DreamSword Watches Unfamiliar Toku: Part 1 - GARO
 

I WANNA BE POPULAR!

Okay no not really. But, hey, if you don't know by now, I'm DreamSword(DS for short), and I typically handle my own thread wherein I talk about various anime that are either directly based on or inspired by other Toku shows.

And not to steal Kamen Rider Die's' thunder or anything, but this year I felt like trying out something slightly different.

Because see, this year marks a big anniversary for alot of things, most importantly the 30th Anniversary not only for Power Rangers, but also me as a person and by extension my dip into Toku as a medium. And it's due to that my mind began to think: Ya know, maybe I ought to give more Toku outside of the Big Three(and Godzilla) a try?

Not to say I've never done that. Even discounting Toku Anime, I have seen stuff like Legend Heroes, Metalder, Ryujin Mabuyer, and Daimajin Kanon, but all of those were via extension of something else and not really me just gunning for something outside my element, you know?

And so this marks the beginning of a project wherein I wanna take a look at as many different Toku that I can over the course of this year: Ideally atleast six. Starting off with 2005's' GARO. Granted, this is technically cheating because I have seen the trio of GARO anime already, but hey, baby steps, right? Plus this'll give me a convenient excuse to actually get around to watching it after putting it off for so long.

As I've said in the Toku Anime thread, I can't promise some super in depth analysis full of personality akin to Die or Fish Sandwich, but what I can offer is just my full and honest thoughts as I go along, with me doing my best to exhibit the general emotions I felt while viewing these things for the first time. I tend to take alot of what a show offers me at face value; Only taking a bit of a deeper look if I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. What else could a Toku show possibly be if not entertaining, right?

Like other threads of this kind, the rules are the usual you'd expect. Be respectful and all that. My only real direct request is that if you feel like you absolutely must bring up spoilers for the sake of discussion, that you use spoiler tags. I don't get email notifications like Die does, so avoiding spoilers is alot easier for me.

I also plan to include the sequel movie in this watch. That being Beast of the White Knight. Red Requiem, and Kiba Gaiden will be covered alongside whenever a thread for season 2 happens, as like with the anime I plan to take a break between each major season.

With all that out of the way, let's get started with...

Episode 1: Picture Book

I must confess that I've actually already seen this episode.

This was back when the first two episodes were uploaded subbed onto YouTube, and I had originally planned to keep up with further uploads to watch the show.

Buuutt that alleged project never went anywhere, and so now I'm here watching the TV-Nihon subs as I couldn't find a solid enough upload of the GomenRider ones. And the translation, while a bit literal, doesn't seem bad?

Technicals aside, I actually rather dug this episode back then and I still dig it now. Even having already seen the three anime entries before this, there's already alot to set this apart as a unique beast outside of it being the very first entry in the franchise overall.

The action choreography is excellent, the air of mystery is intense, and the way the show just sort of throws you into this world very much reminds me how Kamen Rider Blade premiered; Which is one of my favorite first episodes ever, mind you. Heck, even in terms of plot, the idea of someone getting splashed in the blood of a Horror was never brought up in the anime.

But I think the thing that stood out to me most was just the general atmosphere of the episode overall. It's rather intense and instantly drew me into this world and made me want to know more(again, like Blade!) Add onto that some rather interesting character work and some delightfully stylish action and I'm totally hooked. Koga buying a painting in order to give the girl a chance to run away did alot to endear me to him right away.

And while the CGI is certainly dated nearly 20 years later, I think that it still overall works. Like with Kamen Rider Wizard, it helps that alot of it is done very stylistically which helps it blend into the universe that the show is creating. Stuff like the black markings on skin and the green flame emitting from the trademark Mado Lighter really do help in giving you the idea of this being an Urban Fantasy show. Or maybe it's just that the anime already warmed me to these ideas and thus I'm alot more lenient on them, I dunno.

Oh, right, the plot. Well, being just the intro episode, there's really not much to it. We're introduced to the basics of this universe: That there are demonic creatures called Horrors that can possess and eat humans. In response, there are those called Makai Knights who live to defend humanity from the Horrors. And in this episode the Horror of the Week goes after an aspiring painter who seems to have some sort of connection to the world of the Makai, given that her dad often talked of a Golden Knight and she not only has dreams about Garo, but visions that warn her of nearby Horrors as well.

It's all setup, which is to be expected of an intro episode, and I dug it all the way through. Koga just straight up stealing the painting at the end made for a pretty funny way to cap it all off too.

Episode 2 is the only other one I've seen of the show so far, but we'll get into that tomorrow.

Congrats on the new theme! Comment in support, so as not to be abandoned. I promise to follow as much as possible.
In fact, the choice of the first topic is very successful, because GARO, even if most likely closed, not so long ago was considered almost equal to the big three. And there are many shows in the franchise.
And as far as deep analysis goes, I don't think it's needed here. Although GARO is positioned as intended for a more adult audience, I would not say that the shows I have seen claim to have great depth. These are rather simple, but captivating and stylishly filmed stories.

It's really great to see you checking out various other Toku shows outside of the Big Three. Ever since I decided to start checking out on Gavan once Toei Tokusatsu World YouTube channel started putting up English subtitles for other episodes outside of the first two in celebration of that show's 40th anniversary, I found myself being interested in wanting to watch other Metal Heroes shows, well, outside of Metalder which I've watched twice and considering watching again for the third time in the row. I did end up watching the first two episodes of Jiban on there as well out of curiosity. Through that and finally being able to find a good streaming site that contained most, if not all, of the Metal Heroes shows being English subbed, I was able to watch and finished Spielban which I really enjoyed for the most part and I am looking forward to watching more from that franchise especially the remaining MH shows that were as source material for VR Troopers and Beetleborgs and a couple of others that really caught my eye like Jiban and see what they have to offer as a Toku series/franchise. Anyway, the original Garo series is a very good show and I hope you'll be able to enjoy the rest of the series and maybe this might lead in you wanting to watch everything else about the franchise you haven't tackled yet.

Thanks for the support! Glad to see there are others interested in Toku outside of the Big Three. No idea what exactly will follow after GARO, but I do hope I can provide some solid coverage to at the very least get someone out there interested in checking these lesser shows out.

Congratulations, DreamSword, you're the person who actually got me to finally watch the first episode of GARO after over a decade of being moderately interested from a distance! I really should've done it back when it was uploaded to YouTube too, but, uh... well... anyway, thanks for giving me that extra push!

Also, I'mma just go ahead and embed that upload here in the hopes at least one person out there is tempted to click that play button and avoid making the mistakes I've made all these years:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nLS2DmxDDE

I'm glad I finally gave the show a chance, because it's one of those shows I just kinda knew I'd like? I'm honestly not too sure why it took me this long, besides one silly reason. GARO did well enough for itself to become a pretty sprawling little franchise over the years, which weirdly turned me off a bit? I feel like -- despite having absolutely no authority to say this -- it's probably best to consider the original series outside of all that? Like, you can't watch a show like this as the starting point for more content, you know? This is a show you randomly catch late at night once, having no clue what it is, and you're so mesmerized by how finely crafted and just plain cool that single episode is that you immediately become a fan of the series for life. It's a work of art that way. Much like a painting... or something.

Okay, so obviously I'm just rambling here, but I can't help but try and describe GARO in terms of its vibe, because I feel like that's absolutely the thing you'd want to be selling the series to people with. I've seen just barely enough of Keita Amemiya's work to know how he rolls, and GARO was 100% Amemiya. It's slick and awesome and creepy and just generally darn well put together. I thought this was an exceptionally tight premiere that has that sort of "less is more" approach to storytelling I love, where it communicates a ton without having to directly say all that much. (And that's key to why the atmosphere is so palpable, too.) It's instantly engrossing, supremely confident in its execution, leaves off with a great setup for further drama, and is just all around good, any way you slice it.

I probably still won't be watching more than this episode and maybe the second one for a while though.

