The Grimm Variations (Japanese: グリム組曲, Hepburn: Gurimu Kumikyoku, ’Grimm’s Suite’)
Genre Anthology[1]
Original net animation
Directed by Yōko Kanamori, Yasuhiro Akamatsu, Jun’ichirō Hashiguchi, Yumi Kamamura, Masato Takeuchi, Shintarou Nakazawa
Produced by George Wada
Written by Michiko Yokote
Music by Akira Miyagawa
Studio Wit Studio
Episodes 6 Runtime 32–46 minutes
Manga
Illustrated by Kōji Megumi
Original run April 17, 2024
1 “Cinderella” (Japanese: シンデレラ) Yōko Kanamori April 17, 2024
2 “Little Red Riding Hood” (Japanese: 赤ずきん) Yasuhiro Akamatsu April 17, 2024
3 “Hansel and Gretel” (Japanese: ヘンゼルとグレーテル) Jun’ichirō Hashiguchi April 17, 2024
4 “The Elves and the Shoemaker” (Japanese: 小人の靴屋) Yumi Kamamura April 17, 2024
5 “The Town Musicians of Bremen” (Japanese: ブレーメンの音楽隊) Masato Takeuchi April 17, 2024
6 “Pied Piper of Hamelin” (Japanese: ハーメルンの笛吹き) Shintarou Nakazawa April 17, 2024
When I was a kid, I was a huge fan of the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. One of the many elements of that series was “Fractured Fairy Tales” which was a retelling of the old “Once upon a time” fables with a refreshingly sardonic and satirical twist. It was a time when our only other exposure to the old tales was the Bowdlerized Disney versions. At age eight I found those to be boring, mostly because they were boring. Eventually I read the original Grimm stories and discovered the dark central European core that lay at the heart of them.
Netflix has picked up a fairly amazing Japanese ONA series, The Grimm Variations, which keeps the dark core of the stories and changes everything else. Call it the anti-Disney variations. These days are fractured, stirred, had lots of salt added, and remelded into entirely new tellings.
Take Cinderella. Sure, you know the tale. But THIS telling is one of truly vicious gaslighting and horrific psychological manipulation, and does not end ‘happily ever after.’ Even as you’re shivering, you realize you watched something quite extraordinary. Alfred Hitchcock would have nodded in admiration.
All the stories were produced by George Wada, and Michiko Yokote wrote all of them. The art and animation are consistent, and beautifully rendered, but each story has its own director, and the settings and characters vary enormously. There isn’t a weak one in the lot, and the creepy and chilling “Pied Piper” bookends Cinderella in tone and darkness. The use of classical music throughout is a marvel to listen to, even the sprightly and polka-influenced version of Chopin’s Funeral March.
It’s one of those little miracles that Netflix still manages to pop up with, with gratifying results.