灰と幻想のグリムガル - Discussion Thread

[暁のルナ]

Re vol 10

@Naphthalene

or “is this what it feels like to be in heat”.

Omg that line was excellent!!

@Naphthalene

I disagree on that point. She is on par or even better than メリイ when she joined the party, plus

I mean if you’re gonna set the bar that low…

Actually though, the first time I went through the series, I felt like Merry was super cold to everybody. Upon rewatching it recently, it’s mostly that she set firm boundaries and understood what her class was (your healer should not be your tank and you can’t constantly waste resources), but was a shitty communicator bc of severe PTSD and all her poor party experiences. Also their level of incompetence & dysfunctionality back then would be enough to make anyone grumpy, imo.

@Naphthalene

That led me to believe that her attitude is mostly part of her upbringing

Certainly is - the family prestige stuff, and being on bad terms and all that. Which does sorta explain why she was willing to go out on a limb for ハルヒロ, but not the other adventures at first - since he was a total outsider, whereas they were already integrated/assimilated.

@Naphthalene

I’m pretty sure she can open up to them and change as she gets more exposure to, well, normal (? I won’t put most of the 義勇兵 in that category, so it may take a while) people

That’s a fair point, she does seem capable of change/growth. Also I appreciate that she’s a really clear communicator. Like she says what she’s thinking, and also often the uncomfortable things that need to be said… which クソランタ kinda also did - in the worst ways possible

@Naphthalene

In hindsight, it feels like she actually asked both of them if it was fine for her to date him, and since they said so, well, she did.

She very much did, and I thought that was really damn cool of her… And felt so bad for her with how they responded.

@Naphthalene

As she is from a culture that never helps others (at least without some compensation), that’s literally her only way to help them “for free”.

Yeah, that was also how I read that scene. Plus they had already agreed about they eye thing (which I’m betting the author will never follow up on, but would really love if he did)

@Naphthalene

I would need to check, but I’m not 100% sure it was that clear.

It wasn’t, especially at first - but like the possibility seemed higher and higher as time went on. By the time ハル had brought him back to the party’s location, he really could have tried talking briefly before shooting

@Naphthalene

But, from experience, it’s much easier to repress same sex attraction when you are bisexual and pretend (to yourself too) that you are straight. I think she should try to do some self searching (not that they have the time to do that, but heh).

I mean they had plenty of time, and opportunity, in ダリングガル or w/e. In any case, I really don’t get the potentially bi vibe from her

@Naphthalene

セトラ is a really long shot. She would first

Ok yeah, I can see how it would develop… I just still can’t really picture them together

@Naphthalene

She has said that before ハルヒロ she has never found a guy attractive ever, cf my discussion about bisexuality above.

She does seem like the potentially bi type

@Naphthalene

@暁のルナ

Why not クザク?

I just don’t see it working, I guess? With their respective personalities, they would just end up doing their own thing separately

Ok yeah, that’s a solid point. Tbh as much as I’ve been rooting for ハル x メリイ, I think クザク and メリイ had some real potential, if she’d been interested.

@Naphthalene

@暁のルナ

Also does this statement include クソランタ?

It absolutely does include バカランタ. She can fix him.

Uggggggh I am sooo not a fan of that trope. Nor the “girl dates her bully who secretly liked her” trope. He was pretty awful to her for 9-10 volumes straight. So I wouldn’t really be able to get onboard with that.

Also I’m not sure she could fix him… and like she can do so much better, and spend her time on something more worthwhile. Merry’s the only one in the party who ever manages to kinda keep him in check, since she puts her foot down.

@Naphthalene

I mean… between セトラ and メリイ, I think we are kinda there already…

普通の三角関係. I don’t consider that a harem. Now if you wanna point out that one or two of the crazy other adventurers have also expressed interest… Yeah, it’s kinda bordering on it. But even still, the tone is very, very different than the general harem tone, for lack of a better way to put it. Tho it does share the “almost no meaningful progress is ever made” requirement, so far.

@Naphthalene

my current favorite ship for ユメ is シホル (and generally speaking we don’t have enough gay stuff in this series)

Indeed, indeed.

Re: illustrations - you can tell it’s the same artist, bc シホル’s chest still looks like some weird, abnormally large, amorphous blob. ユメ is my fav from that pic. The illustrations in 11 are very solid otherwise though. I like how セトラ has a more pale/ash-y skin tone than the others, in the color illustration, and クソランタ’s is great too

[Naphthalene]

more volume 10

@暁のルナ

I mean they had plenty of time, and opportunity, in ダリングガル or w/e.

ダルングガル, and specifically ユメ using シホル as a body pillow, is what started it for me, actually

@暁のルナ

I mean if you’re gonna set the bar that low…

It’s about comparing comparable things! In this case, the timing.

