Episode XII: Blood Moon

https://i.imgur.com/Lb5RkCM.png

Real quick tangent. I decided that, what with the whole waxing red moon and all, I should note something that's been in the back of my mind the entire time I've been watching this anime, and I kinda hinted at it before with my whole joke about this being an anime of a JRPG.

GARO The Animation is straight up the closest we'll ever get to having an animated adaptation of The Legend of Dragoon. If you've never heard of or played it, and you like JRPGs, I highly recommend that you do, as it's one of my favorite games of all time, and trust me when I say that any comparisons I can make between this show and that game is only a compliment.

With that out of the way, it's the final fight against Mendosa, and man was I surprised at seeing that he could throw down. Granted it makes sense, him being an ex-Makai Alchemist and all.

It also, given everything we've grown to know about the characters so far, made total sense that this episode went the way that it did.

Mendosa triggering Leon with horrific images of his mother, to the point that he basically becomes a Horror himself? Leon fully giving into his desire for revenge, given that his mother's' murderer is right infront of him? Alfonso putting his duties as a Prince above all else? This entire episode played out in an entirely logical and well thought out way, and I really appreciated it for that. The great action sequences really helped too.

https://i.imgur.com/NbpGoTM.png

It also makes sense that Leon in the end wasn't strong enough to take down Mendosa or the Horror. Not only due to his own personal demons, but also because he's not the one who dealt the killing blow on the Chimera, Alfonso was. Alfonso, being royalty as well as growing to become a JRPG hero in his own right, also shows the right to become the hero of legend, with or without Zaruba. By the way, showing Zaruba getting outright overloaded? Nice touch there. Alfonso also has a nice cape. Case in point:

https://i.imgur.com/tDL3AjM.png

From what I'm told, Alfonso's' version of the GARO armor is actually a direct reference to one of the heroes from the live-action series, though I don't really know any specifics, having not seen that yet.

By the end, the group has now split apart in a way that I imagine none of them are happy with, most especially Leon, and I'm very interested in seeing where the show goes from here.

Alfonso's Garo Armor in general is basically the standard version we see in the Live Action series. It still keeps some of the bestial anime stylized elements because you know, distinction. But it looks a lot more like classic Garo then Leon's more broken version.

Speaking of variations on Garo Armor, Leon's berserk form is basically a reference to the Lost Soul Transformation in the Garo Series. Basically, anytime a Lost Soul shows up it's real bad and not a good time.

But yeah, everything comes together for a real nice mid-season climax, you've got German who bested his old friend turned enemy, Alfonso is able to take on the armor of Garo due to his bloodline, and Leon well... Leon's a mess.

For good reason, stuff like his isn't exactly the easiest to get over. But that's the thing about Makai Knights and Garo, their primary goal is to protect humanity. They are the shadows that strike and protect humanity and don't get themselves involved. The idea of revenge, and vengeance, even with those allied or using Horror's, isn't the right mindset for a Knight to have.

And unless Leon acknowledges his failings and the core goal of a Makai Knight, well he'll sorta just be stuck in one place forever.

So in other words if Alfonso ends up being my favorite character by the end I can totally just buy any random GARO figure and easily headcanon it as him in the suit. Nice.

Thank you for the info, by the way!

Episode XIII: Burning Ashes

https://i.imgur.com/TCy96nO.png

This episode did alot of things that I didn't expect.

The first of which being opening with a disco number. Not that I dislike it per se, but like... odd choice? I do prefer the first opening though. Love me some JAM Project.

Onto the episode itself, this one is all about how everyone is dealing with life now that Valiante has been saved and Mendosa is gone. German finds a woman he doesn't immediately want to bang, Alfonso is being The Hero...

And Emma? It was a small scene, but I felt like it spoke volumes. Despite her voiced distaste for the Makai Order, she still went to the head of the Knighthood anyway. Why? To try to find Leon, whom she truly values as a friend and ally now. You can tell she doesn't like it, but it said alot how she was willing to swallow her pride some for the sake of someone she cared about.

Oh, and Leon? Leon's seen better days.

https://i.imgur.com/WQs52wK.png

Not gonna lie, this episode made me dislike "Shadow Beast" even more, and makes me want to promote the idea of outright skipping that episode even more. Why? Because this episode did damn near everything that one did. Except in a WAY better way.

The only action seen in this episode is a 1-minute tussle with a random Horror, easily dealt with by Alfonso and German. The rest of this episode is all about Leon and him trying to find a new purpose in his life. And yeah, I definitely really felt for the guy in this one, and the episode did good by having the family he meets be written in an incredibly likeable and relatable way. Abuella is the best because she acts exactly like my Grandma and I will not hear otherwise.

While German was right in saying that Leon's' best help was himself, I did like how the episode showed how good influences can and do have a great impact on people. I'm sure many of us have had depressive episodes like what Leon had, and speaking solely for myself here, I would not have made it out nearly as well if not for the people around me. And on that note, I really appreciate this episode for having the message of "Even if you feel you've lost your purpose in life, you can always work to find a new one." Powerful stuff.

