Garo: Makai Retsuden discussion
 

Another year, another new Garo series. I'm actually a little sad that I've become accustomed to this - it feels a little less special when Garo is an annual franchise (and when the last few entries have been underwhelming, let's be honest).

No new knight this year - it's a weekly anthology series drawing upon beloved characters from previous years (and maybe Crow). And, kind of surprisingly, we start off with Rekka. I can't lie and say this was a super memorable or impressive episode. It's pretty much just a kind of neat ghost story with some Garo elements. There are a couple of nice cameos, but not a lot of mythology or even particularly impressive action. It's nice to be back in the Garo world, but this wasn't the best way to get the series off to a rollicking start. At least it's not the cartoon, though.

Also, the four actress/singers from Gold Storm's endings are back for this year's. I still miss Sakina Kuwae's transcendentally awful orange jumper from the first Gold Storm ED. :lol

I watched this week episode, even if I like Rekka and it wasn't bad, that's really milking the franchise now. With another Zero serie on its way I don't think that one was necessary.

I absolutely loved episode 1 but Rekka is like my waifu here lol. I thought it was great that they gave Rekka an episode all to herself I half expected Kouga to show up through the episode. It showed that she is a strong Makai Priest who handled a difficult situation. I thought it was a bold choice to start with Rekka because I know she isn't the most popular character from the franchise. Still I enjoyed seeing the Makai Knight ghosts and how they were upset and her fighting against them. Also the use of the flute was pretty nice too. I am excited to see what happens next and who is in the next episode.

Episode itself wasn't great (it's Rekka, so I was hardly expecting much) but the idea of one-shot episodes sounds fantastic to me. Aside from visuals Garo's strengths have always lied in one-off stories, especially with recent series like Makai no Hana (which had a godawful ongoing plot but some of the best standalone stuff in the franchise). A series that's potentially all that could be very good indeed.

Seen the first episode, and i kinda like it.While it didn't expand Rekka's character all that much, outside she seems a bit nicer to her old partner and smiles a little more, I did like how it expanded the Garo world a bit with the Forest Grave for the untitled Knights and the backstory behind it. Although I did expect a twist with the grandfather character just not the one we got. But considering the concept of the episode it made sense.

So Zinga/Jinga and Amily are back. Wonder how Gonza would know about them to believably be able to tell the audience a story about them, but that matters little to me. Though this is two weeks now where we haven't seen an armor transformation (yeah Jinga doesn't transform into his armor. This took place before their fall to darkness)

Cool. I was wondering if we would see them this year.

Episode 2: Amiri and Zinga. I like how the show doesn't tell you who the next episode is going to be about. It makes each episode a bit of a surprise. The characters this week were a couple that I honestly wasn't sure we would be seeing, but it was still nice to see them come back. It was especially cool to see them as normal humans. Whenever I go back to watch Gold Storm again I know I'm going to be thinking about this episode. Their backstory was already tragic, but getting to see them when they were younger and fully human really makes you have to feel bad about where things ended up going.

So yeah, nice episode. I'm still waiting for my Makai no Hana style awesome plot with crazy Amemiya school special effects, though. I don't mind some nice, lower key stories like these last two, but I do still want my crazy action scenes with bizarre monsters and armored knights.

Right, that alone has sold me on this series. Did not expect to see them coming back :D

Well, since ep.2 is out, you guys know it's time :

ONORE DIKAIDO ! ;)

Episode 2: This was an amazing episode. I really just kind of feel heart broken after it because of knowing what happens to Jinga and Amily. I loved their meeting and how they were together. That was just really touching to me. Also Masahiro Inoue is simply freaking brilliant whether he is a hero or villain, I wish we could have seen Jinga's armor but maybe he'll get another episode down the line. Still he kicked those horrors' asses easily without transforming which was really awesome. I enjoyed Amily to gaining more confidence in herself and going back to help Jinga too, I can't believe this is the same girl that caused so much trouble in Gold Storm Shou. I am loving how they can jump around this season, I hope that maybe we can get a cool crossover by the finale or something bringing together multiple characters from all over the time line. I can't wait for more.

