Monday, February 22, 2016

Grimgar - Episode 7: Heartwarming

At this rate, Grimgar may actually have a decent story. Not good, but decent, at least. Last time we delved into Mary's background, and now, in episode 7, They Were Called Goblin Slayers, we see that this group grinds goblins day after day, as their teamwork became polished. Spoiler alert, intentional or otherwise.


The episode started with a review of Mary's background, but in more detail, giving us a flashback where she must abandon her friends, or rather, let her party leader sacrifice himself for her to run. Quite nice that we got to see another point of view of this battle. Perhaps our band will face that boss some time near the finale.


On the way back from meeting the Orion party, Ranta stopped and ranted about why they should befriend Mary, who seemed to have no interest in warming up with the rest of them. In the end, Shihoru spoke up about how they were all affected by deaths of close ones. 

This one scene was actually quite deep for me. They resolved their differences and Ranta even apologized, while Haruhiro learned that Ranta feels that he was never listened too. 


Then, let the depth and emotion continue, something never before seen in Grimgar, truthfully. At the ruined city, the group talked to Mary about their lost friend, Manato, and that they wanted Mary in their group as they needed a priest, but as she's now part of their party, they should consider each other friends.





Actually, this episode still does not convey that much of a story concisely, with much of the second ten minutes being used for quite some clips and static shots. But let me say this once more: the art style of Grimgar is great and quite relaxing. Let me add to that, by saying that they also know how to get good angles. So much inspiration for drawings...

In the scenes over the insert music, which I usually do not pay attention to, sadly (though a nice and upbeat tune), the group bought a helmet for Moguzo together, killed goblins together, and showcased their new skills and equipment as did an earlier episode. I still complain the lack of content, but good enough as eye candy.

And if killing goblins daily and getting called 'Goblin Slayers' wasn't enough on showing how their teamwork has gotten much fluid, Mary ate dinner with the group! Character development really is the focus here, however bad a job they are doing.


Once more, Manato showed up. Haruhiro said about how much their group has developed. And that's true, compared to the story that has gone nowhere for half a season. Overall, this episode of Grimgar is a heartwarming one, with plenty of scenes that are quite emotional, when talking about their backgrounds.


As a bonus, we got another art for the ending. Nice, nice watercolor-y painting.

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Hai to Gensou no Grimgar is originally a light novel by Ao Juumonji, and adapted into anime by A-1 Pictures.

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