimgar isn’t actually a game to the players, it’s real life. Through the flashback that happens right after, we see how this started: the characters simply appeared here with no recollection of their previous lives, but it’s evident they came from the normal world. Not a bad premise overall, though there’s one weakness to this that I’ll get into later. Anyway, there’s a pretty lengthy scene where the characters and a bunch of other players talk to some flamboyant guy. It’s a decent scene since it provides some info, but I’d like it more if this guy was around for longer than that one scene and if that random player didn’t grab his knife when threatened. WHO THE FUCK GRABS A KNIFE BY THE BLADE WITH THEIR BARE HANDS WHEN THREATENED???? WHAT THE FUCK???? THAT’S LITERALLY THE WORST THING YOU COULD DO IN THIS SITUATION???????????????

*ahem*

While that scene and the one after are just passable, the rest of the episode hilariously tumbles down its own mountain of potential after only taking a few steps. Haruhiro, the main character, joins a guild like his teammates, deciding to become a thief. He meets Barbara, whose character design is about as subtle as a bomb in a nursery. Holy shit. I mean, being fanservicey is one thing, but this chick looks like someone made a simple thief-looking character, and then a nine-year-old pasted a pair of huge anime tits onto her in Paint. It’s absolutely hilarious! But beyond dumb fanservice, the show practically smacks the viewer in the face by COMPLETELY SKIPPING THE TRAINING. WHAT THE FUCK? This scene builds up what could be a pretty intense training montage, and Haruhiro even laments a little bit, but we never fucking see it. That’s bullshit. Even worse is that no progress seems to have been made afterwards because all six people as a group struggle to kill a single goblin. Noobs.

Afterwards, we’re “treated” to an utterly horrible scene where a running competitor for Largest Shitlord of 2016 complains about one of the girls in the party for having small tits, and praises the other girl for having oppai. tHIS SCENE GOES ON FOR FIVE MINUTES WHY DOES IT EXIST I THOUGHT THIS WAS A SERIOUS ANIME. WHOOPS MY BAD FOR THINKING A-1 PICTURES COULD HAVE TWO GOOD ANIME IN ONE SEASON.

It’s really sad, because while watching that scene, I turned into Shia Labeouf screaming “DO IT!!!!!!” when that archer chick who kinda looks like Whitney from Pokemon SoulSilver takes aim at Ranta. DO IT. JUST DO IT. NO ONE WILL MISS HIM. That would’ve made for such an interesting scenario and add more tension. Like, everyone wants to get through this, right? But no one trusts each other because someone’s crazy enough to kill another just for saying some bad things. ...but instead she decides to just rub her entire body on the oppai character for no reasON IS ANYONE TAKING THIS SERIOUSLY AT ALL??? GOD I’M PISSED.

Anyway, I explained the entire episode because it highlights everything that Grimgar does well. The protagonists are extremely weak, making each battle a struggle. The setting and the overall premise has some flaws, but they’re pretty good overall. But then you’ll be treated (read: tortured) by some scenes that just last way too long, contribute way too little to justify their length, and can often be just plain stupid.

There’s also something that really needs to be said about Grimgar and its pacing. There are many, many times throughout the series where it is not moving at a slow pace, it’s moving at NO pace. All of these slower scenes that, at best, give a few minor details about the characters, can be done in half the time at most. Honestly, they could be removed altogether to make room for more important scenes. I mean, do we really need to watch Ranta argue with the other guys for five minutes because he wanted to spy on the girls in the bath? Do we need Haruhiro to walk around town for five minutes just to have a conversation with Mary about where they’re living?

Grimgar will manifest its current mood into a physical form so you can be bashed over the head with repeatedly until you get the point. Honestly, it comes off as pretentious. No, there’s no deeper layer of symbolism that requires a brainstorm to figure out, it just holds on to its “deep” atmosphere and asks you several times, “Are you absolutely sure you understand what’s going on here? GUYS, LOOK HOW COOL WE ARE!! LOOK AT US, WE HAVE FEELINGS!!! FEEL SOMETHING!! ARE YOU FEELING IT NOW MR. KRABS?! ARE YOU FEELING IT NOW MR. KRABS?!?!?!?!?!” Fuck off, Grimgar. I don’t need to watch characters cry for eternity to figure out that something’s wrong. There is slow, and then there’s wasting time.

