Gleipnir

This anime, based on the manga of the same name, is worth watching.

The good: The characters are interesting; they are not too much stereotypical (yes the main character do follow the reluctant hero type but that's only the starting point). Their motivations are understandable, if you give them the time to expose why they are doing what they do, and there is personal growth.

The story is strange, not totaly new in some aspects, but if this follow the manga (and for now it has followed it) it will get to some pretty interesting territories, with some interesting psychological aspects to it.

The design is good, and the animation is well done.

Music is on point (the ending song is epic and it's from the same band that did Goblin Slayer opening).

The bad (?): The thing that could discourage some viewers is the ecchi part. Honestly i think this anime doesn't even have that much fan service compared to other more famous mainstream anime, even in comparison to anime aimed toward younger audience (like Fairy Tail, or even Ranma 1/2). Yes there is some partial nudity, but is not all over the place, and at least they have human realistic proportions and bodies that follows the laws of physics. And yes there is a concept in the story that hint to something sexual in nature, but once again somethign similiar has been done in more explicit ways in more mainstream anime (like Darling in the FranXX).

In short: If you like anime with a very good story, good characters, well animated and don't mind partial nudity here and there i would say this is a must watch of this season.

It's rare I don't finish a show. However, Gleipnir isn't worth my time. I watched the first 6 episodes and I'm convinced half the screen time is spent on close ups of muscles and tendons on the female characters.

The plot is practically non-existent. Someone came up with what they thought was a good idea and somehow got paid before fleshing it out in the slightest.

The voice acting is over the top. Moreso than most anime. The characters are tropes with no personality or growth. The soundtrack wasn't bad but that doesn't make it watchable.

All in all, it's sub-par. It may appeal to some if other reviews are anything to go by but I'd suggest only watching the first 2 episodes before making up your mind. It really doesn't change after that. There's no "pay-off" moment that makes the slog worth it.

I had high hopes, even when almost finished with this show. I really hoped it would come through and surprise me with a meaningful ending, or even a good pausing point hoping for another season. In reality, I was severely disappointed. The body horror and pain porn moments don't earn anything worthwhile in terms of plot or character development. Rather, grief is used to add pretend stakes that don't feel real.

Quite disappointed.

Not gonna lie, a few episodes in and I thought I was watching some edgy fanfiction my 13-year old self would crave. The combination of dark themes and ecchi/erotic themes in movies/series tends to affect my viewing pleasure. Most of the time, I would just regard what I watched as plain bad, but after reading the source material while also finishing the anime, do I consider Gleipnir an exception or an addition to the catalogue of failed genre mixing that I've personally seen? Well, it's a bit of both.

Gleipnir, for the most part, has an interesting set of characters. The relationship between the two main protagonists and their character development are good, although I'm still suspicious of Clair's intentions. The side characters were okay, except for the "camera-cuck" as what the fans call him. The villains were not bad, especially that one villain named Madoka and of course, the flashback episode where some of the story begins to clear up and is probably what I would consider to be the first major turning point in the series.

The soundtrack was pretty great. It made me bob my head along as I watch an intense fight between the characters. Speaking of intense fights, the animation is very solid. Every frame of a fight choreography had so much detail put in it that it made my eyes stay glued to the screen.

However, I have mixed feelings with the plot. Some episodes I felt didn't do much to progress the plot, which is saying much for a 13-episode anime. Of course we can't forget the "ecchi-ness" of this series, which to my shock, is actually more censored in this anime adaptation when compared to the manga, which is mostly uncensored. For me, the way the studio pulls off ecchi can either make or break that anime, and in Gleipnir's case, once again, it's a bit of both.

Surprisingly, there were also quite a few changes to the anime like the fates of their characters and most notably, the ending. While I do understand the 13 episode limit, the anime-original ending could have been pulled off better. Some of the characters' decisions felt rushed and impulsive, which was completely different to the progression of the manga, which I will not get into to avoid spoilers, but what I can say is the flashback episode was good, but it was made rather redundant after seeing the ending. The last episode does set-up for a second season, which also made me wonder how will the studio continue this series' plot, especially when they derive this much from the source material.

At the end of the day, it's an okay watch for those who love dark shows, although you could spend more time looking for other shows that are far superior to Gleipnir.

6.3/10

I first heard about this series when its anime adaptation was announced and I was pleasantly surprised to say the least. This is one of those shows that is best to go in blind, knowing absolutely nothing about it. This is one of those shows that you have to watch to the end before you decide to critique anything. There were a lot of things that despite small, I questioned because they didn't seem to make much sense but clearly they knew what they were doing because it all ended up being answered in the end. The animation is incredible with some of the coolest and most intense fight scenes I've seen in a while when it comes to anime and despite being just a 12 episode anime, it provides a lot of depth and character development for our protagonist. I would have given this a 10 but there were some parts that were pretty cliche and there was a lot of unnecessary sexual scenes. Aside from that, the plot is properly fleshed out and nothing is too overdone. Not sure why people had a problem with it but the characters were well done, the plot is creative and fresh, and it doesn't try to be unique. On top of that, it constantly kept me on the edge of my seat and I was never bored. If you're into fast-paced shows, I recommend this. Give it a watch :)))