Record of Grancrest War (2018– ) User Reviews

Simple, enjoyable and has closure

[dameon_green · 8/10 · 20 September 2020]

"Simple" isn't intended to be derogatory, the anime is enjoyable, fairly well put together and there is enough character development to make it worth the watch, but the overarching story is not complex.

Unless this is the first anime you've ever watched there won't be any serious surprises, and as others have stated it watches like a JRPG which I think is one of its charms. There is good, evil, a hero and all of the challenges that could make for a boring trope filled series, but instead of being a cliched snoozefest "Grancrest" balances the flow of the series almost perfectly.

It's a great show to binge and what I find most satisfying is having closure, to many anime series are left unfinished.

Pro's:

• Good score / soundtrack.
• Simple but enjoyable story.
• Enough character development for engagement.
• Very little "filler".
• Closure.
• Solid English dubbing.

Con's:

• Predictable (I enjoyed it, but it could be a turn off).
• Lower quality / inconsistent animation at times.
• Dubbing / Subtitles don't always line up (Court ranks for example).

Lots of potential but pacing is WAY to fast

[sugarcane-17691 · 6/10 · 1 December 2021]

To be honest, I've only watched 7 episodes so far but am going to continue to watch hopefully until completion.

Anyways, my thoughts thus far are that this anime is well drawn and pretty good for what I can understand BUT the pacing is WAY to fast, which makes me the timeline choppy and is less fluidic that I had hoped. Episode 1, Theo is a wandering lord with no allies, by the end of the episode he conquers the lord of that territory, which has a dilapidated castle and then it ends. All good and fine. By episode 3 he has an army if allied forces and a large castle as his stronghold, NONE of the events preceding was ever shown on how he got that castle, he was just there like it was his own. They talk about battles to get to that point but it's vaguely glossed over, no substance to get to this point and little interest of the main characters as there has been minimal development of them to this point but SO MUCH has happened that was never shown. Huge disappointment. Episode 4 he's Baron with a vast amount of land and by episode 5 he's a knight with no land and serving as maid even though he's a knight. He was literally in an apron dusting off books, while the previous episode he had his own castle and army ffs lol.

Just WAY TO FAST and minimal development of characters so far. I just assumed with 24 episodes that they would take their time and develop these plot points but not yet.

Like I previously said, I'm only on episode 7 of 24, so maybe my preconceived thoughts may be of a hastily forethought, and hopefully that is the case, but I dunno... The anime itself is good and I am enjoying it and is why I will continue watching bit these issues keep it from being good or great than the mediocrity that it is now.

A pretty decent anime for anyone into the medieval anime genre!

[zacharyspeters · 8/10 · 27 March 2022]

I thought that is anime was really well done and put together and has solid writing and animations. Don't expect this anime to be an all time great anime because its not and I don't think it was really meant to be that. I'm pretty sure this anime was meant to be a one season thing which is why we haven't got any 2nd season. Even though this anime wont make most people's all time lists, it is a really solid anime all round! It has everything your need in a fantasy medieval anime: Good action scenes, well written characters, and drama. This anime is not horrible, and not great, but its solid and because of the simplicity of this anime I'd recommend this to anime newcomers who want to watch anime for the first time but don't want a plot that is overly complicated. Overall its a solid 8/10.

Good anime

[wygant-85237 · 10/10 · 18 July 2018]

Good anime. The first few episodes are are all over the place but it gets REALLY good. Can't wait for season 2

Fantastic

[jamesorobber · 9/10 · 1 October 2019]

Almost the game of thrones of anime with a slew of interesting characters mixed with decent animation and touches of love and war.

For Love

[hulkamaniacsmurf · 9/10 · 3 September 2019]

Enjoyed this story. Story has some sidesteps to the main storyline that tie everything together.

Also left at Episode 5

[joelnova93 · 5/10 · 7 August 2019]

I was initially interested in a politically complex anime, and I was decently engaged with the alliances, negotiations, and conquering of lands. The Crest system was also pretty cool.

The show does continue to build on its complexities, but unfortunately more characters become involved and there wasn't enough to compel me to continue watching for the original characters.

The main Hero Theo seems initially strong, but is very lukewarm about his main objective. His mage is supposed to help him, but she also has her own motivations, and we're not clear about that either.

By the fifth episode, the show piled on too many characters and too many plot elements, but not enough for me to care.

romance, deus ex machina, anime tropes, dozens of mass scales battle

[znwch · 9 September 2022]

Too long, too many characters, not enough depth to them, way too many battles with thousands of soldiers and plot "twists". Grancrest senki is as dull and forgettable as they come.