Okay, so it messes around with the themes too much. What else does Grimgar do in terms of story? Well… nothing. Grimgar manages to slightly outpace a half-melted snail covered in glue, but at the end of twelve episodes there’s still bugger all that they’ve accomplished. They got less shit at killing goblins. Okay. Great. If anything, the party loses their progress somehow (shh, spoilers) and much of the remainder of the season is spent on making that up. They spent twelve episodes going from 0 to 0.5. “But I thought you liked the fact that everyone sucks!” --possible argument. Yeah, for like two episodes. After a while, it got old, nothing happened, and I’m just sitting here wondering what the point of these twelve episodes were.

Spoiler alert! This happens pretty early but it’s still major, so I recommend skipping this next paragraph if you don’t want any spoilers at all.

- So, what do you think “ash” in the title ‘Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash’ implies? My patience? Good guess. Either way, it’s Manato. Manato dies and they cremate him. Ha ha ha. It’s pretty interesting that such a thing would happen early on, but the death is incredibly obvious. They keep hinting it’ll happen as if to say “Hey! You know what would really suck?! If this guy died right now!” Plus if anyone’s gonna die, it’ll obviously be him because he’s the least replaceable, most responsible, and the overall leader. His death would be the only impactful outcome. But him dying so early means that the audience doesn’t get to know him much, so I don’t really feel anything from this. Everyone crying about it until the episode ends doesn’t make it more meaningful, it feels more like a girlfriend crying over the death of her dad she didn’t actually know. Then they keep bringing him up at every waking moment. Shut up! I hardly knew the guy! Leave it alone! -

-end of spoiler-

And just a quick word about the action itself before moving onto the characters: the action in this anime is okay. It’s a little more cooperative, with the entire party being involved in a fight and playing different roles, but as you can guess by them fighting goblins most of the time, the fights are very basic and not exactly interesting. I can optimistically believe that Grimgar will evolve with its action as the characters get stronger and learn more interesting abilities, but for this season it isn’t much to talk about.

This probably isn’t a surprise at this point, but I didn’t really care for any of the characters in the show. Mary is the best, I guess, because she had an actual backstory that explained her personality and actions well. But, was she an interesting character? No. She was simply a bitch, and it was obvious that her reasons were gonna be that someone close to her died. Hooray, friends dying! After getting to know the party more, she becomes less of a bitch and just a level-headed character.

Ranta is an interesting one. He actually provides some needed internal conflict in the party. He does whatever he wants and doesn’t really care about what the others think, and rejects the party leader’s desires for everyone to be close and more cooperative. Basically “I’m doing my part, fuck off.” Except Ranta’s also the most punchable, arrogant, annoying piece of shit in the world of Grimgar. I understand his character, but he’s annoying and I cannot get myself to like or even connect with him. And that leads me to the next part…

The players in Grimgar have no recollection of their lives before the “game”. This means that we can’t understand the characters and why they act the way they do. Ranta is an annoying bastard, yes, but WHY? Logically, he has no reason to be at odds with the rest of the party, but I’m sure that his reasons are because of something that happened in his actual life that may or may not be explained eighty light novel volumes (roughly 67,130 anime episodes by the sound of it) from now. How wonderful. Notice how I’m not bringing up the other characters because they’re about as flat as a cat that’s been run over by an 18-wheeler a good ninety-something times. Haruhiro is decent, since he feels conflicted with his role in the party, but his lack of initiative and confidence make him an absolute bore to watch.

Things get real interesting when you look at the art. Without a doubt, Grimgar’s biggest assets beyond Shihoru’s ass-ets are definitely the watercolored backgrounds. They’re stellar. Truly. But, I wish they had more depth. What do I mean? Well, the backgrounds are nice, and it goes beyond environments--even buildings and shops are styled the same way, but what about the monsters? You’ll see more than goblins in the final few episodes, but all monsters just look like they came from any other RPG. I can understand humans looking like regular humans because they probably didn’t actually come from this world, but the monsters should’ve looked more natural to the world. It would’ve at least made up for their incredibly generic designs. At least the humans are a step above totally generic, but not much higher up.

