In 2013 the GARO franchise took a surprising turn with the release of GARO: The One Who Shines in the Darkness – a series featuring a brand-new protagonist in the golden armour completely removed from previous entries. From there the story of Ryuga Dougai continued to grow, expanding into multiple series and films to truly become its own separate continuity. Ten years on from Ryuga's debut and GARO has marked the occasion with the next chapter in his story – GARO: Heir to Steel Armor ( GARO: Hagane o Tsugu Mono ). Heir to Steel Armor also marks the first time a live-action GARO series has been simulcast to worldwide audiences, releasing on the official GARO Youtube channel with English subtitles shortly after their Japanese broadcast.

Even though fans were treated to the fantastic GARO: Vanishing Line anime earlier this year, it feels like it's been a while since the last proper GARO series. The last live-action entry in the ever-growing franchise was Zero: Dragon Blood back at the beginning of 2017, which being a Zero series (not that that's in any way a bad thing) was fairly low on Golden Knight action. 2018 did however kick off with a brand new movie entry, continuing the story of Ryuga Dougai in GARO: Kami no Kiba (" Fang of God ").

Can you believe it's been ten whole years since the first GARO series aired? In that time it has transformed from a gritty one-off production that should apart from most of its peers into a full blown franchise - encompassing various generations of the golden knight across multiple  tokusatsu and anime productions. The tenth anniversary has brought about the announcement a number of new shows and movies, but among the ones at the forefront of the celebration is Garo: Makai Retsuden (or Makai Tales ). What's particularly interesting about this offering is that it takes the focus away from those who have bore the title of Garo over the years, and takes a look at the various Makai Priests and Knights who have aided them in their battle against the Horrors .

Once upon a time Tamashii Nations released three GARO figures in their S.H. Figuarts toyline – Garo himself as a mass release figure, and then Zero and Taiga as Tamashii web exclusives. Despite the Figuarts being the perfect upgrade to the old Equip & Prop figures and offering great likenesses of the in-show armours, the line suddenly came to a halt as Bandai instead pressed forward with their larger and more stylised Makai Kado figures. Years passed and no-one ever thought they would hear from GARO in S.H. Figuarts again, until the Tamashii Nations event in 2014 revealed it would be making a grand return. It’s been some time since that initial announcement, but kicking off 2016 in style is the release of S.H. Figuarts Garo Ryuga Ver. – based on Ryuga Dougai’s darkness-tainted version of the suit that appeared in the third GARO series, Yami o Terasu Mono (aka The One Who Shines in the Darkness ). Though another web exclusive Garo Ryuga Ver. is a comeback nobody q...

Earlier this year Garo fans were treated to a brand new live-action series by the name of Garo: Gold Storm -Sho- , which saw Ryuga Dougai return as the titular Golden Knight along with Makai Preist Rian – both of whom previously appeared in Garo: The One Who Shines in the Darkness . While the series was fairly standalone, some non-Japanese viewers may have been confused by the appearance of new supporting characters without any sort of introduction. This is because the series was actually preceded by a feature length movie, simply going by the title of Garo: Gold Storm . As well as acting as a precursor to -Sho- and debuting Ryuga’s new Garo Sho armour, the movie is also one of the several projects announced in 2015 to celebrate the franchise’s 10th anniversary.

As the Garo franchise has continue to grow and now expanded into both tokusatsu and animated formats, fans have been treated to multiple different timelines each with their own unique Golden Knight.  While 2015 will begin and end with two different chapters of the Garo anime, the middle has been dominated by the return of the franchise's first divergence into a new continuity. Making their return from The One Who Shines in the Darkness are Ryuga Dougai and Makai Priest Rian in a new film and series project that go by the names of Gold Storm and Gold Storm -Sho- respectively. Garo creator Keita Amemiya is also involved in this newest project, marking it as his first series that doesn't involve one of the Saejima clan.

Hey look, it's a new GARO series! Once upon a time saying such a thing would have felt more like a novelty, but now as the franchise approaches its 10th anniversary  there always seems to be at least one entry from the now numerous continuities on the go. Of course a landmark anniversary such as that means there's bit more going on in celebration, and first up is a return to the world of Garo: The One Who Shines in the Darkness with another chapter in  Ryuga Dougai's ongoing story - Garo: Gold Storm -Sho-. This itself follows on from a movie prequel chapter titled simply titled Garo: Gold Storm , which unfortunately won't be viewable to those outside of Japan for a while yet. Shame, because there have been some rather interesting changes to the Golden Knight going on.

As many Western Garo  fans patiently wait to see the end of Kouga's story in Demon Dragon of the Blue Cries , in the meantime there is a new chapter in the Garo  legacy that has begun. Presumably taking the action long after Kouga's time as the golden Makai Knight, Garo: The One Who Shines in the Darkness (" Yami o Terasu Mono ")   picks up with a brand new knight wearing the armour, a new setting and a brand new threat.  Much like Kouga, Ryuga has good taste in coats The One Who Shines in the Darkness  takes place at the huge Vol City, a thriving metropolis built around a volcano and swarming with the demons known as horror. Ryuga Dougai, the Makai Knight who has inherited the title of Garo, arrives in the city after being summoned to help his former master - Makai Priest Burai, take them down. Joining forces with fellow knights Takeru Jakuzure, Aguri Kusugami and Makai Priest Rian, Ryuga aims to once again make the now-greyed Garo armour shine o...