An interesting look at Jinga and Amily before Goldstorm, especially with Amily since she wasn't as confident as she appeared to be in the flashback sequence that explained why they were horrors. Although with the actress that played Kirara I swear that's like the third or fourth part she played in Garo in general at this point since Makai Senki. Although when Jinga started talking about how he like looking at the moon because it was pretty I was kind of afraid that was going to be te reason he brought Amily instead of the reason he actually gave.

Okay, I did not see this coming: this week's episode of Makai Retsuden was actually two separate stories. It never occurred to me that the show might do that. Using spoiler tags if you're like me and you want to be surprised when you see who the returning characters are.

The first, and slightly longer, story is... really weird. It's told largely from the perspective of a group of Horrors who are hanging out in some kind of demonic biker bar. I assume that a lot of what we saw was more metaphorical instead of what things would literally look like. In any case, it ended with possibly the most comedic fight scene we've ever had in Garo and the first use of armor in this year's show. I'm actually sad at how long it took me to recognize Kenji freakin' Matsuda, but it was definitely him back as Wataru/Baron. Short story, but fun.

The second episode was all character interaction and no action. That alone probably narrows down which era you'd guess it is and you'd probably be right: this one is based off of Makai no Hana. Specifically, Mayuri briefly meeting with Gonza's friend, the former Makai Priest who runs a restaurant. It's honestly a pretty throwaway little story, but if you like the characters it's still fun to see them again.

Yeah these were definitely two stories that probably would have suffered if they were padded out to fill the entire episode, especially Mayuri's. Although I did like how shocked she looked when Anna hugged her, not sure when this one takes place it takes place in relation to Makai no Hana but I don't think that happened a lot to her considering she was seen as a Makai tool for most of her life. And it was good to see Baron in action, even if it had some comedic stuff in there. And it was a nice change of pace from the usual tone most Garo stories have.

It took me a while to recognize him too :)

Part one was really fun in this third episode.

I recognized Kenji Matsuda instantly and was totally excited to see him.

Episode 3: I completely loved Wataru's part that was kick ass and fun to see him again. Totally badass with taking down the horrors and the story building him up to be so awesome was great. I didn't know who was going to be this weeks episodes focus and that's one of my favorite parts of this show. Nice to see the Baron armor too. I also enjoyed Mayuri's too that was enjoyable and great to see more character stuff for her. I also enjoyed them telling two stories in one episode and from two different series as well. I am hoping we might get episodes focusing on Takeru and Aguri from Yami Wo Terasu Mono and what they were doing during Gold Storm Shou would be awesome, I mean with getting all the returning Toku actors with both Masahiro Inoue and Kenji Matsuda it seems possible. I also hope to see Leo again too I really enjoyed him. Still this is a very fun series right now.

Episode 4: I am always happy to see Rian and Ryuuga again. I don't care if their series was the last live action one I love them so much. This was a nice Rian episode. I enjoyed that she helped this Takumi guy realize that he needed to be stronger and not run away that was great. I also enjoyed them getting into more of her feelings for Ryuuga because totally one of my OTPs lol. Ryuuga's scene at the end was pretty cool and well I just love seeing them together. It's nice we get our first GARO sighting of an actual Golden Knight in the series. I am really hoping to see Kouga again sometime though, it's been forever since we've seen him. I can't wait for more love this format right now.

I really don't know what to make of this latest episode. I love Rian and she was definitely a lot of fun here, plus the Ryuga cameo at the end was nice. But man, this is not the kind of episode that I watch Garo for: two character bumming around in an apartment for 20 minutes, talking about relationship stuff. I'm still waiting for my awesome, action-packed, inventively plotted fantasy horror episode. I'd hoped that this series would be like Makai no Hana with lots of fun and creative standalone episodes. If that show was any inspiration, though, it seems like it was the chef and puffball episodes, which is not what I wanted more of. Here's hoping next week brings more of the franchise's A-game.