I mean, we'll see, I guess! You did get me to watch the Kikaider anime, which I should probably be thanking you for regularly, but I'm still not feeling quite pumped up enough to go grab some fansubs and watch along, unfortunately. But I absolutely wanted to make sure to come in here and show you a little support on this new project. I hope you have a great time with the rest of this show. Knowing what I do about your tastes, I think there's a rather good chance a show of this sort will click with you.

As someone who has seen all of Live Action Garo, expect me to talk a lot in these threads. I might not say much, but I will offer some remarks as I consider Garo one of the easiest franchises to finish in Toku.

The highest an episode count goes is 25, there are only a few of those full length series as well, and the rest are short 1 cour series with the occasional special/movie thrown between. So it was very easy for me to say... spend like the better half of two months just downing the entirety of Garo including 2/3rds of the animes.

I might watch along, but for now I just wanted to post because... Garo. I love Garo. And even though you have seen the anime, and even as the original, 2005 Garo really brings a special flavor to everything.

I always like to say that all the Garo Leads are very distinct from each other, which is incredible when they basically all share the same armor. And Kouga (Who I lovingly call Live Action Seto Kaiba) here is no exception. Dude makes a strong first impression as we dive headfirst into the madness that is the Makai World of Garo. And despite having seen three entries already, there are new concepts, new ideas, and everything just popping up. And of course you're likely to get the explanations you didn't get when it came to watching the anime first.

I think you just described a big part of my taste in anime to be honest.

Looking up Anemiya's' work, I'm sadly not too familiar with alot of what he's done. But man, if this sort of thing is like, the norm for him, then consider me a fan! Love the direction of this episode.

Well hey, whether you keep going or not, thank you so much! I do really appreciate you keeping up with my reviews, and it's always a join discussing these shows with you.

Yeah, it's actually arguably more surprising to me now that I've seen all of the anime just how distinct every entry has been to one another, and the OG here is no exception. Even compared to say, Leon, who is arguably the closest lead to him, Koga still very much sets himself apart in the span of a single episode. It's the sort of care that many other long lasting franchises have trouble with, and I very much appreciate the attention that GARO puts into making sure not to run into too much overlap.

It's great to see someone experiencing Garo for the first time, even more so if you convince anyone else to follow along with you. Garo is one of my favorite toku franchises and I think that when it's good it's some of the best stuff that the genre has ever put out and even at its less successful it's still likely to be both unique and interesting.

My favorite branch of Garo is definitely the Saejima shows, which include this series that you're starting now. I've watched it twice already and started a third watch last year, although I still have about 7-8 episodes left to go through (may use this thread as an excuse once you get up to that point). The first episode, though, I think I've actually seen five or six times by now.

So the first episode is pretty damn great, in my opinion. I went into Garo pretty blind outside of knowing that it was a late night show and that the director was kind of an auteur of tokusatsu. I think the first episode then does a great job of giving the audience enough to understand the basic premise of the Garo universe and a lot of this is due to having Kaoru as one of the main characters. I absolutely love Kaoru, she's such a delightful window into the insanity that is the world of Horrors and Makai Knights. That's not to discount Kouga, as he's also a fantastic character, just one that needs a little bit more time to open up so you really get to know his whole deal.

I really wouldn't say that seeing the cartoons has familiarized you with Garo. They have the Garo name, but they are all radically different from the urban fantasy horror genre that is real Garo's style. The third cartoon got the closest, but it still skewed far more over-the-top than what you'll usually see.

Having her be the primary viewpoint character and not the dude swinging around an enchanted katana is definitely a unique hook. She's also endearing not only in how her personal journey is introduced upfront, but also in showing that she's got guts; Saving her painting despite the battle going on like 10 feet from her.

how dare you

This one is interesting in that it's almost the inverse of the first episode.

While the first episode was all about absorbing you into the world that is GARO, with some baseline set for the main characters, this one is more about giving you a bit more insight into the characters while giving you small peaks of more world building.

The episode's' plot of a money laundering scheme is just sort of a background vehicle for showing off more core values and character traits of Koga and Kaoru.

