Granbelm

True.

So in your opinion, what would have been a better option that wouldn't have bothered you as much?

The big issue isn't that it's clearly derived from Fate/, but they went overboard in changing things to set it apart from the franchise it's definitely not related to. The most glaring issue is that it now has a bizarre backstory that's completely at odds with the rest of the setting. Just making it so that there's a set prize for winning would have been enough to set it apart

Ah, I see...

So it's like the creators got worried about getting too close, tried to put distance between itself and Nasuverse, and ended up walking way too close to a canyon without realizing it?

The irony is, Anna would have been better off being born into a Nasuverse mage family.

…How? I don't think anyone would be better off in a Nasuverse mage family. >.>

I mean, they're obviously setting up some big, plot-central reason why the creepy magical alternate world wants people to fight death-matches for it. Which may have something to do with the fact that the previous Granbelm winner seems to really like magical death-matches - I suspect Suishou is a lot older than she lets on.

They would have simply told her she was no good at being a mage right away. To my mind, that's better.

And then she would receive some fucked up special training to increase her power?

And then they would have ignored her entirely, which is probably better for her in the end than being gaslighted by your whole family.

Not every Nasuverse mage family is the Makiris, you know.

I have been suspecting that Granbelm was setup because someone like Mangetsu just really wanted to beat people up for the thrill of it.

Episode 6:

So uh...The reason why Anna hates Shingetsu is that she is unable to become a legible witch and acts like a kid throwing a temper tantrum at the end of the day? Yeah, I think she's a bit of a spoiled brat but it's not hard to pity her... And goddamn that ending though! I thought it was a glitch but yea, Anna completely snapped at the last one. Also, Suishou left.

7. Joke character remains joke character, but even a joke character can hit hard when boosted with a ton of power. Anna has never been very effective, but one thing she can't be faulted for is her determination. She's got one goal in mind, and by golly she's going to put her all in for that. Enjoyable performance from her. Ernesta is a dick telling her to throw away what Anna had been building up to her whole life. But that whole drama is done. Time to move to Suishou, who I'm really interested in.

So what I'm getting from this is that Anna is actually a sadist in love with Shingetsu, which got warped into something nasty thanks to her ego issues and no one around her having any idea how she works. Also I think she's actually a lot calmer than she comes off as, just really screamy. Meanwhile, Shingetsu actually came off pretty poorly. Patronizing little shit who thought she could give a motivational speech to someone she doesn't understand. Kinda had what ended up happening coming

Episode 7:

Yea, that was... A rather intense fight between Anna and Shingetsu and the former was at her peak in terms of psychotic levels. Though at the end? She got banished from the fight

I thought she got absorbed into the stone and dragged along with its magical power when the "judge" came to collect it... Deader than Dead

Huh… So they can be hurt and die during Granbelm? I'd like to say this was an emotional moment, but I'm not even sure what happened in that last portion of the fight…

To those criticizing Shingetsu for her speech… what else was she supposed to say? "Sure, you can torture and kill me if that makes you feel better"?

That seems to make sense… Talk about Death by Irony…

One thing's sure though, her VA was having the time of her life.

Edited by Lyendith on Aug 19th 2019 at 2:26:17 PM

It's not super clear what happened at the end there, and I'd hold off on making any assumptions until we're actually shown anything

To those criticizing Shingetsu for her speech… what else was she supposed to say? "Sure, you can torture and kill me if that makes you feel better"?

She probably shouldn't have said anything and just fought to win

8. So Anna got erased from existence. Huh. I guess that's her fault for being extra dead? What confuses me is why Mangetsu didn't even try to help Kuon fight Suishou. They're still friends, and it was pretty obvious that Suishou was manipulating Kuon. Actually the whole Suishou/Kuon relationship is just getting weird, not helped by Kuon and her sister apparently being extra close. Suishou is also getting into Mangetsu's head for extra measure. But with Mangetsu giving red flags everywhere I'm still unsure whether Mangetsu, Suishou, or the magic system itself will be the final boss. Shingetsu's whole drama is honestly the least interesting part now, especially without Anna around to scream at her all the time.

Suishou and Mangetsu are totally a Literal Split Personality, aren't they? That's what the title means by 'The Two Princeps'.

More Foe Yay! It's actually kind of weird for this sort of series that pretty much all of the romantic chemistry has been between people that want to kill each other

Given the way Anna's fate is being framed, I'd say we're looking at 80% odds of a reset ending

And now we're actually setting up plot points that don't appear to be taken straight from Fate

Huh, that explains what happened to Nene's mother.

Strangely, It doesn't explain why Nene herself and whatsherface from episode one are alright. The differing factor here being that those two were beaten by Mangetsu...

And now Mangetsu and her sister are apparently nexuses of magic hidding in plain sight?

Episode 8:

Yea...Anna got erased from existence entirely and was replaced by someone else. Also, calling it now that Suishou is the satan of Granbelm universe and has done several sinister things towards Mangetsu and the white haired siblings.

Again, I'm pretty sure that Suishou and Mangetsu are the two shattered halves of the current reigning princeps (hence the series title). They use lots of cinematic tricks to draw parallels between them in this episode, and they have the same green eyes and pale tips to their hair.

Edited by Iaculus on Aug 25th 2019 at 9:29:02 AM

Interesting theory… Though I suspect the "second half" would rather be Kibou, as hinted by the last scene…

I found the constant repetition of "suki" in this episode weirdly conspicuous, even by Japanese standards. Suishou sukies Shisui and Kuon, Nene sukies Shingetsu and Mangetsu, Shingetsu sukied Anna and Mangetsu sukies Shingetsu… They insisted a bit too much for it to be mere yuri-baiting (though there's a ton of that too for sure >.>)

Edited by Lyendith on Aug 25th 2019 at 4:00:05 PM

It's their house that's giving off massive amounts of magic, and Mangetsu is giving off even more. Almost as if someone ensorcelled their family into having an extra daughter.

'Suki' just means like. 'Daisuki' means 'really like', and is quite likely to be romantic, but not guaranteed. 'Ai' and formations thereof like 'aishteru' refers to explicitly romantic love. That said, this is definitely a show with gay characters. Suishou is a Psycho Lesbian, and the Getsus have a very obvious budding romance going on.

Edited by Iaculus on Aug 25th 2019 at 3:05:36 PM