Der Greif

The character pacing is great in the show. The main character is developed slowly and is allowed to learn instead of feeling like an overpowered individual that is just there to save the day.

It never felt too cringe. And for the most part, the show was beautifully shot. It had a cinematic feel to it and the actors did a fantastic job as well.

There were some side characters that I honestly did not care too much for, and it did distract from the main story line. But the supporting characters were awesome!

Also, you'll notice a bunch of great 90's music sprinkled through out the show which made me feel a bit nostalgic! Overall, great show!

I was excited to see, this will be a series. The novel this show is based on was my start into fantasy and is probably not known to an international audience. Funnily the plot is set in 1994 which is about the time I devoured the book as a 14-year-old. I remember reading around 250 pages on a rainy Sunday.

So as it is obvious the creators are trying to follow the success of "Stranger Things" in some ways, do not make the mistake to compare The Gryphon too much to the Netflix hit. It is an original story that Hohlbein created long before. As far as I can tell after three episodes (earlier start in Germany as it is a German production) the buildup is good and leaves enough things to your imagination, while hinting enough to keep it interesting.

The series seems to be a little darker than the book, which was youth fantasy, whereas this is fun to watch as an adult. CGI quality is better than I expected and acting and plot are fine. So is the depiction of 1994 Germany, although the town of Krefelden is fictious. I feel like most clothing styles of the teenagers came up a few years later.

After almost thirty years after first reading the book (and many others by Wolfgang Hohlbein) I enjoy this so far and will keep watching, respectively bingeing the episodes to come. I just fear this season will end in a cliffhanger and the wait for continuation will be painful.

The Gryphon is an exciting show that kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. The story is interesting and the show has a cool 90s fantasy movie vibe to it. The soundtrack is really good and there's some great classic songs that play throughout the show. I liked all the characters, Memo I'd say is my favorite with Becky a close second. There was good chemistry between the characters and it was a good experience watching them work together. I look forward to what this show may bring in the future in the next season. The first season is only 6 episodes, I wish it had 8, because it felt a little short.

Long time fan of the original books here: It has very little in common with the original text, I was a huge fan of back when I was a child. But let this not be a deterence to watch this show.

The actors, even if a little stiff at times, leave little to be desired. The overall "feel" of the show, albeit a slight ripoff of the more recent "stranger things" was very fitting.

The makup/special effecs vaguely reminicent of del toros pans labyrinth and the overall very fitting sounddesing will leave the viewer with an overall very satisfying experience.

I highly recommend this show from a book-reader perspective. If you can ignore the obvious deviances of the source material and are able to enjoy this show on it´s own merits.

For anybody who wants the true experience of the teenage psychological horror i cannot recommend the original book enough, though.

I felt like this series was made with me in mind, but I realize of course that it is also targeted at young adults and teenagers. I was a teenager in the 90s and had a frenzied Wolfgang Holbein phase where I read many of his most popular books. "Der Greif" was one of the most popular and one of the best.

I was a huge fan as a teenager. I also bought the audio play version as a young adult. I realized when I got older, that Holbein has many faults (mostly repetitions of language patterns and plots/characters, lots of clichés and he got his ideas from other famous authors I didn't know as a teen). But "Der Greif" as a live action show is a dream come true for my inner teenager none the less. It's amazing to see the world they came up with, and I really like how they did it.

They did an incredible job overall with a few weak elements that I can forgive easily. The changes and additions they made are reasonable and well done. I don't care for fantasy or teen drama, but I found the characters sympathetic and the drama engaging. That alone is rare for shows from this genre.

I think I could see the influences from "Stranger Things" and "Dark", but they did it very well.

If you like me were a teenager in Germany in the 90's, you will find they have you in mind (especially in the first episode) and lots of music is referred to in almost every episode. The main character is making mix-tapes for his love interest. It almost gets a bit too much, but doesn't take away from the overall story.

I will definitely watch the second season and I also think you don't need to have read the book to "get" what is going on. To be honest, the story of the book is rather weak, it is more about atmosphere and teenage angst stuff. The story in the show is interesting enough, they made it look really great and have nice character building and good drama. A good pace and some action.