This sometimes lyrical fantasy anime based on a novel series is fairly engrossing when it doesn't lapse into childish fan-service boob jokes (mostly verbal repartee). A divergent group of young people find themselves suddenly teleported into a Tolkienesque realm, where they lack all memory of previous lives (except fleeting phrases like “video games” or “cell phones”). In Grimgar, if they want to earn a living, they have little choice but to take up weapons as mercenaries in an ongoing war against encroaching goblins and underground kobolds. The saga affectingly details the team's evolution from raw and reluctant rookies into battle-hardened heroes who occasionally see friends die. And there is a hint that the goblin war may be more ethically complicated than simple good-vs.-evil, although that matter (like the question of what brought the protagonists to Grimgar in the first place) remains unresolved. Compiling all 12 episodes from 2016 in a dual-language Blu-ray/DVD Combo edition, rated TV-14, extras include an OVA and an episode commentary. Recommended. (C. Cassady)
Grimgar: Ashes and Illusions
(2016) 4 discs. 300 min. Blu-ray/DVD Combo: $64.98. Funimation (avail. from most distributors). Volume 32, Issue 6
Grimgar: Ashes and Illusions
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