Nowadays, isekai is a genre as hackneyed as anime, but in the past it was quite fresh and inventive. In fact, one of the best isekai anime in history premiered before the genre became so ubiquitous. Based on a light novel series, “Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash (Hai to Gensou no Grimgar)” was a much darker and more character-driven story than the current isekai.
The success of the franchise and the quality of its scripts can be seen in the successful and continuing light novel series. Despite its good reception – and the fact that its premise would make it an even bigger success today – the “Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash” anime only had one season in 2016. Below we tell you what the series was about and when we could see a continuation.
“Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash” involves a group of people who suddenly find themselves thrust into the role of Trainee Volunteer Soldiers, hunting fearsome goblins in the world of Grimgar. Through flashbacks, it is revealed that these people are not natives of Grimgar, but are trapped in this world by mysterious circumstances.
The flashbacks also show how many of the original group survived and became soldiers, although some fared better than others. From there a story unfolds full of world building, sacrifices, and intense character development. Much of the fanservice and less popular elements of many of today’s isekai clichés are nowhere to be found. Instead, the genre’s strengths are shown.
The original “Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash” light novels were created by Ao Jumonji and Eiri Shirai, and the series is still continuing. It also had a brief manga adaptation between 2015 and 2016, and the first season of the anime aired throughout 2016. Since then, however, it’s been pretty quiet on the anime front.
The lack of a second season could be due in part to the popularity of the first. Although the manga was quite popular, the anime did not do as well as the success of the light novels suggested. In part, this may be due to the poor time in which the series aired. The popularity of isekai was growing, but it was nowhere near the goose that laid the golden eggs that it is now. Likewise, streaming anime was also not as widespread as it is today, so animes with low live audiences would not have been able to recover them through streaming views.
It’s not uncommon for anime to come back on air after a long hiatus, and since the “Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash” light novels are still being published, there’s the potential to bring a lot of content to the big screen. Whether or not this revives the Grimgar anime for a second season may depend on the level of demand for it.
©2016 灰と幻想のグリムガル製作委員会