@暁のルナ

Uggggggh I am sooo not a fan of that trope.

In that specific case, we have been inside his brain and, while it does not excuses it, we know that his behavior is a way to cover a crippling lack of confidence. In real life, you can’t expect non-expert to fix someone, you need therapy, but I feel like it could work here (and it’s also strongly suggested that he likes her).

@暁のルナ

and like she can do so much better, and spend her time on something more worthwhile.

Now that I agree with. Life is just too short.

@暁のルナ

But even still, the tone is very, very different than the general harem tone, for lack of a better way to put it. Tho it does share the “almost no meaningful progress is ever made” requirement, so far.

I’ll take your word for it. I don’t have much experience with that kind of stories.

@暁のルナ

Re: illustrations - you can tell it’s the same artist, bc シホル’s chest still looks like some weird, abnormally large, amorphous blob.

But her face (and that of the others) look better than before.

@暁のルナ

and クソランタ’s is great too

Not gonna lie, I reached chapter 2, read a few pages and just put the book down The illustration is nice, but I was not looking forward to him coming back.

[暁のルナ]

@Naphthalene

Not gonna lie, I reached chapter 2, read a few pages and just put the book down The illustration is nice, but I was not looking forward to him coming back.

A respectable decision. I both assumed it was coming and was like “uggggh, why??”. It’s actually well-written though, so I enjoyed it in the end

I see what you mean about the faces improving

[Naphthalene]

Finished volume 11. That was my least favorite so far.

Volume 11

The chapter alternance kept breaking the flow, plus I really don’t care about ランタ. I don’t even see why it was done like that. Could have been in a single book that I would just skip. Not a fan of how the book ended either, but I hope volume 12 will bring some answers.

[暁のルナ]

@Naphthalene

Finished volume 11. That was my least favorite so far.

Yeah, upon further consideration, I moved my rating back to 3 stars. I originally bumped it to 4, just cuz it was nice finally seeing something actually happen btwn ハル and メリイ for a bit

Vol 11 reply

@Naphthalene

Could have been in a single book that I would just skip.

And thus why it wasn’t done like that A number of us probably would have… Otoh I could tolerate him like this, in small doses

I found his sections interesting enough (tho I have a feeling I skimmed portions of them). I do agree about it breaking the flow somewhat.

I have lots of time this weekend so I can finally finish up 14++, and hopefully make some decent headway into 15. I’ll probably be going for 1 book a week, going forwards.

[Naphthalene]

@暁のルナ

I have lots of time this weekend

Do you, now? Isn’t there a certain book club you are supposed to catch up on?

[暁のルナ]

Yeah, but that’s like an hr max of reading. Hardly an issue. The real issue is whether I can get myself to temporarily put down Grimgar, to actually go read it

[暁のルナ]

I finished Vol 14++, just the Appendix story. I liked it, but 14+'s story was more exciting overall. Otoh I got some good nautical vocab reinforcement. I’m curious to see where exactly the end of the story aligns with the start of Vol 15… Seemingly it has to be a bit before (I’m only 19% in)

Vol 15 start thoughts

vol 15 beginning thoughts

I was wondering how the author was gonna play this amnesia thing. Like I assumed they’d just naturally continue the party, despite having lost their memories, but I was wondering what would happen with Merii and Setora specifically.

As it turns out, Merii still has her whole memory. And Setora had her memory wiped… which surprised me, since she doesn’t seem to be from the real world.

I was confused by the exchange when they discovered the lever, went outside, and Merii realized it was Alterna… And how ひよむー handled that all. Like she said she really messed stuff up, and gave them a choice on whether to be extracted or not… But like how does her leaving ハルたち there make any sense? Like how is that different than her just not offering anyone a choice in the first place? Merii shooting the magic missile at her was interesting. I assume it was meant to send a message, rather than an actual attempt to kill ひよむー.

Also her speech style is really annoying

[暁のルナ]

Vol 15

I read these back to back, without pausing

Highlights: like all of Book 15. We basically get the characters as unrestrained versions of themselves, courtesy of amnesia. Probably the first half or so of the book is them trying to survive in a (4 years later) Grimgar, where the non-humans have taken over almost all the nearby human territory. As a result, that part of the book is all party dynamics, but freed from their emotionally crippled selves. In the second half they stumble into the hands of a sketchy military leader, and are instrumental in retaking Alterna. Ok wow, cool story.

I’m pissed that the author brought Barbara back into the story, just to kill her like that - and I just don’t buy it. But that’s about my only complaint… Well that, and the 義勇兵たち could have very easily retaken the city at that point. It’s odd that they didn’t.

Besides that though, I loved this

Volume 16 (thoughts in progress)

And now it’s become all about politics and manipulation