[Blu-ray] Ga-Rei-Zero Complete Collection Review

[Chris Beveridge]

http://cdn-www.mania.com/content_pics/000006/52/65/e19c83228dab0074_thumb.jpgReview by Chris Beveridge (http://www.mania.com/garei-zero-complete-series-bddvd-combo-also-wlimited-edition_article_129660.html)



Mania Grade: A-



In Summary:
I went into Ga-Rei-Zero with know knowledge about it at all but came away from it feeling like it'll be one of the best shows I get to see this year. The series brings a lot of familiar elements to the table and there truly isn't anything original here, but it works together all of these well known elements in a compelling way with characters that click together very well that it rises above its parts. Ga-Rei-Zero has everything it needs, from action to fanservice, emotional scenes and drama, all of which looks fantastic and really has a wonderful sense of flow and pacing about it. Once you get past those first couple of episodes at least. With this first BD/DVD combo set I've gotten my hands on, it's definitely well done overall with just a few things to still be tweaked. It's good to see anime releases mirroring more mainstream releases more and getting Blu-ray into more peoples hands without fearing that they'll miss out something should they eventually upgrade. Ga-Rei-Zero is definitely a solid show that makes the most of the format but it's the story that sings the most and one we definitely recommend.

[General Hentai]

http://cdn-www.mania.com/content_pics/000006/52/65/e19c83228dab0074_thumb.jpgReview by Chris Beveridge (http://www.mania.com/garei-zero-complete-series-bddvd-combo-also-wlimited-edition_article_129660.html)



Mania Grade: A-



In Summary:
I went into Ga-Rei-Zero with know knowledge about it at all but came away from it feeling like it'll be one of the best shows I get to see this year. The series brings a lot of familiar elements to the table and there truly isn't anything original here, but it works together all of these well known elements in a compelling way with characters that click together very well that it rises above its parts. Ga-Rei-Zero has everything it needs, from action to fanservice, emotional scenes and drama, all of which looks fantastic and really has a wonderful sense of flow and pacing about it. Once you get past those first couple of episodes at least. With this first BD/DVD combo set I've gotten my hands on, it's definitely well done overall with just a few things to still be tweaked. It's good to see anime releases mirroring more mainstream releases more and getting Blu-ray into more peoples hands without fearing that they'll miss out something should they eventually upgrade. Ga-Rei-Zero is definitely a solid show that makes the most of the format but it's the story that sings the most and one we definitely recommend.


I have to disagree with this review to a certain extent, although the grade of “A-“ is barely, just barely, acceptable as the lowest possible grade for this show. To me, however, this is that rarest of birds, a true, almost extinct: A+.

Where I disagree with the estimable Mr. Beveridge is that I loved how this story was told anachronically. Based upon my reading of Chris’s review, this seems to be where the points were lost. To me, however, how this story was told while it takes away the shock of surprise, it only heightens the tragedy. Further, the creators had a reason to do this: Their intended audience had no surprise to be lost.

Episode 1 shows us the Ministry of Defense handling spirit outbreaks. Ordinary people can’t see the spirits, but these special troops have the tech that lets them see the ghosts. That’s the good news. The bad news is: They’re getting stomped until the MoD’s elite team shows up and saves the day. We get to know this special team of elites who don’t need tech to see ghosts, like them and respect them. And then comes the twist: This team was a pure red herring; this isn’t the team we’ll be rooting for in this series.

Episode 2 then takes us to the special team of elites from the Ministry of Environment. This is the team we’ll be following: they’re all able to see spirits without tech, and it shows them dealing with a problem the MoD’s tech troops couldn’t handle, and one that the elite MoD team was hard-pressed to defeat, setting it up for one young girl, Kagura, with a sacred sword, to eliminate with one slice a monster which had given the first group such problems. But then, this group gets torn apart by a remorseless stone-cold killer, Yomi, a young woman who is a possessed former teammate who goes through them like a knife through butter.

