Hai to Gensou no Grimgar – 02
For when you want to earn that chicken leg…
I’m honestly at a loss for words in describing Grimgar. Well, I’ll take that back a notch. I’m at a loss when it comes to describing my experience while watching the show, and the things it makes me think about in brief…I mean, I could go on all day, but that wouldn’t do much for anyone. So really, how good was this episode? |
Hopes and Dreams Don’t Come Easy
It was so good, Shihoru fainted!
I have a great deal of admiration for these storytellers; both the writers and technicians. They have a real itch to tell this story and it very much shows from the tight characterizations to the spacious animation. Nothing is taken for granted and I’ve got to say these are the strongest two episodes I’ve seen come out of the gate for the Winter ’16 season. It can go from moments of heart-breaking tenderness to crushing brutality, and still find room to tell a very human story among all of the fantasy background.
I hesitate to call this show a deconstruction at this point. For one, that’s an easy term to toss around, and by assuming to much to early we may be missing out on something far simpler, yet much more powerful. For another, a deconstruction takes on point those moments where we suspend disbelief, and I’ve seen little so far in the show that even assumes that. If anything, and if I may play it a bit cheeky, this is a construction. The world, even if presented as fantasy, doesn’t make you take much for granted. Sure it has spell craft, but that is pretty small change (and a bit scary to use to be quite honest). It’s the simple things that count and you don’t have to bend over backwards to say how important it is to enjoy life while you’re fighting for it.
For one, who are these people and what are they capable of beyond mere survival. Is it the cautious courtship between Manato and Shihiro? Is it Yume’s jealousy – which may be because she had her eyes on him…or even her? It is Moguzo’s quiet nature that is more aligned with a house-husband than a huge sword? Is it Ranta’s strong desire for companionship, so strong that he would even take a demon to see the desire fulfilled? So many moments are built up from pure characterization and not a single one wasted to pad out the time. Plus, so many of these moments are going to be part of them in the future.
The goblin take-down was perhaps the most-talked about set piece going in, so let’s get on with that. Yeah, it was brutally crushing, and it took no prisoners as far as the audience is concerned. This left you with no doubt in your mind that this is ugly business. It also left one very keen impression. This is not a game. That’s probably the most important thing it could say on a variety of levels, for both the characters, and the audience. I think the time where we’ve been assuming that these characters are stuck in a game is long past and gone.
They hung a lampshade on it last episode, now they’ve turned off the light and said, “think no more of that”. This wasn’t a clean, pixel friendly kill. It wasn’t a economically arranged GUI and an arrangement of well timed mouse-clicks. This was visceral. You’ve heard the term “bone-crunching” bandied about willy-nilly, here it has actually bloody purchase, it damn well meant something. Life doesn’t go down for the count and drop a handy item according to some chart. So goeth the lesson….
Where a show like SAO, and especially Log Horizon, took the pains to show you the abstractions and the analogies, this one just doesn’t do that in the slightest. Whether than tell you that the game isn’t powerful enough to make the food taste right, or that everything you feel had to be taken into account when programming the world, Grimgar just gets on with it’s business and tells it’s story. It may be they are in a game world, but at this point, I don’t think it’s a very important consideration, if it even is one. They may save that for a mid season surprise, but honestly, I don’t think they would waste their time with something so facile when they’ve got the start of an elegant formula already…and to be sure, the reason’s why they are in this world may never be explained point by point….
A few more bits of gear….
The hunter is bringing up the rear…
Well, if anything this reminds me of table-top RPGs more than it does computer or console RPGs. But that is strictly personal. I’ve spend quite a bit of time design dungeons in my days, and one thing I always kept my mind on was “What beef does the party have with the monsters, anyway?” In the old days of D&D it was simple; your party was good and the goblins were evil. That made make-believe killing them easier, but it didn’t add a great deal of nuance or story. As I got older and my tastes became more refined. I began wanting more from that question. That’s one of the major reasons I’m in love with this show. Its answering the question and it’s doing it in a beautiful, poetic, and thoughtful manner.
There are so many details this episode that go beyond the ones’s I mentioned above. The look on Yume’s face when she pulled the goblin-blade from Haruhiro’s shoulder. The opening where Haruhiro wants to dismiss thoughts of where they all came from, but cannot help but dwell on them, like the color of the moon that serves as a reminder. There was how quickly Yume recovered from her funk and became the playful girl she really wants to be. Oh, and how Shi-chan finally cast Magic Missile!!! I was so pulling for her to get that spell going! Yeah, I’m in love with this show…
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
I find it interesting that the translation part of the episode titles are in French and that one of the actual names of this series is Grimgar, le Monde des cendres et de fantaisie. Are they in a French game?
This was a very powerful episode, and I just love how realistic these kids really are. I could barely take the goblin fight scene. It makes me feel sorry for the few Final Fantasy and Skyrim games I actually pay, and you realize that you would have probably never gotten past the first level if you were really in the game.
Which reminds me of a theory that is out there that I’m beginning to consider. What if these are not mind-wiped kids who were placed in a game, but instead, a game that somehow became it’s own real world that these kids were pulled into (or someone sent them there) and the process erased their memory?
As you said sky, this is dirty business, even more so than any game could really create. This goblin didn’t just die, it played possum, fought back, created traps. It did things that creatures created to be the low level goons wouldn’t do. Even if this was people stuck inside a game world, the game could only do what the person who designed it, programmed it to do. But this is beyond something a computer could create (at least one that isn’t called The Matrix 😛 ) this is a real world with all the complexities that come with it.
So, now the question would be how all these kids came to this world? Also, I’m wondering if there can’t be someway these kids can make money other than killing monsters? I mean, usually in game there is some kind of races you can do or selling wares? I’m thinking there should be someplace they can earn money without killing, since they stink so much at it.
Also, that song montage interlude was so full of meaning even without having the characters say a word.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Well, in games there is an awful lot to abstract isn’t there? In the sit down RPG D&D the Hit Points aren’t just considered a physical toughness, but also a mental toughness as well. You go in full HP thinking you can take on the world. That first strike comes in and bounces right off your armor (the roll against you was close but still a miss) Then you really get full of yourself. Next hit? Crap, that went right between the plates!!! (the roll was a hit, but the attack dice rolled low). Keep going in the fight! Holy Crap I got a sword in my skull!!!!! (the attack roll was a natural 20 on a 20 sided dice, and the attack dice rolled the highest amount possible and you were low on hp to begin with). Of course, any other player or DM could read the dice in a different way. It only becomes more streamlined and the abstractions become digitally conveyed when you jump from the table to the computer. What does each click really mean in “real” terms?
Well there are lots of merchants about, maybe the kids could set up shop selling stuff their tank makes? Ranto could make a demon chicken BBQ shack?
Yes, the montage was wonderful.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Oh, so far as being in a French game? I know of some French RPG’s In Nomine, and it’s sequel Stella Inquisitorous. I don’t think they are in those games. But Croc has made a few Conan style fantasy games.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
I will wait until episode 8 or 9 to make a decision to watch until episode 25/26. Only because 12 Kingdoms started making sense about there and it has ended up as #1 on my recommended list. This so far is not making any lists.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…glad you could stop by and keep me in suspense. Beware the door on the way out, it’s ass seeking….
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
Wait, is this 2-cour? …My info says 12 episodes.
Anyway, 12 Kingdoms slowly reveals it’s details bit-by-bit, but I found that the vital turning point was in episode… 4 or 5 (I can’t remember which) Show ▼
After that everything started looking up.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
8 or 9 was the turning point with the big reveal. That’s where things started making a lot more sense. And where our main character started developing balls for lack of better word.
I remember during the fansubbing days that we dubbed it: Fuushigi Yuugi minus all the boy harem. Dropped it on one then picked it up at 8/9
Show ▼
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I’ve only heard the one cour myself. I’ve poked around the LN scanlation site and it looks like they’re about a volume and a half in? That’s out of seven volumes. So that paces it bit more for one cour, doesn’t it? I’ll bring it up again, but I’m not the type that concerns myself overmuch with the source material once the show is out…
POWUH: iLurker with 3 comments
LN-Reader here. It’s confirmed to have 12 episodes this season. Whether it will have another 12 episodes cour in summer ( what A-1 likes to do ) or whether it will be a separate season somewhere down the line is unclear yet.
What I’m almost sure of is that there will be a continuation. This story has an unbelievably slow pace due to the detail it provides in its content. We follow them around non stop, we constantly hear how they are doing, this causes this overall slow pace.
Taking on a project like this without a bigger project in mind goes completely against the overall idea and character of this story. It is meant to develop throughout the span of time and turn into something unique. You can’t grasp that by putting it into 12 episodes.
Now to where we are. Right now we are not even halfway into the first volume.
This episode 2 was basically chapter 9. Since one volume has around 20 chapters we are at the half of the first volume with next episode. Keep in mind that the anime skipped some of the early chapters which isn’t that much of a loss. So far the anime goes with a 1-2 chapter per episode pace which is extremely slow considered that one volume contains around 20 chapter. It wouldn’t surprise me if we finish off this season with only the first volume adapted. Once again this pushes the idea of something bigger planned.
