[DreamSword]

Episode 12: Taiga

Now see, this is more akin to what I wanted out of episode 9.

That is to say, this episode is all about exploring what exactly Koga's' deal is via a nearly whole episode flashback full of his relationship with his father.

And man, everything here was on point in regards to this backstory. Characterization, story, visuals, action, music, and the ability to hit me square in the feels for maximum effect.

Making it even better is that a good chunk of the flashback plays out like an average GARO episode, only with Taiga as the lead. It really does feel like to get a sense of a good majority of Taiga's' life story just through the single episode we have with him.

It helps to emphasize how Koga became the way he did too. Kid Koga is adorable! Unfortunately, such a thing is doomed to end in the world of a Makai Knight. It makes total sense as to why Koga ended up closing his heart off the way that he did. The context of the entire ordeal racing through Koga's' mind as he trained made for some powerful stuff.

Taiga's' final bout highlighted it best, I think. Think about it, Koga is taught that Soul Metal reacts to the heart of the one who tries to wield it, and so when Kid Koga attempts to save Taiga by taking hold of the Garo Sword... he can't lift it. It's so easy to see how that would instill a ton of shame and guilt that'd fester for years. I do believe Koga blames himself for his father's' death, as the sword wouldn't move when it seemed like he wanted it to the most.

This was a really well pulled off episode not just in turn of its own structure, but also in where it's placed in the series too. We're just about at the halfway point, so finally answering the question of what exactly Koga's' big hangup is and his relationship with his father feels absolutely satisfying to see. Heck, it felt great to see for me after 12 days, I can only imagine how good it felt to those who watched it weekly and had to wait 3 months for these answers. And especially if the viewer is already invested in Koga like I was.

But then, maybe I'm just a sucker for origin episodes. Those consist of some of my favorite bits of shows like Kino's Journey with Kino's' origin episode, The Legend of Korra with the Avatar Wang two parter, and Kamen Rider Ex-Aid having Episode Zero, detailing Snipe's' backstory afterall. And I didn't even care for Snipe all that much!

Regardless of if I have a certain affection for these sorts of things or not, I felt this episode as a whole was pulled off really well, and I dug the hell out of it.