#garo

summer movie

not a bad one, dont think garo has had a bad movie so far

but still one that exists just to be a garo movie

i think he highlights where probably the villain, he was cool-ish, not from a narrative point from a design point

rian had her moments which is nice

and overall the was kinda tamer in general

but meh, cant say i regret it

7/10, C-. I went in with fairly low expectations that were not met. This film seems to only be interested in celebrating what I consider the least interesting elements of the franchise, and even those adapted elements are fairly dully executed.

Spoilers for Garo: Taiga follow. Minor spoilers for the superhero webnovel Worm are also included.

-The protagonist, supposedly Taiga Saejima, is basically an OC with the same name as Kouga's father. This movie is like if you made a My Hero Academia prequel where Endeavor was a typical teenage shonen protagonist or something.

Garo: Taiga has sort of an audience alienating premise in that it focuses on Taiga Saejima when he was young - Taiga Saejima being Kouga's shithead dad whose only on screen accomplishments were cameo appearances and a spotlight episode where he was basically an abusive dad who raised his son like Doc Savage's dad did.

There's a scene in the 2005 Garo show where we see kid Kouga looking at toys in a toy shop like he's never seen them before, and his lack of understanding of the world outside of being a Makai Knight nearly gets him eaten by a Horror.

Kouga Saejima was such a dysfunctional adult it took the world's bravest Manic Pixie Dream Girl to fix him, and that's all because of Taiga Saejima, a man who never showed affection to his son while he was alive, and only left a ghost answering machine to do so after his death.

So I mean, maybe he was nicer when he was young, but if your only exposure to Taiga is that, then of course Taiga being a generic hero guy is going to feel weird. Especially when the actor playing him is by far the most stilted of the three men. I think I even prefer Ryuga's actor to this guy.

-The movie introduces a new concept into the Saejimaverse - the Four Auspicious Beasts. (I think the subs call them the Sacred Beasts, but I think the former name is cooler, and we've already seen creatures called Sacred Beasts in the franchise before, so we need something to differentiate these newcomers from that.)

I don't care for them. The whole point of the Garo setting is that the world is fucked up, weird, alien, offputting. The Big Good of the Saejimaverse looks like this!

The Four Auspicious Beasts feel too humanized, too whimsical, too Studio Ghibli. They feel like embodiments of a placid nature humanity can understand and work with, there are Makai Priests who specifically work as Guides of the points of the Compass they represent. And it's not even because the 4AB are too alien to comprehend.

Byakko is just a guy. Supernatural beings in the Garo universe should not be just a guy. It doesn't help that he basically takes over the movie because this actor is the most charismatic one in the entire cast, even if his story is not interesting in the slightest.

The scene where the 4AB basically go Dangai with Taiga is cool - but it feels like they went 'you'll sacrifice everything if you merge with us' and then Taiga didn't sacrifice anything.

-Fuki is the female lead in this movie. She is yet another woman is a receptacle for an object, and she doesn't get the dignity of being humanized and expanded upon like Mayuri from Flower of Makai. They give her a paint by numbers survivor's guilt thing that vaguely connects to the rest of the story, she delivers mediocre material in an equally mediocre manner, she's not the worst female character this franchise has had but she's still pretty bad.

-Jado is the bad guy - he is also nothing you've not seen before and there's nothing really compelling about his execution. His clockwork twin minions are kind of cool.

-There's a scene in this I thought was cool that I don't remember seeing in prior Garo entries - Spiritual Precognition, where the Golden Knight gives up a bit of his lifeforce to simulate the future and know the outcome of an action.

It reminds me of the superhero webnovel Worm, where Scion, the source of the setting's superpowers, can briefly use Path to Victory, an ability that perfectly predicts, well, the Path to Victory, but it costs him so much energy he only uses it at key points. I like stuff like that.

-The action in this is fine - I can remember a few scenes where I was like 'ok that's pretty cool' but the emotional stakes were just not there like they were in the best moments of the show, or, to use a better comparison, some of the better movies like Red Requiem or Beast of the Midnight Sun.

