Some of you might have wondered at the non-existence of a Ga-rei Zero in THAT. That is because I am simmering with the anger due to the extremely mediocre 4th episode. I wonder if my quipped expectation has resulted in a warped view when they start to act up like the typical shounen fare that I am particularly turned off.

Some of the things that I mentioned might be the exact same things that turn people ON for a shounen show. However, I expected better. There are a few spoilers after the break. In addition, I might blog Kuroshitsuji instead rather than To Aru Majutsu no Index since it interests me much more. It’s also a strain on my time to blog Index as it lands on one of my few free days during the week. I am likely to do a short post on it every Wednesday if it’s all right with those who are following it.

Ga-Rei Zero Episode 4

Episode 4 develops the relationship between Yomi and Kagura in terms of bonding and trust. During one of the missions, Kagura wondered when she would be thrust into the main action, but Yomi told her to be patient. While the spirit was destroyed, there was also a civilian who was loitering around the area. She was able to see the spirit, and Kagura saved her from being attacked by the monster. Yomi noted that women with spiritual powers were more likely to attract attacks. Yomi also told the woman subtly to value her life.

After the mission, the weapon smith in charge of their weapons decided to maintain the squad’s weapons. Ayame hence decided to give Kagura her first actual mission. This is a mission in the subway. We see that the civilian has committed suicide and turned into a mindless level D spirit. Kagura was unable to draw her weapon, and was saved by her father. Kagura was reprimanded by her father sternly, yet her father muttered “grow stronger” to her before he left.

What went wrong

In an episode, you usually try to look at the reason for the episode to exist. Episode 1 is meant to shock and confuse the audience. It is also done to make the viewers anticipate the eventual appearance of Yomi in Episode 2. Of course, Episode 2 is done to set up the main characters for the series. Episode 3 slows down the pace by introducing each person. WHAT DID EPISODE 4 DO? Nothing, absolutely nothing. I already know from episode 3 that the two are friendly with each other. There is absolutely nothing new or fresh that I didn’t know. Is this what they call a “pointless filler?”

I am getting more ticked off by the actions of Kagura. I probably have a very short attention span but I am getting a major issue with Kagura. She is a clear dependent, one that I really HATE in a shounen show. They always make the women so mentally weak that she is unable to do anything in any critical situation. I know she can cut monsters with ease, but what is with the “they are formerly humans” when they are going to fricking cut you up? I admit that I am just the type of anime viewer that will STOP watching a series when the main girl turns me off, and Kagura is really straining my patience.

Another thing that turned me off are the blatant attempts to squeeze some fanservice into this series. Can someone tell me if there is any other explicit and logical reason for this screenshot other than the fact to entice people to buy the DVD so that they can show the nipples of the two? I don’t find fanservice in shounen shows because it is sometimes necessary. However, I cannot accept any obvious case of fanservice that makes no sense. Sure, it makes the desperate ecchi-loving fanboy happy, but I am not that typical group. I want my character development, good action and great fun in general. Not this pathetic attempt to insert random yuri fanservice.

Talking about fanservice, what is with the amazing tentacle erotic scene. I am not sure if it is supposed to be erotic or scary, but it did not evoke any of those two emotions in me. I mean… why is there such “subtle” ero content in a series that started off so darn well?

The only redeeming factor in Ga-Rei Zero is Yomi. Yomi is the type of character that always make a shounen show watchable, and I probably cannot stand the time where Kagura starts to be a total emo wreck when Yomi transforms into the devilish spirit three years later. Of course, I am not dropping this seriesas because I believe that the potential for it is very strong.

For those who found Episode 4 to be great, please give me a concrete reason behind the excellence of this episode.

Spoilers: Everyone is dead again in this episode. EVERYONE. EVERYONE!!!!

Not.

Quick Summary

Continuing from the last episode, Kagura is about to be slashed by Yomi before a flashback brought us back to a scene three years ago. Kagura’s parents were killed by a spirit in an exorcism, and she was sent to Yomi’s family. Kagura’s family is the head family, and Yomi is bestowed as her caretaker. At Yomi’s house, Kagura seemed to be particularly quiet. Yomi asked if Kagura has anything to bring from her own house, and Kagura said her only possession was her mother’s photograph.

Yomi tried to make Kagura comfortable and asked if there was anything she wanted to do. Kagura requested to go to the dojo. She started on practicing alone, and Yomi asked if Kagura wants to spar. Yomi was able to dispatch her easily. Kagura unexpectedly blamed herself very badly, stating that she would be dead if this was a real life situation. It was clear that Kagura’s parents gave her a lot of pressure during her training.