And for the second time ever, the last shot of the episode totally got me.

https://i.imgur.com/Tlm3nLx.png

Because it was at this moment I realized. "Oh shit, they never actually learned about Octavia!"

I really enjoy B.B. a lot as an opening theme, and in true Garo fashion, we get a different song once we hit mid-season, if it's a 24 to 25 episode season anyway. Though in the cases of the Live Action stuff, we usually get more instrumental chanting tracks than actual music for the first half before switching over to your usual serving of Jam Project.

I was waiting for you to get to this episode in particular after your watch of Shadow Beast. Purely because yeah, I guess you could call it foreshadowing, but that's a stretch. Because man, is that concept done way, way better here! While Leon was fairly interesting before, this second half, this is where I truly ended up enjoying him greatly as a character and think he shines the most.

Also hehe yep, while we're definitely in a more calm and relaxed state than the first half, we've still got some things left hanging that'll fill out the rest of the season.

I should point out the during it's original airing there was roughly a month between episodes 12 and 13 (could have sworn it was more then that but then I looked up the dates)
So imagine finishing episode 12 and then having to wait a minth to find out what happened to Leon

Do any of the live-action openings feature a disco dance? I gotta know.

I can just imagine me if I'd watched the show as it aired. I'd've been like "Is the show over? Did they really go for the downer ending. Dang man..."

It's more rock songs I'll be honest and a lot of sword swinging. Tbh, B.B. is insanely different from what I remember of all the Jam Project songs because it just has that real nice jazzy funk to it.

Episode XIV: Geste

https://i.imgur.com/liYalIk.png

This was a fun one.

Whereas last episode was all about Leon, this one focuses almost entirely on Alfonso and German, while having a small sidestory about two lovers too.

One question that immediately came to my mind that Alfonso took it upon himself to not only be the Prince, but also Valliante's' personal vigilante was "How does he even manage to balance that?"

The answer to that question is "Barely." In another logical step taken in the show's' writing, it's shown that the dude is basically starting to sleepwalk through his days. And who can blame him? The kingdom is still recovering from a crisis, and being a Makai Knight the rest of the time gives basically zero time for rest.

Alfonso's' sneaking out also showed that, while small, he does have a mischievous side to him, which I liked seeing. And later on when it comes to dealing with the bandits, I again loved the dynamic the show has going where Alfonso keeps being naive in thinking that German is some noble hero, and German, not wanting to disappoint is nephew is all "Yeah... you got it!"

https://i.imgur.com/BiEGMok.png

That's not to say that Leon gets nothing though. I really liked the scene between him and Emma. Emma doesn't belittle him, or even make any jokes at his expense. She honestly congratulates Leon for being able to find a place he belongs. Also I know I said before that I don't like the Armors being the only CG thing in the show, and I still don't, but can I just real quick say that I love this show's' artstyle otherwise? It's very appealing to me.

This episode isn't perfect though. There are a few contrivances to keep the plot of it moving forward, the exposition is very blatant, the twist anyone could see coming a mile away, and I felt the ending was too abrupt. Not saying I hated this episode by any means though. I still had fun with it, and this being a blatant oneoff episode helps me to overlook its shortcomings. The characters and their interactions are the primary focus here, and I am all for that. So I guess I'll this one off a screenshot of true love:

https://i.imgur.com/oRYZQlC.png

Find you someone who'll jump off a building and get you saved by a mystical knight in shining armor, folks.

Episode XV: Project G

Wait, Project G? Was GARO a a distant prequel to Agito all along!?

Jokes aside, I mean... kinda! In this episode we get to see Julio again! And right away I wanna address something.

https://i.imgur.com/QlyVKcQ.png

What the heck was this scene? Do video cameras exist in this show's' version of ye olde Spain? If so, that raises so many questions! Does TV exist? Is the entire anime secretly a Movie set? WHAT WAS UP WITH THIS??

Speaking of one off scenes, there's another one in this episode with Leon back at the farm. I get what they were going for with having Farm Girl(I'm bad with names, have you guys noticed yet?) seeing his scars, but it does run contrary to what we've seen before, as Leon has been shirtless in other episodes. Not a big deal, just something I noticed.

The real meat of this episode is Julio and his fellow blacksmiths coming together to try and forge their own Makai Armor, inspired by Alfonso's' heroics as GARO. This type of plot has been done alot in superhero shows. Heck, Kamen Rider has done it plenty of times(like the aforementioned Agito), but I still liked this.

Speaking of meat...

https://i.imgur.com/rwOYEy2.png

RIP Sebastian, you were too pure for this world.

But yeah, this was a nice little slice-of-life episode. It was cool to get a follow-up on one of the side characters, and provided a nice break from the typical dark action stories that the show typically provides. I liked that in the end, the "beast" really was just a normal grizzly bear and not a Horror. Them giving the Robo-GARO a Rocket Punch was hilariously awesome too. And gotta admit, this scene made me laugh a little harder than it should've:

https://i.imgur.com/Tm6ZUVO.png

That reaction was priceless to me.

But yeah, nice little episode. Fun times.