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EP. REVIEW: Granbelm


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VerQuality



Joined: 01 Oct 2016
Posts: 136
PostPosted: Tue Sep 10, 2019 10:24 am Reply with quote
I just have to say how great the next episode previews are. The narrator and music really have a classic mecha feel, and the end card telling you to look forward to the next episode is a nice touch, too. A lot of the time, next episode previews feel kind of tacked on to save a few minutes of animation time, but these ones, for me at least, really do a good job of capping off the feeling of the episode and get me excited for the next one. I think they're an overlooked charm point in this series.

Also, for more fuel for speculation, there was the Suishou line a few episodes ago about Granbelm being "a puppet show, but only one of the puppets is real." It was hard to know what to make of the line when she said it, as she could easily have been referring to herself, Mangetsu, or Shingetsu, but given the most recent episode, it likely means Shingetsu.
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LastPage 3



Joined: 13 Jun 2010
Posts: 190
PostPosted: Tue Sep 10, 2019 11:05 am Reply with quote
1idd0kun wrote:
Tuor_of_Gondolin wrote:
The one thing that I kept in mind throughout this episode is that nothing that Suishou says is necessarily true.


Not really. Suishou demoralizes others with unpleasant truths, not outright lying. She was wrong about Kuon's sister because she (Suishou) was deceived by Shisui.

Besides, the reveals were pretty well foreshadowed. For example, the fact that Ernesta is loved by magic was first brought up in episode 6 by Anna's mother. Anna's mother also said only the one loved by magic can win the Granbelm. All this is perfectly consistent with what Suishou revealed in this episode.


Don't you think it's curious that Suishou used almost the exact same language as Mrs. Fugo right there?

I've always thought that Mrs. Fugo was downright odd in the way she behaved toward Anna, given her stated goal of getting Anna to do something different with her life. Anyone with even a passing familiarity with human beings would know that telling someone that they're inferior to someone they dislike at something is the best way to get them to keep at it, not give it up. Plus,there was that scene of Suishou controlling Anna early on in the series.

I'm more inclined to believe that Suishou was the one messing with the Fugo family in order to break Shingetsu. Telling her that it was Magiaconatus trying to test her only feeds into Shingetsu's worst habits of blaming herself for everyone's problems and running away instead of trying to fix them.
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1idd0kun



Joined: 09 Nov 2007
Posts: 62
PostPosted: Wed Sep 11, 2019 8:42 am Reply with quote
LastPage 3 wrote:
1idd0kun wrote:
Tuor_of_Gondolin wrote:
The one thing that I kept in mind throughout this episode is that nothing that Suishou says is necessarily true.


Not really. Suishou demoralizes others with unpleasant truths, not outright lying. She was wrong about Kuon's sister because she (Suishou) was deceived by Shisui.

Besides, the reveals were pretty well foreshadowed. For example, the fact that Ernesta is loved by magic was first brought up in episode 6 by Anna's mother. Anna's mother also said only the one loved by magic can win the Granbelm. All this is perfectly consistent with what Suishou revealed in this episode.


Don't you think it's curious that Suishou used almost the exact same language as Mrs. Fugo right there?


Nah, I take it the heads of the magical families all know how Granbelm works. Furthermore, even Ernesta herself knew she was loved by magic. She just never imagined it could be to this extent.

Again, Suishou doesn't lie. She twists the knife with unpleasant truths.

All in all, I'm not expecting any more surprises with only three episodes left. Actually, two episodes because episode 11 will be mainly dedicated to Shingetsu and Magetsu having a good talk and deciding what they're gonna do, according to the summaries I've seen.
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pengin senshi
Space Cowboy



Joined: 22 Dec 2017
Posts: 34
PostPosted: Sat Sep 14, 2019 7:55 pm Reply with quote
I figured that episode would be about Mangetsu coming to terms of her being okay with Shingetsu winning Granbelm and carrying out her wish, but I'm surprised how well it was executed. (or maybe I'm getting soft Razz )

And this is another episode that makes me a little sad that Granbelm hasn't been as popular as I'd hope for. It's been consistent throughout its run of delivering pretty solid episodes and I'm confident that they'll stick the landing.
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Yuvelir



Joined: 06 Jan 2015
Posts: 1529
PostPosted: Sat Sep 14, 2019 9:20 pm Reply with quote
Well that was depressing.
For a character named after the full moon, Mangetsu is extremely dark. Even though she manages to put a positive spin on everything negative, there's also nothing positive about her and her convictions that doesn't have dark undertones - currently she's literally marching to her death with glee.
More than this, Mangetsu's dialogues puts a lid on Anna and Kuon's fates. While something about them remains, that something isn't quite on the same level that what remains of people that die normally. Both of them could have led normal happy lives but magic took those lives away and then erased their existence on top of that. However nothing short of magic would be able to take them back, either, which is the same connundrum we had with Mangetsu's initial reveal: either use magic to let everyone live and repeat this cycle of misery or put an end to it all.

