Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash ((灰と幻想のグリムガル) is a 12 episode fantasy series based on the light novels of the same name by Jumonji Ao and Eiri Shirai. It originally aired over the winter of 2016.
A group of people suddenly find themselves in an unknown land with no memory of how they got their or where they came from. To survive they must turn to the world of hired monster killers. The strongest band together to forge their way into the world and the six remaining 'weak' individuals left decide to join up as well. Each person must join the guild of a profession that they determine will benefit their survival in this new, fantasy set, world. Once they are accepted and go through basic training they regroup to begin hunting monsters outside of their village.
The party ends up being led by Manato who has chosen the path of Cleric. The small band of four guys and two women struggle to combat weak goblins in order to feed themselves. Killing doesn't come naturally for them nor does forcing themselves into danger. Driven by survival they push on, fighting more low level monsters, to the point where they become more comfortable with their situation. They become to comfortable and the death of one of their party members forces them to question the situation they find themselves in. They have to come to terms with the reality of their existence and what it will mean for their future.
There are a few things that separate Grimgar from the other recent shows that deal with modern people finding themselves trapped in a fantasy world were they have to hunt goblins to survive. The biggest is that the characters have no recollection of their lives prior to this new world. The most important is that these characters are reluctant to kill. They do so out of necessity instead of pride and fame. They struggle with the morality of their chosen profession and are driven more by need than want. The characters are not presented as heroes, they are ordinary people struggling to adapt to an unusual situation. The series focuses on character development above everything else.
That said there are a few moments of pointless fan-service, particularly with the trainer for the theif guild and her attire. The series is well done but that one in particular seemed incredibly pointless and more of a distraction. Yet, its few and afar between and nothing like the garbage that fills so many shonen fantasy series. So as a 'prude' I can ignore it and move on.
The artwork is beautiful and works well for the series. Designed to look like water colors with a muted palate of hues and shadows through out. The character designs are simple enough yet conforming to modern aesthetics enough to not look out of place. Action sequences are easy enough to follow but the real strength is in the background pieces and the natural world.
Yet another fantasy series entertained me, this is something like 3 or 4 now in the past few years when previously I abhorred pretty much anything in the anime world that resembled Dungeons and Dragons. I grew up a basement dwelling dice rolling nerd and mostly read fantasy novels as a kid, so I don't hate fantasy just anime depictions of it. What really got me with Grimgar is that the characters are not bad ass over powered egotists. They struggled through the entire story and had personal flaws that resonated. Mainly the series followed Haruhiro who was the most fleshed out, but the rest fit their stereotypical roles well enough. The series didn't dwell on the characters trying to remember of reclaim their past lives either.
The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll and Hulu. I'm sure it will see a video release in North America at some point. The real question is, will we see a translation of the light novels?
A group of people suddenly find themselves in an unknown land with no memory of how they got their or where they came from. To survive they must turn to the world of hired monster killers. The strongest band together to forge their way into the world and the six remaining 'weak' individuals left decide to join up as well. Each person must join the guild of a profession that they determine will benefit their survival in this new, fantasy set, world. Once they are accepted and go through basic training they regroup to begin hunting monsters outside of their village.
The party ends up being led by Manato who has chosen the path of Cleric. The small band of four guys and two women struggle to combat weak goblins in order to feed themselves. Killing doesn't come naturally for them nor does forcing themselves into danger. Driven by survival they push on, fighting more low level monsters, to the point where they become more comfortable with their situation. They become to comfortable and the death of one of their party members forces them to question the situation they find themselves in. They have to come to terms with the reality of their existence and what it will mean for their future.
There are a few things that separate Grimgar from the other recent shows that deal with modern people finding themselves trapped in a fantasy world were they have to hunt goblins to survive. The biggest is that the characters have no recollection of their lives prior to this new world. The most important is that these characters are reluctant to kill. They do so out of necessity instead of pride and fame. They struggle with the morality of their chosen profession and are driven more by need than want. The characters are not presented as heroes, they are ordinary people struggling to adapt to an unusual situation. The series focuses on character development above everything else.
That said there are a few moments of pointless fan-service, particularly with the trainer for the theif guild and her attire. The series is well done but that one in particular seemed incredibly pointless and more of a distraction. Yet, its few and afar between and nothing like the garbage that fills so many shonen fantasy series. So as a 'prude' I can ignore it and move on.
The artwork is beautiful and works well for the series. Designed to look like water colors with a muted palate of hues and shadows through out. The character designs are simple enough yet conforming to modern aesthetics enough to not look out of place. Action sequences are easy enough to follow but the real strength is in the background pieces and the natural world.
Yet another fantasy series entertained me, this is something like 3 or 4 now in the past few years when previously I abhorred pretty much anything in the anime world that resembled Dungeons and Dragons. I grew up a basement dwelling dice rolling nerd and mostly read fantasy novels as a kid, so I don't hate fantasy just anime depictions of it. What really got me with Grimgar is that the characters are not bad ass over powered egotists. They struggled through the entire story and had personal flaws that resonated. Mainly the series followed Haruhiro who was the most fleshed out, but the rest fit their stereotypical roles well enough. The series didn't dwell on the characters trying to remember of reclaim their past lives either.
The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll and Hulu. I'm sure it will see a video release in North America at some point. The real question is, will we see a translation of the light novels?
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