Episode 8
So, remember last time when I was questioning what was going on with Herman, and being like “What the heck was his story while Leon was in the land of Whatthefuckery”? Well, my wish has been granted, in the most unexpected way. We do in fact get an episode where Herman is naked the entire time, and get to see the wacky hijinks that ensue. Honestly….it was better when it was just a mystery though.
Now don’t get me wrong, Herman is a straight up absolute old school pimp.
But an interesting character does not an interesting episode make. He basically meets a damsel, with some generic thugs, and so has to rescue her. Pretty basic but Herman does it funny. Since Makai knights can’t harm humans, he basically has to run away with the girl even though he could kick these guys’ asses.
And surprise surprise, she turns out to be scamming him. Still, Herman is a gentleman and doesn’t hold it against her..even when she swipes his clothes. The funny part is that…the reason he’s naked is when she said she needed to “reward him” he full on tried the Naked man. Unfortunately, this wasn’t one of the two out of three times.
So we get, basic naked person in public hijinks. Its pretty standard with him running around, people going crazy about the wandering pervert. The most interesting part of it is where he gets a makeshift loincloth by grabbing a woman’s’ bonnet with his ass cheeks.
Suddenly, who should come into the scene but..Emma.
Once she helps him escape, she fills him in on whats going on with Leon. Here we see Herman’s serious side, and how he looks at Leon. While he’s strong, and has the Garo armor, he’s not ready. Leon is impulsive, inexperienced, and he’s not being motivated by the right things. We also learn the name of the Black Knight, and his connections to Herman. But first….this bitch….
I haven’t even bothered to learn her name because she is pretty pointless as a character. She’s apparently the info source for the Makai knights, by which I mean she gives out vague hints on things and never gives any strange answers. I only mention her because…she does exist. I probably won’t until she actually does anything other than lie around. She couldn’t even give Herman a pair of pants.
But what we learn is very interesting. Bernardo, the black knight, was once companions with Herman and Leon’s mother back in the day.
This backstory is actually really, really informative. For one thing it informs us that Leon’s mom was extremely hot. ]
Another, that Herman and her had a bit more of an adversarial relationship, with Bernardo being their stoic friend guy that Leon’s mom seemed to have the hots for. So in other words, the Naruto-Sakura-Sasuke/Guts-Casca-Griffith trio. The only difference is that the betrayal doesn’t happen, so far as we know, until long after Leon’s mother’s death.
Bernardo has, only in this flashback shown himself to be very interesting. Despite being a Makai knight, he has strong, violent urges to stray from the good and righteous path. However, he remains loyal and devoted to the cause, even helping Herman and Leon’s mother escape when the authorities are after them. While we know this ultimately fails, it doesn’t show him being captured and brainwashed, but more sacrificing himself, and the pressure of the battle driving him to finally cave in on his darker desires. The fact the Black Knight was a close friend to Herman (his real name is Roberto but I’ll call him Herman because I have so far), adds a new layer to all of this, and makes the ensuing fights much more intriguing. Oh right, the rest of the episode.
Herman finds the same girl, now that one of the goons has become a Horror, as you do. He managed to kill it without transforming, and then tries the Naked man again. This time it works. And we pretty much see him right where we found him at end of the last episode.
Other than the flashback, which could have been done in many, many different ways, this episode was kinda pointless. Herman was charming and awesome, but I’ve seen this basic silly premise done plenty of times before and its pretty stale. However, now that father and son are reunited, its time for the real adventure to start, right?
Episode 9
Wow, its been a while since we seen you, Alfonso. Yes, in this episode we get to see something we’ve been waiting a while for, Leon and Alfonso’s paths finally cross and its really a fun episode to see.
First off, we get to see more of Alfonso’s training. He has a good heart, but he’s woefully inexperienced and utterly unready, but he’s showing his improvement. I was literally thinking of “Be a Man” the entire part of his training. One thing we do learn is that, Rafael, his master…doesn’t seem to be looking too hot.
