Granbelm

The problem with anime and edge is that so often you get edge for the sake of edge rather than edge as the result of well thought out ideas and the natural conclusion of events. And while Granbelm tries to be interesting with its edge, it fails massively and comes off as yet another edgefest that has no idea how to write its ideas well. The biggest rub is that Granbelm does have some good ideas. There is intrigue in a competition where girls compete to be the sole magical entity in the world. The premise is a bit forced but there is a lot towork with there. You can show why all the characters want that power, how they react when they don't get it, and the lengths that they'll go through for that power. And while Granbelm attempts to hit some of this ideas, and even comes close in some cases, the execution and result is quite lacking and lackluster. For example in the first episode there is a girl who is clearly in the battle, loses, and thusly loses her magical abilities. Rather than exploring this girl and her circumstance and the future that she must now pivot, they just cast her off and focus on less interesting characters. This is a theme with Granbelm. Because despite having some interesting characters in its cast, Granbelm decides to focus on the most bland of the characters. We have the traditional pink haired magical girl who has no talents, no purpose in life, but for some reason seems to be really good at this magic thing despite never having any experience in it what so ever before. And second to her is the magical girl with long black hair, insane skills and work ethic, who happens to be very cold. Both of these tropes have been done to death. And while a good show can be made out of tired tropes, neither of these two are particularly interesting, and it's even more frustrating when they take away time from much more interesting characters in the cast. For example, Anna is a girl from a talented mage family who has a grudge against Ernesta. It is clear she hates her for some reason and has a burning desire to out do her. As the show progresses her mental state erodes and you can see how the stress of the competition and her hatred is effecting her. But despite this she is more of a side character than a main one. There are interesting points to her character and her relation with Ernesta but it's often seen in the lens of Ernesta, the main character, rather than Anna. By focusing on Ernesta more the show willingly focuses on a much weaker and flat character and don't explore the interesting traits of Anna quite nearly as much as they should. This is what the show is like as a whole, it'll bring up good ideas, give hope that it'll explore them and cover something meaningful before diverting back to Mangetsu and Ernesta and ending up failing its potential. The most baffling thing about this show though is despite how edgy it tries to be, whenever the show can actually do something with that edge and give an interesting situation for the characters the show decides to zag in a different route to give a slight less edgy but also a lot less interesting result. It's as if it's trying to both be as edgy and uninteresting as possible. So while the show is very content to make the characters miserable and to make their lives that much worse with each episode, it's also content to take a slightly less miserable path if it means that the characters won't have to react to something interesting or unique. The art is actually pretty good, and would be nice to have in a much better show. Sadly, the problems with Granblem far outweigh the good art. The sound is passable and doesn't help or hurt the show. The production of the show is pretty good although the fight scenes to me are still pretty boring. They can be dynamic, but they lack the power to really make them shine. Overall Granbelm is a massive disappointment and forgoes its interesting ideas for bland uninteresting edge. I don't recommend it for anyone unless you need more edge in your life and have ran out of other options.

When I was beginning to watch Granbelm, I thought another generic series with an average plot and awful characters. Well, this is the time to retract and eat my own words. Granbelm is a good show, underestimated and hated by anime enthusiasts for no reason; One cause cannot be that the director of Granbelm is the same as Re: Zero. Besides, a score below 7.0 is not valid for a series that has some substance, emotion, an acceptable story, and some charming characters. From my perspective, Granbelm's story is the strongest point in the series. The plot configures two worlds where all the characters interact. Thesetwo environments, a real-world, a combat scenario, are directly affected by magic and are the premise of several details that will appear as the story progresses. The idea of the combat scenario is to create a world where the main characters or the selected magicians can use magic robots called "Armanox," and they fight for all the magical power that disappeared from the world (Magiaconatus). The last standing magician will become the "Princeps Mage" and will be worth to use the Magiaconatus. Yes, I know what you're thinking, what the he ..., that sounds messy, the story can be confusing at first, but it is entertaining. I can not explain more because it could spoil the plot with small details. Following that order of ideas, the main characters are the mages who will fight each other. I find it very interesting how the authors fused the two worlds with the help of the characters. They compete in the magical world, and they can be friends, enemies, in the real world, and they do not know what