The rest of the animation can hold up decently… some of the time. The fights look okay, but the budget for the softer scenes must’ve been spent on donuts for A-1’s staff meetings. There’s an incredibly hilarious scene where three characters walk down an alley… scratch that, they don’t walk, they fucking bob around hilariously like someone stuck their cut-outs onto a popsicle stick and moved them around on some watercolored painting. Thank you, A-1. Just, thank you. Many other scenes simply use little-to-no animation, often resorting to still frames. But, hey, have some more watercolors because that’s all we’re good for! Case-in-point, the OP.

The opening theme quite literally has no animation. There’s maybe five seconds of it, and the rest is just panning shots of the characters. Did they seriously think they were making an ED? ...Well, I guess not, because the ED does the same thing as well! Funny enough, the OP actually was decent for a few episodes--not really stunning, honestly, but at least it was fucking animated. The song stayed the same, but they changed the visuals and just didn’t care enough. Maybe they thought no one would actually watch the OP that long because the song isn’t that great.

Also, the OP song isn’t that great. Just gonna throw that out there. Generic rock track meets sharp violin and a pretty weak vocalist to bring you a pretty forgettable song. But, interestingly enough, much of the soundtrack is actually very good, including the emotional ending theme. The real keepers are the many insert songs used. Seriously, there’s probably at least one insert song in each episode, and all of them, with the exception of one or two, are pretty great. I’ll totally be looking forward to purchasing it in a very legal manner.

I wanted to like Grimgar. I really did. But it misunderstood itself very hard. When I wanted it to be serious, it tried being goofy. When I wanted things to progress, it insisted on being deep and thoughtful. Should a second season appear someday, I may come back to see if it’s improved, but it will be through a much less patient mindset.

Story - 5/10
Art - 7/10
Sound - 9/10
Characters - 3/10
Enjoyment - 2/10
Playability - Youlostthegame/10
Overall - 4/10
Favorite character - Mary or Merry idk this website and the subs don't agree
Favorite episode - 1 because i yelled at it so much
Recommendation level - Medium

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If you're looking for a slice of life anime with RPG/fantasy elements this is your show. It gives us a look into what life would actually be like in an RPG/fantasy world where the characters actually spill blood (their own and other creatures). It isn't exactly action packed and there is no definite end to the story, it's just about a group of people trying to survive in a new world that they were thrown into. My only gripe is that they mention a certain character too much.

Story: 8/10
I honestly like the story. There isn't exactly a goal that they are working towards like getting home or destroying an ultimate evil but really just surviving this world.

Art: 9/10
The character models are kind of generic but the way the scenery is drawn just gives life to the whole anime and since the pacing is slow it gives the viewer more time to appreciate it. Also, the art in the action scenes are good as well!

Sound: 6/10
The op I didn't really enjoy but the ending's vibe just fit the anime perfectly. As for the whole soundtrack it was kinda forgettable nothing really sticks to me.

Character: 7/10
The characters were ok. What made me enjoy the show the most is getting to know the characters since the anime puts in so much effort into character development hence the slow pacing.

Enjoyment and Overall: 8/10
This anime was a nice change in pace to the usual action packed anime that I like. The pacing may be a little slow but the character development makes up for it and the action is great too. I definitely recommend watching this to those who need a change of pace for a while.

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If I am being honest right now, I loved Hai to Gensou no Grimgar. To me, it was a fresh look into the Fantasy RPG genre, one which is overcrowded with absolutely god awful shows. It is one of the special shows in this genre in part due to its realism in storytelling in its genre and actual well developed characters.

Story: 8/10

Hai to Gensou no Grimgar tells the story of 7 characters in a world they have magically transported to. Many other characters have also been transported there for no apparent reason. This large group of people forms smaller groups to go and hunt monsters in the surrounding area for loot and to survive. Now you may be wondering to yourself, man this sounds a lot like everything else in this genre, why should I watch it? Well, this is because unlike many of the other shows in this series, Grimgar gives us weak characters that actually develop and grow unlike those Over-powered MCs (I’m looking at you Kirito). The characters have to develop to survive in this world, hone their skills, work on learning new skills, coordinate as a team, and many things you would expect to see in the survival of a group of people. Although the pacing of the story is really slow, it benefits this show helping to develop the characters more thoroughly. The story itself is great but with a generic start, and A-1 pictures being A-1 pictures, the story just fell short in the end not living up to my expectation of how the ending would play out.

