Granbelm | |
グランベルム (Guranberumu) | |
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Genre | Mecha,[1] Magical girl[2] |
Created by | ProjectGRANBELM |
Anime television series | |
Directed by | Masaharu Watanabe |
Produced by |
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Written by | Jukki Hanada |
Music by | Kenichiro Suehiro |
Studio | Nexus |
Licensed by |
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Original network | MBS, TBS, BS-TBS |
English network | |
Original run | July 5, 2019 – September 26, 2019 |
Episodes | 13 |
Granbelm (グランベルム, Guranberumu) is a 2019 Japanese anime television series created and produced by Nexus. The series was directed by Masaharu Watanabe and written by Jukki Hanada, with original character designs by Shinichirou Otsuka, and music composed by Kenichiro Suehiro. Granbelm aired from July 5 to September 26, 2019 on the Animeism programming block. The series follows a group of 7 magical girls that pilot giant robots called "Armanox", where they fight in a battle royale where the winner obtains the title "Princeps Mage", allowing the user to wield all the magic inside the "Magiaconatus".
Long ago, the world was rich with magic, until the wizards and witches used magic to wage war on one another, bringing the world to the brink of destruction. To prevent this, a group of wizards sealed all the world's magic into a device known as the "Magiaconatus" (マギアコナトス, Magiakonatosu), and since then, magic has been largely forgotten and wizards have been slowly disappearing, with just a few magical families existing all over the world.
In the modern age, however, magic is making a resurgence thanks to the Granbelm, a tournament involving magical girls that pilot giant robots called "Armanox" (アルマノクス, Arumanokusu), with the winner becoming the "Princeps Mage" (プリンセプスの魔術師, Purinsepusu no Majutsushi) and becoming able to wield all the magic inside the Magiaconatus. Mangetsu Kohinata finds her ordinary life forever changed when she discovers she is a mage and earns her own Armanox, the White Lily. As Mangetsu fights in the Granbelm, she meets other girls who fight to have their wishes granted.
The producer of Granbelm, Takayuki Nagatani, approached the animation studio Nexus in wanting to create a new series with them. Nexus told Nagatani that they are interested in creating an anime that features a "chibi-style robots", and Nagatani accepted the idea as he also love those kind of anime. Nagatani left the creative process to the studio while he would organize it. While hiring the Granbelm's staff, Nagatani and the studio firstly decided to bring a director, with Nexus suggesting Masaharu Watanabe as the director for the series since they worked with him in his production of Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World, thus Watanabe was appointed as the director. The series composition was handled by Jukki Hanada. When deciding on who should be responsible for the series' character design, the staff discussed that they wanted "mellow visuals for the animation because it’s the story of girls fighting with all their might", hearing that, director Watanabe suggested Shinichiro Otsuka, who's known for illustrating the artwork for Re:Zeros light novel. For the mecha designs, Nexus recommended Jimmy Stone.[8]
Nagatani stated that Anna, a controversial character in the series, is the character he liked the most and stated that he understands her "personality" and sympathized with the character for carrying a "heavy burden". He praised Hanada on his ability for making each of the main characters "charming as well as unique", and states that "each character has their own great attributes" but Anna is the one that fascinates him the most. Nagatani thinks that as the story progresses, the viewers' favorite character will change.[8] During the scenario meetings, the staff had agreed on the idea of "girls and magic" themed-series. When asked on why there aren't any male character in the series, Nagatani replied: "We decided that the Granbelm would be an all-girl battle pretty early on. I can’t even recall us talking about any male characters joining the battle. We called the participants of the battle ‘witches’ and the story was about the female line of the family. I think that’s why we didn’t even consider a male character. I’d say that it naturally became an all-girls affair."[8]
The anime was announced by Nexus on March 1, 2019. The series is directed by Masaharu Watanabe, with Jukki Hanada handling series composition, Shinichirou Otsuka as the original character designer, and Kenichiro Suehiro composing the music.[3] Infinite is producing the anime. Eir Aoi performed the series' opening theme song "Tsuki o Ou Mayonaka" (月を追う真夜中, Following the Moon in the Middle of the Night), while Uru performed the series' ending theme song "Negai" (願い, Desire).[6]
Granbelm aired from July 5 to September 26, 2019 on the Animeism programming block on MBS, TBS, and BS-TBS.[4][5] It is streaming on Crunchyroll, which teams with Sentai Filmworks to release the series on home video in the United States.[9][10]
No. | Title[11] | Original air date |
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1 | "The Only Mages in the World" Transliteration: "Sekai de Yuiitsu no Majutsushi" (Japanese: 世界で唯一の魔術師) | July 5, 2019 |
2 | "Why I'm Here" Transliteration: "Watashi ga Koko ni Iru Tame ni" (Japanese: 私がここにいるために) | July 12, 2019 |
3 | "The Bell Tolls at the Full Moon" Transliteration: "Mangetsu ni Kane wa Naru" (Japanese: 満月に鐘は鳴る) | July 19, 2019 |
4 | "Feng Shui Master Lin Fen Fen" Transliteration: "Fūsuishi Rinfenfen" (Japanese: 風水師リンフェンフェン) | July 26, 2019 |
5 | "A Small Girl's Small Wish" Transliteration: "Chīsana Shōjo no Chīsana Negai" (Japanese: 小さな少女の小さな願い) | August 2, 2019 |
6 | "Magic Stones" Transliteration: "Maseki" (Japanese: 魔石) | August 9, 2019 |
7 | "Miss Ressentiment" Transliteration: "Misu Rusanchiman" (Japanese: ミス・ルサンチマン) | August 16, 2019 |
8 | "What It Means to Become a Mage" Transliteration: "Majutsushi ni naru to iu koto" (Japanese: 魔術師になるということ) | August 23, 2019 |
9 | "NOCTURNE Changes Colors" Transliteration: "Nokutān, Someagete" (Japanese: ノクターン、染め上げて) | August 30, 2019 |
10 | "The Pensive Doll" Transliteration: "Mono omou ningyō" (Japanese: もの思う人形) | September 6, 2019 |
11 | "Even If My Goodbye Doesn't Reach You" Transliteration: "Tatoe sayonara ga todokanakute mo" (Japanese: たとえさよならが届かなくても) | September 13, 2019 |
12 | "Magiaconatus" Transliteration: "Magiakonatosu" (Japanese: マギアコナトス) | September 20, 2019 |
13 | "For the Only Two of Their Kind in the World" Transliteration: "Sekai de yuiitsu no futari no tame ni" (Japanese: 世界で唯一のふたりのために) | September 26, 2019[12] |
Granbelm was well-received by critics, with Andy Pfeiffer of Anime News Network listing the series as one of the best series of the summer 2019 anime season.[13] Patrick Frye of Monsters and Critics described the series as "a mashup of multiple genres from super-powered robots to magical girls with a tragic destiny ala Madoka Magica", while also noting that its "battle royale" is similar to the Fate series. Frye nevertheless wrote that the series "manages to stand on its own by having fun character development and enough major plot twists to surprise audiences" and states the finale "provide a satisfying spectacle".[citation needed]