The best moments in Garo almost universally involved monsters of the week with either a very cool gimmick, an emotional connection to whatever the protagonist was going through at the time, ideally both. The overarching plot - the world-ending stakes, the monster who wants to eat something to grow stronger - those were almost never the part that was compelling or interesting, it was the almost perfunctory conclusion to the story.

Garo: Taiga doesn't celebrate the moments that make Garo great, it celebrates the mediocre, underwhelming afterthought climaxes that fill huge portions of the franchise (and the entirety of the Ryugaverse.) It's disappointing, and indicative of the downturn in quality the Saejimaverse experienced when it kept going after Flower of Makai.

What are the odds for Garo Pro Youtube to rerelease my fav Makai Hana episode today~~~

Full name: Riku Sansuki

Pronouns: She/Her

Age: 18-19

Location: Port City(lives in an apartment.)

Friends: Zaruba(Best Friend), Sonoko(Love Intrest/the only person/Girl outside the order who knows her secret), Rei Suzumura(Right hand/Mentor) the spirits of Previous Garo's(her timeline): Goki, Taiga, Kouga,and Raiga(Spiritual Mentors), Unknown Garo- Ryuga.

Rei was Resurrected by the Makai Priests to have him train Riku as her Mentor.(Age Appearance: early 20's), also giving him a chance to be a Makai knight Again which he obviously took.

Enemies(some reincarnated Enemies of previous Garo's): Horrors, Jinga(A Respected rival, despite the circumstances), Jado, Juzo Igaro, Messiah The Ultimate Horror, Sigma Fudo(Jaaku)

Origin: A Female Mekai knight who is the descendant of the Original Garo, and is The Best kept secret of the Mekai, Riku as Garo is a Silent defender Against The Horrors.which led to most knights thinking that Garo was Still a dude.

Riku as Garo also fights Crime in order to prevent the spread of horrors and to protect the Innocent.

Description: 5'8 Japanese-American White Female, long black hair, yellow eyes, black shirt, white Makai Agent jacket(from her ancestor), Black pants and Boots.

Garo Armor: The same 6'7 bulky Golden knight armor that has been passed down for Generations.

Garo Armor Powers: Superhuman Strength, Hypersonic-Light Speed, Superhuman Durability.

Weapons: Makai Blade(mastered at 15), Garoken/Garo Zanbaken(Garo's Sword), Goten(Garo's Madoba Horse)

Feats as Garo:

Riku can basically do anything the previous Garo's can:

Kouga/Raiga-Effortlessly pierced through Barago's Ki barrier, use Mado Fire, which distorts time and space, Able to interact with the Nanashi, beings of nothingness,Completely unaffected by Zaji's time powers.

Ryuga-Is able to feel the memories of objects she touches

Personal feat- killed 10,000 Horrors(plus one the size of a skyscraper) and when she was done she reverted to Riku(meaning she killed 10,000 horrors in exactly 99.9 seconds.)

Forms(Garo can be empowered by the thoughts and hopes of others, giving her new forms):

Tsubasabito Garo(Winged Garo)

Dragon Garo

Garo Sho-an upgrade gifted to her by the spirit of an unknown Garo named Ryuga.

Her Ultimate Form:

Empress Garo- The Armor matches her body type(lean and agile, yet still Bulky), the helmet gains a crown design, a flowing red cape, the armor shines Brighter than ever Before, Garoken becomes Garo Onna-musha. this form is accessed when Riku accepts herself for who She is to defeat Messiah. She is The First Female Warrior to Ever Become The Protector of Humanity. The Golden Knight, Riku Sansuki, GARO!!!!

Power Level(Horrors got Stronger, But so did Garo): At her Base Peak, Riku is More powerful than All the Previous Garo's Combined(Multi-Galaxy At Base.) and with the transformations she's even stronger: Winged Garo, Dragon Garo, and Garo Sho-Multi-Galaxy+ Each. Empress Garo- Universe Level.

Personalities: Riku: A Rebelious girl who wants to Prove herself as Garo without hiding Who she is, deep down she always wanted to be a Hero..to be a Knight, To Be...Garo. She soon grows from a snarky, rebellious brat to a Mature-yet still sassy-Bright, Shining Warrior who has Truly earned the title of The Golden Knight, Garo.