I tried to make my Dr. Stone review shorted this week and I failed. But I’m going to try again with Granbelm… We’ll see how it goes. It seems I don’t have the succinct gene.
I do have a gallery for the show though. And if you wanted to, you could go see it HERE.
What I Thought Would Happen
Honestly, the last episode knocked me out a little. I didn’t really know what would happen this week, I was just really hoping it wouldn’t be another battle royal.
I guessed they would tell us what happened to Nene a bit. Last time a girl got knocked out, we did see her also get kicked out of Anna’s place!
What Did Happen
Well, we saw Nene again! She’s taking it really well. I guess we don’t have to feel bad about the Granbelm losers. Also, she really is older than she looks, as she’s the oldest of the three sisters, but her best friend is still Mangetsu’s little sister so I’m a bit confused. Best not to overthink this one.
They tried to explain Granbelm a bit better and I will give them credit for at least attempting it but the explanations all boiled down to “the magicaunotus (sp?) did it” and they didn’t tell us what a magicaunotus is. So although they tried explaining everything, I’m not sure they succeeded.
Something similar happened with the rest of the episode which was mostly dedicated to Shingetsu and Anna’s backstory. They grew up together but we don’t find out why they aren’t together anymore or why they don’t like each other. We do find out that Shingetsu was adopted by Anna’s mom because of her magical power and that Anna is in fact quite weak, something that’s apparently very unpleasant for the champion of a famous mage family. But how the mom found Shingetsu or why Anna hates her remains a mystery. Is it just jealousy?
Meanwhile, Suishou having found out that Anna is not as powerful as she thought promptly betrays her in a deliciously Suishou move.
In the final moments Shingetsu and Anna reconcile…maybe…
What About the Characters
I was happy to see Nene but I think she may be gone for a while now. We saw a bit of everyone but not enough for it to make much of a difference. Except for Suishou who was barely a minute onscreen and managed to upend everything. The girl is just boss!
The only character that had some good development this week is Anna. You could say that was the entire purpose of the episode. You would be right about it. Unfortunately, it wavered wildly and way too quickly from one extreme to another and made her seem crazy, or just not that well written.
Ana has always been prone to anger but I figured she was, in fact, a decent person who didn’t handle frustration well and was carrying around some type of deep trauma. But from what we saw this episode, she’s this angry at Shingetsu simply because the latter is better at magic? That’s a bit lame. And this jealousy burns so deep and bright in her heart that she actually attacks her with a battleaxe. That’s downright unhinged. She has a breakdown when her mother tells her the hard truths (i.e. she lacks magical talent) and then one a dime, less than a second later, is fine smiling and loves Shingetsu again.
The change was too quick and the catalyst to weak to make the scene hold together. Unless they go back and fill in some backstory, Shingetsu just seems completely irrational and potentially homicidal now.
What I Liked
Whereas Anna losing it was messy and incoherent, Suishou pulling the old switcheroo fit her character perfectly and was super fun to watch.
I generally enjoyed the fact that we stayed in the real world.
I liked the running gag of Mangetsu cooking for people and them telling her her food is o.k. Not great or anything but you know, fine. You never see that. It’s usually the best thing ever or completely uneatable. Somehow, this seemed more insulting.
What I Liked Less
With such a short “What I Liked” sections you may think I didn’t in fact like the episode at all, but that’s not the case. I thought the ending was way overblown and came out of left-field but otherwise, I didn’t dislike the episode at all.
It was a fairly neutral episode.
Oh, I also think that the more they try to explain Granbelm, the more they confuse things. At this point, they should cut their losses and just pretend magical mecha battles are a normal thing everyone should already know about.
Closing Thoughts
It’s not like Granbelm doesn’t have anything to offer but it’s quite clumsy in places. Unfortunately, two episodes in a row have been less than stellar, although I much preferred this one.
I’m really curious to see what Suishou will do next!
Mood: unconvinced
Contributed by Irina
from I Drink And Watch Anime!
Want to see more thoughts from Irina on Granbelm?
Images from: Granbelm. Dir. M Watanabe. Nexus. 2019.