It plays too much as a videogame that intertwines dating sim and rts troop management, its biggest shortcoming isnt the weak plot but the lack of agency of its overly extended cast which seem to default to being the embodiment of a primary directive as the core of their identify.

There are more clashes between armies and fanservice than most can stomach. The only interesting part of the plot is the fight to keep society back to avoid technological progress and the use of nuclear weapons to destroy the world again. There is a big catch though, it is mentioned for two minutes toward the end and just as motivation for the antagonist faction. It is not the worst thing ever but it makes me question the usefulness of score averages seeing reviews praise this lint as a 10 out of 10 masterpiece.

A great anime that more should watch

[bradleygranz-65128 · 10/10 · 31 May 2020]

Record of the grancrest war is an amazing anime I was surprised in how good it was when I watch it on Netflix. now I really don't see how anybody wouldn't like this anime there is a lot of great action sequences great characters and a great love story also a really good soundtrack so I highly recommend you watch it

Interesting concept, poor story

[chacham · 5/10 · 1 July 2019]

Pros: Nice graphics and some interesting ideas.

Meh: A lot of cgi.

Con: fighting scenes are ridiculous, story is childish and hard to follow.

The concept of crests in the story is interesting and had me intrigued by the first episode or two, but the story itself is simple and ludicrous, following no obvious order. The graphics are not bad except armies are CGI making an ugly mixture when they show up, and whether someone wins or loses a fight seems to have no basis in "reality".

The real story seems to be the negotiations being made, which indeed has a little interest, but they keep throwing in more details as conveniences to keep the story going. The alliances that are made seem superficial and people are too trusting, it feel as if the story was made for five-year-olds.

I dropped the series at the beginning of the fifth episode because it was becoming a bore. Although it's an interesting concept, the story itself is lacking.

compelling story good characterization low budget animation

[hippygarden · 9/10 · 17 May 2020]

An extremely compelling story with complex and believable characters with animation that reminds me of Hana and Barberra: dialogue without mouths moving, many still shots, etc. But the animation is bright and colorful the characters clearly rendered and unique background settings adequately detailed. The episodes are short and fast paced all ending on notes that leave you dying to know "what happens next?" like early "Fairy Tail". It was a day i need some real escapism and I ended up binge watching till the sun came up (and then some). Clearly has a feel of a game (card game) expanded into a story but wonderfully realized. It is full of interesting and compelling characters with clear motivations that behave in believable ways. It never has those story killing moments where one ask "why would they say that" or "how can someone be so blind and stupid", you know, when characters do things that any competent 12 year old would not or that the character would themselves not do within their characterization. The world building is great with a unique and and interesting medieval/Victorian fantasy world with established rules that remain consistent, It has a feel of old school fantasy with kings and kingdoms and noble knights rather then the dark fantasies now popular like "The Witcher", more like George Lucus "Star Wars" or rather 1970/80s fantasy novels. The pacing is fast and the conflict constant but with no real bad guys. All the characters are driven by understandable motives where they feel they are dong the right thing. The lead character has believable growth where he starts off understandably young and naïve but grows into his roll. Backstories are acknowledged but not dwelt upon. There was no character that i found excruciating so +++. It was wonderful that they came off as real heroes. They are not cutiesized. This is an adult series with high gore and some level of sexuality. It has so much going for it in this regard. People express their feelings when appropriate. Hero characters will kill people when necessary but not gratuitously. People show competency and incompetency in equal measures. I would say this is one of the best amine ever to make real and uncontrived heroes. This is not a comedy but a heroes journey at it's purist. The only reason I did not give a 10 is the animation that is so old school Saturday afternoon cartoon, but could this be on purpose as a homage to those old classics with a feel of he-man underneath? Highly recommended netflix continues to throw out gems.

Light-hearted and really fun!

[mitchlb452 · 9/10 · 31 March 2020]

I like most of my entertainment to be incredibly deep and powerful... this is not that entertainment. This is the entertainment I can't help but watch because it satisfies all my fantasy itches. I'd definitely recommend if you like the first episode... and if not, I definitely would not recommend. More of the glorious same after that.

