Was going back to school at night to retrieve a forgotten lunch box a really bad mistake? That's how
it seems when Mangetsu Kohinata suddenly finds herself pulled into a strange world where girls in
giant magical armor are engaged in a ferocious battle. While the timing was unfortunate, it turns out
that Mangetsu's arrival in this strange realm was anything but a mistake, because Mangetsu appears to
be a mage herself! Now, with the help of her mysterious new friend Shingetsu, Mangetsu must learn how
to summon and control her own giant armor as they fight against other mages in a competition with an
unbelievable prize - control of the lost magic that once ruled our planet!
(Source: Sentai Filmworks)
Granbelm was a really misunderstood anime, many people didn't give it the chance it deserved, quickly digging a grave for it and was left forgotten until Granbelm started to stand by itself, and surprisingly, Granbelm managed to exceed my expectations, being one of the best this season. (Warning, slight spoilers ahead) Granbelm starts as Fate~ish battle royale with taints of Madoka Magika, employing mechas that are called Armanox, where Mangetsu (our MC) suddenly gets warped into another dimension (If you ask, this isn't an isekai, it's just an alternate reality that takes place each full moon, where our girls will fight) And gets targeted by other witches until Shingetsu (a mysterious black girl) comes to her aid. Granbelm's best selling point are their characters. And while some of them might be a little annoying due to how edgy they might seem, most of them have their reasons to participate in Granbelm in order to become the Princeps, which will concede them a wish. However, Mangetsu is the only girl among the others who doesn't have a clear goal, taking part on Granbelm as a way to find that something she's missing on her life. Eventually, the rest of the characters will get their background story that carries their motivation, be it family issues, frustration, or even a curse, each story is carefully developed at the right pace and complements the world building, specially about Granbelm and the wizard's lineage. Granbelm's first episodes focus mostly on developing and introducing the main cast while Mangetsu experience Granbelm. However, after reaching a certain part of the story, more and more questions regarding Mangetsu will start to raise: Who is she?, why most of her memories are blank?, why does she have so much magical power while missing her witch inheritance? All these questions have an answer, and while I can say that I guessed correctly what Mangetsu was, the execution of her twist was done greatly, with a dark and psychological tone, driving us towards one of the best parts of Granbelm: How much Mangetsu matured during all this time as she deals with her identity crisis, realizing how there are many things in life that are worth and how beautiful is to live without being tied to the things you think you need, after all, if we had the capability of getting everything we could wish for, would we really be complete? Would we be depriving ourselves of the ability to grow? ***Slight spoilers ahead*** After Mangetsu's twist, her connection with Granbelm and the Magiaconatus, we will realize, that the real main character here is Shingetsu, the girl who was gifted with powerful magic in order to attend to the trials of the Magiaconatus as she fights on Granbelm. However, having so much power made her unhappy, the only thing she wanted was to have a real friend, to be with someone you could have fun with, to be with someone which you could count on and have the ability to grow. Many times, even after her childhood friend Anna were eradicated from this world, the anime doesn't forget her and shows us many memories of Shingetsu's past as she was hanging out with Anna when they were kids, noticing how Anna was unable to realize how much things she had in life, as she was slowly blinding herself into an spiral of rage and frustration all thanks to the magic, which became the reason why Shingetsu wanted to be the Princeps after winning against all her rivals, in an attempt to free the world from the magic that retains the real happiness ***End of spoilers*** Another great selling point of this anime, its the animation and the sound department. Granbelm is faithful to the traditional 2D animation as the recent industry is starting to lean towards CG animation, specially seen in the design of the Armanox as all of them are 2D models, which helps a lot in battles as it makes them more fluid. Background scenery is also marvelous filled with many details and beautiful landscapes, all of them with an adequate color palette depending on the tone of the scene. The only thing that might not be that attractive is the fact that the character designs looks for the most part, generic, that, and the odd looking mechas that looks like compacted Gundamns due to how small they are. However, is just a matter of getting used to it. The soundtrack of this anime is really good, with epic music for each battle, sad themes for sad moments or serious themes for serious moments, and what not, the anime also knows very well when to be silent. I've gotta give kudos to the overall voice acting as it was done greatly to portray each character and their personality, specially Mangetsu. The SFX are full hype and add a lot of impact in battle scenes, it reminds me a lot of the powerful SFX Planet With had. I've got one complaint tho, Magetsu's Armanox sounds like Togepi from pokémon xD. And that's all, Granbelm end up being one of the biggest surprises this season and I must say, that despite not looking that appealing, it was worth my time, specially the time invested in the characters, story and the Stunning spectacle it was, being one of the best anime this season. Give Granbelm the chance it deserves.
