[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enchilada645

I think it's real clever that Silva nearly gives her life for Rei, Rei witnesses Zaruba's sacrifice, and not long after she's repaired he immediately ditches Silva as a necklace and has her just attached to the glove he wears. It's subtle storytelling but it's real nice to see that little sort of arc take place.

Yeah that was a great touch. And the new necklace he has instead is pretty snazzy too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rabbitman

I have always wondered about the people who play those games. Like, do they actually like the cute or cool characters that show up on the machine that has given them a gambling addiction and stolen all their money? Especially with the stereotype that pachinko parlors are filled with elderly people. They are getting a kick out of Garo?

I am by no means an expert on pachinko, but if I had to guess based on what my friends who like to gamble say, the people who play them don't particularly care about what exactly is displayed on the machine as long as it's pretty to look at/attention grabbing. And given GARO's' over the top action, I can see it working.

[DreamSword]

FINAL THOUGHTS ON GARO

My favorite era of Kamen Rider is Phase 1 Heisei. The earlier stuff especially.

There are many reasons why, but I think the biggest factor of it all comes from its overall atmosphere and how the shows of the time tended to carry themselves.

They all felt genuine. Having confidence in their material and ability to draw you into a world which, on a surface level, would look rather ridiculous to the "common" person. They wanted the viewer to care just as much if not more than they did.

There was no need for any sort of tongue-in-cheek, self-referential humor to undercut its own story, no winking at the audience calling out how "stupid" something is in a real world setting. They had a story they wanted to tell and they stuck to their guns about it.

I tell you all of this because in the world we currently live in, where the biggest superhero property around is entirely predicated on characters making self-aware one-liners practically every two minutes, thus making the stories border on self parody, GARO absolutely stands out as to one of many reasons why superhero stories can resonate with audiences while taking itself seriously.

That's not to say there's anything wrong with having humor in your story; GARO has a good handful of levity, even in its final episode. But if you have nearly every character constantly talk about how outlandish or dumb the overall plot, visuals, and characters are, then why should we as an audience at all care about what's going on in terms of events or character? Constantly saying "we're in on the joke!" infact kills said joke, and that's me putting it lightly.

All throughout its run, GARO never once felt the need to talk down to itself or those watching it, and infact did everything in its power to tell a compelling story. Whether it be the personal stakes for every character involved, the incredibly well choreographed action scenes, the absolutely stellar directing, or, perhaps most importantly for me, the wonderfully thick and encompassing atmosphere that drew me into this world of horror and mysterious intrigue that had me hooked from the very first episode.

Now, I could easily be wrong here, but all throughout the show it really felt like there was a serious passion behind every aspect of the show. Never at any point, even during the episodes that I felt were a bit weaker than others, did I feel as though the people behind the scenes were just phoning things in or assuming that their audience would just roll with whatever was handed to them. None of the plot details felt out of nowhere or made up, none of the character arcs felt bungled, and while not a show that focused on lessons or morals, what few it did have to showcase never felt like a double-standard.

The short version of all of this is that I feel like GARO as a show is something special, and I liked it a whole lot.

I'll admit, I was a bit nervous going in, given that my intro to the franchise as a whole was its first anime. But, to my absolute delight and surprise, everything that made the anime so good was also done here, but still in a very distinct way as to not at all be repetitive. The action was just as over the top as ever, the characters were equally as well written, the overall tone was preserved, and unlike The Animation, this show didn't have an absolutely forced romance at the end of it!

It's to the point that it was honestly really hard for me to pick any sort of favorite episode out of this season. There are a bunch of ones that stand out for one reason or another, and it made me actually have to use my brain and think it over, as rare as that is.

In the end though, I think I'm gonna give it to episode 5: Moonlight. Because sure, it's not the most plot important or one which progresses the character arcs in any super big way, but it's the episode where I knew was sure that GARO was a show for me, as it immediately captivated me with its incredibly well done directorial style which drew from different sorts of horror films. That opening scene is probably one of my favorite opening scenes in any toku show ever. And I do not say that lightly.

But characters are always the biggest draw for me, and while I love the cast as a whole, I surprisingly found myself most drawn to Kaoru more than anyone else. Her personal journey of coming to terms with her parents while also being a struggling artist whose time was unfairly cut short, along with a strong personality that made her very likable just really sold her to me. I felt for her every step of the way, and I honestly consider her the real main character of the show despite Koga being the title character and the guy who gets into all of the big battles.

Sure, the show isn't perfect. A few episodes are a bit uneven in their execution, and Rei, much as I like him, does feel a bit less developed than practically everyone else in the cast, but really, I find those lesser aspects to be incredibly minor in the grand scheme of things. Some people like to judge a show based on every individual piece, some like to think how well it showcases its overall message or theme, but me, I primarily look at stories based upon my own enjoyment while experiencing them as a whole, with a bit of reflection to help sort my own thoughts out, especially if I had a rather strong feeling one way or another. And looking back at my previous posts on the show while thinking about all of the things that really stood out to me...