Episode 3 brings us back several years ago, right after Kagura’s mother had been killed. Kagura’s father had taken charge of her mother’s spirit beast and won’t have the time to properly care for Kagura (plus he’s super strict), and so Kagura goes to live with her uncle and his adopted daughter, a sweet, kind and loving girl who specifically requested that Kagura come and live with them. That sweet, loving kind girl? Hmmm? Oh, she’s Yomi, the girl who is the remorseless stone-cold psycho possessed killer from the first two episodes.

Episode 3 ends by bringing the story forward in time to some months prior to the events of the first 2 episodes, the story, telling the story of Kagura and Yomi, showing us how these two girls are as close as sisters, showing the fall of Yomi, due to greed, family politics, betrayals and murder and vengeance, as well as the maturing of the younger Kagura as she comes to deal with her own family legacy of duty and spirit banishing, with the present resuming from episodes 10-12.

What this review takes note of, but doesn’t emphasize enough is that Gai-Rei Zero is a prequel. It aired in 2008, and is the prequel to the manga series Gai-Rei, which was published from 2005-2010. Meaning that there had been 3 years of manga storylines dealing with the events that are shown in GRZ.

In short, for the Japanese audience, there was no surprise to be lost: They already knew generally what had happened. So, with no real surprise to be lost as to the fact of Yomi’s fall and corruption, they told this story to emphasize the tragedy of that fall, introducing the audience to a villain they already knew, and then by showing us that villain before the fall, making us fall in love with her character, and then showing that fall into corruption and madness, making the tragedy all the greater. Since there was no surprise to sacrifice, they went with amplifying the angst, turning up the tragedy.

But what about western audiences? When I first saw this on Fumimation’s website, I’d not seen the Gai-Rei manga, so I went into it blind, and I loved how this story was told, timewise. It worked for me, the decision to emphasize tragedy, by showing us the inevitable future for a fantastic young woman, and showing how much the girl who’ll have to take her down loves her, having to try to take down the girl who’s been her big sister, who’s been part big sister, part mother to her, and definitely best friend.

Where Chris gets it absolutely right is here:

“I went into Ga-Rei-Zero with know knowledge about it at all but came away from it feeling like it'll be one of the best shows I get to see this year.” (sic)

And that is the truth. Not only that, this is a show that has so much going on, it is very re-watchable, and it improves with age. Re-watching it, the tragic goodness just deepens. Yomi is just a fantastic character in this excellent show. Misdirection, comedy, fanservice, love, tragedy, heroism, action, intrigue, misunderstandings, murder, politics (family, work and government), kick-assry to the highest level, and a showdown between two girls, one raised by the other, the other now twisted, warped and corrupted, to settle it all. Beyond highly recommended.

[Doom86]

I marathon-ed this series in two days, and most anime I don't get through that fast. I think the format helped push the excitement wanting to know who survived the current events, since the current timeline ended with one character presumably dead and another about to be killed. Granted, I wasn't in such a rush to find out who survived that that it would hinder my loving the prequel storyline, but it definitely kept me even more invested in what was going to happen. A very clever story-telling technique.

Anyway, an excellent series all the way through. Definitely glad I got this one. :)

Now, WE NEED THE MANGA LICENSED! :beat:

[hissatsu]

Generally, the look here is very good and the series is one that really benefits from a high definition transfer as it's the kind of show that puts its budget on the screen and lets it speak for itself.

Oh, totally. @_@

[formerroadie]

I found this show to be excellent from start to finish. Perfecto Mundo!

[Fencedude]

While on balance I liked the show, I really hated what happened in the end.

And no, I don't give a damn about the manga, and I double don't give a damn about the male protagonist of the manga.

[Garasharp K7]

I really liked the manga, myself. Thought Kensuke was a pretty likeable sort, and I loved how Kagura was handled there. It'll be interesting going back to the show again knowing how things played out in the books.
Anyway, Ga-Rei Zero was one of my favourite shows when it was originally airing, and I'm looking forward to watching it again.

[Fencedude]

I really liked the manga, myself. Thought Kensuke was a pretty likeable sort,

Like I said, don't care.

[Buster Darkwings]

Generally, the look here is very good and the series is one that really benefits from a high definition transfer as it's the kind of show that puts its budget on the screen and lets it speak for itself.Oh, totally. @_@

I see Chris still hasn't learned to check the back of the box to see if it's an upscale or not. "Looks good to me so it must be high-def, right?"

