MatsuokaKiran's Blog

Aug 4, 2014 7:30 PM
Anime Relations: Ga-Rei: Zero
I really liked this anime, it had a lot of different aspects involving characters and their morals and how that played into the story. But the following will be my abridged thoughts.

The way that Kagura was the amateur that must learn the ropes, and somehow become a competent fighter helped the anime talk about morals. Kagura was portrayed as an idealist who wanted to help and protect, and the way she confronted the realities of the situation were very nice. I liked how as a warrior she was able to fight and yet still maintain her sense of morals.

Yomi was also a well constructed character, and her story helped examine issues such as how birth and blood shouldn't be the basis for power.

Both of the above characters were terrific, they made the anime what it was, and this was obviously a character based anime.

Moral Dilemmas

-Killing creatures that were once people. As far as the dead/zombies in this one I know it would probably be hard to kill them, but I see no reason to think that this would be murder... but as far as the ones with leechers (whatever the ones that stuck to their heads were) you don't really know if they are still human do you? Or if they can be saved? Unfortunately the anime never addressed this.
-Killing out of hatred. Very interesting, and it was incredibly jarring when Yomi chose to kill Mei. I was shocked at how cold she was even though she knew that Mei had no choice and it wasn't really her. Not sure if we are supposed to read this as "passionate emotion is a bad thing that can lead you into acts you wouldn't normally commit" or "we all have it in us" ...which leads me into my next point.
-Pushing your expectations onto others. I think Kagura was grasping at straws when she got emotional and everything started coming out and she said "no, of course Yomi wouldn't murder Mei!" Kagura didn't want that to be true, and yet she thought it was so she didn't want to realize that she doubted Yomi. And when Kagura left the hospital room and looked back at Yomi while crying, I am certain that she knew Yomi murdered Mei. The fact that this was uninformed and hurt Yomi greatly, makes me think that the thing about "hate" was meant as "we all have it in us". The circumstances in which Yomi killed Mei were extenuating, and the way she reacted after Kagura left.... my heart went out to her, she felt so alone and abandoned even by Kagura, her "treasure".

Romantic Moments

I will be honest, I watched this expecting yuri subtext... so take what I say with a grain of pink yuri sugar XD

Hetero: It was half baked, under developed, and jarring when it took away from the time that Yomi and Kagura had on screen together. I don't think it was until ep5 that we even got a hint of development between Nori and Yomi, that was also the same episode that they kissed. Later there was a scene (in the episode where Yomi's father died) where they meet and spend they evening together... even I, a yuri shipper, have to admit that that was an obvious nod to a sexual relationship between Nori-Yomi. And for me it was absolutely horrible. The het in this anime was not of a good quality and only served to take away from the Kagura-Yomi dynamic. The amount of development for Yomi-Kagura vs. Yomi-Nori was skewed towards Yomi-Kagura, and the quality was much better too. The het in this anime made me think it was a bone throw to the majority of viewers who might have wanted some romance. My advice to the studio? You don't need het romance to make a great anime! It would have been even better without it, even from a non-yuri perspective. (note: instance of where it was jarring was when Kagura was fighting Yomi for the second to last time and bam there is Nori disrupting the flow)

Yuri: I honestly don't know how you can make it through this anime without shipping Kagura and Yomi together. Despite the numerous "sister" references, the time they spend together, the things they do together, the dedication and love (yes love) they show each other is far too great to be sisterly love (at least in my opinion). Heck, they even share a kiss! After Kagura blushes from the two of them being so close! Kagura was also the one that helped Yomi overcome her injuries, she was by her side constantly and only wavered for about 10 minutes total before she realized her mistake (which was an enormous display of maturity and empathy, not to mention love for Yomi). No one else showed that kind of dedication, and the anime even explicitly states that the one person the other holds most dear is the other, respectively (meaning that the person Yomi loves the most is Kagura and vice versa). They belong together, end of story.

To wrap it up, I don't think I will read the manga since I expect Kagura to fall in love with some boy. But one thing the anime alluded to, and something I hope happens, is that Kagura reclaims her heart and realizes her emotions again... and that she never, never forgets Yomi.

Much love for this anime, oyasumi.

.....but who/what did Yomi hate??? *edit: looking back on the anime, I think the response she gave was "I hate this world" because that is part of the EC song, and it would have been the tipping point for Yomi when she became a Category A. But I find it extremely hard to believe that Yomi hates the world, considering this world is the one with Kagura in it ^_^
Posted by MatsuokaKiran | Aug 4, 2014 7:30 PM | 2 comments
MatsuokaKiran | Feb 21, 2015 11:13 AM
hmm Yomi hates herself... now that is something i didn't think about. certainly makes sense from what I can remember. it has been a while since i have watched the show but i feel like that would fit with the narrative...?

maybe, i don't know. it would work because one of the themes was the mistreatment of Yomi, and how her suffering was a product of people around her being uncaring and assuming. if Yomi hates herself, that would make sense, but i almost feel like this would be counter character...? i don't know, it has been way too long since i watched this

i think i would have to do a proper rewatch and analysis to say for sure. though i would be more than happy to hear your reasoning ^_^
 
somniferumia | Aug 6, 2014 5:33 PM
Yay a blog about Yomi Ga-Rei: Zero! ^^
I love your analysis about GRZ.

meaning that the person Yomi loves the most is Kagura and vice versa). They belong together, end of story.

I just really need to quote that :3

but who/what did Yomi hate???

As from my own interpretation, the one Yomi hated was herself.
I can't back it up with evidence at the moment since my time does not allow me to do so. But I'll gladly provide it if you don't mind us sharing a thought about this anime :)

Oh, anyway, I found you from I <3 YSA Club. So, how do you do there ^^
 
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