Well, the holidays got me sick. Not fun. But being bed-ridden was a great excuse to do my first legit series marathon in a very long time. I chose the supernatural action thriller Ga-Rei Zero. There may be minor spoilers, but considering the bulk of the story is laid out within a couple episodes, there’s not a lot to spoil in this series.

Story

Ga-Rei Zero is the origin story of the Ga-Rei manga, showing the path a young girl named Kagura took to become a powerful exorcist in a world full of demons and government “spiritual defense” organizations. Told mostly in flashback, Zero recounts the love she shared for 3 years with her surrogate sister Yomi.

There’s not much way to talk about this series without talking about the bizarre beginning: The non-traditional structure is a make-or-break point for Zero. By starting somewhere near the end, telling in flashback, then finally joining the two ends, writer Katsuhiko Takayama (also series writer for ef) constructed a horrible ode to inevitability that anime doesn’t deal in often, and some people just aren’t gonna go for. I can think of a live-action parallel: In Scorsese’s Casino, Robert De Niro’s character dies in a firey car bomb in the first couple minutes. The ensuing movie is entirely a flashback, and three hours later you remember: oh, yeah. He dies. Ga-Rei Zero takes an even more desperately depressing approach. Scorsese aimed to shock you with your forgetfulness, but this series constantly twists the knife to remind you what awaits.

On a superficial level of motorcycles, government demon-fighting teams, heroes-turned-bad, and depressive mood, Zero strongly resembles Blassreiter. It has a few key traits that separate it, though: half length, devotion to standard anime-“isms,” superior animation, and more personal themes of love and individual destiny versus Blassreiter’s focus on faith and duty.

Characters

I really wish Kagura were a more interesting character, but in truth that goes for most of the characters of G-RZ. Rather than a complex collection of emotions, they often feel like they’re just a product of the things that happen to them throughout the series — can you honestly say there are many people out there who wouldn’t have taken Yomi’s route, given the absolute emotional and spiritual pummeling she suffers?

That said, their generic qualities might serve to make them more sympathetic (same question applies here), and as the climax approaches, it’s hard not to feel for Kagura and, to a degree, Yomi’s erstwhile fiancé Noriyuki.

Technical

There isn’t a whole lot to say here. Nothing animation-wise, or audio-wise, went over-the-top for execution, but it’s appealing and more than solid the whole time. Character designs and overall style project a Production IG vibe, but maybe that’s just because Kagura = Saaya (Blood+) to some degree in my mind and it colored everything else. Fight scenes are well-directed and there’s no slippage in the high quality over 12 episodes.

Themes

Amidst all the standard anime junk — dead mothers and distant fathers, swordfighters in seifuku (not complaining), a world of improbable science-meets-magic — Zero manages to raise some interesting points. It’s really too bad that it spends a lot of time broadcasting those points through viewer proxies, dramatic monologues, and its lovely Engrishy tagline, “Would you kill someone you love, because of love?” Not that I expect the average anime to stop holding its viewers’ hands, but Ga-Rei Zero teased that it was going to give me lots to chew on, then took that away by outright verbalizing almost all of it.

While the show really wants us to ponder the question of whether Yomi overcame the Stone’s power or it just granted her true wish, what’s the difference? Either way, love tragically triumphs over greed and revenge, not that it helps anything. In hindsight, it’s kinda like the Haibane Renmei question of intent, except with damnation in place of salvation as the end result.

The Y Word

If you’ve read anything on blogs about Ga-Rei Zero, you’ve probably heard the word yuri tossed around a few times. In fact, ANN’s page lists “yuri” as the only theme. Glad I wasn’t watching it for that, or the other themes of “senseless suffering,” “inevitable tragedy,” and “sweet swordfighting” would have really distracted me.

But you can feel the sisterly love, and it really has to be ramped up for the horrific result to be felt. In the end, out of 4 hours of series there are about 30 seconds worth of anything that could be called yuri. There is one mouth-to-mouth kiss (a sort of Lady and the Tramp thing with Pocky), but that scene is there for a reason: it’s paralleled later, with horribly sad (if slightly overplayed) results.

