fantasy Archives - Page 6 of 6

Hai to Gensou no Grimgar anime review – Pretty nice

I’ve watched my fair share of “hero taken to a fantasy world” kind of shows and generally enjoy the genre, but it does tend to get kind of stale after the 10th “Hero of the World” iteration. I heard Hai to Gensou no Grimgar was a different, grittier take on the trope, all about what would really happen if a bunch of regular people were thrown into another world and had to survive without all the modern amenities and protections we’re used to, so I gave it a try. And you know, it was actually pretty good.

Blurb: Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash (灰と幻想のグリムガル Hai to Gensō no Gurimugaru^?) is a Japanese light novel series written by Ao Jūmonji and illustrated by Eiri Shirai. The story follows a group of people who suddenly find themselves in a fantasy world with no memories from before their arrival, and chronicles their struggles to survive and make a life for themselves. (source:Wikipedia)

First, before you get scared off, Grimgar is not that dark a series. The darkest take on the trope I’ve ever seen is Now and Then, Here and There (recommended watching if you’re feeling too happy and just want to be pissed off), and Grimgar never gets quite as unhappy as that. Nevertheless it does chronicle the likely struggles of a bunch of regular teenagers who have never even killed a chicken before and who now have to fend for themselves in the wilds of a new world by killing sentient, highly intelligent monsters and living off the proceeds.

Positives

I liked that Grimgar wasn’t that dark and still contained plenty of fantasy staples like magic and skills and a super-talented main character who overcomes great odds etc etc. I’m cool with that kind of thing, especially since nothing comes easy to the party so it feels like they deserve everything they eventually get. The show also ends on a highly positive note and is very well-wrapped up so unlike most light novel adaptations you don’t feel like you have to go out and get the books to get the full experience, even though the show does make you interested enough to want to do so.

Other positives: the watercolor-like backgrounds are lovely and a nice, mellow change from the often-garish colors of other fantasy series. The action sequences are not as good as the better ones from Sword Art Online or even Yes It’s Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon, but it’s still clear and easy to follow even when things get hectic. The fights keep you on edge a bit because the rookies are so raw that anything can and frequently does happen in that world. It’s also nice that the characters have to deal with everyday stuff like buying food and getting clean underwear. It’s good for people who like slice-of-life and immersion into fantasy worlds.

Negatives

Now for the stuff that wasn’t so good. The voice-acting isn’t very impressive. It’s a strike against those who insist on how wonderful Japanese VAs always are. The MC’s voice was too deep and too impassive, Manato’s voice was too screechy and piercing, Ranta always sounded like he was trying too hard, the other characters weren’t very memorable. I don’t remember anything about the music either. The fanservice episodes and excessive discussions of bust-sizes and other vulgar topics was also something I could have done without. The long sequences where people just stand around while some annoying high-pitched singer warbles about nothing important weren’t necessary to the show either, IMO.

Those minor nitpicks aside, the main negative of Hai to Gensou no Grimgar (for me) is that far too much time is spent talking about stuff that doesn’t really interest the viewer. Especially at inappropriate times like in the middle of dungeons (they pay for that at least once, but they don’t learn their lesson). I’m like “Can’t this wait till you get back home where it’s nice and safe?”

But really, they just like to talk. Talk talk talk about their feelings. Tell me how you feel. I feel this, we feel this, feel feel feel. I get it, I get, but you really don’t need to spend 10 minutes in one episode talking about your depression, then 5 minutes in another episodes going on about the same thing, and then again in another ep, and on and on. It could be faster paced, is what I’m saying.

But there’s no perfect series, and I think Grimgar did pretty well keeping a balance between being upbeat and being realistic. It’s a great watch for anyone who likes fantasy, other worlds, tragedy, slice of life or straight up action. Or a fun combination of all these like Hai to Gensou no Grimgar.

Kyousougiga episodes 1-2, dropped

Too weird and disjointed for me, I guess. I was following along with the weirdness in the early parts of episode 1 of Kyousougiga, or so I thought, then they lost me in Kyoto when the kid turned into an adult and started fooling around with some random floozy in an apartment etc etc.

Still I thought I’d try one more episode to see if they would at least explain what’s going on. Okay, I get that there are several worlds out there and there’s an organization that takes care of those worlds and the girl Koto that showed up is part of that group and is looking for her sensei at the same time. But. I don’t like Koto at all, especially at her bratty kid stage, which is all episode two focuses on.

I watched up to the part where she was brawling with some kid at a shrine and then dropped it, though I did skip forward a bit to see that some mysterious people think she’s special somehow and want to get their hands on her, I think. Which means there’s going to be even more focus on Koto for the rest of the series, which means I’m better off dropping it while I’m ahead.

