[DreamSword]

Episode 9: Ordeal

I didn't like this one.

Tokusatsu stories are full of bad parents, and unfortunately, GARO is no exception. This episode deals with the legacy left behind by our leads' fathers.

And unfortunately in the case of Kaoru, it's a story that's all too common: Her dad abandoned his family at what is arguably the most important time in their lives, but by the end all is forgiven for a deed that's not even close to being of equal value.

Yeah, sure, the painting was based off of some random moment in Kaoru's' childhood and depicts her mom as a goddess. So what? That doesn't change that fact that he refused to be with his wife in her final moments and remained emotionally distant from his daughter. Doesn't even matter that the painting is in a kindergarten. He pulled what I consider what we in the business call an incredibly dickish move, to say the least.

Meanwhile with the Koga side of the plot, it just feels incredibly made up as a way to justify him getting a cool horse. It's allegedly about him facing and accepting his dark side... even though there have been no hints at all that that's something he'd been struggling with up to now. It's like the Ryuki tribute in Kamen Rider Zi-O all over again.

And yeah, the horse(Goten) and the song that comes with it is cool and all, but the entire climax is framed like Koga made this giant leap forward in terms of his character, when I was unaware there was even that sort of character flaw to overcome to begin with. At the very least Kaoru's' plot established an issue she had with her dad. Koga just fights an astral projection of his father's' armor and then is all "At last I have come to terms with the shadow in me." Like, what? Wouldn't it have made more sense to have him overcome his father's' shadow instead?

I dunno, maybe it's my own personal hangups, but this whole episode just really fell flat for me. Probably the weakest character work the show has had so far, and that's even comparing to the first episode which was mainly just introductions. I'm sure someone like Kamen Rider Die would love an episode like this, but as for me, I ain't a fan.