Granbelm – Ep. 1

Granbelm is a little known magical girl mecha anime that aired in Summer 2019. I don’t know if I’d call it the best anime of that year but I remember enjoying the show and even getting emotional by the end of its story. In Fall 2020, around the time the show was released on Blu-ray in the US, I started this series of episode reviews but I only got to the third episode. Now in 2024, I’m here to finally finish these posts. Other than turning five this year, Granbelm is the least relevant anime for me to blog about. However, it is the only show that I started covering retroactively and have not completed covering so I may as well finish it. The first three episode reviews will be the same ones, just re-dated and re-edited. The remaining nine episodes will be entirely new writings.

The best way I can describe Granbelm is think Puella Magi Madoka Magica meets Fate with some mechs thrown in for good measure. Basically, there used to be magic in our world but because of its devastating power, a group of mages sealed it all away in a device called the “Magiaconatus”. In the present, very few mages exist in the world and their powers are limited. Every once in a while, some select mages can compete every full moon in “Granbelm”, a tournament set in an alternate dimension where contestants duke it out in giant robots called “Armanox”. The winner would be crowned the “Princeps Mage” and gain access to the Magiaconatus. In true Madoka fashion, there are some darker twists to the mythos but the show doesn’t play those cards until a bit later (which means I’ll have to play dumb for the time being).

Something that always stood out to me about this first episode is how quickly it gets the ball rolling. Within the very first scene, Granbelm shoves its protagonist, Mangetsu Kohinata (Miyuri Shimabukuro) into the magical dimension and surrounds her with combatants who already know what they’re doing. The only warning or bit of foreshadowing is the blood moon in the night sky though it signifying Granbelm is not readily made apparent until later. How and why Mangetsu gets transported is a mystery and you know very little about her character apart from her average cooking skills. In the show’s defense, having Mangetsu all clueless and thrusted into the fray allows the viewer to relate with her. Also, having seen the show, I can safely say the randomness is entirely deliberate. Still, I can see this being off-putting for some viewers. It certainly was for me the first time I watched the show.

There’s also figuring out who’s who. All the main characters in the show make an appearance in the first episode in one way or another. One you most certainly want to keep an eye on is Shingetsu Ernesta Fukami (Atsumi Tanezaki), a mysterious girl who comes to Mangetsu’s aid and befriends her (and yes, their similar names and the etymology behind both are intentional). Also prominent is Anna Fugo (Yoko Hikasa), Shingetsu’s main opponent and leader of two lackeys, Rosa (Chinatsu Akasaki) and Suishou Hakamada (Aoi Yuuki). Anna noticeably seems to have a bone to pick with Shingetsu and while Shingetsu fights her as an enemy, the enmity does appear to be mostly one-sided.

For the most part, this is an action-heavy episode and for what it’s worth, there’s a lot of fun to be had with the sheer amount of spectacle on display here. Giant robots fighting, a myriad of weapons, magical spells and explosions, tons of destruction in the process. What’s not to like here? There is also a deliberate bit of direction in the action as well. The fighting starts off with Mangetsu running from Rosa and Suishou (love the sense of scale here with the Aramanox) while Shingetsu fends off Anna before coming to Mangetsu’s aid. Later in the episode, it’s Mangetsu who ends up saving Shingetsu by transforming into a magical girl and piloting her giant robot for the first time. It’s something to keep in mind as the show elaborates on the two characters’ relationship with each other.

It also helps that the visuals are top-notch. Some of the vistas in Granbelm are downright gorgeous and the animation is impressively smooth and even intricate at times. Studio Nexus really outdone themselves here. I love all the character designs by Shinichiro Otsuka, especially Shingetsu’s, and while the mecha designs by Jimmy Stone are a bit bulky for my liking, they’ve kind of grown on me. Granblem may be a lot of things but ugly isn’t one of them.

OP: “Tsuki o Ou Mayonaka” by Eir Aoi

ED: “Negai” by Uru

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This post was originally published on November 3, 2020

Watch Granbelm on Crunchyroll