Ga-rei tv Review

The manga starts with this not so ordinary boy named Nimura Kensuke, who had the ability to see things not from this world. Although those spirits hardly frightens him anymore, he was quite fed up with them. Then one fated day he met and become infatuated with a pretty girl named Tsuchimiya Kagura, who has the power to summon a mighty spirit beast (Ga Rei) who devour spirit, Byakuei. Kagura quickly enlisted Kensuke's help to do her job, that is to either purify or destroy those spirits. Together with their friends they faced various enemies which led them to the mysterious Sesshouseki, fragments of the sealed power of the great Kyuubi.

Story & Characters

It is once again in the near future Japan. In this future Japan is under siege by various evil paranormal forces being dealt by the Ministry of Defense. Kanze Tohru is a member of its Paranormal Disaster Countermeasure Headquarters. Harbors a past encounter with a white-haired boy in which his girlfriend was killed, Tohru vows to one day to take revenge on the former. Eventually, he and his colleagues are summoned to eliminate supernatural creatures in the Greater Tokyo Area. Despite being able to kill them, the entire squad are massacred by a katana-wielding woman.

Wait! They were killed?

Frankly, this series, Ga-rei: Zero, gets off to a pretty shaky start, the purported main characters with their flashy action eliminating some bizarre specters and potentially-looking backgrounds until they are killed in the first episode. It's a whole lot of "what?" by which to introduce this series. Not only are the characters short on introduction, it's difficult to really care about what's happening at all.

Thankfully, the second episode immediately provides some small texts and starts building the series' story which is a prequel of the manga. We're introduced Tsuchimiya Kagura, mild-mannered, feisty, and young exorcist who can easily kill a giant fire salamander with her high-speed katana. Then there's Isayama Yomi, supernatural swordswoman ice queen who massacres every good guys in the first episode. Shortly after, we're given reasons to understand the relationship between Kagura and Yomi, which is ultimately what this whole thing revolves around and slowly but surely the real story of Ga-rei: Zero begins to take shape. At a very young age, Kagura is placed under the care of the Isayama family after her mother passed away. There she becomes friend with Yomi and the two develop a sisterly bond. A few years later in high school, Kagura debuts her career as an exorcist, aiding Yomi in many battles yet tragedy will soon befall the two young girls and turn them into bitter enemies.

Story wise, the plot of Ga-rei: Zero is pretty generic and predictable. Even if each character has a distinct charm, and the thrilling action but with its first two cliffhanging episodes and the title "Will you kill someone you love, because of love?", anyone could predict the end of the story. But does it really matter? It's not like knowing Yomi will become "evil" can be such a killjoy, its true strength isn't in those; it's the emotional power it invests them with.

What really holds the series together is the cast. Through their interaction with each other, they grow and provide much more depth to the series. The second episode introduces the main cast. Starting with episode 3, bringing the timid Kagura and Yomi, the kind, sister figure. If you're concerned about the potentially predictable plot then these two can do the show many justice. As the main leads, Kagura is firstly introduced as a depressing young girl, eventually matures up as she faces many dilemmas throughout the show and becomes attached to Yomi, who comes around as a tragic heroine, she starts out no much different than they usually end up, but her devotion to the Isayama family and open-hearted nature make her one of the most lovable characters. Kagura and Yomi's relationship, it's not a romantic one, at least not in the conventional sense. Rather, their relationship is something incredibly odd yet somehow real: two people finding a love they could never quite find in the opposite sex. And once done, it delivers an ultimate impacted drama that would break your heart after a few hours of gushing blood.

In addition the main cast, there are a variety of interesting secondary characters such as the huge, muscular Iwahata Kouji with a homosexual side to heat up the fun, Izuna shows up as a loser but his tragic encounter with Yomi will make it understandable how he ended up a playboy in the manga, and even the manga's protagonist Kensuke makes one short appearance in the finale. Despite the increase in action and occasional dramatic moments, the series never stops providing character developments, which somehow works in the end.

Rating: 8

Art

The character designs, while sometimes twirling and awkward, are far more beautiful than the manga and generally pleasant to watch. Kagura and Yomi indeed have a charm in their appearance as they don't disappoint viewers with action prowess and limited fanservice to "yuri moments." The other members of the Supernatural Disaster Countermeasures Division are interesting with their funny look and fancy store of weaponry. Even the monsters designs are quite generic with some being extremely ridiculous, a bunch of walking corpses being controlled by parasitic brains or giant tripod creatures from War of the Worlds for instance.

While the series' visuals are uniformly maudlin, rendered in deep blacks, stormy grays and that unmistakable crimson, the gorgeous background art is second to none. The action sequence handled with many special effects are very smooth. When unleashed, not only they are stunning, but the violence is extremely brutal and well-made to the point of worthy being called almost beautiful.

Rating: 9

Sound

Voice actings pull in some familiar names and some who have not been heard much in the past couple of years including Mizuhara Kaoru and Shiraishi Minoru. Still, everyone has done their job well and have very little problem. Chihara Minori's Kagura is perfectly fine when kicking butt and being spunky which sell well in the torments and tragedies near the end of the series, while Yomi's evilness is a poison, her seiyuu did a fantastic job voicing the character from a bright young girl to one hell of a sadist.

Far more than expectation, Ga-rei Zero's music is not only smart but also detailed. "Paradise Lost" by Chihara Minori brings in a dynamic opening song composed with some touching cutscenes and blazing action of the two main lead, while the ED "Yume no Ashioto ga Kikoeru" performed by Yomi's seiyuu reflects her inner struggle. Walking in loneliness, the visual changes after she went "evil" with Kagura removed from the background, which signifies her loss. Among the soundtrack, there are plenty of good choices; indeed, this series has a wise-composed soundtrack that manages to captivate every moments as the later episodes start going down the path of both bloodbath and sisterly love.