Yomi decided to make Kagura relax by playing a game. The bet was to eat century egg, something Kagura hated. This bonded the two girls closer. Just when the sisters are communicating well, Yomi was suddenly called up for a mission. On another day, Yomi asked what Kagura wanted to eat. Kagura wanted to eat cream croquette. Despite the difficulty of preparing the food, Yomi agreed. However, they were interrupted by yet another phone call and Yomi told Kagura to wait.

This reminded Kagura of how her mother told her to be a good girl and wait whenever they went out for missions. Overwhelmed by emotions, Kagura started to cry from the rememberance of her mother’s deathly fate. Sympathizing with Kagura, Yomi decided to bring Kagura to her job. Yomi introduced Kagura to everyone, and Kouji Iwahata taught Kagura how to use a spirit sword. At the site, Yomi demonstrated her job to eliminate a sealed spirit. Iwahata explained Nue, the lion spirit that was summoned from Yomi’s sword. On the aftermath, Yomi’s father screamed at Yomi for her negligence and exposing Kagura to unnecessary danger. Kagura apologized after that, but Yomi simply smiled stating that she was used to it.

Yomi said that from now then, she will be Kagura’s elder sister. She also explained that she was not the real daughter of her current father. Her father died after being slain by a spirit. Nonetheless, her foster father gave her the hereditary sword which represented his love for Yomi. We also see a quick snapshot of a wolf summoning. In school, Kagura received a phone call from Yomi, but had to lie to the teacher that she was visiting her sick mother. Kagura is officially in the information squad.

Thoughts

I was really wondering how they are going to move forward with a plot where all the main characters are likely to be dead. Rather unexpectedly, they decide to use In medias res to approach the show. This can work really terribly, but the classic movie case of Memento should give you some indication of the film style. This is a creative style that has been popular throughout the ages, and I enjoy the sudden confusion it brings to the viewer.

It’s a good change to the pace of the story, which is generally neck breaking and crazy with the number of fallen bodies for the first two episodes. It is aimed to sensationalize, and it did its job as the third episode lays out the fundamental history between the two main female protagonists. I was expecting them to use the second episode to slow down the pace, but the shock is pleasant so that this change of pace feels more tolerable for the viewer. I think I will go insane if they went on a third round of killing everyone.

Yomi has been absolutely stunning in this episode, and I am growing to be captivated by this lady. Of course, the main question that is going through my head is her evil being in the future. What caused such a fine and dainty lady to change so drastically. I am going to put my neck out to say that it has something to do with that wolf spirit that is summoned. Since spirits often invoke a lot of power and requires tons of powerful restraint to keep it docile, I think that Yomi might have suffered a defeat by such a spirit and was possessed by them to become like this.

Kagura still was not able to impress me whatsoever. Her character is really bland by any standard, and she is the type of character I dislike the most because it epitomizes the type of girl in a shounen show: mentally weak, dependent on others and yielding. Can we stop having such lame stereotypes for a girl? Please tell me I am wrong and that this perception is way off the mark. I do not want such a girl to be spoiled by shounen stereotypes.

Some might notice that the animation gets a bit lazy at times. This is expected since the first episode has been absolutely stunning. Most of the character designs and animation continue to be top notch during close ups, but it is the distant shots that show you the fuzzy character features. Try to look at the characters when they are faraway. Their features become somewhat unbalanced. Maybe it is just my eyes.

As a parting question: What do you think caused Yomi to change to that evil spirit in the future? If you have manga spoilers, please do not spoil the non-manga readers (that includes me!)

All right, this is perhaps one of the most WTF moments in my anime viewing for a very long while. If you know my viewing habits, I have a clear bias toward action shows: I do not like them. They generally try too hard in the GAR part, showcasing action scenes for a long time with a flimsy storyline. There is no shock, the characters are annoying in general and all in all, it is just the same old thing.

The same old thing stereotype can hardly be true in this series. This has mouth-watering, jaw dropping fight scenes that make a shoujo freak like me grasp in total amazement. It has crazy levels of animation that will be close to perfect if they can somehow manage to maintain this level. Lastly, and most importantly, the WTF factor just strikes firm. I am glad someone mentioned this series in the “What should I blog” because I have gained major interest in this series now.

A recap for those who have not watched the first episode, this is a story based in Japan about zombie-like spirits that are ravaging the area. The Ministry of Defence has an anti-paranormal special forces group called the Supernatural Disaster Prevention Office. The fourth platoon is a group of elite personnel with supernatural abilities. They engaged zombie-like spirits during one of the attacks, and managed to kill two Level B creatures in two different missions. However, on the aftermath of the second killing, they were ambushed by a lady who is a Level A spirit (most powerful). It seems like the main lead knew her, and the whole team perished.

