Hai to gensô no Grimgar

On the surface similar in many ways to the others in the genre (hero wakes up in a new world etc..) the many divergences make it worth watching even if it never gets a follow up season.

-The Art is fantastic and blends together different styles in a way that at first is jarring but quickly becomes something I looked forward to. -Character development is key to the depth of this short series, and draws you in. -The "commitment" to the trials and adventures of the group was a pleasant surprise, with the series taking a surprising path early on.

The anime however isn't perfect and falls short in some areas, for example even as it does a great job developing one key character it fails to deliver on another. But all in all it's flaws are forgivable as was only a single season and the hope is this would be ironed out if the show returns.

If you are like me and just finished Sword Art Online (SAO) and loved the first season you are probably looking for other Dungeon and Dragon / RPG shows. This one has a slower plot that is more suitable for adults since it focuses more on the mental and emotional struggle of being in a RPG and having to kill goblins to survive. There is a sense of maturing that occurs as the main character becomes the leader of the group, I will say I like SAO and Log Horizon more but I still enjoyed this show

I'm not going to lie, it took me a bit to get past the second chapter. It looked like it was going to be ecchi. One of those ecchi-comedy that is vulgar as it is bland. The fourth episode hooked me and the sixth one made me fall in love with this. It ends up being a Slice of life anime. A lovely one. I would have liked it to continue, but the ending was nice. One knows that they will stay together. Where they come from? No matter. They found in the group the strength to start a new life.

This series continuation of themes explored in Sword Art Online and Log Horizon.

Taking a mix of the two...pretend like there wasn't the big reveal at the beginning of SOA as to why they were trapped in the game and pretend like there wasn't the awkward shrug off every character in Log Horizon, that was like 'oh fiddle-sticks I got stuck in a video game,' and you have Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash. Not entirely sure how they got into this creative world, but here they are.

The art in the series is a 9 out of 10. The characters are clearly in their own character journey and while at their modest start-up stage in the first 12 episodes, they are entertaining and full of quirks particular to each character.

I am excited for the continuation of the series.

I really enjoyed the change of pace from other anime. If you don't feel like watching the characters scrounge for food or money, or observing every new item or skill, this may not be for you.

The characters have extremely mixed but distinct personalities, something more reminiscent of reality then many other tv shows. I feel anime as a whole tries to push single or double character traits/personalities even on main characters, and the variety of traits displayed by each character is uncommon among anime. This a quality I find to be rare in anime, and I'm glad to see one with personality development, and even change as the story progresses.

The artwork is wonderful and again, rather unique; it's picturesque and tinted like watercolors, but the 3D animation isn't the greatest, (shown in large group movement/fight scenes).