Grimm Kumikyoku

Grimm Kumikyoku is a collection of some classic famous fairy tails, being retold with some alternative understanding of the characters and world set, giving them some new grim makeup, and sometimes adding a dark twist in the end, giving us some interesting new ways to read those classic old stories.

Each episode is independent of each other, mainly focused on the structural reimagination of the stories being told, following a simple formula that kinda reminded me of the Junji Ito collections, but less grim and dark, and with much more effort put into the drawing quality. The writing was also very good, it had ... some weird moments with some stories, but overall, the way they reimagined the settings and character was fairly well done, with some ending up deeper and more complex than what i would imagine the original ones being

The only problem its being so short, only 6 episodes, tho they all last for around 40 minutes each, it left wanting more. I hope they continue with more seasons, reimagining more of those classic stories in this same way.

The Grimm Variations starts with a bang and sadly ends with a whimper. Each of the 6 episodes is an adaptation of a story. They are Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel & Gretel, The Elves and the Shoemaker, The Town Musicians of Bremen, and The Pied Piper of Hamelin. The adaptations are not your Disney stories, then again, neither were the real Grimm Brother's stories as the brothers wrote for adults not children.

So let's get this out of the way.. the artwork is great. The music selections for each episode are supportive. Each episode is visually compelling. Now..

I am always happy to ... see the darker side of Fairy Tails. Episodes 1 & 2 were deliciously dark. I've seen similar twists on Red Riding Hood, but Cinderella was completely new to me. Both episodes were well written. The both pull you in before you know it.

Hansel & Gretel (episode 3) has The Promised Neverland vibes. In fact from appearance to atmosphere you will think it's a rip off for the first 30-35 minutes. Then, it throws a curve ball. Personally, I think it could have used a few more minutes for explaining.

Episodes 4-6: This is where things started to go downhill for me. I don't know if the adaptation of The Town Musicians of Bremen (episode 5) was a good one because I know nothing of the story. I will say I didn't find it very entertaining. To me it's the weakest of the bunch. In 4 the Shoemaker becomes an author and the Pied Piper is ... I do not know what the piper is! Shoemaker was good story it just wasn't very interesting. A lot more could have been done with it. It borders on boring. The Pied Piper has many holes. Many Many holes. It was more than halfway over and I started wondering when the piper was going to start playing the damn flute! It's odd. I'm all for odd when it's done well. This really wasn't. I was ill prepared for the tiny acid trip / Joseph and Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat scene that just jumped out of nowhere. Of course you may love it, but for me it was convoluted and offered more questions than it did answers.

At 6 episodes lasting 48 minutes it's not a bad marathon. It's not bad, but it's not great (however it could have been). It doesn't live up to it's potential, but I'm sure all of us can say that about a few titles.

The fairytale collections of the Brothers Grimm, yassified for the modern audience of anime fans to whom the aesthetics of "anime" have become a selling point far greater than any adherence to authenticity.

Each episode starts with a short framing device depicting handsome anime hunk versions of the Grimm Brothers, the 17th century German scholars that they are, because of course, about to tell their sister one of the stories. This then leads to the episode proper.
The stories themselves are loosely based, although they're anything but, on their respective fairy tales; although, vaguely reminiscent would be a much more fitting way to describe their relation to ... the original tales.

#1 Cinderella
Set in early 20th century Japan with "Cinderella" as the villain of the story, a generic spooky anime girl. It's pretty lame.

#2 Little Red Riding Hood
A futuristic cyberpunk murder thriller whose relation to the original story is a mere reference to it, which merely exists as a known tale in this world the same as ours. Like a futuristic American Psycho but edgy, lame and lacking any greater meaning.

#3 Hansel and Gretel.
This one just takes the framework of Hansel and Gretel and reworks it into what is essentially just Promised Neverland.

#4 The Elves and the Shoemaker
There are no elves, just a strange little girl; the ending is radically different, to the point of completely reversing the moral of the original story; and it's about a modern day author, instead of a shoemaker.

#5 Town Musicians of Bremen
This one's basically just the original story told as a human western; which works quite well, as the original story is basically the plot of every other western already: A stranger comes into town and ends up taking care of the ruffians terrorizing it. Yojimbo style. And funnily enough, not the first loose anime adaptation of this story either.

#6 Pied Piper of Hamelin
Story about a teacher wanting to fuck his student, who're living in an isolated cult-town. There is a piper, but she doesn't really perform the same role. It's weird, dark, and arguably fucked up, but so are many of the folktale classics. Though it's similarity to the Pied Piper of Hamelin is pretty much just in the time and setting, I like this one the most, as it feels most like an old fairy tale, rather than a sci-fi anime...
Or so I would've liked to have felt, but the final scene, and I mean literally the last 30 seconds or so, completely ruins that feeling.

It's still the best one, or maybe #5, mind you they're neither good, just the least bad. #2 is complete and utter garbage, the others are just rather forgettable; though perhaps that'll be the case for the whole series in about a week's time.