My biggest issues with the Gavan movie really came down to the amount of exposition it had and its length.

With the among of cash, time, and man power to finish all productions for 2 1-hour long shows (Sharivan and Shaider OVs) within 3 weeks I'll say that is pretty damn good.
As for story I won't complain much about them because those are ordered by Sakamoto.
Let's talk about it in the proper thread next time.

Nice

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B31Cry0CYAAgpB2.jpg

Is it weird that I'm a little bummed to see Rian wearing symmetrical pants?

They changed their hairstyles. I am unsure how to feel about this, they just seem so different now. I mean Ryuga looks like he's actually related to the Saejimas now. Wonder if our Blue Archer will return, or if he's done acting as men in blue suits shooting arrows.

I think it's proof that Keita Amemiya is a leg man.

He's actually directing Gold Storm, right? As far as I recall his only credit on "The One Who Shines in the Darkness" was as "Creator" (was he busy doing Shougeki Gouraigan with Inoue at the time?). Rian wore those asymmetrical pants back then. As soon as Amemiya takes more of a role in this part of the universe, she's in shorts. Maybe I'm reading too much into that.

I'm happy to see Ryuga and Rian back though, as I did like that series, so it's good to see it wasn't a one-off. I'm hoping it's different though. Ryuga's journey especially was of a young inexperienced knight earning the title of Garo, rather than him just fixing the armor, while working through his issues with Burai and bonding with Aguri & Takeru. So I'm expecting a more mature Ryuga this time out.

So... Garo the animation?

It's okay. Started off pretty bad but I've enjoyed the last few episodes. We have a Kaoru now, and that should help make Leon a proper character. Alfonso is still the better protagonist by far, though.

I kinda prefer Leon over Alfonso tbh. The changeover was a fantastic shakeup but since settling into the mantle Alfonso has become a more stereotypical Garo. With Leon it felt like something different.

I LOVED the last episode with the townspeople making the armour though. The anime pulls off one-shot side stories really well.

I agree, at this point I'm a lot more interested on how Leon develops now in the show. And going by the end credit stills it looks like he'll get some new gear.