Art: 10/10

Now if there is one thing that A-1 pictures can actually do good, it’s the art work of a series. This is some of the best art I’ve seen in a while from an anime. The background is wonderful. The water colored background really stands out to make it different from many other anime out there. There is little to no drop in quality throughout the series. Animation is smooth, clean, it looks wonderful.

Sound: 9/10

The sound is great in this series. It really lends itself to certain scenes. The opening and ending songs are all very beautiful and I really enjoyed them. The insert song “seeds” is also one of the best insert songs I’ve heard in a while. It’s wonderful to hear absolutely great to hear such amazing songs from (K)NoW_NAME.

Characters: 10/10

The characters are absolutely one of the best parts of the series. Most of the characters get great development. Almost all the main characters get a good amount of development and the development is actually very interesting. From tragic backstories in some, dealing with loss in all of them, and how they interact with each other all give us a good look into these characters. These characters also aren’t strong, they are weak, and grow as the story progresses. How they look at life, and what they do in the aftermath of some events really helps to give these characters a realistic feeling. Their reactions to everything feel so authentic. It’s not like watching Sword Art Online where character development is absolutely trash; this anime takes time to develop all its characters. This makes the series slow overall but makes it so much more enjoyable when you actually feel attached to the characters from their backstories and what happens to them. It’s an absolute masterpiece in terms of developing its characters to the fullest and has some of the best characters I have seen in an anime.

Enjoyment: 9/10

I loved this anime, it was an absolute blast to watch in part to its difference to other anime in this genre. It didn’t go through with many of the clichés and did things you would normally not expect in this genre. I really enjoyed that originality aspect of this series. The slow pacing rather than killing the experience for me, heightened it. This was what I though Sword Art Online should have been.

Overall: 9/10

So do I recommend watching Hai to Gensou no Grimgar? Yes, an absolute yes. You must watch this series if you like the Fantasy/RPG genre. This anime shows how good a fantasy anime can be after years of horrible fantasy anime. It brings out all the good points of what a fantasy anime should be. With absolutely amazing characters, sound and world-class art, this is definitely one anime I will come back to watch again.

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Sometimes slow pacing isn't good pacing.

Story 6 | Art 10 | Sound 10 | Character 7 | Enjoyment 7 | Overall: 8


So Hai to Gensou might have the best animation, ost, ending and opening I've heard in anime, and had me expecting more from it, since episode 1, it was cliched but promisng, what fails with this anime is the pacing. Even though I'm a fan of well build up characters, and slow pacing shows helps them do this very well, just like FMA Brotherhood.

The slow pacing in this anime didn't help either in the story nor the character development, even the character interactions were slow? like the conversations between them feel like they took ages, to get through.

Art and Sound: 10/10

I won't review the Art or the Sound in this anime, since for me they were beyond perfect, and it was something that make me go through this series.

Characters: 7/10

The characters were kind of realistic, not MC who is OP in every situation, but we got cliched characters like the shy girl who can't pronounce a word, the one who is very energetic and we all love, but we know she is not going to win, and the mysterious girl who starts to opens, so nothing too entertaining and for the male cast we have the bulky guy who is sweet on the inside, and the MC rival who is sometimes annoying.

Enjoyment: 7/10

The enjoyment for this series was good, it had a lot of promise and I might start reading the novel just to see if it was just a bad adaptation as a lot of people say, since they all are saying that we got development in the light novel, even though its not perfect I would like a second season tho, it was good and promising and kind of a different isekai anime, not just your boring isekai anime of every season, but unfortunately the slow pacing killed it, I hope they can improve this feature if they do make season 2.

So what this, if you are looking for a good animation, amazing ost, ending, op and a kind of premising story, and to see how slow pacing can kill a promising anime

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When first watching the first episode of it, i honestly found it quite boring, but i insisted maybe there's more to it, and yes there were.

the more you watch the more deep you go within the anime, the development is slow but enjoyable, and very easy to understand what's going on.

Artistically, the drawings is definately above average, maybe Too glossy for others, but doesnt bother me in any way.

