[DreamSword]

Episode 4: Brother

I rather liked this one!

The big draw is that we get alot more backstory on Sophie, elaborating on her arc and character motivation.

I really liked the flashback scenes with her brother Martin, and her determination in her quest and her interactions with Sword were endearing. That bit where he distracts her just long enough to make a getaway got a decent laugh out of me.

Ontop of that, tying her personal story in with the Horror of the Week was pretty well done; turning the usual Toku trope of the importance of family on its head in a rather dark twist that I really dug. While nothing is outright said about it, the torture chamber in the basement said all it needed to.

The climax, while short, was also stylish enough to be engaging. Sword chucking the horror out of the window only to then catch it on the way out was really cool. No shakey-cam either!

The general tone and atmosphere of the whole episode was on point, and made for a very enjoyable episode to watch. Good stuff.

[Enchilada645]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

There was technically a second one in Crimson Moon, but they really didn't factor into anything.

Huh, interesting to know.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

Episode 4: Brother

As for this episode in particular, yeah, after getting the introductions for the rest of our crew we circle back around to Sophie. Normally I'm not a fan of the whole "ordinary person wanders into a fantastical other side of life" thing cause most times they're just sort of there and annoying, but whenever they do it in GARO they do it pretty well. So Sophie ends up being a nice character for me overall in the grand scheme of Vanishing Line.

Also uh wow that uh... that basement sorta caught me off guard when I was watching the episode. Felt like I should've seen that coming but it was still a lot.

That being said your mention of what Sword did reminds me that he is probably the one Garo out of all of them that's the most physically involved in his fights. And by that I mean him going for very close weaponless combat even though he has his sword. And I get a kick out of that since while there are out of suit fights in this franchise, a lot of them are acrobatic swordplay. Sword contrary to his namesake very much goes for direct physicality in dealing with things a lot of times and I love it.

[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enchilada645

That being said your mention of what Sword did reminds me that he is probably the one Garo out of all of them that's the most physically involved in his fights. And by that I mean him going for very close weaponless combat even though he has his sword. And I get a kick out of that since while there are out of suit fights in this franchise, a lot of them are acrobatic swordplay. Sword contrary to his namesake very much goes for direct physicality in dealing with things a lot of times and I love it.

Yeah, Sword very much uses his blade as a tool rather than as his primary weapon, and for me personally it was amusing to see since a player in my PR Tabletop does that exact same thing with his character. It's definitely fun to watch!

But yeah, definitely some ironic humor in a guy named Sword not really doing much swordplay. It'd be like if you had a guy named Switchblade who only ever used one to repair his glasses. Or who never watched Ultraman Max.

[DreamSword]

Episode 5: Ring

This episode reminded me alot of Crimson Moon due to how it's structured.

In that it's devoted almost entirely to investigation, exposition, and character development, with the action at the end being very quick and to the point.

And as someone who actually likes Crimson Moon, I really only saw that as a good thing. This episode succeeded in drawing me in and making me invested in these characters and where things were headed.

The only real complaint I have is that the animation is slightly off model in a couple spots, making me think that this one was a bit of a budget episode. Outside of that though, there's alot to like. Like, right off the bat I got a chuckle out of the inherent character humor of Sword wearing a suit that barely fits him.

To give another comparison, like with Legend Heroes I really dug how this was an episode that talked about how Toku parents are often pretty trash, and showcasing some of the ramifications those types of parents have on their children's' lives. It's especially refreshing given how many a Toku show tries to justify terrible parenting(hi, Ghost and Build).

In terms of strictly plot though, this episode is all about investigating a rich woman rumored to be able to control Horrors, as well as Sophie getting a deeper look into the world of the Makai before deciding if she actually wants to dive head first into that world or not. And while that certainly lends itself to some nice development for Sophie, I found that Gina ended up showcasing alot of strong bits in this episode as well.

The two's' talk about the nature of humans and demons was very reminiscent of the same sorts of conversations had in the first GARO anime, and through that also let Gina show a more grounded and straight-forward side of her that we didn't really get to see much of in her introduction episode. Heck, even the "fanservice" in this episode is moreso showcased as being grotesque, in a sharp contrast to Gina's' intro episode.

Time will tell if I end up liking this cast as much as I did the characters of the previous two anime, but so far? Things are lookin' up.

[Enchilada645]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

But yeah, definitely some ironic humor in a guy named Sword not really doing much swordplay. It'd be like if you had a guy named Switchblade who only ever used one to repair his glasses. Or who never watched Ultraman Max.

