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TokuNation
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- Tokusatsu Show Discussion
(https://www.tokunation.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=20)
- - DS Wants You! To Watch Toku(-inspired) Anime!
(https://www.tokunation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=96413)
Episode 14: Soul Moon Pictured above: Vega from the Street Fighter series. This was an episode that many in the US have seen done before, but it was done effectively, and as such I have no complaints. The overall moral of the episode is the age old "It's the inside that counts" lesson, which, I think is something many people even today still need to learn. And again, it's not like the lesson itself was delivered terribly. I also approve of the episode being rather simplistic here, as this episode is also our introduction into the second arc of the anime. Seimei is gone now, and her departure clearly has a lasting effect on Raiko and Kintoki. Plus, the titular Crimson Moon finally makes its appearance. In exchange for Seimei, Zaruba is now a part of the regular cast again. Interestingly enough though, no mention of there being a specific pact with him and Raiko like there was with Leon in the previous anime. And speaking of things missing, the James Bond-esque self-destructing letters from the Watchdog Center also seems to be gone. Something else that I definitely appreciated was the how dynamic the action sequence was this time around. The Crimson Moon showing up and making the Horror of the week stronger kinda demanded it, and even besides the length, sequence itself with all of the masks, while certainly on the nose in terms of the overall message of the episode, made for a really cool visual and I really dug the entire thing. And lastly, we have a new OP and ED! In terms of visuals, these ones are definitely alot more dynamic than the first set that we got. In terms of the songs themselves, I'd say they're about even in terms of quality? Not bad, but nothing I'd say is super fantastic either. Overall, I liked this episode. I felt it served as a good intro into our next big arc, and I think it nailed beauty in simplicity. Good stuff. |
Episode 15: Worst That title is accurate because holy crap is this episode awful! It's also the sort of thing where I feel like I need to put some sort of warning up front. Not the typical content warnings that other websites use, though. No, because see, this episode decided it wanted to have commentary on gender politics and the nature of affairs/cheating, which in turn makes it really difficult and uncomfortable for me to talk about. So I'll just say it here, if I at any point cross some sort of line or show any kind of misunderstanding in my reflections of the episode in this post, feel free to call me out. I'm an ace man, I don't deal with romance, and I sure as hell am not any sort of expert in this kind of ordeal. With that out of the way, what is this episode even about? Well, they decided to make an episode centered entirely around Masamune, the aristocrat who's spent the entire anime doing nothing but cheating on his wife and making advances on young girls. A very shallow character, but one that was never portrayed as funny, or in the right, or even as a remotely good person. When the latest attempt at cheating on his wife goes south, Masamune's' wife decides she's had enough and starts putting her foot down about how their household is ran. In response, Izumi(the informant Raiko and co use every now and then) hires Raiko and Kintoki to spy on Masamune in an attempt to keep him out of trouble while she tries to find a way to get Masamune to stop being an awful husband. Now, with how frustrating I've already noted this episode to be, you might already have an idea of what exactly goes on here; The idea that the episode goes out of its way to glorify Masamune and portray his wife as the bad guy. But what this so weird is that you'd only be half right. This episode doesn't make anyone look good. Not Masamune, not his wife, not men, not women. It's so wishy-washy and inept that I honestly can't even tell what the hell this episode was trying to do other than be a giant waste of time. Because here's the thing that gets me. This episode outright acknowledges that what Masamune does is wrong. He should be faithful to his wife. He shouldn't cheat on her and he should stop sexually harassing women. But then it flips around and says "Oh, all men get like that because of the way women treat them" Which, as a man, is really backhanded and makes me feel awful, thanks. But then the episode flips around AGAIN to say "No, Masamune is incapable of change or improvement, and now that his wife is gone hes back to being an incredibly awful person regardless." Just... what is even the idea here? This episode says men cheating and being creeps are wrong, but then turns and goes "It wouldn't happen if women handled men better. But it is okay if women cheat though. Also if a man hits on them it's their fault." Just... what in the world!? Did I miss something in all of this? I... man, this was easily the worst episode across the entire franchise so far. Even ignoring the hugely problematic "message" it has, there's no action to speak of, the moments played for laughs so are not funny, and the entire experience was just incredibly uncomfortable for me. Heck, in terms of plot, the only thing that progressed was Izumi agreeing to do research on the Crimson Moon. And again, even on a character basis it fails because Masamune doesn't at all grow as a person or redeem himself, and every other character only looks worse due to the nature and execution of the entire scenario. It's the type of garbage I'd've expected out of Blassreiter, not this, a show I've been liking! Overall, this episode is an absolute waste of time, and you're better off skipping it entirely. Total crap. |
