12 Days 2019, Day 7: If you Die in the Granbelm

December 20, 2019December 20, 2019 Hainiryun12 days of anime, Destroying structural oppression is good actualy, Granbelm, I don't like death battle shows, It's a real shame that this show seems to have passed by under most folks radars because it's genuinely great IMO, Meta shenanigans, Why yes Nene is my favourite character how did you know?2 Comments

Granbelm was one of 2019’s biggest surprises, I had no idea what to expect going in and it ended up being my favourite new series of the year. I also blogged about the whole thing so feel free to check that out if you want. On the surface of it Granbelm is just another battle royale deathmatch type show, this time with cool robots, but it’s got a few tricks up its sleeve to help it stand out. Today’s topic is one of those tricks; its use of meta expectations as obfuscation.

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Granbelm Episode 13: A Better World

October 6, 2019 HainiryunDestroying structural oppression is good actualy, Granbelm, Shingetsu's outfit after her transformation was kinda goofy looking and I was half expecting her to fall backwards under the weight of that ring thing at some point, There were naturally also a lot of cool robots doing cool stuff this episodeLeave a comment

So here we are, at the end of Granbelm. While for the most part I’ve loved the show a lot there’s always been an edge of caution to this; As good as it’s been the possibility of the entire thing going sideways into suffering porn has always been hanging out at the edge of everything, and a lot of that was always going to come down to how it ended. A chance to end on a high note or throw everything away at the last moment. It stuck the landing.

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Granbelm Episode 12: A Thousand Years

September 27, 2019 HainiryunApparently I've been writing Suishou's name without the last u for the entire run and nobody corrected me on this so that's embarassing, Granbelm, I swear they aired the last ep early just to spite me for going "well it doesn't air till tomorrow so I can hold off finishing the post till then"., That big crystal spire in the middle of the battlefield looks just enough like FFXIV's Crystal Tower for that fact to be mildly distracting, There were naturally also a lot of cool robots doing cool stuff this episodeLeave a comment

This episode managed the improbable feat of actually making me feel sorry for Suishou. So that’s impressive. She’s always been more of a force of nature than a coherent character, gleefully antagonising everyone else because well, she’s the antagonist. An implacable obstacle to the others because that’s what the story called for. This time around we finally got to see what’s driving her and it turns out she’s having a pretty miserable time of things herself. Continue reading “Granbelm Episode 12: A Thousand Years” →

Granbelm Episode 11: Goodbyes

September 19, 2019September 19, 2019 HainiryunDowntime is important, Granbelm, Mangetsu is pretty susp actually, Maybe I'm just biased because Nene's my favourite and she's not actually going to do anything else for the rest of the show, Shisui must have been kind of confused being randomly invited on a picnic by a random girl she talked to exactly once previously, Suisho wasn't even in this episode, That bit with Shisui singing did sort of feel like just an excuse to have Yukari Tamura sing an insert song but it was nice for the mood at least, The flow of time in this show feels weird at times, The trick with the fireworks was pretty neat in a soul destroying wayLeave a comment

As the final showdown with Suisho draws near, Granbelm took some time off for a picnic.

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Granbelm episode 10: Dolls

September 14, 2019September 14, 2019 HainiryunGranbelm, I continue to be very good at posting things in a timely manner, Kuon was robbed honestly, Shenanigans, Why yes Nene is my favourite character how did you know?Leave a comment

Well this is late but what the hey. My excuse is that a lot happened in this episode and I needed time to mull it over (it’s acutally just procrastination but shh). Being this late means I’ve already seen episode 11 at the time of writing but I think most of my takeaways from this one haven’t changed too drasticly so let’s do this anyway.

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Granbelm Episode 9: Truth

September 5, 2019September 5, 2019 HainiryunGranbelm, I swear that torii gate in the lake that they keep showing is going to be relevant at some point, It feels like the whole Spirits thing sort of came out of nowhere after Shingetsu used one and now everyone has the things, It requires a bit of creative spelling but "Mangetsu Kohinata" is in fact an anagram of "The Magiakonnatus" so that's kinda spooky., It's always fun when wild speculation pans out a bit, Nene wasn't around much this week but she's still goodLeave a comment

Somewhat obviously for an episode putting Suisho at the center of things there was a lot of deception at work this episode. These lies were also coupled with a lot of reveals though, as Kuon and Nene managed to push what’s really going on further into the light. Continue reading “Granbelm Episode 9: Truth” →

Granbelm Episode 8: Absence

August 29, 2019 HainiryunGranbelm, Honestly this is not how I was expecting Rosa to reappear, I for one am shocked to discover that the magical battle royale tournament might in fact have something more going on behind the scenes, It requires a bit of creative spelling but "Mangetsu Kohinata" is in fact an anagram of "The Magiakonnatus" so that's kinda spooky., Mangetsu is pretty susp actually, The audio trick when Nene put on her headphones to figure out the noise canceling thing was pretty neat, Why yes Nene is my favourite character how did you know?Leave a comment

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This week’s episode was heavily focused on the gaps left by things that aren’t there anymore, and how the absence of something can be just as revealing as its presence sometimes. Continue reading “Granbelm Episode 8: Absence” →

Granbelm Episode 7: Hot and Cold

August 22, 2019August 22, 2019 HainiryunAnna yelling about adrenaline was maybe a little bit goofy but it sort of looped round into being horrific, Cool Robots, extremely impractical but very cool magic, Granbelm, Suisho's going after Kuon next week so that's kind of scaryLeave a comment

The inevitable showdown between Anna and Shingetsu finally became unavoidable this week, and the show didn’t pull any punches. While not a single long battle like Nene’s the majority of the episode was once again devoted to a single climactic fight. As always the show’s visuals were firing on all cylinders too, pushing things to even higher levels of visual spectacle. Continue reading “Granbelm Episode 7: Hot and Cold” →

Granbelm episode 6: Chasing the Ideal

August 15, 2019August 19, 2019 HainiryunActively avoiding edgy writing tropes, Granbelm, Nene is Fine. Hurah!, Nene's sisters made it over from China surprisingly quickly, So Suisho is clearly just the villain at this point, You'd think Anna's mother would avoid having axes in the house given how her daughter actsLeave a comment

If you die in the Granbelm you’re fine actually.

Weirdly enough that’s sort of novel these days. I apreciate the show continuing to not be suffering porn. Nene got over her loss last week surprisingly quickly, tracking down Mangetsu more out of curiosity about the person who beat her than anything else, and even offering her assistance going forward. Being able to fight on her own terms for the first time was clearly a cathartic experience which has allowed her to open up to others a little more. She’s even able to finally acknowledge Kibou’s friendship, she might be out of the contest but Nene’s in a far better place than she used to be.

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Granbelm Episode 5: A short girl’s long fight

August 8, 2019August 8, 2019 HainiryunAs a fellow short person Nene's battlefield is pretty relatable actually, Cool Robots, Granbelm, Mangetsu is pretty susp actually, Nene deserved the win honestly, Nene's power is still gigaflare but now she gets to punch things too so that's extra nifty, Since she can't enter the Granbelm world any more let's just take one last moment to apreciate Nene's tiny crown, Suisho was her usual clearly evil self again this week but that's nothing newLeave a comment

This episode was one long drawn out battle and it was spectacular. The show’s always looked good but they definitely went all out this episode. Beamspam happened, big fancy magic sigils were cast, it was generally a good week for cool robots.

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