The 2010s gave anime fans a revival of sorts for the magical girl genre. This can be attributed to shows like Madoka Magica, which gave a darker, more story-based spin on the usual "girl meets talking animal and gets powers" plot, and was targeted towards an older demographic, unlike Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura. Before long, a new wave of sleeker, story-based magical girl anime hit the scene, some more obscure than others. Granbelm is one of these shows that spawned out of the shadow of Madoka, but it fails to live up to the show that it's so clearly inspired by. The story follows the story of the pink-haired protagonist Mangetsu, who, on the night of a full moon, is suddenly transmitted into Granbelm, a battle-royale set in another world, where girls fight eachother in massive magical mech suits. There, Mangetsu meets the mysterious Shingetsu, who tells her about the battle for unlimited magical power, and they end up forming a team to fight in Granbelm. Without going into too many spoilers, this show's plot is pretty weak and derivative. It borrows a lot of tropes from other anime without really putting any sort of creative spin on them other than "cool big robot". There is a plot twist towards the end of the show that kind of shakes things up, but by then there's not enough time to get deep into any character development, so the twist ends up coming off as sort of "fake deep". Speaking of character development, this show's characters are probably its most lackluster feature. The protagonist features pretty much no unique qualities other than being naive and determined. Granted, this could be explained by future revelations in the show that I won't spoil, but it still doesn't make for a very interesting character. The same can be said for pretty much all of the other characters in the show; they have very one-note, uninteresting personalities that make it really hard for me to care about them in the slightest. There's one girl who's only personality trait is screaming in anger, like she doesn't have any sort of chill switch. The animation in this show is fine, for the most part. Where it really fails is during the fight scenes, where the show really just tries to throw out as much bright, seizure-inducing visual vomit as possible without really showing any dynamism or fluidity. Not all of the action scenes are bad, but the ones that are are really difficult to follow due to the show's need to overload the screen with neon lasers and explosions every 12 seconds. Not to mention that the show's opening sequence blatantly rips off Neon Genesis Evangelion in several ways. The soundtrack is decent. It has some pretty tracks, but it's not anything too crazy. Overall, this show just didn't really click for me. It just felt derivative to the point of losing almost all of its seriousness, from the opening sequence to the show's resolution. There were aspects of it that showed promise, but it ultimately failed at providing me with anything that I couldn't get out of Madoka Magica.
When it comes to Granbelm, I feel like you fall into one of two camps: you either get it, or you don’t. I realize that’s a pretty vague and unhelpful statement, so let me clarify. To some extent, your ability to enjoy any piece of media is determined by how well you connect with its specific wavelength. The subtle differences in cinematography, dialogue, visual aesthetic, themes and so on can make all the difference in the world in determining why, for example, I dislike the Haruhi franchise, yet I love a show that starts from pretty much the exact same premise, Chuunibyou. If you can latch onto a show’s overriding attitude, you’re going to enjoy it. If you can’t, you won’t. Simple enough on its surface right? Well, I feel like that Granbelm supercharges that dichotomy to a far greater extent than I’ve seen in a while. Despite it being one of the least watched anime of Summer 2019, there’s a sizeable contingent of fans who absolutely adore it. On the MAL forums, on Anime News Network, scattered across the internet, there are plenty of people who love this mashup of dark magical girl tropes and mecha action with all their heart, praising the characters and the ideas explored and putting it right up there near the top of their lists for anime of the season. And on the other hand, you have the rest of the anime fandom, who lost interest in it, dropped off after a couple episodes, hated it from the get-go, couldn’t be bothered to care about it, or are still watching but not quite sure why. Something about the particulars of Granbelm’s storytelling leave very little middle ground for an audience to fill you either get it, or you don’t. If you get it, it’s a powerful, resonant piece of art that will stick with you long after it finishes airing. If you don’t get it, it’s a