So don’t watch this for yuri anymore than you’d watch it for guro — there’s enough blood, bathing, and shortness of skirts to cover your perverted needs, but it’s just not that kind of show. You’d have to be pretty depraved to get your jollies from something so damn depressing.

Bottom Line

Ga-Rei Zero caught me with its surprises in the first couple episodes, but after those were over, it continued to entertain and satisfy with good animation, cute girls with swords, and my ultimate anime fanservice, ludicrous tragedy (geez, maybe I am an extremist after all, clearly some people are not up for that and I guess I can’t blame them).

1990s OVAs full of tits, blood and total apocalypse fed my early fandom, and while this isn’t strictly an update to that it does provide the same kinds of thrills with a little more depth, a lot more heart, and a modern edge. Plus, it’s a lot better than Mnemosyne. Take its 12-episode length into account, and it’s hard for me not to recommend Ga-Rei Zero to anyone who likes their anime dark, action-heavy, and depressing.

As DMC’s manager would say, FUUUUCK. There’s a lot going on this season, as there should be, it’s fall. Casshern Sins supplies the atmosphere, Kannagi brings the lulz, and ef: melodies keeps bring the symbolism (or is it the red herrings?).

Done and done.

Ga-Rei Zero. After the traumatic  first episode, it didn’t seem to go much of anywhere for a while. I just can’t seem to get into it, regardless of gore. I’ll probably check it out after it’s all over if the response remains somewhat positive.

Chaos;Head. Higurashi it ain’t, NHK it ain’t. In a medium full of shitty male protagonists, Takasu is the most worthless and loathsome representative of the species. NHK’s Satou was the product of excellent writing and was thus able to tread a thin line between empathetic and just plain detestable. Nitro+’s story doesn’t give us anything like that. Worse, the paranoid antics of the first couple episodes have taken a back seat to a harem-like lineup of girls with weird glowing swords.

Tytania. I can’t handle it. I re-started an earnest attempt to plow through Legend of the Galactic Heroes, for real this time (I know…), and I just can’t deal with both. I’ll check it out later.

Hokuto no Ken Raoh Gaiden Ten no Haoh. It’s hard to find a reliable subtitle out there, and with Toei’s new Crunchyroll showing of the classic original Hokuto no Ken series, I can finally fulfill my wish of seeing the whole damn thing without actually paying for it (I’ve only seen the movie waaaaaay back in the day). You wa shock!

Thin Ice

Clannad After Story. When, in episode 6, Misae goes to get something to drink at the festival, did anyone else groan? It’s not that I wrote it. It’s just that this shit is starting to get old. Whether it was just Tomoya’s bizarre Dallas-like dream, or he was talking to a goddam cat, it reeked of the same old Key dirty tricks. The flashback episodes started to really get on my nerves how the character design is pretty samey. I mean, wasn’t one of Misae’s friends a dead ringer for Kotomi, never mind Misae herself being Kyou with a slightly different hairstyle? I can think of only one reason why I’m still doing this. Must be time for bodies to start dropping.

Toaru Majutsu No Index. While omo’s theory that whether or not you like the smoking-drinking-loli-teacher will make or break the show didn’t quite last after a quick survey, another common theory that there’s too much fucking exposition in this show holds water. Stop talking. Stop!

I’m keeping myself busy with blogging (as if I wasn’t busy without it) this season, but I never forget to enjoy. After all, it’s not a job. And there are a lot more interesting shows on this season than last. What else is good?

Kure-Nai.
So far I like the main character, I love the animation (although some facial character designs are just anatomically fucked), and the premise could be interesting, if possibly creepy. And what’s with his arm? Check this one out if you haven’t yet. OP and ED are weirdly inappropriate for the mood, but this show is shaping up to be a very unexpected mix of violent and cute, scary and sweet.

