[Omnikaiser]

Finished GARO : Makai No Hana.

How do I put it. I don't dislike it, I can't judge it as "bad", I still enjoyed it.
But... meh...
If I had to choose a word for this season it's : blank. It's not to the level of the 2 other Saejima main series.

Everything is so empty. It felt more like an anniversary/tribute series to the original than its own series. I enjoyed the moments they nod to Makai Senki or the original series, like this episode at the "GARO tower" with Raiga fighting Zaji exactly like his father did.
but all these references... wasn't it too much ?
Raiga barely had an adventure on his own. it's only "chase the horror of the week".

Story :

If the story was the strong point of the previous series, it's its weak point now.
The "horror of the week" formula is ok, while it's included to the plot, not if IT'S the plot.

Only element that surprised me in a good way, was that Makai Priest played by the secondary good woman from KR Drive.
At first they present her and her interactions with Raiga as non important, kind of in a rush because the episode is here to make you fangasm about Rei presence.
But in fact she is the key part of the plot with the bell given by Raiga and the reason it happens. Caught me off-guard i admit.

I'm upset there is no iconic scene I will remember from the show. For me, every series gave me that
First Series : Entire Episode 16, with kouga playing Makai chess with the Old Priest. it's an entire episode dedicated to Kouga's motivations, and the particular moment the Priest make him realize Kaoru is the most important to him and his reason to fight will always be in my mind.
Makai Senki : Episode 22, when Kaoru saves kouga from inside Ganon.

I don't find any scenes in Makai no Hana that is up to these 2. Maybe the scene in the GARO tower with Raiga realizing his parents aren't dead is supposed to be that.
Maybe the Raiga VS Crow fight at the end is supposed to be that too.
But I didn't feel the same impact (funny trivia : these 2 scenes are almost the only ones with the old Kouga GARO theme playing in the back)

I'll go now by characters to explain more what i like/dislike about the series.


Characters :


Raiga :
How do I put it. I find he is not up to the task. It's kinda refreshing that he is the very first Makai Knight we see with a joyful and kind nature. But I feel like it's all he has for himself. He has no real development except that kindness and why, and while he is the Hero and should always win, he is too Gary Stu for my taste. His father always won too, but sometimes got injured and had difficulty. Raiga simply wins everything, sometimes with no real explanation.
Like the fight Raiga + Crow VS Eiji. The 2 protags struggle a lot and can't win. and when Crow leaves for Raiga + Eiji to go 1-on-1, Raiga is suddenly stronger than Eiji :/
His fighting style isn't to my taste too. It's similar to his father's but, with a more aerial and "nunchaku" styled way of fighting. There is a bit too much body spins and useless Sword spins (like in the OP) than before.


Mayuri :
I was thinking about my review around Episode 20 and was upset about her. Thanksfully they developed her good in the last 5 episodes.
But for the most part of the show she is blank too, for obvious plot reasons. But it doesn't help being attached to her much. Only at the end I felt bad for her and it was nice to see her with more human like emotions.


Crow :
Not enough developed too. I thought at first he would be an antagonist of some sort at some point. The way they made him look mysterious and all. They probably wanted to give him a "Is he really kind or is he pretending ?" feeling, but it didn't work with me. The only time near the end the watchdog spark that part of the show with a "Maybe Crow is a traitor" the next 5sec we see Crow confront Eiji as a hero so, yeah debunked directly.
I find his armor design very clever though. At first I was : eh... no Lion-wolf head ? and then was : aaaaaaaah I see what they did. Very nice.

I hope we can learn more about him and his people in Gekko no Tabibito, since I heard "Gekko" pronounced once in Makai no hana and it refered to the ritual the shadowpeople do to purify their swords.
Maybe this season will be more about him.


In the end it makes a very blank main Trio for the show. I'm more interested in :

Biku :
What a great character. Probably the strongest and most interesting female (protag) character of the entire franchise. There wasn't enough of her in Makai no Hana though, and I'm happy they decided to produce a spin-off movie about her.
Didn't watch her movie yet, but I really hope nothing happens to her so that we can see her in future installment of the series.


Eiji :
*sigh*
Why so late in the series ? That's the question I'm asking myself about him.
I love his GIRU armor though. I wish for his return too somehow.


And as usual, final naked woman boss. haha.


In the end I didn't dislike it, but it won't stay in my heart like the other series.
I wished Kouga and Kaoru return too somehow. Maybe in the next series we can save them.
I guess it depends if their actors are ready to come back or not


I'll watch Biku next, but already watched the first 2 eps of Yami o Terasu mono just out of curiosity.
And while I don't like the industrial feeling of the city (and less middle-age chivalry feeling), I'm thrilled about the show being cocky protag + GokaiSilver + KR Duke, under the supervision of the samurai from Makai Senki now playing a Makai Priest, and with the female cop leader being the cop from Decade's Kuuga/Agito world.
Excited me