Grimgar of Fantasy And Ash Overview:
Haruhiro and other strangers wake up in a strange place with no memory of how they got there (and a whole bunch of other missing memories) in Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash.
They soon learn they need to earn money to survive in this new world and form a party to work together to kill goblins and other things that go bump in the forest or wherever else, however Haruhiro is in a party formed from those left over after the stronger individuals formed a group. Now this mismatched team will take on roles and try to survive in this new world.
Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash Review:
(Absolutely spoilers ahead so if you are concerned, pass now.)
A lot of people have compared this anime to Sword Art Online, Log Horizon, and other anime that follow the stuck in a video game world idea. The problem with that comparison is that while it is entirely possible Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash takes place in a virtual world, that is never confirmed or denied. The characters therefore do not act as if they are in a game (one with deadly consequences or otherwise).
They are in a dangerous fantasy world and one where they didn’t naturally gain superhuman powers so that they could declare themselves the saviour of it. They are at the bottom of the ladder and having to fight every day just to be able to eat or buy new underwear. As such, Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash needs to be considered in the context of what it is rather than what it isn’t.
It is a fantasy. That much is clear from the pseudo medieval setting and the classes the characters take on (thief, rogue, hunter, priest, dark knight and paladin). However, we have no prophecy of ancient and unspeakable evil, really don’t have an overall antagonist for our group to try to defeat or even that the government are at war with.
All we have is that the non-human creatures of this world don’t like the humans much (I can’t imagine why that might be) and that new recruits have to go and deal with these creatures. Recruits earn money from their kills by collecting certain bits and pieces of them.
Having a fantasy with no central quest is an interesting prospect in and of itself. It might leave you wondering what the point is. And as our characters simple struggle to survive and work as a team I know many viewers did start wondering if there was a point.
Oddly enough, I found this approach refreshing. While I don’t actually like any of the characters in Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash (more on that later), they each represent a relatable character and you can see their strengths and weaknesses and how they work or don’t work together. The lack of driving plot allowed this anime to really let these characters experience the world. They weren’t rushing past the reflection on what this life was like and how they were getting on with someone else, or whether they made the right decisions.
The audience get to see, mostly through Haruhiro, the way they are genuinely coping with being trapped somewhere with no memories of where you were before or how you got there, and having to find their own direction.
And they do. Small goals at first. Being able to buy meat. Affording a change of clothes. Hunting goblins in the ruins. Mapping the ruins. Defeating the goblins who killed one of the party members. Working with a new party member. Visiting the mines and surviving. As they achieve each goal they look to the next step and start building a life for themselves.
They experience a number of set-backs on their way to each of these goals and the danger of the world is always front and centre. These characters are not the protagonists in a shounen anime. Just screaming louder does not make them stronger. They are scared and they are learning their skills from the ground up and they make mistakes and those mistakes can have fatal consequences.
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I liked the portrayal of the goblins in Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash as well. While our party of would be heroes are finding and killing them, we see that the goblins are equally scared of dying and just as frantic to live. This message about morality and the work of soldiers and killing for survival might be a little heavy (they really don’t do subtle well in this anime) but as a recurring theme and an idea that very much matches the subdued tone of the story it is quite affective.
While in every battle you want the main characters to survive you also don’t really want to see the enemies killed. It creates a nice sense of inner conflict while watching.
Onto our characters. Haruhiro is fine as the one we mostly follow. A little withdrawn and shy, doubtful of his every choice, he originally is happy to follow Manato’s lead.
Unfortunately, with Manato’s death, Moguzo’s almost non-presence despite his size, Ranta being Ranta, and the girls being burdened with writing that was definitely skewed toward far more ‘traditional’ female roles so never even had a chance to be considered, Haruhiro was forced into a leadership role which he genuinely is not prepared to take on.
This is great for his development as a character, unfortunately, Haruhiro is just not dynamic enough as a character to really fill the space.
The female characters in Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, while each are interesting in their way, regularly get sidelines by the writing and the plot. They fill support roles and get to express the emotional melt-downs that should come with some of the circumstances. They also get used for fan-service which just seems out of place givin the rather serious tone for most of the series. Occasionally they get to be fiery or assertive but only in small doses.
