Grimgar is a gem, albeit black. It presents a narrative that is both unique and daring, characters that challenge the norm of story creation and levels of hard work that has never been seen before.
Grimgar feels disconnected. The setting is ill-defined and imperfect which are caused by the lack of focus on it at the start and the structure of its narrative. I disliked the absence of the setting.
Grimgar uses a premise that is lacking. The exposition scene in episode one only informed the viewers of the existence of a war between humans and other races and the role of volunteer soldiers. The viewers do not know anything about the town, its history, the lives of its population or their situation. They did not tell the viewers the laws of the world - whether people keep appearing from the tower, why the creatures are living around the borders of the town, where the merchants get their products, the people's culture and views of life, etc. The world is static and not there.
Grimgar uses a narrative that does not involve anything outside the party of 6. The story follows the struggles and adventures of one party to earn money in a new world. This positioning of the characters makes the community, town and world around them empty and arbitrary. If the narrative was affected by the town's constant changes and situations, if the characters were involved with other parties and people, if they had interactions with large communities that affect them and their adventure and if they ventured through the town to learn about the daily activities of the townspeople, the world would have personality and weight in their adventure through it.
Grimgar uses its world as a stage more than a place where the characters live. World development in an adventure anime is imperative. Without knowing about the world the characters are in, the viewer will not connect with the selling point of the show. A world without life breaks the immersion in the adventure. Try to imagine GATE, Log Horizon, SAO, DanMachi or Accel World but without any knowledge of the inner workings or details of the world and also without any interactions between the characters and the people and communities around them. The worlds will be barren, and the characters will not have much to work with.
Besides the setting that the viewers do not know, the world seems more detached because of a combination of bad directing, music and art choices. I disliked feeling abstracted from the world.
Grimgar uses a beautiful pastel and watercolor art style for the background but the characters are solid, and their outlines are clearly defined. The differing art styles make the characters feel like they are superimposed onto the background and by extension, the world itself.
The ample amount of idle talk, monologs and most scenes, including the action scenes, are placed over panning still shots of the characters or unrelated still backgrounds. Sometimes, the characters are also tinted with the same watercolor splashes as the background. They also add a little moving lens flare or pulsing light sources to break up the stillness. All of these serve the largest disconnect to the show.
Grimgar uses a mix of drum and guitar instrumental for the action scenes and voiced songs for the montages. The action scenes are usually neither tension heavy nor fast and exciting. This, however, means the instrumental often outpaces the action, and thus the beats of the drums feel soulless. Voiced OSTs used in montages break engagement immediately. Their use for important scenes feels jarring when the scenes do not evoke emotions of the viewer and when the weight of the scene does not last as long as the song.
Grimgar uses shots that do not flow with one another. For example, the opening fight scene of episode one is a confusing shot composition. Rewatch that scene and attempt to visualize where each character is located respect to one another. Now, also, try to draw out the setting. You will realize a few things. Characters change locations or are not in the sides of certain shots even though they should be. They also appear out of nowhere in places where it was framed without them a couple of shots back. These happen because when one character is shown, the viewers lose perspective of where any other character is at.
Grimgar uses weird shot framing, and this causes issues in scenes. Now, if you had tried to draw out the setting in your mind, look at the scene where the goblin climbs the cliff to the mage. You'll realize that when it gets knocked back, you'd think it'd be knocked off the cliff. However, it's framed such that it falls onto level ground as if the ground right in front of the mage was flat in the first place. This is supported by the next shot where the big guy climbs the cliff to pursue the goblin but the three characters from below seem to appear to be on the same level as the goblin, somehow. This is an example of one of the continuity errors that occur in the show. The show has many moments where the viewer can get lost if they try too hard to find the characters' positions. Try to watch the first action scene of episode two with this in mind.
