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What would you do if you awake in a fantasy-like world with no clear memories of your last life?

Well, this is what Grimgar depicts. We do have our typical party, with healers, warriors, mages and clerics... So far, our usual Dungeons and Dragons party. However, what makes this anime interesting is the fact that our characters are not overpowered by some plot reason. They are humans, and they need to adapt. They struggle to get food, they struggle to get money, and they have it hard when they take a life.

When we do have a lot of series that go into the Isekai Genre ... with clearly overpowered main characters and harem-like situations, this anime shows you another way of seeing an isekai. A far more human and, in my opinion, interesting way.

So, I must say I recommend it without any doubt.

Firstly, this review contains spoilers. It is a fair warning to the readers who don't want to spoil the very few this anime has to offer. I was very aware of the age of the anime, and I know narrative styles change over time. However, I was expecting a lot for a so called “a 10/10 series” and I was really disappointed with the show.

With this being said, let's talk about this anime. I will start with the things that are okay, even good, and that justify the scarce points I am awarding this anime. The OST is fascinating, the mixture of music with ... some classic pieces works well. The original story, about the angels and the EVAS, with the plot twists of the EVAS having angels inside, is also an interesting concept that could lead to further exploration.

However, the series fails to explain why things are that way. We see constantly Shinji struggling, to the point that his character advances almost nothing in 26 long episodes. We have a main character that doesn't want to fight, who alternates moments of fighting and moments of quitting without a clear reason more than “I was asked to do so”. And while this could be a good argument for a soldier, it is not when he doesn't have a moment to change. Only at the end, it seems to bright a bit when Nagisa appears, but the whole arc with him is rushed and finished too early.

Leyt's talk now about the characters and how they are portrayed. As mentioned, Shinji is not a good main character because of the lack of development. However, the main problem is not that he is totally a flat character, the main problem is that his struggle is boring. There are plenty of characters in anime portrayed with trauma and depression, and this can be a useful narrative resource. However, since the self-doubt and self-pity is that frequent and repetitive, it is impossible to empathize with him. It goes to a point of “here we go again”. The issue is that it is a series, it is expected to entertain, even give you some insight or touch feelings. And the main character fails to it.

Asuka is another character that could have been executed far better. She seems like the tsundere archetype, while she feels alone, and she wants to shine. So far, so good. I don't have a personal taste for tsunderes; however, I can totally go with these kinds of characters. The main problem with Asuka is that she is abusive. Period. There is no such a justification for someone who is in a military to treat a comrade the way she treats Shinji and even her superiors. She is an annoying character, not a character you may hate and have some feelings, even if mixed, that would make her an interesting antagonist/second protagonist. No, she is just annoying to the point when she disappears and appears the last in that shower, it makes you feel cold.

Last, but not less important, is Rei. I feel, for real, I have been lied to. Rei is, with no doubt, the most intriguing character, since she seems to be the only person to be in good terms with Shinji's father. She is also a good pilot, and she seems to have some secrets around her, as it is seen in the last part of the show, with the clones. However, again, the show fails to give us more explanation about how Rei is the way she is. It worsens it, since there is a moment, at the very end, an angel says that he and Rei are the same, and the show goes straight forward, no explanation, or hints, nothing.

Since I would rather not extend my review too much, I will explain, for the last, the world of Evangelion. While the world is interesting, as such, a planetary catastrophe, believed to be caused by angels, we don't get some explanations of some basic things. For example: why is an angel, one of those dangerous creatures, in the same base where the EVAS and the command center is? Why is it a prisoner, if we don't see any other attempts to get an angel prisoner? Why are there some people known as SEELE with the so-called Dead Sea Scrolls? We don't get a single hint. And going to the organization, NERV? What comes with some military decisions? It is not wise to sacrifice pilots instead of robots, mostly when you state not everyone can synchronize with the robots.

So, to conclude, this is the problem with the series: They explain almost nothing. We have an anime where we kill some bad guys, we do have the organization who is also bad, we have some kids who evolve close to nothing… and the promise of movies and sequels. However; while I am perfectly fine with leaving some open ends, or even open questions to have a narrative, here we do have nothing. 26 chapters, meaning more than 8 hours of series for barely nothing.

I will start by the beginning: This series is not another Yuri that is hyper sexualized. I would even say this is not the kind of love-story that maybe you expect when you see romance.

FAIR WARNING: there can be spoilers, not direct ones, but something can be revealed. However, I won't use names and I will try to keep them to the minimum but just be advised.

Furthermore, I will go step by step:

Story: 9/10
The story is excellent. As I said, it is not the cliché romance story where someone tries to "conquer" someone. Instead, we have a character who wants to love someone and ... can not, because she is unable to feel anything. Then, we have a character who never feels anything, but she feels suddenly for another character. We can see a question while all the series: "love should be a direct stream of energy, or it is a slow-burning feeling that increases as you spend more time with another person?"
This question will articulate the story and also will give some depth to the characters, who truly will struggle at some points since the relationship won't be perfect at all.

Art: 9/10
I can only say that art is outstanding. I do love the combination of colours, how they do some transitions and how they use background colours. Perhaps there is not as smooth as I had seen in other animes and that's why I am not giving it a 10 but definitely is not a bad art.

Sound: 10/10
Personally, I think sound is probably one of the best things of that series. The original soundtrack is beautiful and matches perfectly with the story. The insert songs are also very well inserted and let's be honest, they help a lot in the emotional moments to feel the story. I really enjoyed them a lot.

