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Okay I’m just going to admit outright that I didn’t really care for this episode. I know what it was trying to do, the forbidden love, the social status, the rich being rich and turning a blind eye to the poor while they die from starvation. It’s been done a lot and it can be a good story for awhile if it’s addressed more and I have no idea if it will. I feel like it won’t be as this is all episodic and the show hasn’t really a plot, so this gap between the rich and poor probably won’t be brought up again because this episode did its job. I guess. I don’t know. I never really know what to expect with this show, really. These episodic episodes have been hit or miss. Last week’s was a hit but this one was a miss. I wasn’t particularly involved with Kosode or Yasusuke so to see Kosode turn into a Horror was just…well, yeah that happened. I mean yeah I felt bad, she really did nothing wrong to warrant that beating over that stupid cloth, which was just tossed away afterwards. Which was actually infuriating to watch, Kosode had every right to be angry and talk back. But this episode didn’t really do anything for me.
Yasusuke was part of the police magistrate. Kosode was a criminal who was granted a pardon and worked under Yasusuke. The two become close, Yasusuke falls in love with Kosode and wants to marry her. One has a royal name, the other is a commoner and criminal. Things don’t go well for them, Yasusuke talks back to his brother and gets into a scuffle. After being treated like trash Kosode turns into a Horror and is then defeated by Raikou. Yasusuke gives up his name and takes on a new one, Hakamadare. Raikou tries to intervene but can’t as Seimei said. Raikou is now motivated to really help every person.
The characters didn’t really feel all that powerful to me. I wasn’t totally feeling the story either, but it was probably the way the story was going. This probably would have felt stronger had it been maybe a two-parter, just to get to know the characters more. Also the comedy bits with Seimei were a bit off. And I didn’t like the fight either. Or Kosode’s Horror form.
Basically I was just :/ this whole episode. Now I’m starting to think if I should just drop the coverage. I don’t know if I’ll actually drop watching the show, I’ll give it a few more episodes. Maybe I can sit through the first half, but if nothing happens by the end of this Fall season then I might just drop it altogether. Like I said, episodes have been hit or miss, with mostly misses so far. I’d like more better episodes and an actual plot, but I’m getting a feeling that won’t be the case. I won’t stop covering this just yet, I’ll make my decision by next week.
One thing I like is that there are different versions of the opening sung by the different singers of JAM Project, and I think the female singer’s version is the best.
Hakamadare Yasusuke was a Robin-Hood type character from Heian-era literature. As mentioned before, this Garo is more for Japanese-history buffs than most viewers out there.
I’ve heard the parent live action series also tends to be very episodic, with the actual plot scattered across the one season. Perhaps it would be better if you reviewed in sets of episodes, instead of one weekly.
Ok see that’s another thing, all this Japanese story/history stuff that I have zero knowledge in. I know I’m missing out on a lot of things. Whenever there are shows that focus a lot on all things Japanese I tend not to watch it as I’m just going to be clueless. Hoozuki no Reitetsu, an example that comes to my mind first, I dropped because most of the humor had to do with Japanese folklore and all that so I didn’t get almost all the jokes.
I’m just going to give this one more episode and make my decision then.