Born to Fail

In a predictable twist, right after writing up an article that mostly insulted light novel adaptations, there appears to be a pretty good one this very season. Its name, roughly translated, is Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash. That title alone would normally drive me away; it sounds like a delusional teenager's autobiography, and the generic plot description did not help matters. But enough critics called its first episode “interesting” that I checked it out, and lo and behold, that verdict holds true four episodes in.

The plot opens with a group of teenagers waking up in a fantasy world with no memories. Advised to earn their living by becoming freelance adventurers, the more dominant, outgoing kids immediately form a group, leaving the six timid, weaker ones no choice but to stick together for survival. We then follow the weaker party through their day to day lives.

So right off the bat there's this major strike against Grimgar: it's about teenagers trapped in a video game. Not that such is ever explicitly stated. But although the teens have no memories, they sometimes instinctively use modern-day words and phrases, only to sheepishly realize they have no actual idea of their meaning. They rediscover their skills and preferences bit by bit, reasoning “I probably liked X before I came here, too.” And the mechanics of learning skills and buying items functions exactly the same as virtually every RPG ever. This is shit so familiar to us by now, they don't even bother to explain it in much detail.

The details, however, happen to be where Grimgar excels. Take the combat, for example; there are plenty of fantasy series that look great but rely on smoke-and-mirror tricks when it comes to fighting. Record of Lodoss War, for example, tended to show the prelude and aftermath of a sword strike without showing the hit itself, let alone an enemy's attempt at blocking. Oop, hero guy started to charge, that means bad guy's gonna get cut. With Grimgar, every movement has meaning, with causes and effects clearly shown to us. The thief's attack went wide because the goblin's missed stab threw him off balance, which means he next needs to roll away before the goblin can strike again. Action choreography is a rare talent in the best of times, especially on a TV budget, so battles are a treat for their loving care if not for scale.

Some may not like the fact that only goblins are fought thus far, but I think it adds to Grimgar's appeal. This show is the anti-Sword Art Online in that its characters are barely good at anything, let alone the best. Their daily lives are shown in enough detail that we understand the constant struggle to put bread on the table by fighting only the lowest of the low, and realize how hard living in such a world would actually be, rather than use the setting as a simple power fantasy. It's this struggle that keeps the characters sympathetic despite them being not only borderline blank slates, but somewhat generic archetypes. We care for the typical shy girl, the nice guy, the spunky girl, the loudmouth jerk because they did nothing to deserve their harsh situation; you'd have to be kinda sadistic to want these kids to fail.

The production values are another big plus. As mentioned before, the battles are exceptionally detailed, but that care extends to simpler character movements as well. Body language is not neglected, right down to awkward fidgeting. Backgrounds consist of gorgeous watercolors, the kind of scenery you'd want to live in if, you know, you weren't working your ass off each day to keep from starving or being killed.

 

Probably the only aspect handled downright poorly is the fanservice. First off, there didn't need to be any. We care enough about everyone's wellbeing that seeing the two girls objectified feels wrong, even if boys will be boys and all that. Second, it's not done well. The loudmouth dark knight usually makes some dirty comment out of nowhere or randomly decides to peek in on a bathing session. The other guys try to stop him with a halfheartedness that would make Willy Wonka proud.

They're also clearly intrigued by his ideas, though, and the large-breasted mage girl gets one step further from overcoming her crippling fear of people. It feels like there was some box being checked off whenever such scenes happen, and they really take you out of the story.

Fortunately, this is a small problem in an otherwise standout series. While Grimgar may sound like a dozen other shows from the past few years, it works hard to successfully stand out from the herd. I suppose things could still go off the rails in a bad way, and it's unlikely we'll get a satisfying ending anytime soon if the source material stretches on for volumes upon volumes. But right now I find myself anticipating this show each week, hoping that our band of heroes will maybe catch a break this time. That's a hard feeling to draw out of a viewer, and for now it's more than enough.