Garo: Honoo no Kokuin Episode 1 (First Impressions)

Ok, so, when I first read the summary for this show, it seemed like it could be either an amazingly dark, action-heavy fantasy, or it could be rather plain and generic. And so which of them was it?

Yeah…yeah, this is gooood. I was hooked from the very first 5 seconds. The music, the atmosphere, everything drew me in to what’d be both very exciting and also very, very dark. The setting is a very nice blend of a traditional medieval setting, but with the magic and monsters being much more like in anime. And it is stellar.

For the drama, there’s a lot going here. I mean the story opens with a pregnant woman being burned at the stake, delivering her child while burning, only for the child to be rescued by a BADASS KNIGHT IN FREAKING AWESOME ARMOR!

That not good enough for you? How about THE DEMON KNIGHT LANDSURFING ON A DEMON HORSE WHILE HOLDING THE BABY AND ESCAPING FROM A BUNCH OF GUARDS HOPPING ON ROOFTOPS!!

The opening also sets up just how dark this series is. This fantasy land…really hates witches. In the same way that real actual people were blamed as witches for plague, disease, and other misfortunes, so too are the witches here. And the series does not shy away with showing what happens to witches who were captured,; torture, rape, and eventually, death.

This series has more than just violence though, it also has plenty of sexual content as well (well as far as you can go with a non-hentai). In fact, a good deal of the first episode is at a brothel.

Funnily enough, this isn’t just fanservice for the sake of fanservice, but actually connects to the story, connecting to Herman (the stud on the left’s) work. It also uses this for “exposition”, explaining how things with demons and witches work in this setting while all this sexiness is happening. Wait…..a brutal dark fantasy setting? Plot details given while showing sexual imagery? Is this…is this Game of Thrones the anime?

The action is stellar. The cg work on the suits actually works rather well for me, and it looks great. I love the design of both the Makai and Golden Knight armors. They look insanely badass and I feel like a 5 year old but just….LOOK HOW COOL THEY AAAARREEE!!

One touch I especially love is how sometimes the armor bends and moves, particularly around the face, like the armor is an organic part of their bodies. I like the design of the monsters. These Horrors look creepy, wierd, and very disturbing.

 

So, with greatly designed warriors, greatly designed monsters, and insanely good action that just gets you pumped, how are the characters and the story?

The story’s pretty simple: priests and normal folks hate witches and try to kill them and demons, but then in reality its the witches who fight and seal away demons so they’re the persecuted good guys. Its not an incredibly unique premise, but it works well for this setting and it looks like the show ail be doing a lot with it. It held back nothing showing the brutality with which this kingdom and the church oppress and try to crush all witches in the land for over a decade. By the way, guess who the main villain is? The head priest, or the grand advisor to the king? TRICK QUESTION THE SAME CHARACTER IS BOTH!

As for the characters, we got little inklings of them both. We see Herman as being flirty, a bit goofy but also with a lot more to him than meets the eye, while Leon, his son (and said saved baby from burning stake grown up after 17 years) seems so far very serious and straightforward. The first episode mainly focused on setting up the world and conflict rather than diving into both characters, but there were some emotional moments to be had, primarily during the flashback scenes.

It makes me very interested to learn about both the characters and what will happen. The episode also hints a connection between the Makai Knights and the royal family as well, so it’ll be curious seeing how this all plays out.

Overall, this episode was a lot of fun. The action’s stellar, animation good, the designs are great, and the plot and characters, while not fully fleshed out (but give them a break its the first episode) leave me intrigued and wanting more. I’m definitely going to keep watching this show and will be covering it for the blog.