Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
soraegyo22
It was a great anime which I recommend to watch if you like cute girls, good fights, mechas, and magic. It is a really touching story about two girls who meet in really uncommon situation and connect somehow since that moment (Even though they are not conscious of it at first).
Shingetu and Mangetsu are the protagonist of this story. They are the typical duo you would ship and love since they relationship develop through time getting stronger and stronger. You would definitely feel some strong emotions with each character. You get attached and feel their desires and sadness, sometimes happiness and at a certain moment you understand them. They are so human with their feelings and thoughts that I cannot describe how much satisfied I felt afterwards. The animation was well developed.
I r…
Read at the sourceFate25
If you are reading this review, stop right now and go watch Granbelm, buy the blu ray set or something. Really, its that good!
Ok, now if you are still reading this. Its now to state my opinions on why I find it so great.
As you probably already read the synopsis, Granbelm is a magical girls' Battle Royale. And much like the currently popular Battle Royale games like PUBG, Fortnite, Apex Legends, the winner gets the big chicken dinner. In this case the chicken dinner is becoming the Princeps Magician, and having all the magical power in the world to do as they wish.
The unique part of the battles is that they are fought in a magical space through magical SD mechs. SD meaning "Super Deformed". Where the face is unproportionally large compared with the rest of the mech's body. This kind…
Read at the sourceSMS_542
What is the meaning of the bond between people is it used to shape their reality and perspective on life. Misguide them and trick them, ruin their lives and make them suffer. Fill them with joy and give their life meaning a direction even just a glimmer of hope that they meant something to someone else, that their lives didn't end up wasted. In the end, these bond show us that we have something, now what do these bonds mean to someone who truly has nothing like a pure white full moon (Mangetsu(満月)) or someone who has the potential to be shaped into something great like the brilliantly shining stars found within the darkness of a new moon(Shingestu(新月))
{this review contains no spoilers}
Art and Animation (8/10)
The art and of itself is nothing special there are times when it shines above…
Read at the sourcejimfaindel
Suppose you were born with a blessing countless girls before and around you all struggled and suffered trying to attain. Suppose you witnessed as one by one those you loved lost everything and made the ultimate sacrifice in pursuit of this blessing, all failing and disappearing in the end, surviving only as a lingering shadow burdened with regret within your own heart. Would you be willing to sacrifice your blessing if it meant sparing others from the same cruel fate? Would you be willing to pay that price if it also meant condemning those precious ghosts within your soul to fade as well? Would you, if what was asked of you was to surrender your only friend's existence? Would you end her to end all suffering, even if she begged you to?
The hidden gem of this season came to us in the form…
Read at the sourceSanaeK10
Nene-nee's sister has a line in Episode 11 were she goes "Things don't always work out the way you hope them to." And I believe this is a good way of referring to both Granbelm thematically and how I felt towards the series.
Granbelm is a mahou shoujo mecha series, two genres that aren't exactly 100% compatible with each other but do share some similarities. Tonally the show is largely melancholic but does get somewhat upbeat and optimistic at times, a la you typical mecha anime, complete with hot blooded ness but not quite as pronounced as say Symphogear. But I will say this, the tonal shifts aren't exactly jarring (not that they feel natural in the first place), so watching the show isn't that much of an uncomfortable experience.
The series is very much a life-and-death drama type sh…
Read at the sourceSCUBAST3V3N
GRANBELM was my very first mech anime, that I can remember anyway (Im sure I watched episodes of Gundam here and there growing up, but don't remember any of it very clearly). For me personally, I don't consider myself to be much of a mech type anime fan, but this was pretty solid. I have my gripes, but, it was a show I looked forward to regularly.
Story: The story follows Mangetsu and Shingetsu, and their parts in a magical mech battle that occurs every full moon, until there's only one person remaining. At that time, the winner has their wish granted. This is called GRANBELM. This lent itself to a nice mix of action and character development and regular world stuff. It was fairly well balanced in my opinion, and you got to see each characters fighting spirit, as well as their regular per…
Read at the sourceAkantor36
This is my first review so bear with me.
