Garo Honoo no Kokuin EP 20

Garo Honoo no Kokuin 

This episode really focused on Octavia, the assistant to Mendoza that had maybe three lines before this episode. Apparently as a child her family was killed by a pack of wolves, and her little sister wouldn’t run away without her parents because she believed that God would save her family, and then they all died. This fully destroyed Octavia’s faith in god, but allowed for a faith in Mendoza to replace it. We see to what lengths she is willing to go to protect the one person who has promised to never throw her away. When she is almost caught by our heroes, she uses a Makai tool, one given to her by Mendoza that summoned a Horror under her control. She then orders the Horror to first kill an innocent woman who she had started to befriend and even treat as a sister, and then had the Horror consume her own leg in an attempt to get rid of the thing that marked her as an enemy. She killed her only friend and gave up a leg just to protect one person, because he has promised to never sacrifice her. That is some insane dedication. We see that her dedication is also turning into hate for Makai Knights, even though it was her that chose to kill her friend. 

Speaking of her friend, I really liked her. She was this honestly nice character in a world filled with monsters that consume those who have darkness. She was a beacon of light, and damn it I wanted her to end up with Alfonso, but now she is dead. This is not the first time I have saw an honestly nice character die way before there time, but I am always sidelined by it. I am not good at anime all the time. But other than the death of a character introduced in one episode and still had a large amount of development, and a character with about the same amount of screen time getting equal amounts character development, this was a good bridge episode. Also I liked how flustered Leon still gets when he thinks people are talking to him about sex. It is a character trait I like. So until next week, keep on watching.

Garo Honoo no Kokuin ep19

Garo Honoo no Kokuin

I’ve always preferred the Makai Priests to the Makai Knights. While the Knights are cool, with their armors and swords and the fact they are literally killing themselves to fight an impossible war just to save as many people as possible, Makai Priests are cooler. They wear cool stuff, they use ancient magics that are always badass, and they tools they use to fight the Horrors are so diverse and cool. They can use anything to fight evil, from paint brushes of literally any size to robots with the souls of Horrors that they tame. It is super cool. Also it is a place for the women of the series to really shine. For some stupid reason women can’t be Knights, so the bulk of Makai Priests are female, though it is never seen as women’s work, just another way people can fight against the darkness. Some of my favorite characters have been Priests and they are just really awesome. So an episode all about Ema, and by extension the Makai Priests of this series is very welcome. 

The episode focused on Ema completing her personal mission that was alluded to before, answering why she hates Knights and mostly acts alone. As it turns out, her husband/lover was also a Makai Priest, but felt that just defeating Horrors wasn’t enough. He didn’t want to just save the living, he wanted to save those who had been turned into Horrors. Interestingly, in the first season of Garo they mentioned that those who are first consumed and turned into Horrors, they mention that even if they could save the person, there soul is in too much of a horrible state. By killing the Horror, they save the person who fell to darkness also, but they are already dead once they fall. I like this because it implies that in the setting of the anime, which is the past, others had similar ideas as Ema’s boyfriend, but after enough research they find that there is no way to save those consumed by Horrors. Ema’s lover eventually falls to the darkness, tempted by the power to save people. Once he goes full Horror, he almost kills her, and she is locked away by some Makai Knights who see her as a liability. But they are all easily killed by her husband, and she vows to be the one to destroy the Horror. Cut to the episode proper and she is fighting the Horror, who looks like a jet in an amazing sky battle, and does finally kill him, getting one last moment with what could be considered the real man she loved. 

Leon’s involvement in the episode is to follow Ema and in a way offer help. He basically says that he won’t interfere unless the Horror attacks the city, but it is obvious that he is really going to save Ema. Don’t get me wrong, Leon will prioritize the city above the life of one Makai Priest, but this new Leon, Leon the protector, Leon the real Garo, will do what he can to save everyone. Ema and Leon has always had the best interactions. She was always the first to call him out on his bullshit and fluster his revenger demeanor. But now he is grown, and while there banter is still surprisingly casual, it has also matured. He is no longer the child lashing out at the world, he is a proper Makai Knight. There is respect, and familiarity. Also they end the episode by implying that Ema and Leon are now having sex. So I guess I can’t call him a virgin any more. I actually don’t mind this development, but they need to actually do it properly, and not just mush to characters together and hope for the best. Over all, this is a great episode that really fully develops Ema, shows how awesome Makai Priests are, and will hopefully have some decent ramifications for the rest of the series. So until next week, keep on watching.

Garo Honoo no Kokuin ep18

Garo Honoo no Kokuin 

While the death of Leon’s potential lover is something that I am pretty sure everyone called, it has been very well handled within the show. Alfonso’s leaving Leon alone to bury his dead, only leaving him with a sword to defend himself with, is an honest human mistake that one would make when dealing with a grieving friend or relative. You think they need time to sort themselves out but really they need someone to help them grieve with. That’s why the reappearance of Leon’s inner rage makes sense. He is at his most vulnerable here, and the inner anger is going to take advantage of that. I don’t personally like what they did with Leon’s curse mark thingy. I was hoping that is was going to be something more than just a manifestation of Leon’s unhealthy quest for vengeance. Like that it was something that happened from the death of his mother, an accidently Makai magic gone wrong. And while that still has the possibility of being something deeper than just rage issues, it kind of closes the door on that for the most part. 

Leon’s fight with Alfonso was the highlight of the episode. It was an amazing show of skill and animation. It was definitely one of the best fights in the series so far. In the lore of the world, at least in the live action series, Makai Knights are no allowed to fight one another outside of very special occasions, or if a fellow Knight has fallen to darkness. But despite this restriction the fights between Knights are always great. It is a great mix of martial arts and sword play and is just a good time. I’m happy that the anime has kept up with this pseudo-tradition. And the outcome of the fight, while expected, was still very nice to see. Leon in the real Garo armor, not the strange version that he had before, is a sight to see and he plays the regal Knight very well. And he has Zaruba back, and Zaruba is talking with him! That just makes this episode the best one for me. More Zaruba is always welcome here.

The other big plot point of the episode is about German. He finally slept with the woman he was staying with, and then he leaves her before the morning, leaving her alone and sad. But he leaves her to apparently work with the big bad from the previous cour, on orders from the Makai big bosses, the Watch Dogs. This is going to be the new plot for till the end of the show, I assume, with German on one side and the younger Makai Knights on the other. It looks like it is building to an interesting climax to the series. So until next time, have fun watching.