Killing goblins is hard work

Hai to Gensou no Grimgar starts with what looks like your standard D&D party attempting to ambush two goblins, who quickly turn the tables on them; only luck allows them to get away. It sets the tone for the series and made me sit and take notice. Even more so when we went into flashback and got to know why our six protagonists ended up fighting goblins in the first place and it turned out that this is yet another “trapped in a fantasy video game world” show, ala Sword Arts Online or Log Horizon, but stripped off its wish fulfilment elements. The protagonists suffer amnesia, have no clue about the world they’ve found themselves in, barely have the skills to survive and the only job open to them is being a monster hunter, getting paid for killing goblins and stuff.

And in episode two we are shown the reality of killing a goblin: it’s messy and horrible and horrifying and you feel sorry for the goblin, who’s just there minding his own business getting water before he’s straight up murdered. Fast, violent and chaotic, it’s a scene that has the more impact for the fact that embedded in what’s essentially a slice of fantasy life show. Our heroes are basically working class stiffs being paid to ethnically cleanse the forest they live next to, something that is underscored in the third episode, when they’re scouting an old human city that had been overrun by goblins some years before. It hints that there’s some sort of “race war” going on between goblins and humans, something more than just the usual good vs evil struggle we expect from a fantasy video game world.

The other theme in the show is fanservice. There’s a lot of focus on the two girl’s chests and asses, an incredibly obnoxious sequence in the first episode discussing their tits and then in episode two the obligatory peeping on the girls bathing scene sort of happens. We never see anything, just the fallout of the attempt as at least one of the girls is traumatised by it. Normally with this sort of thing it’s played for comedy and without consequences, so it was refreshing to see this. The series seems to be quietly subverting the obligatory anime fanservice nonsense, even though the camera still loves focusing on the girls’ assets.

Combined with the gorgeous artwork, especially the pastel backgrounds, these two elements makes Hai to Gensou no Grimgar more interesting than your average light novel adaptation.