could happen after each fight. The characters are the magicians. Unfortunately, one of the things that could have scared many viewers is that the entire cast is feminine, so a large group will think it could be a junk story, a fan service story, cute girls doing cute things, but none of that fits this show. There are two main characters, Mangetsu and Shingetsu. The rest of the cast is secondary because they stimulate Mangetsu and Shingetsu’s traits. Mangetsu or the girl who has nothing. She appears in the magical world without any magical knowledge and is found worthy of using an Armanox. As the story progresses, its complexity and behavior run brilliantly. Shingetsu "the white." However, her Armanox is black, but she is wiser than Gandalf. I wanted to give a little magic reference lol. She is one of the strongest magicians. She fights following her ideals and wants to become Princeps for a personal reason. She needs Mangetsu to become a good character. Sometimes her decisions are painful, and she fulfills her role fantastically. Suisho or the girl who will die soon, I thought that. A complex character with a lot of background. You must pay attention to all her information because it is the most complex character in the series. Nene or the magical genius with an exciting story. She is the most resourceful character, and her background is a need for the story progression Anna or cry and angry girl. She considers herself very special and powerful. Maybe it is, or perhaps it's just another aspiring magician. However, she fulfills Shingetsu emotions and boosts her traits and background. Shisui or she will fight for her. She fights for a relative, and she is a need to show the real face of a certain mage. Rosa or the girl who steals some time in front of the screen. She fights ... without further details. All characters contribute to the story in some way. The most important part, they give and add details to the story, and their features are totally different. Furthermore, their background is diverse, so their actions and development vary, which gives the story a refresh of the casual generic characters that appeared in the season * cough tra *. Art and animation are good. The fights are not ugly; the effects are acceptable, followed by good movement and a proper configuration that varies from one mage to another. Also, the powers and Armanox are subtle. The real world has beautiful and vivid colors, and the magical world changes according to the scenario. The sound is excellent and the VO is acceptable. I think the most influential part is how the interpretation conveys some feelings to the public. I know it's not a great VO, but it's okay. Also, I'm glad to hear Aoi Eir singing again (well, she came back several months ago, but I'm happy she has recovered as I expressed to her in the past), the opening is good and has good lyrics. Finally, the show has a different air than the usual magic fight series. It is refreshing, and if it was an experiment, it ended acceptably. I cannot complain about Granbelm. The series has good pacing, the story fragments are explained in the perfect time, and they help the characters to grow and shine. Yes, the show is not excellent, it could have been better, but it is the season's hidden gem and deserves to have a second chance.

When it comes to Granbelm, I feel like you fall into one of two camps: you either get it, or you don’t. I realize that’s a pretty vague and unhelpful statement, so let me clarify. To some extent, your ability to enjoy any piece of media is determined by how well you connect with its specific wavelength. The subtle differences in cinematography, dialogue, visual aesthetic, themes and so on can make all the difference in the world in determining why, for example, I dislike the Haruhi franchise, yet I love a show that starts from pretty much the exact same premise, Chuunibyou. If you can latchonto a show’s overriding attitude, you’re going to enjoy it. If you can’t, you won’t. Simple enough on its surface right? Well, I feel like that Granbelm supercharges that dichotomy to a far greater extent than I’ve seen in a while. Despite it being one of the least watched anime of Summer 2019, there’s a sizeable contingent of fans who absolutely adore it. On the MAL forums, on Anime News Network, scattered across the internet, there are plenty of people who love this mashup of dark magical girl tropes and mecha action with all their heart, praising the characters and the ideas explored and putting it right up there near the top of their lists for anime of the season. And on the other hand, you have the rest of the anime fandom, who lost interest in it, dropped off after a couple episodes, hated it from the get-go, couldn’t be bothered to care about it, or are still watching but not quite sure why. Something about the particulars of Granbelm’s storytelling leave very little middle ground for an audience to fill you either get it, or you don’t. If you get it, it’s a powerful, resonant piece of art that will stick with you long after it finishes airing. If you don’t get it, it’s a bizarre, disappointing, not really insulting, but overall uninteresting waste of time. The story, an original script from the director and animation team behind Re:Zero, centers around the titular Granbelm, a Fate/Stay-Night-esque battle royale between young mages that occurs every full moon. These mages, all young girls, fight in stout, stocky mecha that channel their magical energy in powerful attacks, shield them from damage, do weird wobbly magic business and all that good stuff. Defeat doesn’t mean death, thankfully; it just means you’re knocked out of the running, and