Review of Record of Grancrest War
Grancrest Senki is... not good. It sets up a decent premise as a fictional drama between nations. I've enjoyed similar anime like Arslan Senki and 12 Nations, so I thought I'd give this one a chance despite its low MAL rating. I need not have bothered. In actual execution, it is terrible. The writers don't seem to know the first thing about politics, economics, or military strategy. The battles are hilariously devoid of actual tactics and the political decisions made by the major players seem like those of petulant middle school students rather than leaders of nations. Although, since mynation elected Trump, I suppose it's not THAT unrealistic...
Sorry, I got a little distracted there. I tried to enjoy it for its romantic elements, but the decisions made by the Marrine character are also painfully unrealistic. She and many of the other characters seem only able to act out of ego and pride without much intellect, wit, or critical thinking. She claims to love Alexis but decides that the Grand Hall tragedy means their respective factions should return to war and therefore keep them apart. Um... what? Why not gang up on the actual parties responsible for the incident? Instead of opening a criminal investigation and fighting back against the real culprits lets... give them what they want?
That seems to be the extent of the strategic planning between factions in this anime. They decide constantly to simply give the other factions what they want and allow themselves to be maneuvered for the dumbest of personal reasons. Villar Constance, for example, refuses the leadership of the Union faction because "grandfather wouldn't want his grandchildren to fight." And yet, by refusing to take the offensive, he sets up that exact situation where he and Marrine face each other across the batttlefield anyway. Then, when his castle is under siege, instead of taking the defensive advantage he decides to sally forth in a 2 person suicide rush. Could they not have held the causeway leading to the castle indefinitely with only a few troops? Could they not have built siege engines? Hilariously, later in the series the other side talks about how they have the defensive advantage and should just sit tight in that very same castle! So why would Villar, supposedly renowned for his strategic advisers, not do the same? None of it makes much sense.
I understand what the writers were going for, but it has the feel of work done by people who watched a fictional political drama once and thought they could write one too. Meanwhile, they conducted zero research and employed no common sense. It's so outlandishly juvenile and insulting to viewers that it ruined all other good parts for me. I feel like I am a generous reviewer and even I had difficulty watching this.
Avoid.