I can agree it wasn't the best episode ever but I did enjoy it. Besides I'd rather have an episode like this rather than learn about some creepy psychopath that gets turned into a horror lol. I think that helping someone down like that was great of Rian. I thought it was a nice touch showing how connected Rian and Ryuuga are. Though the first few episodes of a GARO season are always standalone ones that don't do much, so this format I think is wonderful for it.

I'd probably be more lenient if the last episode hadn't also had that super low key story with Mayuri and Anna. That was really similar to this, but shorter and without the poorly tacked-on action scenes.

A nice little Rian story with her talking to the the self admitted scumbag of a guy. Although the Horror fight was good, and we did get a Golden Knight sighting, it was one of the weaker episodes so far I thought. But I was a bit confused because I thought and Ryuga already got past the whole having a hard time telling each other how they feel thing in Goldstorm.

That would be nice, but as far as live-action Garo goes we literally just had that with Gold Storm Sho. This didn't really add anything to it.

I want to have faith in this series because I still think the format is perfect for Garo, but most of it has screamed "easy and low budget" so far.

It really has. I'm rapidly losing faith that we're ever going to get anything on par with Makai no Hana's best standalone episodes, which has been the mental bar that I've set for this series.

This week's episode was still in the same vein as all the others, but personally I think it was the best one so far. Yuna was a great character and far more interesting than most Priests, so it was great to see her back. Leo popping up was a really nice surprise too. Cain I could leave, but I guess you can't win 'em all.

All we need now is a whole episode dedicated to a knight. Although knowing our luck the first one to get such an episode will probably be Crow :/

Episode 5: This was a really fun episode. It was good to see the ZERO:Black Blood cast again with Yuna and Kain. I thought it was fantastic to see her struggle but also see that she is both a knight and a priest and fought using both together. Seeing Leo again was fantastic I always loved him and his armor too. I'm enjoying this season because it's more focusing on the characters and their challenges rather than the horror aspect of the show. I hope we get to see these characters again too. I enjoyed Yuna and Leo talking and how they are similar. Well I can't wait for more, it'll be interesting to see who comes back next.

Okay, I liked this episode a lot more. It still wasn't quite what I wanted, but it was fun to revisit Yuna and Cain. These were two of the characters I've been really wondering if we'd see in this show or not. I felt both were just obscure enough that they may not warrant an episode. I'm glad I was wrong and I'm also happy to see Leo get an appearance here. This is the first episode so far to team up characters from two separate Garo shows. I hope we get some more of this.

The monster fight was much better this time, even if the live action and CGI didn't mesh super well in some places. There was some really distracting stuff going on with the camera work, though - way more shaky cam than I'm used to, even in the non-action scenes. Still, this was definitely a step in the right direction.

As for the latest, it was alright. I did like how Yuna is apparently starting to find her own way as a Makai Priest and a Knight. even going so far as giving her a unique fighting style. And bringing in Leo as another, and as far as anybody know the first, Makai Priest/Knight was a perfect touch to show Yuna could do this. And Kain, well Kain was Kain for the most part. although i do think him trying to empathize she's a Makai Priest, still not sure if he was trying to cope a feel to surprise her or get het Brush, or both wouldn't put it past him, was a little more mature and responsible of him than what I remember in Black Blood. On that note the mentioning but not exactly name dropping Rei was a nice touch, although did they imply Rei made this assignment to try and hook Yuna and Kain up?

Man, this show is starting to feel like there's a big birthday party and all the guest of honor's friends and family are there, but they themselves are inexplicably absent. :(

This week: the adventures of a girl in tiny shorts and an interesting-looking block of wood.