[General Hentai]

Also of note: Episodes 8 & 9, especially episode 8, have important epilogues that take place after the credits have rolled.

[bluesilo]

I thought the first episode was the most boring POS that I had to fast forward through it to get to the ending. Does the show really get better than that? I was really interested in the show for a long time, but I'm just unsure about it.

[MRlinky]

I thought the first episode was the most boring POS that I had to fast forward through it to get to the ending.

Everyone dies. How is that boring? More like a crazy twist than boring.

The upscale was pretty shoddy and the packaging could have been much better, but aside from that the show itself was great!

Also a less spoilerific picture could have been used for the second amaray reverse side. My thanks goes out to the FUNimation graphic designer that RUINED the last half of the final episode for me with that image! Well played!

[Hayate Kurogane]

I thought the first episode was the most boring POS that I had to fast forward through it to get to the ending.

Everyone dies. How is that boring? More like a crazy twist than boring.

The upscale was pretty shoddy and the packaging could have been much better, but aside from that the show itself was great!

Also a less spoilerific picture could have been used for the second amaray reverse side. My thanks goes out to the FUNimation graphic designer that RUINED the last half of the final episode for me with that image! Well played!

You'd be surprised how often members of the U.S. staff working on a given show know little to nothing about said show, which is why such packaging choices are allowed to happen, among other things.

Okay, maybe not that surprised.

[Betenoire]

You'd be surprised how often members of the U.S. staff working on a given show know little to nothing about said show, which is why such packaging choices are allowed to happen, among other things.

Okay, maybe not that surprised.

The second Needless set did that as well. Even if you avoid looking at the back cover the freaking disc has the spoiler right there. :anger200:

Here is a hint to designers-if a character wears a mask don't show us said character taking the mask off in promotional stuff-safe bet it is a spoiler.

[General Hentai]

I thought the first episode was the most boring POS that I had to fast forward through it to get to the ending. Does the show really get better than that? I was really interested in the show for a long time, but I'm just unsure about it.

Boring? Totally disagree. Now, what it was, however, was the set-up of a fairly typical elite team: The top operative with a haunted past, the cool gal who pines aftert eh top operative, and who does motorcycle kung-fu, the pilot, the tech guy, the older, wise calm leader, the cute communications gal.

I loved them all. This was an elite team, which I've seen before, but I still loved them.

Oh, yeah: They all get killed. Sliced and diced. It was all misdirection, serving to set-up the other team who is the real story of this show.

My advice is to keep watching; but if it's not your taste, it's not your taste. This is a really excellent show, one of the best I've seen in a while. But then, I liked the first episode, all of it, from the team it features, to the twist at the end.

[General Hentai]

You'd be surprised how often members of the U.S. staff working on a given show know little to nothing about said show, which is why such packaging choices are allowed to happen, among other things.

Okay, maybe not that surprised.

The second Needless set did that as well. Even if you avoid looking at the back cover the freaking disc has the spoiler right there. :anger200:

Here is a hint to designers-if a character wears a mask don't show us said character taking the mask off in promotional stuff-safe bet it is a spoiler.

Yeah, never assume that the right hand knows what the left hand is doing.

[bluesilo]

Maybe I just wasn't into the first night I watched it. I'll give it another try, but it wouldn't be the first time I didn't like something someone liked.

[MRlinky]

Maybe I just wasn't into the first night I watched it. I'll give it another try, but it wouldn't be the first time I didn't like something someone liked.

You must! We demand it!!

[Ashyukun]

Maybe I just wasn't into the first night I watched it. I'll give it another try, but it wouldn't be the first time I didn't like something someone liked.

Yeah, I'm with the others- the first episode was absolutely masterfully done. I watched it as part of my usual 'watch the first episode of everything that looks like I wouldn't outright hate it and then decide what to stick with,' and went in expecting it to be nothing particularly special. I was vaguely confused as I'd read the ANN description of it and it didn't seem to match up with what was going on except in the vaguest sense of involving evil spirits, but it wasn't the first time an ANN description was confusing. It seemed like your fairly average, moderately well animated high-tech demon-hunting show, and up until the end I ws going to write it off as just not being worth it.