Characters mostly we only got to see haruhiko and mary develope the most, the other didnt get enough screentime, but dispite only two developing characters it was still enjoyable to watch.

i definitly recommend this for people who wish to watch with patience.
take your time and enjoy it.

oh and the music is really good too :)

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well u know how all the foreplay and teasing can sometimes bore u out....
I mean for an anime with 12 episodes 85 % of it is goblin slaying to be put bluntly....
so why do i give it such a high rating.....

well like the anime i wont get to the point immediately :D

story:8
if put basically it is an anime that focuses on people stuck on a vmmorpg without knowing how they were put there..... Heard of it somewhere before?
yuss it will make u sleep in the first half... i mean can u see how many people dropped it at ep4... like ppl who drop girls bcuz they play hard to get an find them not worth it.. However doing so they fail to see the beauty of the girl underneath that wall, the spectacle beyond that spectacular spectacles....
it is slow, but there is a meaning behind it, no its not ur op characters without the struggle, but the deaths u face when u r beggining ur rpg journey and with no experiencce face constant failure, when u have no exp so no party wants u.
when u have no gold so u buy of cheap items, and overuse ur spells without realizing the consequences,.... hmm nemore and i will have to put a spoiler alert....

art:7
so the background is basically a painting well most of it and the endings a portrait. so sometimes it does seem a bit abstract,,, not a bad theme by any means..... not an art expert so my dictionary is too stressed to describe it

Characters:7
The characters some of them are cliche fanservice oriented overly sexualized and if the character looks dull then contact light yagami...
Character development is a trait that is hard to get right in the current anime market but this one does not put a dent in this department..

Sound:8
well i liked it. thats all i can say.. Not an expert musician..

enjoyment:8
well it start up slow... i mean like snail slow..
u basically fall asleep. just look at how many of them dropped it.
However if u r patient enough u will be paid enough.. Fortunately i was one of those. I to fell asleep, droped it, rewatched it, painstakingly stuck with it and finally reaped its reward.
At the end of the day i was smiling with a stupid look on my face.

Overall:8
Too bored with all his problems,all her emotional drama and the uncertainity over the future, but u find out that at the end of the day it was all worth it.

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I'm honestly not comfortable with reviewing something like Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash because it's one of those shows where every single one of my complaints can be countered with "well that's what the fans like about the show". Which is true for a lot of bad anime in general, but Grimgar is one of those shows that's specifically made to draw "feels" from the viewer without the structured story that ERASED used aka the main the reason why I cared for ERASED's cliched "feels drama" in the first place. So me saying it doesn't have a story as the main reason for not liking it is the equivalent of me going on a rant about how much Uchouten Kazoku sucks because...oh wait, I did do that.

Nevertheless, mood pieces just seem to exist in the same dimension as "walking simulators" in that they follow their own set of unique rules that most people would consider good, but I consider to be the equivalent of injecting myself with morphine. Forgive me if I was raised to believe that all stories were supposed to have actual story to them. But whatever, we'll play it your way for now, fans. Anyways, Grimgar is another "light novel adaptation about a bunch of teenagers being trapped in a video game fantasy world" and comes with the usual baggage that comes with being based on a light novel. The terrible sexist jokes that add nothing to the product and should have been cut out completely. The large amounts of talking that get in the way of actual plot progression. The fact that certain plot turns are telegraphed from miles away. The fact that this is "light watching" in general, and I don't enjoy light watching.

Similar to Phantom World, Grimgar stands out a bit from the usual by-the-numbers dross that gets tossed our way by having an actually talented director onboard and after a bit of a rough start, it takes itself a lot more seriously. However, unlike KyoAni's thing, Grimgar is first and foremost a drama with some (bad) comedic moments, which is probably why it got a much better reception since A-1's heartstring tugging is something that anime fans love to eat up. But more than that, it actually takes its "trapped in a video game world" premise as something with actual stakes and underdog charm, right down to the characters being so bad that they can't defeat a simple orc and having people actually die, thus causing them grief for a large amount of time. They don't even explicitly state they're in a video game, although the fantasy world is so RPG-like it doesn't matter either way, and the road to forming bonds is a long but well-deserved one indeed - although the fact that the team members getting killed off are guys and the recruits they replace 'em with are girls didn't exactly miss my eye.

This is all solid stuff to build a compelling narrative around, but Grimgar has about as much drive to do something with its edge as the seventh Harry Potter film, and is just content to let the stuff be the substance. You guys remember the complaint regarding how Deathly Hallows Part I was just a lot of running around without any real destination? Well that's exactly what Grimgar lacks in regards to all of its elements: a destination. Ignoring the large amounts of time spent on building up its world and characters at the expense of plot, which quite frankly bored me so hard that I went surfing on the net whilst playing the episode in the background, I don't understand what the end goal of this show is aside from being a more-realistic take on this RPG-genre. Bokurano is a more realistic take on the mecha genre, but it also had a destination for said take to work towards: fifteen kids have to destroy fifteen robots that will invade their world and only by defeating them can they prevent said world from becoming erased.