the competitors who last the night pick the battle right back up when the next full moon rises. The ultimate prize? A supposedly unlimited wish from an unseen entity that’s probably got a monkey’s paw or two up its ass, because this wasn’t enough like Fate already. At any rate, into this ongoing tournament is thrust our protagonist: Mangetsu, a seemingly normal girl who gets air-dropped into the middle of a Granbelm match and quickly finds herself fighting alongside everyone else in her own mystical dwarf mecha. No one is quite sure what to make of her, least of all herself; if she’s able to compete, it means she’s descended from a mage’s bloodline, but nobody knows which one, and at any rate, her unwittingly joining up after the tournament is already under way it weird enough itself. But if she’s part of Granbelm, there’s nothing to be done; she can either drop out, or keep competing and fight to have her own wish realized. Mangestu, unsurprisingly, chooses to fight, and thus she begins her quest to beat out the rest of the colorful characters who are participating in this tournament, all while forging an initially uneasy alliance with a fellow competitor- Shingetsu- who’s decided to help her orient herself in this confusing new world. No points for guessing that things are darker than they initially appear, the Granbelm tournament itself might be a lie, and everyone’s got a closet full of skeletons ready to expose when it’s time for Maximum Drama(tm) Honestly, though, for as much as I poke fun, Granbelm’s a lot better constructed than that description would lead you to believe. Calling it a mashup of Madoka and Fate wouldn’t be wrong, but it would also be a disservice to the many original ideas Granbelm comes up with. Even if you can guess the general trajectory of the story, the specifics of what’s actually going on will completely take you by surprise, with enough foreshadowing in the opening episodes for the eventual reveals to make sense. I know I was thrown for a loop when I realized that a couple things that were bugging me about Mangestu’s characterization turned out to be entirely intentional. There’s a damn smart narrative contraption at the core of this thing; no surprise, considering how good Re:Zero was at planting and payoff. And speaking of Re:Zero, another strength its director carries over here is sheer force of hype. The mecha battles are all riveting spectacles, rendered with kinetic cinematography, dizzying displays of power, and lush color palettes steeped in purple and blue. You feel the propulsion of these pieces of psychic armor zooming through the sky, aided by a killer sound design that makes them feel less like lumbering chunks of metal and more like Tron-esque digital programs. There’s so much confidence in every decision that it’s easy enough to get lost in the flow and jam out to the chaos. So here’s the question I’m left with; If Granbelm is so good at crafting an engaging spectacle, with cool action and direction and interesting plot turns, then why did I- and so many other people- keep getting sucked out of it? It’s here that we must turn our focus inward and talk about themes and meaning. This, I think, is where the heart of the divide lies between the people who love this show and those who don’t: do you get what it’s trying to say? Do you connect with how it tries to say it? Because from my perspective, Granbelm goes about exploring its themes in a very, very unclear and unfocused manner. Just take a look at the first episode if you want proof of this; it’s entirely dedicated to throwing Mangetsu right into the deep end of Granbelm and watching her experience it from the ground up. It’s certainly cool, but a nagging question I kept coming back to all throughout that episode was, “Why?” We’re given plenty of information about the players of Granbelm, the mechanics and lore, the cool shit we can expect from the battles, but we’re given no context into the emotional stakes involved. We learn nothing about why these girls are fighting, what’s at stake for losing, what deeper meaning is driving their stories, nothing. We’re given no reason to care about Mangestu until the end of the second episode, and even then it’s such a weak motivation- she wants to be useful to people- that it doesn’t feel worth the wait. Sure, you don’t need to dump the entirety of your show’s thesis on the audience right at the start, but at least some context is needed to help them get invested, right? Unfortunately, I would find myself asking that question of “Why?” plenty of times throughout Granbelm. It takes a while for the scope of the story to really come into focus, and while the eventual reveals are, as I said, cool, it feels like the meaning behind them should’ve been driving the story forward from a lot earlier. Everything feels disconnected and unclear, like every conversation the characters have is meant to be the defining moral statement of an entirely different show. There’s some stuff about self-determination, there’s some stuff about humanity’s natural inclination to abuse power, and I think the ultimate point was something related to accepting the responsibility to evolve, but I feel like I’m scrambling around in the dark trying to piece together an incomplete puzzle. And it’s not a fun mystery where the pursuit of meaning is part of the point; the way Granbelm presents the ideas it explores, it feels like it’s trying to be clear about the point it’s making. But for me, at least, it really wasn’t. Actually, now that I think about it, the real problem might stem from this: Granbelm is bad at connecting its planting to its payoff. Too many times over the course