[DreamSword]

Episode 1: Onmyou

As I usually do for these, let's set a sort of preface for these upcoming posts.

These write-ups for Crimson Moon are coming from someone who has only ever seen the first Garo anime, and as such, likely has no idea as to what makes for a "proper" entry in the franchise.

As such, any and all comparisons I make will be done in terms of the first anime alone. That said though, it might not be all that fair of a comparison, as this first episode right away sets itself up as something very much different from the previous entry that I saw.

Sure, there are certainly a bunch of elements that they share: The basic premise of the Horrors who feed off human's' dark desires, the mission of the Makai Knights to slay them, all the base line things that you'd expect. But how exactly those elements are utilized, the type of setting it's being brought into, and the dynamics of the characters at play are all very different.

Before getting into the finer details though, one thing I definitely wanna compliment this anime on is that it is very pretty to look at.

Seriously, just look at that shot!

Anyway, as this is only the very first episode there really isn't too much to say. While the exposition in it is certainly a bit clunky, I felt it overall did an alright job at giving us a base line as to what to expect from the show going forward. Compared to The Animation, this anime appears to going for a much more Shonen approach to things, as the Horrors are alot more talkative and the haunting atmosphere is more downplayed in exchange for an action-y one.

The characters and their dynamics with eachother are also laid clear in a scene where they all share candy with one another. Raiko is the current wielder of the Golden Armor, is friends with Kintoki, a little boy who also doubles as his retainer, and Seimei, a Makai Alchemist in the same vein as Ema from the previous anime. For some reason, only Seimei can awaken Zaruba the Mado Ring, thus allowing Raiko to don the Garo armor. And while they all take their job seriously, they're friends, and have no problem acting light-hearted with one another during downtime.

Again, these are all just impressions based on the first episode, but one thing I will say that is a bit of trade-off compared to Carved Seal of Flames is that, while this anime certainly looks alot prettier, the action scenes so far are alot less dynamic. There are definitely still some highlight aspects to them though, such as:

Overall, not a bad start, and I'm definitely interested in seeing as to where this show is going, and how it'll differentiate itself from the previous anime.

Oh, and I should probably also mention that Crimson Moon takes place in the Heian period of Japan, rather than in Spain during the Spanish Inquisition like The Animation did. Definitely makes for an immediate shake-up.