[Captain Marvelous]

I echo Dr. Kain's sentiment regarding the lack of characterization in this show. Aside from the Captain Sports Bras (sorry couldn't resist) I know next to nothing about these people. The lack of armor is troubling as well but I am willing to wait and see if the screen time will increase. For now I am watching but not really enthusiastic about it.

[blackadder]

Season 1's characterization was worse in the first half. Lots of people seems to forget the first half of the 1st season and it's lack of anything really good other than the action. Then again, most strawman will complain about anything don't they. "Cool" guy who act like a jerkass toward the very lame and useless female protagonist, oh yeah, that's good characterization.
Kouga and especially Rei wasn't even that sympathetic in the first half. Hell, Takeru's action in ep 7 makes him more sympathetic to me already than Kouga during the first half. Do we know anything about Kouga until late in the series other than that his father is a Makai Knight? We don't even know Kouga's history until ep 12 and Rei's motive until ep 14. Yeah, if characterization is about how much we know about the character, then "good characterization" there. People are already complaining and wanting too much in just 7 episodes.
Whatever Dr Kain, you and I will always disagree whatever the hell you want to comment after this. I really wish this was real life, it would be more challenging facing in you in real life rather than hearing your strawman complaint

[Switchblade]

Personally, I'm loving this series. For me the best part of Garo isn't the armor or the fighting, it's the world and mythology. I think Makai Senki got deeper into this, but The One Who Shines in the Darkness is offering us a different look at the world and I'm finding it very interesting. I like most of the new characters (especially Takeru and Rian) and while the show is lacking Amemiya's unique visual style, there is still some really cool stuff going on with the cinematography. Not so much in this episode, but episodes 4, 5, and 7 all have some really unique camera work.

Overall, I probably wouldn't say this is the best Garo ever, but it's definitely a worthy addition to the franchise.

And if y'all are wanting something more conventionally Garo, check out episode 7. The armor still isn't used a ton, but it has the kind of dark storyline that the Kouga shows were known for.

[blackadder]

Indeed, I like the new style Makoto Yokoyama bring to GARO. Even with Keita Amemiya's minimal involvement in the series, for me the series is still going strongly. For those wo forget or don't know, Makoto Yokoyama is the main showrunner for this season not Keita Amemiya.
The so much better plot than the first season make Yami o Terasu Mono more endearing for me. BTW, Yasuaki Kurata in episode 7, is just pure win. The guy is so vastly underrated IMO, he's one of the best martial arts actor working today. Hopefully it won't be long before he start showing off some awesome martial art skills.

[Dr Kain]

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackadder

Lots of people seems to forget the first half of the 1st season and it's lack of anything really good other than the action.

Except I even said I highly enjoyed the stand alone horror nature of the first half of the show. I love the episode with the with the guys and girl in the warehouse being haunted by a Ju-On like ghost. The bartender that was chopping the fingers off pianists because of her dead fiance. The clown who would just go around killing and eating people just for the hell of it. They all gave me vibes of Boogiepop Phantom, but set within a Toku series.

The other aspect is yes, Garo had established itself to be a series about armor, stylish choreography, industrial tribal music, Kubrick-like camera angles. Horrors that were unique and different from each other when they had possessed a human. Like creatures out of Devil May Cry and Onimusha rather than just the generic Las Plagas from Resident Evil 4+. Without that, Garo just isn't Garo.

I do agree though about debating online is nothing compared to real life. People (even me) sound either way too angry or way too whiny in text and I have no idea why it ends up like that. Even when I reread my posts at times I read it in the complete opposite manner from how I meant for them to sound. In fact, I just keep picturing Wufei when he is yelling at Heero in Endless Waltz during their battle.