Annoying main character, adult situations that don’t fit the rest of the show, lots of weirdness that isn’t explained in a straightforward fashion (I hate weird series), all equals a recipe for a series I’m going to hate. I’m not even interested enough in what Kyousougiga is about to read summaries online. The whole thing just left me feeling frustrated and mildly irritated. Pass, on to the next show!

Dropped Danchigai, Kuusen Madoushi and Madan no Ou to Vanadis

Danchigai – I usually like anime with short episodes but in this case 3 minutes felt like 3 hours. Nothing significant happened – guy woke up, bickered with siblings, went to school, but they still had to throw in unnecessary tsundereness and suggestive content. There were no compelling situations, no story or even background (who are these people and why are they all living together?) so nothing made me want to watch any more after an episode.

Kuusen Madoushi Kouhosei No Kyoukan – Started out somewhat interesting with all those bug monsters. The little combat I saw didn’t look too interesting, but I figured it would get better as stuff was explained later. Unfortunately before that we had to deal with the usual “funny” misunderstandings with the main character walking around with jam on his crotch and walking into the women’s bathroom and all those other situations I haven’t found funny in about 10 years.

The idea of an elite fighter taking charge of a bunch of weaklings and whipping them into shape is a good one, but it was clear from episode 1 that the show is going to be more about perverted incidents and harem-type occurrences instead of just normal fighting and training like I was hoping for. Not my cup of tea. Next.

Madan no Ou to Vanadis – I was looking for more shows with overpowered MCs after finishing Mahouka, and someone recommended this. Well, the hero isn’t quite as overpowered as Tatsuya. He’s just really, really good with a bow and then he gets a super magic bow and well, you can take it from there.

I watched about 3 or 4 episodes, up to the point where he kills the dragon with the magic bow. I dropped it because it was boring. The skimpily-dressed ladies falling all over the main guy didn’t help the show’s case, but if the political intrigue and the battles had been any good there could have been hope. But really, there’s only so much you can do with a bow and an arrow. Point, and shoot. Point, and shoot. Booorriiing. After watching a long, supposedly strategic battle I couldn’t bring myself to root for any of the sides and didn’t see the point of continuing.

Yay, my backlog is shrinking! I’ll post about another reject next time – the only reason I didn’t add it today is because it comes highly recommended so I want to give it one more episode to get its act together. See you next time!

Dungeon de Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteru darou ka anime review (ending spoilers)

All right, I’m sure we can all agree that Dungeon de Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteru darou ka (Is it Wrong to Try to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon?) is a ridiculously long title that no anime reviewer should be expected to type out more than once in her lifetime, so I’m going to abbreviate it as Danmachi for the rest of this review. Any objections? I thought not.

On to business. Danmachi is set in a fantasy RPG world where everyone lives in a town with a massive dungeon in it and spend most of their time dungeon-crawling or taking part in related activities. If you’ve watched Tower of Druaga (highly recommended) it’s pretty much the same thing except instead of going up the characters are always heading down. And unlike in Druaga no one knows exactly what’s at the bottom or what they’re heading there for. They’re just exploring the dungeon because it’s there. Typical human nature.

Bell and Hestia. I don't see the chemistry at all. — Bell and Hestia. I don’t see the chemistry at all.

Into this show comes an ordinary seeming boy named Bell Cranel, who forms a contract with a busty loli goddess called Hestia. She gets to form her own clan and he gets the power and protection of a goddess, win-win. Except super-win for him, because somehow he manages to get an EXPx2 passive and some other passive haxes that make him a super-duper rookie in no time at all… which robs the series of all fun pretty quickly.

I watched most of the show pretty faithfully but by episode 13 I’d had enough. “Yeah, yeah, Bell’s just going to kill the boss and save the day again.” Skip to the last few minutes of the episode and yup, just as I expected. Oh, but it’s worse than that. It turns out that the reason why Bell is so super-special and all the gods are interested in him isn’t because he was lucky enough to get that Double EXP passive. Nope, luck had nothing to do with it. He’s actually the grandson of Zeus, king of the gods. Waaaooow. Color me surprised. And a little bit angry.

I really hate it when the main character starts out prattling about “working hard” and “determination” and “wanting to get stronger” and then it turns out the secret was in their genes all along. If you’re not lucky enough to be born to the right parents or into the right family from the start then you might as well not bother, is the message of shows like that. Dragonball (love that show but maaaan…), Naruto, Bleach where we thought Ichigo was some random human then it turned out his parents were reapers, now Danmachi as well. Like, I don’t mind at all if the character is a super-elite because of their families. No, really. But I like to be told that upfront instead of being fed a load of dung about hard work and determination blahdiblah when in the end it’s who you know that matters.