Rating: 10

Presentation

Make no mistake, Ga-rei: Zero is a very calculated series. While not as exaggeratedly fun as the manga, the plot is generic and the first arc found cheap is intolerable, but it's still a remarkable series nonetheless. The strategy which manages the viewers to care deeply for the two girls even when they know full well where it all must end. And it works. The girls' friendship is at once complicated and touching. And once it enters the main arc, Kagura's intensively sister love and Yomi's sadistic nature all shape conveniently, their story ceases to be an efficient if emotionally aware thriller and becomes a merciless yet moving drama. The barrier of entry, both emotionally and financially, are intimidating to say the least, but if the opportunity to subject yourself to this challenging series comes your way, you'd be regret not to jump in. After all, if Kagura and Yomi's relationship doesn't break your heart, you might want to check if you have one to break because their efforts are more than enough to serve this series more than just a normal pack of action.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Story: 7
Characters: 8
Art: 9
Animation: 10
Voice: 9
Music: 10
Overall: 9

Good:
+Rich storytelling, makes even some old generic plot seem fresh.
+Top-rate series artistry and animation, superb fight scene.
+Wise selection of music and voice talents.
+The Kagura+Yomi bond.
Bad:
+That doesn't mean everyone will enjoy it because of the first episode.

Rating: 9

Final Verdict

8.8333 (very good)

Reviewed by Weskalia, Jun 02, 2011

Comments

angelxxuan Banned Member Jun 02, 2011

tv review? manga review? I am seriously confused by this whole review, what are you doing here? but by the long review I suppose I would have to add this to my location list and to find to watch, it sounds interesting. I was not really all that impressed with this review, the shattering of the first episode was pretty much left me not certain I want to finish this series with spoilers or watch it. after I wiki it I'll see if I can find it online to watch, it sounds interesting to me anyways.
Weskalia Jun 03, 2011

What makes you think it's a manga review? Did you even read it properly? It's said TV review! Honestly, after DMC, I'm sick with people getting these confusions for no reason.
mbeckley Jun 03, 2011

I had put this anime on-hold, yet your review lured me in to continue watching it. I'm impressed with your choice of words. :)
angelxxuan Banned Member Jun 03, 2011

well wes I did read it, took me awhile too, and I did take notice of the "tv review" part yet you kept throwing out the manga comments of it, so I got confused out of it. there was probably no need to even mention manga if it was anime only. just my opinion on the whole thing.
Weskalia Jun 03, 2011

Do you even know why I MENTIONED the manga? And how the hell this is a manga review when I included 4 anime screenshots? Did you really READ it through? If you can't even understand everything about it and don't have anything better to say then don't read, don't comment. What makes me upset even more is of all the time and efforts I spent on one of my favorite series only results such idiotic comments.
SnickerdoodleNinja Retired Moderator Jun 05, 2011

First things first, before everyone gets too upset: it's important to remember that no matter how clear one person may think they are, on the internet things can come across very different to people than how it was intended, so it's important to keep an open mind when reading or responding to someone.

Anyways, on to the review. I probably wouldn't really enjoy Ga Rei because I'm not into yuri/yaoi/homosexual pairings, and while this may not have a true romantic pairing, the elements and on-the-line relationship would probably turn me off. Which makes me sad, because the story sounds really good. :( I liked your review and your word choice; my only thing is that I found myself wondering more about this Kensuke character and how he really fits in to the story. Overall, nice job! :)
Gizel4 Jun 05, 2011

I actually enjoyed the first episode and was pretty much disappointed with the rest. Please bare in my mind that I knew nothing about the series prior to watching it and I'm quite shock to find out that there is a manga for it. The story/plot is quite generic as you've mentioned and the characters were pretty bland in my opinion especially the two leading females. I was uncomfortable watching those yuri scenes and felt that it was really unnecessary to the overall story (F#@ fanservice sucks!). This review is pretty enticing, quite thorough and I'm sure I would be intrigued to watch the series if I hadn't already.
Dancerinthedark Jun 11, 2011

It's good I really like ga rei zero from the first episode and I like the characters and the graphics is also good and your review is make watch ga rei zero again^_^
but too bad I didn't read ga rei zero's mangaT_T
anyway you did good jop!
aozoraskies Jun 19, 2011

Ah, the outrage of the first episode. I remember the near-explosive response to that when it first came out (everyone died? ? o.o) , and the near-despair that the second episode seemed to be completely dedicated to a flashback. But seems that the series redeemed itself in the audience's eyes, with its apparent dashing execution. :D

I enjoyed reading this review, the descriptions are rather attractive; 'brutal.. to the point of being worthy of being called almost beautiful' :3 This review draws an intriguing picture of Ga-rei Zero, pointing out the charms of its characters, their voice acting and the story's pace. I also understand the comparison between the manga and the anime, because that's what I looked up on after the first episode's airing - the manga did seem different. So Zero is a prequel? That makes a whole lot of sense now. And it's an interesting approach to the anime adaption of the series; does seem to give the producers some freedom in creation.
Overall, a lovingly written review that does the job; critiques the series and portrays its points that influence its watchability, in this case, positively. Great work.
AirJack Jul 14, 2011

This is a great show, nice review as always.
MisaSasekage Moderator Nov 20, 2011

While I do think the bit of yuri included wasn't really needed, I thought the series was very good overall. The graphics and animation were really good in my opinion. I just wish the show was continued because then the series would offer even more. I also enjoyed the opening quite a bit^^ The circumstances behind Yomi becoming evil was sad for me to see.

Nice review Weskalia^^

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