In one of my previous Grimgar reviews, I asked where this series was going to go since the adaptation of the goblins arc was finished. Well, my question was answered in the last episode, but it didn’t really sink in for me until I watched this episode. I feel the content we got was something Grimgar does well, but let’s get into it a bit more.
SPOILERS AHEAD! If you haven’t seen this episode, I would recommend that you stop here. If you haven’t watched the series, please have a look at my first impression of Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash & Zach’s article on Why Grimgar Of Fantasy and Ash is One of the Best Shows this Season (both spoiler free)!
Episode 10 of Grimgar did something I like to call “switching”. It went from progression of the story to focusing on its characters, then repeated. The first chunk focuses on Haruhiro’s team and their exploration of Cyrene Mine. With the goblins out of the way, they are now focusing on Kobloids. Taking on stronger foes requires training, so the team learns new skills to help support each other. I know I have stated that the art is gorgeous many times before, but I haven’t really mentioned the animation. While the animation is good for closeups and facial expressions, I believe it is also strong when Haruhiro and the rest are using their new skills. I mean, sure, at the end of the day, the art overshadows the animation by a landslide, but it does try to remain fluid. There are also comedy moments involving Ranta and his ramblings about antithesis, which are amusing, but it seems the later chunk also focuses on character interaction, more specifically, on Ranta and Haruhiro.
Being a leader is difficult and Haruhiro realizes this, which leads him to compare his decisions with Manato’s past decisions. “What would Manato do”, Haruhiro asks; deep down, he wonders if he truly is leader material and his lack of assurance leads him doubt himself. With that noted, Ranta is another case. You see, Ranta is lacking teamwork: he has the work down, he just needs the team aspect. We can see Haruhiro try to reason with Ranta about the issue, but no-no, he is not having any of it. Ranta has a very stoic and hard-headed approach about teamwork that a lot of people wouldn’t agree with. He believes working enough to pull in his own weight is enough and that teamwork will not always work. It’s an ideal that sounds very childish at first, but he brings up the point that there are times where being strong on your own matters, especially in this kill-or-be-killed world. Haruhiro disagrees with Ranta’s way of thinking and points out his faults, but that only backfires since Haruhiro has many doubts about being a leader. The entire scene is interesting and could be brought up again later down the line. Sure, Haruhiro has decided to let it go for now, but I’m willing to bet things will not be solved that easily.
The last chunk of the episode keys in on more progression into the mines and the characters destroying more Kobloids. The last scene is thrilling with the revealing of Death Spots (or that Kobloid that killed Mary’s teammates.) Grimgar is not hiding how shocked and frightened Mary is, but the important question is: how will things go from here? The plan is to move on towards the 5th floor, so will they do just that or will Mary’s emotions cause her to endanger herself in an act of vengeance? There are 2 episodes of Grimgar left, so if there is any time to build up for the finale, then this episode would be the time to do it. With that being said, the episode was good in terms of both progression and the characters. I await the content Grimgar has in store for us!
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