And hey, I'm all for that. We get the establishment of the Watchdogs, a look into Koga's' family history, Kaoru being a starving artist, and perhaps most importantly, Zaruba's' tendency to snark.

Speaking of the plot though I did like how it took a sort of balanced view of money. Talking about how while money can absolutely be a corrupting force, it's also something that's kind of an outright necessity and can easily be used for pure intentions. Kaoru's' desperation makes it understandable as to why she'd fall for the scheme to begin with, but her desires are not born of greed.

I also wanna mention the music style of the show and how distinct and yet familiar it is in comparison to the anime. It's kinda hard for me to describe but I'll try my best. Take the opening as our first example. Whereas each anime had opening themes that were largely bombastic thanks to the efforts of JAM Project, GARO here has a much more subdued themed that, combined with the visuals, really made me think of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

But yet the fight at the climax of the episode ends with the soundtrack's' iconic "WOOO-OOO-OOOOOOOOOH" that could be heard in some of the tracks for the various anime, which was neat to hear. I dunno if the same team did the soundtrack for every entry in the GARO franchise(they certainly shared a team for each anime), but I really wouldn't doubt it given how consistent the overall tone and quality is. Time will tell if I end up liking this show's' soundtrack as much as the anime ones though(but I don't doubt that I will).

Last, and this might be a weird comparison to make but uh, the show is also reminding me of Pokemon. In that Koga keeps finding ways out of not paying for the painting he took the same way that Ash kept not replacing Misty's' broken bike. And in both instances it's very much meant to be a running gag too. Makes me wonder if Kaoru will get her money from someone else the same way Misty's' bike ended up being replaced by Nurse Joy in the Johto saga of the Pokemon anime. Sure would help her in paying rent, if nothing else(which is another thing that reminded me of the first episode of Blade but shhh).

Not as engrossing to me as the first episode, but it's still a good time overall. And tomorrow I'll finally be thrust into fully unfamiliar territory with episode 3.

I can?t say with 100% certainty that it?s every show, but JAM Project is responsible for the music in at least the majority of Garo projects. I still think of the original ending and second opening as the most iconic tracks, but there are a lot of good ones.

Good to know. They always make bangers.

JAM Project and Garo go together like PB&J, where there's Garo, there is Jam Project and man do they deliver some bangers.

As for Episode 2, can't say much on it as it is rather standard. We're still getting our introduction to the characters of course, while also going through another standard Horror hunt.

That being said I did not think of the Pokemon comparison when I first watched that and lol that is kinda spot on honestly.

My brain works in odd ways, I'm sure you've noticed.

I know this is a divergence question which has nothing to do with the thread's actual purpose, but this is just too intriguing to pass up: What Site?

That would be Tokuzilla.net. That’s the site I have been using ever since I found out about its existence and how I managed to watch Spielban in its entirety.

Yes, a great site with a very large selection of tokusatsu and even a little outside of the genre. Not all Metal Hero shows are there though. Blue SWAT and B-Fighter Kabuto are in the process of being translated, Kabutak only has a Christmas movie and Robotak is completely missing.

That’s why I said, “most of them”, and the fansub group did manage to finish translating B-Fighter Kabuto not too long ago. Still a while to go for Blue SWAT though.

Sirs, this is a Wendy’s.

Sir...I have no idea what you are trying to convey!

I just asked a minor question.

Back to GARO!

Sorry. *bows head in shame*

Back to the topic at hand.

Ya know I said we'd be going into unfamiliar territory, and technically we are, but...

This episode is the one that establishes the GARO formula that I've become familiar with thanks to the various anime.

It's also an episode that wouldn't be out of place as an episode of Kamen Rider Kuuga or Agito, and by that I'm referring not only to the style and tone, but also in how I rather dug it overall.

For those unaware, to me, the average GARO episode typically deals in balancing character work with investigation into Horror attacks and ending in a stylish fight scene at the end. Heck, the burning of the letters serves as a perfect visual metaphor in that I equate these shows to Fantasy Spy Movies.