of this show, it would set up a conflict, and then eventually solve that conflict in a way that technically made sense, but also felt incredibly lacking. To use the most obvious example, Shingetsu’s biggest rival is Anna, a fellow witch who grew up as her close friend and adopted sister. They used to be incredibly close, but Anna eventually descended into jealousy and envy as Shingetsu’s talents far outstripped her own, to the point where she would do anything to take her down, even as Shingetsu desperately wants to mend their broken bond. It’s an understandable enough conflict on its surface, and without spoiling anything, the conclusion it reaches is probably the only conclusion it could have in a story of this nature. But actually watching the conflict play out getting to that point is so. Unbelievably. Not. Interesting. Anna as a character is far too arch, far too underwritten to care about. All she does is scream and make rage faces with increasingly unhinged fury, to the point where it’s impossible to buy into the supposed tragedy of her situation. She’s like a caricature of the jealous rival character, and at every point the story could’ve taken to let her indulge in some actual goddamn pathos, it instead instructs her voice actor to blow out yet another vocal chord and the animators to increase the dilation of her pupils. The way her arc resolves makes sense, but the character herself is so broken that it’s impossible to get invested in her. And this isn’t the only time something of this nature occurs. There’s another character whose arc revolves around trying to save their sister from a curse, and the exact nature of how they get to the end of that arc feels just as half-baked and underwritten. There’s a lot of question I still have about the nature of the magic system, whether it was supposed to be good or bad or something in between. Occasionally, the show pulls a magic power out of its ass that feels like it’s supposed to be important and meaningful, but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out how it got there. Granbelm feels like a well-constructed show from the outside, but on the inside it’s just a mess. Not an annoying mess (okay, Anna’s shtick got insufferable at times), but a mess all the same, a plot that felt like it did actually know what it was doing, but for some reason couldn’t communicate that knowledge to me. I kept feeling like these was some missing piece I wasn’t getting, some aspect that I wasn’t picking up on that would make all the pieces fit together. But for the life of me, I couldn’t find that piece. At least, that’s what I got out of it. Like I said, there are plenty of people who really like this show. So maybe that missing piece is still out there, and I just couldn’t find it for whatever reason. Maybe there’s some aspect of Granbelm that just speaks to some people with more clarity than others. All that considered, despite how down I’ve been on this show, I do recommend checking it out. It’s possible you’ll be one of the lucky few who’s able to figure out what it’s going for and thus find a new anime to add to your favorite’s list. And then maybe you can come back and explain it to me, because I’d really like to know what’s so potentially powerful about Granbelm that I just couldn’t figure out. For the moment, though, while I can’t call this show a disaster, I’m definitely frustrated that it never clicked together the way I wanted it to.

I simply have NO words to describe the season's (based on MAL) top underrated, most criminally overlooked, least-watched show. All I can say is: pure adrenaline and non-stop anger and excitement stemming from the show from start to finish, and before you cry foul at this show, hear me out. And before you ask, I highly request that you DO NOT USE the "3 episode rule" as that will seriously detriment the entire show's overall imparting values and purposes. The dark fantasy genre stems as far as Madoka Magica, and Granbelm matches it in the same atmosphere. Combine that with the mecha genre of it beinga battle royale show of girls with magical spirits, this show is simply astoundingly stunning in the most flattering way possible. To top the icing on this cake, the production team that is from the phenomenal Isekai show Re:Zero, paired with talented scriptwriter Jukki Hanada, worked together to form this masterpiece of a show in both character design and story settings. NOTE: This review will be kept away spoiler free so it's up to you to find out the mystery elements of the show! The story in a nutshell exists in a world where magic used to be commonplace, but for the same reason, it vanished with the resolution that it wages wars for millenia. To this, the netherworld has all the magic sealed to stop the issue from recurring ever again. That didn't stop things though, as magic is back with a vengeance via the netherworld entity deciding to hold a free-for-all, no-holds barred tournament of sorts, to find the next successor (or mage rather) of Granbelm. That's what you know from the get-go...until the insane plot twists keeps on happening and flushes you off-guard with the character cast and their various one-off motivations to be the next chosen one, to grant a wish of their very own. Yes, it sounds cliche, but when the production staff knows how to utilize these to a great effect, it shows the core strength of the series overall. For the part and cast of characters: Main (Support) Character Mangetsu Kohinata, voiced by Miyuri Shimabukuro (of Carole & Tuesday's Carole and Hanebado!'s Nagisa), her story of getting involved with Granbelm is a very convoluted one. As average as she is, without any dreams