I dunno if I'm confident in saying that GARO is one of my favorite toku ever(who am I kidding, it most likely is), but it is a show that I ended up having a rather big fondness for, and in terms of GARO as a franchise I'd easily put it on par with Carved Seal of Flames, if not slightly better. And I liked that show alot!

In the end, I feel like GARO is a great show for people who feel like Power Rangers needs to be dark in order to survive, or who feel that a show can't feel complete unless it has 50 episodes, or many other common claims I've seen people make about the Big Three. It's easy to see why this became 4th place amongst Toku! I really loved a vast majority of it, and I'm so glad I chose it as the show to watch as I approached my 30th year on this Earth.

I give GARO a 5/6. Not perfect, but there's alot to love, and I really struggle to think of ways to make it any more special.

[Mesnick]

Congratulations on finishing your viewing! Glad you enjoyed this show so much.

[Fish Sandwich]

Okay, all caught up on those little extras! (Although now that you've teased me with that screencap of behind-the-scenes retrospective stuff, I might have to go watch that at some point too.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

Episode 26: Smile

I really really really liked this thing. Very broadly speaking, it's sort of like "what if GARO did a Hyper Battle Video?", but the dang thing just elevates itself so much throughout. When it wants to be wacky and fun, it's incredible at it. When it wants to maintain the usual strong atmosphere with the whole theatrical theming (i.e. literally the entire time), it never misses a step, and when it wants to deliver some inward-driven, emotionally resonant storytelling about what it means to be an artist, it just totally lands the material. Utter delight from start to finish, this thing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

Beast of the Demon Night

This thing, though, holy s***, I think this is like a straight masterpiece? It's sort of hard to say, since I'm writing this shortly after watching it, but, *because* that's when I'm writing this, I can still feel that slightly faster than normal pounding of my heart that's telling me in no uncertain terms that I was supremely enthralled by this special.

It's at once a perfect encapsulation of everything that made me enjoy the series, a slick and successful expansion of that series that does something totally different and new, and, beyond that, just a real darn good movie.

The thing I noticed about it right away, that drew me in more than anything, was how it takes the more relaxed pacing scenes are allowed to have with a feature-length runtime, and meshes that with a narrative that's focused on nostalgic remembrance of the past, giving the basic change in style a level of thematic purpose it so did not need to have. We're mostly leaving the city behind for more rustic locations steeped in tradition, we've got old characters returning, lots more exploration of legacy, and Kouga's reward in the end, rather than deep personal growth, is simply the warmth of being able to recall a precious moment from his childhood.

It's just so dang rock solid, and there's a million smaller things I adore about this script beyond that too. Just as an example, I'm glad I did give it that bit of space from the show, because reintroducing both Kouga and Rei in that sort "day on the job" context where we get some hero action from them right away is a smart move for something that is acting as a sort of comeback for these characters and their world after some time away. All around, the sense of setup and payoff is crazy strong too, with it really feeling like there's nothing wasted in the narrative at all. Everything has its role to play, and loads and loads of things established early on take on a greater purpose of some sort by the end. Like, how cool was it when Kouga has Rin help him fly to her rescue by doing that trick with her brush?

Which brings me to the next, very obvious point, which is that the action sequences are insanely well thought out, to the point where I almost sort of hope other film and television people see this stuff and feel shame, for not going this all out? The creativity in the setpieces and the execution of those ideas never disappoints. I recall seeing Switchblade mention how higher resolutions don't do the CG in GARO any favors when recommending fansubs to DreamSword, and having seen this stuff now, it's like -- when your grasp on the craft is this strong, that doesn't matter at all. The *real* details, the way shots are framed and edited and all that, it's always going to hold up. GARO can look as fake as it wants to and still look incredible. Getting compared to a video game is usually a cheap insult for something live-action, but when I'm saying it about GARO, it's the greatest compliment I can think to pay to it, because it bursts with that same level of unrestrained imagination you don't usually find on TV or in movies.

So, uh, yeah, man, I freakin' loved this one, if you can't tell. Very glad to be leaving GARO off on yet another amazing note for a while.

I'll say it again, but GARO really pulled me in immediately, for pretty similar reasons to what DreamSword described in his final thoughts post. There was this biased part of me that kind of expected a series like this to pick that adult audience and suddenly get all these funny ideas in its head about how it has to be super edgy, or subversive, or winkingly self-aware, or whatever else. Essentially, something that would make me want to call it "pretentious". But GARO ain't that! It sticks to the fundamentals, with very straightforward, traditional storytelling, and instead worries about just doing that to the full extent of its ability.

I don't know too much about Amemiya's influences, but the overwhelming vibe I got from this series is that it's simply him very honestly trying to make the tokusatsu hero show he wanted to see himself. Like, half the reason it's an adult tokusatsu show is probably just because he wanted the monsters to actually be as scary as toku baddies felt to a small child, and the other half was just to do something outside the usual constraints that come with how heavily merchandise-focused these things have to be.

