Garo: Honoo no Kokuin is the first story told, Garo: Guren no Tsuki is an alternate universe with completely different characters with the only similarities being the casual villains and the means of defeating them.
Story - 1
The setting is similar to that of the previous Garo an old medieval fantasy type setting where there are monsters called Horrors that manifest from the darkness in a humans heart. There are Makai Knights and Makai Alchemists who have the power to defeat these horros and are heavily relied upon to protect humans from this threat.
Our Protagonist is one of the many Makai Knights but the armor he wears is a legendary armor that has been passed down for generations, the Golden Knight Garo. The story follows our lead Raikou, his assistant, and his mentor as they protect the city from various threats.
Although the setting and idea of the show is great and almost identically matches the setting of the previous version, this series didn't have a plot until the very last episodes. Over half of the series is focused on "The Horror of the Week" having the Protagonist defeat them time and time again with no real progression. Near the end the anime made a decent attempt at creating a likable story but ruined it completely with asspulls to save characters with no reason. Not only did this not help the show at all but it severely brings the show lower than it was prior.
Art - 2
The character designs were actually good, nothing too fancy but there were times in the show when I couldn't see a thing due to the overwhelming darkness. They would attempt to have fights in the dark and you couldn't see a thing other than the subtitles that were provided. If I can't see anything at night how can I enjoy the art let alone the characters or story.
Sound - 5
Nothing special, the ED was pretty good to get you pumped up. Too bad the show wasn't just as satisfying
Character - 1
Just as painful as the Story the characters have no development. The Protagonist suddenly and randomly gains the ability to control his power but there is no change in how he fights, it felt like it was forced in there to try and show that this character has changed but he doesn't. To nobody's surprise this Protagonist doesn't have a strong personality at all, if everyone wasn't always looking to him to save them he wouldn't even be a worthy side character to mention.
Our female lead is the mentor of the Protagonist but as the story progresses she ends up being reduced to a damsel in distress. Everybody knows that this is probably the worst thing you can do to a strong female lead.
Only decent character is another Makai Knight who is out for revenge due to the one who killed his brother. Unfortunately he is shoved aside to make room for the horrible main characters and eventually loses his motivation to get revenge.
Overall - 1
This show really hurt me man, I only respected it and watched all 24 episodes out of love for its previous version. This anime was a pain to watch and I wish it was never made. They should have took the time to refine the upcoming movie that is a sequel to the previous Garo. Please do not watch this show and if you do, make sure you watch the Previous Garo prior.