My first impression was it seems interesting but also lacking of information. In the first episode you are thrown into the show with little to no knowledge of what’s going on. I honestly thought about giving up on watching; BUT I decided I was still interested and gave it a chance, and I’m glad I did. Because as stated in a review I read from someone else, you are thrown into the events of the story with no knowledge of what’s going on because the main character has no idea either what’s going on. All the ”contestants” seemingly train most their life for this, but the main character didn’t, neither did she know about the existence of magic, like most people. The way you learn more about what’s going on is through watching the main character progre…
Read at the sourceLa_minore
The first few episode are regarded as underwhelming by some people, and a big reason why so many dropped it. But those episodes do not speak for the whole anime at all. They are necessary to set up the story, to build up the actual intense plot that follows up. After watching the whole anime, the first half become absolutely relevant, and all pieces of the puzzle fall into places beautifully, like true magic!
The second half is what gave me a 10/10 rating. Things take a turn drastically, even though there were foreshadowing before, I was still shocked and deeply impressed by the various twists, predicaments and dilemmas the characters have to face. It has many moments, that can totally be regarded as best in anime history, if other people were to stay with it until the end, sure they'll h…
Read at the sourceFunuki
Granbelm really surprised me, it went from a show that I thought it will be mediocre and I shouldn't bother with it, to one of my favourites this season, but sadly not everyone had the patience to go trough the first episodes and because of that the show ended up overlooked.
There'll be some slight spoilers ahead
The story
It starts slow, but it get really interesting as time goes on. Every episode ends up being a build up for another and then by the end when all the puzzle pieces are together you are just amazed, that most of the answers were right in your face since the first episodes. The story is unpredictable, every time I tried to predict what will happen in the next episode I was just egged in the face by how wrong I was.The ending is no exception...
The characters
They were the bes…
Read at the sourceShingster
Please be advised that this review is intended to be read by those that have finished watching Granbelm and while care has been taken to minimise story related spoilers there may still be spoilers within character analysis. You have been warned.
Based upon an original idea Granbelm is a magic and fantasy genre anime that gives us the opportunity to see what will happen if within the modern world to which we all live in, that there exist not just powerful magic users called mages but also a deadly competition that pits these young but powerful mages against each other in a deadly battle where the winner gains the power to wield immense magical power. What will happen if one day when this competition occurs that a seemingly normal high school girl stumbles across this hidden and dangerous…
Read at the sourceAnimeBW
When it comes to Granbelm, I feel like you fall into one of two camps: you either get it, or you don’t.
I realize that’s a pretty vague and unhelpful statement, so let me clarify. To some extent, your ability to enjoy any piece of media is determined by how well you connect with its specific wavelength. The subtle differences in cinematography, dialogue, visual aesthetic, themes and so on can make all the difference in the world in determining why, for example, I dislike the Haruhi franchise, yet I love a show that starts from pretty much the exact same premise, Chuunibyou. If you can latch onto a show’s overriding attitude, you’re going to enjoy it. If you can’t, you won’t. Simple enough on its surface right?
Well, I feel like that Granbelm supercharges that dichotomy to a far greater e…
Read at the sourceCosmic_Penguin
What a ride this is for my first ever seasonal anime that I followed live throughout the weeks instead of binge watching!
Buried way under several major battle shounen anime series and other larger titles of Summer 2019 is an original work sadly completely overlooked by anime communities around the world. Granbelm, a story about magical girls driving mecha in a Battle Royale competition on nights of Full Moon, turns out to be a fantastic work from a lean yet experienced staff team that combines delicately written characters, excellent mecha animations and a thrilling roller coaster story plot.
Story abstract: On a night of the Full Moon, ordinary high school girl Mangetsu Kohinata accidentally entered straight into a Magical Girl Mecha Battle Royale competition named Granbelm. With the h…
Read at the sourceemilyck
Studio Nexus' love letter to the dying art of the 2D Mecha, Granbelm, is one of the most interesting rides an anime has taken me on in years. There's a lot that could reasonably scare a person away from this series, including a jarring 1st episode that intentionally makes itself hard to follow, aesthetic choices that lean very heavily on the series' influences, and a hook that can't really be explained without meta spoilers. However, the series' artistic merit shines through with an incredibly wonderful cast of characters, some of the best sound design I've ever heard in an anime, and a very tightly written story with virtually nothing even resembling filler.