Grimgar uses fanservice without any shame, at least, a few times each episode. The viewers will get detached from the show when it shamelessly pans over Yume's backside or curvy body, Shihoru's chest or curvy body or Mary's legs or sexy body. Some scenes are also played to have the characters be in interesting positions or situations. It becomes distasteful when they take on the perspective of Haruhiro or Ranta as this speaks about their characters too. These usually underplay the scene and what's happening and are both distracting and irritating.
Grimgar feels lazy and uninspired. Besides the disconnecting bits of the anime that was covered, the narrative structure, the characters and the unused interesting ideas the show had, are the other issues of the show. I disliked the characterization and the story presentation it chose to use.
Grimgar does not make use of the interesting ideas it had. One of it was the whole amnesia situation. The amnesia bit is not a good idea when we get to the characters, but the parts about not having amnesia are what's interesting. In episode one, Ranta says, "Even when I was a girl, I was famous for my hidden strength." In episode two, the big guy carves an airplane out of wood and lifts it up to make it appear flying towards the sun. In episode three, Yume says, "You were trying to (peep), and that's a crime! I'll call the police!" and Ranta replies, "There ain't any in this town!". These ideas could have been used as effective character dynamics for every character. Some characters know their past world while others do not. Some characters struggle to believe they are in this world while others struggle to let go of their past. This could have potentially brought strong character arcs with conflicts, story progression and character depth.
Grimgar does not make its death and morality theme more impactful. In episodes one and two, the series tells the viewers that the fights are kill or be killed, that the characters are invading the goblins' land and that the goblins don't want to die. However, these did not add weight to the show. Renji's party is a group revered by many even though they started at the same time as the story's characters. Yet, they mean nothing to the show even though they could have very well made up an excellent connecting thread linking the characters to the world that the viewers don't know. Or maybe, the characters could have learned about the world through their experience and guidance.
Grimgar does not make narratively interesting characters. Firstly, Grimgar defines its characters through their details as human beings. Writers are advised not to do so. Their description is only skin deep. People forget characters who are defined by fine details of themselves. They won't remember a character because they like cooking or speak in Kansai accent. They won't remember a character just from their role in the party or the abilities they somehow acquire throughout the show. Instead, they remember characters who do interesting things, who have interesting viewpoints or opinions and who have interesting and dynamic character arcs that affect the storyline and narrative.
Grimgar does not make a good foundation for the characters. Grimgar's principle of amnesia means that the characters do not have distinct goals, motivations, viewpoints or anything dynamic about themselves. What I mean by dynamic is not static. A static trait is one that does not change, does not affect the narrative and is not affected by the narrative. The fact that the characters like drinking or are good at rock climbing are some examples. When characters are defined by their roles in a party, there is a disconnect between the viewer and the character. The viewers do not know their personal goals, why they do things a certain way or what's developing in their characters. These traits serve no plot function and do not collide with the story to make a character arc, and therefore, should not define the characters.
Grimgar does not make good use of Mary as a character, despite using two episodes to tell her backstory. An example of a dynamic trait that can be played up in a narrative is her struggle to accept the death of her party members. Firstly, they introduce Mary's current situation caused by the trauma of losing her friends. Then, they get Mary to face that trauma with a hurdle or obstacle. She needs to let go of them. Her having to lay them, the walking dead, to rest, is a good plot point. However, what needs to change is getting the viewer involved with the struggle that she has. The viewers need to see her resolve her fears. The viewer needs to follow a plot point where she does just that.
Get the other characters to be defeated or overwhelmed by her dead party members. All this while, she's traumatized and does not want to face them. Though Bloodied and exhausted, the other characters try their best to keep her safe even though they're almost defeated. She realizes she cannot go against her ideals of never wanting any other member of her party to die and also that laying her previous party members to rest provides closure and a conclusion of her responsibilities towards them. As all the other characters are damaged all over and their equipment rendered useless, she decides not to heal them because she'll need to use all her mana to put her previous party down. The other characters understand this and put up one final burst to give an opening for Mary, risking everything. You see, now the other characters, despite being unrelatable with little to no character arcs, have all developed their relationship with Mary and Mary's character arc is made much more interesting, relatable and actually, dynamic. Because the after effects of that battle will be significant, like equipment replacement and battle scars, it will also define what happens afterward, in the narrative. That's a strong character development of Mary as the viewers get to know about her dynamic trait and its development. Shihoru's shyness could work as a dynamic character arc as well, but they didn't do much with it.