Add the fact that Ryousuke is directing this, also that A-1 pretty much took their top tier staff from “Your Lie In April” and that they have many pretty big names doing the music and soundtracks which is a rare thing.
All in all, there are lot of things that hint towards a longer project which is honestly what this story needs. 🙂
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Thank you so much for dropping by, Mitrospeed.
I’ve poked around a LN fan-translation site, and it does indeed look like a very lengthy piece. I get the feeling there is something that the author has in mind to tell, but to fully tell it, he has to take the slow approach. But while doing it, he’s not content to count everyone’s ear-hair and give us those details to pad out the material.
Yes, this is a huge A-1 production with those names involved. My only hope is that it doesn’t bog down somewhere in the middle like “Your Lie in April” did….
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Also, is Yume really jealous? It looked like she was more so feeling left out to me.
It’s okay hun, honestly I think you and Ranta would make a pretty good pair.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…you know, that’s what I meant…she’s feeling left out. But let’s wait for Ranta to team up with his dream demon before we start sailing ships…
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
Gaaaack. A lot of people keep trying to pair up Yume and Ranta, and… good Lord, no. That is a horrifying and revolting notion.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Hey! It’s a bit misguided, but not revolting, surely….?
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
Ranta is a disgusting excuse for a human being. The idea of my delightful Yume ending up with him is truly horrifying.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Ranta, is a teenager. Not every kid is going to be quiet like tank guy is, or insecure but nice like MC is, or mature and responsible like Manato is. You will have some who take a bit longer to grow up. He’s a nice (and pretty insecure himself) guy under all that machismo and guff, you just have to get around all of that to see it.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…well that bias got obvious real quick, now dint’it?
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
I can bias however I want. And if I choose to be biased against the guy who’s acted like a jerk and a lunatic this whole time, and in favor of the girl who’s been cute and funny and fun, then I’ll do that.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
He’s an immature boy that’s growing up who talks big but has a good heart, and she’s a pretty funny girl who can take his stuff and dish it right back, and then won’t take no nonsense.
I think they’d be perfect for one another. 😀
POWUH: iLurker with 8 comments
Personally, I’m getting sick of everyone calling this and KonoSuba “another Trapped in an MMO anime”.
“Trapped in a game/MMO” is a very small genre recently popularized by SAO. (It exists before, but not that popular. And the MMO feel is mostly recent development just like MMO’s popularity itself.)
“Sent to a Fantary World” and its supertrope, “Sent to Another World”, is a much more popular genre with long established history.
Just because the MC is sent to a sword-and-sorcery fantasy world does not mean it’s another “Trapped in an MMO”. And certainly does not mean it’s another SAO. It’s just frustrating that so many people get so negative over a vague similarity.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Yeah, we can go back to El Hazard if you want to. It was a good show, and a good genre that had it’s day. Sent to an MMO is, maybe, the latest permutation of that and perception goes to The Recency Effect. Plus, I’ve got to make the references easy to get to make the review work for as many as possible. But thanks for bringing up the detail. It feels like something I would have gone into next week, when the show had some time to settle down….
Actually, I did rather bring it up in my post:
But hey….yeah…
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
~ Clar-ing ~ <3
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
I find this to be more of a survival-themed series, IMO.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Yorokobe shounen! / shoujo!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…sure…
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Grimgar is shaping up to be a really great show. I adored he opening fight because instead of showing them all as expert fighters indulging in their power fantasies, they’re beginners being traumatized by killing something. It was such a nice twist, and I hope they continue to make all the fights have that kind of weight to them.
Then after all that, we get this beautiful montage of the city, the adorable animals, and how the gang is just trying to stay afloat. It manages to change mood so effortlessly.
I’m starting to get suspicious of Manato. Going out to bars alone in the night? Sketchy! Also, he’s just too nice. Something tragic (corruption?) is probably gonna happen to him.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Ah yes, thank you for bring up Manato and his late night drinking binges? He didn’t seem that drunk but he’s had enough to notice the smell. I like how the story didn’t make it immediate, they didn’t red flag the direction enough to where it amounted to a big neon sign over him, but we put a flag on him just the same…
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I wonder if it wouldn’t be more interesting to have it be something more mundane, and at the same time more relatable, like just dealing with the pressure of having these people dependent on you in a life or death situation. Especially if the others don’t really improve as much as he thinks they should. That weighs on people even in things such as online MMOs, I can imagine it would be more pressure in their situation.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
While Manato may indeed be drinking partly to relieve the pressures upon him as leader, it could also be just what he says–gathering information and picking up survival tips from experienced volunteer soldiers. Whether they’re in a game world or a real one taverns would be a logical place to get information since I doubt they can read a newspaper or go to a library.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I like this, as it does cleave more towards the “normal”. But part of me would like some of the show to get a bit more fantasy-like; whether or not Manato’s at-this-point-supposed-drinking-problem is the right thing to put in a fantasy vehicle is up to debate…
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Hmm, I don’t really think he has a ‘drinking problem’, it’s not like he came back stumbling into Haruhiro’s arms or anything. And it takes almost nothing to make your breath smell like alcohol. I think that his reasoning is just as he said, but I sure wouldn’t blame Manato if he needs to get away from the others for some period of time.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Oh please don’t let something happen to Manato, he’s my favorite character!
