Record of Grancrest War (Episode 1) – Contract
Years after witnessing the end of peace on the continent of Atlantan, Siluca Meletes was on her way to agree to a contract with a lord when a much more interesting opportunity presented itself.
What happened?
A marriage had been arranged that would have brought peace to the land, but the demon lord, Diabolos appeared and took the heads of the two archdukes. After this tragedy, war erupted once more, engulfing the lands. One young mage, who was present at the wedding, has finally graduated and is to study under a master magician. However, he has a thing for pretty girls and she’s not too happy about the arrangement.
So, when a group of men from the rival faction attempt to stop her from reaching her destination, Siluca is all too happy to give them what they want. However, just as she was prepared to attack, a young lord arrives and challenges the men. He has a crest, a weak one, but a crest nonetheless. Siluca decides to step back and see what this young lord is made of. He defeats the men and sends them packing, however, his skills with a sword are not exactly polished.
After hearing what the young lord desires, Siluca offers Theo the chance to increase his crest and go after his dream. All he has to do is defeat a demon, that Siluca summoned, and add its chaos core to his crest. Amazingly, he defeats the demon, although it was largely down to luck. With his crest increased, Siluca agrees to a contract with him, although Theo wasn’t to sure of the idea. With a mage at his side, Theo challenges the lord that sent the men and takes his crest and lands. However, this is just the beginning as Siluca appears to have some grand plans.
What did you think?
I vaguely remember seeing this poster image for Record of Grancrest War when it first came out and thought it would be something I’d like to see, but hadn’t got around to it until now. Epic fantasy is one of my favourite genres and especially when it has a darker twist to it. This series opened with a pretty good scene where the two archdukes were killed by the demon lord. There are some interesting elements in this episode and they’ve done enough to pique my interest in the world-building aspects. I love seeing how the world fits together.
However, the most interesting thing so far is Siluca, and not for the obvious reasons. I found her interest in Theo to be a little sudden and as such, I don’t believe that it’s down to just him and what he wants to achieve. I feel like she is looking to cause chaos which makes me question her motives. This could develop into a pretty interesting twist, so I’ll be looking out for clues.
What have you learnt?
So, whether intentional or not, I love the idea that we have this powerful mage who is going against all the rules to do whatever she wants, especially as she’s the central character. Action wise, it didn’t really deliver much, although the demon lord was cool. There is a lot of potential for this to have political intrigue and epic fights with demons and rival factions. I certainly don’t think this is going to be the standard quest to destroy the demon lord sort of story.
I wouldn’t say I’m excited, but I am certainly curious and hope that Record of Grancrest War will deliver on the intrigue.
Other reviews in the series
- Season One
- Episode 1 – Contract
- Episode 2 – Ambition
- Episode 3 – Battle Flag
- Episode 4 – Decision
- Episode 5 – Forest of Eternal Darkness
- Episode 6 – March
- Episode 7 – The White Prince
- Episode 8 – The Congress Dances
- Episode 9 – The Black Princess
- Episode 10 – Blade of Betrayal
- Episode 11 – The Fall of Castle Unicorn
- Episode 12 – A Treaty Formed
- Episode 13 – To the Homeland
- Episode 14 – The Liberator of Sistina
- Episode 15 – Return
- Episode 16 – Outpost
- Episode 17 – Two Heroes
- Episode 18 – Leader
- Episode 19 – The Awakening of a Noble
- Episode 20 – Pitched Battle of the Three Forces
- Episode 21 – Purge
- Episode 22 – The Holy Grail
- Episode 23 – Castle Walls
- Episode 24 – Grancrest
Other shows I’m watching
Discounted and Free Books
The screen shot you have of Siluca with the sun behind her? That’s been my iPhone’s lock screen since it came out. I still haven’t found a better shot.
I know the series got a lot of flak, but you know what? I thoroughly enjoyed it. I see it as an outline for a mammoth, epic fantasy series.
And I’m happy we at least got the outline.
Expect wide but not deep. Plus, there are a ton of fun characters.
I’m looking forward to reading your reviews!
You should see what else I got off your iPhone…
It was one that I had meant to get around to watching back when it first aired, and as a sucker for epic fantasy I thought I’d give it a go, especially as it’s twenty-four episodes long.
I’m looking forward to watching the rest of the season, so that I can write those reviews. So, thanks.