Thankfully this episode was alot better than the previous one. And wouldn'tcha know it? It's a Hakamadare episode! This one being about his relationship with Yasumasa, his brother. It's the sort of episode though where there really isn't much else to say except that I liked it. Everything the episode done is very simple, straightforward, and to the point. And as I've said many times before, there's nothing wrong with that. As for the "plot" of the episode itself, it's mainly about how the Crimson Moon seems to be turning more people into Horrors, and how the head of the police became corrupted. Interesting twist though in that while we are rooting for Hakamadare, Hakamadare himself is actually guilty of many of the crimes listed. Sure, in the end, said police chief did infact kill alot of people and was practicing police brutality, but he wasn't actually guilty for any of the thefts or murders of the aristocrats who became Horrors, yet they're pinned on him anyway. It's the fact that he himself is a Horror and that Hakamadare is acting as Robin Hood that the audience roots for who they do. Outside of that, the scenes between Hakamadare and Yasumasa are sweet in their own right, and highlight their own philosophies on justice. However, my favorite scene in the whole episode is actually a very quick and minor one between Hakamadare and Raiko, wherein Hakamadare straight up tells Raiko that he doesn't give a crap about the show's' overarcing plot and is more focused on his own personal quest. It was neat. All in all, a fine episode. Certainly much better than the previous one. |
Episode 17: Extinguished Star Seimei is back, and with her, a giant leap forward in the plot. This one was unique in that, while alot happens, alot also kinda doesn't happen? It's hard for me to explain, exactly. There's alot of exposition, and this episode is very much a lead-in to the climax of the anime overall. Which is weird to say, considering there's 7 episodes left to go. There's also alot of internal character drama going on, with Seimei especially. But like, talking in terms of events, specifically? Not a whole whole lot. As such, I can really only go over what all was revealed here, and give my impressions as to how these reveals were pulled off. The short version? Not bad, and definitely makes me interested as to how this is all gonna go. First off, it's revealed that the Crimson Moon is infact an ancient alchemic seal placed upon an ancient Horror called Rudra, known as one of the strongest Horrors ever, to the point that's more referred to as a catastrophic disaster rather than as a simple Horror. This seal was created by Seimei's' ancestors, and Ashiya Doma recently was able to crack it open somehow. Seimei meanwhile has been struggling with the darkness that seal absorbed from Raiko, which has been slowly eating away at her and giving constant feelings of depression and anxiety. This too, was a part of Doma's' plan, as he wished to create his own powerful Horror using Seimei as a vessel. I definitely liked the character drama aspects of all of this, even if the build up this exact plan could've been handled and showcased alot better. As I've said before, it helps that Seimei has proven to be a rather likable character throughout the show. And lastly, and probably the weakest part in all of this, we get a small insight into Xehanort's' motivation: A big reason as to why he wants to destroy the world is to get revenge on Michinaga, the corrupt lord of the Light Palace. Which is really odd to me considering Xehanort directly cooperated with Michinaga early on in the show. I'm sure we'll be given more detail later on, but as of right now, that's pretty weak, and Xehanort was better off as a simply for the evil type of guy. But hey, maybe it'll improve, and if nothing else perhaps tie into the commentary on corrupt officials that this show has had so far. Outside of that, there's the usual affair here when it comes to Crimson Moon: Weak action scenes with alot of exposition. Although said exposition did feel alot more natural this time around, and the fight between Seimei and Xehanort wasn't bad. All in all, a pretty solid build up episode to lead us into the final act of the anime. |