Now that's an interesting look into an alternate universe.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

Episode 5: Ring

Interesting to hear the comments on structure similarities since I did remember enjoying this episode for the most part. As for budget though, yeah it definitely does feel like Vanishing Line has less budget at points, which I'll probably touch on a bit right now, but...

CG Model Work is seemingly not as cost cutting and easy to implement as people think it is, is all I'll say given comments regarding I believe it was Divine Flame where there was an extended 2D action sequence one of the lead animators did all by himself because they ran out of budget for the Armor Models.

But still, it's a nice episode to sort of get our crew mostly together in regards to three of our four main characters. There's some real nice groundwork laid out and this sorta slower episode is nice for building certain things out as we're still in the early episodes of the show.

[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enchilada645

CG Model Work is seemingly not as cost cutting and easy to implement as people think it is, is all I'll say given comments regarding I believe it was Divine Flame where there was an extended 2D action sequence one of the lead animators did all by himself because they ran out of budget for the Armor Models.

It really wouldn't surprise me one way or the other. Maybe it's just due to not getting an extended look at them yet, but I do think the CGI in Vanishing Line so far is a slight step down from that of Crimson Moon. Still better than Seal of Flames' CG Suits though, if nothing else.

[DreamSword]

Episode 6: Intricacy

This episode struck a nice balance of all the elements of a usual GARO episode.

It's not exactly evenly split up, but I felt that enough focus was given to each aspect of character development, investigation, and action.

The mission this time being investigating a movie theater where people have been rumored to just vanish while watching a film. Luke, annoyed at how Sword has gotten Sophie mixed up in the Makai world, investigates on his own.

During all this, we get some further insight into Sword and especially Luke. Sword makes a living working for a Chinese restaurant, which actually gives a new layer to his love of greasy meat and potatoes; I imagine he's kinda sick of the Chinese cuisine he's surrounded with all the time.

Luke is the standout though, as we get an almost literal window into his past an aspiring Makai Knight, and how his mother died infront of him. I also got a giggle at how normal people mistake him bringing out his Horror-detecting lighter as him asking for or offering a smoke. And his gunplay gets to shine once more as soon as the Horror is discovered.

Lastly, in terms of the dub, something that stood out to me about this episode was that the script for it had alot of at the time modern lingo and slang terms in it. Which, while a bit distracting at first, does make some sense, given that this show takes place in the "near future" and all. It's definitely an effect of me having only seen the other anime in terms of GARO content though, given that those shows took place in the distant past.

Just never thought I'd hear the word "creepypasta" in an GARO show until now.

[Enchilada645]

I always do like it when Horrors aren't just standard demons. They don't do it as often, but the Horror's that are more like entities/structures are some of my favorites in how their hunting works. So this movie theater Horror is definitely one of the ones that'll stick out to me for a while.

Also we get some more insight into Luke who well, I'll just say now is probably my favorite character in the show? Feel like it's a close tie between all four but I really enjoy Luke's story and this is only the start of it.

Also I will say I do always get a chuckle whenever the lighter is brought out and people like just assume it's a standard lighter but with a cool colored flame.

As for slang that's a good question, I only watched the sub so I'm not sure if they put the slang terms in there, nothing stuck out to me so it might've been a dub thing. At least in the era this was dubbed. Can you imagine what kind of slang would show up if it was dubbed in 2022?

[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enchilada645

Can you imagine what kind of slang would show up if it was dubbed in 2022?

Yeah let's not.

[DreamSword]

Episode 7: Scout

Double feature today since I didn't have time to do an episode a couple days back.

This episode marks the end of the anime's' introductory phase, and the plot begins to really kick up in terms of stakes and progress.

A breakthrough is made in the search for El Dorado, as disappearances directly connected to term begin to ramp up in count. And the more info is gathered about the situation, the more the term begins to sound like a cult rather than a place.

There's also the arrival of the "dark knight" of the show who appears to be a relative of Luke's'. And given he uses a polearm is makes me wonder if this is Zex or an expy of that suit, like how Zorro was to Zero in the first anime. No suit are used at all in this episode so no idea as of yet.

And I gotta give a big shout out to the head nun at the home Sophie stays at. She went out like a total badass.

The atmosphere and action are all around intense throughout a majority of the episode, and I think it's safe to say things are only gonna ramp up from here.