or aspirations, she is completely fine with her kindness and helpfulness making up for her lack of uniqueness. The only thing stopping her from doing is the feeling of being "empty" inside, a soulless spirit. Unless she does something of value, that is how she gets satisfied deep within that she is nothing more than a "tool". Her name means "full moon", mirroring... The next (another Main) Character, Shingetsu Ernesta Fukami, voiced by Atsumi Tanezaki (of Kono Oto Tomare!'s Houzuki and Mahoutsukai no Yome's Chise), is more than just being Mangetsu's helper and best friend in the crux of getting involved in Granbelm. At start, being opposed with Mangetsu joining the battle royale is a deep challenge, but seemingly as worried as she is, she still coaches Mangetsu to teach her to make a stand in Granbelm and increase her courage to fight for the things that she yearns to protect. Her name means "new moon", mirroring Mangetsu (get it? The Two Princeps???). She too also has a friend, whom is jealous of the power that when wielded, can change hearts and minds to the most corrupt... And that character is Anna Fugo, voiced by Yoko Hikasa (of Arifureta's Tio). With her family descending from a long line of powerful mages, she was supposed to be blessed with insane magic power (as royal family lineages tend to go), but the moment when Shingetsu appeared in the picture, she was essentially the unwanted child, the doomed/cursed one from the get-go. And as children tend to go with being friends with either friend or foe, it caused the rift between her and Shingetsu until the cold, hard truth came to light, and one of them had to be the sacrifice (I'm sure you could guess who). The demon actress in the spotlight to Anna is... Suishou Hakamada, the carefree mage with no loyalty and a rebellious heart, voiced by the one and only masterpiece of an VA, Aoi Yuuki. First being an assistant for Anna, she seems like the type to wander around looking for a firm foundation to set her assimilation of a ruptured plan into action of wrecking hearts and mind-game manipulation. Think of her as the kind of person who is like a final villain boss, but only seemingly scarce at the tip of the iceberg that is smart enough to not divulge information about her strengths and weaknesses. Often a manipulator who has survived in Granbelm for time millenia, her coincidence with the next person is one of long-lasting hatred... And that person is Kuon Tsuchimikado, voiced by Iwaka Manami (of Maquia's Maquia and the new Fruits Basket's Tohru). Between Kuon and Shishou, the fight for justice extends beyond Granbelm, as Kuon is dealt a bad hand at the start when her older sister got heavily involved with Suishou and caused her to be out in the running for Granbelm with a magically induced coma. Man, talk about reverse psychology. Since then, her only motivation is to eliminate Suishou with the hopes that if she was killed, then her sister could be revived somehow. ALAS...that's not the end of the problem there...*watch the show to find out* The seemingly random character that is Nene Rin, voiced by Yurika Kibo (of Seishun Buta Yarou's Kaede and Love Live!'s Hanayo). Her relation to Granbelm is through Mangetsu's younger sister, and knowing that Mangetsu herself got caught up with the influences that is Granbelm itself, that she started taking notice of Mangetsu and her track record in the netherworld universe, only for said character to eliminate her from the running. That's not all though, as she serves as an essential strategist and invesigator into the events of Granbelm and its many secrets. Since this series is character-driven, I must say that the character cast and the respective VAs doing this job is dynamically and incredibly spectacular, especially hats off to some for stellar performances (i.e. Aoi Yuuki, hers was heart-wrenching incredible to the highest degree). The art and animation by the small (but growing) studio that is Nexus, HOLY SHIT is that a production so capable of showing the finest detail and levels of art and smooth, stunning animation that looks and feels like an actual show being made not just for the sake of crap, but actually making out a lot of sense. As Re:Zero's director Masaharu Watanabe inputs his most ingenious of a conspicuously original show from the pedal to the metal, plus adding that together with character designer Shinichirou Otsuka, aside from the striking similarities of Re:Zero to this show. this was a well done product through and through. What's even better, is the music. Music director Kenichiro Suehiro might've put forth one of the best OSTs ever heard this year, and I'm not even kidding at the non-obtuse and varied lengths of composed music for this show. Starting with the OP by Eir Aoi, her voice in song is always great, no surprise there, she is always the juggernaut when it comes to shows with action (i.e. SAO and the spin-off Alternative). The ED is one that caught me by surprise, with Uru's "Negai" (translated "desire"), while a calm and soothing song, search and translate the song to find its hidden messages that speaks volumes about the characters and how they're involved with each other in subtle ways. Especially, the fight/action-mecha BGM set-pieces, *muacks* magnifiqué. MARK MY WORDS when I say that Granbelm is definitely one of the strongest anime of the year, however one that is grossly underrated and overlooked...at the tip of the iceberg. Definitely my AOTS and if I think this is better than Re:Zero, it equals said series with its insane levels of realism and running high at playing the emotion game with us.

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