And then the last few minutes happened, and I was left sitting watching the credits roll to the sound of a burning fire wondering WHAT THE &^%&_# JUST HAPPENED HERE?!?!?. It was a fantastic red herring that slammed home at the last minute, and made it the series that I was most interested in seeing what happened next in the following episode. The chronological setup was very well done IMO, and as has been stated worked well to both pull in those who knew the manga and where things would end up as well as quickly putting anyone new to the franchise (like myself) on much the same page before jumping into the meat of the story.

Ga-Rei Zero was easily the biggest sleeper hit of the season, and perhaps the year, for me- and it remains one of the better shows I've seen. It's one of those rare shows (like Princess Tutu and Madoka Magica) that absolutely nail the ending without flinching or trying to take a show with a dark tone and write a 'happily ever after' ending.

[bluesilo]

What's going to happen to the review section on this forum now? Are there any moderators left to do reviews?

[broodwars]

I tried to pick up this show's Blu-Ray earlier this week, but the set was a mess when I opened it. The Blu-Ray tray had fallen out of its holder and both Blu-Ray discs were scratched beyond recovery. I had the same problem with my Eden of the East movie 1 Blu-Ray, but in that case nothing was scratched. I had to return it and order another set. Hopefully that set will not have this same problem.

[michaelwb]

What's going to happen to the review section on this forum now? Are there any moderators left to do reviews?

Not much I'd imagine, the writers have left as well.

[formerroadie]

What's going to happen to the review section on this forum now? Are there any moderators left to do reviews?

Not much I'd imagine, the writers have left as well.

Can you fill me in on this? I'm sort of new here and don't know what's up. thanks.

[Betenoire]

What's going to happen to the review section on this forum now? Are there any moderators left to do reviews?

Not much I'd imagine, the writers have left as well.

Can you fill me in on this? I'm sort of new here and don't know what's up. thanks.

Chris has left Mania (http://www.mania.com/aodvb/showpost.php?p=1937195&postcount=1) and has started a new site (http://www.fandompost.com/forums/forum.php).

[Hayate Kurogane]

I thought the first episode was the most boring POS that I had to fast forward through it to get to the ending.

Everyone dies. How is that boring? More like a crazy twist than boring.

The upscale was pretty shoddy and the packaging could have been much better, but aside from that the show itself was great!

Also a less spoilerific picture could have been used for the second amaray reverse side. My thanks goes out to the FUNimation graphic designer that RUINED the last half of the final episode for me with that image! Well played!

You'd be surprised how often members of the U.S. staff working on a given show know little to nothing about said show, which is why such packaging choices are allowed to happen, among other things.

Okay, maybe not that surprised.

To my own earlier point here, now that I have the thing on my shelf, I have to say that FUNimation has done a fine job here of continuing to further their quiet side-quest to become the new CPM in regards to lame production staff-based marketing attempts.

The summary sheet bills this show as being from the creative team behind the Full Metal Panic trilogy. In one sense, this is kind of correct, but it's also a bit of misleading bullshit. In terms of meaningful staff, the two projects only share a character designer (Osamu Horiuchi), a sound director (Yota Tsuruoka), and a producer and perhaps a couple of faceless executives since both are Kadokawa projects.

I realize that billing Ga-Rei-Zero as "from the creative team behind Girls Bravo" would be unwise, but it would also be more relevant. Animation studio (AIC Spirits), director (Ei Aoki), key animator/episode animation director (Ryuichi Makino), music (Noriyasu Agematsu)... there's more relevance there.

But hey, I lost all belief in FUNimation's marketing efforts when I saw the Sekirei trailer and its blatantly false blurb about the show being from the character designer of Ikki Tousen and Queen's Blade. If they have no problem with outright lying for marketing purposes, well, wonderful, I guess. Even worse if it's an unintentional result of half-assed research and piss-poor fact-checking.

The Ga-Rei-Zero summary sheet also describes Kagura and Yomi as sisters. Which is, of course, not true. Granted, the situation is more complicated than that, but the summary context presents it as if they're together-from-birth, grown-up-together sisters. But again, I don't know why I continue to be surprised by inaccuracy. Heaven forbid a company take the time to learn something about their own products.

