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12 January 2016: I wish they had made more Aiura instead of animating Hai to Gensou no Grimgar

Barbara
A very welcome Noto Mamiko appearance, but she probably has a small role.

You can't shake a dead cat without summoning a "trapped in a fantasy world" anime far from the tree these days. The prettiest looking one of these this season is Hai to Gensou no Grimgar (Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash), which at least distinguishes itself by trapping an entire party of Japanese kids in its fantasy world instead of just Potato-kun and some girl he has to rescue all the time. Grimgar also looks great with watercolor backgrounds and pleasant designs which should remind viewers of Aiura, a 2013 show produced by some of the same staff.

Manato
You can tell he's the most dependable one because he got up early.

However, Grimgar falters due to the its subject matter. It rather depends on your appetite for "trapped in a fantasy world" anime, but the characters at least have a form of convenient amnesia which prevents them from remembering anything from their previous life—only enough to know they're originally from somewhere else. Thus, they can't draw upon knowledge gained from the modern world to assist them in their new life as small town racists who murder non-human sentient beings in order to steal all their stuff.

Yume
I'm impressed they were able to make or buy a fire.

Really, it's not so much a fantasy world as it is a video game world dictated by fantasy RPG tropes (if you see the distinction). This does mean the show is even less realistic than it might otherwise be, but I guess you need these mechanics to prevent the cast from dying quickly in horrific ways the moment they step out of town.

Goblin and Mogzo
This guy should be so dead.

I said Grimgar falters, but unfortunately it also stumbles. There's an overly protracted segment in the second half of the first episode regarding breast comparisons, girls who think they're fat, and fan service lesbianism. The scene serves no purpose except to reinforce that the meek girl is meek and the abrasive boy is a jerk. The scene is so unnecessary that it makes me wonder if it was a rushed bit of filler thrown together after an originally planned scene didn't get finished in time. (You know, like Barbara putting Potato-kun through his Jedi training.) That would explain a lot, and I could at least take comfort in believing nobody actually thought this scene was a good idea.

Ranta
Of course he gets a nosebleed.

Unfortunately, anime is full of bad ideas, and probably a lot of them went into making Hai to Gensou no Grimgar. I hope the second episode is much better than the first one. Pretty backgrounds aren't enough for me to drag myself through another "trapped in a fantasy world" anime, particularly if it's going to distinguish itself so poorly.


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