We’re at week two of the new anime season, and the consensus regarding Ga-Rei Zero at this point distills into two major themes:
- It’s really damn good.
- Nobody has any clue what the fuck is going on.
See, right away I have a problem: it’s hard for me to convey just how amazing I think this show will be without resorting to excessive profanity, leetspeak, stacks of overused adjectives like “extraordinary” and “awesome”, and otherwise sounding like a complete, blithering idiot. Would it help to know that I’ve re-watched the first two episodes more than a dozen times each? Or that I’ve spent as much time reading about Ga-Rei as watching it? Or that I’ve scoured the web for hours trying to find a quality Yomi figurine? I think you see my problem. Whatever; I’m just going to try to stay coherent.
yomiyomiyomiyomiyomiyomiyomiyomiyomiyomiyomiyomiyomiyomiyomi!!!
As I indicated in the season overview, Ga-Rei feels distinctly like an OVA; at the time, I hadn’t quite pinned down exactly why this was so. My focus was originally on production quality, but the more I re-watch the first two episodes, the more I think that the pacing and presentation are the real factors. Ga-Rei throws you right into the action with little to no preparation, and there aren’t many points in either episode to catch your breath. Rather than lengthy dialogue and background expositions, we’re introduced to the characters mostly by watching them slap monsters around and otherwise destroy face. This is classic OVA-style pacing where you’re not really sure what’s happened until the end, and sometimes not even then. Because you’re not given enough information, all you can really do is hang on and enjoy the ride – and Ga-Rei is quite a ride.
Someone explain to me how fighting from that ridiculously close is a good idea when your sword is that ridiculously long.
As others have noticed, the soundtrack is extremely effective in Ga-Rei. The combat themes, in particular, are the kind of music you’d expect for boss battles in a tier-1 video game. However, it’s not just that the music is good, but that it syncs perfectly with the action. The timing is most noticeable at the start of certain fights, such as Yomi’s appearance in episode one, and her opening attack against Kagura in episode two. In each instance, I find that the transitions between different tracks at precise times are ultimately more effective than the music itself. And no, I’m not sure that makes any sense, but that’s my impression.
Visually, Ga-Rei actually isn’t that special. It certainly doesn’t have the detail and atmosphere of shows like Ergo Proxy and Ghost in the Shell, and the fighting isn’t as good as in, say, Samurai Champloo or Seirei no Moribito. Most glaringly, the non-Yomi fights simply don’t flow well – there’s too much unrealistic inaction where the monsters stand around obediently while the good guys converse amongst themselves. This sort of turn-based combat is a common feature of anime, and it completely kills any tension and excitement. The fast-paced Yomi “fights” (slaughters? massacres? butchery?) are startling in comparison. Of course, Yomi herself being totally awesome has a lot to do with this.
That's more like it.
Most of the confusion surrounding Ga-Rei comes from the plot shock at the end of each episode: the good guys wind up being massacred by the deliciously evil NODACHI SCHOOLGIRL. As such, the series currently lacks a real protagonist. All of the candidates are reduced to dismembered corpses, and dismembered corpses typically don’t make for effective heroes. Without a protagonist, the direction of the show is also a big question mark; I don’t think anyone seriously believes that every episode will consist of a new cast of hapless good guys being thrown into the Yomi Meatgrinder, but that’s actually becoming a distinct possibility. I’m torn on whether I’d honestly enjoy seeing that, however. On the one hand, Yomi is certainly a pleasure to watch, and the more killing she does on-screen the better, as far as I’m concerned. But on the other hand, senseless evil makes for very shallow entertainment; it’s hard to make an engaging villain out of someone that’s an evil bitch for no discernible reason.
Nothing says "evil bitch" like a smile.
There has been a great deal of speculation as to how the anime is related to the manga. The popular theory of Zero being a prequel probably fell through when Kagura was killed at the end of episode two, but they clearly share similar themes and characters. At this point, I’d say the anime is simply an alternate-universe retelling. Yomi is almost certainly being controlled by the same white-haired boy (Kazuhiro?) that controls Aoi and various others, which would be similar to the manga. The obvious indicator is the blue butterflies, which are clearly his trademark. The control angle has a lot of equally obvious drama potential, depending on whether Yomi is eventually killed or saved. If saved, she’ll definitely be in for serious psychological damage and will almost certainly commit suicide. Either way, I don’t expect Yomi to survive, and that makes me a sad panda.
Yomi does Sephiroth better than Sephiroth.
The other major problem is that Ga-Rei is wasting a lot of good characters. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one that was developing a fondness for the Toru-Natsuki couple (or maybe just Natsuki), and as for Kagura … well, aside from being the female lead in the manga, she was also the best plot counterpart for Yomi. I’m beginning to think that Yomi is going to be the only consistent character throughout the series, and that each episode will uncover a bit more of her history by having her kill someone she was close to. If that’s true, however, this is going to end up being a pretty depressing show. After all, likable characters will appear every episode only to be summarily axed; once the shock value is diluted by repetition, all we’ll have left is dread. While it’s true that I tend to prefer bittersweet to sappy-happy, it’d be nice if someone got out of this mess alive.
Don't feel bad, Toru. I was surprised too.
