The Grimm Variations

I was waiting for this to come out for a few weeks. It definitely has potential to be good. I liked episode 1, but the next couple ones so far I have seen have fallen short in keeping me interested. Which is disappointing, since I want to love it. I haven't seen the whole series yet, and am at the elves and the shoemaker. I am hoping the next ones are better. What I thought they would be were more like the original Grimm fairytales, but they kind of become odd versions of the tales that sometimes don't seem to make much sense. The Hansel and Gretel, for instance just was not what I was expecting and didn't really make me feel it was even close to being that fairytale. Red riding hood was strange trying to be in the future, but again wasn't really what I was expecting the tales would be. The blood and all that doesn't bother me and was nice they included the "horror" aspects which I was expecting from the Gimm stories. I appreciate they were trying to go with something new, but they did a pretty good job in my opinion with Cinderella. Watching that first episode got me excited for the rest. I just feel like that so far the other ones have been very odd, boring or don't make much sense so far. Hopefully tho, it gets better in the other stories. I think the idea is good for the series, but the way the stories are lack for me.

CLAMP collab? Definitely here for it. The artwork is lovely, the character designs are whimsical, the Pied Piper episode was stretching into Ghibli-esque territory with their visuals, and some of the themes and elements were downright chilling.

First episode sets you up thinking everything will have this subversive twist. The last episode almost does the same thing, but you are more along for the ride on the subversion train rather than blindsided by it.

But none of the other episodes reach a satisfying level of "unexpected," instead, leaving you with a feeling of wondering what it was trying to represent. The source fairy tales themselves already had their moral lessons and with rare exception, it didn't present any "variation" to the tales or moral lessons. Much of it felt like an artist's rendition of an already known work. Not a copy, but how they see it. And while that can be appreciated for what it is, I felt dissatisfied, wishing it was for the reason of wanting more. But I didn't.

I was presented with a six-course meal and while I didn't leave the table hungry, none of the dishes were anything I would necessarily order again.

I am not someone who has ever written a review before but I am watching this rn and was curious to peoples reactions, so I decided to check this page out and I just really felt like saying sum so...

I am really liking this series so far and I am on ep5 rn (as I am typing this tbh) and maybe it's not something groundbreakingly astounding it's still nice and a fun concept/show. I enjoy that they dont just take the story and copy it but that they rather take core elements of the specific Grimm stories and put them in a different context.

I really dont want to spoiler, but small warning maybe like idk I just need to explain myself...I definetly see how ep1 had the most original approach with just changing the story and power structures around.

For episode 2 I also see the whole hunter and the one supposed to be hunted but where the victim manages to outsmart in the end concept which was present in the most known variation aswell

for ep3 definetly liking how the story goes, just think that the impact in the end is more there when you try to think of everything and put yourself in that situation, not the animation / storyline itself like it was kinda anti climactic tbh but i also feel like they tried to go like super artistic (?) with this episodes like it was really calm and like super technological stuff with a Middle Ages (?) visual so I think that definitely impacted the end and overall story but ja

For ep4 I feel like that same artistic kind of approach was taken as in episode 3 where everything was like rather muted and everything put super specific and sophisticated with a small 80s kind of touch (I'm genz so if I have the year wrong please don't hate me) but I genuinely don't understand what was going on but on its own it's was still a cute watch

Episode 5 is really going nice so far with the connection being that the main cast is basically 4 different types of people but working together to survive in the bitter world which I really like because making the citylife from the original into a western style movie is really funny but lowkey accurate like we just trying to survive out here

We shall see how it ends and what the next episode will be... again it wasn't groundbreaking our anything but it's still a cute watch ^^

Also I wasn't allowed to use apostrophes for some reason.

I actually started this series for background sounds. But the first episode hooked me in. It was simple of a Cinderella story but with a twist. The second episode was everything! Finally a show with all the gore and craziness of a MA show needed. The 3rd episode is what I wished Promise Neverland could of been. The Elves and the shoemaker episode was very interesting. Fun mystery type of episode. The town musical episode wasn't that great but it was nice to watch. The Pied Piper was a great story with a silver lining ending.

Each had their own message and stories. Some can say it's a 'Black Mirror' but in anime sort of way.

I hope there are more episodes to come out from this!

As a regular anime watcher, I found The Grim Variations to be a refreshing and enjoyable watch. Despite some criticism, I believe that sometimes, simple anime can be just as entertaining and engaging as those with more complex storylines. While some may argue that the show could have taken a different approach, it's important to remember that there are limitations when adapting famous fairytales while still trying to be original and engaging. Instead of setting high expectations, it's best to watch and appreciate the show for what it is. Don't let reviews or others' opinions influence your own enjoyment. Give it a chance and form your own thoughts and feelings about it.