×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

GARO THE ANIMATION
Episode 4

by Gabriella Ekens,

Last week, León Luís made a pact with the demon Zaruba to increase his power. Now, he and his father Germán are back to their favorite activity - wandering through the wilderness in search of Horrors to slay. They're promptly rewarded by the not-at-all-ominous Bloodville. Despite its claims to normalcy, this mountain town is awfully reluctant to host them them for the night. While the daddy-son duo conduct their investigation, runaway prince Alfonso is rescued by a mysterious purple-suited Makai Knight, who promptly vanishes into the night without a word.

At first glance, GARO THE ANIMATION should not be as good as it is. It's an adaptation of a tokusatsu series by a studio mostly untested except for projects directed by anime superstar Shinichiro Watanabe. But here they are this season, with not one, but two surprisingly great shows - Rage of Bahamut, and now GARO. With this episode, the series has indicated that - in spite a couple clumsy moments early on - it has the writing chops to match its understated visual promise and sustain a reputation as MAPPA's Fall 2014 dark horse.

It shouldn't have been all that surprising, in hindsight. The series' head writer is Yasuko Kobayashi, who also headed the adaptation on last year's quality megahit Attack on Titan and the newest JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime. While those series hew close to their popular source material, they also prove that Kobayashi knows the value of show over tell. While this episode's plot isn't all that intriguing on its own - it wouldn't make for a quality Twilight Zone episode for instance - it's elevated by what it reveals about the characters, their inner conflicts, and their potential growth. We hadn't really seen much of our protagonist León before this week. I came in knowing that he's sullen, withdrawn, and has issues with his parents, but now I also know that underneath his dreary exterior there's a heart that beats for compassion and justice. Jolly teasing aside, this is his true conflict with Germán, who suppresses his son's righteous instincts by urging him towards ruthless pragmatism. None of this is stated outright - it's all conveyed through the pair's reaction to Bloodville's violence, which turns out to be more horrific than all the black sludge tentacle beasts we've seen so far. The story of Alois, the young boy who tries to avenge his father's sacrificial murder using a Horror, also serves as León's worst case scenario played out in miniature. León yearns to avenge his mother's unjust death, and that desire threatens to bring out the worst in him, which could be a world-threatening outcome considering the power he holds as the Golden Knight GARO. Ultimately, in the span of one episode, the real conflict between father, son, and the world around them has both been revealed and sustained its first casualty. I hope that the show maintains this impressive level of compelling, efficient narrative construction from here on out. Bravo.

More than anything, GARO THE ANIMATION reminds me of early Fullmetal Alchemist. Both start out as solid fantasy adventures undertaken by a pair of heroic wanderers with great interpersonal repartee in a gritty medieval fantasy world with hints of a larger thematic conflict brewing in the background. Like many of that show's first outings, GARO's are somewhat boilerplate, but display a surprising amount of sophistication for what they are. That's not to say that this will turn into another Fullmetal Alchemist - there's no indication of that yet - but it's a good marker for what GARO could be given its current content and the best circumstances. If that doesn't work out, this show is also just super fun and gives itself episode titles like -HELL FIRE-, -DIVINE FLAME-, and -BLOODVILLE-. That's a no-lose situation all by itself. (It's also a nice change of pace from the typical absentee fantasy anime father to make Germán the protagonist's goofy companion instead, although León still hasn't dodged the requisite daddy issues bullet. More Continued Adventures of Sex Dad and Perpetually Embarrassed Teen Son, please.)

The CG suits are still an eyesore, but they're used less this time and this episode is a significant visual step up otherwise. Someone who really knows how to use lighting to strike a mood seems to have stepped in here. GARO is also highly reminiscent of Fullmetal Alchemist in its visuals - generic shots of forests and towns are improved tremendously just through solid lighting. This is especially key in the night shots, which tend to wash everything out in a dull-grey blur. Overall, this episode was a continuous journey of raised expectations - it looks good, sounds good - just solid entertainment with hints towards something more.

Grade: A-

GARO THE ANIMATION is currently streaming on Funimation.

Gabriella Ekens studies film and literature at a US university. Follow her on twitter.


discuss this in the forum (89 posts) |
bookmark/share with: short url

back to GARO THE ANIMATION
Episode Review homepage / archives