Garo: Honoo no Kokuin

In the name of the king, the Valiante Kingdom launched hunts to exterminate users of witchcraft. Seventeen years later, their pursuit is still growing in both size and brutality. Unbeknownst to the citizens, the targets of these witch hunts are the secret protectors of humanity. Known as the Makai Knights and Alchemists, they have a strong will to protect people from Horrors, demons who possess souls plagued by sadness and pain.

One such Makai Knight is 17-year-old Leon Luis who inherits the legendary armor of the Golden Knight Garo from his mother. Though he possesses great power, he struggles to overcome the hatred he bears from his mother's death at the hands of the kingdom. His father German, known as Zoro the Shadow Cutting Knight, is still training Leon when he is called to investigate the upsurge of Horrors in the kingdom's capital. Although German knows Leon's will is wavering, he decides to bring Leon along to continue his training.

As German and Leon head to the capital, the king's amiable son Alfonso San Valiante struggles to find a solution to the growing Horror threat. But before he can do so, he is double-crossed and banished from his own kingdom. To return home, Alfonso sets out to find the help and strength he needs to reclaim the throne. During his search, he comes across Leon, whose interactions with the prince will forever change both of their fates.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Luis, Leon Main

Namikawa, Daisuke Japanese

Luis, German Main

Horiuchi, Kenyuu Japanese

Guzman, Emma Main

Park, Romi Japanese

San Valiante, Alfonso Main

Nomura, Katsuhito Japanese

Lara Supporting

Aiba, Madoka Japanese

Zaruba Supporting

Kageyama, Hironobu Japanese

Banderas, Raphael Supporting

Tenjin, Hidetaka Japanese

Coronado, Ximena Supporting

Sudou, Yumi Japanese

Prostitute Supporting

Miyajima, Eri Japanese

Luis, Anna Supporting

Oozeki, Eri Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Maruyama, Masao Producer

Ootsuka, Manabu Producer

Hayashi, Yuuichirou Director, Episode Director, Storyboard, Key Animation, Animation Director

Reviews

Mar 29, 2015

Link_of_Hyrule

Recommended

**SPOILER FREE REVIEW**

If you were one of the people who dropped Garo back in 2014 because the plot seemed a little too aimless, this is a PSA: Y’done goofed. What started off as a slightly clumsy and generally directionless action romp with only a mature tone to differentiate it eventually came into its own and emerged as a visually stunning, well written, memorable action-drama complete with strong characters and an emotionally investing plot. Garo was arguably the best anime that aired this season and it deserves far more attention than it is getting.

Synopsis: In a world full of bloodthirsty creatures known as horrors that terrorize ... the people, the only ones who can protect them are known as the Makai Knights; a secret organization dedicated to preserving peace throughout the kingdom. However, little do the people know, the king is being manipulated by his advisor into painting the Makai Knights and alchemists as evil witches in order to eradicate them.

Before you even figure out what Garo is about, one thing will stick out: It knows how to have a mature tone. Too often do anime fall into the trap of confusing maturity with gratuitous blood, guts, nudity, and/or death; but not Garo. This show deals with topics of emotional loss, altruism, coming of age, sex, and violence without ever feeling like they are in over their head. This alone is commendable because it opens up a far wider spectrum of potential material to deal with that you won’t be able to see in a typical anime that’s bogged down by fanservice, moe, etc.

The biggest complaint that can be made about Garo is that it seems to lack direction or even a real overarching plot, but this only really applies to the first half of the show. Lots of people lost interest in this anime early on because there wasn’t any specific goal in mind, and that’s understandable. However, what emerges from the initial failures of the show is a touching tale about coming of age. It’s complete with some great drama without ever feeling forced, great pacing, and the perfect mix of dialogue and action. It puts you through a great deal of emotional ups and downs, really making you never want to take your eyes off of the screen. If you can tough it out through those first few episodes, you definitely won’t regret it.

While the plot really manages to come into its own, that phenomenon can largely be attributed to the growth and development of the fantastic cast of characters, who are the highlight of Garo in my opinion. Leon, the protagonist, starts off an insufferable, angsty teen. He complains about everything, is never satisfied, and is all around insufferable. So basically, he’s your average teenager. What makes him such an effective focal point for the show is how he learns and grows from his experiences; Leon is a dynamic character who ends up becoming supremely likable and even sympathizable.

However, Leon is only one of the many interesting, dynamic characters. German, Leon’s “father”, accounts for a lot of the personality in the show. He’s very funny without ever diminishing his important and rather serious role in the plot, which is not an easy balance to achieve. There’s also Emma and Alfonso, who each bring their own intriguing subplots to the equation as well. When it comes to characters, Garo overwhelmingly succeeds at fleshing out their respective backstories and motivations. The characters are the reason I was able to stick with the show through the slow start and the payoff ended up being much amazing than I ever thought it could be.

