Describing episode 1 at the start of the season, I said that its evil Empire faction had a "Laputa/Nausicaä" sort of design sense. I also said the episode was clearly limited, but its drawing count and corrections were very well distributed in a traditional way, opting to keep everything solid instead of favoring 20-second sakuga explosions. As it turns out, I was wrong about all of those things; not for a lack of intention on the series' part, but a scarcity so overwhelming I wish I could go back in time and take on a couple dozen layouts myself. That said, the anime is still special, if only for the 6 or so people in its very specific niche--__*Giant Beasts of Ars* is a summary of classic JRPG that doesn't exist.
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When talking about JRPG-like anime, it's easy to picture any isekai's metanarrative approach, the postmodern (sorry) hellscape of a proverbial it being just like my japanese anime at every page turn, but this show plays its fantasy straight and commits to the bit so much that it's possible to separate its story not just in three acts, but three discs that closely follow the usual aesthetics of their videogame counterpart. Its only transgression of unspoken genre law is that its main duo feels closer to the late 00s western tradition of jaded dads and their adoptive-due-to-special-circumstances children. Jiro and Kumi, though, while a nicely straightforward take on the archetype, are tied back to the intended vibes by the rest of their party: the teenest teen dude in history, the lady pharmacist and the only legitimately funny catgirl in anime. None of them are particularly great on their own, but they develop naturally as a group throughout the largely episodic, laid-back adventure and feel as close as they should for any minor inconvenience to become an obstacle worth paying attention to. In general, the show makes up for its lackluster production in sheer confidence, a confidence that manifests itself in the very spine of the narrative as a collection of very controlled absences.
The name of the game is worldbuilding by omission. The anime knows its audience and trusts it to fill in the gaps. From the inner workings of magic to the politics and topography of the world, including travel and infrastructure, it knows just what to leave out in order to not feel empty while showing just the stuff that will help build a connection to and through its videogame influence. It is high quality pulp in that sense, wearing its inspirations as a badge and quietly trusting shared knowledge instead of making a point of it, which allows the focus to be on the party in the form Tales of skits and interactions that feel more textural than plot-relevant. By the end, when things are feeling especially rushed (almost appropriate considering how much it borrows from FFIX's third disc), it's the characters that serve as an anchor and carry the plot's emotional weight as everything else is cut short or left up in the air, managing a miraculously satisfying conclusion.
Giant Beasts of Ars is an anachronistic series, built on decades-old aesthetics and further outside current norm than a single image would suggest. It feels like something that had been marinating in a JRPG fan's mind for years before becoming an anime original and as such, it's a great little bit of comfort food for fans and a breath of fresh air for people who may be tired of more otaku approaches to fantasy. It's easy to wonder how the anime would've turned out under a production house like Bind (and suddenly feel the weight of the realization that they'll keep using their power for more than questionable ends), but the mess we have now is good enough, and I hope a little cult gathers around it over time.
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