Although... how does Granbelm even work? If Shingetsu retained all the magic for herself, would eventually another Granbelm happen or would she be able to make the cycle stop regardless? Or was this the only Granbelm to ever happen, spanning centuries as contestants shift in and out?
Maybe she'll pull a Madokami and go back in time to undo all the wrong that magic has ever done, hah. Something crazy is bound to happen, as we have seen Suishou riding Magiaconatus' avatar, the same entity she's supposedly defying.
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Kougeru



Joined: 13 May 2008
Posts: 5521
PostPosted: Sat Sep 14, 2019 9:33 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
big blow-out finale next week


If it hasn't been pointed out already, there's actually two more episodes, 13 total episodes. https://www.twitter.com/livechart_me/status/1171619972306501633?s=21

One nice touch was Mangetsu had no reflection. Really beautiful episode in the most underrated anime of the year.
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darkchibi07



Joined: 15 Oct 2003
Posts: 5459
PostPosted: Sat Sep 14, 2019 10:54 pm Reply with quote
I have to admit. I, too, thought Mangetsu's involvement in this was due to her own selfish desires, but as these latest episodes have shown, that is not the case at all. She's really selfless in the end as well as gain a new purpose.

On a side note. I still await for Yurucamp S2.

pengin senshi wrote:


And this is another episode that makes me a little sad that Granbelm hasn't been as popular as I'd hope for. It's been consistent throughout its run of delivering pretty solid episodes and I'm confident that they'll stick the landing.


If this does nail the ending, I am ready to exclaim at the anime fans for not following this show sooner!
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1idd0kun



Joined: 09 Nov 2007
Posts: 62
PostPosted: Sat Sep 14, 2019 11:41 pm Reply with quote
darkchibi07 wrote:
I have to admit. I, too, thought Mangetsu's involvement in this was due to her own selfish desires, but as these latest episodes have shown, that is not the case at all. She's really selfless in the end as well as gain a new purpose.


I don't think it's a matter of being selfish or selfless. I think Mangetsu just accepted the simple fact that she's part of Shingetsu. And as long as Mangetsu remains in the world, Shingetsu won't be able to move on because it's like she isn't complete. Kinda like she's lacking a part of her heart.
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Florete



Joined: 21 Jan 2018
Posts: 363
PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 1:24 am Reply with quote
I had trouble getting through some of the middle episodes of this show because I found anything that didn't involve Anna to be boring and seemingly unimportant, but now I'm glad I stuck around. I almost want to watch it again knowing what I do since I kinda glossed over some episodes.
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#HayamiLover



Joined: 22 Jul 2018
Posts: 796
Location: Eastern Europe
PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 5:58 am Reply with quote
If the main character turned out to be a doll, this does not mean that she ceases to be the main character. Even if she is not a human, the show continues to be a story that revolves around her and is told on her behalf.
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LastPage 3



Joined: 13 Jun 2010
Posts: 190
PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 12:05 pm Reply with quote
Yuvelir wrote:
Well that was depressing.
For a character named after the full moon, Mangetsu is extremely dark. Even though she manages to put a positive spin on everything negative, there's also nothing positive about her and her convictions that doesn't have dark undertones - currently she's literally marching to her death with glee.


It's actually worse than that. She's literally sabotaged any effort to save her life because it would make Shingetsu waver in her resolve to eliminate magic. When you recall that Mangetsu was literally made to support Shingetsu, it gets really super depressing.

Even if you agree with Shingetsu and Mangetsu's diatribes against magic (I don't, the latter in particular reminded me of hit pieces against social media), as Nene pointed out, is any of that really more important than saving Mangetsu, or even Kuon and Anna's lives?
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1idd0kun



Joined: 09 Nov 2007
Posts: 62
PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 3:45 pm Reply with quote
#HayamiLover wrote:
If the main character turned out to be a doll, this does not mean that she ceases to be the main character. Even if she is not a human, the show continues to be a story that revolves around her and is told on her behalf.