He has come down with a case of Mentor’s disease. Yes, Mentor’s disease, that killer of old experienced badasses in fiction. Its just lethal enough to kill them, but nice enough to let them wait until they’ve trained their successor first. Seriously though, this is enough of a ticking clock to make it necessary Alfonso levels up faster. Which means…
Sigh….this person again. But I suppose its necessary. Just as she sends Alfonso to go fight an incredibly badass monster called the Chimera of Orvien, Leon wants in to find a Horror to train against too. His loss against the Black knight seems to have shaken him, and so the white lady decides to send them both after the same Horror.
Now, what you’d expect is a lot of them bumping into each other and stepping on each other’s toes and fighting and arguing and all that rivalry bullshit. You’d be wrong. The two meet when Alfonso’s being frisked by a merchant, and decides to lend a hand.
Here we see one very interesting contrast between Leon and Alfonso. Leon, while still inexperienced, has a lot more of a background in this sort of thing, he’s more streetwise. He’s able to see things Alfonso can’t. However, Alfonso has one edge over Leon. Last episode, it was discussed that Leon is searching for revenge, to destroy those who killed his mother, and yet the purpose of a makai knight is to protect. That is one area Alfonso shines in, as he knows exactly what he wants to protect and will give everything to do so. While barely trained, he already has the spirit of a makai knight.
Before the battle against the Chimera, we get to see more of Rafael dying, and now get to see that his own son died in his arms.
So, I wonder what this Chimera’s gonna look Li-HOLY BATOUTAHELL SHIT!!!
THAT’S THE CHIMERA? It looks like something on a album cover. Its just to metal and cool and I can’t even just omygosh. This series knows how to bring out the 8 year old in me, it really does. With the lasers and armor and monsters and swords and smashing action figures together…all of it. Anyways, this thing, which is a giant freaking door of metal spicness, kicks the everloving crap out of both Leon and Alfonso. And its a door..and it can kick their ass. This is easily the most powerful Horror we’ve seen and it. IS. AMAZING.
However, even as they see they got no chance, Alfonso ain’t giving up. You got to give him points for trying.
Leon tries to fight it in his Garo armor…and still gets his gold-clad ass kicked.
Seriously just…look at these shots. Garo remains one of the best action series I’ve seen, it excels in all manner of the fighting. The dynamics, the blending of colors, the designs, the choreography. It blends together to make something beautiful and epic and just so awesome I feel like I’m a kid saying the coolest part of a show I saw.
Anywho, Rafael shows up. Apparently, rather than wait to die of Mentor’s disease, he goes in to die like a badass, and does a way better job than either Leon or Alfonso. However, his disease weakens him and…
However, before he’s eaten, Rafael throws his blade to Alfonso, who then transforms into Gaia.
He kicks the everloving crap out of this thing and it is awesome (I especially love the flaming eyes.) Now, you all may be asking how Alfonso, who’s never transformed before, could take on a Horror that Leon, who is Garo and has much more experience, could not. My response is SHUT UP IT WAS EPIC!!!!! hough seriously, I think it might connect with what I said earlier, Alfonso just has the spirit of a Makai knight. Anyways, after the battle, Alfonso mourns his master and swears by his blade he will fight for justice, for his family, for everyone. Its pretty standard, but it did provoke reaction out of me. Honestly. Alfonso, while basic, is a really admirable and enjoyable character and I am interested in his journey.
Honestly, this episode was really fun. It got Leon and Alfonso’s plots together, their interactions were enjoyable, the stuff with Rafael was nice, and the action…oh sweet lord the action. The story isn’t bad, its quite good, just a bit basic. Its a fun action anime, but its the action itself that takes the series to a whole new level. It is stellar, and this episode reminded me of what I found just so awesome. Now, if you excuse me, I’m going to eat a bowl of cereal and play with action figures.