Thursday, October 6, 2011

Ga-Rei: Zero [ep 9 - 12 End] overall review

This is an awesome anime - puts you on edge but also very depressing. You don't have a clear antagonist in it, except for that little bratty kid who manipulates people, including Yomi. And that's really one of the saddest part of all. It's like watching two of your beloved characters battling it out and you know one of them must die. The only catch is, you don't want any of them to die! Exactly what I was feeling the whole time as I witness both girls fighting each other till death.

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It all begins when the bratty kid comes to visit Yomi at night when Karuga isn't watching. He corrupts Yomi's mind at her weakest moment. Yomi is left with multiple injuries including damaged nerve and pharynx which means she'll spend the rest of her life bedridden. The evil kid uses that chance to lure her to the dark side by offering her the Death Stone - which will bring her great power and of course heal her.

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But the stone is so powerful that it'll start feeding on the soul of the bearer little by little making him/her unaware of the evil deeds they're doing. They'll be overwhelmed with all sorts of emotion - hatred, angst, sadness etc...which will ultimately make them hold ultimate grudge against the world. 
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"What is your true suffering? You true hatred? It is everything that brings you misfortune." Upon being asked these questions, it doesn't take long for Yomi to finally succumb to the dark side.

When Karuga comes back to the room, it's already too late to save Yomi. She has already gone. That night itself, she returns to her home, now taken over by her uncle. She takes her revenge and gets back her sword.


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Before Yomi turns evil and the final moments of good Yomi: It's really heartbreaking watching Yomi tries her best to move her hand to comfort Karuga, the whole scene is so sad!

Bad Yomi takes her rage to the city by murdering everybody in her way, causing most of the Agency's members to die in just one night. We're brought back to episode 2 when we see the fight between Yomi and Karuga. As Karuga is being attacked, her father appears to save her. And we get to see the two beasts that they own battle it out. That is pretty cool. Of course, the same goes with the fight between Karuga's father and Yomi. However, Yomi wins and manages to injure him in the process. In critical condition, Karuga's father passes the Byakuei to Karuga.

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Now bearing the Byakuei and equipped with the new modified sword by Michael, Karuga finds Yomi at the forest. Another very intense fight between these two girls. Like I said earlier, I don't want any of them to die! So it's really sad to see them trying to kill each other.

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PhotobucketHowever, we still see hesitance in Karuga to really kill off Yomi who means a lot for her. Well, Yomi is like her sworn sister afterall, when Karuga's at her lowest point in life, Yomi brings her under her wings and takes care of her like a mother figure. Yomi basically saves her! That is, until Yomi is put under desperate and awful situations back in ep 8 due some bratty kid.


Still, Yomi shall remain my favorite character, and I'm sure there are lots who like her in the show. Hey they justify her actions and it's really hard not to feel pity for her having seen all the terrible events she goes through before she turns evil. And wth, Noriyuki's engagement with her is broken too just coz she is paralyzed. That is like really sad.


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"Let me hear you beg for your life. Then I'll kill you without making you suffer more. How did your father die? Did he die horribly? Isn't that great? You wanted a sacred beast right? You could get one when your father died. So let me hear it. When he died, you were kind of happy right? -Yomi                 
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Hearing that, Karuga gets really mad and counterattacks. Noriyuki appears suddenly and helps Karuga get away.

"That is not Yomi anymore. It's just a specter controlled by the Death Stone. I met her at the underground. She told me to kill her." - Noriyuki

"Are you prepared?" - Yomi
"I'll kill you. Exterminating those who spread the taint of death to the human world is our job as exorcist." - Karuga

NOoooooooo.....you should try to save her from the Death Stone! How could you give up on someone you care for so much as to kill them?! I know there's like no other way to turn things back to the way it was, still....aren't they supposed to find the true mastermind behind this chaos? Go find that kid! He's the cause of all this wreckage. Yomi's just a victim!

PhotobucketAnd the final battle. I almost teared up watching that LAST BATTLE. It's so heartbreaking. Because of Yomi's flashback to her real wish. 

"Death Stone, if you let me follow my heart's desires, you know what my true wish will be, don't you? My true wish, my true desire, that is...Karuga. I want to protect her. I want to protect her from any misery. I want to protect her from any misfortune. Those who hurt her, those who put her in danger, those who cause her misfortune, I want to eliminate all of them. I beg you. Protect her. Eliminate her misery. Even if...the cause of that is me!" - Yomi

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That proves that she still has a part of good Yomi inside! She could've defended herself but she choose to let Karuga eliminate her. Yomi died in the most noble way! This has got to be one one of the saddest ending ever.

Photobucket this scene...I'm lost for words...

PhotobucketFast forward 2 years later, we see Noriyuki on the streets working as fortune teller instead of joining the Agency. It seems he quits being an exorcist, most probably because he can't forget about Yomi. As for Karuga, well...she's gone missing from school at least. But in the final scene, we see her with longer hair, more mature-like but still very much Pocky lover with another guy, Ken. She gives him her old sword as a gift and it seems that they both are just going to eliminate a certain monster together. There should be a 2nd season really. But no more Yomi...so even if there's a 2nd season, I don't think I'll enjoy it as much. But the new guy is cute though xDDD

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Overall, it's such a touching and sad anime. And not to mention, the soundtrack is awesome! I love the piano piece that is playing during sad scenes. If I'm not wrong, it's called Compassion in the 2nd DVD compilation. There's also this song during the final battle which almost brings me to tears because it sounds so sombre and fits the whole scene.


If you're into supernatural/exorcism/drama kind of anime, you should try this out. I find myself so engrossed with it throughout the show that I just have to continue watching. Though the ending kinda sucks, they kill off my fav character, and leaves the real evil brat alive, I'd still recommend this anime. No doubt it'll be depressing but it's worth a try. 

Overall Rating: 9/10

It reminds me of anime like Blood+, Canaan and Phantom: Requeim for the Phantom...

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Karuga all grown up!



Before I end this post, a picture to commemorate Yomi. You shall be missed! You should be honored for promoting Pocky! They should have ads for you at railway stations munching Pocky xD

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Now I'm off in a mission to find the OST! Will post some tracks I find amazing soon!

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