I have to tackle an entire paragraph this time, because I see things differently, but similarly enough so that going off quotes in detail makes sense.
**********Ana has always been prone to anger but I figured she was, in fact, a decent person who didn’t handle frustration well and was carrying around some type of deep trauma.**************
Me too.
***********But from what we saw this episode, she’s this angry at Shingetsu simply because the latter is better at magic? That’s a bit lame. And this jealousy burns so deep and bright in her heart that she actually attacks her with a battleaxe. That’s downright unhinged.**********
Well, it’s unhinged, but it’s not simple jealousy. What I think happens is this:
Little Anna thinks magic is great, but Mom has a more nuanced take on this. I’m not clear on details, but she can see that with her talent and/or power (not sure on that), she’s going to have a hard time. So she adopts Shingetsu as a replacement, but doesn’t tell Anna.
Anna meanwhile tries her best, and is really proud when she pulls off this super difficult move. But for some reason mom isn’t impressed and still favours Shingetsu. (This is implied, not outright stated, so this is where I’m the least certain. And from here on out it’s mostly guessing.) So she gets it in her head that Shingetsu is maneuvering behind her back to usurp her position.
Meanwhile Shingetsu lacks Anna’s ambition, and the situation becomes hard for her to bear, so when she’s old enough to do so, she leaves and doesn’t take the postion she’s been hired/adopted for, which leaves Anna still in the position.
Basically, Anna thinks Shingetsu betrayed her, in order to usurp her position. She has a distorted view of both her own ability and of Shingetsu’s motives, but she’s only partly responsible for this: she’s too ambitious and overconfident, so that’s on her. But Shingetsu accommodated her, and her Mom went behind her back when adopting Shingetsu, so Shingetsu suddenly being favoured in terms of “magic heiress” doesn’t make sense to her.
********She has a breakdown when her mother tells her the hard truths (i.e. she lacks magical talent) and then one a dime, less than a second later, is fine smiling and loves Shingetsu again.**********
She’s definitely smiling, but fine? I was watching this and going, “Oh, shit! She’s gone down the deep hole.” I didn’t buy that smile. I’m not quite sure whether Anna calculated that as a play for Mum, or if she was trying to convince herself in that moment. I’m leaning towards something messier, a combination of the two with something else mixed in. And then the post-credit scene pretty much confirmed my fears. (Did you stay for that one?)
There’s something going on here, a theme of staying calm and in control. The hotheads haven’t been doing so well in this show, and Mangetsu gets better when she calms down (and got an incredible powerburst when she was completely losing it – I think Nene’s memories rescued her here last week). Given that, there’s a possibility that being a mage is actually dangerous for Anna’s mental state. Kind of like a drug. Going with that metaphor, it’s like Mum trying to get her to quit, without telling her. What they’ve introduced this episode is catalysts. Powerful stones, smaller ones, etc. Shingetsu is actually really good at gettting the most out of something really small. (Where did Mangetsu get hers?) Anna isn’t, so Mum’s not going to let her have the really powerful family stone. It’s a bit like Anna not being able to handle her drink and being in danger of becoming an alcoholic. Maybe. I’m guessing.
(And I’m fairly certain Suishou has always known exactly how strong Anna is. She’s just steering events towards her destination, wherever that is. Again, I’m guessing.)
I still think the smile is real. I’m not sure they have time to devote a few more episodes to sorting Anna out and they simply condensed her arc to a degree that harmed the character evolution. I could be entirely wrong. I hope I am.
As for Suishou. You may be right. I certainly wouldn’t put it passed her.
Magiaconatus is the the closed space within which all magic is sealed away. The main part of it that floating island of gears. Its power reacts with the minds of the girls to create a vast battlefield space which changes a little each time.
Anna is “crazy.” Her symptoms are somewhat similar to Borderline personality or a major anger mood disorder. I think it’s pretty clear for a while that she hates Shingetsu because of jealousy. That jealousy and frustration is magnified a hundred fold in the brain of someone experiencing onset of a mood or personality disorder.
Those are my thoughts anyway.
Clearly I need to watch Granbelm with you
Haha I’m usually inattentive but I’m in love with Granbelm so I try to soak up every detail.