Where there is light, shadows lurk and
fear reigns...yet by the blade of Knights, mankind was given hope. -Opening
line of the Garo TV series
Winter 2014 for me personally was an
anime season convoluted with fantasy-based shows. That being said, usually I'm
lead to believe that I will inevitably come across at least one or two fantasy
animes that are horribly written, feel generic, or filled with stereotypical
tropes. Garo HonÅ no Kokuin or Garo: the animation, was one of these shows that
I went into this season expecting some lame, generic fantasy tale about
knights. Boy was I pleasantly surprised about how much I ended up really liking
this show. Starting off with possibly the most metal birth scene in all of
anime from the very get go, Garo is a show done by studio MAPPA. It's another
high risk, high quality project that the studio has taken on this year along
with other shows such as Shingeki no Bahamut: Gensis and Zankyou no Terror.
Studio MAPPA has easily become one of my favorite studios this year if only for
these three shows. But anyways, let's talk a bit about this hidden gem of a
show.
Garo by no means is a ridiculously
original story. Hell it's so dedicated to the the idea of the hero's journey
that one can't help but say, "hey wait, I've seen this before!" Yet,
where Garo really shines is in its confident and effective storytelling while
showcasing the hero's journey in a way that feels equal parts unique and
relatable.
I do think that the source material
(which is altered a bit in the anime) and its core thematic components do play
a large part in Garo's thematic flavor. For those who are not familiar with
Garo, it is a Japanese tokusatsu (live action) series. So in that regard, it is
in fact comparable to shows such as Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, and even Power
Rangers. However, the main difference lies in the show's target audience. While
the former franchises are geared towards children and marketing certain
products, (usually toys) Garo occupies a steadily shrinking niche market of
dark tokusatsu , which repackages the the classic superhero tale for adults,
pulling fewer punches with unsavory characters, graphic violence, and fantastical
horror.
I think a misconception that tends to
arise with the idea of superheroes or heroes in general is that only children
have an interest in such things or need such heroes to save them. But in
reality, adults like the idea of heroes too. We all need someone to save us. And
as Garo tries to show: adults need heroes that are just as broken and
complicated as us while having issues that we can really relate to on a
humanistic level.
The protagonists of this show embody this idea of complicated and broken heroes. Leon Luis is a makai knight (the order of knights in this show that don magical armor and fight human-turned-monster creatures known as horrors) who is very young compared to his counterpart in the live-action series. Leon is a character who wishes to prove himself as the golden knight Garo but seems to be rather unstable with the power he has obtained. He is mentored by his womanizing and badass father German who is a seasoned makai knight that provides a lot of the humor and energy to this show. We can't help but feel bad for Leon as he harbors a deep bitterness in his heart and carries a heavy burden as Garo. He's killing horrors along with his father out of necessity and not so much for a duty he has to protect mankind. It is this interesting inversion of the typical path of the hero that makes Garo a brilliant story. Leon has plenty of reasons to feel the way he does and yet German tries to foster genuine development in his son to make him both an honorable man and knight. The father and son relationship depicted in this show feels believable and is executed well enough for viewers to care about Leon and German. One thing I think is pretty cool and humorous is how German and Leon seem to have radically different views on certain matters such as women. Where German will try to have sex whenever and wherever he can, Leon seems to subscribe to a more prudish demeanor and spout traditionalist/romantic views of relationships with women.
Garo is the kind of show where you can
get as much out of it as you'd really like. It's certainly got plenty of
action, and plays on more character archetypes than your average fantasy show,
but it also surprisingly raises important questions on human nature. Funny how
stories show that monsters tell us more about people than they often do
themselves.
The horrors depicted in this show come
in all shapes and sizes and their very existence help to bolster this idea of
humans being comparable to monsters. Leon hates horrors as much as any makai
knight but also comes to feel the same way towards humanity if only for what
they did to his mother. So far the horrors have been rather cookie cutter
monsters that pose a decent threat to our protagonists. However, I hope as the
series progresses we will be able to get other kinds of horrors whom perhaps
show some form of strong mental strength as opposed to physical.
Is through horrors that the show tries
to hide the theme of having viewers place judgment on humanity. Are the horrors
really the true bad guys? Or are they simply the byproducts of the the true
evil that can arise amonsgt humanity? Deep themes such as these on top of a
cool action packed story about magical knights lends to Garo's effective
storytelling.
The anime does stray from the source
material's setting -which is modern day Japan-opting for a medieval setting
somewhere vaguely European. However, I am fond of this choice as it adds more
depth to the fantastical themes while detailing the physical burdens of what it
was like to live back then during these times.
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Another thing worth mentioning about
this show is the crisp use of unique CGI for the makai knight armor. It looks
brilliant and spouts some of the coolest looking 3D actions sequences that I've
only ever seen in anime such as the show Karas. Studio MAPPA has proven this year that taking on high risk projects
and putting in as much love and high quality animation to a show really can go
a long way.
The way Garo handles the tale of a
hero's journey and the idea of Makai Knights truly makes for an interesting
show. Makai Knights live with the burden that while they know they are saving
the lives of innocents that they happen across, they are lost when it comes to
truly seeing an end to that fight. They are condemned to keep fighting in the
shadows, defenders of people’s souls, while they receive none of the protection
they offer, from the people they protect. Makai knights can kill a Horror
that’s wreaking havoc but they cannot save a soul that has already fallen.
Despite the bleak landscape Garo paints, it’s not condemning us to accept the
world as it is. Instead, Garo offers us a taste of despair infused with a hint
of hope. The Makai Knights go about their duties with a sense of acceptance to
their inevitable destiny, which runs dangerously close to apathy. But apathy,
or the closing off of feelings, is not the answer. Empathy is, and in a world
where your next-door neighbor might have a son who’s seduced by a creepy doll
to kill people, having the strength to show compassion, to make oneself
vulnerable and open, is true strength. Of course having a cool sword or a
badass father doesn't hurt either. Only 12 episodes in at the time of this
post, with 12 more episodes to go, I really love Garo and I would definitely
recommend others to give it a try.
-Nights Off
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