The last thing I’ll mention is how studio MAPPA, who is quickly becoming one of my favorite studios for having the balls to take on risky projects, deserves a lot of praise for the superb animation in Garo. The Makai armor battles are perhaps one of the greatest examples of CGI done right in anime to date, but even more impressive to me were the detailed landscapes and the fight scenes that didn’t use CGI at all. There is one particular fight in the later half of the anime between two main characters that is easily the fight of the year so far. The amazing choreography took my breath away; I probably watched that scene five times just for the hell of it. Combine the uniquely great animation with a… “interesting” soundtrack (watch the OPs and you’ll know what I mean) and you have an anime that delivers in the aspect of presentation.

In conclusion, Garo is a well-written drama with a mature tone and a focus on action that is definitely worth watching. The meandering plot eventually finds its way home and delivers a lovely narrative that you will remember for a long time. I highly recommend Garo to anyone who has a little bit of patience. Here’s to season two!

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jun 27, 2015

Cauthan

Mixed Feelings

(This is a spoiler-free review adapted for this site)

[Synopsis]: Under the influence of his trusted adviser Mendosa (Hashi, Takaya), the king of Valiante initiates a massive witch hunt in order to exterminate both the Makai Knights and the Makai Alchemists after the king’s health was threatened by the curse of a witch. As she was burned at the stake, the witch in question gave birth to a son, Leon Luis (Namikawa, Daisuke) who was then spirited away by his father and Makai Knight Luis Herman. Many years later Leon returns with his father to exact his revenge on those responsible for his mother’s death and ... a young, escaped prince, Alfonso Variante (Nomura, Katsuhito), seeks to take back his kingdom from Mendosa’s twisted influence.

[Characters]:

I think that Garo had a perfectly sized cast for the story it set out to tell. It concerned itself most with the two protagonists Leon and Alfonso however a good deal of screen time is also given to Herman and a Makai Alchemist named Emma Guzman. The other members of the cast vary a decent amount however a good many are citizens of Valiante and help to reinforce the themes of the show in different ways without needing extensive character investigations themselves.

Leon is a pretty decent character overall and has considerable and overt development over the course of the show. He occupies a fairly static attitude and mindset for the first half of the show however the latter half spends a great deal of time nurturing his development and he ultimately becomes a better character because of it. While he is bent on revenge, he doesn’t quite embody the trait to the degree some other protagonists have and while his revenge may consume him from time to time, it does not define him as it does some characters from other shows.

Alfonso brings with him the usual traits of the crown prince of a kingdom – he is righteous, courageous, and a skilled swordsman and so in this way he is a little typical while being appealing for the same reasons. He isn’t as complex as Leon nor does he have the same level of development because of how his character starts off however he is not unpleasant and his straightforwardness alongside Leon helps contrast the two characters quite well. He improves a decent amount for me once he takes on a mentor and his active pursuit in saving his kingdom makes the character quite endearing.

Herman, Leon’s father, is mostly a comedic character because of his relaxed attitude and his frequent visits to town brothels however he has a few serious moments throughout the show and possesses agency within the plot. I didn’t care for him very much because he had more screen time than I thought his antics deserved, much of it taking place during a slight lull in the show’s pacing where I think it would have been much better for the show to have focused on Leon or perhaps Alfonso.

Lastly, Mendoza, like Alfonso, strikes me as a pretty typical character – this is not the first time we’ve seen a twisted, needlessly evil, adviser to the king and his ambitions and goals are nothing to write home about either. While he is pretty simplistically evil, his backstory is interesting enough and makes the character more acceptable in my eyes however it too is not great work of fiction. Someone I want to make special note of is Mendoza’s attendant Octavia who also serves as a maid to the king. She has nearly no presence in the first half of the show however in the second half she shows surprising innovation and intelligence in her actions. Because of these traits, I found her to be one of the more compelling characters around at that time despite her infrequent appearances and her light presence in the earlier half of the show. Her worship of Mendoza and her reasons for doing so are well-founded and sincere and made her quite an enjoyable character after she starts receiving some attention.

[Art/Animation]:

The first thing to talk about when it comes to the animation in Garo is most definitely the suits of Makai armor donned by the main characters – Garo, Zoro, Gaia (to name a few). While they look fantastic by themselves, their CG depiction by is both hard to initially swallow and contrasts heavily with the show’s environments and sometimes enemies. I wish I could say it gets easier to watch as the show progresses and that you get used to the over-the-top, brilliantly shining, metal suits however I never really felt at home with them and ultimately found them a bit distracting – somewhat damaging the otherwise well executed action sequences. The show also uses CG for the Horrors, the often present enemies of the Makai Knights, and so when both the heroes and enemies are done in CG it makes the whole scene a tad more acceptable as they are no longer clashing however this is not always the case and it still doesn’t fix the stark difference between the armors and their animated environments.