So what's the target this time? A Horror who can possess and transform itself into different kinds of clocks. From wall clocks, to wrist watches, to pockets watches... if it can tell time, this thing can disguise itself as it. All of this being used in a very blatant(they practically say it right to you) metaphor for how we all live on borrowed time, technically.

But more directly it's to talk about Kaoru, and not only the reveal of why her being splashed with a Horror's' blood is so significant, but also in how she feels she's running behind in life despite how she's still only 22. Turns out that anyone splashed with a Horror's' blood not only attracts more Horrors, but also from then on only has 100 days before something terrible happens to them(heavily implied to be them dying in agony).

Despite it not going exactly as planned, Kaoru is still going full force toward her dream of being a famous artist but uh, she also has bills to pay, so she also works as a freelance delivery person. And unfortunately for her, Koga hires her and begins to demand alot out of her. But worse than that, we get a scene revealing that the ring Koga gave her is actually a piece of Zaruba... that Zaruba threw up. I wish I could unsee that, honestly. But hey I mean, atleast Koga actually pays her this time. Small victories, right?

Speaking of Koga, he's not a slouch in terms of character development either. Turns out the Garo name has quite the legacy, and despite how skilled he is, he still seems to be relatively new to this? This episode marks the first time he's fought a non-humanoid Horror, afterall. Which, by the way, I loved how its final stand was done in a clock tower, which makes a ton of sense to be a Clock Demon's' final form. And it's in this fight that Koga reveals one of his core philosophies: That everyone has the right to live out their natural lifespan, even those splashed by a Horror's' blood.

So, yeah, I hope I made it clear that despite this being the very first "prototypical" GARO episode, there's a reason that this formula was established as it's a good one, and I of course am looking forward to more.

Ah yes the Clock Horror, I remember this one clearly because of how unique it's hunting style is. It makes for a fun chase as Kouga tries to figure out how to corner it, the Horror thinks it can corner Kouga, but learns that our current Garo is not exactly meant to be underestimated.

Also hey, I mean if I found a free watch somewhere I'd totally take it too if I was able to. And then promptly die once it decides to kill me... so uh, YOLO I guess.

But yeah, it is going to be fun watching you go through the series and pick up "Oh this is what the anime's did" and stuff since well yeah. There's a reason we're mostly following this formula through the franchise still.

It being a spider/clock hybrid was certainly cool. Got a giggle out of it bouncing off of Kaoru's' bike a couples times too.

en-chan the accident was years ago you have to let go

I remember this episode. It was interesting and cool, and the clock tower was really impressive.

It was! Golden Knight vs giant bladed clock hands is super cool!

There wasn't much time for the formula of last episode to be established.

Not that that's a bad thing mind you, I just find it rather notable that this episode very quickly throws us a curve ball.

The target Horror this time is obvious: One masquerading as a doctor, who in turn devours any of the patients that he operates on. With the help of his lovely Horror nurses to boot.

While Koga would normally just march in and kill the lot no problem, something is amiss. He can't transform! And the Mado Lighter doesn't even function properly! This Horror is the first in the show to erect a barrier which nullifies the effects of Koga's' various tools.

And it's with that that, for the first time, we actually see Koga have a genuine struggle with the Horror that he's fighting. Not just physically, but also mentally given how the topic of his late father gets brought up. In the end, it's up to Kaoru to save the day, as given how she was splashed by Horror blood, only she can approach the source of the barrier and disable it.

Speaking of Kaoru, she's not doin' too hot! She got evicted from her apartment and as such needs to bum with her friend Asami for awhile. And it turns out that Kaoru's' cooking is bad. So bad that she actually puts Asami in the hospital. Which I won't lie, with the way the smash cut happened, actually got a rather good laugh out of me. But on the topic of Asami, her whereabouts are kinda left unaccounted for at the end of the episode...

Anyway! Coming from the anime this was another fun one just due to the way it played with the formula. One thing that really caught me by surprise was the different ways that the Mado Flame was handled throughout the episode. Like, throughout all three anime, I think they only ever covered the sword in flames like, once, maybe twice? Which made that way Koga kills the Horror all the more surprising to me. Heck, it ain't even just the sword either, dude absolutely covered himself in the stuff which was extremely cool.

