Ga-Rei Zero

Ga-Rei Zero - watching its first episode, I thought I knew what was going on and what to expect from the anime. We see a special task force who has some history and during the episode battle some demons with some interesting tactics (holy water and holy chants are practical parts of battle), and I thought this anime was going to be about this group of people and we'd learn about the history as the story continues. After the first episode ends, I realize...wow, I was really wrong.

So if you give this anime a shot, watch more than just the first episode. The second episode made me want to watch more of the anime because we meet completely new characters (Kagura, Yomi, and company) and wonder what the connection is between the first and second episode. Then, the third is really the meat of what the anime's focus: the friendship between two ill-fated friends and the struggles, misfortune and evil that brought them to the unhappy dramatic scene in the second episode.

There are some action scenes where I admit, I've rewatched a few times over, because the action was pretty fast, and even after the dust has settled, I wanted to see that "move" again. Maybe they're not as creative as they get, but they seem slightly different than most of the sword-fighting fare.

There is violence, creative weapons, chopped off limbs, and enough blood to know that someone isn't going to quite make it to tomorrow. Friendship is rooted and grows and grows to set you up for what you already know is coming...(because they already showed you earlier). It's like we're seeing the whole thing in hindsight which adds drama to the whole ordeal, from beginning to end.

After the first episode, I wasn't very interested in this anime, and had others to watch and keep me busy. But now my other anime have finished, I watched a few more episodes of Ga-Rei Zero and want to watch it through until the end. It serves as another reminder to me not to judge anime on just the first episode alone.

This video sample is pretty good. Although the trailer's subs are not in English, you get to see some of the good parts of the anime's action and mood.

Recommendations:

• Rental Magica >>...specialists from different belief systems team up to excorcise anomolies, lighter fare with comical romance
  
• Claymore...heavy swords, severed limbs, and a lot of pale killer ladies >>
• Mouryou no Hako >>...another beautiful friendship that didn't end so prettily, a mystery and crime clues form the story
  
• Nijuu Mensou no Musume...main girl escapes a troubled past only to lead a life struggling to survive and protecting her few friends >>
  
• Majin Tantei Neuro...the main villian isn't the only mystery around town >>
• Umineko no Naku Koro ni...ill-blood between rich family members begins to boil when mysterious and gruesome murders begin one after the other >>

Video Sample:



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