Golgo 13.
Golgo 13 is so old your dad probably read his mangas (assuming your dad is Japanese), and he’s so badass I won’t shit-talk him for fear he’ll jump out of my TV and kill my ass. Until it’s dead. Golgo 13 eats GAR and shits bullets. Also, he fucks the hell out of some prostitutes. Apparently, he’s voiced by a “real” actor, and it pays off. His dour voice matches his toughass appearance, which is something like a grown up version of Shin-Chan when he dresses like Lupin III. What impressed me the most was that the whole episode led up to a single sniper shot, and they managed to make that single moment suitably awesome instead of horribly anticlimactic. Watch this or Golgo 13 will come fuck and kill you.

Vampire Knight.
Check it out, it’s Jun Fukuyama. Along with the current other hotness, Mamoru Miyano (Setsuna F. Yagami), together at last. In another dumb vampire show. Apologies to the people who liked this from the get-go, or who liked the manga (vampires are not zombies, so… didn’t read). But I’m really not behind it. Will keep trying for a couple more episodes, but I really don’t like vampires.

I think vampire shows and movies (both Japanese and Western) try very hard to put a new spin on the whole bloodsucker thing every time, and rarely does it work, except for the goth kids.

Special A.
Oh guess what? Jun Fukuyama, who seems increasingly unable to sound anything other than egomaniacal. Along with Yuko Goto, who cannot sing (it was funny in The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina, but precisely because she can’t sing). Actually, no one here can sing, and yet the cast is tapped for both the opening and closing songs. The style is fun, but everything else screams “meh” and I hate saying “meh.”

Kamen No Maid Guy.
Looks like Kabitzin is following this one, and I’m already regretting that I didn’t put it up against Kanokon in my Ecchi Deathmatch, To Love-RU may not be up to the challenge. Kanokon shocks me with its volume of questionable content, but Maid Guy disturbs with the questionability of its questionable content. And its intense focus on the protagonist’s rack.

Nabori No Ou.
Ninjas tend to be a warning sign for me. Warning: show you will hate coming! Danger! (The Tick aside, of course.) The wife liked it though, mostly for the style and the admittedly super cool action sequences, but hopefully not as much for the trap and the gay undertones. I’m impressed at JC Staff’s ability to give this such style, so I’ll give it a go.

Blassreiter
Still haven’t made it through episode 1. I can’t take the video game graphics.

The Tower of Druaga
I found episode 1 marginally fun, but I keep hearing they cut the fun. I dunno, I did that “download the mp4 version from YouTube” trick with episode 2 and put it on my iPhone, where higher-quality YouTube vids actually look OK, but I haven’t watched it.

Kyouran Kazoku Nikki
The “Kazoku” in question consists of a nerdy Fox Mulder wannabe dad, an over-loli-fied catgirl mother, and five kids: A human girl, a lion, a biological weapon, a jellyfish, and the living embodiment of Japan’s latent homophobia. To call this “throwaway” might be an understatement but they did bother to go a little crazy so I’ll give it three episodes to convince me I’m crazy.

Random Thought

Incidentally, Anime News Network has jumped on the Episodic Blogging bandwagon, so does that mean they endorse the questionable practice of fansubbing? I’m guessing mid-season licenses, if any, will consist of Soul Eater, Macross, and maybe Allison & Lillia, so you kids better stop watching when that happens, you hear? I mostly mention it because one of their writers had this to say about Kanokon:

I suspect that only the hardest of hardcore otaku will be much amused.

Snap! Boy do I feel worthless now, because trust me, I am amused. Horrified, sure, shocked and ashamed, yes, but also highly amused.

I know, I know. I really am terrible. Behind the curve. I just watched Elfen Lied. Incidentally, that name is hard to type, it keeps coming out Lief, like Garrett. Apparently it’s German, meaning “Elf Song,” why I’m not sure I’m interested in knowing. What I do know is that a few years ago when this series came out it was instantly notorious — and very divisive — thanks to its vicious opening minutes, and its gratuitous nudity, violence, and reliance on anime clichés.

