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REVIEW: Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash

I was kinda disappointed that the reviewer still doesn't understand the difference between the "trapped in a game world" and "transfer" genres. Yeah, transfer tends to have game mechanics, but is not required that it does nor is its approach to it and meaning the same.

In "trapped in a game world" stories (SAO, .Hack, that one really funny light novel were he's caught in the worlds most glichy game) have the world the characters are in being an actual game. Since they are interacting in a world built from the ground up through code, that means that for all intents and purposes, the game system = reality. Furthermore, their growth and progress is restricted to how well they can manipulate that system.

In "transfer" stories (grimgar, konosuba, and the one that makes people the most confused about this, Log Horizon) have the world the characters are interacting in be an actual fantasy world that just happens to have a game system overlined on top of it. The game system does not equal reality for them and most good transfer stories with game mechanics explore what this means for them.

Log Horizon started dealing with the fact that the world is inhabited by actual people and not just npcs and players early on. As the story progressed,spoiler[ the rules of the game system started break and alter, allowing them to learn new skills based on their personal experiences (yeah, their first and second jobs as well) and having flavor text become real, changing the nature of equipment and whatnot to something other than "how high their stats are".]

It even comes up in Konosuba (in a part they cut out of the anime). Those guys Kazuma met outside the succubus brothel were part of a party he did a member swap with, joining them for a quest. It was there that he showed off that he can create new effects or the same effects of intermediate magic by manipulating basic magic. He isn't strictly restricted to doing only what is defined in the game system and can use the abilities granted by a skill without having said skill.

Then, it's also the basis for the character development for the heroes in the Rising of the Shield Hero in all kinds of ways. Basically, in transfer stories, there's a gap between the game system and reality and many of them base their story on that gap.

Also, why do some of the reviews think Re:zero is a game world? It has no game mechanics! They even compared it to all you need is kill, so they should get that that doesn't make it a game.

And on top of that, if you gathered all the shots of Yume together (which comprises the bulk of the fanservice), you'd get maybe a minute, minute and a half of total footage across twelve episodes. Most of the rest is maybe a minute, tops, of Shihoru in a single episode. (I'm counting only the purely gratuitous here, but the minute or two of bathhouse scenes in the "underwear" episode are up for grabs, to me they are plot related.) Yet every single reviewer I've read has seen fit to bring up fanservice as if it's some huge part of the series.

If there's a place where there is inappropriate fanservice, it's in the OP... and even then, it's only a few seconds per episode.

I think the reviewers need to get a grip.

Nick's review wrote:

There's fortunately some gender parity here, but on both sides, the fanservice works somewhat at cross-purposes with the rest of the show, making it just a little harder to take the characters seriously.

I don't know why this seems to be an issue for the two ANN reviewers that have written about this. Other than the opening credits, most of the view-for-males focuses on Yume and pretty much ignores Shihoru and Mary. Her modesty is never compromised and we never, ever get a "bouncing boob" shot. A bath shot or two but that's it.

I never found the fanservice around Yume particularly annoying. Sure the camera tended to linger a bit long on her butt and there was sideboobs on occasion but nothing particularly bad. HOWEVER I found the fanservice around Barbara (Thieves guild rep) just unnecessary. She was the "bouncing boob with improbable clothing" girl for the show and ruined every scene she was in!

@#854688 Unless I missed something, I'm not sure how Konosuba fits your definition of "transfer" game genre. The world he goes to isn't based on a game. Sure, it uses game like mechanics (just like Is It Wrong To Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon) to explain it's systems, but I don't recall it being based on a game the protagonist is familiar with. It's really no different than the classic genre staple of protagonist being transferred to another world (like Escaflowne or El Hazard for example). The only difference being in this specific case though, is that the protagonist is aware of what's coming (though not with much warning) instead of being suddenly dropped on a new world.

Along those lines, the "transfer" genre you mention is basically the same thing, except that instead of an unfamiliar world, the protagonist is familiar with their setting and how the world works. Along with some elements of the game potentially existing as well. I guess it could be considered a sub-genre?

I agree that "being trapped in a game" is different though, since as you implied, the protagonist is clearly tied to the real world, rather than being physically sent somewhere.

I really liked the art style and direction of this show. After reading this I looked up the Ryosuke Nakamura's previous works, and sure enough, he was also the director of Aiura. I remembered watching it back in ~2013.

Aiura is one of those short 5-min slice of life shows with "cute girls doing cute things", but if you enjoyed the art direction in Grimgar, you'll probably also enjoy taking a look at the art and animation in Aiura.

It seems he's a fan of Andy Warhol and Steve Jobs, judging from the opening animation.