That was probably why Mary’s character was such a breath of fresh air even while she was a serious pain in the neck. She didn’t blindly follow along to other’s suggestions and openly challenged the authority of some of the boys. Alas, after Mary’s healing moment (where she finally got past some of her baggage) she became another fairly faded female with no real distinction.
I should probably mention the art. It’s very washed out at times and there are some interesting effects with light and weather. It’s kind of beautiful to look at and kind of strange at the same time. The music is also pretty heart-felt and dramatic but ultimately forgettable.
All and all, Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash is an emotional and dramatic anime that moves slowly but steadily forward. The characters grow and develop in a logical and reasonable manner in response to the challenges they face. Death is dealt with in a very real manner and in a way that feels distinct from so many other anime.
Probably my biggest complaint for the series is that it utterly and completely does not finish. Yeah, we get a boss fight of sorts but we still know nothing about the how and the why they are in this world and there is still a long way for our characters to go. I’ve read through quite a few of the light novels at this point (and boy is there are lot of awesome story to be told still) but even there I haven’t got to a conclusion for Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash.
I really do recommend watching this anime. Admittedly, it isn’t for everyone and the slow pace and lack of plot direction may turn some away, but there is a real beauty to the story telling and character progression that just sucked me right in.
What did you think of this anime?
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Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James
I liked this series. I think your review is very fair; this series has no shortage of shortcomings, most notably in how it uses its female characters, though they did stop just shy of the tired trope of “every female character exclusively exists to date one of the males”. The story flirts with it a little, but in their own quiet way I feel like the females do resist that.
Visually I really liked the story, the town was beautifully drawn.
I think what really makes me like this series is how the strengths of the series feel very unique. As you say, most stories try to overly focus on some ambitious goal or task, while this series was very happy lingering on the everyday, a bit like Haibane Renmei in that regard.
I would have welcomed more episodes, hoping that over time the story, and the author, would continue to mature, but it was a nice change from the tried and true conventions common to fantasy anime.
Thanks for sharing.
I also would have liked more of this anime series as there was so much more I wanted to learn about the world and the characters. I just really enjoyed watching this.
Thanks for your comment.
I liked it, but it did have that slow pace. It seemed to be much more of an introspective piece that was really more concerned with character development and interpersonal relationships than an action driven plot.
I also really liked the art style. Reminded me of water color paintings at times.
Definitely has that water colour look to it.
I enjoy slow burns, much like Shiki, so it was never much of an issue. I found myself at times loving the way battle is portrayed with a sense of weight to each movement, especially in the first time they fight a goblin. That frantic sense, as you described, for the goblins made the battle far more impactful in my mind. I did have very similar problems with the characters as you did, especially with Ranta being the generic antagonistic teammate for no other reason than he needs to be for the sake of group dynamics.
Yeah, Ranta is a really poorly handled character. It would have been nice for his antagonism to serve a greater purpose but mostly he exists just to inject some noise into the group.
Sometimes it’s refreshing to see a story where it’s not quite so easy for a character to overcome the enemies.
I agree the art is just beautiful to look at. I originally passed on this show, as it was just slow. But will be giving it another shot.
Thanks for brining this series to my attention. I’m a big fantasy fan and this anime sounds interesting.
I found it a bit different and interesting. It was also nice to not have the instant power-up effect that occurs in so many fantasies.
And every shounen.
Nice. It is great to see your opinion on this show
I really enjoyed the series for the way that it portrayed loss. The characters don’t just get over it like they do in every other series, and it continues to haunt them for the entirety of the series. That was something I was very refreshed by. I also enjoyed the way they gave Mary a proper background to explain her actions an personality. I feel like this series gets to much hate because people don’t like the slow pacing, and if you go into it expecting a slower series it is actually very well done.
Death is definitely dealt with a lot more realistically in this anime than in most and it has an impact. Thanks for the comment.
Nice to see some positive thoughts about this series, most of what I’ve read has been fairly negative.
There is a lot of negativity around this series and I actually get why. A lot of people went in expecting one thing, got something else, and didn’t really like the result. For me, it was kind of pleasant to not just get another stuck in a game/fantasy world anime that went through the usual motions.
for me, i think it caught my attention at first, but i couldnt handle the pace
It is really slow, which is why I’m surprised it caught my attention. I fully understand why that would be a deal breaker though.