Review is for the Light Novel up to book 11 which is right now the newest one translated.

Story: Grimgar has a very slow and character driven story. A lot of time is used to show the interaction of the characters with each other and their own self image, especially from the perspective of Haruhiro, the main POV character through most of the series. But there are also bits for a greater narrative that takes place and is very slowly brought up and explained to the reader. We learn more and more about the world and also therefore about the mystery where they came from, why they cant remember their previous world and the truth behind all that. That is very slowly but consistently build up through the series and in my opinion very well executed and keeps the tension high especially as we know that the main characters are quite weak and there is always the chance that one might die.
in the end it has tension, amazing character development and interesting fights as well as a higher plot that slowly begins to unravel. 10/10


Art: The art is sometimes a bit unusual but it rather dark tone with more shades works very well for the characters so I`m satisfied there.
8/10


The world: Something Grimgar really shines in is its worldbuilding. We learn a lot about how our characters life, what they usually do and what they know about the world. we learn about different species, more about the geography and history of this world and as the story continues even about more than just this world. Many things are explained or at least mentioned and its easy to feel with the characters as you know their circumstances and lifes quite well.
10/10

the characters: By far the main driving point of this series. At first they mostly feel one dimensional and stereotypical but the more the story continues the more we learn about the characters and the more you come to care about them. Their struggle, their bickering and so much more really makes you feel with them. One explanation is that they are just in essence totally normal people, of different background and history that were summoned in this world. they don't have knowledge from their original world or any kind of cheat skills or abilities and even struggle to defeat even the weakest opponents. It's a very realistic approach to the typical Isekai Genre where usually the Main Character has some sort of advantage and is quite overpowered from the beginning. So the feeling that death is a real threat to the characters and that they must improve and work together to overcome this is an important part of the story and one I quite enjoy. Another point is how the characters develop and bond due to loss, new challenges and new comrades or places they visit. They change, all of them do, but its not so abrupt as one big moment and the personality changed 100%. You can see that they slowly change over time and while deep losses leave their scares you see that the characters need time to evolve and accept it or to start and rethink their decisions.

But what I love most about the characters is, that after reading from the perspective of all of them I can bond with them on an emotional level. This is because they are all deeply flawed and scarred from the very beginning. Haruhiro for example has deep inferiority complex and depression due to which he often cannot see himself in a good light, and constantly compares himself to stronger volunteer soldiers instead of accepting his own grow. He is aware of that, but also knows that just being aware doesn't mean that he can simply change and become a different person, which I personally love about the story. I feel like the author really knows this kind of attitude well, an attitude that I feel I share to some extend so that I'm really happy to find a negativ character who tries to overcome his flaws but knows the difficulty of this and changes only little over the course of the story. That is in my eyes on of he best writing I have ever seen, and I have never felt so connected to a character personally than to him, because he is the first character that really thinks the same way I do. And that is something I can say about all characters to an extend. They all have their own problems that hold them back. These problems may change but more often than not I feel like to true enemy lies not in the monsters they are fighting but in their own heart. Which is why charachters would get even more than 10/10 if possible.

At last let me say that Grimgar will not speak to everyone. The plot advances very slowly and mostly concentrates on the group and their little interactions. For those that love overpowered or strong protagonists, powerful magic or a fast exciting plot this may not be the story. But if you like small interactions and slow development over time I truly recommend this Light Novel series to you. I have read 11 volumes so far and I can safely say that together with Spice and Wolf its my favourite Light Novel of all time