[DreamSword]

Episode 1: Spark

If not for the very real world gap, this would feel like the first show didn't end.

By that I mean this episode kinda plays out like your typical GARO episode(though slightly more graphic than normal), up until the very end.

And in that regard, I liked it well enough. I was a little surprised at how long it actually took for Koga to be brought in, and even more surprised at how bad his hair looked in certain shots.

Like, for something that's ultimately sort of inconsequential, it was kinda weird to me how long we focused on the Horror of this one, though I imagine with some of the things he says as he's getting hunted by Koga, his dialogue is meant to be a sort of set up for the rest of the season.

The best part of it all was easily seeing that Koga, Kaoru, and Gonza were all back, and in show it felt like they never felt, which I imagine is the sort of feeling that was welcomed by those who waited for four long years for these characters to return and continue doing what they do best. A sort of "welcome home" sort of feel, if you will.

That all being said, the episode ends with a very interesting hook in that now, it appears as though Koga is the one who's now racing against the clock to stay alive as opposed to Kaoru in the first season. And all thanks to a brand put on him not by a Horror, but a human(perhaps a Makai Alchemist?). It's the sort of intrigue that I'm totally down for, and with the shot of the trio in the photo at the end, it'll be interesting to see how this influences the group dynamic.

Going back to the "welcome home" aspect I brought before ending this post off, I was so happy to see that the OP was more in line with the first OP of the first season, both in terms of song and visuals. Though on the flip side, I have no idea what's up with the new ED. The visuals match the ones done with the first ED in the first season, but the song does not go with those visuals like, at all. The song itself isn't bad though.

And that's about all I got. I don't think it was as strong a start as the first episode of the first season, but I suppose they figure that anyone watching this season would've already been familiar with the original show, and thus didn't feel the need to do nearly as much character and world setup. Which is understandable.

Regardless, I'm looking forward to the rest of the season.