I was going sour on Danmachi before that revelation came up though. I’m not sure why. I like JRPGs quite a bit, so I like animes set in game-like worlds, but this show just didn’t do it for me. It was all over the place. Maybe they spent too much time on the Lily part early on so the rest felt rushed. The last few episodes were just one random boss fight after another after another. Oh Bell-sama is so sugoi! Bell-sama! Bell this, Bell that. *sigh*

And then all these characters just showed up and took center stage in the last few eps like this Hermes guy and his girl and Welf who should have gotten some more development but was just kinda there, and some other familias and then some random baddies who were eventually forced to recognize the wonderfulness of Bell-sama and it was all just one huge mess. Anyway Bell saves the day and everyone thinks he’s sooo wonderful, the end. At least I’ve saved myself the effort of watching Danmachi Season 2 if they ever have the nerve to release it.

That said, it’s not a entirely terrible series. I wouldn’t have made it all the way to the end if it was. I liked the setting and the premise, as I mentioned before. I like that people have stats and level up and go around shopping for armor and buy better weapons, all the things you would expect from an RPG series. In the beginning I was also interested in seeing how the relationship between Aiz and Bell would develop, but now I know he’s the grandson of a god, the Bell x Hestia ending is all but confirmed now, so that’s that.

The fight with the minotaur was a good one too, since at that point I still thought it was possible for Bell to lose at anything. He used a bit of strategy and dexterity as well, culminating in seizing the beast’s weapon and using it against him. The Firebolt in the wound plan was a good one too. Too bad the other battles in the show didn’t live up to that. Just people hopping up and down and flying left and right, slash, slash, magic spell, I can’t even see what they’re trying to do, oh the monster is dead. Too many battles packed in the last quarter too. Quality over quantity please.

So there are some good things about Dungeon de Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteru ni kimatteru darou, just not enough to overlook the endless fawning over ~~Marty Stu~~ Bell Cranel the ~~hardworking~~ born with a silver spoon in his mouth rookie and his very annoying “goddess” Hestia whose sole raison d’etre is to stick her boobs in the viewer’s faces. Watch if you like faux-humble overpowered protagonists, game world settings or loud, busty lolis. Give it a pass otherwise.

No Game No Life anime review

File this one under “Stuff I watched and now I’m sorry I did.” In theory No Game No Life contains a lot of elements I like in an anime, including a fantasy world, invincible protagonists, and the whole “thrown into another world” trope.

The problem is, this time it comes mixed with main characters I don’t like and can’t root for, plus a whole lot of over the top fanservice, plus an inconclusive final ending because the light novel series is still going. This is why I normally stay away from light novel adaptations. It’s just getting harder and harder to do so because there’s just so many of them these days.

The story according to Wikipedia:

Sora and Shiro are two hikikomori step-siblings who are known in the online gaming world as Blank, an undefeated group of gamers. One day, they are challenged to a game of chess by Tet, a god from another reality. The two are victorious and are offered to live in a world called Disboard that centers around games. There, a spell known as the Ten Pledges prevents violence and enforces the rules and outcomes of games. The two travel to Elkia, the nation inhabited by humans. They participate in a tournament to determine the next ruler; after winning the crown, their next goal is to conquer all sixteen species in order to challenge Tet to a game.

But by the time the anime ends, they’ve only conquered one other species in addition to the humans. It was okay when they were fighting to help the people of Elkia, but the whole “beat everyone so we can play with Tet” thing is kind of hard to get behind. Okay you’re bored with life, we get that. Okay you think you’re smarter than everyone, we get that too. But that doesn’t mean we have to like you.

Apart from the sketchy motivations of the protagonists, No Game No Life also suffers from the problem that tends to plague most Overpowered Protagonist anime shows – a complete lack of competent opponents. Sure the show states right away that Blank never loses, but no one even gives them a hard time – except maybe the living chess game, but even that was very brief and possibly feigned.

Slightly higher-res than the featured image

Even when they seem to be in trouble like in the last game, they’ve actually thought 200 steps ahead. “Haha! I went behind you going behind me going behind you!” It was pretty obvious too, since butt monkey Steph had completely disappeared even though we knew she was going to play a part in how things worked out, etc. That’s a bad thing, because the fun of Overpowered Protagonist shows is figuring out how they’re going to win, so when the enemies are far below their level and you know how things are going to play out then, welp, what are you watching for? Thank goodness it was only 12 episodes, that’s all I’ve got to say.

So to recap my opinion of No Game No Life, I liked the setting and the premise, disliked the protagonists, was disappointed by the low level of the opponents faced and absolutely abhorred the over-the-top fanservice. I’m sorry I pushed through the vulgarity in the hopes of getting a good show and ended up with just an average one. At this point I don’t even care how it ends, I’m just glad to be done with it. Next time I’ll note the early warning signs and avoid, avoid, avoid.