Post is hideously outdated. Wrote it last last week, but was really not in the mood to blog much.
But oh well, since I wrote it, thot might as well just post it coz I think I would be doing injustice to the series if I din like RECOMMEND it.
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Oh man.....this is probably the best tokusatsu I have come across. Highly highly x 1000 recommended!
Excerpt taken from Wikipedia : "The series is considered by some to be a turning point in tokusatsu entertainment, as it was marketed towards adults and older teenagers, as opposed to younger children. The show contains graphic violence, nudity, and mature themes. It was marketed as a "Hyper Midnight Action Drama."
Laughs....how true. Plus the fight scenes are nicely done. I am not a big fan of hyper special effects. If I wanted to watch that, I would go to the cinema and catch an A-grade Hollywood action movie on digital format. For tokusatsu series, I like it when the heroes fight - fist by fist, 拳拳到肉!
The Garo world is a world of its own with many special rules. It is said that the human world is haunted by Horrors, a monster that is created out of the inner dark personality of human beings. Such ill feelings take shape and in turn possess the very human beings they were born from, causing havoc in the world. Makai Knights are a chosen breed whose task is to rid the world of Horrors (this does not equate to protecting the human race. There's a slight difference here).
Each region in the world has its own Makai Knight and every knight only takes care of its own area. It is against the rule to poke your fingers into another location (hehe, how true! sounds like the corporate world!). Each Makai Knight reports to a Shinkan, literally means the guardians of the passageway between Hell and the human world. Garo's Shikan of the east take the form of 3 damn irritating girls who take turns finishing up one sentence. The Shinkans are served by this angmoh looking butler who seems to be mute. Each Makai Knight has a Madogu, essentially a piece of accessory which has entered into a contract with the Makai Knight. Garo's madogu is a skull-shaped ring Zaruba, who has entered into a contract to be by Garo's side upon the death of Garo's father. Madogu's not only help the Makai Knights during their training, they also provide valuable insight and advise regarding the Horrors and act as a Horror detector of sorts. Besides the Madogu, each Makai Knight has different armours, weapons and abilities. The armour is made from Soul Metal (special element retrieved from Hell) and can withstand any kind of attack. But each time it is summoned, the Makai Knight can only wear it for 99.9s, anything longer the armour will in turn devour the Makai Knight, turning him towards the dark side. Only in one battle did Garo risk going beyond the 99.9s time limit and he went bersek, morphing into a werewolf like creature displaying extremely violent traits.
Although each episode focuses on a specific horror type - lust, greed, envy (sthy like seven sins), a lot of interlocking mysteries are thrown in along the way, leading to the final climax at the end of the series. Was Garo's father killed by another Makai Knight? Why did Garo kill Shizuka, Zero (Makai Knight of the West)'s lover? Why does the Shinkan of the East take the form of 3 young girls? Who is Kodama (nope, not the shinkansen for sure)? Why does the shinkan of the East seem so keen on setting the stage for Zero and Garo's showdown? Why did Kaoru's father paint pictures of Makai Knights in his story book? Why does Kaoru keep running into Horrors? All these seemingly unrelated pieces fall together ingeniously towards the end. And I just have to say, its such a refreshing change from the usual Super Sentai and Kamen Rider series (where bad is bad, good is good and never the twain shall meet!).
oops, I digressed. Back to Garo ~ the only gripe I have for Garo series - the female lead Kaoru suck big time. I mean, I am used to seeing female leads in tokusatsu series being very HOT!. This one is jialut. And the only reason I suspect why she was chosen was because she really looked professional in the last fighting scene (and thats her only real fighting scene). She really kicks ass. I dun wan that leg to land on my face, my face will crack! Hmm, the evil female horrors were quite hot though..........especially Meshia.
A lot of fighting scenes were filmed at premium outlet! Yes, I recognize those branded shops! Couldnt stop laughing about it. (Yes, a-poh.......we need to go back there again)
My fav scene from the series - Garo Vs Zero.
(this is also the first time Zero henshin-s. And yes, Zero is Ray Fujita and he goes by another name Takuto -vocalist of indie band Dustz. Din know he can kick so well!)
By the way, the current season of Super Sentai series - engine go-onger SUCK big time. Its totally crap la. Such a disappointment compared to the last Jyuuken Sentai series. Kamen Rider just gets better. After Den-o last season which was already good, the new Kamen Rider Kiva series is even better! Despite Seto Koji needing some help from the Looks dept (he looks damn gay at times) compared to Takeru, the current season of Kamen Rider is really good. Finally we have a superhero who is dark (one of his parents I think is a Fangaire?), stays in a haunted house, plays the violin and has a bat as his motif ~~ Cool!
Sentai series can go suck eggs this time. Kiva takes it all!
This scene is priceless - Yo high on guitar, toshi chuckling behind, shinya on yo's drums.