I mean do these kids even want to go back to the real world, assuming they have a real world to go back to? What's the specific requirement to do so? Okay, they get strong to survive, but to what end? I'm not watching a sitcom here. I'm not even watching something where romance is the main focus - and incidentally, the romantic chemistry between any of the characters in this show is about as stale as Jerry Seinfeld's stand-up these days. None of the characterization is particularly strong to begin with as most of the characters' flaws don't really factor into what actually happens in this show, aside from Mary, who is distant from people because her team was wiped out in a tragic incident that wasn't even her fault. Grimgar isn't a character study. It's some sort of drama I can't place, and if I can't find a good way to describe it, it's kind of hard for me to join in on the feels train unless you guys don't mind "confusion" on board.

You know that post I wrote a few days ago, questioning how much good execution is allowed to carry a product on its own? Well Grimgar embodies that question more than ERASED - and to a lesser extent, Gate - ever could. I mean aside from the bad jokes, it has a serviceable if not outstanding attitude towards its premise, but is that really enough to carry it for twelve episodes (and probably more when the sequels inevitably get announced)?. I mean I'm sure there's going to be people who like that upcoming Hardcore Henry film solely for the first-person gimmick, but that's a two-hour movie. Imagine an entire series based solely on that. And I'm more of an action guy than a feels guy to begin with, so me being worried about enjoying that says a lot.

I know a lot of people already made their position before they even read this review and thus have already dismissed my points out of hand, but...ah I dunno. Maybe I should just avoid mood pieces if what's supposed to be good about them is completely opposed to my own ideals, but I really don't think belonging to a certain genre means you shouldn't at least try to have some sort of end goal in mind. I mean it's not like this thing was advertised as an atmospheric piece of entertainment - no more so than ERASED at least - and I'm still going to be somewhat positive of ERASED when it did this shit because quite frankly, it did it much better. I would have preferred it to not have put itself in a Catch-22 position in regards to using its plot in order to give the emotional moments weight, but that's all done with now. And quite frankly, I and everyone else are getting tired of bringing that show up.

So to sum up this review in a nutshell...if you haven't seen Rakugo, then give it a try right after you close this thing. I'm pretty sure people who like this show's feels will like the ones in that anime several times better.

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While everybody and their mother decided to dispute about Boku dake ga Inai Machi or in english recognized as Erased, and pit themselves on the side of either it was 'da bess show of dis seasin' or 'I am discontent with the latter half of this fraudulent shit show', I despite inexperienced with writing reviews but affluent in being an opinionated douche, decided to tackle the other often regarded '2nd bess show of dis seasin', Hai to Gensou no Grimgar or known in english as Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, in the form of a review.

I'll do my utmost best to provide a review that's fair (as fair as someone who is writing about something they disliked can be) and spoiler free (that's a + right?). Without further ado, let my explain why I think what I think about Grimgar.

When I initially started Grimgar, I thought to myself, this can either be another Sword Art Online/DanMachi repeat with a fresh coat of paint orrr... an actually entertaining MMO/RPG genre show with likable/relatable characters in a unique setting, intriguing story and great pacing.
Boy, let me tell you I was caught by surprise when it was neither.

To try to make this as short and to the point as possible:
This show is boring. So. Very. Boring.
So boring that I wholeheartedly struggled to move on to each episode and continue through the current episode that I was watching because of how bland the story and the characters were, despite the characters being put in a 'survival of the fittest' setting with no memories and little money or experience as soldiers of the Reserve Army. You'd think some heavy character development is coming in and some crazy drama and dope, action-packed fighting scenes are coming in, when in reality my child, you are getting something that will potentially, bore the hell outta you, sedate you like Bill Cosby at the bar. You won't enjoy it, for the most part atleast.