Story

Elfen Lied concerns mutated people called diclonius who, at the age of about three, begin to kill with invisible arms called vectors. One especially nasty one called Lucy escapes containment in a research facility in the beginning and proceeds to wreck shit until the amnesiac, mellow and friendly side of her split personality takes over and she moves in with a boring guy called Kouta and his equally boring cousin Yuka in their inherited house/former inn, where they all eat noodles and fuck like beasts. I made only one part of that up, just replace it with “engage in pseudo-hilarious antics of vaguely sexual misunderstanding.” Here’s where shit gets bad, and that’s the first episode. From here on out you’ll find an endless parade of anime clichés from nearly every genre, all living under one roof at the Love Hina Inn.

• Pair of cousins who enjoyed life as childhood friends until the boy moved away and the girl developed unrequited love for him.
• Girl from the sky/aether/secret research lab with destructive powers who doesn’t understand our world and can’t communicate well, and throws herself at boring protagonist.
• A harem-esque setting that continually grows.
• A scientist who loves one of his experiments as his own child while his real offspring suffer.
• A cold-ass female scientist with possible feelings for aforementioned other scientist who eventually realizes her mistakes too late.
• Horrible tragedy in the past causing protagonist to lose all memory until the climactic scene when finally he realizes what the audience has been shouting at him for 13 episodes while throwing Doritos at the TV.
• Nudity. Lots of nudity. And as a bonus… fanservice too. Sounds weird, but it won’t once you see this thing.

So detractors really have a lot of ammo, but at least there’s truly unbeatable gore. The vectors can twist and tear people apart brutally and instantly, so buckets of splatter and severed spines are really the flavor of the day here. Is that enough? I don’t know. There’s not a lot of depth here until the final couple episodes.

Animation and Design

Character design is really crap, except for vicious-eyed Lucy, who seemed to have a little time put into her. The animation is totally capable and really shines during the action/gore scenes. Decapitation seemed to be a real priority for these animators. Diclonius have “horns,” but tell me with a straight face they’re not cat-girl ears.

Fanservice is an odd thing to think about in a series where at least three characters spend a lot of time completely naked. Supposedly there is some symbolism and thought in the nudity, but I didn’t catch it so well. It is interesting, though, the animators (Genco) did seem to treat the naked diclonius different from fanservice: if you need proof, check out episode 6, which is that obligatory burst-of-panty-shots episode you so often see. Someone was definitely conscious of making “fanservice” its own entity here.

Thoughts

The content itself is really going to get in a lot of people’s way, and I think that’s fine, it’s rough at times. Only one bothered me, and if you have a problem with violence against puppies (who are you? Hitler?) it’ll bother you too. But all in all, I not only enjoy the ridiculous gore, I think those scenes are the only ones that really kept driving it for me until the end. Kouta’s moment of realization of what happened to him 8 years ago was obvious in its conclusion, but the execution of it is brutal. And Lucy’s childhood is pretty nasty as well.

If you can see past the clichés and easy routes, you’ll especially find a great character in Director Kurama and a decent, if not especially deep, commentary on the nature and importance of family. But the emotional involvement you can get from Elfen Lied is a lot weaker than what its proponents have claimed.

Ultimately the good is pretty good and the bad is really bad, so it’s a battle for your taste. Your level of anime fandom in general may be directly proportional to the amount of retreaded abbreviations and clichés that you can take before you snap. So I guess that makes Elfen Lied an interesting proposition: Those people who aren’t too familiar with the old chestnuts and those who are willing to overlook them will find scraps of a decent story and some cool brutal action. But in the end it’s neither as horrible or great as people have made it out to be. It’s fairly forgettable save for some of anime’s best dismemberment scenes.

I guess at least there won’t be another show I’ll say that about any time soon.