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I just marathoned the first four eps and I'm surprised by how much I like it. There are drawbacks: the CG armor sucks, emo boy is way too emo (though it does play nicely against his happy-go-lucky dad), and ep 4 had a "monster of the week" feel that better not be a regular thing. But this show is better than it has any right to be and the characters have a lot of potential, particularly Prince Alfonso, the most interesting wild card in the show right now.

I have absolutely no familiarity with this franchise outside of the anime, so some of the terminology is very confusing. How many powers does emo boy have? He's the Golden Knight, with The Garo, the Fire, and a contract with Zaruba, whatever that all is. His dad is a Makai Knight, and his mom was a Makai Priestess, and Ema is a Makai Alchemist who may or may not be an ally--what's the difference between a Makai Priest/Priestess and a Makai Alchemist? Shouldn't all these Makai guys get along with one another? But the king's treacherous advisor might also be an alchemist...did I miss something?

Anyway, I'm really enjoying the character interactions. I think this is the first fantasy/action anime I've ever seen that depicts a positive father/son relationship, which is awesome, and I sense a whole parent/child theme. I'm curious as to how this will all play out, and I wouldn't mind seeing more flashbacks of German and his son before he turned emo. Oh, and the opening animation is gorgeous! The song is kind of hilariously literal, but the animation more than makes up for it.

So, is Ema going to be the love interest for the father, the son, or neither? Wink

I wish that I actually cared about the characters. The father is a drunk who really fails to be much of a role model, somehow bouncing between irresponsible and somehow wise. And the son just does not seem interesting, just filling in the roles of either dark teen or naïve youth. The prince too has not really done anything other than act his part without much personality. The alchemist might be the most interesting character, but we have not seen enough.

You can see Rage of Bahamut for how you can have a similar setting but with interesting characters.

Rage of Bahamut is also a good show that is better than it has any right to be (I don't expect much from game adaptations, especially card games), but Garo captures my attention a little better. It's too early to say which show will be better overall, but I prefer Garo's relatively straightfoward plot--persecuted "witches" are actually the good guys who fight demons + overthrowing of a royal family, to Bahamut's mess of gods, demons, angels, Joan of Arc (ugh!), and zombies. So far it seems like Bahamut has too many character tropes and not enough clear, solid plot.

Ah, spoiler[destiny]...

I got a feeling we will be seeing that word a lot. spoiler[Nonetheless, I enjoyed the latest episode quit a bit both for establishing characters like Alfonse, the plot revealed about bloodline, and relationship dynamics.]

I have a question. Rafael seems to know all about spoiler[Alfonso and Leon's family, more, apparently, than they or their own mothers knew. So if the Golden Knight was their mothers' father, who were their mothers' mother? Who decided to give up Esmerelda for adoption? I assume mom (Esmerelda's mom, because for all we know, Anna & Esmerelda had different moms) died while giving birth to Esmerelda, just because she wasn't mentioned in the story at all, but who knows? I hate when they make bloodlines a big deal and then forget that all people have two parents. Especially when it's the female parent they forget. So far, the most important person in this bloodline seems to be Golden Knight Gramps.]

Nitpicking aside, I liked this episode.spoiler[some good, explanatory exposition, punctuated by swordfighting. Looking forward to the cousins reunion.]

The way the characters are spoiler[possessed in this show reminds me of Supernatural, a TV series I used to watch. But seriously, that was brutal.] Well, it's good thing we have people like Leon to take care of this mess.

Also, that poor kid this episode. Life is just never fair in this show....and cruelty is everywhere. I'm pretty anxious to see the next episode as well with that PV.

Lol, spoiler[Herman can be such a smooth guy and an idiot at times. Funny episode. He really has a way with women though especially ones that needs his help against those pesky Horrors.]

Episode 8

I really hate Herman. On one side I should feel happy in this episode as he got what he deserved, it was really his own fault he got mugged, he could not keep it in his pants and he got robbed as such. On the other side, an episode with so much of him just made me feel annoyed me.

How is he entertaining? Because he will take his pants off at the first chance? That he abandons his son, giving into sloth and lust? That he acts like a selfish bastard but will still do small things that help people and do something smart in the end?

I can take Arata from Trinity Seven because it pretty clear it is an act, in fact I really like him. But Herman is a creep.

I enjoyed the episode. Herman is kinda skeevie, but also harmless, and often enough amusing. I liked the scene with the hat.

I get the impression that Herman can be very serious when he wants to but likes to have fun. The alchemist summed it up in this last episode. He was having fun the whole time.

I wonder what spoiler[Leon needs to learn though to defeat the black knight?]

Interesting bit with Anna in this episode. Isn't she Leon's mother?

As for Leon's lesson, I don't think it's a care of him ever doing anything "wrong," per se, he hasn't really beat anyone up that didn't deserve it, for example, the problem is one of motivation. Even if he's doing 100% the right actions, if he's doing them for revenge, or rage, or in search of gaining power, then his own "knight" powers won't be working at their full potential, he'll be out of synch with it. Only when he's acting with the motivation to defend others can his powers fully manifest. A similar feature was in play in Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archives series with his Knights Radiant (which I highly recommend, btw).

Episode 9:

Damn that was sad.

I'm glad to see spoiler[Alfonso become a Makai Knight. He earned my respect this episode but I feel bad for what happened to his master. I think to date, that horror was the most toughest one they have fought so far. I wonder if Leon's dad showed up if it would of made the difference. Oh well, he wasn't in sight this time but Leon and Alfonso make quite a tag team.]

No Herman in this episode, which made a world of difference to me. I actually liked the episode.

I'm so glad that Leon and Alfonso got along right away and we didn't have to suffer through the old "two good guys meet, confuse each other for enemies and fight" cliche. In fact, not only did they get along, they looked out for one another, worked together and became friends. It all seems destined since we know they're cousins, but they don't know that yet.

But we can't escape all cliches in Garo, apparently spoiler[not only did Alphonso's master have the mysterous "coughing up blood" disease so common in anime, he died via heroic, noble sacrifice. That was a bit cheap. Oh, well]
I like Herman, and I'm looking forward to him meeting up with Alfonso.

I just finished watching the first 3 episodes of the series over the TG break. I have to admit I'm enjoying it. I decided to peek into it after a guy on YT said he was loving it and made it one of his top picks of anime shows to watch. Now for me, I kinda wasn't impressed because of the use of CG in some scenes. However I'm seeing it's not as overbearing and that animation is pretty good for all of the high speed action. I'm curious to know what the live-action series was like in comparison to this. It's good to see Keita Amemiya's projects get some light. I wouldn't mind seeing a reboot of 'Iria/Zeiram'.

I do have 'Rage of Bahamut on my list, so I'll get to that at some point. But I do have to admit there is a old school feel to it. I think it has to be the animation style. But good stuff.

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GARO: Honō no Kokuin (TV).