Common Name: Granblue Fantasy The Animation
Score: 7/10, 5/5
Length: 13 Episodes
Genre: Adventure, Action, Comedy
Summary: When he was a child, Gran was left with the people of Zinkenstill, one of the many floating islands that dot the skies, while his father sought Estalucia, the land of the Astrals. Wanting to follow in his father's footsteps, Gran also wishes to take to the sky and find the land of the Astrals, but the skies are far from safe for a young man to travel alone. As if navigating the various sky islands wasn't hard enough, the militaristic Erste Empire is working to seize every bit of sky they can, regardless of the consequences. Perhaps Gran's chance to take the skies arrives though when a mysterious girl, Lyria, and her guardian, Katalina, crash land on on Zinkenstill Island during their escape from one of the Empire's warships.
Review: While it has been a tradition to bring video games into the anime world for some time now, the world of mobile games has been working particularly hard in its efforts to adapt their works for the animated world. Cygames in particular, creators of several popular mobiles games in Japan and the niche markets here in the States such as Rage of Bahamut, Shadowverse, and Granblue Fantasy, have been doing a great job turning their properties into solid shows while also, reportedly, working to be fair and generous to their animation staff (an unfortunately uncommon practice). While I have yet to see the adaptation of the studio's primary claim to fame, Rage of Bahamut, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the adaptation of Granblue Fantasy. Like many game-based anime, however, I cannot deny that Granblue Fantasy suffered from many of the same problems that plague titles that weren't born from visual novels.
Including but not limited to references involving some of the
mobile game's...stranger events.
Of course, that doesn't mean to say that all visual novel adaptations are inherently better than those based on video/mobile games. One need look no further than the hurried mess that was the Occultic;Nine adaptation for proof of that. But there is obviously going to be a severe handicap for any anime that isn't based on a game that didn't come with a solid story or characters already built into the source material. Even when they're based on solid stories though, there's the difficulty in trying to capture the essence of a game with multiple routes or a player character with no real name, i.e. the Persona franchise. Luckily for Granblue Fantasy, however, there is something of a set story with fleshed out characters in the mobile game, albeit a fairly simple one that's highly reminiscent of the early Final Fantasy games. Everything from the existence sky ships to the presence of an evil empire, the gathering of multiple party members, and the heroic ability to summon mythical beings to aid in battle is lifted from the traditional Japanese concept of the fantastical adventure. It's a concept that's been done by so many different franchises at this point that nothing in this show feels particularly novel or inventive, but I'm honestly kind of OK with that fact. Rather than striving to hamstring itself with some contrivance, Granblue just works with the old and familiar to craft its own story filled with action, adventure, and good fun.
Not to mention some great art direction, in my opinion.
Let's take for example the general premise behind our main character, Gran, a strong and driven youth who wishes to grow strong and follow in the footsteps of his father but is bound to a nowhere countryside because of a lack of funds or inability to leave. Then, as if it was fated, Gran is given a chance when he stumbles upon a pair who have a need to escape the country because an evil empire is searching for them. While the first part is certainly reminiscent of most teenagers, desperate to be free of their parents, the latter is the basic beginning of any hero's journey. More than anything, though, it sounds vaguely similar to a certain space opera that inspired Final Fantasy among countless other fantastical stories.
He even has a signature magical, glowing sword to go with that role...kinda.
Then there are the connections that can be drawn to the R2-D2 and C-3P0 of this series, to follow that association, through the characters of Lyria and Katalina, respectively. Of course, the comparison between these two things isn't perfect, considering how R2 never summons the god of dragons to save Luke at any point. If anything, it would be more accurate to draw on the connection to the FF series again since this particular pair is functionally identical to a couple of characters from FFIX. To elaborate, Lyria is highly reminiscent of the character of Garnet in that she is a magically gifted, is the only character in the series able to "summon" the gods she is somehow bound to, and is a generally strong and determined character in spite of her lack of psychical power. Following that pattern, Katalina Alize is then something of a gender-bent version of Adelbert Steiner in that she is a former soldier of the evil empire who abandoned her post to serve as Lyria's sword-toting guardian. Both of these two, while similar in character, also perform much the same role as Garnet and Steiner in FFIX in that it is Lyria's escape with Katalina with Gran in tow is a good portion of what drives the story forward. The only difference is that the end goal of the series is born from Gran's plans rather than Lyria's.
Well, that and the fact that Katalina doesn't need a mage's help to use
some awesome, sword-themed ice magic.
Once these three set out though, the plot follows a generally repeatable pattern of finding a new island, meeting new friends to add to the crew, and a new god that is in need of their help. In this manner, the group gathers a free-spirited but stubborn sky ship pilot named Rackam (analogous to FFVII's Cid) and a childish black mage named Io (vaguely analogous to Rita Mordio from Tales of Vesperia). There are, of course, other characters from the mobile game who appear in the show, but the most these characters get is a spot light during a filler-episode quest or a simple cameo toward the end of the show. This is, of course, indicative of the Fire Emblem-esque character collecting aspect of the mobile game, but the show handles these other characters as friendly faces that Gran meets along the way but hasn't recruited to the team since he hasn't reached their level just yet.
It can be guaranteed, though, that all of these characters have some kind of equivalent
in one of the many worlds owned by Square Enix.
Regardless of what else I compare this title to though, the truth of the matter remains the same--Granblue Fantasy is nothing new. It's simple, straightforward, and fantastical fun. All it does is tell a story we've all likely seen time and again with its own unique but familiar twist that will keep fans old and new engaged and amused. While it is limited by its source material in some ways, particularly in that the Granblue Fantasy story is still ongoing, it handles things relatively well and makes the whole journey worthwhile. What's more impressive though, is how the show occasionally works with the things that constrain it as a video game anime to offer some genuine moments of amusement based on its origins. Specifically, the last episode the show openly acknowledges the fact that the "story" of Granblue Fantasy has no set main character. While Gran is most certainly the main character, he is just one of multiple possible iterations of "The Captain." Much like with any RPG title, the player is given the opportunity to rename an established main character. Rather than featuring an episode where "Gran" is named "Squall" or "XxSephirothxX" though, the show shows off the fact that there is also an option to play the game as a female main character who is typically named "Djeeta."
Just so we're clear, Djeeta is the best main character. She'd eat Gran alive.
While I can't bring myself to give this show a better score for working within its limits on a level I honestly never would have expected, I will admit that it was one of my favorites. In spite of it having a simple and generic plot, I found myself waiting for this show to air each week because it was just a calm and fun experience for me. It was like catching up with an old friend who had changed a little bit over the years but was ultimately the same person. Of course, it also helped that the art, animation, and music for the show was pretty top notch in my opinion. So, would I recommend Granblue Fantasy? Absolutely. If you're a fan of J-RPG's it'll be a nice nostalgia trip of sorts, but won't really offer anything new to the concept. For anyone who isn't big on the genre, though, this might be a good introduction to the concept or an avenue for a new game you can try out for free.