Grimgar does not make good narrative choices. Episodes of the show are made up of montages, action scenes and idle talk. The progression of the show is limited to the montages where Haruhiro monologs what has happened to the party. It is also evident that the show attempts to provide a sense of realism to its characters. They use large and long moments of characters talking about things that other narratives avoid. These moments take up half the episode and do not affect the narrative in many ways with them usually looping back and ending up without a clear conclusion or effect to anything in the show.
Here's an example. --(Skip these two paragraphs because they’re boring.)-- "How long are you going to sleep Haruhiro? The sun's high." "It's morning, aren't you forgetting something?" "Hm, what's with the sleepy eyes?" "I was born with eyes like this. It doesn't mean I'm sleepy. I've told you before." "Liar, no doubt you're sleepy." "Oh no, I was on breakfast duty." "You don't seem that sorry, Haruhiro." "Aren't you on duty too? You should go." "Well, when I woke up, Moguzo had traded with me." "What? I can't believe you can still harp on me." "It's obvious. If you don't wake up, I won't get my morning grub." That's 2 minutes of the show already.
Here's another example. "That's a little more like a dark knight now." "Whatever. Mind your own business." "What happened to eating bones and all?" "Sheesh, you really are a nitpicker, bugging me about every single little thing." "Not about every single thing." "See, what did I just say? Every single thing!" "Well, it turned out alright. I got to accumulate my first vice, too." "What can you do if you accumulate a vice." "I can summon a demon." "And, what can that demon do?" "It whispers and tells me if an enemy is nearby." "And sometimes it explodes a demon joke." "That's all?" "What do you mean 'that's all'?" "It'd be a perfect partner for me." "I agree, it'd be just right for Ranta." "Right?" "It's kind of ironic that we say it'd be a good fit for you when we don't even know what the demon is good for." "Meow" "Wha? Huh? Were you that cat? Do you have a transformation skill like that?" "Of course not." "I was just thinking of how pretty the sun looked when it plopped into my head. Apologize." "Of course I knew that. Don't scare me like that." "You seem kind of flustered." "Shut up." "It really is beautiful, the sunset." "I pass here everyday. Maybe I never had the time to notice." Those are another two wasted minutes.
Other stories do not focus on the characters saying arbitrary things like this because it does not move the story, it is not interesting, and again, it should not define the characters. The show avoids showing and playing events that matter to the story and have the characters do interesting things that could affect the story, unlike other narratives. For example, the characters' guild training, the characters mapping out the abandoned city, the characters gathering information or the characters' relationship dynamics. The things that end up moving the show are the action scenes where the viewers only see some fights and the montages where Haruhiro monologs over to tell the viewers what is moving along. These conflict with conventional storytelling and makes the narrative weak and the characters who have no arcs for themselves, weak as well. Character development is not felt and is not apparent enough because of the lack of character arcs. I would love to use 'antinarrative' as a term for Grimgar, but it holds a different meaning in writing and literature.
If they removed the setting of Grimgar from Grimgar, have the characters do normal jobs but still show their daily life activities like cooking, waking up, bathing or shopping and then still use the rest of the time for the characters to have conversations about arbitrary topics, the anime would be a bad Slice of Life. Well, it’s already a bad Slice of Life.
Finally, the show has the first ED in anime which consists of one frame. The camera pans over the different characters in that one picture, and a lens flare effect is used. It disconnects the viewers from the song and is lazy and uninspired. This ED sums up Grimgar. Thanks, Grimgar.
- and sorry for the rough read, really terrible writing at work here from sometime ago.
