God, this brings back memories...
A little bit of a throwback to my past, I went searching for a "GARO" review, found there was none, and decided to write it myself.
There is not much I can say for plot because the synopsis given pretty much tells you what the deal is (a but too much in my opinion, but meh) so I will just be jumping into my thoughts on the show.
Man I loved this show. First of all, creative director should get an award. I'd hate to compare this to Power Rangers because it'd be like comparing a slingshot to a gun, but this is like that genre for a more mature crowd. The "Horrors" are splendidly created with interesting diversity. I loved the mermaid episode costume, and the main boss near the end. Animation sequence could have been better where used but you get so wrapped up in the story that you forget/ignore it.
Konishi Hiroki as "Saejima Koga"... honestly I found him adorable in the broody-type-of-lead way. He didn't kill it and made "Koga" likable (trust me folks, harder than it sounds sometimes, this type of hero you tend to bore of). As Koga, you kind of like the fact that "Kaoru" (played by Hijii Mika) has that way of putting his knickers in a bunch. Her character surprises you towards the end.
"Rei" (Fujita Rei) was probably my favorite for character writing because they made him so bloody interesting right from the get-go. I actually liked Fujita Rei in this. I have seen him in other shows, but hadn't really taken a liking to him like I did in "GARO".
Character development wasn't too rushed, and they didn't flood us with angst.
Story, honestly, wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be going in. I had tried to watch Kamen Rider to no avail, and stumbled into this and got sucked into the story. It's an interesting ride as we see our Hero try to live up to expectations, stay true to his sense of right and wrong, and still do his duty as Garo within the span of the 25 episodes. Oh, and keep "Kaoru" alive.
Music.... ok well, the first opening... to put it gently got annoying fast, which is why when they switched the theme song for the second opening I was so glad.
As for re-watching, up until last year I was still re-watching the series. I don't know, there is just something about this show that gives this sense of nostalgia when remembering it that brings on the urge to re-watch.
So to conclude, Great show with a interesting take on the whole "magical/transforming armor" genre. Do not be detoured by the whole Transforming bit! It surprisingly gets under your skin for a great 25 episode run. Good story telling and great art make it worth the time.
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