bizarre, disappointing, not really insulting, but overall uninteresting waste of time. The story, an original script from the director and animation team behind Re:Zero, centers around the titular Granbelm, a Fate/Stay-Night-esque battle royale between young mages that occurs every full moon. These mages, all young girls, fight in stout, stocky mecha that channel their magical energy in powerful attacks, shield them from damage, do weird wobbly magic business and all that good stuff. Defeat doesn’t mean death, thankfully; it just means you’re knocked out of the running, and the competitors who last the night pick the battle right back up when the next full moon rises. The ultimate prize? A supposedly unlimited wish from an unseen entity that’s probably got a monkey’s paw or two up its ass, because this wasn’t enough like Fate already. At any rate, into this ongoing tournament is thrust our protagonist: Mangetsu, a seemingly normal girl who gets air-dropped into the middle of a Granbelm match and quickly finds herself fighting alongside everyone else in her own mystical dwarf mecha. No one is quite sure what to make of her, least of all herself; if she’s able to compete, it means she’s descended from a mage’s bloodline, but nobody knows which one, and at any rate, her unwittingly joining up after the tournament is already under way it weird enough itself. But if she’s part of Granbelm, there’s nothing to be done; she can either drop out, or keep competing and fight to have her own wish realized. Mangestu, unsurprisingly, chooses to fight, and thus she begins her quest to beat out the rest of the colorful characters who are participating in this tournament, all while forging an initially uneasy alliance with a fellow competitor- Shingetsu- who’s decided to help her orient herself in this confusing new world. No points for guessing that things are darker than they initially appear, the Granbelm tournament itself might be a lie, and everyone’s got a closet full of skeletons ready to expose when it’s time for Maximum Drama™. Honestly, though, for as much as I poke fun, Granbelm’s a lot better constructed than that description would lead you to believe. Calling it a mashup of Madoka and Fate wouldn’t be wrong, but it would also be a disservice to the many original ideas Granbelm comes up with. Even if you can guess the general trajectory of the story, the specifics of what’s actually going on will completely take you by surprise, with enough foreshadowing in the opening episodes for the eventual reveals to make sense. I know I was thrown for a loop when I realized that a couple things that were bugging me about Mangestu’s characterization turned out to be entirely intentional. There’s a damn smart narrative contraption at the core of this thing; no surprise, considering how good Re:Zero was at planting and payoff. And speaking of Re:Zero, another strength its director carries over here is sheer force of hype. The mecha battles are all riveting spectacles, rendered with kinetic cinematography, dizzying displays of power, and lush color palettes steeped in purple and blue. You feel the propulsion of these pieces of psychic armor zooming through the sky, aided by a killer sound design that makes them feel less like lumbering chunks of metal and more like Tron-esque digital programs. There’s so much confidence in every decision that it’s easy enough to get lost in the flow and jam out to the chaos. So here’s the question I’m left with; If Granbelm is so good at crafting an engaging spectacle, with cool action and direction and interesting plot turns, then why did I- and so many other people- keep getting sucked out of it? It’s here that we must turn our focus inward and talk about themes and meaning. This, I think, is where the heart of the divide lies between the people who love this show and those who don’t: do you get what it’s trying to say? Do you connect with how it tries to say it? Because from my perspective, Granbelm goes about exploring its themes in a very, very unclear and unfocused manner. Just take a look at the first episode if you want proof of this; it’s entirely dedicated to throwing Mangetsu right into the deep end of Granbelm and watching her experience it from the ground up. It’s certainly cool, but a nagging question I kept coming back to all throughout that episode was, “Why?” We’re given plenty of information about the players of Granbelm, the mechanics and lore, the cool shit we can expect from the battles, but we’re given no context into the emotional stakes involved. We learn nothing about why these girls are fighting, what’s at stake for losing, what deeper meaning is driving their stories, nothing. We’re given no reason to care about Mangestu until the end of the second episode, and even then it’s such a weak motivation- she wants to be useful to people- that