Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Garo Ryuga Ver.

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 quite expected, making this release all the more special.

Series REVIEW: Garo: The One Who Shines in the Darkness

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 once again. But the Horror problem in Vol City lies deeper than they originally thought, with the emergence of the more powerful Madō Horrors and a plot to awaken an ancient evil.

Makai badassery

As mentioned earlier as it currently stands this series is almost completely detached from the original two Garo seasons, with the only returning character being the Madou Ring Zaruba...who barely appears in the show either until nearer the end. Instead our new cast consists of the wizened Makai Priest Burai, beautiful badass Rian, the hotheaded Takeru, collected Aguri and of course Ryuga. While Ryuga seems to possess a similar level of fighting prowess to his predecessor, he feels like a very different Garo simply for his slightly more laid back demeanour and ability to crack a smile once in a while. Unfortunately back stories are a little on the light side - Ryuga and Rian get a fair amount (the latter getting her own special prelude episode at the end of the series), but Takeru and Aguri don't get so lucky. Takeru is kind of offset by having his own side-story, but Aguri may as well just be a background guy that fires an arrow every so often.

Smug doesn't even begin to describe

The more urban setting of Vol City allows the Horrors to be explored in a new way, with Madō Horrors placed in certain positions of the city's hierarchy to maintain their scheme.The reveal of the "mastermind" behind the Horrors and the revival of the ancient Horror general Zedom is a excellently crafted moment, simply because of the fact it's not just the last person you expect, but he proves to be such a spineless worm that its hard to believe its him that's behind all of this.

But perhaps one of the show's biggest success stories is Enhou, who just goes to show how unrelentingly twisted and tragic Garo can be at times. Starting off as the captain of Vol City's elite SG1 guard, she goes from being against Kouga to allying with him and befriending Rian to...well, that would spoil it. Her story is very cleverly paced, using visual clues in earlier episodes that won't mean anything until further in. The Horrors themselves may not be as grotesque or weird as they used to be, but you'll see that they really do live up to their name here.

Poor Enhou

Aside from the cast changeover, perhaps the biggest noticeable difference of this new Garo is the absence of physical Makai Knight suits. While the move to completely CGI suits was slowly being implemented during the course of Makai Senki, it's here that we see it fully realised. While the CGI suits for Garo, Zen and Gai (the latter two being Takeru and Aguri's suits respectively) are nicely detailed, anyone familiar with tokusatsu shows will now that Japan's CGI budget's aren't quite what you see in Western productions. However if you can get over this you'll certainly have a blast with the fight sequences, even with their very brief nature. This is because despite the 99.9 seconds rule established in the first Garo series being thrown out of the window by now, the use of the suits still very much feel like a last resort with the majority of the fights being done out of suits. 

How awkward would it be if all it needed was a good polish?

While it doesn't quite live up to the standard of the first two Garo series, The One Who Shines in the Darkness is still a worthy follow-on and one of the best series of its kind out there at the moment. The new cast are very likeable even if some of the backstories are vague and/or underutilised. The connections between this and the original series are still very unclear (as is how the Garo armour lost its golden shine) but with plenty more Garo stories yet to come in the future, I'm hopeful that these are still answers yet to come in the future. If Kouga's story must really come to an end, then it's time for Ryuga Dougai to start really shining.

First Impressions: Garo: The One Who Shines in the Darkness

While English-speaking Garo fans continue the long wait for a subbed version of the "Demon Dragon of the Blue Cries" (Soukoku no Maryu) movie to find out the conclusion to Kouga Seijima's story, the legend of the Makai Knights continues on in a third Garo season, entitled "The One Who Shines in the Darkness" (Yami o Terasu Mono). This season features an all-new cast, with just how it continues on from the original two seasons still unclear.

With the fate of Kouga a mystery, the Garo armour has found a new owner in the form of Ryuga Dougai. Though the armour strangely lost its golden shine with its former master, it still wields the power Ryuga needs to battle the evil spirits known as Horrors. Ryuga has travelled to Vol City, drawn to the high concentration of Horrors plaguing the city. Causing quite a scene killing a Horror masquerading as a bride, the newest Golden Knight catches the attention of the city's special task force SG1, but a group of Makai Knights led by a Makai Priest named Burai.

If you've read my review of the previous Garo series, you'll know that I consider it one of the greatest tokusatsu series out there. Though the thought of a sequel series featuring an entirely new cast might be off-putting to some, the first episode of The One Who Shines in the Darkness, titled "Ryuga" does not disappoint. Everything that makes Garo brilliant, from the extremely impressive action sequences (mostly unarmoured) to the adult themes and detailed mythology, is still present - a long with a whole load of new mysterious revolving around these new characters.

Much like the title suggests, this episode focusses squarely on Ryuga and his arrival in Vol City. While he definitely has the same imposing qualities that made Kouga such a badass, it's clear that Ryuga is a very different Garo to his predecessor. Rather than stoic and quiet, Ryuga is wild and sarcastic, throwing quips at Horrors as he fights them. The episode also sets up plenty of questions to be answered over the course of the show - just why has the Garo armour turned black? If Ryuga is a Makai Knight, why is he not assigned to a location and cannot speak Makai language? Why won't Zaruba talk to his new master?

While facing off against SG1, Ryuga comes face to face their female commander Enhou. There isn't much to say about her so far, other than that it's clear she's going to become somewhat of a recurring character. At the very end we also meet Makai Priest Burai and two Makai Knights - Aguri and Takeru (played by Gokai Silver actor Junya Ikeda).

The One Who Shines in the Darkness may not spend a great deal of time introducing newcomers to the lore of Garo, but it's still pretty easy to come to grips with. Once you've established what a Horror and Makai Knights are, like the already established Garo fans what you have to look forward to is a stunning, engaging tokusatsu series that certainly isn't for children.