One of my favorite series!

I really love the Grimgar anime and even more the light novels, but i will try to only review the anime here.

Setting

Well the setting is not the most original, a bunch of people trapped in a fantasy world that works like an mmorpg.
There are already a bunch of shows/series that handle that setting well like Log Horizon, the .Hack// series and Kono Suba, but there also shows which don't handle it well like Sword Art Online.

To come back to Grimgar, it may not be very innovative but it delivers a fantastic world, there are actual stories that explain why something is a ruin overrun by goblins or how the hierarchy of the goblins is and how that effects their equipment and their way of fighting.
Details like that create a believable world.

The show also doesn't tell you nor the characters if they are actually trapped in a mmorpg, well there are a lot of mmoish things like different classes: Hunter, Dread Knight, Thief, Priest and etc.
There is also no type of Interface for the characters.

Story

I won't give a summary of the story here, i will rather focus on what makes the story so appealing to me.

When this show came out i noticed many people complaining about its pacing.
The party of the protagonist doesn't make fast progress in this world, but instead of skipping that stuff for the viewer it spends its time to develope the different party members, giving them actual personalities and also introducing the world they now live in.
This leads to a point where you actually care about the characters and gives you a somewhat realistic and thought provoking view on this scenario.
So the slow pacing does this show really well, in my opinion.

You shouldn't watch this show if you expect nonstop action, but this show has some amazing action.
It gets brutal and gritty in fights and your attachment to the protagonist party makes those fights intense.
And it doesn't stop there the monsters they fight aren't portrayed as only enemies but also living creatures that struggle for their lives in the fight for survival, which lets you feel bad for them sometimes.

Characters

I keep it short here.
The characters are well written with complex personalities and also develop during the story.
Some characters may be not likeable but are still good designed characters.

Audio

The soundtrack is really diverse, it contains Rock, Pop, Hip Hop and even has one beatbox track.
And is overall well produced and fitting.

The voice acting and the sound effects are on spot.

Visuals

The backgrounds are beautiful, the design of the characters is good (but it differs from the LN, especially Merrys) as well as the monsters design.
The animations seem really smooth and i couldn't find any flaws.
This is one of A-1s good animations.