After several months of silence following the release of Makai Retsuden and the Ashura special, the GARO franchise made its triumphant return in 2017 with the release of Zero: Dragon Blood - the second spin-off series following fan-favourite Rei Suzumura aka Zero the Silver Fanged Knight . In addition to Ray Fujita reprising his role as Rei, Mary Matsuyama also returns as Makai Priest Rekka , with series creator Keita Amemiya once again in the directors' chair. The 13-episode series was written by Sumiko Umeda , who had previously written episodes for Yami o Terasu Mono, Makai no Hana and Gold Storm -Sho- .

Despite last year marking its 10th anniversary, 2016 wasn’t an especially great year for the GARO franchise. The year kicked off with the second half to the woeful Garo: The Crimson Moon anime, and while Garo: Makai Retsuden brought back a wide range of characters (including Kouga himself) the series largely consisted of forgettable side stories with minimal action. However with plenty more confirmed GARO projects still to come, 2017 may prove to be much better. First up for the franchise is Zero: Dragon Blood , a second spin-off starring Rei Suzumura aka Zero the Silver Fanged Knight . Zero previously appeared in the original Garo , Makai Senki and Makai no Hana , as well as his own mini-series Black Blood in 2014.

Kicking off the year of GARO  is...a miniseries that doesn't actually feature Garo at all? That's right, the franchise's first 2014 entry is a story about everyone's favourite secondary Makai Knight  - Rei Suzumura , aka Zero the Silver Fanged Knight. The six-part miniseries, titled Zero: Black Blood was also released in Japanese cinemas as a film duology - with the two parts being named White Chapter and Black Chapter  respectively.

Where there is light, shadows lurk and fear reigns. But by the blade of knights, mankind was given hope. While there's so much more to the tokusatsu genre than just Super Sentai and Kamen Rider, its arguable that these two franchises are the ones that come to mind first when you think of it (well, those and Godzilla). While in the West most Sentai and Rider fans may be adults, these shows are still meant for kids. But what if there was a similar style programme on offer for adults that wasn't a comedy or parody? Garo might be exactly what you are looking for. After an initial 25 episode series in 2005-2006 (and a feature length TV special), Garo returned for a feature length movie (entitled Red Requiem) in 2010, a spin-off video release in 2011 and finally a 25-episode sequel series: Garo: Makai Senki, between 2011 and 2012. A final film is also confirmed for release. Kouga: Golden Knight and undisputed badass. Garo focuses on Kouga Saejima, a Makai Knight wh...