Summary

Just after the demise of the fourth platoon, another Level B spirit appeared on the main streets. The Ministry of defense fodder forces were struggling to repel them, only for the Ministry of Environment elite forces to come to the rescue. After luring the Level B monster away from the masses, Kagura dispatched the spirit with one clean slice of her sword. The Minister of Defense discussed the demise of the fourth platoon, only for a woman on a wheelchair to come into this meeting.

This woman is the minister of environment, and she introduced herself as Jinguuji Ayame. Her assistant is Nikadou Kiri and they came to seek help. It is clear that there is a struggle for power between ministries, so Ayame proposed a compromise in which she gave them detailed information on the locations of the Level A spirits. She also warned them that their numbers are growing, and they are the ones that have been creating Level B spirits.

At the end of the battle, the spirits have manifested on the corpses of the soldiers that have died fighting the battle earlier on. Kagura and the others managed to kill off these Level D spirits. In their headquarters, Kiri and Ayame observed the tapes and realized that Yomi, their ex-compatriot was leading the spirits. Kagura is shaken by the appearance of Yomi, who greeted the crew sinisterly. Iidzuna Noriyuki was told by the Nabuu Brothers to chase after Yomi. Kagura decided to tag along, while the others were going to repel against a new onslaught of spirits.

Noriyuki and Kagura entered an underground electrical generator to hunt for Yomi. Noriyuki mentioned that Yomi’s target is the Ministry of Environment. They decided to split up, with Noriyuki leaving his pet with Kagura. Kagura was muttering that she wanted to save Yomi, and we also realized from her mutterings that Noriyuki is Yomi’s fiance. Suddenly, Noriyuki’s pet was slain, and Yomi was the culprit. Kagura was reluctant to unsheathe her blade, and Yomi said she would force Kagura’s hand. After a few rounds of battle, Kagura is able to subdue Yomi.

Yomi taunted Kagura, asking why she was not killing her. Yomi asked whether it was Kagura’s fear of killing a human, or the fact that they knew each other. Yomi mentioned that she hated Kagura and took advantage of Kagura’s shock to kick Kagura away. Yomi then called Noriyuki a coward, and that triggered Kagura’s fighting spirit. Kagura then decided to stab her sword into the wall, using the flammable gas to cause a combustion as Kagura escaped through the hatch.

However, Yomi appeared again with the tired-looking Kagura and asked if she expected Kagura to kill her so easily. Yomi’s summoned spirit appeared and dislocated Kagura’s arm while tangling her in mid air. With that, Kagura was helpless as she was held by the spirit, and Kagura mumbled why Yomi-oneesan had to do that. The last glimpse showed Yomi dying her relationship with Kagura and ready to decapitate Kagura.

Thoughts

This series is probably trying to use the shock element to surprise its audience. Considering the amount of publicity set up to display the fourth squad in its website, they happily killed the whole cast in the matter of seconds during the first episode. That, to me, makes you completely confused since the fourth squad looked to be a team well in control of its destiny. Without any warning, they died just like that. That is great story telling, and the same ploy (well, of sorts) still works.

To repeat the stunt of sorts again by killing the main girl Kagura is also a masterstroke, keeping audiences confused. Even though the skeptic will tell me that Kagura is not dead unless there is a corpse, I am totally intrigued on how the series will go now. As noted by Aroduc, the uniting element of both episodes is the relationship Yomi has with the “main protagonist” of each episode. The presence of Yomi is an enigma, and I wonder how the story will go.

Will it go forward in the timeline? Will it go backwards to understand the relationship between Yomi and Kagura? How did Yomi become a level A spirit? What is it about the failed exorcism three years ago? Will there be a “raise dead” for the main characters during the fist episode? There are many unsolved questions that are interesting to be solved in the future. I cannot wait to see how this series unfolds.

I think Ga Rei Zero really pumps itself up for great expectations after the first two episodes. The soundtrack is spectacular, and that in itself is an understatement. I like how they use ambiance and sound effects with good measure, and it is one of the few series that makes me notice how the music/sounds are in unison with the mood of the series. Few series can make me take note of that, and it is clearly one of the rare cases.

Animation continues to be top notch, and I believe that it might just be the top action series by a long shot. I will end off with one thing. Try to keep this series in your sights for at least a few episodes. It might be platinum.