Not just that though, but the lighter itself being used as a weapon and the scene establishing that it needs to be refueled were nice little touches that were never shown in the anime(to my knowledge). Used the same "no smoking" joke though(good callback there, Vanishing Line). But in the very same scene exists something that connects the two: The Watchdogs mocking Koga for not being able to track and then losing to a "weak Horror" and yet they themselves weren't exactly able to do any better. Some things will never change, will they?

Emotionally this was a solid one thanks to the establishment of Koga's' primary drive being the death of his father, as well as how we continue to see Kaoru's' overall situation getting worse, even if she is facing it in stride. That scene with Koga and the little boy whose dad got eaten by Doctor Horrorble was rather touching despite being so brief.

So... yeah. Just a solid package all around.

This was a fun one. Our Doctor Horror is definitely one of the smarter Horror's in the series purely for the fact that it had the sense to make it so that Makai Knight's would have to work hard to try and defeat it.

That being said, yeah! If you wished to have more Mado Lighter action in the anime the live action show will give that to ya. Like the new technique Kouga showed off which I believe is officially called Blazing Armament.

While the anime does have some nice flashy stuff, there's a lot of cool little techniques that the live action shows have to themselves that are just as cool, if not flashier than what the anime gives us.

Makes me wonder if a Mado Alchemist somewhere ended up designing a Mado Flamethrower.

Probably not, but I assure you that you’ll see some very cool Makai Priest gear sooner than later.

I was all in on this episode the moment it started.

Seriously, that opening sequence was top notch and instantly drew me into the episode. The atmosphere all throughout this thing was on point.

The episode never fully lets it go either, as a good majority of the plot isn't even about Kaoru or Koga, but rather this police investigation into a recent murder case; All filmed like it's an old locked room horror film.

And make no mistake, I totally dug how this plot felt like its own short film almost entirely set apart from GARO as has been established, as it was not only pulled off artistically well with interesting characters, but also helps to show that there's always more going on in this universe than just Horrors running around eating people.

Kaoru and Koga aren't totally left in the dust though. It's established that the two have more in common than it seems, as they both lost their parents at a young age, it's just how the two went about processing it was entirely different. Koga shut himself off from the world and focused on killing Horrors, whereas Kaoru exhibits her thoughts and emotions through her art. But in the end, both have their own hang ups that they need to work through.

The brief interaction the two share in this episode is great too. That screenshot I took comes from when, after moving into Koga's' house, Kaoru points out that he doesn't have much room to complain, given that last episode he ordered her to stay as close to him as possible. The face Koga makes in response is priceless.

And when it comes to influences this show had on the anime, this episode is where Crimson Moon got its "magic butterfly" aspect from. Oh and, since I keep forgetting to mention it, I definitely do prefer how the anime had the armor descending from the halo when a Makai Knight transforms rather than here where the armor just kinda materializes. But I get it, this was the first entry in the franchise and so there's still plenty of room to play with certain aspects and ideas across the establishing universe.

But... yeah. This episode is easily my favorite so far. An interesting story where every character is engaging, a top notch atmosphere and tons of wonderfully artistic direction. The action might've taken a bit of a backseat, where it's just Koga's' actor playing off a bunch of CGI, but that's so minor in comparison to everything else that this episode has going for it. And on that note, it's so cool to see that he does his own stunts, especially nowadays where that's becoming more and more rare in Toku, unfortunately. Don't get me wrong, I get why that is, but it's still so cool to see.

Top notch episode. Loved it.

If there's one thing I'll always compliment about the Garo franchise, is it's insistence in having tons of out of suit action choreography, and the various atmospheres it can show a person that differ from episode to episode.

Amemiya is a pretty big horror film fan if I recall correctly, so having very horror film-like aesthetics to different episodes of the show is cool to see. And I'm saying this as a guy who's not that big into the horror genre to begin with. When Garo can nail a ton of different atmospheres, many within the same season itself, it's really cool to witness.