Granbelm's twists and turns into existentialism hit a very sweet spot, never reaching the cynicism and"edge factor" of Madoka Mag…
Read at the sourcePipe
When I was beginning to watch Granbelm, I thought another generic series with an average plot and awful characters. Well, this is the time to retract and eat my own words. Granbelm is a good show, underestimated and hated by anime enthusiasts for no reason; One cause cannot be that the director of Granbelm is the same as Re: Zero. Besides, a score below 7.0 is not valid for a series that has some substance, emotion, an acceptable story, and some charming characters.
From my perspective, Granbelm's story is the strongest point in the series. The plot configures two worlds where all the characters interact. These two environments, a real-world, a combat scenario, are directly affected by magic and are the premise of several details that will appear as the story progresses. The idea of the c…
Read at the sourcephiraeth
"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God."
- Romans, 8:18
Have you ever wondered why you’re alive? It seems like such a silly question, one that a lot of people wouldn’t really take seriously, but then again, there are others that spend their entire lives actively searching for the answer.
Now how about this one… have you ever experienced so much loneliness, pain, and suffering that you wi…
Read at the sourceZerity
[Spoiler Warning]
Granbelm shouldn't be a bad anime at all. The premise even though it seems overused actually felt original and with the different twists every now and then it shouldn't have had this low of a score. However while watching it I just felt cringe and disappointment.
As I stated the premise for this show is quite good even though there is a bunch of shows already with a similar vibe to it, cute girls doing really messed up shit, but I still was semi excited to watch it. However, after watching the first episode I was quickly turned off with how bad it was and stopped watching it. Later after a few more weeks when more episodes were out I picked it back up again only to be disappointed once again.
This show had some good qualities to it though. The OST was amazing and one…
Read at the sourceKANLen09
I simply have NO words to describe the season's (based on MAL) top underrated, most criminally overlooked, least-watched show. All I can say is: pure adrenaline and non-stop anger and excitement stemming from the show from start to finish, and before you cry foul at this show, hear me out. And before you ask, I highly request that you DO NOT USE the "3 episode rule" as that will seriously detriment the entire show's overall imparting values and purposes.
The dark fantasy genre stems as far as Madoka Magica, and Granbelm matches it in the same atmosphere. Combine that with the mecha genre of it being a battle royale show of girls with magical spirits, this show is simply astoundingly stunning in the most flattering way possible. To top the icing on this cake, the production team that is fr…
Read at the sourcewar0blade
People say: Don't judge a book by it's cover. Granbelm says: Don't judge an anime by the synopsis + half of the episodes...
At first glance, the show looks completely unoriginal and uninspiring; a quick cash grab trying to bait fans of more popular genres: magical girl and mecha series into a show which has both of these elements combined into one and placed in a battle royal setting. Granbelm however, proved it's something more. Unfortunately, it only picks up speed in the latter half of the show. If you dropped this series after trying the first few episodes, I don't blame you. It was one of the most boring series I watched at first, I usually had to rewatch several scenes because it was so boring I almost fell asleep. The latter half however was a huge improvement to the show, it had m…
Read at the sourceJCas38
To be frank, I was brought onto this anime when I had heard the character designer from Re: Zero was a part of the crew. Twelve weeks later, and I'm left fairly impressed with how this project panned out.
The show is very much divided into two parts; the fights and the spaces of time between said fights. These intermittent periods are the show's bread and butter, as each girl has a fleshed out reason as to why you'd want to root for them. (My favorite would have to go to Nene- the 20 something year old middle schooler). Granbelm is a show with REAL STAKES, and REAL CONSEQUENCES; whenever anything happens, its implications and effect remain prevalent all the way until the end. Very reminiscent of Madoka.
Again, the character design is done by none other than Shinichirou Otsuka, who might…
Read at the sourceFircoal
The problem with anime and edge is that so often you get edge for the sake of edge rather than edge as the result of well thought out ideas and the natural conclusion of events. And while Granbelm tries to be interesting with its edge, it fails massively and comes off as yet another edgefest that has no idea how to write its ideas well.
The biggest rub is that Granbelm does have some good ideas. There is intrigue in a competition where girls compete to be the sole magical entity in the world. The premise is a bit forced but there is a lot to work with there. You can show why all the characters want that power, how they react when they don't get it, and the lengths that they'll go through for that power. And while Granbelm attempts to hit some of this ideas, and even comes close in some ca…
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