Reading Record of Grancrest War is very much an inside look into the process of consuming different mediums. A relevant example is Game of Thrones. The TV series rarely strayed away from the books until they had no choice, so, if the books ever get finished, we can finally compare how HBO adapted it compared to George R.R. Martin’s take.
So as I’m reading Record of Grancrest War volume 2, the differing forms of entertainment come very much into play as the same scenes…somewhat play out and actually play out completely differently. So if you’ve watched episode 2 and about half into episode 3 of the anime, the story beats are the same. Lassic David charges in to face Theo and crew, and a flame chaos creature attacks a village.
But it’s extended far more in the manga for the big battle between David and Theo, and, by extension, Siluca and Moreno’s fight, and…one character in the anime that played a role in the village scene doesn’t appear in this volume? In addition, there’s a scene between Aishela and Siluca that didn’t get adapted into the anime, but more on the last few things later.
For now, we focus on the battle between David and Theo, which may or may not come down to preference. In this manga version, it has the characters stall a lot more when it comes to how they interact (how Aishela and Petr chat on the battlefield, for example), and during Siluca and Moreno’s battle, they added backstory as to how Moreno’s working with David. The battle ends about the same way, but it’s shown differently in the manga compared to the anime, from how Siluca’s fight ultimately ends to how Theo steps in. I definitely prefer the anime version in this case.
There are additional details in the manga — like how Siluca really felt after the battle (while in the hot springs with Aishela) to Theo continuing to interact with the villagers as they rally around his cause. It’s the village part that at least provides context to how the characters feel when it’s attacked by chaos. But is it really necessary to show Theo wearing a farmer’s hat? And also necessary for Aishela to be far more flirtier in the manga to Siluca than in the anime? So many questions regarding those that the anime staff had to consider, but really, it just shows how much they had to work with, for better or worse.
Though a big change happens in this volume — one character that shows up by this point in the anime is not in this volume! Is that character in volume 3? Dunno, but it totally reflects either a tone or a change out of convenience. It also does make you question how much the anime staff took liberties with the source material, but if the manga is adapting the LN closely, then maybe they made some good decisions. It does feel so bizarre to see a scene where Lassic and Theo fight together to beat some more Lords in the manga, and no such scene exists early in the anime, but it’s probably for the best. Maybe.
Anyways, if you’re not a fan of the art style of this manga, well, it’s not like it gets better in any real way. It just makes the characters sometimes look goofier (or younger) than ever. The manga is definitely typical standard fare, but there are some moments where you can’t help but laugh at Theo or Siluca’s facial expressions. Or wonder how the manga can make Siluca remember to wear proper clothing during the village scene. The battles were mixed in with some backstory, so any great action isn’t really in this volume. The end teases a big battle in volume 3, and I can only hope that’s when we’ll see some of that.
For now it’s just getting the ladies into the hot springs and discovering scenes not seen in the anime.