Giant Beasts of Ars (Episodes 1-10) Review – I forgot I was watching this show.
A Bit of Context
Alright, so the reason I stopped watching this one was my schedule went a bit haywire due to work and sickness, which is why you haven't seen anything from me for some time. That said, that I forgot to get back to this show is a bit telling of what to expect going in. It suffers from one of the worst things an anime can do, and that is to be forgettable.
Summary
That said, it wasn't so forgettable that I can't remember things about the show. There are three things core to the story: Paladins, Clerics, and Beasts. Clerics possess an incredible amount of power but are prone to going out of control. This is where the Paladins come in, they can channel a clerics' power. Then there are the giant beasts that roam the land and cause people trouble. Using the powers of the clerics, Paladins fight the giant beasts.
Our lead, Jiro, is a former paladin who ends up stumbling into a contract with a new cleric who is trying to escape the government. From here on Jiro is a bit of a reluctant guardian as they slowly learn the truth about Kumi, the mysterious beasts with red eyes, and government conspiracy. Interesting enough premise, but the problems come pretty quickly.
The Pacing is almost non-existent
Things just kind of happen. When an episode starts when a big battle is supposed to kick off, Jiro is just suddenly fighting the guy leading the enemy charge. You don't get a feel for a battle taking place, it just starts right there. There is no time to even build any tension in the fight. And this is kind of a problem with the show overall. Meran, for example, just kind of ends up joining the group. There is barely a decent explanation given, and Jiro just kind of excepts it's happening. He doesn't feel at all like a part of the team.
Those first ten episodes just kind of feel like a series of things happening rather than building an actual story. There I no time to build tension, and no time given to get you to care about anything. Events just come and go.
The visuals are a bit boring.
A big thing that the show does is Jiro and Kumi effectively fuse to fight, and all that happens is Jiro's hair begins to glow. It's a really unimaginative and unimpressive transformation. It doesn't do a lot to stand out among an already just okay visual display. There are a handful of pretty cool designs, the water-based beast was probably the most impressive, but overall it just feels bland.
I Loved the Naming.
So in this world, all of these characters have a first name and a title of sorts. It's a tradition where your friends and community give you a name and change it as you get older to reflect how you are viewed. A great moment is when you see a man's second name change from 'The Pebble' to 'The Boulder'. It also helps many people have names that are striking. While you find out he use to be called The Thunderbold, Jiro is currently known as 'Jiro the Already Dead'. It just has a certain ring to it. And as a concept it does add some flavor to the world.
The Curse is fantastic.
If there is one thing I do like about the premise of the show, it's The Bereavement Curse. When a Paladin loses a Cleric, a curse sets in that wipes their memories. This is to make it easier for them to move on and forget the trauma of losing someone that have been so close with. Like most things, I don't think the show does much with this, but it's one of the things I think helps give the show a bit of an edge. It's a fascinatingly pragmatic and cruel aspect of how the government operates.
Overall
It's a good idea that just doesn't feel like it was executed well. I don't dislike the cast, I just don't think the show gives you enough to care about. It's a series of good and interesting ideas they didn't know how to play with. What you are left with is something that lives little to no impact, so I can't really recommend watching it.