Review of Record of Grancrest War

Grancrest isn´t a show best watched an episode per week. It’s way too many things going on at the same time, and important parts lacks explanation along the way. Which is why I half way in the show stopped and saved up most episodes left. Watched like that it wasn´t as bad as it first had appeared. Does Grancrest Senki (Record of Grancrest War) has its notable issues? Absolutely. The pacing is, if not off, very uneven. Character exploration and development is forsaken for hasty strategy and battles (think Game of Thrones S7), and the number of difficult names of characters thrown back and forthis sometimes staggering.

Yes, it’s very generic, and the narrative isn´t what I prefer in storytelling. But it did however, have its moments and showed some great potential, hence the relatively high score. I have no experience with the source material (Grancrest is an LN adaptation by Miyuu (Art), Mizuno, Ryou (Story), which was released in 10 volumes between 2013 and 2018). So, if this is a good adaptation or not, I can`t tell. So, this review is based on the anime alone.

A pretty common (and agreeing) opinion seems to be that the narrative is horrible. And it is certainly something else. A certain scene could go on for a whole episode, for the next throwing like three different battles against gods know who, because there where so many characters, with all sorts of fancy names. Just to get a hang on who´s with the Alliance, and who´s with the Union (and what they even represent), or where the hell all of this is supposed to happen - is quite hard to follow. So just a few episodes here and there was just confusing, this needs to be bench watched or maybe not at all. They do mention their connections in conversations quite often, its just so many, and pitch the name with a face failed quite often (at least for me).

It’s not just the pacing that’s is a bit off, the content could also feel misplaced. I would´ve liked some more focus on the personal sides of the characters and the world building, and maybe less on strategy meetings and rushed battles. Because I had a lot of questions that never got satisfying answers. Like, what is chaos and how does they use it for magic? A very fundamental rock in the world building, which was just touched briefly. You just kind of had to accept the powers the characters had was there to be there. Some things are explained later, just don´t expect it to be in great detail. Many important plot points also have to be guessed or assumed, which may put watchers off.

The amount of characters also, besides being confusingly many, robs time from character developments. Because there are some interesting characters that just should´ve have gotten more time. And here we get to one of the main problems the show seems to have – Theo as the main character. I get why many have a problem with him as the clear “star” of the show. He´s got very little personality and background in the beginning (read none), and everyone around him just instantly admired him. It was annoying. All he did was looking pretty and say a few generic words, and people would follow him to war in a second. He gets a little better throughout the show, he gets some personality and does his fair share of dirty work. But he is the generic hero in the flesh all the way through. So, much time that went to making him even more heroic could´ve gone to much more interesting characters such as Aishela, Irvin, the count of Villar, Siluca or Marrine. Like how did Irvin end up a very loyal personal bodyguard to Siluca? How did he become such a great killer? How ended Siluca up being adopted? How did Marrine get know what she knew? No elaboration.

Because here Grancrest is a bit two pieced, the characters are both its strong hold and its weakness. The negative would be the amount of characters and maybe Theo as the main character, and the positive would be some of the other characters, mostly those mentioned before. They had so much potential to be really great but was unfortunately thrown to the side.

Grancrest is an A-1 Pictures production and if you are familiar with the studio, you probably know what to expect, it’s their standard. So-so CGI, the art looks good in close ups, little sloppy in larger format, dramatic and colourful costumes, curvy ladies and muscly men. What really surprised me while watching this though, are that they seem to have had a damn good fight director. I´m not talking about the big battles (those could be pretty boring), but the more close and personal fights. Great knife battles with some nice martial arts, sword and magic fights – the guy definitely got some skills. Aishela´s rampages with her spear, Irvin´s knife duels, and Siluca´s confrontations with the black witch, was the highlights of this show, truly. Even Theo have some good moments later on.

Grancrest is falling within my favourite genres and does some of it pretty decent. I love fantasy´s especially with some good action, drama and romance in the mix. The fantasy was definitely there, but I miss the world building. Chaos, demons, crests, the Empire, the Mage Academy - how does it work and how are they connected? Interesting concepts that never fully got explored, just a bit rushed towards the end.

But besides all my whining, I mostly enjoyed the show. It´s generic alright, but it does walk a little bloodier path than your normal shounen. Mirza is much like old warlords most have been, all from the pride to the blood thirst. Marrine is a good example to answer the question; “How many people are you prepared to let die for the one you love?”. Those two lets much blood flow. It had some slices and dices of romance, which in my book is a good thing.

Conclusion: Grancrest wasn´t a bad show, its just horrible to watch on weekly basis. As I mentioned before, this is a show best benched watched, or maybe not watched at all. I´m glad that I saved up the second part of the show and benched it. I can see how Grancrest won´t be for everyone (shows seldom are), but if you just can live with the flaws and like the genres, it has some really good moments. I got the feeling “This is why I watch anime” at least a few times. And I recommend you to watch “The Legend of Legendary Heroes” if you already haven´t watched it. Generic title aside, that show does what Grancrest does but mostly better.