I don’t mind guys who are nice and responsible. The bad boys are fun, but they lose their shine after a time.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I’m sure that Manato will be giving a true heroes’ death!
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Nooooooooo….
Hopefully he’ll have Orga’s luck since he’s somehow survived all this time and still is an excellent leader and responsible for his men. Hopefully Manato will be the same.
POWUH: iLurker with 3 comments
Well the fights have always been one of Grimgar’s strong points.
Every fight in the LN had me tensed up, on the edge of my seat and in the end speechless. It’s rare that I’ve seen such well described combat that delivered such a strong sense of fear for the characters and uncertainty about what will happen. It’s actually quite combat heavy just like you would expect it from such a world but the author manages to make the fights always different yet even more thrilling at the same time. I mean the author himself was and is a real gamer so I think his ideas are limitless.
Anyway, the anime managed to portrait this first real fight perfectly. They even emphasized the desperation in their fight and even more the traumatizing experience of killing a living being for the first time.
If they will do future fights like that then I already have shivers down my spine. At points like this I wish I wouldn’t know what will happen….alright I collected myself again 😀
So to give you little piece of information. This was only a tiny bit of what the combat can and will be like. Expect some great choreography, realism, progress, blood and pain 🙂
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Thanks for getting us up to speed and not spoiling. I hope you can continue to do the same in future.
You mention the author o fthe LN is a gamer. Is he mostly the console/PC type? Or is he sit down Dungeons and Dragons type? This feels more like the later…
POWUH: iLurker with 3 comments
You’re welcome 🙂
In one volume the author wrote some details about himself in the afterword.
In there he said that the played actively MMO RPGs and by actively I mean non stop. He actually says he was addicted, like he would go to work at the day but at night he was all into the gaming world. He couldn’t live without it.
It seems like he was able to recollect himself and stop himself before he got really addicted.
I guess that’s when he decided he want to create his own world. With a gamer as an author he has all kinds of idea of course. Anything you could imagine from a fantasy setting is happening in there. I was surprised in what detail he shows us all kinds of different scenarios.
The author also said that he isn’t good with people and feels uncomfortable around many people. He was always the “analyzing” type of human. He would look into the behavior of people without even knowing, analyze them and get a certain picture over society. Doesn’t mean he is a bad guy, he’s just someone who likes to analyze how people act in certain moments.
I think that’s where he draws the detailed and realistic character development from. He throws those characters in all kinds of hardships and develops them so realistically cause he has seen enough in the real world.
So you could say all he shows us in Grimgar is out of his own experience therefore it’s so realistic.
Oh and he likes it dark, really dark.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
I don’t think they’re trapped in a game world. Killing the goblin was just too nasty, brutal and real. And it fought hard for its life like a living creature would, not like a game monster that’s there so the characters can rack up points and get loot.
I like the way all of them, except seemingly Manato who may just be good at hiding his feelings, had negative reactions to actually killing a living, thinking being. Even Ranta for all his tough talk and obnoxiousness was effected by it. It’ll be interesting as time goes on and they kill more to see if they become inured to killing.
So far I’m not going to ship Yume with anybody. However, Ranta will have to mature and lose some of that tough exterior he pretends to have before it’d be with him.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I’ll make an argument for “being in a game world” for the sake of it. It’s a game programmed by someone that is very gifted, driven, and hates goblins…and people! But I jest…
They’ve done great on “animating” how the characters react, giving us subtle clues with body language rather than Neon Signing us every ten seconds. It is just the thing I wanted from the team that did Aiura and Psychic School Wars. You know, now that you’ve made me think about the characters even more, I’m thinking Yume may be the one to shoulder this burden the best. She learned to laugh after all. But that’s just a hunch.
..speaking of which, she is rather the breakout character isn’t she? Along with Ranta! If this post is but small sample, every fanboy is a Dad-With-A-Shotgun when it comes to him and Yume. Wow….
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 323 comments
nothing new ..slow as zzzz
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I’m so happy that you could take the time out of your busy day with such lucid and thought provoking commentary.
Join us next time as Tatsuya gives us fresh nail-biting commentary on the kitchen floor: this lino is soooooo boring!