CG aside, the character designs in Garo have an interesting style to them. They are vibrant designs which go together with the over-the-top nature of the show however at times I felt things started to look and feel a bit ridiculous. The characters are extremely simplistic in their design points however also outlandish enough with their hair and body proportions to be called vibrant. The Horrors are not always humanoid and are often more bestial in design; I would even go as far to say they are somewhat abstract at times which makes them feel a bit odd given their large range of depictions and as an antagonistic presence within the show it was hard to pin them down and even take them seriously at times. The character designs would occasionally falter in quality but not too noticeably and not enough to continuously distract the viewer. The action sequences had good animation, somewhat attributed to their use of CG, however there were a few notable fights of importance that I would even call excellent in their execution.

[Story]:

The story was not the area where Garo most excelled as the show primarily felt like a vehicle for glossy, stylistic, CG action sequences with some added backstories, character interests, and plot points to frame them. This is not to dismiss the attempt that Garo made to build a narrative framework for its action scenes and it doesn’t do an abhorrent job of it as the overarching story is not all that bad however it lacks complexity in an extreme way. Where the plot of the show really suffers in my opinion is in the episodes that feel a bit episodic and self-contained.

There is a clear story being told between Leon wanting revenge for the death of his mother, Alfonso wanting to take back his kingdom and restore it to glory, and Mendoza wanting to… commit atrocities – however every few episodes (and sometimes more frequently) we are given a story about a local demon that needs to be dealt with and we watch how the characters cope with it. The horrors don’t have any direct relevance to the greater plot however their extermination falls under the tasks issued to the Makai Knights and so it feels like we are doing necessary work when we watch our heroes confront them despite the fact that they have no explicit ties to a greater enemy. This combined with the lull in pacing around the midsection of the show can make the greater narrative feel a bit distant at times however when it shows up it is not displeasing and the short stories are by no means unwatchable (at least the majority of them). I will submit that the slow pacing in the middle gives birth to some of the better scenes in the show when all is said and done and that once things pick back up that the show gets progressively better and finishes in good form.

One problem I did have was with the way the show laid out its concepts. It does a decent enough job of establishing what the Makai Knights are and even Makai Alchemists however beyond that the Makai Rings, Leon’s markings, and the Watch Dogs are all a bit under-explained and a little hard to make sense of when they are introduced. The rings especially confused me because as Zaruba, Leon’s ring, is introduced, it seems like it is supposed to manage his emotional state however the other Makai Knights also have them and Zaruba’s own purpose within the show seems to alter drastically in the second half where he receives far more dialogue and can actively aid his wearer in combat.

[Music]:

The music was pretty decent all throughout and was probably what one would expect given the nature of the show. The music is often played up during the action scenes (appropriately so) but also did well during the more dramatic and somber scenes. In short I would say that the soundtrack felt at home within the action of the show and avoided falling short or feeling out of place when the show was focused elsewhere. A success coming from MONACA and a strong point for the show.

[Final Thoughts and Rating]:

I think Garo was a fun show despite its often dark tones and tragic circumstances. While it was a little hamfisted in the way it explored it’s themes, they meshed well with the characters and provided at least something of interest that ran throughout the framework of the narrative. At the end of the day I can’t help but feel like the show was more or less an action showcase however I find myself somewhat surprised by how well it did in other areas while still not quite impressing me to the point of the show being ‘good’.

Rating: 6

I gave Garo a 6 because of its fun and over-the-top action scenes, it’s sometimes dark subject matter, and because of a few infrequent triumphs within the plot. What held it back was its sometimes poor pacing, its lackluster characters outside of the main duo and the occasional side character, and because of its rather jarring implementation of CG. It was a fun show and I don’t regret watching it however it lacks both a solid presentation and other areas of interest in order to make it out.

[Recommendations]:

As long as they aren’t turned off by the overt use of CG to accomplish the task, I would recommend Garo to any fans of the action genre because the fights are both frequent and fun. Fans of fantasy and magic would not do wrong to pick up the show however there wasn’t as much magic as I myself was hoping for – the show opting to mainly focus on the armored Makai Knights rather than flame-throwing magicians. The drama is by no means bad and a few of the more memorable moments of the show exist in this area and so I feel confident in recommending it for this reason although it is intermittently present in the show and not the ultimate focus.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Oct 15, 2020

r3b3lian

Not Recommended

Spoilers Sorry.

Score: 4/10

The Mecha screams gave my ears cancer. And the lighting in fight scenes is worse than old DC movies. Such a good base for a story destroyed by weak characters and anime post-production.

1. The villain gets stripped of his ranks for breaking the Makai codes and becomes even more powerful #facepalm.

2. Queen gets framed by the court advisor. for real?

... It takes ages for protagonists to learn the ways of the Makai knights whereas the crippled assistance of the villain dawns the armour and is suddenly full-on Beyoneta.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. In short terrible aftertaste. The story had so much potential, it's sad how it was routed.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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