Grimms Notes Episode 3 Review
To say this is the best episode so far isn’t really saying much given the dull mess the first two episodes were in. Yet despite this episode explaining some things, like filling in Ex’s background and giving the audience some insight into what it means to have a blank book of fate, other things are still very vague. You know, the whole creation of story zone things where characters are assigned roles and play out the same stories over and over again. Why would such a thing exist and why do people in the zones placidly follow their books of fate particularly those who are suffering, know in advance they are going to suffer, and could probably find a way around it given they are pre-warned?
Maybe they’ll get around to an explanation that justifies it but mostly this just feels like poor world building. Someone wanted characters to move between different stories and came up with the idea of story zones but then didn’t really think about what that would mean for the people living in them and how insane it sounds. It’s episode three; it might yet be justified but so far the reality here is not selling itself which makes it difficult to care.
Still, they did at least get me a bit more interested in Ex this episode. Without a role he was kind of an outcast and so he found his own path. He decided to help a friend get to their happily ever after and that was enough to keep him going. However, on the eve of his friend, Cinderella, going to the ball, Ex is left wondering just what he can do next (because clearly nobody in the universe ever thinks about the future given it is all preordained).
Fortunately for Ex, or unfortunately I guess, the story zone is attacked and he meets Reina who gives him the magic bookmark thing and he transforms into some unnamed hero. But they realise Cinderella is probably the centre of the story and that she’s going to be targeted and race to save her as the episode ends. I’m going to assume they succeed next week all things considered and then Ex goes on a journey with Reina, but none of that explains why people want the stories to continue on their path and why there are people messing with them. Or what anybody stands to gain from saving or destroying a story zone.
I did mention though that this was the best episode so far so it kind of feels like this might find its feet even if I never get anything resembling a satisfactory explanation for why any of this exists.
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GRIMMS NOTES VISUAL BOOK
- Grimms Notes Series Review
- Episode 1: This Fairy Tale Oozes a Lack of Imagination
- Episode 2: The Fine Art of Not Explaining Things
- Episode 3: In The Absence Of Direction, Make Your Fate
- Episode 4: Are Destiny and Fate Really All Just Written?
- Episode 5: The Death of the Dream, the Birth of a Despairing Villain
- Episode 6: Every Episode Makes Me Question Their Motives More
- Episodes 7 and 8: The Outlook is Grimm
- Episode 9: This Story is Getting a Little Grimm
- Episode 10: In The Absence of a Reasonable Argument, Rely on Sophistry
- Episode 11: Alice The Disciplinarian in Wonderless Land
- Episode 12: I’m Left Not Disappointed As I Expected Nothing
- Images from: Grimms Notes. Dir. S Shizutaka. Brain’s Base. 2019.
The set up reminds me of a comic I read years ago called Fairy Quest, except the comic was actually good. Same fairy tale characters forced to live out their stories again and again, except if they deviate from the script Mr. Grimm will be round to mind wipe them. Also it has Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf as best friends on the run.
I haven’t checked this anime out yet and I don’t feel all that inclined to if I’m honest, which is strange because normally it’d be my sort of thing.
The idea could work, and that comic you mentioned sounds a lot more interesting. The execution here is definitely questionable and this one is so far sitting at the bottom of my interest list as far as shows I’m watching.
It boggles the mind that Grimms Notes didn’t just start with this episode. The first two episodes were hit or miss but the info provided here would’ve been nice to have.
This still wasn’t great, but it was a more sensible introduction to what is going on.
I did actually decide to drop the show after this episode so to be fair, I can’t play devil’s advocate too much lol.