it doesn’t feel worth the wait. Sure, you don’t need to dump the entirety of your show’s thesis on the audience right at the start, but at least _some_ context is needed to help them get invested, right? Unfortunately, I would find myself asking that question of “Why?” plenty of times throughout Granbelm. It takes a while for the scope of the story to really come into focus, and while the eventual reveals are, as I said, cool, it feels like the meaning behind them should’ve been driving the story forward from a lot earlier. Everything feels disconnected and unclear, like every conversation the characters have is meant to be the defining moral statement of an entirely different show. There’s some stuff about self-determination, there’s some stuff about humanity’s natural inclination to abuse power, and I think the ultimate point was something related to accepting the responsibility to evolve, but I feel like I’m scrambling around in the dark trying to piece together an incomplete puzzle. And it’s not a fun mystery where the pursuit of meaning is part of the point; the way Granbelm presents the ideas it explores, it feels like it’s trying to be clear about the point it’s making. But for me, at least, it really wasn’t. Actually, now that I think about it, the real problem might stem from this: Granbelm is bad at connecting its planting to its payoff. Too many times over the course of this show, it would set up a conflict, and then eventually solve that conflict in a way that technically made sense, but also felt incredibly lacking. To use the most obvious example, Shingetsu’s biggest rival is Anna, a fellow witch who grew up as her close friend and adopted sister. They used to be incredibly close, but Anna eventually descended into jealousy and envy as Shingetsu’s talents far outstripped her own, to the point where she would do anything to take her down, even as Shingetsu desperately wants to mend their broken bond. It’s an understandable enough conflict on its surface, and without spoiling anything, the conclusion it reaches is probably the only conclusion it could have in a story of this nature. But actually watching the conflict play out getting to that point is so. Unbelievably. Not. Interesting. Anna as a character is far too arch, far too underwritten to care about. All she does is scream and make rage faces with increasingly unhinged fury, to the point where it’s impossible to buy into the supposed tragedy of her situation. She’s like a caricature of the jealous rival character, and at every point the story could’ve taken to let her indulge in some actual goddamn pathos, it instead instructs her voice actor to blow out yet another vocal chord and the animators to increase the dilation of her pupils. The way her arc resolves makes sense, but the character herself is so broken that it’s impossible to get invested in her. And this isn’t the only time something of this nature occurs. There’s another character whose arc revolves around trying to save their sister from a curse, and the exact nature of how they get to the end of that arc feels just as half-baked and underwritten. There’s a lot of question I still have about the nature of the magic system, whether it was supposed to be good or bad or something in between. Occasionally, the show pulls a magic power out of its ass that feels like it’s supposed to be important and meaningful, but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out how it got there. Granbelm _feels_ like a well-constructed show from the outside, but on the inside it’s just a mess. Not an annoying mess (okay, Anna’s shtick got insufferable at times), but a mess all the same, a plot that felt like it did actually _know_ what it was doing, but for some reason couldn’t communicate that knowledge to me. I kept feeling like these was some missing piece I wasn’t getting, some aspect that I wasn’t picking up on that would make all the pieces fit together. But for the life of me, I couldn’t find that piece. At least, that’s what I got out of it. Like I said, there are plenty of people who really like this show. So maybe that missing piece is still out there, and I just couldn’t find it for whatever reason. Maybe there’s some aspect of Granbelm that just speaks to some people with more clarity than others. All that considered, despite how down I’ve been on this show, I do recommend checking it out. It’s possible you’ll be one of the lucky few who’s able to figure out what it’s going for and thus find a new anime to add to your favorite’s list. And then maybe you can come back and explain it to me, because I’d really like to know what’s so potentially powerful about Granbelm that I just couldn’t figure out. For the moment, though, while I can’t call this show a disaster, I’m definitely frustrated that it never clicked together the way I wanted it to.
