Anime/Manga - [Blu-ray] Ga-Rei-Zero Complete Collection Review

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Beveridge (Post 1933915)

Review by Chris Beveridge

Mania Grade: A-

Quote:

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.