[Fish Sandwich]

This kind of feels like the absolute least mature and adult episode of the series so far to me. Like, it is just 100% two macho dudes beefing the entire runtime, putting the focus all on how cool it is to watch wolf knights fight each other while any other dimension to the plot -- be it Kaoru's perspective on things or a standalone story with other unique and varied individuals -- mostly takes a backseat.

I should maybe be bemoaning that storytelling decision, but man, have you seen this episode? It's freakin' rad as heck, man!

I think this is actually the first episode since the initial two personally directed by Amemiya, and that probably explains a lot. It really is an aggressively simple episode in terms of plot, but such immense care was clearly taken with the execution of that single note of "Kouga and Rei don't get along", that it somehow winds up being a standout of the series so far. The gradual escalation is handled super well, and once things do hit that boiling point, the action just keeps rising anyway. The big fight between the two contains several setpieces that would make good climaxes individually, and strings them together flawlessly. Kouga and Rei throwing down in a room! Kouga and Rei throwing down while going up a building! Garo and Zero throwing down while going down a building!

It's absolute top-tier, thrilling action the whole way through, and the most raw fun this show has been so far. I put that at the start like it's a negative, but honestly, it's good to have such clear confirmation that GARO doesn't consider itself above this sort of thing, especially when it's this good at it.