At long last, I’m finally at the first new post for Granbelm. It took me long enough. I really wish I was done with covering this show in Fall 2020 or better yet, when the show aired in Summer 2019. But whatever, when am I ever on time with the anime episode reviews?
The first act of this episode is dedicated to the second Granbelm. Well, second for us and for Mangetsu. It’s confirmed by Anna that this iteration has been going on for about a year. While Anna is clearly a big bad in the plot, it becomes clear over the course of the episode that the next opponent that everyone needs to deal with is Nene. While Nene is virtually unarmed at close range, her Armanox, Ji Guang Long, has extremely powerful long ranged attacks that can be used with pinpoint accuracy. In theory, Nene could wipe out all of her opponents so long as no one reaches her Armanox. Right now, the best character who can counter Nene is Kuon, who can sense Ji Guang Long’s attacks and easily dodge them with her lightning fast Armanox, Setgetsu Baika.
A small but notable amount of attention is directed towards Suisho. While supposedly a jobber in the roster, Suisho is apparently strong enough to instantly break Nene’s barriers, which is extremely durable to compensate for Ji Guang Long’s inability to fight at close range. There’s one scene where Suisho disobeys Anna and another where she talks back to her. Even though she is Anna’s lackey, it’s becoming increasingly clear that Suisho follows the beat of her own drum. The show also hints at a potential rivalry between Suisho and Kuon, the latter appearing to be particularly bothered by the former’s magical presence and the former seemingly releveling in the opportunity to fight the latter. I can’t comment too much on Suisho without getting into spoilers but suffice to say, she’s a character that you may want to pay attention to.
Through Kibo, Kuon figures out Mangetsu’s identity and she asks both her and Shingetsu to form an alliance against Nene. Funnily enough, Nene finds herself in Mangetsu’s house while investigating her opponents so she overhears the conversation. I like that Shingetsu later provides Mangetsu with some sort of potion to hide a mage’s presence from other mages after Kuon and Nene figures out their identities. Adding onto the fact that Anna also knows where they are, this item feels completely useless. That should’ve been one of the first things Shingetsu gives to Mangetsu.
Anyway, Mangetsu convinces Shingetsu that they should form a truce with Kuon. She reasons that with Kuon constantly bombarding everyone with her laser magic, Granbelm is more or less locked in a stalemate so she and Shingetsu might as well accept any help to even the odds. While Kuon is allying with Mangetsu, she is perplexed with her. She tells Shingetsu that she sensed something was “amiss” with Kibo’s aura when she used it to track down Mangetsu. She’s also trying to wrap her head around Mangetsu being a mage while not knowing which lineage she descends from. The best explanation would be that Mangetsu is a new first generation mage but that doesn’t line up with the fact that magic is nearly non-existent in the world, making it impossible to have new mages apart from descendants of pre-existing clans. Suffice to say, Mangetsu’s lineage remains as mysterious as ever.
Kuon makes a pretty interesting point about the main duo. At some point, the two will have to fight each other to advance in the tournament so they can’t exactly stay as a team indefinitely. Shingetsu does acknowledge this but Mangetsu doesn’t find their alliance strange in the slightest. She’s even confident that she and Shingetsu won’t have to fight each other. Between this, offering Shingetsu emotional support, and convincing her to team up with Kuon, it does seem like Mangetsu is very chummy with her. I know this is anime and the power of friendship always wins and all but this relationship did stick out to me when I first watched the show. It’s only when I got to the end that I understood why it did.
I’ll be honest: I remember being pretty darn confused with Nene’s backstory. This episode establishes that Nene’s lack of physical growth has something to do with her mother and her mother was taken away for her safety. But like, how is her curse connected to her mother apart from the simple excuse of it being magic? Who exactly is the person that is taking her mother away? Maybe my memory of the early episodes is that hazy or maybe I didn’t pay enough attention when I first saw the show but I don’t recall getting a clear answer on any of this. That said, I always found Nene to be pretty likable. The ending of this episode certainly does her a favor. Despite having the tactical advantage of knowing who Mangetsu, Shingetsu, and Kuon are and them not knowing who she is, Nene ultimately decides to introduce herself. She wants to win and become the Princeps but she’d rather do so in a fair fight. It’s a respectable move that makes an interesting contrast to her stealthy and long ranged fighting style and it sets her apart from the other antagonists in the show.
Watch Granbelm on Crunchyroll
Xenodude Scribbles 