Heyo, everyone. My apologies for falling behind in Garo. I assure you though, I’m back and fired up so here we go back in the saddle!
So, this episode is where our three main leads get more properly introduced. Suffice to say, they have problems..well, at least Leon and Emma do. She states blatantly she doesn’t like Makai Knights and likes to mock his immaturity, while he is simply suspicious of her as an outsider (though, if I were hunted down since the day I was born, I’d be pretty paranoid too.)
Herman seems more than understanding, and a lot more mature about the whole thing. He doesn’t trust Emma, but doesn’t outright rebuff her. He also shows a lot more to himself, and being, as I’ve said, a lot more clever than he seems. While Leon is headstrong, he’s still untested, so Herman continues to watch him till he’s a full-blown Makai Knight.
The main focus is on this ring, Zaruba, which is supposed to be a great heirloom for the Garo armor. We see a flashback where it was broken during Hermans’ escape with baby Leon, and him leaving it with Gael, a Makai Priest to repair it. Apparently, part of Leon’s problem controlling his power is that he doesn’t have this, so its kinda important they have it.
Welp, after 16 years its all fixed up and ready for use. Unfortunately, Marcello, Gael’s dumbass apprentice, has a case of the Gollum’s and takes the ring for himself, despite showing that for all intensive purposes…he sucks in every way imaginable.
The episode mostly just has the betrayal, Herman and Leon figuring it out, with Emma having some assist. We get more questions about Emma, who she is, or what she wants. She apparently wanted to speak to Gael,but we don’t know why. Also, I’m very curious why she dislikes Makai Knights, since she is Makai and their enemy is the same.
One thing that remains amazing for Garo, the awesome fight scenes and animation.
Leon rips the ring out from Marcello’s treacherous hide and makes some sort of weird contract thing. Apparently in exchange for the power, Zaruba “controls his life every new moon”…whatever that may mean. So, once they fetch the ring, the three part ways.
Oh yeah, and this happens.
Yeah, the prince has been on the run, and finding out that Horrors have infiltrated the kingdom. He’s about to be assassinated (I think it still counts even though he’s in exile), before this Makai Knight shows up and kills all of them. Who is it? What will this mean? Does it connect to his family history? The episode…teases this.
This episode overall…gave little to talk about. It was about getting Zaruba, they got Zaruba, and moved on. I’m far more curious as to what the overall goals are for all our heroes and we’ll hopefully find out next episode. See you then!
Episode 4
And welcome back! (Long wait, right?) Gotta say, have a lot more to say. This episode had alot of really good aspects to it, particularly in the character aspects. But first, what do we find out about the Makai knight who saved the prince?
What he looks like! And that’s it. (Seriously, that’s all there is the entire episode of the prince.)
We go back to Herman and Leon, and we learn more about what contrasts them. Leon is all business, focused on his goal and on his revenge. He wants to take down the guys who killed his mother, and is less interested in general good-doing. Herman is different; he sidetracks their journey on a rumor in order to help people. For him, the journey is what matters. And even it turns out bogus, hey there’ll be booze and women to go after, right?
Well, in this case, no. The entire town are fugly as hell, both inside and out. Seriously, this is essentially the medieval equivalent of that southern town off the beaten road that “don’t take too kindly to outsiders ’round these here parts.”
Of course, the one pretty lady is the one that lets them stay, mother to a very introverted and kinda creepy little boy they protect from bullies.
We see how clever Herman is, and in control of the situation. Even when the townsfolk get all crazy, he finds a way to resolve the situation without using his powers once. However, the main focus of this episode is Leon.
Like I said before, Leon starts off the episode focused on getting a move on, and desiring revenge. Herman points out how revenge will only destroy him.
We find out the source of the Horror that’s been picking off villagers is a doll carried around by the little boy. See, his father was the town scapegoat, basically blamed and treated terribly for any problem the village had. When he tried to report to the church, they killed him. So, the Horror preyed on the boy’s desire for revenge, to the point where the boy will defend it in order to get his justice.
We see Leon’s difficulty. The own path he’s taking is being reflected back at him. We also see that, despite how tough he seems, he’s still inexperienced and has some things he’s still squeamish about. The first time the Horror takes on the appearance of the boy to distract him, he falters. He knows the boy’s pain, and how fucked up this situation is…but he also sees how wrong it is. This Horror exploited a desire for vengeance to attack, and Leon is susceptible to the same thing happening to him.
We see his hardened facade break for the first time, and his look of sadness just shows how hard he’s taking all of this.
However, while they help the mother and son move on, they can’t deal with all the evils in this world. This episode shows something that has been a big element of the show; human superstition leading people to become monsters, and literally summoning the demons they blame for their problems. The village continues to do its lottery and scapegoating, and while the Makai knights face Horrors, its been the humans who’ve most likely done the most damage to this country. The Horrors have been exploiting people’s worse nature against them; that is one of the truly great threats to Leon and Herman. Will they succeed? Will more people realize the evil that’s been playing them for fools? Will the Prince actually have his own A-plot?
I don’t know, but this episode was a very nice exploration into the darker side of human nature, and a good episode for Leon overall. I can’t wait to see more.