At its simplest, GRANBELM asks you to enjoy life. img1080(https://files.catbox.moe/byhi5x.jpg) GRANBELM is almost an amalgamation of many different properties you’ve seen before: it’s as if Fate, Madoka, Ryuki, and Gundam were disassembled and reassembled into an entirely new show. Not that this is a negative to the show, it still stands out despite its obvious inspirations. If anything, the way it’s able to weave these genres is masterful. I’ll be immediately honest and say that GRANBELM is an anime that feels completely catered to my tastes. It’s a battle royal with magical girls piloting mechas that espoused themes of predeterminism, the beauty of life, and self-worth. That’s what speaks to me. So, why didn’t I enjoy the show as much as I should’ve? Let’s talk about it, starting with “magic.” img1080(https://files.catbox.moe/kbtlrn.PNG) Magic in GRANBELM was created by humans. It had enriched their lives until it began to produce wars. Six mages worked to seal it inside Magiaconatus, a surprisingly active mcguffin. Now, a thousand years into the future since then, it’s wielded only by surviving mage families. All of these mage families have the singular desire to become the “Princeps Mage–” the true mage who wins the titular Granbelm and controls of all magic. Magic as we first see it is completely destructive in nature. The Armanox–or the mechas– clash, shoot beams, and aim to destroy each other. The pilots aren’t much different with some exhibiting on pure bloodthirst. It’s our first visual introduction to the world of Granbelm. The setting of this premier fight is an empty zone with a lone castle. The start is telling us that the world is nothing but violence for a throne. (I wanna make a quick note of saying that the arenas for the Granbelm rounds are a great way of showing where the characters are at mentally.) img1080(https://files.catbox.moe/ttrc61.PNG) A later showing has magic used in a conventionally positive light, encouraging the growth of plants. But, a character– the TRUE main character, Shingetsu Ernesta Fukami–provides an interesting perspective. By using magic, they stripped away the plants’ freedom to choose when they grow. Magic stole the future and forcibly chose how life would work. img1080(https://files.catbox.moe/icmwus.PNG) Every character interacts with magic, or the indirect effects of it, on a purely individual level. It’d be a mistake to say that any of the girl’s fight in Granbelm for a utilitarian purpose. It’s a universal human desire they all demonstrate, but it’s one fostered by magic. Whether they fight out of jealousy towards their magical superior, fight to save a cursed loved one, fight because it’s all they have, or even fight to destroy magic, it is all sourced in magic. img1080(https://files.catbox.moe/opeiy7.PNG) The characters are the primary means of which the story moves forward, which is self-evident due to its genre. But, it’s especially true in the case of GRANBELM which I feel perfectly split the time where the characters are free to interact and the time where they fight. The freetime does the best in building the main duo and showcases the more visually and narratively interesting, while also having the ability to host the show’s denser dialogue. It's also this freetime that allows us to breathe and soak in the town and world. Despite being normal, it comes off as more vibrant and colorful than the magical settings. Let's dive a bit into the characters I want to talk about: Mangetsu Kohinata, Shingetsu Ernesta Fukami, and Suishou Hakamada. These three are the most blatantly controlled by Magiacanotus and expressive of the show’s themes: img1080(https://files.catbox.moe/tobo6w.PNG) Mangetsu apparently has nothing going on for her. She isn’t good at sports or studies and believes no one would miss her if she were to disappear. When she enters Granbelm, she obtains a sense of purpose: fighting in the tournament is something only she can do. She further solidifies this decision in order to help Shingetsu accomplish her goal. It’s later revealed that Mangetsu never existed. She was a puppet constructed from Shingetsu’s wish for a friend. The reason she felt like she was nothing, could never make anything unique, and cooperated with Shingetsu was in her programming. She was created with a singular purpose. But, she’s the character to find the beauty in life and share it with Shingetsu. Without any pretenses, she looks up at the night sky and realizes it’s beautiful. If everyone’s gaze is locked onto some sort of power or desire, they miss out on some of life’s simple, elegant, and beautiful features. img1080(https://files.catbox.moe/j1wiby.PNG) One of the best scenes in the show comes from a moment where Mangetsu talks about a conversation her classmates had. Despite the girl fading away from reality, her classmate remembered her and smiled at her. She wasn’t an important character by any means. But, Mangetsu’s existence was reaffirmed. Her life mattered and was noticed. Mangetsu had something. img1080(https://files.catbox.moe/4op3cb.PNG) Shingetsu is chosen by magic. And she ironically chooses to destroy it, despite it being all she has. Her relationships were all born under magical contexts and some are destroyed the very same. She is, as I’ve noted, the show’s true protagonist. Out of the main duo, she is the active, purposeful