[Sanosuke]

The Ga-Rei-Zero summary sheet also describes Kagura and Yomi as sisters. Which is, of course, not true. Granted, the situation is more complicated than that, but the summary context presents it as if they're together-from-birth, grown-up-together sisters. But again, I don't know why I continue to be surprised by inaccuracy. Heaven forbid a company take the time to learn something about their own products.I'm gonna go ahead and strengthen your rant and say that when I read that description, I was totally thrown for a loop as I didn't think they were sisters, nor had I ever actually heard of them being sisters before. I had to go on the interwebz to set myself straight.:noodle:

[General Hentai]

The Ga-Rei-Zero summary sheet also describes Kagura and Yomi as sisters. Which is, of course, not true. Granted, the situation is more complicated than that, but the summary context presents it as if they're together-from-birth, grown-up-together sisters. But again, I don't know why I continue to be surprised by inaccuracy. Heaven forbid a company take the time to learn something about their own products.I'm gonna go ahead and strengthen your rant and say that when I read that description, I was totally thrown for a loop as I didn't think they were sisters, nor had I ever actually heard of them being sisters before. I had to go on the interwebz to set myself straight.:noodle:

Hmmm. Until you brought this up, I'd not paid attention to the fact that I've never trusted anime and manga blurbs.

[Doom86]

We could just chalk this up to the fact that explaining the exact situation would take up way too much space in the blurb, and probably bore anyone who's reading it to see if the series is interesting. Seriously, all the blurb says is "sisters", it doesn't say biological. So where Hayate sees this attempt at misdirection is beyond me.

Heck, if I were describing the series myself, I'd probably refer to Kagura and Yomi as sisters, because they might as well be and their relationship is like it. Heck, the same way I consider Simon and Kamina to be brothers in Gurren Lagann. "Hey, it's not about blood! You and me are soul brothers, you know, we're siblings of the spirit!" - Kamina

[bluesilo]

Why don't they either close this section or let someone else review? It just seems like a dead site otherwise.

[Hayate Kurogane]

We could just chalk this up to the fact that explaining the exact situation would take up way too much space in the blurb, and probably bore anyone who's reading it to see if the series is interesting. Seriously, all the blurb says is "sisters", it doesn't say biological. So where Hayate sees this attempt at misdirection is beyond me.

To be clear, I'm calling this part of it inaccuracy born of ignorance, whereas only the Full Metal Panic item is purposeful misdirection (though that might also only be inaccuracy born of ignorance as well).

Summary text says:
Kagura and Yomi may look like ordinary school girls as they walk the streets of Tokyo clad in short skirts and knee-high socks, but they're the heroes you scream for when monsters creep out of the darkness. These sword-toting sisters are part of an elite counterattack unit that specializes in suppressing outbreaks of supernatural activity. They train together, live together, eat together, and spend their nights disemboweling demons with sacred blades together.

Tragedy strikes when Yomi is possessed by a dark spirit and Kagura must choose between raising her weapon against the eerily familiar face of ultimate evil or watching her flesh and blood slaughter innocent citizens. In a life-or-death battle that pits sister against sister, survival may be the greatest agony of all.

Now, if you hadn't seen the show, tell me that you would assume their relationship was anything but actual, biological sisters based on that text. The first instance could be phrased as "sisters-in-arms" instead. The second instance, which is really the kicker because all it does is reaffirm the inaccuracy, could be eliminated entirely.

To be extra clear, my issue is not that I think the show has been violated by bad packaging copy. My issue is that it bothers me that FUNimation is willing to excuse ignorance in the face of getting flash-bang summary text out into the world. My focus, of course, is on the whole Full Metal Panic connection, which is just f*cking lazy and misleading.

But that's why it's "quality" marketing.

[Sanosuke]

I mean, that damn thing even says "FLESH AND BLOOD." It's natural for somebody who doesn't know much about the show to think that they actually are related.

[DJChacranajxy]

Started the series yesterday and finished it today.

The fuck?

That show came outta nowhere, and was actually really, really good. Really glad I picked it up.