Character: 10/10
Characters, as I said, are very well written. You don't have a feel that they are artificial, or they are acting because the plot demands so. They do logical actions that are explainable by ow they are and how they feel. Also, the backgrounds are credible and logical, something that I am finding rare in those days. They are not overpowered, and they don't have a very extreme background. There is a trauma, there is some jealousy by a third party, but both things are balanced. Also, one thing that I loved is that even in the jealousy moments, the characters don't openly compete and are mean. They both care for the same person, and they show it. One is more possessive but even so they don't try to force anything. And all characters display the background and their fears, they openly talk about their insecurities maybe not with the others but to themselves, but you can actually see that they are evolving.

Enjoyment: 9/10
I enjoyed the series a lot. To be fair, there were some moments that I was a bit exasperated because as I said it is a slow burn romance and sometimes is a bit too slow. And there are some things that maybe because of my cultural bias I didn't expect to be that way, but the overall is superb, and I hope there is a second season.

In overall, I would recommend the series. Definitively worth watching it.

This is a review from someone who hasn‘t finished the show but one who has seen enough to be frankly angry.

Let‘s start with the good things. Yes, the show has some good things and they should be noted: the music is outstanding. Plain and simple: there are classical pieces really well adapted. Since music is so important here, it is worth noting that the creators did a great job here. So, it is a 10 on sound.

The art is really nice. I am giving it a 9 because I find it very good but perhaps not as good as the music. Still, this ... is my personal opinion, so I can understand if some people disagree and they give a 10 on the art.

Ok, those are the good things.

Now, we need to move to the shades and I have found some shades, some of them are just terrible and they shouldn‘t be. Please, note that there can be spoilers, so it is worth a tag, before you continue:

============WARNING, POSSIBLE SPOILERS===============

Ok, the most important flaw in this show is how they handle abuse. It is just terrible. It is clear that the main character has a trauma about a piano. As we continue, we can see how the relationship was with his mother and how he was affected when she died. Ok, no problem, plenty of animes have a topic where a parent is missing.

The problem is: he was clearly abused by his mother. There is no way to justify that and in the show he stills sees her mother as a good person and the series pretend to say that “no mother could hate her children“. Excuse me, we have some explicit scenes of beatings, to the point of making him bleed. How can this be explained as “I hope my music reached my mother“? Is this really a romantization or a justification for violence? Because it seems so and, that completely messes up with the series.

The other thing I find abusive is how the girl handles him. Let‘s see, she is ill, ok. They might have feelings to each other but she is trying to push him and in most cases it seems she does that to her own benefit. She tries to help him but pushing someone who has a trauma, to the point of almost breaking him is not love, nor care.

Those things alone killed my enjoyement and I can‘t understand how the characters can still talk to each other after all this pushing. It seems too unrealistic and too forced on the story.

So, I had given a 3 on the overall just for the music and for the art. But this anime is something I won‘t recommend and I am pretty sure that if it was launched on 2020, probably it would have received a worst critics.

Uhhm... Just wy?

I mean, of course we can have some fanservice with a story, there is not a problem about that. But this made me feel weird. They are just peeping and then on the anime they seem like they don't trust each other. But how would you trust the ones who are peeping while you are in the shower?

Also I found that some of them like Manato or Haruhiro who shouldn't be there. They are men, sure, but they don't give other hints about that. It seemed a bit foced to me.

Still I am giving an 8 on art because well, the art ... was good I guess

This made me really happy and really sad.

Happy becuase man, this is amazing. Probably it is the best thing that I have ever seen on Pokemon animation. The animation was like some more mature animes and the musc was a master piece. I love how Bump of the Chicken did that OST.



But at the same time it makes me sad because that shows howcould have been and how it wasn't. It was like "hey, this anime could have evolved, forgetting Ash arcs and introduce new characters as main and see what could have been. But instead we give you poorer animation and is ... okay".

This is an anime I wanted to see for a long time but now finally I had a chance. I recommend you that if you find it, don't do like me. Watch it when you find it. You won't regret.

The story itself is far too common: a post war world where people wants to connect and reunite with each others. And of course where they don't want another war. We go with the main character, Violet, who is a war survivor (to avoid any spoiler) and who will try to integrate herself in the post war world.

The scenes are simple, no complex plot ... twists but it is because they are simple why they are beautiful. The drama they show is the drama you may find after every war ends. And the magic of Kyoto Animation is to make you cry with such scenes.

The sound is really good, there is said that in most films and series they don't make you feel the same without the music. Here it happens, without music the atmosphere wouldn't be the same.

The character development is a bit slow but at the same time is realistic. Remember, she survived a war so don't expect she would go along and forget that. That war marked her and this will influence about her evolution as a character.

In conclusion, it is a beautiful anime, a wonderful work made by the team who did it and a really good recommendation.

I have to say I started watching this anime worried about the possibility it would be only colors. But the story was really curious. Without going into spoilers, I want to say that the main character, Hitomi really evolves well from how she is at the beggining to how she changes her mind and how she is with her friends at the end.

How the anime play with the colors is also a noticeable thing. And of course, mention to the OST wich is really nice. I think, in some aspects, this anime can be similar to angel beats, just in my opinion.

Perhaps the ... only downside is that it could have been a bit longer to develop more the story and the arcs between characters.