r/HaiToGensouNoGrimgar

So I've been following the Grimgar series ever since Volume 2 came out ~8 years ago, and have bought every single releases since then. My reading time has slowed down though, so sometimes it takes me a few months to catch up.

Now about the series in general, I'll just straight up say it:

It got pretty dumb and became a complete mess pretty early on. I'd say around volume 7 (but I'd need to recheck to confirm). The core story started as a fun fantasy set in Grimgar, and you'd think the core ideas from the start would follow through for the most part. Unfortunately, it was obvious that the author had no idea whatsoever on how to properly progress the story. Most likely writing on the fly per volume, as sometimes indicated in his afterthoughts.

So even with each new volume slowly disappointing me in some ways, I kept going because it was probably the only good decent light novel series that didn't have follow-up anime seasons to spoil me the story. (season 1 was excellent by the way, which makes sense since it tackles the good early parts)

So on to Volume 21. The first massive timeskip. The introduction of new main characters, and a somewhat fresh reboot. I'll be honest, I thought volume 20 was horrible in most aspect except when the two gods got freed. I thought that ending when the author randomly introduced those character was badly written, and just a complete trainwreck of a conclusion. We had no idea if they were important, and didn't have a single profile picture of them.

Now here comes the cover art of Volume 21. WOW ! Already you can see the brand new main characters, and they are gorgeous. Yori and Riyo are straight up awesome, while Manato is a likeable new main protagonist. Also the way future Haruhiro is designed was a nice surprise. Add to that the introduction of their goblin mascot Tata (who, thanks to the art, looks cuter than what I imagined in my head). The story was gripping, with how Grimgar has turned apocalyptic, and I can't wait to read the next volume. The translation/localization was also superb (miles ahead of Volume 20 and some of the previous volumes).

That said, anyone else think this timeskip should have been a spin-off light novel series ? Surprised author kept it as is, but maybe people wouldn't have picked it up.

Alright I ranted too much, so tldr;

I have a really hard time recommending the series to people. It's a pretty messy read as far as fantasy story goes. I also have a hard time imagining future anime seasons (if ever) gripping people because of it. Fortunately, I can say that this tiny reboot with Volume 21 was probably what I was secretly hoping for. In my top 3 out of the 21 books easily.