That being said, yes, we've got more Kouga and Kaoru interactions and since I do have the episodes still on my computer I decided to skim the episode for them. Yep. Still love this duo if I'm being honest. Also Gonza is just the best as well.

I remember this episode. A very atmospheric story.

It's something that's sadly going away more and more these days, especially since we're in the era of Simon Bennett being a killjoy. It's why I'm happy to see whenever it's Koichi Sakamoto directing something.

Based on what little I've read up on it, yeah. This whole franchise is his personal passion project, so I absolutely believe he's got a passion for horror films ontop of the various Toku and Golden Bat influences throughout.

They play off eachother very well! And seeing them grow together has certainly been interesting so far.

You nailed it!

I decided to avoid making more mistakes instead! GARO is real good so far! I'm all caught up to episode 5 now, and while I don't know if I'll always have something to chime in with, or if I'll avoid falling behind the thread, I am like, 1000% on this train now. Enough to put up with the mediocre GomenRider subs that are giving me traumatic flashbacks to rewatching Faiz, even.

This is absolutely my kind of show. Episode after episode, I've been consistently impressed by how simple each individual story is without at all feeling thin. Partly because the atmosphere is always thicker than molasses, perhaps, but more than just that, I think it goes back to what I said about GARO being so confident in its execution. There's a cleanliness to every episode, where if you boiled it down, so far every installment is nothing more than a monster hunt and exactly one important new factoid about Kouga and/or Kaoru, but the scripts have a way of pulling everything together to make all the elements feel like they connect back to whatever single broader topic is at the center of the plot. I think 3 is the easy gold standard to point to, where it's literally called "Clock", the climax is Kouga fighting an entire clock tower (which, holy s***, what a brilliant escalation), and we learn about how Kaoru is racing against the clock, far more than she already feels like she is throughout the episode.

Again, it doesn't sound like much in theory, especially when reduced to a quick summary, but every little moment along the way is so consistently enjoyable, it becomes so, so much more in practice. It helps that, yeah, it does kinda feel quite a bit like an early Heisei Kamen Rider show in terms of overall tone and pacing (which maybe says more about early Heisei Rider than it does about GARO), but I'm really loving everything I've seen of this series to this point, and can't wait to see more.

Welcome aboard! Happy to have you along bud!

I am absolutely down for a revival of Fish Scrubs, the unofficial side show which showcases various translation missteps.

There was actually a rather kind user who PM'd me where to find the GomenRider subs, and no offense to them, what they did was very nice, but after some skimming I decided to stick with TV-Nihon. Sure, every episode so far has had a line or two that I personally would've written differently ontop of the trademark TV-N literal translations(I'm convinced that "Mou" is something they'll never translate), but overall they aren't bad. I've read much worse.

Boy, if only those official subs had continued being uploaded to YouTube. Woulda solved alot of problems.

There's a reason episode 3 is the one that establishes the formula as it were. It's real good!

This actually made me realize that I probably should've noted this at the start of the thread(I'll be sure to edit it in after this post), but I also plan to include the 3 sequel movies in this watch. Those being Beast of the White Knight, Red Requiem, and Kiba Gaiden. I actually have the official DVDs of all of these, so I'm not sure how I'll get screenshots, but still, should be fun to see how the now out of print official subs compare to TV-N.

Season 2 and onwards of the GARO franchise will be at a much later date, as like with the three seasons of the anime I plan to take a solid break between each major season.

This was the first episode where Garo really tried to mess around with its structure and do something different. The shows will do that several times over the years, usually to really interesting results.

It goes against my better nature to tell someone to watch less (non-cartoon, non-Versus Road) Garo, but Red Requiem and the Kiba Gaiden are more prequels to the second series than sequels to the first. Do with that what you will.

Aaahh, I might save those for whenever I start covering the second series then. Thanks for the heads up!

Yeah, I agree. Beast of the White Night is a good send-off for 2005 tbh so it'd be best to stop there for numerous reasons