The results speak for themselves. I'm going on a pretty long ramble here because I do that when I'm excited, but nothing I can say here is ever going to be as well constructed as the show I've spent the last month watching is. The smartest thing I've probably said about GARO in this whole thread was right at the start, when I implored everyone to avoid making the mistake I did by sleeping on it for so long.

[Switchblade]

Really happy to see that our Garo newbies had a good time. It's long been one of my favorite tokusatsu shows and it's nice to see others discovering it for the first time.

[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mesnick

Congratulations on finishing your viewing! Glad you enjoyed this show so much.

Thanks! Not exactly sure what I'll watch next, but I do look forward to whenever I'm in the mood to return to GARO again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Okay, all caught up on those little extras! (Although now that you've teased me with that screencap of behind-the-scenes retrospective stuff, I might have to go watch that at some point too.)

The clip TV-N subbed mentioned audio commentary over select episodes by the cast and crew, and man, if a company like, say, Discotek ever revived GARO and translated those extras? I'd be all over it.

Quote:

I really really really liked this thing. Very broadly speaking, it's sort of like "what if GARO did a Hyper Battle Video?", but the dang thing just elevates itself so much throughout. When it wants to be wacky and fun, it's incredible at it. When it wants to maintain the usual strong atmosphere with the whole theatrical theming (i.e. literally the entire time), it never misses a step, and when it wants to deliver some inward-driven, emotionally resonant storytelling about what it means to be an artist, it just totally lands the material. Utter delight from start to finish, this thing.

You put it all far more eloquently than I ever could've. It's just such a unique beast for GARO as a whole, and you can tell the cast and crew had alot of fun making it.

Quote:

Getting compared to a video game is usually a cheap insult for something live-action, but when I'm saying it about GARO, it's the greatest compliment I can think to pay to it, because it bursts with that same level of unrestrained imagination you don't usually find on TV or in movies.

Yeah, speaking as a "gamer" myself, comparing stuff to video games has this real stigma attached to it, with not alot of people realizing just why the various genres of games has only grown over time. The stigma from outsiders looking in has also unfortunately affected how said games are written and directed, with many of them trying their hardest to emulate big name movies, but in that alot of them lose alot of what made videogames fun in the first place.

To put it simply, if GARO is to be compared to a PlayStation 1 era JRPG, then it encapsulates all of the best aspects of that subgenre. I favorably compared the first anime to The Legend of Dragoon for a reason!

Quote:

I'll say it again, but GARO really pulled me in immediately, for pretty similar reasons to what DreamSword described in his final thoughts post. There was this biased part of me that kind of expected a series like this to pick that adult audience and suddenly get all these funny ideas in its head about how it has to be super edgy, or subversive, or winkingly self-aware, or whatever else. Essentially, something that would make me want to call it "pretentious". But GARO ain't that! It sticks to the fundamentals, with very straightforward, traditional storytelling, and instead worries about just doing that to the full extent of its ability.

While said by someone considered rather controversial nowadays, a critic of whom I used to have alot of respect for summed it up best, I think: "Sometimes the best twist is no twist." There's this idea in US superhero media nowadays that in order to succeed you have to deliberately try to skew away from what made superhero stories resonate with people in the first place. Either via being incredibly dark or by acting as if you're "above it all" so to speak. But the thing is, people fell in love with those traditionally straightforward stories for a reason.

On its surface, is GARO some revolutionary tale that flipped the genre on its head forever? No, but it knew what it was and what it wanted to be, and did its best to execute things in the best way possible, and I have alot more respect for that than the alternative which can very easily come across as pretentious if not condescending at worst.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

Really happy to see that our Garo newbies had a good time. It's long been one of my favorite tokusatsu shows and it's nice to see others discovering it for the first time.

I can easily see why it's a big favorite! There's alot to love, even just on the production side of things. Like, the show started off as a reboot of Golden Bat before Amemiya realized he'd strayed so far off course that he just made an original IP instead. With reboots that barely resemble what they're rebooting running rampant nowadays, I have a huge amount of respect for that.

[DreamSword]

And so, just as the GARO franchise would sleep for awhile after Beast of the Demon Night, so too shall I on continuing my journey through the franchise for a little bit. I'll likely just revive this thread when getting to season 2, given that from what little I know about, it still seems to be in the Koga Era, so it only makes sense to keep it all in one thread to me.

But yeah, for now, I gotta think over what exactly I wanna do next. I have a few ideas in mind, but nothing's concrete as of right now. Regardless, a big thanks to everyone who came on this journey with me, and I hope that some of you will continue on, either whenever the next season of GARO gets covered or whatever other show I decide to check out next.

[DreamSword]

BONUS DLC

Hey all, I record stuff sometimes, and I recently felt like sitting down recording commentary over my favorite episode of GARO as my own little way of capping off the show. As said before, it's episode 5, and rewatching it made me fall in love with the episode all over again.

If you're interested in listening to me just kinda be drawn into the episode while talking a bit about what it's like to look back with the whole picture in mind, you can find the audio to overlay over your own copy of the episode HERE. Thanks again!