Hai To Gensou No Grimgar Doujinshi and Comics

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash (灰と幻想のグリムガルHai to Gensō no Gurimugaru) is a Japanese light novel series written by Ao Jūmonji and illustrated by Eiri Shirai. The story follows a group of people who suddenly find themselves in a fantasy world with no memories from before their arrival, and chronicles their struggles to survive and make a life for themselves as volunteer soldiers.

Mutsumi Okubashi began serializing a manga adaptation in Gangan Joker in 2015. The novels were adapted into a 12-episode anime television series that ran from January to March 2016. An original video animation was released in March 2016. The anime is licensed in North America by Funimation as Grimgar, Ashes and Illusions, while J-Novel Club has acquired the rights to publish the original novels in English and Yen Press published the manga adaptation.

The story begins by showing a group of novice adventurers battling goblins in a forest. The party seems utterly out of their element and is forced to flee. It is revealed through a flashback that the party, which likely originates from modern Earth, awoke with a large group of people on this world just a few weeks ago.

With no memory of how they arrived and no other options they are quickly pressed into service as Trainee Volunteer Soldiers by a mysterious individual named Chief Britney. Some take to this better than others. The lead party is composed of the leftover individuals who did not.

Led by a man named Manato they have banded together, joined class guilds, and begun hunting weak monsters as a way to grow stronger and earn the money they need to survive. Initially things do not go well. Eventually, the party learns to work as a unit and experiences enough success hunting goblins to move from the forest to a ruined city. There, Manato dies saving them from ambush and leaves the responsibility for the group to the thief, Haruhiro.

Thrown into despair, the party is fractured and grieves for their lost friend, never having realized just how much Manato did to hold them all together. Once the party comes to terms with their loss, they take in a new Priest named Merry.

Merry is initially distant and broken from the loss of her own party, for which she blames herself, but gradually comes to regard Haruhiro and the party as friends though she remains distant. Back to full strength the party seeks to avenge Manato by striking at the heart of the goblin encampment in the ruins. After slaying the goblin king the party finds closure and decides to help Merry do the same by moving their monster hunting to the kobold-infested mines where her old party fell.

The season ends with Merry's past behind her and the surviving heroes coming to terms with the life and death nature of their time on the world of Grimgar.

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