「アンとグレア」 (Anne & Grea)
“Anne & Grea”

The long delayed Shingeki no Bahamut spin-off Manaria Friends is finally here, and it’s an odd one. Billed as a slice-of-life school story that just so happens to be set in the world of Rage of Bahamut, these dual purposes show. For a magical-fantasy-school-slice-of-life series, the setting and background seem far too lush and detailed, as is befitting of a story harvesting the assets of an existing IP. Not a bad thing! The setting and art are my favorite things about this first episode, because it makes everything feel so much more than a simple school life anime.

By the same token, following a pair of princesses in Anne (Hikasa Yoko) and Grea (Fukuhara Ayaka) is an odd choice for a slice-of-life story, because usually royal persons are meant for grander things within a fantasy adventure/high fantasy setting. Everything seems so grand, so epic, and then it ends up being rather mundane (for the setting), and it’s hard to see exactly what this series is going for? Though I put that down mostly to a first episode that’s only 15 minutes long, so when it stops where the introductions feel only half over, it sort of is.

Manaria Friends is an odd duck of a series, and at ten episodes with only fifteen minutes per, it won’t be around for long. It’s pleasant enough, though, so I’ll definitely check out a couple more episodes myself. The setting is beautiful enough that I’ll tune in just to look at the pretty art.

My second novel, Freelance Heroics, is available! (Also available: Firesign #1 Wage Slave Rebellion.) Third book in progress now! Sign up for my email list for updates. At stephenwgee.com, the last two posts: Celebrities’ Political Opinions, An Author’s Review of: Freelance Heroics.

Epilogue:

 

ED Sequence

Preview

End Card

16 Comments

  1. Ep 02:

    It is hard to follow this Anime without any knew of their background so far. Both are princess, some clumsy bookworm (she is also here in ep 01)

    it is just an jump in this “sweet lake of fun” without not knowing how deep it really is. is it an puddle or an Lake?

    Well, lets see with ep 03

    Worldwidedepp

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *