Movie REVIEW: GARO: Divine Flame

While the GARO franchise has grown exponentially in the last few years, the anime side of things seems to have been met to a more mixed reception than the tokusatsu elements. The Carved Seal of Flames (released in the West simply as GARO: The Animation) got off to a slow start but eventually developed into a very strong series, however the second instalment - The Crimson Moon, failed to match its the worst of its predecessor even when it was at its best. However following the conclusion of Crimson Moon the cast of the original series returned once more in GARO: Divine Flame - a feature film once again animated by studio MAPPA and released as part of the franchise's 10th anniversary celebrations.

Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Garo Leon Kokuin Ver.

When it comes to Bandai Tamashii Nations’ toy lines franchises can come and go in strange ways. For example the potentially lucrative world of Super Sentai Figuarts turned out to be a commercial failure, while the seemingly expansive world of Godzilla MonsterArts has recently slowed down to only cover the big G himself – and this is without mentioning at the unreleased figures seen at Tamashii Nations events over the years. Given the popularity of the Makai Kado line it’d have been easy to believe that the GARO sub-line of S.H. Figuarts died in 2011, yet here we are with the second of four brand new GARO figures set for release in 2016. Despite sticking to the Golden Knight himself, the Tamashii web exclusive Garo Leon Kokuin Ver. figure marks Figuarts’ first foray into the world of the GARO anime spin-offs. This unstable version of the suit was the one worn by the revenge-driven Leon Luis in Honō no Kokuin, also known as The Carved Seal of Flames or simply Garo: The Animation in the West.