member and faces the most acute struggles. Suishuo even reveals that she is the most favored out of all the mages Magiacanotus has ever blessed. The trajectory of her life has been decided for her by magic. And so she wants to destroy it, so everyone has access to a free life. It’s impossible to ignore that Magiacanotus continues to support her, as if it agrees with her worldview. With Mangetsu’s help, she learns to love herself and the world. Eventually choosing to maintain her selfishness. img1080(https://files.catbox.moe/2f2m6g.PNG) Suishou is the antagonist. Throughout the series, she’s manipulating others and hiding her true self. She breaks Anna and Kuon and is eventually the final opponent the main duo have to fight. In another case of irony, she reveals to be like Mangetsu–a puppet.. Suishou is the most interesting antagonist (Anna gets points for being in the show, though). She’s fought the battle for a thousand years and always won, but was never able to claim Magiacanotus. However, it chose her as a test. Anyone who could beat her would be capable of claiming it. She’s a set-in-stone final boss. And, her flaws are all projected onto Mangetsu. She constantly berates the doll and forces in the fact that she wasn’t real and her ambitions were decided. She violently forced her own inhibitions onto someone made similarly to her. She’s stagnant and entrenched in magic, unable to free herself of its corrupting worldview and pay notice to anything else around her. img1080(https://files.catbox.moe/tev9ef.PNG) It’s a very simple dichotomy in the worldviews being presented, but I believe the show handles them incredibly well despite Suishou’s late revelation. They best represent characters consumed by the world of magic, while also showing the divergent viewpoints attainable for people who seek something outside of it. (The show plays with the concept of dolls a bit as just another expression of freedom and predeterminism. An interesting line suggested that the Armanox and their pilots had the inverse relationship of what was originally thought. It’s another way of saying that magic has control over their lives and selves.) img1080(https://files.catbox.moe/l8js4h.PNG) Yet even with all this, Shingetsu still makes a choice that feels full of her own passion. She chooses to go with her plan to destroy magic, which would even negate the lives of those who lost the tournament, erase Mangetsu, and put her in an infinite state of limbo. It’s a horribly selfish conclusion but she chooses it with a new perspective. Now, she has the time to do so much of what life has to offer. It’s poignant, it’s awful, but it’s oh-so inspiring. As I watched, I was silently hoping she would stick to her decision, knowing I could never bring myself to do the same. She would isolate herself forever while erasing every connection she made. But, she found ways to enjoy herself in spite of that. The scales of moral ambiguity are so unbalanced here you can’t help but keep thinking about her decision. But, it’s her decision and we have no place in the matter. img1080(https://files.catbox.moe/avjpn0.PNG) I can’t leave without talking about the final scene though. How horribly cruel I thought it was when I saw Shingetsu’s existence validated and her ethereal form became so much more corporeal. But, I was thinking about the mages when in that moment there was just a lonely girl given life by her friend. Her existence, her life, her very being were noticed and appreciated and it doesn't matter how unfair it was to anyone else. img1080(https://files.catbox.moe/rzza4o.jpg) Now, I’ve hopefully driven across some of the thematic depth the character’s provide for the show and how the conclusion strikes you. Because, I have to talk further on how I felt watching the show. I could see all the bits and pieces working in tandem for the experience. I understood the character motivations and foreshadowing. The show was well-crafted, even on the production side. Looking back, I can even find some subtle pieces of visual storytelling that blows my mind. But, why didn’t I love it as much as I should have? I can say that some characters outside the three discussed lack the depth needed, the fight scenes were unclear, or that magic as a concept was wholly underdeveloped. All of these are valid concerns, but they aren’t right for me. I think it’s because I didn’t watch GRANBELM at the right time. GRANBELM is a show that matched me aesthetically, but I haven’t reached the point where I can completely relate to it. If I were in a mindset where I’ve lost myself in illusions or felt my life was meaningless and purposeless, then I’m sure GRANBELM would have reached me. Giving my experience a number is a bit tone-death, but I can appreciate the work for what it is and what it was trying to do. And, I suggest anyone who either appeals to my aesthetic or needs an anime like this in their life to definitely give the show a try. There's a lot of things I also want to talk about further, like how Granbelm is essentially a ploy to destroy magic or going even further on the impact we leave as people. But, I'm not equipped well enough to try and tackle it here. All I can do is choose to end my scattered, little thoughts with the following image. img1080(https://files.catbox.moe/cick13.PNG) (This is my first Anilist review, hope it's not too bad.)