Simple, predictable, still enjoyable at the same time

[niloytahsanhossain · 9/10 · 2 August 2020]

This show isn't something,you call masterpiece. Also, the war strategizing isn't much astonishing either. But still, it is enjoyable, and the main reason of this high review is 'It is simple, predictable but they did not overcomplicate the series' which is seen in most of the animes. Overall, I'm not strongly recommending the series. But,you'll not regret watching this. TRUST ME

Over time my opinion of this has changed

[Emhilradim · 3/10 · 30 April 2020]

I've loved Ryo Mizuno's previous works, Record of Lodoss War and Rune Soldier. So I expected that I was going to love this series and that it would be pretty much Lodoss War without elves and dwarfs. And it kind of is that in a way, but I don't know if I would say I loved it. I watched the whole thing, though. Ryo Mizuno's works seem to have several typical tropes, the protagonist who wants to protect everyone including the enemy and whose father paid the ultimate price for that goal, a desert-based tribe who are very skillful but also very violent and ruthless and a secret subplot in the background involving an ancient witch and a magical major player that will be revealed only nearing the end of the story.

That said, I didn't really enjoy the pace of the series nor did I much care for the way that the show treats its characters as pieces of convenience. Not only do characters who seem like they're critical die, but a lot of the times, they die with only a mundane line of dialogue to even let you know that they're dead. Characters get introduced as if we're deep into their story, and their stories end completely abruptly.

The final plot line of the show, which is introduced IMMEDIATELY before it is 'resolved' is so overused and in anime and video games, and once it happens you'll no longer need to wonder why it is that everything seems a bit off in this world.

Loved it!

[mrsmiller-72162 · 10/10 · 15 June 2022]

I honestly wish it was not just one season. I think they figured it wouldn't get a second so they rushed to finish which sucked because it was amazing!!!

Mediocre JRPG inspired action-adventure series

[mayank09876 · 4/10 · 25 June 2020]

It was a easy watch offering nothing good or bad, just a decent watch. It had a lot of potential with it's crest system of magic, but the same was not explored instead focusing on childish politics. The animation itself was decent but without a intriguing plot line I never got invested into the characters or the series.

The War has Begun

[amiranda-39274 · 9/10 · 19 June 2022]

Excellent anime. It has romance, action, great characters. It is satisfying from beginning to end. If you are a fan of game of thrones you will absolutely love this series.

I really liked this Anime

[18Buddha · 9/10 · 24 June 2022]

Many may find this anime underwhelming as its got not alot of crazy fighting or new and awesome moves popping up.

Infact if you enjoy storylines the most about anime then you will find this is a great choice to watch. They tied up all loose ends well and it left me wanting to see more!

Its a nice inspiring story about 1 persons dream to dare dream big and being unwavering in his morals no matter what.

Its a story of progress and experiences that helps our main hero grow and witness his perseverance to succeed.

Theirs love stories and great bonding friendships as well but mainly i just enjoy seeing where the journey takes our hero and how he plans too overcome the obstacles and hardship he will face.

The visuals were well done as well and every episode helped to further the story unlike some animes that have filler episodes to waste your time, this anime i feel has no filler episodes as each 1 advances the story or the background of the story along nicely.

You Should Read This!!

[williams885 · 1/10 · 27 November 2020]

This series showed a lot of potential at first with all the different & unique elements involved. However that is all the good things that you really say about it.

Side stories are created yet not fully explored nor finished. The main character is made out be strong & with a righteous cause yet he has no actual direction & nor willpower of his own as all he wants to do is follow anyone else's instructions rather than his own intuition!

Furthermore, the hero's of this story are constantly proclaimIng to be just & righteous yet the Dark Queen Marine who is made out to love Alexis even though she left him for dead in the great hall, Didn't hesitate to sleep with Milza to get her way & she constantly went to war against him & his people suddenly proclaims her love Alexis & married him it makes no sense & completely ruins the main message of storey As well as Theo's & Silucas love storyline!

As well as this she's made queen and becomes a sign of hope thanks to Theo giving Alexis the crown which makes no sense whatsoever! Did everyone just forget that she used chaos demons to destroy innocents In her way all while enslaving the entire country of Starck & continues to ignore any peace attempts on a desperate attack to kill as many people as she can.

This constant hypocrisy & reversal of people's characteristics half way through the story is just one of many reasons why this series has ultimately failed!! I wouldn't ever recommend anyone to watch this garbage!!

Seriously your better off watching much better anime's such as SAO, AOT, Death Note or Code Geass

Left after episode 9

[jdursant · 3/10 · 28 February 2020]

I was initially interested in this anime but after the plot twist at the end of the 9th episode I became immediately disgusted and had no more interest in it.