The entire show makes you feel like it's based off of Haruhiro's inner monologues that give pointless insight on situations and conversations he's having with another party member, as if to remind the viewer two or three times that the current situation or conversation took place. When a show reminds it's viewers of something that took place prior or of something that made the character feel a certain way to make them have the inner monologue in the first place, it isn't initially a bad thing, because it's used to remind the viewer of why the character is currently feeling the way they are or why those feelings/thoughts may change. It keeps the story fresh so that the viewer may tread along with that in mind. But Grimgar over uses it. Too much. To the extent to where the show will have you thinking, 'I know already, I saw it and heard you talk about it the first 20 times' or 'Will he ever fucking get over it?'. It's things like this people will use as a counter-argument when the topic of character development comes around to show "character depth" or "character growth" when it in cases, such as this one, the character did absolutely nothing but literally explain what just happened, through thought. Not that the viewer needed to be reminded initially at all.

That being said, Grimgar overall is slow paced. Unforgivably slow paced, to the point to where the show feels more like a slice of life anime or as if you're watching a filler episode where nothing relevant to the story happens regarding the plot. I think in story execution, where Grimgar did wrong was that it tried to portray each party member's life outside of the battlefield/missions and when they aren't together and it failed miserably. Almost nothing I can deem noteworthy can be taken from these scenes, as most of the time all they show are the characters shopping or taking in the view somewhere or pondering about something pointless or even worse, when the show decides to turn half of the episode into an AMV with music that doesn't fit the current scene with watercolor still-frames depicting the same 3 or 4 images in different times of the day.

Grimgar in appearance is actually quite appealing. The water color sort of background and display, when used in the correct situation, gave it a nice warm and cozy sort of 'at home' feeling, as if nothing life threatening or dangerous is bound to take place anytime soon and boy, does this give the show a sort of double edged sword effect.

While the water color works for scenes where the background is being shown off or the characters are having a conversation, it's just plain awful when it gets to a fighting scene. Since this show uses more water color-looking and bright color overlay animation for most of it's scenes, the hand-drawn animations when fighting are dull and not very appealing.

This show is the epitome of dullness and boredom. Not even the drama or fighting scenes can save it from being overrated drivel adapted from a light novel no one can stop pissing themselves about. So overall:

Story: 3

Nothing new. Overdone concept with a boring, lame execution and pretty colors.

Art: 5

Like I said, nice colors sometimes used in the worst of situations but when used correctly, total eye candy for sure.

Sound: 4

Meh. Generic, unmemorable fantasy anime (or fantasy genre anything for that matter) music. It only got bad when the AMV moments came around and you can totally tell they just picked any j-pop ballad from the radio and stuck it in there with nicely drawn still frames as if anyone asked for them.

Characters: 3

Bland af. I've drank tap water with more taste. All generic and boring. The only character I remember is Shihoru and that's only because she got those big anime tidd- I mean, she got that plot y'know? That goooood plot? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) y'know, the good plot the rest of the show seemed to be lacking in?

Enjoyment: 2

I didn't have fun. I didn't enjoy it. I don't absolutely hate this show, but god was I bored the whole time. I tend to give shows an 'A' for effort if they make me laugh, looked nice, had a good soundtrack or had a good enough concept or characters to carry it, but this show literally had nothing, literally nothing worth mentioning. At all. I felt like the only thing keeping me interested was Shihoru's...( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) fuck it, not even that was enough fam. Seriously. Maybe. Idk.

Overall: 3

I know there are people that are into this whole 'fantasy/mmorpg' type of thing and that are lenient with super slow snail pacing but I honestly wouldn't even use this show as a weapon to torture my worst enemy with, it'd probably put his ass to sleep or something. Poorly thought up jokes aside, this show is pretty bad and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Though if you would like to give it a try, who am I to go against your wishes? Go for it fam. Might just be the bed time story you need to fall asleep.

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I really loved this anime. The reviews aren't great but I feel there is a context with this anime that people aren't fully understanding.

It has a very realistic approach for an isekai. It's slow but it's supposed to be. The characters don't go from 1-100 in just a few episodes, they slowly build themselves up.

I especially enjoyed how they gave the monsters a bit of character to where you can even empathize with them.

The relationships the characters have with one another is also very wholesome. They all try to figure each other out, find the best way to talk to one another. It gave a great deal of depth to the anime.

I found humor, sadness, enrichment, and action all packed nicely into one season. My only complaint is that there is no S2 on the horizon because I'd love to see this pick back up. Would recommend this to anyone interested in fantasy or isekai anime.

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