Episode 18: Frenzy Man, funny how a budget episode can have some of the most striking visuals! I'm not trying to be mean here when I say "budget episode" by the way, because this one very much is; There's a ton of tricks used here to save on animation. And yet, this episode also makes sure to have every shot count. And even more importantly than that, it makes sure to have everything that's going on actually be interesting and important to the characters. Seimei being converted into a vessel for Rudra, Yorinobu becoming the new head of the police, the reval of what lies at the core of the Light Palace... it's all very cool stuff that kept my attention all throughout the episode. Seimei now being a tool for Xehanort of course being the big emotional crux here. And again, they made sure to have the bits that required a little bit more budget to animate actually count! Dark Seimei's' spells of course being the one one. They all look very cool; Being inverted versions of the magic that Seimei normally uses. I really dug how the corrupted Shikigami all look like blood sucking butterflies, given Seimei's' phobia of them. Very strong character moments all throughout too. Such as Kintoki trying to bear the burden for Raiko, and Raiko, despite his internal suffering, trying to do what he knows is the right thing in this situation. It's very telling that while he still defends himself against Seimei, and knows there's not much of an option outside of killing her, he still hesitates and is only able to keep his guard up thanks to the occasional shout from Zaruba. And speaking of characters, man, very happy to see that Kaguya wasn't just some bit character that the show forgot about! Her being a reincarnated spirit of the moon who's able to seal Horrors away was a nice surprise, and her being able to casually dispel Rudra's' magic was really awesome to see after how threatening it proved to be. I hope the trend of past characters coming back continues because I love stuff like that, as it shows a heroes' actions having a direct payoff. All in all a rather nice episode! Can't complain. |
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I was aware of most of these. Alot of it comes down to how much leeway the viewer is willing to give Akane and how much they're willing to downplay the lives of the people of the city. Is Akane lonely? Yes. Was Alexis an influence on her? Also yes. But that doesn't change that fact that she killed people for petty reasons while laughing about it. Speaking for me personally, there's only so much leeway I can grant Akane here. Should she seek to be better and repent for her actions? Yes. Do I just instantly forgive her because of her negative emotions like everyone else in the show does, even those who logcially shouldn't have the "programmed to like her" excuse? No. We are never shown Alexis out and out forcing Akane into anything up until the very end, and there's literally no reason to doubt Alexis when he says that Akane was already the way she was when he found her. Does he get alot of enjoyment out of her Kaiju attacks? Yes. Did he ever once threaten her into making one, or force a Kaiju to come alive when she didn't want it? Again, not up until the very end of the show. It also doesn't help that, programs or not, the people of the the city are still treated as actually living beings with their own thoughts and feelings, with Dynazenon only going on to hammer this in even more. If they weren't, there'd be no reason to care about any of the characters in this show. I see why some like Akane and her arc. Me personally though? Not a fan. |
Episode 19: Vessel No matter how jagged your path is, you'll always come back to the role. This is another episode where I feel there's not really much I can say about it other than the fact that I liked it? It's an episode focused almost entirely on dialogue and exposition, with alot of the emotional weight coming from Raiko struggling over the decision of whether or not killing Seimei would be the right thing to do. The origins of Kaguya and Xehanort are also revealed. Kaguya being a Mado Tool designed to seal Rudra, and Xehanort being Michinaga's' twin brother, cast out of the royal family at birth. Thus, we also finally learned what Xehanort's' primary motivation is: Making the entire world feel as hopelessly empty as he does. I feel like the scene between Xehanort and Michinaga was the one I was into the most, as if the episode wanted to it could have really dived deep into the sort of the things the two bring up there. How those who are self-righteous can be every bit as bad as those who embrace villainy, how being a Horror isn't just simply a result of being malicious, and the duality of man. The show never really cares to dive super deep into those things, and granted, it doesn't need to, but I definitely found it interesting that it bothered to bring them up in the first place. Meanwhile because I care about the majority of the cast of this show, Raiko's' internal struggle over the burden that the Watchdog Center has placed on him definitely kept me engaged, and with Hakamadare now on the scene, it'll be interesting to see how he goes about things as well. All in all, a good episode. Nothing super duper intrinsic or exciting, but one that felt necessary and kept my attention. Good stuff. |
that's one of the interesting things about garo as a whole: no matter how rotten or evil some humans are in this franchise makai knights and priests are forbidden from doing anything to them as long as they remain human-no matter how much they would want to punish them
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