I am not a Biku fan. Of all the various characters from each Garo series, she is easily the least interesting and memorable. I know she's supposedly still getting a solo feature film, but after this week's episode I am really not pumped for that project. Stoicism can be a good trait in a hero, but Biku could be replaced by a cardboard cutout and I don't think the episode would have changed much.

The guest star was kind of annoying, but my big issues here is the massive number of unanswered questions I walked away with. I know Biku is unpopular, being the Internal Affairs Makai Priest and all, but the show really needs to explain what was up with these Makai Assassins going after her. Who are they? Are they part of the main Makai Knight/Priest body or do they operate outside of it? Why did they want to kill Biku? What the hell was the source of that ominous voice? Explain, damn it, tv show!

So yeah, outside of some nice fight choreography in a couple places and a few cool location shots, this did almost nothing for me.

Anyway, next week I assume we'll get an exciting adventure starring the girl with the dead family from TOWSITD, one of the temple guards from Beast of the White Knight, or maybe Kaoru's friend that was in two episodes of the original series. Any minor character that's not an actual Makai Knight.

And we have a episode featuring Bikuu, little weird seeing she just had a movie not that long ago. But i don;t remember being that emotionless during Makai no Hana. Kind of saw that Erika wasn't who she was portrayed to be at first. But why she met up with Bikuu is still a mystery. Maybe this played some sort of part in Bikuu's movie.


Well as some people have pointed out the odd numb er episodes seem to be dealing with the Kouga-Raiga era cast of characters and the even one are featuring Ryuga's. Although Bikuu part of Raiga's era so that seemed to gotten thrown out the window. Raiga supposed to still be getting his own movie and Rei getting another series so any possible Makai Knights for Retsuden are either Crow, Aguri or Takeru. With an outside possibility for one featuring Kouga's father Taiga.

Episode 6: Bikuu is a badass. I figured we'd see her soon. I am excited to see her movie.

The Transfer Student episode title leads me to believe this might be Aguri or Takeru hopefully from YWTM, because Aguri did transfer to a different part. Though for the first six episodes it's been great to see these characters. There are only a few side characters left who aren't Makai Knights anyways: Jabi, Gald, Ryume, D Ringo, and that's all that's coming to mind. Besides characters connected to those characters. I hope that we get to see Crow back soon.

Who said they necessarily need to be Priests either? I'd much rather watch a new Enhou episode over all those characters you listed.

Very ambivalent about the latest episode. The fight at the end and all of the stuff with Daigo were great and I liked having Haruna as the focus character - she was really likable and I enjoyed her arc here. But all the stuff with Haruna going to high school was borderline intolerable and horribly clichéd. If Daigo hadn't shown up when he did I was just about to start fastforwarding until something interesting happened. So yeah, half decent episode, half worst episode of Garo since the puffball one.

Episode 7: It was very interesting that Haruna got a focus episode. She didn't have much in Gold Storm Shou but she was interesting. The high school scenes did drag on but it got good when Daigo showed up half way through. Daigo and Haruna at the end there was the best parts of the episode. I am happy Daigo came in a kicked ass that was a nice touch. I do like that we are getting two characters or more each episode so far. Still hoping for some of the bigger favorites to show up soon.

Pretty much impossible at this moment after paparazzi found out she had a kid with an unnamed famous celebrity with a family.

Lame :(

I would have rather this franchise died than this series being made. It is the worst thing I have ever seen.

It will never even be the worst Garo thing ever as long as Guren no Tsuki exists.

Guren no Tsuki is leaps and bounds better than this Non-Garo Garo show. If I wanted to watch a bunch of random people who have little to no importance I would watch strangers on the street.

It's not great, no, but I think it's still not as bad as Black Blood. If nothing else, seeing all these characters again is fun, even if the stories they're in are largely boring.

:lol
Oh wait, you're serious? :(

Crimson Moon was far far worse than this.