The story is told from her point of view, but I don't think it revolves around her. I think the story is primarily about Shingetsu's emotional issues. Mangetsu's dilemma played as a mirror for Shingetsu's issues. The one who was feeling empty was Shingetsu all along.

That's why what happens to Mangetsu is framed as a lesson for Shingetsu. And Shingetsu will have to internalize this in the next two episodes. This show is 13 episodes by the way.


Last edited by 1idd0kun on Mon Sep 16, 2019 4:55 am; edited 1 time in total
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Yuvelir



Joined: 06 Jan 2015
Posts: 1529
PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 5:24 pm Reply with quote
LastPage 3 wrote:
It's actually worse than that. She's literally sabotaged any effort to save her life because it would make Shingetsu waver in her resolve to eliminate magic. When you recall that Mangetsu was literally made to support Shingetsu, it gets really super depressing.

Even if you agree with Shingetsu and Mangetsu's diatribes against magic (I don't, the latter in particular reminded me of hit pieces against social media), as Nene pointed out, is any of that really more important than saving Mangetsu, or even Kuon and Anna's lives?

It may have come across like that, but I don't really agree with the 'getsus.
They are technically right, but also so very wrong. It kind of hurts how by putting them as the PoV characters, the show frames their resolution as the righteous choice, it just fits so nicely in the narrative nad its themes! ... but it probably isn't. Not because of the message itself, but because it's obvious that if they go through with it, that will only hurt themselves and others, no matter how confident and calm Mangetsu is about it.

It's a cop out to complex problems. The "throw the baby with the bathwater" approach to problem-solving.
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LastPage 3



Joined: 13 Jun 2010
Posts: 190
PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 6:55 pm Reply with quote
Yuvelir wrote:

It may have come across like that, but I don't really agree with the 'getsus.


I wasn't calling you out particularly. Sorry if that's how it sounded.

Quote:
They are technically right, but also so very wrong. It kind of hurts how by putting them as the PoV characters, the show frames their resolution as the righteous choice, it just fits so nicely in the narrative nad its themes! ... but it probably isn't.


Yeah, they're 'right' only in the most absolute sense, not in a practical way.

Quote:
Not because of the message itself, but because it's obvious that if they go through with it, that will only hurt themselves and others, no matter how confident and calm Mangetsu is about it.


That's the tragedy of Shingetsu's character. Everything she wants out of life is usually right in front of her, if she would let herself reach out for it. She could save Mangetsu, she could bring back Anna and Kuon, she could go back to the Fugo house, she could even fix her relationship with Anna, if she only allows herself to be happy and to try.

This episode is a perfect example.

The first thing Mangetsu asked Shingetsu after a month passed is if it was OK for her to exist. Shingetsu couldn't tell her yes, because she feels that would be indulging in her own weakness and giving herself happiness she doesn't deserve.

Instead, she started apologizing for creating her. Is it any wonder Mangetsu is marching off to her own death, when the person who made her can't even take responsibility for her existence?

Quote:
It's a cop out to complex problems. The "throw the baby with the bathwater" approach to problem-solving.


Exactly.
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#HayamiLover



Joined: 22 Jul 2018
Posts: 796
Location: Eastern Europe
PostPosted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 4:58 am Reply with quote
1idd0kun wrote:
#HayamiLover wrote:
If the main character turned out to be a doll, this does not mean that she ceases to be the main character. Even if she is not a human, the show continues to be a story that revolves around her and is told on her behalf.


The story is told from her point of view, but I don't think it revolvers around her. I think the story is primarily about Shingetsu's emotional issues. Mangetsu's dilemma played as a mirror for Shingetsu's issues. The one who was feeling empty was Shingetsu all along.

That's why what happens to Mangetsu is framed as a lesson for Shingetsu. And Shingetsu will have to internalize this in the next two episodes. This show is 13 episodes by the way.


Being a protagonist and being the main subject of the study of the plot are slightly different things. Not to mention the fact that Mangetsu’s search for her place and purpose in life may still be an important topic of the plot.

The protagonist is a character on behalf of whom a story is told with which you associate yourself in one way or another, whose thoughts and experiences you are observing and whose POV serves as your main point of view on the plot. I'm not saying that Shingetsu is not important for the plot or that she is only an plot tool, but in this case she acts only as the second most important character and main partner of MC (in which context, up for you). Of course, this is only my opinion, but still.
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