_Spoiler-free review_ You ever just watch Madoka Magica and think, "man, if this anime had mechs in it and had them fight in a battle royale, it would be perfect"? And then said anime comes out and not only does it live up to your expectations, it also sets itself apart as something wholly unique and special? That's Granbelm. In 2019, Masaharu Watanabe, just finishing up the then-most recent season of critically acclaimed fantasy isekai anime Re:Zero, teamed up with a couple of other notable figures in the Japanese animation industry (original character designer Shinichirou Ootsuka, script writer and series composer Jukki Hanada, among others) to bring us what I unironically think is one of the best entries to ever come out of the magical girl genre. Yes, it's derivative; on first glance, it's yet another edgy and dark magical girl show that does yet another take on the subgenre that Madoka popularized. Here's the thing, though: while other dark magical girl shows stumbled and fell, Granbelm more than exceeds. Take one of the largest pitfalls of said genre, for instance: the tone. Dark magical girl shows tend to take the wrong lesson from Madoka episode 3 (cough cough magical girl raising project cough cough mahou shoujo site cough cough) and dump an excessively dark and edgy tone on their viewers from the beginning. While that's not inherently a wrong approach, it will very much alienate a good portion of viewers who view said "edginess" as weakness in storytelling. Why do those same viewers like Madoka so much then? Moderation in use of said tone. Madoka didn't dump despair and death on its viewers from the beginning: it eased them into it, even with sudden jumps like episode 3. It knew when to use tone to its greatest narrative advantage and it's a lesson that similar successful dark mahou shoujo shows, like Yuuki Yuuna, and now Granbelm, learnt and used well. There's time for levity, and time for overbearing seriousness, and Granbelm manages both well. The characters are also top-tier. One of the main characters, Mangetsu, simply has a manic, hyper energy about her that simply makes her interactions with the other characters, in particular the other main character, Shingetsu, fun to watch. Shingetsu, quite frankly, is the typical dark mahou shoujo protagonist archetype that Homura from Madoka popularized: an emotional stone wall that's "cool" and "stoic". The creative minds behind Granbelm knew that having yet another Homura-like would not guarantee success, and they ingeniously decided to pair her up with a manic character type like Mangetsu to wring out the emotions. I personally believed it works: as a result, the dynamic between the two main characters never gets stale or boring, and investment in how these two characters' stories turn out becomes quite easy. The other participants in the battle royale are surprisingly quite decent in the character-building front as well; even the characters like token Chinese girl Nene and stereotypical shrine maiden Kuon get much more development than they needed. The standouts are obviously Anna and (best girl) Suishou; Anna is very much unlike any villainous character type seen in any magical girl show, and her story in Granbelm is compelling in how it unfolds and clashes with the main pair's paths. Suishou is best girl. There is no argument, there is no bias whatsoever. The plot and themes, however, are what made Granbelm go from just another seasonal show for me to a personal favorite that I can't help but think about every other day. Granbelm didn't have to make a deep plot; its fellow members of the dark mahou shoujo subgenre, like Yuuki Yuuna, settled for "SUFFERING IS THE BEST PLOT" and found great success. However, evidently the Re:Zero director had enough of that with his primary work, so he decided to actually have Granbelm's characters suffer for a purpose and a distinct theme. And he over-performs. Identity is the connecting word of Granbelm, and the core of every single character's struggles as they battle each other. The plot greatly benefits from it, making the emotional beats and fights more impactful than they would've been with a normal genre plot. Even the typical twists and "edgy" moments that you'd expected from a dark magical girl show factor back to this theme, and it makes those moments so much more powerful. The staff of Granbelm clearly had a vision for what they wanted to say with the show, and it very much works in its favor. The one "weak" point, although this may be up to your mileage, is the animation. The animation, performed by Studio Nexus, is more than up to the task for the characters and plot: the characters are very animated and fun to watch, and the animation helped supplement the engaging plot for the entirety of the show. However, Studio Nexus decided to animate the entire show with hand 2d animation, rather than relying on any CG as the majority of mech shows do that are not named Sunrise. In my opinion, this animation style is good, even rising to exceptional as needed. However, as a 2019 anime, in an era where Sunrise has set the standard of mecha fights in Gundam and related works, the 2d animated style used by Nexus may not be enough depending on your tastes. For me, it worked; for others, it may not, and that's totally fair. If you liked Madoka Magica and the subgenre it created, or hell, even think that any aspect of this show sounds interesting, I implore you to give it a try. I sure as hell am glad I did; I nearly dropped this show on episode 1, as did justifiably many others when the show first came out, but something kept me coming back each week, and I'm so glad I kept with the show. This show is the entire reason why I keep trucking through seasonal anime looking for those hidden nuggets of quality, and is a big part of my faith that small anime studios still can create compelling stories outside of the 999th generic isekai or the 450th CGCDT adaptation. As a certain redhead once said: "There's no rule saying that an imitation cannot defeat the original."